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I am so grateful for this month. I am grateful for all of the love I have in my life, all of the memorable moments and experiences I will cherish forever, and to be very healthy during this time. What a blessing indeed.
Most Memorable Moments
- I proposed to Jay
- I launched this blog!
- We celebrated Jay’s birthday in Lisbon
May Favorites
Peonies
I love peonies. I love how they look. I love how they smell. And I love what they represent – the start of warmer, longer, and sunnier days. There are dozens of peony species and they all make my heart feel some type of way – glancing over at the beautiful peonies Jay got me yesterday, I really do feel happier (see above)!
Peonies are only in season from late April to mid-June so enjoy these beauties in all their glory while there’s still time!
Sisley Paris Express Flower Gel
Ah, this mask is the holy grail of all skincare! I use this mask as a moisturizer whenever I travel or just feel like my skin needs some extra love. I have mini travel sizes as well and apply it to my face at least once during a flight to stay hydrated.
It’s on the pricier side, so my skin and I savor it and ignore the directions to wipe it off after 3 minutes… that’s just silly! I haven’t had the pleasure of using the Express Flower Gel in a while since we weren’t able to travel, but our trip to Lisbon reminded me how much I love this ultra hydrating mask!
Lavazza Espresso Italiano Cremoso Beans
This coffee brings joy and a smile to our day. Coffee time is special for me and Jay (I proposed to Jay over a cup of this exact coffee). We take a moment everyday to sit down together and enjoy a delicious oat cappuccino with some chocolate.
We grind these bad boys up and use the Breville Bambino coffee machine (/ Sage Bambino if you’re in Europe) to do the rest. We’ve bought fancy and expensive coffee beans at some of the best cafes in Germany, but the Lavazza beans continue to come out on top.
Since we live in Germany, the name might be a bit different depending on where you live. Here’s one in the US that sounds like it’s very similar!
Pastel de Nata
Oh boy, have I been pastel de nata’d out! We just got back from Lisbon two days ago. Every single day, we devoured warm, fresh, and absolutely delicious pastel de natas. For Jay’s birthday, I surprised him with a cooking class to make these devilishly good yumsters!
It’s hard to find an authentic pastel de nata, but I would search for portuguese bakeries or cafes in your city! We are lucky enough to have an amazing Portuguese cafe down the street from us, so we don’t have to wait for another trip to Portugal (I haven’t figured out how to add emojis to these posts, but if I could there would be a raised hand emoji right here!)
Walking
May was a month of walking! To start, I missed walking. I used to be much more of a walker. Growing up in New York, you just walk everywhere. I still don’t know how to drive and I’m not mad about it.
Mine and Jay’s love story began over walks… very long walks. This past year however, I haven’t been walking as much as I’d want to (or probably should be). The fall/ winter weather in Berlin is cold, gray, wet, and dark – doesn’t really scream “I want to go on a walk!”. And with the pandemic, places that I would typically visit or want to walk to have been closed.
I am cheering for the weather finally starting to look a bit sunnier and feeling warmer. On our recent trip, we walked at least 6 miles everyday – and if you didn’t know Lisbon is hilly af. Berlin, on the other hand, is flat as can be so we’ll be taking advantage of that in the warm months to come.
Asparagus
It’s asparagus season and we’re loving it! Asparagus is a pretty big deal in Germany. The harvest season has it’s own word … Spargelzeit (asparagus time). A popular classic recipe at German restaurants or biergartens is asparagus with hollandaise sauce. At home, we’ve simply been making it with some oil, salt, and pepper. It’s super easy to make and is a perfect side or dinner meal.
Rainbows
With the rain in Berlin, comes beautiful rainbows and even double rainbows! I’ll leave you with this picture I took a few weeks ago from our window. I hope that you had a beautiful May and I’m really looking forward to sharing my June favorites with you next month!
Love,
Stacey