A Brunch in Paris

Yesterday we had another book club, this time hosted at Alicia's house.

The book was The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, so Alicia and Courtney went with a Paris theme.

Blown away is an understatement.

Alicia's house is really perfect for this kind of theme. 

She has a sort of eclectic style with some old world charm and loads of personality.

I'm not quite sure how to describe it but it's incredible.

The table was set gorgeously and there were so many details to be in love with.

In the background there was post-war music playing to set the mood

and plenty of good conversation.

Speaking of music, they made us CD's to take home.

Can you believe that?

Me neither.

I haven't stopped listening to my CD since.

I love music from that era.

We had croissants and quiche and they made apple beignets.

Of course, we had to finish off brunch with this cake.

Chocolate cake that was light and moist and rich all at the same time.

A touch of cinnamon, some banana and the whole thing covered in creme anglaise.

I wish I had more right now.

We all liked the book, as frustrating as it seemed to be for various reasons.

We talked about Hadley and what we thought about her,

the way she handled her marriage,

Ernest Hemingway and how he was awful and tragic and I wanted to strangle him.

We talked about relying on other's for your happiness and

having a sense of self in relationships.

We talked about a million other things,

like Connie's engagement

and so many things that had nothing to do with the book at all. 

It was the kind of day that as a child I always imagined having as a grown-up.

Only it made me giddy like a little girl.

In my visions of future me I arrived in my '59 Cadillac 

and wore a dress and heels, maybe even a hat.

I mean, besides arriving in jeans and a shirt covered in drool and bits of Peanut's breakfast,

my Subaru Forester filled with various baby gear,

it was pretty spot on. 

Thank you Alicia and Courtney, it was incredible!