As of… Sunday, June 21
I finished my french intensive course! Maintenant je parle couramment français. (Ha ha ha! More like, Me Talk Pretty One Day.) It was a great course and I thoroughly enjoyed the week. I have a second “super intensif” week booked for July.
Disappointed that… I haven’t had taken more hikes. I had french class most of the day - plus it’s been way too hot for Míša to take hikes so we are swimming instead. That said, I’m getting nervous about my Big Swiss Hike in August and need to take some higher elevation practice hikes.
Reading: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke which is hilarious and much better than expected!
Eating: a lot of Salade de Chèvre Chaud.
Looking forward to: Indiana! I’m going to my niece’s wedding next week! xo
Annecy Festival
They’ve taken over the city! Pop up venues everywhere and excitement is in the air.
Granola Bars (with 10 grams of protein)
A few years ago, I would’ve questioned the rationale behind making your own granola bars. It seems like a lot of work when you can buy “healthy” granola bars at every convenience store… right? Unfortunately, most of these options are not nearly as healthy as you might think. Most are highly processed and contain buckets of sugar.
So one rainy afternoon I made these granola bars and I’m never going back. They’re made with whole foods, no refined sugar and have 10 grams of protein in each bar. Keep them in the freezer and throw one in your bag before you leave the house.
Ingredients
1 cup rolled oats (porridge oats)
1 cup natural peanut butter (just peanuts + salt)
1⁄3 cup honey or maple syrup
1⁄2 cup hemp seeds
3 tbsp ground flaxseed
1⁄4 cup pumpkin seeds
3 tbsp almonds, finely chopped
1⁄4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
Combine the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another.
Mix everything together - I use a spatula first, then my hands.
Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Then press the mixture into the pan, cover and put in the fridge to harden for a few hours.
Cut into 10 bars, wrap each in plastic wrap and keep them in the freezer. (I don’t love using the plastic wrap! It’s fiddly and well, plastic-y. But I haven’t found a better solution just yet. I don’t want them to stick together or loose their shape. Suggestions welcome.)
As of… Monday, June 15
I just got back from a weekend in Holland - Amsterdam was great but Woudsend was a surprising delight.
Nervous/looking forward to: A week intensive course at L’ecole de Français in Annecy.
Nervous/looking forward to: Riding my bike there everyday! It’s a 25 minute ride and it will be extremely hot. But it’s better than sitting in traffic. I think.
In the kitchen: prepping a week’s worth of my little nut pots and granola bars.
Woudsend, Friesland
I've been to Amsterdam a few times, but honestly (embarrasingly?) it never occurred to me to visit the countryside. But as luck would have it, some friends won a free stay at a cottage in a small village called Woudsend and they invited us to join them. How could we say no? And what a surprising delight it was to explore the countryside, farm lands, canals and windmills.
I never harbored a secret desire to learn how windmills work, but our village had two working mills, both open and giving tours. One mill was grinding flour, the other sawing wood - both were utterly fascinating! I took way too many photos and videos, but I’ll spare you. Just know that if you’re ever given the opportunity to tour a working windmill, you should do it!
The food in our little village was equally delightful. The croissants in the bakery were made using the flour from the neighboring windmill! For lunch, I had maybe the best turkish eggs of my life at Cafe de Watersport. And we had an excellent dinner in a old mennonite church-turned-restaurant called ’tPonjke. The name translates “church collection bag” in Friesland - which is exactly how the bill was delivered to our table! So clever.
One last thing - as luck would have it, we were there for the annual village summer party. All the locals were out enjoying live music and playing games like Stack the Beer Crates (?)! The whole place felt like a dutch Stars Hollow.
What a great weekend - and a refreshing change from my usual city escapes!
One day in Amsterdam
A few snaps from museum hopping…
A typical scene in Amsterdam: the canal, a boat, a bike and a beautiful building.
As of… Wednesday, June 10
I’m in my happy place and doing my happy things (hanging out with friends, swimming, hiking, biking…)
Creative highlight: I hosted my first retreat!
New to me: I climbed La Tournette and met some goats.
Looking forward to: meeting up with Daniel in Holland. xo
Reading… nothing. Falling into bed exhausted.
La Tournette
Trying to get some higher elevation training under my belt before my big Swiss hike in August.
Met some friendly goats. (Alpine ibex)
Lake Annecy, from La Tournette
my daughter
her spirit animal
Heading back down the mountain.
Hosting my first mini-retreat
Yesterday I hosted my first mini-retreat! We were seven women total - from France, Switzerland and the UK.
We used the GROW framework to workshop each person’s business challenges. Our goals: to create community and to encourage each other to make progress on our biggest job/career challenges.
Some reoccuring themes:
Being intentional about career and life choices
How to find/create work that aligns with personal values
Figuring out how to charge more while remaining accessible
I received some really positive and constructive feedback. With a few tweeks, I’d love to do something like this again in the future!
My little nut pots
I’ve been working very hard to add more protein to my diet - I aim for a minimum of 20 grams per meal. When my protein intake is high, I have noticeably more energy and focus. Plus, I have fewer sugar cravings! Which is so important for me because once the sugar cravings start, it’s a downward spiral to iced rosé and salty chips for dinner.
This is an easy hack for adding 20 grams of protein to your breakfast. I add it to my yogurt and it keeps me full (and without cravings) until lunchtime. I just hosted a girls weekend at the lake house and these were a big hit.
My little nut pots:
Notes:
This recipe makes 8 pots. Each pot contains about 18-20 grams of protein, depending on which nuts you use. I like to use a mix of almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts.
Ingredients for a batch of 8
Hemp seeds — 1 cup (160g)
Chia seeds — ½ cup (95g)
Pumpkin seeds — ½ cup (70g), toasted
Sunflower seeds — ½ cup (70g), toasted
Chopped nuts — 1 heaping cup (120g), toasted (almond/walnut/hazelnut mix)
Instructions
Toast your nuts and seeds on the stovetop in batches. (optional, but dramatically improves flavour)
Then make a little conveyor belt system and load your pots…
Each individual serving gets:
2 TBL hemp seeds
1 TBL chia seeds
1 TBL pumpkin seeds (toasted)
1 TBL sunflower seeds (toasted)
3 TBL chopped nuts (toasted)
As of… Monday, 1 June 2026
I’ve relocated to Lake Annecy for the summer! My plan is to read, swim and drink rosé on ice. I’m off to a really good start.
Creative highlight from last week: A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe in London. What an incredibly special night!
Current project: Preparing for the Women’s Retreat I’m hosting in June. It’s called the Get Your Shit Together Retreat.
Reading: One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune - which is the very definition of a summer read and I’m loving it!
As of… Monday, June 1
I’ve relocated to Lake Annecy for the summer! My plan is to read, swim and drink rosé on ice. I’m off to a really good start. :)
Creative highlight from last week: A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe in London.
Current projects: Preparing for the Women’s Retreat I’m hosting later this month. It’s called the Get Your Shit Together Retreat. It’s fully booked - but you can sign up for my newsletter to hear about future events.
Reading: One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune - which is the very definition of a summer read and I’m loving it!
The start of summer
watching the sunset after dinner
breakfast in the sun
Lake Annecy, France
A Midsummer Night's Dream
at Shakespeare’s Globe, London
What a magical night! Emma Lim's production is utterly delightful. This is Shakespeare for people who think they don’t like Shakespeare. (Buy standing tickets and you might just end up on stage!)
London looking beautiful on a gorgeous summer night.
Is there anything more empowering than female friendship?
Fried Green Tomatoes
Sophia’s home, so it’s been a week of movies, plays and art projects. The above was a favourite.
