Nothing Better Than Fresh Bread

A French-style bakery opened earlier this week less than a mile and a half down the road from us. As anyone who knows me well can imagine, I am pretty darn excited about it. If there is one thing I could wish for in this world, it's that everyone should have easy access to freshly baked bread. It's just one of many things the French got right when it comes to breakfast and food indulgence (along with cheese, champagne, and dessert), and I've never been able to understand why here in America people just can't seem to wrap their brains around buying freshly baked bread on a regular basis instead of heavily preserved 'bread' loaves that are made to last for weeks on end. Needless to say, I am beyond excited about having a bakery that can provide such things within walking distance.

I took a walk up there earlier today but was saddened to find that they had already sold out of all their buttery pastries (I was really hoping for a pain au chocolat!) and opted for a baguette instead. Can I just comment on how silly I felt once I realized I was walking down the street, baguette in hand, with a striped shirt and hat on? Way to perpetuate ridiculous French stereotypes, Marine!


By the time I got back to the apartment, half of the baguette had already been consumed. I must confess though, I shared some of it with my very happy co-workers when I stopped in there for an iced tea break on the way home. Then I sliced it up and spread a little honey on one slice, and some strawberry preserves on another... absolute deliciousness. I may not have gotten my pain au chocolat, but dammit, I made a point of enjoying myself none the less. The bread was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and still warm too... I can't think of anything better for an afternoon snack.


Other than walking nearly 3 miles, I've spent most of my day off relaxing. I did a short yoga sequence upon waking up this morning, after eating some cereal with strawberries and catching up on some reading. (Yes, I'm still working my way through Life of Pi, but I'm almost done, I swear! Then it's on to something else.)

Here's a little collage for anyone who's curious about what I do at work:


(all photos except for bottom left are from yelp.com)
A few weeks ago we had a customer who drove a pretty long way to come to the shop because she had heard so many good things about us. Well, we gave her a demonstration of what we do and she took some really decent photos on her iphone which she proceeded to post on Yelp. So yes, that is my arm and hands in those photos! ...can you pour hearts on top of people's lattes? I can! And I can bake things too! Man, my life is pretty sweet.

Not to rub it in or anything... :P