What Iris Can't Live Without

When I think of Iris of Fleur Delice I think of French style. Despite living closer to Canberra than Cannes, this lovely lady embodies Parisian chic in her fashion and food...I love visiting her blog for a little slice of le exotique.

Here are her essentials for la belle vie.

1. My daughter: I think it goes without saying. This little lady is my moon, my starts and my sun!
2. My better half: No, really, he is. He is a rugby-playing, trivia-spouting, vegetarian, origami-obsessed IT geek who likes to surprise me with books, plants and almond croissants…in short, my ideal man.
3. Walking: Whether I need to get the groceries, visit a friend, explore a new city, put my wee lassie to sleep, meditate or counteract an almond croissant, walking is what I do.
4. Patisserie and other assorted baked goods: What with breastfeeding and the arrival of winter, I am eating like a horse and this particular food group is proving most helpful.
5. Tea: I’ll give up coffee, I’ll even give up beer, but let me keep my tea! The only day of 2009 where tea wasn’t consumed was back in January – when it hit 42-degrees.
6. Cheese: If it weren’t for cheese, I’d probably be a vegan. I regularly have dreams about cheese. My favourite is goat’s cheese of any kind, followed closely by Brillat-Savarin, raclette, Saint Agur, Feta, mozzarella di bufala, labneh, paneer…um, the list goes on.
7. Hot showers: In the interest of water conservation (and possibly due to laziness), I used to aim for a few shower-less days per week. These days I cling to my daily shower. Not only is life messier, but never have I appreciated having those 10 minutes of solitude so much.
8. Books: The one thing I miss about life pre-baby is having the leisure time to devour book after book until my word-lust is satiated.
9. The sea: I’ve tried, but I find it hard to live far from the seaside. It took 5 hours to get to the coast when I lived in France (yeah, I know, poor me), and during the European heat wave of 2003 I nearly poked my eyes out with forks.