It's an exciting milestone for me to have reached 10,000 followers on Instagram. A really BIG thank you to everyone who has embraced @thislifeisbelle. I've enjoyed sharing snapshots of our travels, work and family life, and I really appreciate everyone's support. Thank you so much to everyone who has followed along!
2018 has been a busy year so far, with lots of traveling squeezed in between lots of renovating. Here's a bit of a recap, with some of the most popular moments from Instagram...
Rosie at Whakarewarewa in New Zealand's North Island.
We celebrated the New Year with a whirlwind adventure around New Zealand. Catching up with old friends, making our way through the North Island in an RV, then exploring the immense natural beauty of the South Island, with some wine tasting in Marlborough thrown in for good measure.
Nusa Penida.
Back in Bali we discovered some awesome new places to hang out, got cracking on choosing a contractor to build our villa, and explored the island paradise of Nusa Penida.
The pictureseque village of Sarrant, near our home in France.
Then in March we arrived back in France to move into our new home and start work on the renovations. It's been a magical few months; appreciating the joys of life in South West France, learning what it's really like to live in a tiny rural village, and developing a greater understanding of parenthood in France.
Zucchini flowers from our local farmer's market in Beaumont de Lomagne.
I have also found myself spending a lot of time in the kitchen, inspired by both the beautiful produce at our local farmer's market and all the passionate food-lovers that live in our region, the culinary heart of France.
Embracing French classic cooking. This Coq au Vin is worth the effort!
Life has been very fun and very busy at the same time. In addition to our projects in Bali and France, we're also renovating this loft apartment in Berlin, while also applying for the Portuguese Golden Visa and remodeling two apartments in Lisbon.
We're also getting better and better at taking time to take it slow. It's been such a pleasure to be in Europe for the summer, and we've been embracing the warm weather and long evenings. The balmy nights have also inspired lots of creative mixology, and resulted in some truly delicious and original cocktail recipes, like this Mediterranean Gin & Tonic.
This Strawberry Negroni is another winner for a warm summer's evening.
It's hard to believe we're more than half way through 2018 already. Where has the time gone?! Things don't calm down for the rest of year either, with a trip to Bali in August to oversea the building of the foundation for our villa.
Rosie being a legend on our vacation in Bordeaux.
Rosie is also growing up unbelievably quickly, and when we return to France in September she will be starting school at the local 'Ecole Maternelle'. She's really excited, and we're excited for her too - even though we're going to miss having her around during the day.
Later in the year I'm also going to be launching a new interview series, Conversations with Women. I'm excited to introduce some more voices to the blog :-)