Cottage & Countryside Living
a weekly journal
Bonne année et tous! Happy New Year everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season with friends & family. Here at the cottage we kept things incredibly low key here as it is full on packing mode. But at least we are not eating on paper plates… yet. The container is scheduled for the end of this week and lots of moving parts are happening as well. We had our fire alarm inspection at the cottage (FYI older homes don’t need as many). I sold the mini cooper to one of my followers and the hubby has a buyer for the spitfire coming Monday to pick it up. Now he’s thinking about selling the BMW instead of taking it with us and just buying a new car in France. The 14th will be here before we know it and I’m trying to stay as organized as possible & continue to check things off the to-do list because there is a lot to manage for this move. It’s definitely going to be an adventure between the luggage, the kitties and the hubby when it comes to just the flight. Thank goodness for the bar cart on the airplane LOL. But seriously we are so excited to just finally get to France.
With the new year, I’ve also gotten a renewed focus on my role as a “micro-influencer” and my goal is to work smarter not harder in this role. What’s a “micro-influencer” you might ask? Basically based on my follower count via all my outlets (substack, social media, etc) companies partner with me on product lines to share with my followers where I earn a very small commission based on sales from my clicks. I know a lot of “influencers” out there promote literally everything and anything to earn the “big bucks” but that’s not how I roll. The brands I work with, the links I share are actually products I have personally used, items that I own or things on my wish list to eventually get. To me I prefer been authentic & real when it comes to sharing things like this. I’ll be honest I have fallen into the hook, line & sinker of other influencer links and been disappointed more times than I have been happy with. I never want that with my followers. Plus I am not a big “just to have stuff” kind of person. Everything should be thoughtful, have a purpose, be useful and be something that I love. So how I am working smarter in this role this year?
planning out the content I want to share wit all of you for the month. This is going to be a hard one for me because I like to just share in the moment (which I will in some cases) but this way I can be thoughtful in what I share with all of you to make our engagement with each other genuine & special. Just curious…. What are some of the things you want me to share about our new life in France?
using some of the archives for new content. I’ve got lots of old videos and pics that I haven’t shared before from our cottage in France when we bought it that I’ll be sharing. This way you can see where we started as well as the progress of the projects ahead. Did you know you can book through Airbnb a stay at our cottage in France? Click the link below to see availability.
using Instagram stories to share more in-depth conversations with my paid subscribers. This will be a great way to do some Q & A’s about life in France. Looking forward to sharing that with my subscribers.
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I am super excited about what’s to come in 2025 for Le Petite Cottage and my small businesses (Blanc & Bleu and Les Petite Fleurs) in France. So much to share with you all this year!!!!
This also means the weekly newsletter is going to change up a little bit too for 2025. Each week I’ll be recapping all the behind the scenes for the week: the highs & the lows. Almost like a diary or a journal of the week’s events. Sunday Saves will be staying mais bien sûr (but of course) with more links to things that caught my eye.
Some recipes will now move to my paid subscribers as I will be doing a video or LIVE to go along from the cottage (or our new home) kitchen in France. My goal is twice a month to share a new French recipe and some behind the scenes of shopping at the markets for the ingredients in France so you can see real life in the countryside.
As you already saw on Friday, my curated picks will now be in a separate post and you will be able to find all of them under “French Friday Finds” on my main page. This will make it easy to reference if you are ever looking for that link at a later date.
So this year will be a little different than before but obviously way more content coming your way!
Sunday Saves
Things that caught my eye this week….
One of the things that I am excited about is our area of Normandy is “seafood central” for France with some of the best quality fish (le poisson) and shellfish available especially oysters. Here’s a great article about Oysters & why they are such a big part of the French holidays by My French Country Home Magazine.
Our first BIG project at the cottage is going to be a kitchen renovation. I am loving this article by deVOL Kitchen on trend projections for 2025 kitchen style.
I am probably in the minority when it comes to New Years resolutions. Not because I don’t make them but I don’t do them in January. Instead I wait for Spring. Here’s a great article on why waiting until Spring to set your resolutions makes the most sense.
NEW TREND ALERT: How to make the ‘winter arc’ trend work for you
It brings significant benefits for your beauty and wellbeing routine (with a few caveats) Definitely thinking about doing this!
How cool is this? Make our postal stamps here in the US look …meh.
You may know Manolo Blahnik as the Sex in the City must have shoe but did you know he loves to cook? Here’s a really delicious winter soup recipe via Vogue France.
5 skincare resolutions to make this year, according to a dermatologist I started to downsize my skincare routine last month. Already seeing such a difference in my skin. I’ll share what I am using soon.
How to use topiary, hedges and trees to structure a winter garden Wishing I did more of this at our current cottage but it is already getting the wheels spinning for the gardens in France.
How chocolate—yes, chocolate—can improve heart health and boost mood.
How the European Grocery Shopping Trend Can Help You Save Money and Prevent Waste
ICYMI: My Friday Finds en Francais
Merci beaucoup for following me here on Substack. Please note that some links are affiliate links that I make a small commission at no additional cost to you when you shop using that link. It helps me continue to create free content via here as well as my social media sites. Have a great week!
à bientôt- Jenna