Mondays always seem to start out rough. By the end of the day most Mondays, I feel defeated and convinced that the week will only go downhill. By midweek I’m almost always proven wrong. As social media/life guru Seth Godin said (this is the first and last time I will quote him), “the worst moments are your best opportunity” – when you’re at your nadir, when a mild spar with your significant other sends you into a fit of hysterics (oh, is that just me?), when your piercing migraine makes both light and human contact intolerable, and when you’re so anxious that your stomach has permanently decided to reject anything you try to eat, how do you react? How do you treat others?

I thought this week was downhill (hence the shot of the *awesome* blue car) after Monday but it redeemed itself. Some personal wins – Lost In Cheeseland was named Best European Blog in the 2011 Bloggies! Woo! – and family wins – Mr. Cheeseland feeling accomplished and recognized both at work and out in the forest. And to round out the week, a lovely, inspiring dinner with author Ann Mah (whose book Kitchen Chinese I cannot recommend highly enough). The sun is shining (March miracle!) and it’s the weekend. All is right.

Through this week’s madness I still managed to peruse the articles on some of my favorite blogs which I thought you all might like as well:

Jordan Ferney’s adjusting to her new life in Paris and shares the beauty of getting lost.

My friend Anne landed the behind the scenes look at the most popular Parisian video to date, Le Flâneur.

Andi looks at the OTHER type of urban Parisian housing, the péniche!

Looking for an easy dessert for the weekend? Try my French Yogurt Cake, your stomach will thank you.

Ann Mah gets to the bottom of the great water debacle – CAN a Paris restaurant refuse you tap water?