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blueberries.jpg

Blueberries and Louisiana

Growing up in Tennessee we picked blackberries.  Not at a blackberry farm, but they just grew on bushes out behind our house or in the woods.  It was one of those things where we would grab a handful and eat them outside in the summer heat, sweat dripping down our faces.  It was a sign of summer.  Sort of like blueberries are, to me, a true sign of summer in Louisiana.

We are really lucky to have a farmer's market here where you can get fresh picked ones every Saturday through July, but what I really love about Louisiana is that there are blueberry farms, ones where you go and grab a bucket and pick to your heart's content.  It's the experience that takes me back to being a child in summer picking blackberries off a bush in the woods with my friends.

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PostedJune 24, 2014
AuthorLeigh Ann Chatagnier
CategoriesLife
Tagsblueberries, summer, Louisiana, blueberry picking, fresh berries, outdoors, makersworkshop, maisoneverett
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Vulnerably Stripped.jpg

Vulnerably Stripped

For most of my life I have battled with not thinking I was small enough...skinny enough to be considered what I thought the world saw as beautiful.  Constant comparison to other girls and people on TV had my confidence, at times pretty low.  The crash diets started in high school and I would lose ten and gain ten every year it seemed. 

Losing the weight didn't fix my head.  Even when I was at my smallest, I still thought I needed to be skinnier, I still saw the same imperfections that I saw at my heaviest.  It was a mental battle with myself and sometimes still is.

When Canean and I met, I had a hard time seeing myself the way that he saw me...beautiful, imperfections and all.  He loved everything that I had always thought of as something I wish I could change.  He loved my curves and the fact that I wasn't a size zero, and never would be.

It has taken me thirty years, but I finally decided enough is enough and I'm going to start loving this body I have been given.  No more thinking I wish this and I wish that.  The truth is I have been blessed with a healthy body...a strong body.

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PostedJune 18, 2014
AuthorLeigh Ann Chatagnier
CategoriesLife
Tagsbody image, embrace, women, love your body, self, beautiful, beauty, imperfections, vulnerable, stripped, imperfectly perfect
4 CommentsPost a comment
summer sunsets.jpg

Summertime Things

"He was just like summer, and she loved summer.  If she had any wish, it would be to live a lifetime of summers. " Anna Godbersen, Bright Young Things.

I have great memories from my childhood of Summer.  Summer meant no alarm clocks, pool days, sleepovers, cute boys, plenty of ice cream, and tan skin...

I have always loved summertime and still do.

I know it's scorching hot, and Spring just seems so much nicer, but there is just something about summertime that I fall in love with all over again every year.

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PostedJune 12, 2014
AuthorLeigh Ann Chatagnier
CategoriesLife
Tagssummer, summertime, fresh cut grass, life, porch swings, hot days, sun kissed skin, memories, sunsets, fresh produce
4 CommentsPost a comment
what if you fly.jpg

What Happens If You Fly?

I have seen this quote popping up all over social media over the past week.  And I have to tell you that I keep reading it over and over.  I love it.  I love everything that this quote represents for so many of us...I am especially talking to myself here.   What happens if all those self doubts and insecurities and "what if's" get pushed aside and you jump?   What happens if you fly?

I love blogging, I don't know if you know this yet or have figured it out, but I do, I love it so much more than I ever thought that I would.  I love sharing recipes with you, I love talking to you about what's in my head and heart, I love hearing from you when you made something for the first time, or that maybe what I wrote touched your heart.  That makes it worth it. 

I will tell you that there are times though, when blogging sometimes feels like I am running up an endless set of stairs and can't quite get to where I am headed. 

It would be so easy for me to give up and say maybe I shouldn't do this anymore, because maybe it's only my close friends and family that are reading and maybe they don't really care what it is I have to say...

What if I fall? 

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PostedJune 3, 2014
AuthorLeigh Ann Chatagnier
CategoriesLife
Tagslife, risks, dreams, blogging, encouragement
2 CommentsPost a comment
hands.jpg

When Did it Become Not Okay?

In the course of a year I worked full time, gave up a career, became a stay at home wife, and a blogger.  I moved away to Texas with my husband and only ten months later moved back to Louisiana.  It's basically been of blur of life events that happened in a blink of an eye.  But in that year of change, I learned a whole lot about myself and others.  I learned that being a stay at home wife last year brought me so much joy in ways I never would have imagined.  I was healthier, happier, and a wife that could love her husband in new ways and in return I felt his love grow even deeper.

What I struggled with, and still struggle with is that when did it become not okay to be a stay at home wife or mom?  It's okay to be a successful career woman, but for some reason, I am guessing because women have worked so hard to get to the top that I find myself in a world of "you stay at home?"  and "what do you do all day?" with a certain look of disapproval or misunderstanding. 

The fact of the matter is, I think it's amazing that women are running major companies and doing whatever it is that makes them happy.  We live in a world of more education, more money, more, more, more.  And frankly what Canean and I both learned over the past year is that all that "stuff" doesn't matter if you aren't happy.  It simply isn't important.  I think it's just as amazing that there are moms and wives who stay at home and most of the time their works go unnoticed by the rest of the world and yet they continue to do them everyday.

For me (call me old school), but it makes me happy to be at home taking care of things on this end, cooking a delicious meal for my husband, keeping a clean house and making sure that my marriage is a focus on a daily basis...that brings me contentment.

And you know what?  It may not for you and that is okay.  That's my point here.  

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PostedMay 15, 2014
AuthorLeigh Ann Chatagnier
CategoriesLife
Tagslife, love, marriage, stay at home wife, blogger, transitions, social acceptance
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longhorns and bluebonnets.jpg

Longhorns and Bluebonnets

These pictures got lost in the shuffle somewhere between Round Top and today.  I have been meaning to share with you this piece of artwork found in nature that stopped me in my tracks...literally.  I pulled over on the side of the road and got out and snapped away.   I couldn't believe the beauty of these longhorns and bluebonnets combined together.   Simply stunning.

Two parts of nature that are on the opposite ends of the spectrum to make the perfect pair...

Massive, strong, beautiful animals mixed with vibrant, delicate flowers...they were breathtaking.

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PostedMay 2, 2014
AuthorLeigh Ann Chatagnier
CategoriesLife
Tagslife, longhorns, bluebonnets, nature, beauty
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Lavender Blueberry Crumble Ice Cream! 🫐🍦

Homemade Blueberry Lavender Syrup gets swirled into homemade vanilla ice cream with pieces of homemade crumble throughout! It’s truly one of my most delicious ice cream concoctions and a must try this
If you are swimming in summer squash, zucchini, and  corn, make my EASY SQUASH AND CORN PASTA!

It’s the perfect easy weeknight meal and the best way to use up summer produce! Feel free to add some grilled chicken or shrimp for extra protein! I

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