Ferocious Snow

Okay, so today I walked to the gym as usual. It was drizzling lightly and there was light hail, but otherwise no major weather conditions happening.

A couple of hours later, I was in the locker room getting dressed to leave and saw snow falling through the tops of the frosted glass windows. So I decided to check it out and opened the window to see HUGE SNOWFLAKES coming down hard and an ankle deep blanket of snow already on the ground. SHIT!! Of all the days I chose NOT to wear my cute new Sorel waterproof boots! :(

I got all bundled up and hit the road. Luckily, I'd worn knee socks under my workout pants and I had a hooded jacket! They had closed the intersection and there were two empty buses right in the middle of the street where I guess they'd made everyone get off and hoof it. They let a couple of cars go by but they were trying to plow the snow and throw down the salt. The snow on the street was at the same level as the sidewalk so it was all just one big street of white. I stopped to take a photo with the Blackberry of the same spot that I posted just last week. You can't see the super crazy snow coming down but it was nuts!

It was kinda fun to make tracks through the fresh powder but after 10 minutes, I was done with that. Got home and took a ton of pics of our back terrace covered in snow. Then I went out and made a snowman complete with a carrot nose. But he fell over and is dead now. oh well. JP got home around 9:30pm (terrible traffic) and told me that they haven't had a snow storm like this since 1996. crazy.

Our tree 2010

I forgot to post the picture of our new fake xmas tree. It's cute, right? (sorry, I didn't rotate the photo)

We decided to go faux for a few reasons:

1) JP says that we saved one tree from being killed in the forest
2) I still found dried pine needles from last year's tree up 'til a couple of months ago
3) I won't be going back to France until mid-January and I didn't want to come home to find a dried up Charlie Brown tree with all our ornaments dangerously sagging on it. (cuz you know boys don't clean up and put away glass ornaments, etc like girls do)

Anyhoo...je present notre sapin de Noel! ta-da!

Oh sapin de Noel, oh sapin de Noel...how lovely are your (stiff plastic) branches (that smell like nothing)....lalalalalala :)

December snow!

Ding-Dong December is finally here!

The fall leaves of November were really nice, and yeah, experiencing "real sweater weather" was cool. But now, the bitter cold has begun to set in and me no likey the weather so much.

I've been walking to the gym almost everyday, because cold weather equals hungry carb eating Grace, which in turn equals 10 lb heavier Grace. (Don't get me started on how it sucks that you can workout super hard and lose 2 lbs and then gain 10 lbs in like a week! ARGH.) Anyhoo, It's a 20 minute partial up-hill trudge where I play the "dodge the fresh smashed dog shit on the sidewalk" game. Incredibly fun and good for foot-eye coordination. I decided to show you part of my walk but have chosen to omit the scary post-workout pic of me in my not-so-sexy winter walking gear. You know how the internet is...it lives forever.
So, at the top of the hill yesterday, even though it was the coldest day yet, I decided to take a different (and longer) path home and look what I found! Giraffe's artful cousins! (reference to my first post with Fontenay street art) Unfortunately little giraffe has been paved over by some rock work and no longer exists. All that's left is a single heart on the sidewalk in front of the wall he used to be on. Hopefully, you'll enjoy some of these in his honor. R.I.P. little giraffe.

I think I wanna be a performance artist

NUIT BLANCHE happens once a year in Paris. I asked the hubs why is it called "white night?"


Apparently, when you work all day, stay up all night then go to work again the next day, it's called a "white night." I, for one, who am borderline narcoleptic, will possibly never experience the delirium of such sleep deprivation, but it was fun trying. ("Try" being the key word. When the metro stops running at 1am but the event lasts 'til 7am, how ya gonna make that work? eh?)
It was Sandy Halloran's first night in gay Paree so we met up in the Marais and had dinner at an old school brasserie, then headed out into the night. Queues were long for every art installation, so we roamed the night with the gazillion others. We saw a purple car with a cassette player strapped to the hood playing a random radio recording, ghost busters in a church playing experimental music, and a really cool architectural cube structure on a bridge that had lights synchronized to music. (none of which I have photos of)

I wanna be a ghost buster with a Bose speaker strapped to my back, pulling a mini vacuum cleaner with blue xmas lights on it...or...NOT.

"...so the Papa Tomato said to the Baby Tomato...KETCHUP!"

The house is a mess. Has been for (checking the calendar) ONLY two weeks. No (checking the calendar again) - two weeks, two days. Feels like two years.

Finally had some time off (two weeks, two days) and decided to begin the long overdue process of replacing the kitchen floor. When I moved in, the floor was horrible. Too costly to completely replace, I chose to cover it with stick down floor tiles. Never imagined almost six years later, I'd be the one pulling them off, one by one, applying the adhesive remover and then scraping the gunk off hours later. Nightmare project. Next time, I'm leaving the endless floor scrubbing to Cinderella.

The test area. Okay, maybe not so bad...

This floor is a liar. It is bad!

By now, I officially hate these tiles.

The new floor will be beautiful "henna" colored click tiles that, once installed, will "float" over the old floor. Problem is, I didn't order enough. Exactly half of what we needed. Such a girl. I can build a set with my eyes closed, but ask me to measure the square footage of my kitchen - fail!

In the meantime, while waiting for more flooring, I bought a new sleek refrigerator and fell in love! Stainless cabinet depth model - the bottles sparkle it's so bright inside.

waiting for the new flooring, hating the old fridge

...five store visits later, I buy my first major kitchen appliance!

Today, I tore everything out of my office, had a faster internet connection installed, and decided with the amount of misplaced furniture, kitchen items, and odd flea market finds, my place looks ready for an estate sale or an episode of hoarders.

"Yes, that is a canvas monkey painting."

"Yes, that was given to me by Ruth."

Old Advantex film...toss!

Siouxsie Peek-a-boo mask - keep!

Luckily, the remaining flooring arrived today and will be installed next week. See why I haven't written sooner? I'm in love with talking about remodeling and refrigerators. Yawn. Even I know I'm boring you. But that's what's going on.

The heat is finally here, everyone is cleaning up and out their shite, and Grace will be here soon to see the new look.

PS - just so you know I'm not exaggerating, I'll add a picture in the morning. In the darkness, the piles look like cityscapes in the shadows.

And then it was August...

Oooh weeeee!

I turned the page on my "California" calendar to the month of August and there it was, in big red letters. The second to the last box in the bottom right corner.

September 3rd- GO HOME! :)
I have officially begun the countdown to coming home. It's strange to see the big red letters that I wrote back at the end of February. I wish I could fast forward through these last four weeks and beam myself (Star Trek style) right into my bed all squishy and warm in my parent's guesthouse in Downey. I can already hear the customs officer saying "welcome home." It always gets me choked up; it means so much more nowadays.

I can't wait to hear your voices, to give you hugs, to hear all the gossip, to taste real Mexican food and yummy frozen yogurt, to smell the ocean, to drive my car and sit in traffic, to go to Target and Costco, to...to...to...

I just can't wait.

I promise...

...I am going to post soon. I was saving it as my special treat after I finished my expense reports. Now, it will be my special treat after Sunday Weekend Edition's puzzlemaster. Bon Jour and Bon nuit. xxK

**Monday, 9/08/2010 - 3:15pm, PST. STILL working on expenses. xxK

now that it's August, let's talk about July

I couldn't seem to get myself together to post a thing in the month of July... and it was an active month. Before it gets away from me, I'm going to start posting some fun things that happened in that sometimes hot, sometimes gloomy, always active month. First and foremost, there were fireworks (as seen here on the 3rd of July at the Reinika Party House).

No party is complete without a box of old fireworks (will they still work? will we catch Douglas/Todd's boat on fire? just light em up and we'll see!)

It's always fun to try to write your name with a sparkler. It would be more fun if Ruth knew the appropriate setting for her fancy camera to capture the action... a lucky shot or two were captured nonetheless. :)

And thus began our July. Another installment of Americana Fun to follow...

Paris Plage

PARISIAN SUMMER = Sun, rain, humidity, tourists, long lines and pasty white Parisians in tiny bathing suits lying on the beach along the Seine. WT?! A beach along the river, you ask? Oh yes, the summer phenomena is back my friends.

Since 2002, the city has been putting on "Paris Plage" for the denizens of Paris. They bring in tons of sand, boxed palm trees and lounge chairs and set them up along one side of the Seine to re-create the beach. I went there yesterday to check it out.

It was pretty fun to people watch...oh, the eye candy and the eye sores. Yowza! Teeny weeny suits on guys and gals and I spied many shades of rosey-uh-oh-I'm-really-gonna-hurt-tomorrow skin in the crowd. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere though and it was so nice to bury my feet in some sand. All that was missing was the smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves...."ain't nuthin' like the real thang baby."

6 weeks and counting...

Brocante Fever

Last weekend the hubs and I hit the road back to Champagne to see some friends, drink some bubbly and check out the goods at the annual brocante in Charleville. Tu veux une armoire? Look no further. Begging for a buffet? Et voila! The sun was beating down so hard that the tar on the streets was melting- thank goodness I was wearing a crappy pair of Converse and not some cute sandals! ha.

With all the treasures to be found, I came away with a solo bag of pretty ribbon to jazz up future gifts. Believe me, ice cream grandma would've been in our back seat in a minute if we had somewhere fun to put her! (Thinking back, she'd look super-bon in our teeny backyard! Missed opportunity- crap.)

Oh well, there's always next year!
A toute de suite!

My Sweet Girl

I just wanted to take a moment to say that I truly miss my girl, Maddie. We met on February 14th, 2000 and we had to say goodbye on June 26th, 2010. Madeline was with me for 10 1/2 years of her life, and I'm awfully glad she decided to let me provide her forever home. She was my sweet, loving and often crazy dog for a long time, and I miss her. I'm grateful she stayed with me as long as she could, and even more grateful she's somewhere lounging in the sun and chasing small critters to her hearts content.

Thanks to both Kristina and Gracie for being so good to her, and giving her just what she always wanted: companionship and love.

Paris Made By Hand

A short while ago, a very stylish friend of mine sent me a cool book to explore Paris with...(hmmm...who could that be? xxK) I've read through it a gazillion times and have marked all the cool little places I want to check out. So far, the hubs and I have hit 3 of them.

Yesterday, we checked out... Le Petit Atelier de Paris- OMG. Talk about minimalist cuteness at its BEST! The front window is adorable and enticing with simple white ceramic doodads hung with care. I want to buy EVERYTHING there! Not to mention the sweet little pup dozing off in his little wooden house in the shop. gasp- tres tres mignon! We will go there together ladies. Oh yes, we will go there.

Pep's - apparently the ultimo in umbrella fixer-upping. His wee (and I mean weeeee) shop is in a secret garden-esque courtyard that's 400 years old! Alas, Pep only works for 3 hours on Saturdays so no dice in checking out the merch, but we peeped inside and oooh the treasures that await.
Merci beaucoup for the fun book Kristina!!

Take Me Out to the Baaaaaaallllllll Game (esp if it's in San Francisco!)

A couple months ago, when Jet Blue was having one of those fantastic sales, Mark and I decided to go to San Francisco. More importantly, when the Red Sox would be playing the Giants. Yes, ladies, I've planned trips around concerts, shopping, and parades...this was my first ball game. And because of the Hollywood Bowl season, we had to be back before Sunday.

So here's how we managed to eat, drink, and be merry for thirty-two hours:

10:30 am:

Mark swore by the food at Dottie's True Blue Cafe. Warned me there would be a line and we would probably wait an hour. He was right. But man, was it delicious. I went a little carb crazy - how could you not? Black bean cakes, I'm in. Share some blueberry-cornmeal cakes, don't mind if I do. Food made with love. Worth all the calories, honest. I think I even used REAL sugar in my coffee.

1:00pm:

We dropped our bags off at the Hotel Adagio and headed to Union Square. Since it was extra chilly at noon, and knowing we were seeing a night game, I convinced Mark we had to go to Neimans to buy a sweater. In reality, it was so I could have a popover. Found a thin layering T on the rounder and a seat at the bar. Two sidecars later, the popover arrived. With a view of Union Square and strawberry jam melting on the hot pastry, we spent a couple hours taking in the customers and enjoying the booze.

5:30pm:

This may be one of the best ball parks for location, location, location. And the only time I've seen a game where I wish I was wearing North Face. Man, Chilly! We arrived early enough to watch batting practice, wave to the kayakers in the bay, and walk around the stadium.

We wore Red Sox hats to represent the nation (and to regulate our core temperatures). Even after my veggie dog and cinnamon walnuts (okay, and Irish coffee) I was becoming a human popsicle. We lasted six innings. The Red Sox were loosing and I couldn't feel my feet. I even passed up a Flashmob Michael Jackson Dance Party so I could be back in the hotel to watch the ninth inning on TV.

Our first day was great. Our second day...dare I say, even better? Stay tuned.

The Carnies are Coming!

Yesterday, I went to the Sorbonne to register for my summer course. It took all but 5 minutes to get in and out and I even got a cool student ID card. (which I will not share cuz the pic was taken after a sweaty walk uphill and a case of the pre-menstrual bloat) Since the day was so nice, I decided to take a walk through the Tuileries Gardens to the W.H. Smith to buy a magazine.

BAD idea...My sandals were giving me insane blisters and the little pebbles kept finding their way in and rubbing up against them. Hobble hobble, Ow. 6 bandaids later...

GOOD idea...At the end of the garden they were setting up for a summer carnival and lordy what I came upon was a party prop dream! Do you think this guy would fit in Donny's living room?!? Oy vay!

It's OFFICIAL...ete est ici enfin!

Summer, oh how I love thee...let me count the ways...

UN...Merci, I'm dying to take you guys there!
It's like Anthropologie on crack and it's a guaranteed 'love at first sight' moment. I mean, check out the cuteness that greets you at the door! Even they are announcing the arrival of my favorite time of year...sigh, just lovely. I could stay in this store all day. Three levels of retail happiness filled with a chotchki lovers delights.

DEUX...design shops filled with oodles of cool stuff like these lamps. Me likey!

TROIS...what's summer's day without a little froyo (yes, it's faux Pinkberry, but who cares!) and a little street entertainment?

ET VOILA!!!

L'art de la ville

I knew I'd seen him somewhere on my way to the gym when Kristina posted him earlier.There he is, the sweet little giraffe...peeking out at me from the sun-shiny, cobblestone cul-de-sac where he lives. Hearts & flowers float around him, just as they should...

Turn the corner and flash your open mouth smiles cuz your personal paparazzo is waiting to snap your pic! Supreeeeze! Gah.

Reading Is Sexy

I still laugh when I tell people I'm in a book club, don't know why. I'm no fan of Oprah, so don't go thinking she inspired it. I was invited by Keri Luna, didn't know anyone other than her when it started, and so far I'm loving it. I love to read, and having a reason to make time for it has been awesome. Keri and I co-hosted at her house last Sunday and threw a themed "Wuthering Heights" tea. You can't ask me for a theme and not expect a car-load full of gak to go along with it. I think we might have overwhelmed the other book clubbers with the English tea cups, dainty linens and crustless cucumber and cream cheese tea sandwiches, but a good time was had by all. Plua, there were bonnets and top hats for some fun old-timey picture taking. *bonnet in photo handmade by Keri!*

ps, I got so busy with life and tea party planning that I didn't even finish the book... Book Club FAIL!

Taiko Drums and Champagne

Friday nights with the hubs = going out = a happy Grace

(cuz that means I don't have to cook!)

We checked out a ballet at the Bastille Opera tonight; it was a Japanese story called Kaguyahime.Gaggles of my peeps showed and it was quite a percussion spectacular. Taiko drums, gold lame and champagne during the break. Cheers to that! 

Afterwards, we walked to our favorite American burger joint- B.I.A. (Breakfast in America) and got in right before a party of 12 showed up...passed on the chili cheese fries this time and had a yummy omelet with home fries for dinner. Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner?!

my love for photobooths knows no bounds

Why didn't I know?

Why didn't I know clogs would come back in style? I just gave these away last year! Don't you love how they're Snow White meets fashion farm girl chic. Grrrr.

confessions of a 2 timer

i'll admit, i knew i'd do it twice before i'd even done it once. the first time was on a Friday, we had plans, it started with wine, ended with laughter and tears. and some disappointment. have to admit there was disappointment, not like the Very first time which was all around good and lovely and exciting.

the second time (tonight) was also planned, different partners, started with wine again and was followed again by laughter, no tears, and again the disappointment. I guess it's just never really as good as the First Time.

but I still love those girls. :)

what did you think I meant?

Summer Sundays...

Ah... summer Sundays. It poured rain then stopped. I walked to the farmer's market with the hubs and loaded up the trolley with fresh fruits and veggies. We hit up the boucherie and boulangerie and headed home. Taxes, bills, 3 loads of laundry, house cleaning and a shower later, we headed out to Paris for a little mindless SATC2 relief. Fabulous fashion, mais OUI! Storyline, pas du tout. Quel dommage.

A short time later in the 13th, in the heart of Chinatown, we were seated at a two top at the Massena- A Chinese restaurant complete with a neon-glowing live lobster tank, rounds of ten with lazy-susans, dance floor, disco ball, live band and wait, could it be? Oh yes, a wedding party in progress. As we happily munched on dim sum, shrimp, veggies and cold Tsing Tao, we watched line dancers giddy-up to some John Denver country tunes. The Cambodian bride, dressed in tight, teal lycra and her groom hit the dance floor, grooving to the Cleopatra-esque 60+ year old diva who had taken to the stage. Dressed in a long, brown taffeta gown adorned with sparkling silver sequins, she belted out the latest Cambodian dance tunes. It's pure entertainment.

I laugh, then sigh with amusement and content. These people are celebrating tonight. In the glow of the hot pink lights, happiness radiates in the exchange of smiles and I'm reminded of the good things in life. Suddenly, I'm smiling too...

unsupervised sunday

my only goal today was to leave the house before noon. mission accomplished! though Kristina slept in a wee bit too late for breakfast, I was up and ready for the LBC, so I continued solo. after a brief stop in at Portfolio where Cole (my niece) prepped two delicious iced non-fat latte's for me, I delivered one to Kristina and took mine to The Coffee Cup Cafe. solo or not, that breakfast was delicious. the small bit of shopping I did next door was where the unsupervised danger came in, and culminated in a ring purchase later on at Blue Windows... it was 50% off, so it's ok, right? in the end, I decided maybe I should just sit somewhere and read so as not to spend any more money. Peet's on 2nd St. was the location of choice, and I also snuck in a letter to Gracie with my gimp hand while I was at it. thanks summer! thanks LBC! next time, I want my girls with me.