some kind of frustration

Booo ooo ... Only one of the three books I've illustrated will be published in May.


The 2 others will come later (and I hope they will, but... you never know, that's a main thing I've learnt in the past 5 years with the writing/illustrating/publishing world)

Well, somehow, 3 books in a month, that was a bit like a dream. Something had to happen..

Well, I'm going to focus on my paintings biz for now, gonna try to develop it, and in a couple of weeks I'll start again with Lola Tralala's books. I really want to make them, they're gonna be best-sellers, one day :P

Baywatch babes (made in Brittany)

Esox, who has no blog but who's a very active facebooker, just won a battle with our "most kitsch postcard" war!

Just see by yourself :P





I love every bit of it!
Well done, Esox! ... revenge on its way ;-)

The colour of the sky, and a lil bit more

via Blog writers' faces!

That is the brilliant idea Mahie got!
Talking about the weather on a blog, huhu, that was risky :P But making of it the way to discover more about your blog friends, yeah that's kewl!

That means though you've to accept doing it too, even if we all know how much we do not look like what we see on a screen, how much our voice is actually diffecent, etc etc. ;-)

Anyway, I will simply not watch it, a bit too painful. I did it in French, because I had to limit the damage though :P

My meteo (another blog thingie)
envoyé par candyfroggie

Psshhhiiit: don't you love my "salut les copains du blog"!?! lol

I didn't like doing it but I LOVED discovering more about Mahie, including her voice and lovely smile!

Now I REALLY hope that you, on your blog, will share your meteo! Don't be shy, just do it!

What was it again... International women's Day?

Because my condition as a woman here is *normal* (= privileged), I almost paid no attention to the International Woman's day
So what? ...

The thing is that we just consider it as another "special day" among the 350 other "special days".
Today we celebrate Women's day, *tomorrow* we'll celebrate beer (St Patrick's soon, no?), and later it will be the Galette saucisse day. No way I'll forget the beer and crepe one.
(shaking head at meself)

But the facts can't be denied: as a woman I am privileged, I live a comfortable life, I am respected and totally free. I am not tortured, raped, threatened, killed because of what I am.

I think I'm lucky.
Just wish I could share that luck. Just a little bit more.



edit: have I really made a post about Women's day where I talk about sausages?!! Ouch!
...
.....
..........

Rain and bubbles

Now that I have finished working night and day for the books, I get soooooo much lazy time to boost my biz! ;-)

I've finally updated my gallery, which is a good start.


click here

And if you deepest dream (or not) was to get a print of my paintings, or a tee shirt, whatever actually, I've also started putting my work available at a most reasonable price here :-)
You should add the site to your bookmarks anyway, so many beautiful surprises there, including Jack's, naturally! A pleasure for the eyes!

I thought I had escaped it

but no way, *ma coupine de bloug et de facebook*, Alix had no mercy and now I have to answer the 6 *crispy details* quizz.

I won't translate everything, but the main point is to share 6 of your habits on your blogs.
And to name a gang of innocent souls to do the same on their own blog.

Ok, I'll make it short (2 Heroes episodes on my way, soooo...)

1.Polite (and stoopid)
I never ever tell a friend who cooks for me when I don't like what's gonna be served.
I really can't stand most fish (tuna beyond anything), and if friends cook fish I willeat it (even tuna) with a smile (while getting sick inside).
Martin can't understand that! lol
The thing is that most of the time, I have no luck and get any kind of fish made with love and everything.

2.Insatiable
When I discover a new CD that I love, I keep listening to it for weeks and will stop just before the overdose.

3.Parisian driver
I am anything but that. I do not take any risk, I hate driving anyway. Each time I am behind the wheel, I need to concentrate to remember where is the clutch pedal (embrayage), etc. Nothing is natural for me when I drive, it produces nasty chemicals in my body. And when I do not drive, but sits in the car, I get sea sick.
Please, I need a new invention!

4.Spanish rythm
I do not like having diner early. We usually do it between 10.00pm and midnight. Before, we just enjoy a glass of wine and quiet time, for which we're much hungrier.

5.Sensitive nose
I really can't stand heavy perfumes, like Angel, Chanel, etc. I'd be a man, I couldn't approach a woman wearing them. these smells stand like a wall to me.

6.Bad taste
I love B movies, but you know the real bad ones. Like, what was it again, the one with Jlo...Anaconda?
But I also love crap stuff like the tv movies with the crazy babysitter who seduces the father and destroys the family, or the one in which the innocent young wife is married to a serial killer, etc.

Hiro san, Jack, Jenny, Mahie, Laurienna, and young mama Lune, you're the selected ones to share your secrets and bad habits now!
One day you'll thank me, I swear it!

A storm, 2 pints and 4 devils

The title sums up pretty well my week in Bretagne (except for the pints, the total is slightly underestimated)
The kids had a wonderful time and we finally got what we've asked for a year: a new electricity meter in the hobbit house! Yeeeehaaaaaa
We can now start to read all the books about wires and plugs to make our own electrical circuit. It's gonna be fun.

If we find some €€€, we should be able to finish with the electricy and plumbery in one year. Then I think we can camp there, maybe next summer (I mean in 2009)
We started in 2003. 6 years to make a house with almost no money and with our own hands, not bad, huh!

And now you can just jump down here for the almost-sunny-bananas photos ;-)

click here

I've just left a stormy Brittany

...to find a bloody cold Paris. Ha yes, well still winter around :)

The kids have another week of holidays so of course I'm even more busy than usual.
Multi-taskin Candles on the way!

Maybe I'll manage to unpack the luggage before the end of the week and add a *real* post on here.

I'll do my best!

It's the weekend? oh and much more! :P

I managed to take care of the kids, biz, pack the luggage and FINISH MY PAINTING!
woaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

I'm really happy with it, it's really me in it, I mean it's my style, the kind of topic I love to paint, etc.

Yet, days are not that long so I don't have the time to show it here or on my gallery.
I'll do it as soon as I'm back from a deserved week of lazy (kidding! I'm a mama!) holidays!

take care of your bits while the cat is away :)

Re-load

My batteries start to feel empty...
Martin has much work at the moment, my days are terribly busy and we can only have a break between 10.00 pm and 1.00am.

The kids are extremely resistant when it's time for bed and that specially kills me. I mean it's like the cherry on top of the cake, but not as good. A rotten cherry, yeah lol

I have delivered yesterday my illustrations for the third book. I hope it will work, I hope the books will be published and everything. But you never can tell I guess.
I spent 60 hours on it. 60 hours to fit in the late evenings. (yawn) I should be a millionaire. But no. grmmph

I wanted to finish my new painting before the winter holidays, but I fear I won't have the time. Almost done, but...

... jeez, days are too short!

But it seems they're long enough to watch the first season of Heroes which is absolutely fantastic so far (thank you Michelle & Frederic!). have you watched it? I expected something much worse!

... long enough to play @ Scrabulous and Superheroes on facebook. Superheroes is so funny. But really!

...days are finally long enough to come here and complain on my bloggie

I am a weak woman

and worse, predictable.



See, ask me the question "what do you like to do, any hobby?"
I would answer, yeah reading SF, History and Fantasy, watching movies, music of course, oh and, hmm, ha yes... buying shoes too!

My last pair of shoes, let me see (thinking hard here), I got it for my birthday (the pair I had later does not count really!), beautiful Doc Martins' boots (just naming them makes me wanna run to find them and wear them the whole night!)

I have lots of shoes, glamorous, etc. But I'm a mama running after kids and Loup is a wild one. I have to adapt.

I REALLY needed not just one, but two pairs of new shoes for the coming ermm year. Some need a car to go to work, other prefer bike, well ... I have no choice!
I can only adapt to my daily situation! I NEEDED these comfortable shoes, a professional matter, see.





PS: and Martin understood (with a smile, dunno why!) my professional urge
(happy sigh)

I might not be Jamie Oliver ...

... I don't like cooking anyway :P ...
but...

I tried something yesterday and it was nearly perfect!
To please both the ol' guy and the kids, I tried ham & olives muffins!

Very easy to cook (which is basically the main point for me), with ingredients you usually have around (another important point to me) and which provoked some "yummmms" in the crowd :)

You can have it with the aperitif, or with a salad, or whenever actually, huh... Much better than nuts and chips ;-)

The recipe is here.

Highly recommended by chef Candy ;-)

Just a few candles, just not 40 yet ;-)

Today's the birthday of The One that makes my life so shhhpeshuully perfect :)



Martin's turning 39 (t'is ok for a man to tell his age no? It's going to be better and better for him... you know how men are at 20 years-old, huh ;-)...the older they get the better they get!
unfair!)

Everybody's out right now, and I have planned to cook some treats but I feel ...ohhh... terrible.... miserable... sick! Just the idea to be in the kitchen makes me faint (no, lol, I can hear you! I am really sick!)

Ok, I will try to go there again. Let's see what I can do...

You've just won 500 euros...

How would you spend 500 euros ?
one week in Mexico
a meal in the restaurant of your dreams
a pair of beautiful shoes
a night in a 4 crowns hotel
something completly different (I tell you in the comment)
click here to see the results

The other day with friends and relatives we wondered actually if we could spend such a huge amount of money for a meal in a restaurant.
It sounded a bit shocking to imagine that, but that was the topic.

Half of the people couldn't stand the idea to spend so much money just for a meal, the other half thought it would be fantastic to try it once in one's life.

I absolutely agree with the second idea, if you give me 500 euros and tell me I have to spend them in the next day (and would have this limited choice to do so) I would do that.
The extreme pleasure of new tastes, haute cuisine, etc. Yeah I could do that.
Better, buying new shoes, wearing them for this restaurant and finishing the evening in a perfect hotel!

(happy sigh)
(dreaming feels so good!)


edit: I had chicken tonight, home-made, and it was priceless ;-)

Pucca, Hello Kitty and I

On Valentine's day, I hadn't planned to offer anything to Martin, except these mango-shrimps brochettes made with (MUCH) love :)
(they were delicious))

But I found this





A lil box full of kisses! You pick a card, you get a kiss to share, "wild", "delicate", "innocent", etc

any excuse is good to rush to the cards and play

And yeah, I've won 1 point in the realm of Cutattitude me thinks!

Absobloodilutely Valentined

Don't tell me you won't celebrate it. Being single is not an excuse, you can still buy a delicious chocolate heart and enjoy it in front of Wild at heart (one of my cult movies years ago :P), or The Piano, Madison's Bridge, hmm Love Story... no? (no, errrm, not Love Story!)

Well, no big plan here except that I'll cook a lil something, and as I HATE but truly deeply hate cooking, that's my Valentine Love surprise, huhu :P

Have a fun/happy/salacious one!

edit: as Martin knows about my love for cooking, he had also planned to cook yesterday evening! lol! I think we've now enough to enjoy 2 days of Valentine treats! How about that?! :-)

Very jealous

I still can't believe it... Laurienna has spent a terrific evening with Mika !!!
haha wawww! That must have been fantastic!

Oh I wish I was there too!

And if you don't know Mika yet, you've to run to find his wunnerful album (yes Esox, specially you!) :P

Breathing

It feels so good to get out of the city when the sun's back!
We had a perfect sky, absolutely zen and generous.
I had almost forgotten that the air can actually NOT stink and can even carry the most pleasant smells (flowers, etc)
(happy sigh)

We also did not waste a minute there, in Brittany:

We met 2 plumbers for the hobbit house
We finished some work on the new stairs there and took care a bit of the garden
We enjoyed the most delicious seafood (praires, langoustines, huitres)
Martin and the kids played flute and bagpipe and I even managed to watch the most exciting rugger game on Saturday!
Wooooa :)

We also spent much time with the Julia (the chief of the cattle) and the adorable sheep from Ouessant. You remember we offered them to my parents last summer?
Oh they're so much part of the family now! Scarlett is an adventurer, Rosalie is a bit shy and precious and Cesar is absolutely charming, and he just knows that! :)

They all love our caresses (even if in theory we should not caress the lil male, it's not recommended because then he could feel close enough with us to fight us! lol he is so small, I can't imagine that!)
Maybe Scarlett or Rosalie will have a baby, nobody knows because they're so small that usually you only discover there's a new lamb when he/she's here!
lol. Surprise for Spring! Or not :)

We're back there in 2 weeks, it feels good to let the greenish-sunny-bananas shhpirit in us talk again :)


click here

Some things happen once or twice in one's life

like that, for instance :


the most friendly lil sun shows zactly where we go, the most beauDiful part of Bretagne of course!

(running, packing the luggage for a weekend, some work included -yawn-, and woooosh jumping in the car)

Sunny Bretagne, here we come!

My little secret

(Almost) nothing salacious here, sorry (but next time, I promise!) :P

Been a month now that I've been working on that ...


click here


click here


click here

"Photophores", aka candle holders.
Got the idea while in Germany where you get candles just everywhere on Christmas time.

And a candle, it's more than a light, it's shhhpiritual, kinda magical.

The colours, the material, the candle, the atmosphere it brings, it's absobloodilutely wunnerful!
You should see, for real the reflections on the walls, so bright, so colourful and sharp too.
I plan to sell them actually. I mean, why not, no? But I've to create some other page for that. Jeez, I need time.

I've improved a lot I think since I've made these first ones above. I stick to the Valentine theme (I'm just a girl, you know ;-) for now, then I'll start with Spring or something like that.

Ok, no big deal, that was just my lil secret! ;-)

On Mardi gras, les p'tits clowns sont les rois

Loup left this morning with a big smile and a red nose :-)



Do you celebrate Mardi gras where you are?
3 days we've been eating crepes and no overdose yet

Am I getting old or something?

...actually the question is more like how long do you sleep every night?

I do not sleep much (lil voice shouting here: "NOT ENOUGH")

We usually go to bed at about 1.00
Waking up at about 7.00, with usually some interruption during the night (the lil wolf joining us, Lola having nightmares, etc)

But it's been 2 days now that we've only slept 5 hours, and God, I feel as if my blood had been sucked by a vampire. I could just fall on the floor and sleep for about a hundred years.

I think I need 7 hours to feel ok. More? I just can't, I don't know how to sleep more than that (the lil price to pay for the endless happiness of being a mama, huh :P)

And when I read in magazine the top models telling that their lil secret to be sooooo beautiful is to get long nights of sleep! I find this very unfair! I'm just doing the opposite! grmmphhhh ;-)

Stuck in the laundrette

"What a way to start the day!
I'm stuck in a laundrette (remind me next time to NOT give a pint of water to my devils before I send them to bed!)

The sky is lovely this morning, pinkish in a polluted way. I almost like it. Well I like it.
But it's bloody cold, so I'm stuck here. It's warm.
Too bad Martin's not around, he would have made a perfect Levis guy in the laundrette

And what do I do here? I could be reading a book or, yum, people's mags. But no, I'm blogging! (shakking head)
It's just that... I have my notebook with me, the one I carry all the time, just in case something crazy happens and I worry I can forget it. As I almost never go to the laundrette, you never know what may happen, huh ;-)
I am ready, paper and pen on the knees.

I need a coffee.

Ok, let's concentrate, I'm supposed to write a bloggie.

Jeez, 20 minutes to go..

I need a coffee.

...

Done! The machines have stopped. It's quiet and the sky outside still look polluted but more greyish :(

Been dreaming for the 20 last minutes it seems!
Dreaming in a laundrette.
Nice!

And the best thing is that I can go now and have my bloody coffee!"

wooooosh

been fishing ;-)

...and I got this lil treasure!
Nothing spectacular at first sight, but very hmm, touching maybe. Which is definitely the most important, don't you think?
I like a lot the song and the lil video that goes with it... if you've a minute, it won't be a real waste of time me thinks :)

"Gone Fishing" by Second Person
envoyé par Gobblynne_Animation

long free weekend: let's party!!!

Tomorrow my adorable lil devil leaves for Brittany, for 3 days.

3 days where just the two of us will jump into bed, and will wake up without the lil devil between us :)

3 days including a restaurant with Lola, a dinner at friends', relaxed shopping, a happy hour or two in front of rugger (6 nations' starting! yeeepeeeeeee!), some wall painting and peaceful work too.

It feels good to have a lil break, I tell you! I already miss my babe, but ok, he's the one who'll have real fun ;-) ... and 3 days are not so long, I should be fine, and so should he :)



the song that goes with the image above is here. If you've never seen/heard the rock Opera Tommy, by the Who, which I simple looooove, I'm sure you know many songs of it! Pinball wizard, etc)

getting ready for the next Olympics :)

I did not think Loup would stand on the ice, but it wasn't a problem at all for him!
Lola is already used to ice-skating (every year Paris opens several ice rinks outside for a few months, which is just brilliant! Here it's in front of Montparnasse railway station)

The kids had so much fun!



Talking of ice-skating, am the only one below 75 years-old to watch figure skating (Martin's rolling his eyes already! lol)?
The only person that I know who openly enjoys it is my grand-mama... and Lola who's just been initiated to it :P

I know watching figure-skating feels like Sunday afternoon cupoteatime (if that means anything! lol), but I love it!
The very kitsch costumes, hair, make-up, the boring songs, the comments... terrible, but just terribly perfect for Lola and I! hehe

We jump on the sofa, grab a warm blanket, ask Martin for a hot drink, start to gossip about the talented ones on the screen... and, well, life is perfect then!

I might have missed the Golden globes...

but, you will see, I'm gonna win the Oscars with that!

Title: the 5 golden rules to be a successful cook
Leading roles: Loup, Lola, 1 flying spoon and 2 lovely eggs
Cameraman: Martin

The 5 golden rules to be a successful cook
envoyé par candyfroggie

You're hungry? I mean REALLY hungry?

well let's see... (covering my eyes, clicking on the first recipe)...
...today we gonna have...

ALLIGATOR!
yummm
with snails bits
double-yummmm

the recipe is here: Alligator fumé farci à la seiche garni de caviar d'escargots ("smoked Alligator stuffed with octopus bits and served with snails caviar")

First comment there: "J'aimerais bien essayer la recette mais où est-ce qu'on trouve l'alligator et le caviar d'escargots ?"
lol

no, but really! Waw!

Pleasurama

So easy to make me happy, one of these would be just perfect!



sleeping would come first here :)

And what about you, what do you dream about just right now?

Existential question aka supa interesting stuff !

(but trust me!)

Ok, we're in the middle of the last season of Grey's Anatomy, you don't watch series, ok you can still play here (but -oh nooo- you miss so many brilliant stuff!).

With Martin we often have girlie talks (which I love), and yesterday he told me Mc dreamy was his fav (in comparison with Mc Steamy)! Nonono, it can't be!

vs

Your point?

So, steaming or dreaming?
Mc Steamy
Mc Dreamy
See the results

(I just know you're happy to have visited my bloggie today! :P)

Blue Monday ?

don't forget your vitamines
and tonight, well, have a glass of wine!

...'cause today is said to be the most depressing day of the year, nothing less.

You feel down today?

Well, it's not that hard to build such theories me thinks, it's winter, we lack sun, and well, it's Monday! Mondays are always depressing (yawn)

But today, I do not feel that bad.

...I wouldn't mind going back to bed though

Do you talk Facebook?

-I have 10 active games at Scrabulous that I plan to win (of course!)

-I also plan to show my Q to King Romu at the music Challenge

-As a pirate, I've reached the highest level (I am now "Captain Bonny"! wooohaaaa!), I can now fight against all the "Chuck Norris" (the highest level in Ninjas, my ennemies, lol). But I've lost all my gold. Damn!

-I've been poked 3 times by Jerôme today, I expect a fourth time. hehe

-My fluff friend, George, is crazy for Cheesecake. But I can't buy him more of them, I've lost all my munny at races! grrmppphhh

-I've saved one poor lost Alien, named John John, he's the cutest!

-I've taken the New Year's resolution quizz, and again loved to compare the results with friends there.

-I'm Fred and George Weasley, I'm Marge from the Simpson, I'm a daffodil, and I'm the drunk drunk type, my stripper name is Heather Amberspot.

-I wish I could convince you to join there, but I fear that with all what I've just said, you will never open the facebook page. lol
Too bad, but really!

(When do I find the time to play there? I have no idea!!!!)

mais Kwoon c'est kwa?

So I watched and watched again this video(2 posts below), then I surfed a bit, discovered the music was made by a French band with an exotic name Kwoon.

They've made one album Tales & Dreams. I've heard 3 songs that I really enjoy and the comments refer to Pink Floyd (huhu, when you name THE band, I'm an easy target!), Tim Burton, music that feeds your imagination.



A couple of songs heard, good critics, enough to convince me. When I make these *blind* jumps with music, it's really the 6th sense who talks. It works often pretty well, but sometimes it fails, huh!

Do you *buy* new music this way, with your 6th sense? or do you need to really *know* what you buy?

14 euros for Kwoon's album, only sold on their site. Ok, I'll make the jump before the end of the weekend!


PS: what's the last artists you've discovered? Anything you would recommend?

Oh no!!!!

Yesterday morning for my biz rendez-vous, I decided to wear the most beautiful present I got for Christmas.
Jewels. Very *schpeshul* ones! Martin had bought them from THE *jewel Goddess* aka Laurienna. Laurienna is a most inspired one, you should see her creations, they're just wawwww!!!

So I went there, wearing my lil treasure. Luck would be on my side!
And yes, it happened this way :)



Unfortunately...

...4 hours later when I came back at home, I realized one of the earrings was missing!!!!!


I don't think I'll find it now, but who knows... miracles happen too.

They're so *delicate* and *precious*, and mean so much to me.... I'm really mad at meself for losing such treasure!!!!!

boooooooooo

The magic of Art

is like with this video I've found. I have no clue really what it is about, yet I love it.
It touches me. Why? I have no precise idea! hehe
It's absolutely beautiful and it's an open door to imagination, that's why I love it maybe, yes.
Oh and the music, perfect!

If you're curious, just click below, huhu

I lived on the Moon
envoyé par y_puig

edit: from the official site, this video is "the story of a father, teaching his son the art of dreaming, to escape the cruel world he's living in.
BeauDiful
(happy sigh)