I may be an old rusty dusty girl ...

...I'll still feel like a queenette today! hehe



the lil family by Lola

The devils have already worked hard for me! Yesterday before jumping into bed, they prepared *my* cake! Strawberry pie... Yummm!



And this morning, a lil elf (that you might recognise here) brought zillions of flowers! Yeepeeeeeee!


(sowwy for the bad quality pic, awful light this morning)

Later in the morning, when I found 40 minutes for myself, I decided to do something I've never done since Lola was born (5 years ago!!! oh la vache, ça date!): grabbed a book and went to the park . Wunnerful!



Phone calls, emails, comments, visits, surprises. I'm 34, and that's a detail. I'm 34 and I bless the BeauDiful sky for all the people that makes my life so precious.

Michele arrived earlier with orchids, so much beauDy in a couple of petals!



And then, there was my mom behind the door! She brought champagne, a ladybug ring for Lola and a great necklace for me, the old fart!



In the evening I could enjoy a perfect diner:







And got spoiled again, with most fashion-ista rubber boots! hehe (can't wait for rain now!)



and the cherry on the cake, something I did not expect at all!





On Saturday morning, I will enjoy a Thaï massage!


I must say I've had a great day! Do I really need to wait for another year to start again?

the "Oh my God" day! (first part)

When Martin, Mahie and I arrived in le quartier latin, we started walking on Boulevard St Germain.
Then we took rue du Four and guess who just stood in front of us with her boyfriend? (don't ask Martin, who did not recognize her of course :P)

Mishh Dita Von Teese! No kiddin! The 2008 Pin-up you know?!



She smiled at us (I swear it! lol) when she saw our ghost faces and open mouths! She was *fatal* but looked so much younger than on her professional pics! She was wearing a lovely green dress, she looked fresh, adorable and happy. Small too! Her boyfriend (very normal guy, I mean not weird, etc) looked pretty much in love :P
I wasn't a fan of her *look* before, but I've instantly changed my mind! Wattawoman! :)

and that provoked the first "Oh my God" of the series!



hehe

Then we joined Jenny, and it was really time for a drink. So we went there, on a terrasse of some nice expensive bar.
Well it seems we made some kind of right choice...

After 5 minutes, a young beautiful French actress walked with her baby in the arms, just near our tables. She was smiling to everybody, proud mama probably ;-)

Her name, Anna Mouglalis



She was really tall, had longer hair, no make-up, wore jeans and looks doing really fine!

Next one... ok, a bit less glamourous ;-)

It took us about an hour to find the name of this French singer!
Would you recognize him?



Not easy huh! But if I tell you Diabolo Menthe, maybe the French ones here will know! :)

And for the last one, I managed to take my cam for a pic!



Too bad I was too slow for Dita though :P
We did not know his name, but just found it on the internet: Stanislas Merhar, who played in several movies.
It seems he had some kind of bad hair day, huh ;-)

Well, I can tell you we had some great *oh my gawwwd* laughs with that!
But that wasn't the very best part of the day ....

A blogs' friends' gang in Paris

No there was not some kind of "bloggers" meeting yesterday, but a blog's friends' meeting! Which is completely different! ;-)

I first joined Mahie at Montparnasse. We've been blog's friend for a year maybe. Got on instantly very well! So amazing!
Then we joined Martin.
Came across lovely Dita, and had the huge pleasure of meeting Jenny!
Then we sat for a beer, well 2 actually, and started to share lots of giggles all together, that was really a precious moment!


Mahie, Jenny, I and Martin


the girlzzz (from Martin's perspective! he's ermm TALL! lol)

Then it was time to join the star of the evening, I mean Benoit! Yeeehaaaaa!!
We arrived at Saint-Michel at the same time as a fookin storm! Thunder and rain welcome us! Martin and Mahie courageously ran under heavy showers while Jenny and I waited just near :P

That was funny to meet each other while the elements around us were getting crazy (still thunder, more rain, more wind!)
We quickly joined a restaurant and I've had a most wonderful time there; everybody seemed relaxed and happy to be there. A gang of old friends, nothing less!

Benoit was in great shape and having a really good time in Paris :)
I did not expect to see him looking so well after the awful year he's had, that was another great surprise: feeling he was recovering pretty well!

We talked about everything, including physics (eeeck!) or food (phewww!)

Talking of food, it was really good! We had fois-gras, terrine de saumon, gaspaccho, chèvre chaud, blanquette, fois de veau, tartare, salmon, entrecôte, crème brûlée, fondant au choc, etc! Yuuumm!

Here are a few pics, not good enough I fear:


Martin and Benoit (talking cams), and in the middle: a bottle of delicious red wine from Vendée :)


Mahie discovering the pics Benoit had taken earlier


2 most charming creatures :P Mahie and Jenny !


Benoit, the Vendée's bottle, and Mahie :)

Later we went on le Pont Neuf to enjoy Paris by night (beauDiful)


And then it was really time ... for another drink!

I came back home with sore feet, but so happy to have met Jenny, Mahie and Benoit! That confirms totally that friends you make on blogs are already friends for real. You already know them, their life, etc. There can't be any bad surprise. Fantastic!

(happy sigh)

PS: Isa & Benoit, I've just tried the maple flakes!

Dellllicious!
Too early to try the ice cider, but will do too! :P

some kind of unique day

Yesterday was just incredible: stormy, happy, full of giggles and real REAL surprises!

(teasing: if you think all the stars are in Cannes right now, you are wrong, and I'm not only talking about the 5 of us, huh)

I tell you more as soon as I'm back!

The ritual

I don't know how it is for adults (probably the same, though we're not aware of it), but kid's life includes lots of rituals, doesn't it?!

I could name hundreds of them for Loup!

One I really like is when I take him to the kindergarten. He usually fights to not go there (sigh, even after, what... 8 months there!)

But the ritual of the "cats" helps a lot.
On our way to the kindergarten, we walk in front of a plumber's shop who gets 2 lovely cat. Loup spend a couple of minutes saluting them, presenting his sheep to them, etc. And they seem to like it :)



Rituals are helpful, yup. At the same time when you're in a rush, it makes things complicate, huh!

You name it, I read it !

Time for books'harvest around here!

We do that about twice a year with Martin, buy 15, 20 books and then get a good pile for half the year :P

I need your help here. I don't have much time to look for critics and get new ideas.
So here's the thing, I'd love you to name 1 book (the book that comes to your mind, one that you really loved, one that changed your life or whatever, but a good one, one only per person, that's the thing :P) ... and then I'll find the books you recommend me... That will be my harvest! :)

Ok, I'm ready, taking notes !

Which book should I add on my shelves?



PS:gimme at least 6 months for some feed-back, I'm not that slow, but days are too short ;-)

I don't know where to start

...a nap, a movie, a book, a drink ?
hehe

My lil wolf, that I love beyond anything, will leave in a couple of hours for 4 days.
Which means a most relaxing time for us (Loup is literally an energy eater, day and night!)

Today, after school I'll take Lola to Montparnasse for girlie shopping, tomorrow -if not too late- I'll invite goilfriends for an early coffee... later I go with Lola's school to some sport's event and then Martin will join us for a drink outside.

On Saturday, Lola will join her cousins, and Martin and I will have the huge pleasure to meet the supa goils Mahie and Jenny, and later Benoit, who crossed the ocean to spend a few days around here! Yeeepeeeeeeeeee!

I'm in such a happy-sunny-bananas mood!

I did not like (but really)

I would say our weekend was fantastic, because of the people there, because of the fun and sun.
BUT unfortunately there have been a few "but"...

When we arrived at the hobbit house, we knew our neighbours had started big huge works



Finally, our neighbours are not directly concerned, more the people working for them...The workers drive their big vehicles just in front of our house (there is no other way)

Of course they did not care about our flowers and just drove on them!



But the worst part was when we realized that our most lovely outside stairs were damaged! The upper part of it has moved, the stones are not sealed anymore! I guess they came with a big machine and when they turned or something..."BANG"!


Well too bad you can't see much on the pic!

So that was for the first day. Despite the boiling mood and the tiredness (we had left Paris earlier at 5.00am, I managed to finish (varnish, etc) the parquet I had started last time! :)

Then on the second day, we woke up as early to cross Brittany to pick up the boat (at the other end of the world), and there I really did not like the heavy rain we got!


(can you see it's fookin rainy?)

But then I loved (but really!)

The beautiful landscape we found when we arrived there, at the far end of Brittany



And once back, I LOVED watching the kids so excited to play on "their" boat!


click here

And on the next morning I really laughed when "Uncle Jeremy" joined us much earlier than he usually does..



...to show us with what his cat had been playing all night (!!!) in his bedroom!



Jeremy managed to save the very lucky lil one :)

The breakfast had started wunnerfully, and it was to be that way for hours, outside, with the sun and a cuddling one



As for the hobbit house, despite our lil trouble with the neighbours' works, I really loved the flowers growing on the stairs


click here

and the new small palm trees we've planted!



and all the flowers coming out!, including giant iris! A great surprise!





Oh and I loved to see how much Cesar had changed! His horns are getting huge! (Cesar, I see we won't have lambs this year, you're a big boy now, time to enjoy life you know!)


click here

And I finally loved this early morning landscape, the last one we saw before getting back to Paris


click here

The fault of Facebook!

I am actually trying to write my posts and tell you everything about my long weekend (there have been -little- tragedies and fookin happy times too!), but (cough cough), she, she and he, and he too, keep trying to have me playing on Facebook! And it works! I'm there, enjoying my time! (what time, I have no time! lol)

I work on the photos right now, tomorrow you will know everything about the plots and dramas ;-) hehe

4 minutes... to have a nap

(done)
4 minutes, that is not much... but very precious in a mama's day ;-)

It's so warm (still 26°C) that I feel like a lizard on a burning stone!
If there was more wind, even a few clouds, maybe a light rain for a couple of hours...!

(thinking hard)

oh!!
(slapping own face)
Easy! I'm packing the luggage, tomorrow morning we'll be in Brittany (errmm, yes, again, always, for ever and ever) :P
We're going to leave at 5.00 am to arrive just for breakfast, and after I'll have to rush to the hobbit house to finish a parquet (my turn to work on it tomorrow). Pfff...
Then on Friday... we have a boat to pick up somewhere at the other side of the planet, or so...(faint)

I think I need 4 other minutes (of nap, huh)

Meanwhile, I let Madonna save the world (I really enjoy her album, just very Madonna-esque... and...(pssssssshit)... I'll secretly take it for the trip... before Martin hides it, that is!!! hehe)

Oh and that Portishead' Third album, a jewel. The first time I listened to it, I just fell in love with it! ***highly recommended*** :)

Sympathy for the devil

The sun, the warmth, the bubbles of the drinks... just a perfect time to welcome 2 new devilish girls in the gallery :-)


click here

As proud as the cherry on top of the cake

and as happy as the bee on a warm flowerfull day... That's about how I felt this morning after visiting my publishing house!

The first book is ready, available now in 2 weeks.

Here's the link to get it on in the internet (not there before two weeks though), but I'll remind it several times later if you're interested... ... and in case you forget it :P... if we manage to sell enough of them, the other books will follow! (crossing bits here)

I really hope it will work because it's a very well written text (bravo à Laetitia Gatibelza), a complete book with many information and visually, it's good! I'm really proud! hehe

Don't let men go shopping on their free time!

..it's fookin dangerous, they just don't know how to tame the shopping Beast in them! (while we girls know a pair of shoes are enough to please her -the Beast- :P)

ok...

Two days ago, Martin told me (he sounded kinda embarrassed, huh):

"well, this morning I was just surfing on the internet...ermmm.... found a boat on ebay...

(here I think my face turned from a lovely pink to a scary green")

...and I put the highest bid... and (now Martin feeling visibly terrible) it seems I'm still the highest bid and the auction will end in 30 minutes!"

What???
I could not believe it! A what? a boat???


I jumped on my computer checking that of course, like with every auction on ebay, at the end, you never get what you want.
5 minutes left
2.30 minutes left
56 secondes
8 secondes

"Hello Candles, you're the happy owner of a wunnerful boat!"



Well, it's true, the boat is cute


It's a 5 meters long Doris. We got it for 350 euros (for such a price, I expect a big hole in the middle of it!
...and rats, hundreds of them
...with Nosferatu snoring in the middle of them!)

BUT

We live in Paris, renovate a house with only very little money left, and (actually that is the main point): I did not know about it! grrrmmmpphhh!
Poor Martin, he could hear what is a "roaring Captain Candy"! hehe

Next step: knowing how to take back our new toy.... it's at 3 hours by car from the hobbit house... then what do we do once we get it... I say we plant flowers on it, what you think? ;-)

La folie des grandeurs

Lola: "Mom, when is my birthday again?"

me: "Well...(thinking hard)... in 6 months, ma chérie. Why?"

Lola: "Oh, nothing, I just want to be ready for it"

me: "huhu"

Lola: "Mom, do you think we can get a plane at home by 1.00 pm to take my friends and I to Disneyland, hm?"

me: "Hmm, to get it at 1.00 pm might be slightly complicated!"

Lola: "oh mooOOOooom, come on, it's my birthday!"



PS: the lil boy on the pic (taken earlier today) just arrived and said to Lola: "Alors, ça va ma beauté?" (="how you doing, honey?")

Grab your camera

I know that a few of you around, specially one included, enjoy photography. And we all love taking pics, don't we?

That's just another reason to jump into this blog, because the inspired *catwoman* (huhu, no kidding here :P) regularly launches a simple game: she chooses a theme, you answer to it with a picture. For further details about the (very simple) rules, it's here: .

It's trooly fun and entertaining! The new topic is "take a pic of something you do not like"

Your turn to show us! :D

PS: and besides having fun, you also get the most yummy recipes there!!!

The Good

(tags: supa good, yumyum, in my plate, I'm hungry, I hate diets, it's not fair!!!)

Talking to the diet-ers here, but not only! :P

I've tried 2 recipes during the holidays, very simple and DELICIOUS.

1. Pineapple+pork brochettes:
you naturally all live in a big house, Lady Chatterley style (blush), with a pool, and of course it's pleasantly sunny where you are. So you can make BBQs, right? We're lucky because you'll need one to cook my pineapple/pork brochettes!

you will need:
green/yellow lemons,
pork (genre rouelle), spices,
olive oil,
cans of pineapples (you're sure then the pineapple be sweet enough)
For the quantities, you decide, really.

You prepare a marinade 1 days before cooking your brochettes.
lemons juice + 1 spoon of olive oil+the spices you want (curry, cumin, peper,etc) + the juice from your pineapple cans.
You cut your pork in small pieces, and put it in the marinade for 24 hours.

Once first step is done you can make your brochettes: pork + pineapples bits. The BBQ will make the rest! YUM!

2. Greek filo pastry
You don't live in Lady Chatterley's manor (snif), have no pool and the weather sucks (yawn).. but, hey, you still wanna please your stomach! here my lil (ermm it sounds strange in English) "greek filo pastry" (bricks à la grecque)

it's VERY easy and for having tried a few times, people are wunnerfully surprised!
(did I say I hated cooking one day? Well, that's true, except when it's fookin easy!)

you need:

-filo pastry (feuilles de brick, y'en a partout, trop à la mode ce truc)
-1 feta cheese
-2 eggs
-grated parmesan 3 big spoon
-peper
-chive (ciboulette)

you mix with a fork the feta + eggs + pre-cut chive + peper + grated parmesan

you take a leaf of filo pastry (1 feuille de prick), you cut it like in triangles, not too big (but then you decide if you want big pieces or smaller ones)
you take a coffee spoon of your mixed preparation and put it in the middle of the triangle, you fold the extremities and you have a lovely lil piece ready to be put in the oven.
On the pieces I don't put anything (no oil, no butter, no egg), I'm on a diet remember ! :P

I serve them for the aperitif or with a salad. It's a taste you don't get often around here, it surprises people! and I LOVE it!

Guten Apetite!

the Bad

Just received my tax forms.


You got them too?
Can't wait to spend hours on dem...

PS: first time the only "income" I've got last year was the selling of my paintings!
Yeeepeeeeeee!
I'm getting much poorer though!... LOL ... but MUCH happier :-)

the Ugly

The other day I spent some time at my sister's; it was very rainy outside, the kids were playing inside, I was so so SOOOOOO tired... and I discovered my sister had 140 channels on her tv!
Yeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
I had fun.

...till I I started to watch Jesus Camp...

Plus d'infos sur ce film

The trailer does not reveal so much (=you really should watch it), but you get a pretty clear idea.

When you hear the words God + War together, and when you know these words are told to kids... it is scary!
brrrrrr!