hōm

je suis parti. retourné à la maison.  

home. home. the repetition does nothing for me. the furniture, framed pictures, scattered belongings surrounding me now, are familiar. they've been my still, well-behaved companions for years. but this is not my home. i prefer the pillow stitch definition of home: "home is where the heart is." whether it be a house by the beach, or a certain little city whose charm made me feel like i belonged there...my heart now resides in both. and the latter is a place where i will return. because homes are meant not only for dwelling, but returning.  

together again

going to pick up amanda from the metro.
she's braving it alone.
i can't believe she's going to see what my life has been like for the past 3 months!
crraazzzyy. even more weir! ah!

noah for the day

love this little munchkin

remember when eating cookies was never followed by the thought of weight?
those were the days.


walking home

amazing amazing amazing

monet's water lilies me for scale.

this one really was my favorite. the injustice of these works is almost painful. they are so incredible. truly, incredible.
geez, i feel so russian here. tho theriouth!

blurred just like the lillies.
a nice american women offered to take a picture of sarah and i. she thought she was doing us a favor. we didn't want one, yet i thanked her and obliged. waiting for people to get out of the way, messing up the lens, making sure it wasn't on flash, waiting for people to get out of the way again, people staring at the obnoxious tourists we were being... not a fan. in anycase, it was a nice gesture, and i laughed at sarah's embarrassed polite english self.

this picture would have been perfect! look at those two sets of lovers conoodeling by the pond. so lovely. and then there's that eyesore of a figure. a tourist. :)

enjoy the ride

sometimes things just blow up in your face.
and there's nothing you can do about it.

one last word: COMMENT

for those who do, thank you.
for those who don't, DO.

favorites from today

notre dame

have you ever seen an open stained glass window?? i didn't even know the possibility existed.

a peaceful pigeon just chillin' with Jesus

fountaine de medicis, jardin du luxembourg

after an encounter with a lonely italian man, i relocated here. although his teeth looked as if they were permanently crusted with cheetos, he was harmless. however, the seemingly harmless grow creepy with the passage of time. so after a few friendly exchanges, i bid him good day.

catching the metro at cite to go back home.

ma hood

for julie

Attempt for Accountability

Technically, I could be roaming around Paris right now. I just got off work, and NEED to get out of the house. However, the following To Do list must take precedent:

1.) Send one incredibly long overdo email (so late, "better late than never" may not apply)
2.) Buy soy milk boxes (Geraldine might kill my lactose intolerant soul if i don't)
3.) Plan out two amazing itineraries. One for myself (a whole week off!). Another, for when amanda comes.
4.) Write out some very important goals for my liiiifffeeee. and HOW i'm going to accomplish them. (on going work in progress)

Although small in number, these require mental faculty (sans #2). Just wanted to share and put them out in the void.

nice of you to stop by

this is tabitha. she's pretty great. from the south of london, and an au pair with a salary which puts the rest of us to shame (her weekly pay about equals mine monthly!). to pass the time at her old job, she would flip through randomly generated blogs here on blogspot (which explains all the randoms who've stumbled on to mine. hello.) once i told her utah had been a previous address of mine, the following conversation gave me a good laugh. her commentary is too priceless, not to share:

big problem.

just told geraldine how great she was for letting amanda stay here next month. with the reaction i got, i might was well have told her, "there's a huge purple giraffe pooping all over your clothes!"
before i arrived she told me,"you can have a friend stay here in our guest bedroom." when i arrived, "you can have a friend stay here in our guest bedroom." lies.
a month ago, i asked if it was ok for my friend amanda to come stay here, just to double check. she looked at me, hesitated, and then agreed. david heard, came into the room, and piped off in irritated french to geraldine. didn't look at me once. i had no idea what he was saying. after he walked out, "so...is it ok if amanda comes the last week i'm here?" she did her weird eye-twitch-and-stare, "it's like you want." seeing as amanda is coming in 2 weeks, i wanted to give her a heads up. SHE HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT. "david said you couldn't have a friend stay. i was right here when he told you. remember?" she exclaimed. looked like she was going to kill me. i apologized for misunderstanding, awkwardly fumbled all over myself, and felt a huge rush of stress go to my head.
i cannot even explain how terrible the communication is between us. yes, they "speak" english. but, they don't actually SPEAK english. in the end, she realized there was nothing that could be done. when they meet her, they'll love her. and it won't be a problem.....i hope.

lest we forget

the true gifts of easter:

bedtime

i'm sleeping over at my friend's house in paris. so tired. after going out for thai, i was satisfied to go home. my body was humming from the tasty, clean, exquisite food i had just nourished it with. but youth was calling (via julie's iphone). we headed over to the night scene in bastille. bars aren't my scene. and my attempts were failing, i was too tired to make myself interesting. i just wanted to observe. the guys. the girls. their interactions. the way they swayed to the music, and moved like a tetress puzzle as people moved through the crowd. even the token old guy deluded with visions from his prime was entertaining. but i could feel myself fading, so back to the marais i went. now i'm laying on the couch. why am i writing this? i need to go to bed. i'm going to bed. goodnight.

sarah's sincere sayings

imagine the following quotes being said in an adorable english accent:

"i'm gaining weight and finding toy cars in my coat. somethings gotta give." you'd have to understand the context in which this was said, to understand why i found this to be so funny. but, all i could manage to say in response was, "preview to motherhood."

tired and distraught from venting about her devil child, sarah lied helpless on my bed and said, "it's terrible to say you hate a child."

scooby doobie doo

just went outside and caught my au pair dad smokin' a doobie. oops!
i randomly stepped outside tonight. and to my surprise, found david chilling on the back patio.
"oh...hi. what's up?"
he mumbles something and shrugs his shoulders.
as i turn to leave, a familiar smell wafts past me. i look at him with a knowing smile. "je sais cette odeur."
"it is good, non?"

seven pounds

will smith and i share the same dilemma: seven pounds of body mass to lose.
7 pounds in 2 months. boy has it been fun! i know i should be more upset. but i'm actually kind of impressed. however, as fun as this has all been, i don't want to come back a rollie pollie. so, starting tomorrow, i must bid adue to my fat child ways. no more nutella, bueno bars, crêpes, pastries, etc. at least, until amanda comes.
but if i must have something sweet to occupy my mouth, macaroons are where it's at. small, delightful, and deliciously satisfying. not to mention, those little macaroonies are so cute. before coming out here, i tried one of those bite sized concoctions at a posh desert place in hillcrest. (remember dad?) wasn't that impressed. but my mom told me i had to have one in paris. you can bet i arose to the challenge. and after trying one of those babies in saint germain...oh man...heaven in my mouth. no comparison.

GC

thank you technology. because of you. i get to watch this!

three little words

noah by noah

while walking the kids to school on friday, sacha decided to go trumping through the newly planted tulips in the park."sacha, non! ce n'est pas bon pour les fleurs!" i call out to him. such a boy. on our way back from school both boys run over to the flowers. as sacha tries to run through them i yell, "non, pas encore!" then, noah catches my attention as he is yanking a tulip out of the ground. "arrêt noah! stop, stop." he stands up with slumped shoulders, puts his head down and says "mais pour toi..." with the cutest pouty face i have ever seen. my face immediatly softens and then goes in to an "aww" face (frown and pout at the same time). broke my heart! so i ran over to him, quickly picked him up, and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. "merci, tu es très bon garçon!" it totally made my day.
that's why when he started picking flowers today, i just smiled. it was so adorable. he made me a little bouquet of tulips, leaves, and light purple flowers. he's only 4 and he knows how to treat a lady. love this kid! :)