c'est l'ete!! {it is summer!}..and an award

oh is life busy right now.

4 kids home on summer holiday..

steve's been at the paris air show..

birthdays,

father's day

and lots of planning and preparation

for our summer ahead.

it is such a bittersweet time in our lives.

we are so excited to be going "home"

to the states for the summer...

but it's been emotional

saying goodbye to friends

we've made this past year.

a year that has gone by 

much too fast.

some friends are leaving 

paris for good..

some just for the summer.

sunday was a beautiful day

here in paris and it being fathers day..

we packed a picnic and the 

entire family in the car

and headed to versailles.

it was a lovely way to celebrate

the funny, handsome,

hardworking, selfless

and incredibly smart father of my kids.

your family loves you steve!

yesterday griffy turned 4!

he is into all things

toy story right now

and spider man.

happy birthday my little man.

we love you so.

and yesterday i met for the first time

a friend i've known for over 4 years.

catie and her daughter 

were here in paris on a school trip.

they carved out a few hours yesterday

to have lunch with griffy and hannah and i.

it was such a treat to spend time

with catie..

and see her in person!

i just love her and her daughter! 

monday

the kids and i fly to boston.

we will stay in boston for the week..

we all have doctors and dentist 

appointments

and we will visit some friends.

and then we head to the vineyard 

for most of the summer!

au revoir!!

Veronique gave me this award recently..

thank you veronique!

i didn't even know what a liebster award was. :)

i have to tell 11 things about me.

ugh.

ok,

here goes.

First..

11 things about me.

1. i never finished college.

i went for a year after high

school and never returned.

2. instead of going to college..

i lived in the florida keys and 

st. thomas

3. i would rather have a 

second (or third) helping of dinner

than dessert.

4. i would rather see a play

or read a book

than go to the movies.

5. but one of my favorite

all time movies is

Dan In Real Life

with Steve Carell.

6. a perfect day

would include a big

bowl of buttery, salty

mashed potatoes.

7. i am deathly afraid

of driving in paris

and have no plan on doing so.

8. a coffee table stacked 

with books and flowers

and candles makes me happy.

9. i'm a pretty good dancer.

and so is steve.

the two of us can 

pretty much cut any rug.

10. i think the world would

be a better place without guns.

11. i believe any problem can be solved

over a pretty glass of champagne.

Second..

11 questions answered..

1. If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, alive or dead,  real or fictional,

who would it be and why?

Hmmm.

probably any one of my ancestors.

i love genealogy and would be interested

in learning more about my own history.

2. Name your favorite restaurant..

if i had to choose it would be 

legal seafoods in boston.

clam chowder,

lobster roll

glass of white wine.

yum.

3. What makes you smile more quickly than anything else?

right now it's the way griffy says his name...

"dwiffy"

4. The best quality in a human being?

generosity

5. What infuriates you more than anything else?

right now..

having a difficult time communicating

in french.

6. If you had to live in any other period in history,

where would it be and why?

with out a doubt..

1920's paris.

the clothes!

the parties!

the music!

the hemingway's 

and the fitgeralds!!

7. What would be your dream job?

well..i have my dream job.

but if it had to be something else..

probably jenna lyons' job 

at j.crew.

8. If you could live anywhere in the world,

where would that be?

other than paris????

i could live in london.

but lately..the talk is singapore.

hmmm.

9.What movie or tv show do you hate

that everyone loves?

ditto to what veronique said.

any reality show.

get them all off the air.

stupid. stupid.stupid.

10. Who is your favorite author?

Jane Austen.

11.  Favorite quote?

"We are tied to the ocean.

And when we go back to the sea,

whether it is to sail or to watch-we are going

back from whence we came.

JFK

and now i get to give out 5 awards!

to bloggers with less than 200 readers.

1. my friend catie

she is creative

and funny

and loves tea and scones

and baby ducks.

go visit her.

2. Cat at Sunday Brocantes...

just moved into a gorgeous farmhouse

in France.

i'm still going back and reading

her blog to learn more

about her life in france.

love her!

3. my friend dawn

she is stylish

and fun

and has a beautiful family.

she has just started a new 

business too..

go visit her!

4. Nicola ..my new friend 

here in paris.

still waiting for her to teach

me to sew.

:)

5. amy ...

i've known amy for

15 years..

we've met once.

when we met,

she had 3 kids and one

on the way.

now she has 10 kids 

and one on the way!

she homeschools

her children

and is an amazing mom.

Graduation and Uganda

stephen graduated from

high school on saturday

from the

American School of Paris.

i admit..

i get a little giddy

looking at his diploma..

that says,

Paris, France.

it was a lovely ceremony.

we had great seats.

griffy sat still for 

AN HOUR AND A HALF!

and the guest speaker

was my new friend..

the U.S. Ambassador to France.

:)

he gave a terrific speech.

his words..

"the world owes you nothing..

you owe everything to the world"

was what stuck with me the most.

ok,

when he also said..

"by the way..love your blog"..

that kind of stuck with me too.

no..he didn't say that during his speech..

but he did say it when we met again

at the reception following the graduation.

seriously??

i had no idea that out of the 104 

graduates from ASP..

31 countries were represented.

how cool is that?

following the graduation and reception

steve and i took stephen 

out to dinner to celebrate.

we had such a nice evening.

talking about his past and his future.

and stephen talking about how 

embarrassed he was watching me bawl my 

eyes out at the graduation.

14 more years buddy.

i wonder where you'll graduate from??

it was a wonderful and emotional

day.

we are so proud of you stephen.

my friend kimberly 

is hosting an auction

on her blog

right now!

many of her generous friends

have donated gorgeous things

to help raise money

to furnish a home

in africa that kim's mom

built!

kim is going to uganda next month.

i just adore what kim and her mom 

are doing.

please consider bidding on

some of these beautiful things

on kim's blog!! 

xo

The Prom in Paris

oh do these kids know 

how lucky they are?

wait..

didn't i just write about

that??

well..i guess when you're

born into this..

then i would say you're

pretty darn lucky!

the american school of paris'

prom was last night.

stephen went with a lovely girl.

some kids go with dates

and others go as a group..

i like that.

prior to the traditional prom pics

at trocadero..

we were invited to the u.s ambassador

to france's home for champagne and 

hor 'dourves.

stephen is graduating with their 

daughter on saturday.

what a treat to meet 

ambassador charles rivkin!

we talked a lot about 

our kids and graduating 

and our time here in paris.

he asked where we were from

in the states and when i told him

boston he was so sorry to hear about

the recent bombings there.

stephen and a few of his

friends inside the mansion.

the weather cleared so we 

were able to head outside in

the ambassador's garden for some 

pictures.

(and fog on my lens...big bummer)

into the hummer limo

and off to trocadero for more

pictures.

stephen has such a great 

group of friends here.

today is the last day of school!

waiting for the kids to get home

and we're headed to 

jardin d'acclimation!

tomorrow is graduation!

it will be a fun and emotional

weekend for sure.

bon weekend!

You Are So Lucky

we hear this a lot.

and yes we are.

however,

luck didn't get us here.

we didn't win some

move to paris lottery.

it was nothing less than

very hard work that

landed us here.

the day after steve

and i were married

we were driving from

our homes on cape cod

 to ft. rucker alabama

for steve to start flight school.

as soon as we arrived

he was put in "lock down"

and i couldn't see him 

for a month.

i was alone,

in a new state,

newly married.

i unpacked our boxes

and wedding gifts

and cooked and baked.

i missed him

but i didn't mind.

i was a happy, young wife

and i loved our new life.

when he returned home,

he locked him self up

and studied hard.

again

i cooked and baked

and got pregnant.

i was happy.

i would cook dinner

for all of his single friends

and i loved it.

i would bring steve dinner

in his study room.

and man do i wish i had a picture 

of that room!

steve took a big old box and 

turned it into a helicopter!

he drew all the flight controls

and buttons and switches.

and he graduated number one 

from his flight school.

which meant we got to pick where

we wanted to be stationed.

we chose germany.

fast forward 18 years later

and here we are.

when i thank steve for

working so hard for 

giving us this great life..

he thanks me too.

i've worked just as hard.

while he has been off

climbing that ladder

to get where he is today

in his career..

i've been home

raising children

and keeping a home.

many different  homes.

and i wouldn't have it

any other way.

i love our life.

we ARE lucky to call

paris our home right now..

but it was a lot hard work getting here.

p.s

i just bought Jeanne Olivers Mia Camera Bag!

I think it'll be perfect for the summer!

Go check out her gorgeous new bags!

Cruising the Seine

it's been a long week.

and it's just going to 

get busier.

steve and i went over

our calendar today..

happy to get that done.

we just booked our

october vacation!

can't believe we are already

looking ahead that far.

this past week we were all sick.

we spent a lot of time at home.

stephen was in greece

on his senior trip all week.

i didn't sleep much this past week.

but,

he's home

and had a great time.

while he was flying into paris last night..

steve and i went on a cocktail cruise

along the seine put on 

by the kids school.

we were having a great time..

until i ate something that had pine nuts in it.

i'm not going to go into

the gory details..

but basically 

the boat sped up

to get back to the dock 

to meet the ambulance 

that was waiting for me.

it was a long night.

and not just for me.

steve rode in the ambulance

with me and when i left the hospital

he went to grab a cab to take him back

to the car at the dock.

do you think he could find a cab

in this city?

he ended up walking for miles

back to the dock to get the car.

here's to a healthier week ahead!

p.s...

and please don't email me or comment about

how i need to carry an epi-pen.

i do.

i just forgot last night.

Musee Rodin

i just love the museums

in paris.

a few days ago hannah

and griff and i 

visited the 

rodin museum.

griffin wanted nothing

to do with walking around

inside the museum..

so we spent most of our

time walking around 

the gardens outside.

the thinker

the three shades

the gates of hell

there was spooky music

coming from the trees

near the gates of hell

monument to the 

burghers of calais.

hannah and griff

and 

auguste rodin

any day spent at a 

museum in paris

is a great day in my book.

yesterday

was the first sunday of the month.

which means free museum admission

in paris.

steve had not yet visited 

musee d'orsay

so we went.

now, usually

i'm cursing the stroller..

in my elevator,

on the metro

but

 a stroller gets you 

to the front of the line

at the museums.

and free admission sundays

are packed.

it was a great weekend.

will came home from

his field trip to brittany

friday night.

saturday morning 

stephen left for crete

with his senior class.

the next few weeks are crazy busy.

sports banquets

the prom

going away parties

graduation

and school ending.

looking forward to summer!