Gifts for the girls

Candle/ Hat and Mittens/ Sweater/ Denim/ Purse/ Bicycle/ Ring Dish/ ShuUmera/ Kiehls/ Diffuser

Gifts for the guys

1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6

Birthday Wishes to My Favorite 4 Year Old Girly Girl

Pink, Sprinkles, Macarons all in one cake?!?!  YUM!!!

Gifts for the tiny ones

1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6

1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6

Gifts to stay fit

1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6

Winter Boot Picks

1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5

Tis the Season

Wear Sunscreen

As I was catching up on some blog reading, I came across this lovely article and thought it was worth posting here.  
And it helps as a reminder to always wear sunscreen!  I hope you are enjoying your Summer.  Ours is flying by!  
Can it be August already???


By Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune

Wear Sunscreen.
 
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blind side you at 4 PM on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Happy Green Weekend

We are looking forward to celebrating with a parade and a little bit of green.  Happy Weekend everyone!

*if you know where I can find this cute green skirt, let me know!

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday to my love.  Thank you for traveling the world with me.  I love you.  Can't wait to do it again!

Lost and Found

I lost my iphone today.  Aaarghhh!  Only a few more days in Paris and its gone.  I am going to say I lost my iphone because, honestly, I'm not sure if it fell out or I was pickpocketed?  Either way it is gone and I am pretty certain I will never see it again.  We were at the bus stop and I had just been taking pictures of the kids playing.  We got on a crowded bus and when I emptied my pockets at home it wasn't there.  Luckily there isn't much on it that I can not recover.  My photos from this week's girls trip to London is one of those things - girls, I need you to send me all your photos!

It is not the first thing we have lost.  We'll have to add it to the long list we have left behind on our travels...
*Baby blanket that never made it to Sydney (he was fine, his momma may have shed some tears)
*Power Ranger motorcycle bought on a special day out
*Pink mittens never made it home from Shakespeare's bookstore
*electric razor left in LA
*hockey stick confiscated at the airport
*one black leather glove lost in a park

I am sure there's more I've forgotten.  We are not home yet, so our fingers are crossed we don't need to add to this list before we arrive.  If you know anyone that has a spare iphone hanging around, I'm in the market for one ;)

Happy Weekend

 

We keep finding these unexpected paintings on our walks around Paris.  It is my favorite thing to do.  Get a café crème from our favorite coffee shop, Telescope and just take a walk to see what we find.  It's always something special.  Even the kids say, lets just go for a walking adventure and see what we find! 

St. Valentine Goodies

My list...

My little box is only available in France but I've seen similar monthly gift deliveries in the USA as well.

Maya Brenner delicate jewelry with a 30% discount
Moët & Chandon Rosé, Neufchâtel cheese and a baguette.  After all, we are in France!
Løv Organic tea that I am able to pick up in this darling store on one of the sweetest streets!

*p.s. Happy 1st Birthday to my sweet niece*

London, baby

3 days in London was a fun getaway.  We took the Eurostar a quick 2 hours and 15 minutes city center to city center - easy!  The Flemings Hotel Mayfair was in a great location and had little surprises for the kids, which they totally loved.  They are both hooked on hotels.  They love room service, hotel pools (not this time), and tiny robes and slippers.  When we didn't call for milk and cookies before bed the second night, I thought we were going to have a mutiny ;)  I'd love to go back for a longer stay.  We did the quick tourist heavy hotspots but I'd love to see more.

My London first time visit check-list
take a black cab - check!
ride on a vintage Routemaster double decker bus - check!
cross the London Bridge (technically the Tower Bridge, but we crossed the London Bridge too!) - check!
London Eye (ferris wheel the kids requested) - check!
Changing of the guards Buckingham Palace - check!
shop Harrod's - check!

And there is always time for a cupcake, right!?!  We walked by this darling shop in Covent Gardens and just had to go in for a taste test.  Yum!!!

Happy Weekend

Welcome February!  This past month has flown by and we are starting to realize we are not going to have the time to get all our mini trips in before we fly home.  Not to be sad though, as we are really enjoying just living in Paris and exploring as much as we can.  We won't even see all the sights here.  So many great things to do!  It is really keeping us entertained and busy.  And it means we have to return!
We are taking one mini trip and heading to London for a few days this weekend.  If you've visited and have any advice, I'd love to hear!

Snow Days

We have hit the snow jackpot in Paris!  The kids were in heaven.  According to the neighbor, his wife has lived here 20 years and this was only the second time she had seen this much snow (it was maybe 2 inches).   We should have headed straight to the Tuileries or Luxembourg Gardens but the kids just wanted to go out to our courtyard, and honestly, that was much less work for us, so the courtyard it was!  We went to the neighborhood park as well, and I think every Parisian kid was there.  We've never seen so many people in our building and neighborhood. 
Paris isn't prepared for the snow though.  Buses were shut down and I didn't see one snow shovel.  A few brooms and a bit of sand was put down here and there, but we just had to wait for it to melt a day and a half later. 

 

And a few location shots.  My photos (and my lack of photo skills) do not do Paris justice.  It really is the City of Light and always seems to glow.  The last photo is a 360 of the plaza we are near often.  We emerge from the subway and I smile each time I see it.  Two churches stand across from one another.  One still has large Christmas trees decorated.  A small carousel is lit up, the restaurant glows red, and the streets are strung with overhead lights.  It is just stunning.  This is the Paris you imagine.

Paris Parks

Parks in Paris are great and they always seem to pop up just when we need one.  Funny how kids are So tired and their legs hurt from too much walking (2 blocks) until you happen upon a park ;) Miraculously they are cured and have energy to play for hours.  Even in the cold!
Here are a few photos of the parks where the kids have played so far.  We haven't even been to some of the best Paris parks yet.  

Carousels are also everywhere and in nearly every park.  Most of them are beautiful and vintage.  My favorite so far is this little green one.  There is a man that pushes it to start and then he turns a crank to keep it going! So neat!  All the while, the kids each get a lance and use it to hit a target and collect gold rings every time around (we didn't catch on until near the end).  Did I mention this is in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower!?!