Memorial Day

Memorial Day

A time for getting together with the people you love.

Good food.

Talking.

Hugs.

And taking the time,

To pause and remember the men and women who are standing watch at this moment.

And our fallen heroes who have given their lives for us to be free.

Thank you.

*All of this goodness happened yesterday at my dear friend, Jennifer's house. She gave a very heartfelt thank you to all the brave men and women in the armed forces and a special dedication to my brother, Sgt. Major, for his service and bronze star. I have wonderful friends.

Day 42 from France:Cheering Up The Man

Shaboom sends us her update from Paris...

Obsessed! and Mali overslept and didn't show up for their first day. This is Obsessed!'s new business and he can't even show up for his very first day as a crêpier. LAME.

He was very pissed and disappointed in himself so I kept my mouth closed to avoid adding insult to injury. I ate a sugar butter crepe and pain au chocolat for breakfast before mowing the lawn. (When I moved here a year ago and posted a photo on Facebook of my first lawn-moving experience OF MY LIFE, I got a lot of comments due to the "Barbie" nature of the the machine and the pashmina outfit I wore while doing yard work. This is a new, slightly larger lawn-mover in a different color. Here is my updated and maybe more sensible version of cutting the grass...)

Then, we spread weed killer, pulled weeds and I baked buns (my mom's famous recipe) while Obsessed! vacuumed.

Melt the butter.

Add the milk, yeast and flour. Blend well.

Leave covered for 45 minutes in a stable temperature with no draft.

It should look like this after it has risen...

Brush with milk after forming into balls on baking paper...

Let it rise for another 30-45 minutes before putting into oven.

When golden brown, remove from oven...

Place on cooling rack and serve...

We made 100 crêpes at home today. I ate 2 of them - one completely plain, one sugar butter lemon.

2 litres of tea throughout the day and a zillion stairs.

NO INDOOR CARDIO!

I cleaned my room like a good girl but it was only because I was searching for and couldn't find my birth control stash. Crap. I might have to give up the secret taking of drugs. Crap crap crap.

I ate a baguette with cheese for dinner.

Obsessed! ate 8 of the 20 buns I baked already. I guess that's his seal of approval. But then again, he IS known to put some unsavory things in his mouth

Joyeux Dimanche

Joyeux Dimanche

I have coffee and read Paris Breakfast every morning.

She loves all thing Parisian.

Have a beautiful Sunday.

Day 41 From Burbank: A Horse Dressed As a Lion In the Middle Of A Sneeze.

Karen sends her posts from Burbank, CA, USA

After a delicious breakfast of tomatoes, basil, lots of garlic (Hubby's still gone so why the hell not?) and baguette I look out my front window and this is what I see.

This is a picture I took of a horse dressed as a lion in the middle of a sneeze.

I love this picture so much I could just stop here.

Every year the city of Burbank has a parade.

Ours is one of the streets they block off.

There are cowboys and indians in my front yard.

Embarrassing Fun Fact about me!

True Story

Did I ever tell you about the secret crush I've had on Paul Revere since I was 7 years old?

Let's just say that when I finally visited Paul Revere's House in Boston last year and saw his silver and gold work I burst into happy tears.

Back to the clowns and little ponies!

(A clown holding a mirror up to my face is actually a fear of mine.)

There were firemen (sigh) ....I mean fire trucks!

Marching bands and cool cars.

By 2:00pm the streets are cleaned and there's no sign of the parade.

Time to go to Momma's house for a pajama party! Tammy came over to spend the night too. (So you already know it's gonna be fun!) Momma fixed one of her classic dinners: wing dings, rice a roni and cole slaw. My childhood comfort food.

The Sgt Major and Rosalie came over. Way too much fun!

I lugged my ice cream maker and ingredients over to my Momma's and made mint chocolate chip French ice cream for everyone.

I think we are all going to make it a monkey pajama party weekend.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Day 41 from France:Baby's Got Wheels!

Shaboom sends us her update from Paris...

I drove to the market alone this morning. Obsessed! signed his car over to me yesterday since he now has new wheels. This man loves me more than anything, will always love me, loves me better than anyone has ever loved me, is generous, sweet, wonderful ...and I'm still hung up on my loser ex-boyfriend. How's that for crazy?!

I ate a ham & cheese crêpe with carbonara for breakfast and some yogurt. At the market, I ate a handful of blueberries, some dried apricots, 2 clementines, 1 pink lady apple, 1 pain au chocolat, 2 café au lait, and 1 biscuit.

Here are some of the things I saw today:

I worked at the clothes store (a job I now officially HATE) all afternoon and evening. Due to daylight savings, (yay!) I drove home in daylight. I walked back and forth from my parking spots and I stood up all day long. Otherwise, I didn't get much exercise today.

Obsessed! fed me some more crêpes when I came home. I love crêpes.

The boys started preparing AT MIDNIGHT for their first day as official crêpiers tomorrow. They're supposed to wake up at 4am and go to sell their wares. We'll see how successful they are at getting out of bed. I am not optimistic.