2014 Highlights

Here is a tiny list of the things I've been the most grateful for in 2014.

These are just the ones on the top of my mind.

I've been to new York in May with my Mom. Even though I missed a craft fair I was supposed to sell at, it is a fond memory.

There was some tensions between my Mom and me during the trip but now, I'm glad we did this together.

 I took tons of pictures, I spent 3 days by myself in New York because my Mom had to work and it was the first time ever I spent alone time in the US, even though it was like my 12th trip there, it was the first time I explored an american city by myself. It was awesome. Everything is different when you travel alone. And it took me out of my comfort zone, which is something I should do more often.

One of the things I'm so happy about in 2014 is that I got to meet my friend Kathleen in person after 7 years of talking on line. That is one of the most thrilling moments of 2014, if not the most thrilling. This girl is the best. Kind, intelligent, gorgeous, sweet... You name it... I just love her!

I could go on and on about her but I think I still couldn't explain how glad I am that our paths finally crossed and how awesome I think she is.

Here is my best purchase of 2014. Not only was it a steal (90€ in the end) but it is something I wanted for looong time!

The day I got it was a true peak of excitment!

My best purchase of 2013 was unmistakably my tablet. Even though it was a bit pricey to start with I still use it all the time and get so much stuff done with it.

What a month we spent in Chicago! I work all year for this. These moments in the US. I was not disappointed once again. What a gorgeous city. We did so many great things.

I'm also very happy I worked as a salesperson this year. I found a steady part time job for 2015. I'll be working 24hrs a week at a job I like and will have a steady income of money that will allow me to breathe. Not worrying about money will be a new thing for me.

Here is the last thing I'm elated about. My shop. I passed the 1000 sales mark this year. Had a bunch of new customers. It was also my 3 year anniversary. I think this is the thing I'm most proud of in my life, my craft.

There will be tons of posts like that here and there from bloggers. :) I just couldn't resist making one. It was a great year. What will 2015 have in store?

Happy Holidays

Christmas is behind us now. And this year I just didn't feel the Christmas spirit. And the whole thing flew by anyway and boom! I was at work again.

Ever since I was a little girl, I get sick on Christmas Eve. I don't know why exactly. In my family we have a big dinner on the night of the 24th, we have oysters, foie gras (made by my Grand Pa) and smoked salmon. Then the main course cooked for hours by my Mom. Then cheese and salad, evrything with copious amount of wine of course. And then, right before dessert we open the gifts. And that's the precise moment I get nauseous and have to throw up for a while. Sweet right? :) 

Well, I'm used to it now. When I was a child, it was like that as well. I guess I was just so excited about the presents I would make myself sick with excitment. My Grand Ma would hold me in her arms until I felt better. Every Year.

Here is something I've been wanting to share here for a while. We spent a night at my parents' after Christmas Eve feast so I was finally able to snap pictures of my old bedroom newly decorated.

A couple of month ago, my Mom did this. She gathered a bunch of Crayola drawings I made on plywood (not sure if it's the right word, but I don't even know how to call the material I drew on in French). I made these drawings in 2005, so they're getting pretty old now. :) 

Anyways, she gathered five pieces and framed them herself.

The first time I saw this, I was overwhelmed.

First because, the very second I moved out of my parents', my Mom put all of my stuff in the attic and redid the whole room and claimed it as hers. My brother had moved out a couple of years before me and his room is still untouched. I don't care that much about this but I still wonder. But really I'm OK with it. Even though it reminds me of this Friends episode in which Monica explains that the moment she moved out of her parents', they turned her room into a gym and left Ross's room as it used to be when he was still living there.

I was touched she added a 'touch of me' in my old bedroom.

But the main reason why I felt so overwhelmed was because my Mom has never been really supportive of my arts and crafts, she doesn't get it. 

She doesn't understand why I'd like my jewelry to be my job. Maybe not my full time job, but something I could get credit for from her. But in her eyes, it's not a real job and never will be.

But that's Ok, I know what I want to do now.

I've been feeling pretty weary and uninspired lately.Since I'm working part time in a 'Grand Magasin' (Huge store like Macy's) in Paris, the Holiday Season has been rough on me. Some customers have been pretty awful and of course we had tons of work. The manager I worked with at the store quit in late november and a new person came along but she hasn't been trained yet so I have a lot of extra work to do in her place. It's taking a lot of energy and I think about work a lot more than I should. 

I haven't been cooking for a while, nor drawing, all I think about is work, work, work! When it's not work at the store, it's my jewelry. I feel like the thoughts in my head just can't slow down and in the mean time, I'm not getting things done. Things I enjoy.

I spend a lot of time on my tablet, playing stupid games and surfing the interwebs looking at useless stuff. I've had the feeling that I'm wasting my time right now.

Well, not right now. I've missed writing here so much. I feel like I'm doing something constructive for once. :)

I know what I need to change for 2015.

Last sunday we had our Christmas lunch with my Grand Father, my Dad's father, who lives in Paris.

We always go to the same restaurant right on the corner from where he lives and then we take a walk in the Père Lachaise Cemetary.

It was so cold this time!!! We stayed there for maybe half an hour. That's it. It was a very sunny day, as you can see.

That's it for today's post. I hope I'll have the time to write more soon because once again, I really missed this. I can't wait for 2015 to start. 2014 was overall a great year. Well, I tend to gauge how great a year was trip-to-the-USA-wise, I've been to the US twice in 2014 and had the best time so that makes it a rad year. :) But now, I'm just tired and want to turn the page. :) 

Chicago On Film, Photo Dump #2

As I said many times already in my previous entries, the beach has been my favorite place to go to during this vacation. We've been to three different beaches this year. The water was crystal clear as you can see.

 I had been meaning to do that again for such a long time! In 2002, my family and I went to Turkey and we had this underwater disposable camera. We used it in the pool, it was so much fun!
I wanted one for our mornings at the beach and, I still can't believe I did, but found one in Wicker Park. So we took these gems with Greg, and many more. These are the best. I'm happy a bunch turned out OK. I was so sure they were all going to be unrecognisable shapes but no, they're OK. :)

And I said repeatedly, I had been wanting to go to this place for quite some time. I took a few pictures of the concert o, film as well! What an awesome night! Beer, Blues... We even met a french guy there. And we bought a bunch of souvenirs from my family and us, a couple of shirt, a CD and a poster... I'm glad I got out of my comfort zone for once and did this. I'm not a big fan of crowds and my ears have become very sensitive to loud sounds. Oh well, I drank a few beers, rolled up my napkin in little balls I put in my ears and I was fine. :) Drunk and fine!

Making dinner at the appartment. A fond memory as well.

I tried my hand a tiny bit at self portraits. Really tiny bit, I took three pictures of myself.

I've been reading and reading again this blog by Marguerite Gisele and it is so inspiring! Her pictures are breath taking, she is gorgeous and her work is so inspiring! I love how she captures the beauty of every day things in her pictures. I really LOVE her blog.

I'm not thrilled with my self portraits but at least I tried and they turned out OK. I can't stand my face on them but at least they are not blurry. :p  (not TOO blurry)

 Another new thing I tried with my camera is the telephoto lens the Mom of a friend gave to me. I don't have many occasion to use it so it brought it one day we went to the Lincoln Zoo and took a whole roll with it. Once again it did not turned out as bad as I thought it would. Well most of them are pretty bad still, that's why I'm only putting a very few here. :p

 How pretty are these?? No wonder I got one of these as a tattoo. They mesmerize me!

I'm glad I got this one right, even though there is this pole in the middle of the picture looking awful. But at least I got a rather clear gorilla.

That's it with Chicago now. 2014 has been a great year trip-to-the-USA-wise for me. I've been to New York in May and Chicago in September. For once I don't feel antsy to go back! *sigh of relief*

But I know I'm going to be happy when I do. :)

Chicago on Film, Photo Dump #1

I got back the seven rolls of film I dropped at the lab when I got back from Chicago on October 1st.
Where to begin? Seven rolls mean lots of pictures to state the obvious. :)
The first picture, the picture of me, was taken at my birthday party in June. I love to get pictures back from the lab and refresh all these memories from a few months ago. :)
This post is going to be a photo dump!

 Every time I go to Chicago, one of the first thing I go to is this sculpture, the Cloud Gate, or 'Bouboule' as we call it with my friend Estelle. I have so many pictures of it already from over the years but I just can't help myself!

I bought a nice tripod during our stay and couldn't wait to use it so we went on a walk with Greg and I took a roll of pictures of Chicago by night!

 I've never been a fan of this open stage in the Millenium Park but seeing these pictures, I'm starting to like it a lot!

The colors were changing, it was quite magical.

I think this is my favorite picture from this trip! On our walk at night to try out my tripod, we passed by the Hancock center, I looked up and saw it had its top lost in fog. It looked so surreal!

Coming back from the beach by the aquarium one day we caught this sight of the Buckingham fountain at dusk.

 We walked an awful lot for a month. When I got back to France my legs and feet were sore for few days. We only took the train twice. Once on the first day to go from O'Hare to our apartment and some other time to go to Elk Grove Village( Hobby Lobby and Walmart). I think we walked an average of 8miles a day. It felt great, I love walking.

At the beginning of our stay, we took a walk 'on the other side of the river', that is West Chicago and came by factories, and railroad tracks. It was a very a hot day, I was quite crabby. :p

Delicous and healthy food at Elly's on Clark.

Neo, a club, on Clark as well. I've never been inside, well I'm not a club person, but last year Greg took a picture of this wall and has been using it as a screen saver ever since. :) It looks very familiar now.

This is the door of a school in Lakeview East. The school is right next to the apartment we rented last year. It has many murals all over.

A cat that was watching passer-bys in a shop window. He reminded me of my cat who is also black and white.

This is it for today, I feel bad posting so many pictures and not having many things to say about them. But it's been a while since Chicago now. I wish I could have done that from over there but I didn't have a laptop nor did I find a place to get my films processed. But I'm just so glad I put my Grand Pa's old film camera to use. And I love the kind of dreamy/blurry/yellow aspect of film.

Home At Last

A week ago today we just got back home from the airport. Our month in Chicago had just ended. It was a fun month and I came back inspired and refreshed. I was supposed to start work last saturday. We got back to Paris on a Wednesday but my manager asked me to start the next day. That was harsh. I haven't had the time to do anything. No laundry, no sewing, no grocery shopping...

This was our routine in Chicago, almost every morning I would cook eggs and bacon. So different from our breakfasts here in France. They mainly consist of a bowl of cereals for me and a cup of coffee for Greg.

We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo a couple of times. This chimp pretty much express how I felt a few days ago. Sleepy and depressed. I came home thinking the life of my dreams would start and all the plans I had made just went out the window. The schedule I should have had at work has been completely rearranged without my knowing, leaving me less time to focus on my sewing. I was very angry. I'm so glad I have my colleagues though. They are a bunch of awesome people. We chat a lot, they are so interesting. 

One of my favorite places in Chicago is the Lincoln Park Observatory. It's a green house full of tropical plants. and like the zoo, the admission is free. How awesome is that? We always try to drop a few dollars in the box at the entrance though.

I finally been able to try my hands at block carving and printing. It had been on my to-do list for quite a while.

This is my new tattoo on my inner left arm. :D  

Chicago is such a beautiful city. I love the lake shore. The beach has really been my favorite place this year. I've been to Chicago seven times in nine years. I had never been swimming in the lake that much before this trip. What a blast!

Night ritual. Beer or wine or both. :p 

I'm glad I'm home. I had a grand time in Chicago but I couldn't wait to start working again. Even though this last week has been pretty tough on my nerves, I'm starting to catch the pace and bite the bullet about my job as a salesperson not going as I wanted. It's not that bad.

It's also exciting to start thinking about next year's trip. We have 11months now to come up with something nice. :p

For this post I just picked my favorite pictures from my digital reflex camera. Yesterday I dropped 6 rolls at the lab from my film camera. I cannot wait to get those back!