Birthday Party

Today I celebrated my 30th birthday at my parents' with family and friends.  It was such a beautiful day.

My mother had set up a very nice table for us to enjoy.

In her garden.

My friend Nina took this picture of my tattoos.

Once back to Paris the sun shed such a gorgeous light on our street.

It has been a great day. We ate great food (first barbecue of the year!), drank great wine, laughed a lot. I have been spoiled by my family and friends. And it was nice to spend all day outside! Since I work in a department store, the only kind of light I get is from neons.

This is the latest drawing did. I'm making necklaces with my drawings right now. Can't wait for the resin/glue to dry!

Haute Savoie On Film

Last May I've been to Haute Savoie, France, with my Grand Pa. Since I didn't have my digital camera I took a few pictures on film. Here they are.

Brou, France.

This is Annecy.

A bunch of flowers.

And one of the most important person in my life, if not the most important, my sweet Grand Pa.

New York On Film - Time Square, Soho, Chelsea, Chinatown, Central Park

I finally got the rest of the pictures from my trip to New York back. I'm still thrilled that I got to take them on film, and my film camera will be with me in Chicago next September for sure!!

This sign was right by Penn Station where I would arrive in New York every morning from Edison, New Jersey.

These were the flowers on my way from the hotel to Edison train station. They were gorgeous.

This is Soho.

I realize I don't have much to say about my pictures. :p

This was at the Chelsea market. We ate that lobster. I've never liked lobster that much, the thing I like best about it was the mayonnaise until this day! It was delicious! I'm a big fan of seafood. It was heavenly.

This is from my mom and I's walk in Central Park. And what is a walk in Central Park without a Spongebob popsicle?

I already wrote a bit about this statue in a previous entry. It was in the movie Enchanted. I was elated to finally see it in person.

Time Square

Chinatown

I'll always remember this trip to New York because of this moment. I got to meet these two beautiful ladies. Kathleen and her mom. I've known Kathleen for 7 years. But I had never met her in person till this day. We met through Flickr seven years ago when we were both collecting and taking pictures of our Blythe dolls. We kept in touch since. I watched her 'grow up', getting married and having a kid. I could call her a friend even if we never actually met. Well, that is done now, we met, and now I can say she's a very important friend to me. She's exactly what I thought she would be. She's an awesome person (her Mom as well!! ) and I'm so glad I finally met her, I'm so grateful I have her in my life. This moment, meeting her and her Mom, this was one of the most important moment in years.

Today I'm 30

Today is my 30th birthday. So far it is a good day (and my day off from work!). :) I got a very nice and meaningful gift from my sweetie and I got my pictures of New York and Haute Savoie back from the lab. 

Greg got me the famous cook book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. It's such an awesome gift! Last September in Chicago, we found an original version in a second hand book shop. I concidered buying it but didn't. I regret it. Once back I showed Greg the Meryl Streep movie, Julie and Julia, with Amy Adams. He didn't like it much but I love this movie. Anything about cooking or wine I love. 

Last year for my birthday he hid my present in the apartment, so he did the same this year. Actually the books were right under my nose, still in their Amazon cardboard box, right by my sewing machine. We have so many boxes there that I just didn't pay attention. 

For the first time in my life I got tears in my eyes when opening a gift. Usually the only feeling I have when opening a gift is embarassment. All I can think about while ripping the paper is 'You have to act happy about it not matter what it is'. I guess it was such a relief and such a great idea as a gift for me, that I just let my guard down and shed a few tears.

I can't wait to try a few of these recipes! I have to get my measuring cups back from my place first. Isn't it weird that I'm a french girl living in France and following the recipes of an American in a book called Mastering the Art of French Cooking? I think that's funny. :) And I'm not afraid to bone a duck! 

The neighbor's window. I love it.

As I said I got my pictures back today. I gave a bunch of rolls to get develloped and in the lot there was this roll. I started it a loooong time ago. Most of the pictures were of Hopi, my cat. He loves to pose. But one of the picture was pretty old.

There was a picture of Bebop, my previous cat, who died in September 2012. (Sorry about the fingerprints, I scanned the pictures in a hurry) I don't really know how I feel about it. I'm just glad I have this amazing little creature that is Hopi in my life now so I don't think that much about Bebop.

That's it for today June 19. We'll be ordering sushi shortly (yeah, we got to celebrate! I'm having wine right now) and I have to get my posts ready for the rest of the New York pictures!  

Have a great week end because it's right around the bend! ;)