Life Lately

I haven't had or taken the time to write a post for this blog in weeks. I've been busy with work and my days off are pretty much the same and not very interesting.
I've had lots of ups and downs in these last few weeks, my Dad went to the hospital but got better pretty fast, we finally got our plane tickets to Chicago which is a real relief but puts some pressure on my shoulders as well (I'm always afraid I messed up the booking and that we'll be stuck at the airport and never leave France), the job I'll have in October will be awesome except that the contract isn't... So many little things with a good and a bad side.  Oh yeah and the whole water system of the apartment has been clogged since sunday, so no showers, no laundry and no dishes...
Every time we get some good news, some bad come right along. And vice versa. I'm either euphorical or crying, all the time.

I haven't had the time to cook in weeks, these pictures must be at least two weeks old and the clafoutis, congolais and tarte aux poireaux have been long gone. I miss cooking. It makes me feel so peaceful.
When I start work again in October I'll only be working 24h/week, 24hrs in 3 days. Something I've been wanting to do for a very long time. I'll be able to cook a lot more than I am now, I will be able to visit my family too, and most of the time I'll be sewing for my business. Dream life.

One of the few vaguely creative thing I've done lately is painting my nails again and trying new things. This is the only picture I took unfortunately and the manicure is a work in progress in this picture. Oh well... I'm not intending to write about beauty stuff anyway. At least not for now! :p

I've been drawing a teensy  bit. I'm planning on taking my sketchbook and all of my drawing stuff to Chicago, along with my sewing kit. I trully hope this is going to be a creatively packed vacation. I'll start by hitting the arts and crafts stores hoping it will give me a boost. Not a boost really because I'm longing to grab my sewing needles or pencils, but new materials means new ideas. It will be a brand new start.

A week ago I finally took the time to do something I've been wanting to do since 2007 when I discovered Blythe dolls. I bought my first doll with two goals in mind: use her as a model in photoshoots and make clothes for her. Real clothes, not just fabrics wrapped around her plastic body like I actually did. Now that I have a sewing machine, and a big bag of different fabrics (I've blogged about that here ), it was just the right time I guess. And I've been watching Project Runway, which actually inspired me to do it. I'll never have the skills those guys have. Sewing clothes is so tedious to me. You need too much discipline and patience and I guess I lack those two.

In totally different news, pigeons built a nest in the neighbor's flower bed. A little less than a month ago, there were two eggs in the nest. We've been watching the little family ever since and it's really thrilling!!!

The eggs hatched and the little birdies are growing bigger and bigger. That's our daily show.

I took the last two pictures yesterday. They're so big now, and they kind of look like vultures!! :) The first picture is from august 3rd I think, and we're august 26th! Can you believe how fast they grew? They've been batting their wings for a few days now, I guess they'll be trying to fly anyday now!
Thei neighbors left on vacation. They should be home soon. We'll leave them a note on their door to tell them they have pigeons in their flowers but that they should soon be gone. :)

So this has been life lately. I left out lots of things I'm pretty sure but that's ok, that'll teach me to write more regularly on here.

Saturday will be my last day of work. I really enjoyed the time I spent there, all the nice people I met and all the books I was able to read on the commute.
Our plane to Chicago leaves on Monday. I can't believe I'm almost there. My favorite place in the world. And I'll be there in a few days. I'm really trying to enjoy these last few days here in France because that's one of the best parts of travelling, the excitement it creates the days before you hop on a plane.

Paris With Estelle - Sacré Coeur, Montmartre, Centre Pompidou

My friend Estelle got a new camera. We thought it would be fun that she would meet me in Paris and  take pictures all day. Estelle got in Paris at 10, we did a little bit of shopping and around 11:30,we were on our way to Montmartre. Once there we had lunch, not a single picture had been shot yet. :p

I'm not a big fan of bread. But this one was absolutely amazing!! We sat there where people park their scooters and motorcycles and ate our sandwiches.

The view from where I sat.

So we played tourist most of the day in Montmartre. :) I brought my film camera with me. I'd like to take an entire roll of pictures with as many different places in Paris as I can. On different days of course. 

The view from the Sacré Coeur.

I saw these, they look like thistle but the flowers were the size of my fist. I had never seen thistle like this before.

This is a very famous place in Paris, where all the painters used to come. Now most of the square is taken by restaurants' patios but there is still some painters and caricaturists. I couldn't get a good picture of the whole place because it's so busy and so dense, it didn't look good. It's very crowded, not only by people.

We walked in Montmartre. It was such a hot day.

Montmartre is definitely not my favorite place in Paris. It's nice but it's always very busy and the streets are very small. I'm not a big fan of crowds.

Cute poster :p

Then we headed to Les Halles and Le Centre Pompidou. It's a big art musueum/cultural center, with lots of exhibits that change several times a year.

Everytime I go there, there is this homeless man who's feeding the pigeons, always in the same spot. I don't really like pigeons, like most people, but when they are gathered up around this man, it's kind of magical. I wanted to stay longer and keep taking pictures but we were on a tight schedule. :) 

Talking about pigeons, a couple of them made their nest in our neighbors' flower bed. :) They've been away for about two weeks and they'll come home to baby pigeons! 

And now more pigeons...