Gloaming Designs

Dear Lindsey

dear Lindsey,

.

sorry we never made it to your hotel the night you were in Paris.

but after a 30 minute train ride

a long walk across terminal 2E

a 20 minute wait for the shuttle

a harrowing 20 minute shuttle ride

learning that we where at the wrong hotel

going back to the airport on an even more harrowing second shuttle ride

getting off at a different terminal

learning that the shuttle we needed only ran every 45 minutes

and realizing we had to leave then to catch the last train back into the city,

we took this picture for you while we waited for that last train, to show you we really are sad we never made it to you:

.

silly hotel shuttles.

.

then i tried to eat Romain because i was hungry and had no change for the vending machine because i gave it all to a russian boy on the train ride up.

good cause / scary picture.

but we're glad you finally made it home.

we'll do it all over again next time you pass through Paris.

.

love,

Abby & Romain

friday day

good morning!

it's friday already - wow!

the boy was home sick yesterday and today too (but feeling better already) and tonight the knitting group is having a (post birth) baby shower for the lovely Aimee so this is one busy day already.

so i'm going to say happy weekend early here

- and -

there's sun in Paris!! (sometimes it doesn't last past noon though, fingers crossed)

have a lovely weekend all!!!

Going out!

tuesday night looks like this:

 

 

Morning all Day

taken at almost 10 am.

this is not unusual

this city is dark.  and gray. a lot.

(i like to spell gray with an 'a'.  are you a grey with an 'e' person or a gray with an 'a' person?)

and now it is the afternoon and it is still the morning, light-wise.

::sigh::

i'm not a person who doesn't appreciate a nice rainy or gray day but months and months of it is tricky.

some things i'm thinking about:

- Haiti.  Who isn't.  But I only used the word 'tricky' up there and not 'horrible' because I really don't think I have the right to say that about anything in my life when so many, so, so many, are truely suffering.

- There are so many books that I would love to have right now!  Especially to take some more steps int he direction of one of our resolutions: reduce chemicals in our lives

- cleaning out the closets

- continuing our sort through our digital photo files and printing our some of our favorites.

- getting a haircut

- the stock i've got bubbling away

- making some baked good things

happy weekend

2010

happy 2010!

Life has been full.  I am so grateful for it.  But now that the path is settling back into a more recognizable landscape of day-to-day things, I working on finding my way.

We've made a 'dream as big as you can' list of resolutions for the New Year but I'm not interested in them being iron-clad - simply a guide on the road to enriching our lives more with each precious day we are given.  They range from the simple (finish the shower curtain!) to slightly more lofty ( learn dutch).

Last weekend we crossed one goal off the list by getting our year long passes to the Louvre.  While we were there we made our way to the tiny exhibit put together by Umberto Eco on the subject of lists.  I had heard him speak on the radio and explain that, in his estimation, one reason we make lists is because we are scared to die (is it me or do they always say things like that? always!).  While it is possible that that is indeed the case for some, we made our list of resolutions because we are terribly happy to live.  And there is so much living to do!

table for 4

last night our table was set for four

because my parents are here to visit!

i am so excited and this really ramps up the pace of things i have to get done.

so we're off to explore...

such great heights

still no sign of wednesday's post.

i can't firgure it out so we'll just have to move onward and upward.

i've been working on a bunch of things this past week and am hoping to get in a photoshoot at the end of the day.  if i manage, i'll have some really fun things to share next week.  i have been bursting with excitment over the results!

but in the mean time, here's a sneak peek:

eeekkkk!  i am so in love with this!

ok.  my lips are sealed until next week.

dear

Dear Friday

here we are friday.

{where did you come from?}

it doesn't matter; i'm happy you are here.

you know what we did before you?  we have been going to all kinds of the last outings of summer here in Paris before, like the days before you, the disappear!  so far, we have enjoyed a film (Dans Paris, well, enjoyed? hmmm...) in the park near Les Halles, a classical trio playing magic notes in the Parc Floral, 3 bike rides including one in buckets of rain that ran down our noses, a comedic played based on Shakespeare's plays in a cobbled square with trees and two cafés, and last night, a concert by We Were Evergreen (who i liked very much) followed by 8 short experimental films.  the rain arrived lazily and the event crew raised tents to cover us and put one over the band while they were playing!  in fact, it was lovely.  but we only made it through 4 films before our heads were nodding and we came home to read and knit while we fell asleep

.

but don't worry, friday.  tonight ( if you can hold off the rain), we'll go to the National Library to see an outdoor opera in the corner of one of the library towers shaped like standing open books.

so friday, let's you and i get some work done before the weekend's playing.

p.s. that is not us in the first picture (or the second).

Rain in the Morning

the rain is coming and the feeling of burden lifts.

the air is electric and the sense of something big is blooming.

this is this morning.

moving to a new country has been harder for me than i even realized and a few weeks ago things just seemed to be getting harder.

and then it made sense.

when had it taken so long to figure out?

i am battling loneliness.

it puts a static in my head and causes me to go in circles not knowing what to do, not having, as they say in french, the 'courage' to start anything.  i long everyday for a land where i feel roots and people with 'esprit'.

but i am not alone.

(of course, i know this.)

letting this truth out, that i am lonely, and sharing it with ones so close, who love so much, has made today feel like it could be a new day.

and the rain concurs.

under the embrace of the rain, everything can start again.

excitement!