BLUE RODEO

Last night, we had the absolute privilege of watching BLUE RODEO in concert in Paris. It was an incredibly small venue, which made it an over the top, once in a lifetime moment. There may have been 100 people in the room  ! We have lived in Paris for 18 months now, and I can say, hands down, it was the best night ever since we have lived here. It was so incredible to feel CANADA again.

Hipstamatic

If I could have an APPLE baby, I would. I admit it. J’adore la pomme.  Ohhh la la. Now, I am an iphone nutcase. Iphone therapy is just around the corner for me. I definitely have separation anxiety, if separated from it for lengthy periods of time. There. Confessed it. I know you all do it too, I am just hanging out my dirty laundry and confessing it.

Blog what you are passionate about

Ok, I’ll do that. I blogged for a few years. I even managed, through some miraculous discovery, to attach our old family blog to this one. I was hit with a techno stick. Right square between the eyes ~ and bamm ~ the blog was back.  It was a TAHHHHH DAHHHHH moment. There, found it, attached it. One of those things that you think about for about a million years, and then it takes 10 seconds to do it. You know the kind. If I had a third leg, I would kick myself for taking so long to do that one.

Inspiration

If there was ever a place on earth that inspires me as a designer….this is it. North Island, Seychelles.

I have seen it from afar. Sat on a beautiful porch of our friends home in the Seychelles….stared off to the distance and admired the island. Oh, if I only had three wishes. :-)

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON !

In two weeks, we are CANADA bound again. Where or where did the time go ?

After a year and a half of living in France, learning all my big girl attributes of surviving the Parisian culture….and ahhum, learning how to speak French….well, ok, I went to french school, and my exam results said I could talk my way out of sticky situations, when pressed. Voila ! I can do that with body language alone. I know how to flip the bird in a heated moment of GRhhhh…

This is what I imagined french life to be like :

When, really, when it got down to the nuts and bolts of real living, it was much more fun discovering all the little things. Like, how cool it is that the grocery stores carry some pretty delish mustard selections AND , wait for it, wait for it… drum roll…their mustard jars become drinking glasses after the jar is empty. BRILLIANT !!!

Design is everywhere, my friends. Don’t need a glossy magazine or a fancy showroom. It is all around us. Look out, because I can’t help but share it with you.

YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING

What on earth is a Canadian designer doing in Paris, and why is she not pointing out all the obvious incredible facts about French life ?!! I would agree, wholeheartedly with that statement. I will get to all the good stuff, I am a Canadian after all. We like to point out of the positive. Which, I might add, is the polar opposite to a Frenchie. They like to point of the negative. They are the Kings and Queens of the negative world.

You know a true french person, when they describe something which is absolutely gorgeous as ” well, it isn’t bad “. If they say something is GREAT, they are NOT FRENCH. Ask to see their passport for proof of identity. They are an imposter.

As a designer, I am influenced every single day. Inspired, more like it. Travel, to me,  is as important as breakfast. Without it, I would feel dead in the mud. Well, at least a bored dead in the mud.

THE PARISIAN WAY

Image via Wikipedia

Or should I say the Parisienne way ? As a designer, this city is EYE CANDY. I feel like my head is going to weeble wobble pop off, I am so excited to walk this city. Walk you must, by the way, if you want to live. Leave the driving to a Parisienne. They are aggressive. Make your moves fast, and furious, if you dare to hop in a car.

I keep asking myself how often do they paint the Eiffel tower ?! Or do they paint it? I need to Google that, but I have been too busy eating macaron’s to really take the time to figure out the paint questions in my mind. If it were up to me, I would definitely change it up a bit. Give it some funk. Like PINK. Why not live a little !?

Related articles

• PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills (lynneknowlton.com)
• Eiffel Tower Facts (mademan.com)

PARIS ~ The Canadian Way ~

I have spent some serious time in this city. Serious time. Which makes me wonder, how someone as “un-serious” as me can survive and still love the city of Paris. It is true, it is the city of Romance, and one of the most loved cities in the world. I get that. Live here, and you will understand what I am about to say. *screaming from a roof top*, why are Parisians so SERIOUS ?!!!!

I have learned the hard way, and the really hard way, ( insert laugh, because that is the only way to survive )…how to make the best of FRENCH CULTURE.

 

Yes, you guessed it, this is how you can seriously survive French Culture….