look closely

i am having a lovely day today.  

i made crepes stuffed with tropical fruit for breakfast,

steve is making an elaborate dinner and won't tell me what,

& i spent the afternoon playing with my new macro photography toy 

i really love it so far.

i'm so glad i had these dead flowers lying around ;)
(and if you'd like to see more)

do you have a favourite quote?

so i've recently gathered some embroidery supplies and want to make a little wall hanging for the wall above our fireplace. i've asked steve if he has any quotes he loves, but no, not really.  and i simply can't decide.  i'd like it to be a bit of an inspirational reminder, how to live life, etc... but nothing too heavy handed - here are a few contenders, none of which feel perfect - song lyrics give me some of the best ones - if you have any fave quotes please leave a comment!

there will be an answer, let it be

not all those who wander are lost

the world is a book, those who do not travel only read one page

we'd be good, we'd be great together

nobody said it was easy

live the life you want

i don't know where i'm going but i promise it won't be boring

every day matters

i also love this poster, by Owen Gildersleeve for the Guardian.  advice to new students.

i love having models!

let me introduce you to nina.  

she came to cannes to study french & we met thru an ad she posted, looking for people to practice with.  she has now returned to norway to finish law school, but we were able to squeeze in a short photoshoot before she left! and i do mean short, it started raining out of nowhere :(

i love having the chance to practice my lighting and photoshop skills.

if you'd like to see more, check out my flickr set.

canadian blast part 2

as promised - some photos from tuesday night

jason bajada

matthew barber

danny fernandez

jully black

plants and animals

jully black, and friends!

such a great night

canadian blast!!

last night was probably one of my favourite experiences in france so far.
my apologies if the post is slow to load...

cannes is hosting a week long music conference, and Morrison's english pub (which my friends normally frequent) held "Canadian Blast" - a showcase of lesser known Canadian talent.

about 6 weeks ago i had found the concert listing for Plants and Animals (see post below for their vid)

and didn't realize that other musicians would even be there.  it was one helluva show ;)  - and free!

(haven't looked at my pics yet will post those later)

first was Jason Bajada
who i didn't know previously, but i'm hooked

followed by matthew barber

and danny fernandez (with 2 backup dancers on a 4x8 stage)

and the incredible, phenomenal Jully Black.  She is such a strong, amazing woman!
this is an older video from a few years ago. the new album is incredible, inspirational and doesn't have videos on youtube yet.  she is soooo talented!
and my friends and i hung out with her after the show a lil bit ;)

and Plants and Animals closed!
such a great night!

tuesday toe tapper.

ha ha maybe i'll get a better title eventually. for now, this is cool.

today's song is brought to you by Plants and Animals, from Montreal, Canada.

i will be seeing them in concert tonight! they're here for the music festival and will be playing a local english pub.  i'm so thrilled! i own all of their albums, it's so lucky!

a girl can drool...

today, for no reason in particular, i am just crabby.  not a great sleep last night, it's raining, i stood at the post office for 40 minutes because the lines were insane and then they couldn't find my parcel... still don't have it.

anyway, chatting with my friend cindy and playing on polvore is cheering me up.

this one is my "i wish i had the money and party invite to be able to wear this dress" set.

loooove this dress!

clearly i have way too many accessories, but i couldn't decide, and the pic with just the dress and earrings looks a bit empty.

party girl by smilesfrommel featuring Diane von Furstenberg dresses

Items in this set:

Diane von Furstenberg Josun strapless mini dress, $675

bebe 'Bailey' Platform Pump, $120

SANTI FHB4506 Clutch - Free Overnight Shipping & Return Shipping:..., $190

Feathered Blue Rhinestone Earrings by Frangos | Charm & Chain, $85

Kate Vintage Silver Feather Cuff Bracelet, $34

this set is a bit more realistic - "what i'd buy if i could have a forever 21 shopping spree today"

after browsing i realized i'm quite inspired by my surroundings.

forever 21 love by smilesfrommel featuring Forever21

Items in this set:
Forever21.com - Fabulous Finds - 2072048058, $14
Beaded Crochet Trim Top, $20
Ruffled 3/4 Cropped Cardigan, $8.99
Forever21.com - Tops - Camis & Tanks - 2071594107, $16
Ciao V-Neck Tee, $11

happy happy.

it's so sweet, cat has given me this award, because my blog makes her smile.  :)

so, i am to blog about 10 things that make me happy, and then pass this award along to 10 other blogs.

(find them at the end) it's a bit of a silly and france related edition. here goes:

hanging out with the lovely language assistants.  the parties sometimes never end.

the yogurt aisle at my grocery store.  you can't see it here but it spans both sides. yum.

 this music video.

wandering the antique market on mondays.

learning and practicing new photography techniques.

i have bigger plans for this one.

the abundant selection of french macarons.

note: do not order the one named "rose." it does not just mean pink.

it means you'll bite into what is usually a delicious confection and to be greeted with the feeling of a  mouthful of flower petals.  heartbreaking really.  why does it have to be the prettiest!?

this picture. (steve won the toy in the galette de rois cake, and gets to wear the crown...)

 

walking past this ridiculous poster of george clooney.  the expression on his face is so strange.

he also has ads for an espresso company that are overly silly for a man who's normally so cool.

finding a new hair dye that matches my fave canadian red dye.  love the fresh red feeling!

and while i don't have pictures for this one, spending a lazy sunday afternoon knitting, editing pictures and catching up on my fave blogs.  here's some:
my best friend cindy tells stories of cooking school adventures
francesco's journeys in reading, writing and publishing

cait's crafts and ongoing 365
suzanne has great taste
the daring heyjenrenee
jacque is a sweetheart
lindsay has great style
paige is really talented
jamie lives life to the fullest
cat shares everything cute

followup to the most ludacris blog post ever.

so the NRJ awards were last night, and i can now say i've experienced some red carpet insanity.

we went to the palais, after hearing the cheering crowds from our apartment. we were clearly too late to get a good place, or even a clear photo - but it was fun nonetheless.

 we 'saw' michael buble, pharrell, a huge number of french stars we didn't know, robbie williams

and rhianna.  we moved out of the crowd of annoying 12 year olds by this point...

it was fun and a little preview for the film festival madness in may.

as for the afterparty options, i decided to wear the "little purple dress" that i had bought for christmas parties this year.  but it was for not.  we ended up going to 2 other house parties with friends, having a really good time there, and everyone decided it was better than attempting to star watch at a club that's overpriced and probably has the stars in a VIP room anyway. 
we can save that experience for during the film festival ;)

probably the most ludacris blog post i'll ever write.

tonight in cannes are the NRJ music awards.

 in order to get tickets to you need to win a lottery - steve and i won tickets to a flamenco jazz concert for monday night.  not quite the same.

but, all hopes of stargazing are not lost.  there's always the option of being one of these people:

they're currently setting up this year's carpet.  (if you walk past those white tents and one block to the left, you will arrive at our apartment building. insane.)

OR

tonight in cannes, there are 2 afterparties. one hosted by jay-z here:

and one hosted by the black eyed peas here:

so i'm on the fence about what to do.  to get into one of the clubs later - the cover charge is 50 euros.  roughly $80.... ouch.  but my crazy assistant friends want to go - and what happens if they have a great time and i miss out?! lol.  such a ridiculous problem to have.  but i can't decide. i'll let you know what i end up doing.  there are already 2 house parties tonight that steve and i have been invited to. 

we shall see.

what would i even wear to this!?

dilemma.

i'd love to get your opinions on this.

so, as you may or may not know, i'm in the process of trying to better myself as a photographer and am learning the ropes of having a 'web presence.'  all in the hopes of transitioning into photography as a career.   thus, should i watermark my photos when i post them?

this wasn't really an idea for me until recently.  i know it's a big debate on flickr, that people viewing the photos hate to see it, it ruins the aesthetics, cheapens it, and so on.  and it's a bit of a pain to do - to photoshop the name in and have 2 copies saved of every pic i edit.  i do prefer it without. 

however -  with websites like tumblr and weheartit exploding in popularity - the actual creator of the photograph doesn't get credit.  i love weheartit, but often the link is to someone's tumblr or another blog where the work isn't credited.  the photo circulates and the photographer is lucky if someone ever finds her site because of it.  or flat out the "right click - save photo as" scenario.

as much as i dislike it, maybe i'm going to have to?

it also means i'm going to have to design a logo...
but in the meantime, i'm shooting some portraits today! it's a wonderfully not-rainy day here too - perfect.

mmmmm....blueberry pancakes

i woke up this morning and went to the market.  wild blueberries. mmm hmm.

this calls for pancakes.

i also picked up the flowers...

hope you're having a wonderful weekend :)