vancouver 2010

has anyone been watching the olympics? 

it's tough from here to be able to see anything - 9 hours time difference between us and vancouver - but steve and i read online and watch highlights every day.

and i have to say, i am sort of wishing i could be in canada to see this. i have some friends who have been lucky enough to go to the games and they had a blast.  aside from attending, it would have been incredible to witness the national pride firsthand - especially on a day like today. 

today is gold medal hockey day. 

we'll be watching the game online, as best we can find it, and i'll also be enjoying the dozens of facebook status updates every time there's action in the game.  

what is your opinion of the games?

mine lies somewhere between 'healthy world competition' and 'waste of money that could be better spent.'  if only the countries of the world would put this amount of money into competing for the best quality of life, or the best education for their citizens.  (why has education become so undervalued? maybe i'll save that for another post)

anyway - enjoy what's left of the games, the fireworks of the closing ceremonies, and 

GO CANADA GO!

EDIT: Canada is up 2-0 in the game!
(we're excitedly huddled around our computer.  listening to hockey commentary in french is fun.)

EDIT: overtime win! hurray! 
lol the french announcer really did say "ooooh la la!" multiple times 

thrift shopping - things i didn't buy

each monday the local fruit and veggie market is taken over by antique vendors -  lucky me to have mondays off :)  so it's become tradition to go and browse.  i'm fascinated by the things that they have sometimes - such a rich history of things - and cuteness!

here are some faves (please excuse the not-up-to-usual-standard photos - i have to sneak them!)

brass fawn bookends
 

 wooden tropical necklace (which i may have bought if it wasn't broken)

vintage pillboxes and compacts

 

100 year old newspapers

 empty hermes scarf boxes (??)

and my fave - the model mobile home :)

the interview box.

call it what you will - jumping the bandwagon, etc. -  i've added a formspring box.  

but, perhaps we can make it a bit more useful as well.

i've been thinking about posting photography tutorials.  

if you have anything you'd like to learn, want advice about, etc... ask away!

and of course, silly time-wasting questions are always welcome :)

it feels strange to make a post without a picture, so here's a random one:

may 2008 - self portrait in louvre courtyard.  

from my first trip to europe, spending 27 hours in paris and falling in love.

snow day on the french riviera

so i'm quite behind on the posting, this was one of the days that my dad was here visiting - we had planned on going to Antibes to walk and explore, but then came this -

a walk to the beach in cannes instead.

it's such a freak occurence for it to snow here, that there are high school students who have never seen the stuff.  (they should drive 2 hours to visit it on the mountain, but that's another story.)

so, i present to you, the biggest snowfall cannes has had since the eighties. 

 

it was a lot of fun to see how the locals experienced it.  umbrellas, snowmen on the beach, even the dogs looked confused and surprised.  there were a lot of snowball fights :)

 

i wish this had come before christmas, when i really did miss the snow.  now i'm just craving sun and waiting until i can lay on the warm sand again.  lol how can i go back to canada and live through next winter?  i've turned into such a wimp!

saturday in san remo, italy

while my family came to visit we took a few little day trips in the region, to check out the sights. 

the first - san remo, italy.  best on a saturday morning to hit up the huge market :)

here are some of the sights. enjoy the mini tour!

i don't think i would take these if someone paid me

but sundried tomatoes, we did buy

this was lunch

 

leather is available all over 

i wish people still wore hats.  never really have, but i'm beginning to seriously love them.

this plant is new to me.  they're in season in the region now, and have a lovely light fragrance. 

they're called mimosas. and i believe they use them to make perfume.

a beautiful day along the ocean.

here we are, enjoying gelato after being shopped out.  thank you for the pic steve!

i'm back :)

wow - it feels like it's been ages since i've posted.  it's been a busy couple of weeks, with lots of travels and visiting with my family. 

and we've been sucked into the world of LOST.  steve started last week, then filled me in and now we are already 1/2 through season 3.  lol.  i didn't ever have any real interest in the series but

being on holiday + trying to save money + being burnt out from family travels + rainy weather...

it's a perfect storm.  

do you watch it? i feel sorry for those who are left with cliffhangers over the summers! at least starting to watch it now means we'll never have to deal with that. 

i am still sorting through all of the photos from my family visit, but in the meantime, here are some shots of the lovely valentine surprise steve gave me.  i hope you had a nice day with your valentine!

the lemon ones are my favourite.  

mmmmmmmmm.

hiatus...

just in case i don't have the time to post anything over the next week, it's because i'm playing tour guide.  my dad, his wife and my aunt and uncle are here to visit! 

so far so good, and we have lots of little adventures planned in the region. 

until next time...!

one down! 21 to go.

 a bit of an update - as january ends - i've made some progress with my goals.

my list of goals for 2010

i haven't worked on everything by any means - some of them just aren't possible while living in France.  but! i have made steps with a few:

learn french well enough to have an entire conversation with my grandma & apply for bilingual jobs

i'm trying to work on this day by day.  and have been taking classes on monday evenings. 

but i need to try to practice more.  i've been here 4 months now, and my french is not as great as i would have liked.  but everyone i hang out with speaks english.  i am going to read more, have bought some kids books - 7 years old is my level - lol.

master the use of photographic flash

i am still a long way from becoming a master - but i've been reading the strobist and am learning...

and i tried one technique for the first time with nina 

long hair again for a bit - be good at more than 1 style, ha ha

this is an easy work in progress.  i'm almost at shoulder length.  just need to resist the temptation to go back to my fun little bob.
  portfolio building preplanned photoshoots

i have some plans in the works for these.  i'm enlisting the help of my friends here as models  - and i've recently met with 2 girls who are studying costume design! 

the gears are turning.

make a facebook fan page and a website for my photography

i have begun creating a wix based website - does anyone use wix?

i attempted to load photos to facebook last week but their upload system is the worst.

will try that one on a more patient day.

learn to appreciate wine or at least like it a little

getting better at this one.  i can actually say that i like rose/blush, don't mind white

& as for reds, pinot noir is the best.

discover 12 new musicians to love

my new love for january - jully black.  i had known a couple of her singles before, but she's got me hooked now.  such a positive message throughout her new album. 

blog everyday for 10 days straight

whoo hoo! this is day 10!

one thing officially completed.  it may not seem like a big deal, but i wanted to do it to develop the habit of blogging.  i used to post once a month.  this was a bit much for me to do on a regular basis, but i think i can at least keep up with once every 2 or 3 days.