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Our lives have been one big holiday party for what seems like weeks, but has probably been only,well, weeks. I feel a gargantuan blob and like saussison in my jeans. As do we all, from what I hear (and see!). At last the rounds of cheese and tortilla chips are done. I love to see my friends and family and meet other friends and their families and socialize with people I'll never see again. But, the gourmand/glutton in me is undone by the lovely drinking and pecking and grazing to be done at these soirees fabuleuse(je sais, je sais). At least my jeans *do* zip. For my grande finale du les Holidays.....I will, mmes et messrs, create demain not only one, but two inordinately rich dishes from l'homard, which I consider le ne plus ultra of celebration, bisque et risotto. Lobster bisque and lobster risotto with vinegary green salad and crusty, fluffy rustic bread, a fire roaring, music to the mood and a parade of family and friends for NY Eve, 2007. Au Revoir and let's begin anew in 2008 with hope for another year of joy in living.

2008, I'm beginning to muse

Not really much for too much foresight, I am none the less considering 2008 rather scrupulously - well, month by month anyway. This plan was put into motion by all the upcoming travel plans, both firm and dreamish(and their payment plans) that await us.
Janvier - loads of family birthdays. business in Toledo.
Février - St V,possibly Ellicotville or Toronto
Mars - Marblehead/Boston
Avril - NYC/Boston (M), Wash DC (C)
Mai - Chicago
Juin - China (C)
Juillet - Traverse City,MI,
Août - Toronto
Septembre
Octobre - The Camp (Pa)
Novembre
Decembre
We are not all going on each trip, and some may be subject to change. The tricky part is figuring out when I'll be ready to test for my license. This involves, of necessity, speed, but is subject to the whims of a very slow market. I want to pounce, but only when ready. Due to changes in licensing that would affect my situation in 2009 I am stepping up and will have to take 2 major tests this year. I have a separate plan for this and will be working very hard to get it done.

Shopping with men

Telling stories about shopping with an adolescent boy. Anything to do with adolescent boys - funny!! Especially to their aunts. How they go into the dressing room and you wait "Hello!!??"frustrated at the entrance, "how's it going in there?", how long does it take to get into the pants for crying out loud? M can go for days with 3 pair. I sit outside and make friends with the other women, waiting too. We commiserate about how freaking slow men are. We grow old together. All this for a pair of pants likely to be pondered and rejected anyway. Her man walks out, oh a grown one. Will M emerge, middle aged? Urgh. They never change, do they? And now he's got "skater's hair", don't even ask.

my sister and brother in law's christmas present

Or the Absence of Absinthe, Not.

This is a story that will be told. Has been twice (at least) since Christmas Eve round the U.'s dining room table where it took place.

I feel virtuous having completed both pilates and abs/thighs workout this am. Out the door in a minute to take C. for birthday breakfast. She's late, bien sur! A gift of wine and start the day off right - love breakfast food. Poor dogs will have to wait - it's wet right now.

Considering 2008.

Holiday baking and composure

This time of year I visit several markets to pick up items necessary for some Christmas tradtional treat or another. Chicken livers for the "pink meat" soup dumplings. Frozen roll dough for the pecan rolls. 3 1.5 lb lobsters for bisque and risotto. Port Salut for snacking - a subsititute for Cowgirl Creamery Mt Tam triple cream cheese which is my new to die for desire. Sold out. Veuve Cliquot and that. Yes, yes, YES!!
I have to call Fred and get the names of the three cheeses at his holiday soiree. Wonderful night with fresh figs, creamy goat, purple grapes and bleu/roquefort, crumbly pecorino(?) with honey.... A very cheesy christmas to you, too.
I maintain a high level of walking and swimming this time of year so I may indulge. The hot chocolate is yummier after a brisk hike with the dogs. Dog walking is such a no brainer! They love it and thrive and you burn daily fat, clear your mind and thrive too.The pool is trickier but I get the schedule and do what I can. 40 minutes of crunches/thigh exercises/yoga/pilates 2x a week, daily streches and daily walk and house cleaning exercise. Yard work! It's built in to my life. I bike for many errands. I always make a route when going out so I don't backtrack. I park at the end of the lot - if I drive at all. Lots of water to drink. I love warm drinks too this time of year: tea, coffee and hot chocolate.
Looking forward to making my tradional quiche, carmely pecan rolls and some new treats with the great looking lobster I got from Aldi. The sushi sampler from Trader Joe's was so tasty by the way....great light, satisfying meal. Baked our sugar cookies today - lovely, creamy stars, santa, trees etc with brown edges waiting for tomorrow's icing assult....and maybe I'll make coconut meringues tomorrow too....if I think I can be a good girl with them in the house:)

what begins as a blog entry

Even tho I travel extensively, home is everything I love. My atelier is within my home - with an important, additional field office on my deck. The outdoor room is paramount and my style dictates a comfortable mixture of old linen, leather and wood, worn orientals and hardwood floors - trashed elegance, you might say, rust has become my friend. Mme Pereire roses (mine are featured in the slideshow at right) swarming over the elevator door trellis/wall. Seducing with scent and that unimaginable green/pink clash....heaven.
Of course you must have a bed. So you can spread out with all your things: books, coffee,notebooks and other fodder. A lounge or a desk, not the same really. Must be a bed and I support bed culture in general, but that's the subject of another post.
Big baskets, wooden troughs with handles, lovely large trays (am infatuted with trays)for transporting books, magazines and delicious sustinance indoors to out. I never spill a drop!!
Outdoors is a luxury with two level living: a wooden deck off the house and a stone patio opening into grass. A charcoal grill and radiant heat lamps make our northern Ohio paradise inhabitable almost all year long and we cook and eat there often. Pillows, blankets, unrolled carpets.....like an elegant, old fashioned picinic - only we do it always.

anything continental going on around here???yet??

We've been to two holiday parties so far. The cheeses at both have been fantastic.

Our fireplace has been well used so far this season, we ate dinner fireside this evening once again.

I'm machine embroidering washcloths for the kids as a stocking stuffer. Found plush white ones, got each kid a dozen and am edging one side of each cloth with words that "fit" the child: Leo, Marching Band, Puppies etc.. Hope they will like the personalization and will actually use them on their adolescent faces with more frequency.

Dabbling with 2 Chanel samplers: Coco and Mademoiselle....

Everyone seems to like my updated hairstyle, "Lisa Rinna" is the inspiration (according to the stylist)and I've started parting it on the left. It has made a difference, who knew?

Continually weeding out my closet.
Wearing some makeup every day.

Thanksgiving

Feeling less than thankful these days, so the day was a challenge. Intellectually I know that I have lots to be thankful for but let's just say I'm concentrating on the the negative these days.(apologies to the fabulous "accentuate the positive" Johnny Mercer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Mercer).
How French was my holiday? Not so much. Do the French play Yahtzee? Anyone? I know they don't guzzle bourbon manhattans and cosmopolitans as (absolutely necessary) predinner sedatives. And green beans with mushroom soup and crunchy onions on top, while yummy, just don't have the je ne sais quoi one might associate with haricot verts shimmering in the teensiest gloss of buerre. Oh! - a Dora the Explorer cake for dessert. Those of you unfamiliar with Dora should really get some new friends in the 3 to 4 year old range. Of course there was also pumpkin pie. What do you think we are?

posting at least twice a year

I forgot how to access my own blog. Kinda lost interest, too. Then I read another's post about how these daily posts can help one really live in the moment and that resonated with me. Not that I'll have time/anything of interest/desire to post daily, but....I do want to live more in the moment so perhaps I'll give it a try. At the very least I can post more than two times in a year! The purpose of this blog is to inspire me to live more fully, every day. To make conscious decisions. Not to wait for "big" celebration days such a holidays to bring out the good silver and champagne. And I call it Paris on the Cuyahoga because I live in the Cleveland suburbs and I really want to be living in Paris. The Cuyahoga River separates the East and West sides of Cleveland, rather like the Seine divides the Right and Left Banks of Paris. From what I've seen, read and been told, Parisians (and many other cultures, to be fair), live more in the present tense than most Americans. Every day items like meals and clothes choice are expressions of individuality - they don't wait for the big moment. They claim their lives. Money and what you "do" are not as important as who you "are".