I thought I'd take a break from my tales from Paris (which is turning into quite the drawn out miniseries) to dazzle you with tidbits from my life here in Texas. Photos included. ('Dazzle' might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm feeling on the glass full side today).
// How sweet is this?! I wish I could say that Fifty went to the store and bought that balloon all by himself but that would be ludicrous. He doesn't have any money.
// Sarah, Selena and Gina are currently hopping about all of my old stomping grounds in Provence. Their instagram feeds are turning me into quite the green-eyed monster, but they have assured me that they have raised many a glass of Rosé in my name. Cheers to them!
// I've been doing my best to incorporate bits of Provence into our new American life and one of the easiest ways to do this is with l'apéro. I've managed to find a half decent Rosé that doesn't break the bank and Gregory bought a bottle of Ricard at Specs so we're good to go. And the great thing about American apéro... it can include cheese! See France, it's not just for after dinner.
// 'Baguettes'... these may look like baguettes and be called baguettes, but they're not baguettes #boohoo.
// I may be having a hard time getting my hands on a good baguette, but I have been able to take a big ol' bite out of something that I had been missing for years... this my friends, is a Brainstorm. It's salami, ham, turkey, cheddar, swiss, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayonnaise and mustard, and for me, it tastes like high school. Many a school lunch was spent munching on one of these pockets of deliciousness. Man, it tastes good to be home!
// Speaking of deliciousness... a few weeks back, my mother threw a small party and she asked if I could whip up some nibbles so I turned to my bites board on Pinterest and made these. Holy Canoli, they were G O O D!
// See this tile? I found it at Forcalquier Market right after I moved to Le Petit Village and promptly purchased it for Gregory (in it's unbroken state it says, "a Clermont rugby supporter lives here"). Finding a bit of Auvergne in Provence was a rare occurrence and one Gregory was quite excited about. Unfortunately at the moment, Gregory's heart is as broken as this tile. After 77 home game wins, Clermont lost to Castres in the Top 14 quarter-final, and a couple of weeks before that, they lost to Saracens in the Heineken Cup semi-final. But here's the thing... Clermont's massive winning streak (that led to a French championship in 2010 and an appearance at the Heineken Cup final last year, and that home win streak), began only a couple of weeks after I moved to France, and their streak of bad luck this season began shortly after I left. Coincidence? I doubt it. (P.S. this broken tile now resides at Honey Jr's house.)
// Clermont may not be in the Heineken Cup final this year, but Toulon is. That means that Mr. London might be a European champion two years in a row! While Gregory's heart is breaking for Clermont, he's bursting with pride and joy for his Bumder and we'll be cheering him on from 4850 miles away.
// But something not filling Gregory's heart with pride and joy... getting his butt whooped by me! We took the boys to an arcade and Gregory insisted that I play against him in some dumb shooting game... I beat him by 40,000 points. The pouting was glorious... GLORIOUS!