Alizée Turned 20

Alizée turned 20 last Monday.
20. Years. Old.

A concept: 20 presents, 20 cupcakes. Each present had a number on it and on 20 pieces of paper (also numbered) I wrote sentences to be completed. Alizée picked a piece of paper, completed the sentence and unwrapped the corresponding present. A very simple idea, but we spent a lovely moment together. And we also learned more about her!

The cupcakes were delicious. I took the inspiration from the wrapping paper to decorate them (concept, concept). A little food coloring, coconut, Smarties and there you go.

A great evening!

Here are the 20 sentences if you feel like doing something similar:
1. The next place you want to visit...
2. What you like the most about yourself...
3. Something you learned about yourself recently...
4. Your favorite piece of clothing ever...
5. A dream you know will become true eventually...
6. A souvenir from your childhood that still makes you smile...
7. The most beautiful song...
8. Your extreme odors (the one you like the most and the one you can't stand)...
9. In 5 years, you...
10. Something crazy you'd like to do...
11. The most beautiful place you've ever been...
12. One thing you want to accomplish before you turn 21...
13. A flaw in others you don't mind...
14. THE movie you watch again and again...
15. What makes you laugh...
16. Your biggest accomplishment this year...
17. What you like to hear...
18. 20 years old is...
19. The most wonderful machine/invention...
20. Something you didn't know before this year...

Leaving tomorrow morning... It's gonna be awesome. Again.

Blogmania

I visit A LOT of blogs. Sometimes I stop for a quick look, but for the following blogs, I always spend more time...

Fourmi rose: So that I stay in touch with my art partner.
Vie de merde: Because laughing is good. GOOOOOOD.
Motherhood is not for Whimps: A mother who makes me laugh. And think.
My Milk Toof: Too creative. I am officially jalous.
One Sentence: Same kind of blog as Vie de merde, with serious stuff instead.
Dottie Angel: Gorgeous photos!!! I love the fabrics, the feminine stuff, the embroidery, the knitting, the crochetted blankets. One day, I will go to one of her workshops. It's on my life list.
Habit: A sentence, a photo. Capturing the essence of the day.
Ma vie est tout à fait fascinante: A young author/illustrator I am really fond of.
Whole Self: A creative mother who is not afraid to get dirty.
Yarn Harlot: One of the teachers who will be at Squam Art Workshops in June and who is, "live" extremely funny.

Knitting

When fall comes, I feel the urge to knit. Not really a good knitter, but I love it. This year, I'm doing something new: I won't knit alone, all by myself at home. There's this nice little boutique in my hometown. Can't wait to go back. I even have a meeting with a coach very soon. Yay!

The Future of the Book

Really? Wow...

The Future of the Book. from IDEO on Vimeo.

Space

No picture. I am just so very tired. I spent a long time during my summer vacation cleaning up. Making room. Throwing away stuff.

Now that Alizée has her own apartment in ze big city (yes, university life, already!), that Miranda decided to relocate in the basement, there is an extra room upstairs. So I made myself a studio. I can sew/paint/do all sort of crafts in there, it can get messy, no one will know!

So, Alizée did her share of the purging. Miranda was almost an expert (three huge garbage bags) and I did too. All over the house. The attic was filled, with stuff, looooots of stuff. The basement had too many things the girls didn't use anymore. The bookcases were accumulating so much dust, it was a shame. My CD collection wasn't used anymore (my music is all digital now). I emptied a big filing cabinet filled with my lesson plans from ten years ago. We needed that.

We did a yard sale, gave stuff to charity, recycled what we could and threw away the rest. So now there's more room, it's clean and I feel good. Better even. Getting rid of old stuff is so liberating and I wasn't even nostalgic! And, as a bonus, I have a studio*

*Yes, yes, pictures will come ;-)

Caravan

I dream of a little house for the rear end of our garden. A place to hide from neighbours and for a sweet escape, close to home. If not a little house, a small caravan like this one would do the job nicely. Tiny, teeny-weeny problem: huge trees and our beloved pool block the way. Sighs... That would have been so cute. More sighs...

The picture was taken here.

My Daughters...

I am a Mom. A lucky one.

I have two wonderful daughters and I am very proud of them. Not only because they do well at school (they work really hard), but because they are so involved in their community. This year Miranda received a special award for her outstanding involvement at school (Alizée received the same award a couple of years ago). Isn't she lovely? (She's the one with the pink cardigan).

Last week, hubby and I went to set Alizée in her new appartment (University in the fall!). We homestaged it ;-) She wrote us a lovely note and bought some flowers to express her gratitude.

I think I did a good job raising them. Though it was not very difficult. Did I mention I am a lucky Mom?

June Squam Art Fair

I'll be there next Saturday, come see me!

Photo Blogs

I love beautiful photographs.
I find them extremely energizing.
Some photo blogs who stimulate me nowadays...

it's mary ruffle
Scrumtrulescent
Delikatissen
This world tonight is mine
Beautiful Stranger

Ladybug

A recent creation for a ladybug...
A gift that will fly in a plane in June!

My Friend Tanja on Design Mom!

My "partner in -art- crimes" Tanja is featured on Design Mom! And 'number two' is coming in August, how time flies...

Berta, a Teacher from Amsterdam

Oh Berta, Berta, Berta... Can't stop looking at your wonderful photos, especially your 500 x 500 set on flickr. Aren't those pictures to die for?

Red Velvet Cake

For my darling's birthday, I baked a Red Velvet Cake (see recipe here). I knew it was a special cake, but hey, it was almost a chemistry experiment! There was food coloring all over the place and the mixture of vinegar with baking soda at the end, wow, impressive... Anyway, I'm glad I made it, it is dellllicious and the color is indeed very intriguing (some say it tastes a little cherryish, even though there are no cherries AT ALL in it ;-)

Something New!

Last car I bought was 14 years ago. Now, I drive a Ford (insert Kiefer Sutherland's voice here)...

From Me, To Me...

A gift I'll offer myself very soon:

I Am Ready!

My documents are completed (contract, invoice, portfolio, list of advice, report template, business cards, and all), I am ready for the next step: meeting real estate agents. A few phone calls and here I come!

My name is Dominique Plourde and I am a certified Home Staging specialist, how can I help you?

Great logo, hey?

Olivier Bruel made it for me.

Color, Please!

Winter is far from being over, that's why I put flowers in cute little vases here and there to give the house a dash of spring colors.

What about you? What to do you to trick winter and patiently await spring to come?

Effervescence

Saying that lots of stuff is buzzing in my head, in my life would not reflect reality. The good news is that all that is happening is extremely positive and making me so happy. Sorry, I don't have time to tell you more right now, too much going on!

A New Career: Home Staging!

In a few hours, I'll officially be a home staging specialist! A new motivating career, interesting challenges, I am so happy I decided to do it. The training session I am taking is very complete: how to start your business, home staging techniques, useful relationships to develop, and hands-on situations.

This week's Thursday Love is dedicated to Josée from tréa design, our teacher from the Académie supérieure de Home Staging Le Blanc-Limoges who is the queen of patience (questions, questions, questions and many more questions from all of us), sincerely kind, respectful and unbelievably professional.

Tomorrow is D-day: with my partner Geneviève, we will stage a room in a house that has been on the market for a couple of months and hasn't sold yet. Our budget is almost non-existant, what a challenge. I can't wait...

Next I'll have to expand my network, find real estate agents with whom I can collaborate and start my business!

Thanks to Guylaine, who mentioned today this link on colors on her blog. Very useful for me right now...