nuggets :: from france with love

nuggets :: little bits of the season in photos and words about the last week, as inspired by dig

Our little house glowed as evening fell & the skies darkened.
Puffy, pre-storm clouds reigned over Valley Ford the very next day.

Last week our home was readied for special visitors.  Visitors from France, via Southern California, on part of their three month holiday in the United States.

In a burst of energy, I decided that we needed to lose a heavy piece of furniture from our dining area and enlisted the help of my husband to make it disappear.  A quick call to our neighbors and poof! it was gone.  I quickly edited the contents of the dresser and realized my attachment to Grady's childhood place mats, as well as wax-covered candlesticks, decaying craft projects and ungifted trinkets were ready for the donate box awaiting them in the garage.  The room feels light and airy now and the subtle shift and loss of stuff made me feel like spring cleaning had officially begun.

Thumb Wars are all the rage around here

I'm listening to a book on CD called The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom by Amy Chua.  It's quite a lesson in Chinese parenting and a bit, um, extreme.  And while I don't subscribe to berating your child into submission over a six hour piano lesson, the author's observations on Western parenting is fascinating to me.  For example, how every child gets a trophy just for participating in a sport and the littlest mundane tasks are celebrated with praise (i.e. "good job!") sounded oh, so familiar.  I do worry that the children of this generation will be lazy, entitled and lack the skills needed to write a proper paragraph because of all the text-speak they use.  The author's view on self-esteem and family travel did keep me listening and whether you love or hate the book, I think you walk away with thought-provoking questions about how you want to parent and what type of future adult you are raising.

Our entire family went out to support our local Sonoma County 5th District Supervisor, Efren Carrillo, and attended his 31st birthday/reelection campaign kickoff.  I'm working on the campaign this year and it's a great opportunity to involve Grady and teach him about local government and politics.  Plus, Efren is just really nice to my kid.

When our Parisian friends arrived, we filled our days with coffee, wine, cribbage matches, local food and theoretical question and answer sessions.  We laughed a lot and just generally had a good 'ole time.

Jill D., Yours Truly (with a Liberty of London pillow!) & Sissy

I don't typically wake up at 6:30 in the morning on Saturday, much less a rainy, cold Saturday.  However, when my friend sent a Facebook message about the Napa-Sonoma Junior League Rummage Sale that was going to be held at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds - um, I was all over it.  We rallied, grabbed the requisite caffeine on our way into town and shopped like the seasoned thrifters we are.

We quickly debated the necessity of a brand new deep freezer for a sweet $105 dollars (and quickly nixed that idea), texted my husband about tools and lawnmowers, while Sissy called her husband about golf clubs and whatnot.  Jill scored the beauty of the day in the Martha Stewart robin's egg blue cast iron dutch oven for a mere $30.  I talked myself out of a mid-century desk that I didn't need, but wanted - only to realize it would have been perfect for Grady.  Oh, thrifting remorse strikes again!

Photos by David Silpa & Scott Vancleemput

David & Manuella hosted us in Paris for our anniversary a year and a half ago and gave us David's apartment for the week that we were there.  They are the kindest and easiest house guests and we had a fun time touring Westside Road, lunching in Graton and ending up at the wine shop in Bodega Bay for a game of cribbage and time with friends.  David writes a blog about his observations on life in Paris and shares his amazing photography here.

We plotted our next visit to Paris and that it would most definitely include Grady.  He is excited to see the Eiffel tower and eat at the restaurant featured in the movie Ratatouille.   I'll be working on this trip in earnest, as I think it would be wonderful to go to Paris and perhaps take the train to London, too.

It is a Lego world around these parts and as much as I hate plastic, I'm surrounded by it en masse these days.  The building and make believe world of Star Wars' Legos is pushing ahead full throttle with the boy.  He retreats to his room, creates and names different battle ships, places them in small vintage suitcases and carries them to his friend's house for afternoons of play and trading.

And while I don't understand or much care for this world of plastic, I do enjoy the hours of creating and story building that has been taking place.  I prefer it tenfold to the Pokemon spell he was under not so long ago - that is a phenomenon that I just do not get.

This year's birthday list is compiled of more Lego sets, books and clothing.  I think a new bike might be in order, too.  His birthday is less than a month away and we will definitely be hosting the second annual birthday breakfast extravaganza (before school starts).  My mom arrives later in the afternoon and his birthday spills into Fish Fest weekend.  Oh, so much fun is on the horizon.

Happy Wednesday, friends.