Snapping Cheska’s bandana, Sarah’s hat and Voilà, do not ask why, but this morning, Loulou decided that her day would be under the theme of being a cowboy girl.
Not sure if boots and jeans jacket were added to the mix after I left home though…
Great Taste
“Beautiful car you are driving here. Great design…”
Unknown Mercedes CL driver, looking at my VW CC
1950 miles & a cold pint
I woke up early this morning, almost 2000 miles away from here. I exercised. I worked. I drove. I flew. I drove some more. I parked.
I think I deserve a Guinness!
Pastis & Anis
Traveling for business doesn’t always have to suck.
Thanks to my big bro Serge, I recently discovered a little French island in the middle of Atlanta (and have since found out that there is a large French community here too!). Place is called Anis Café & Bistro. Looks like a French restaurant, feels like a French restaurant and tastes like a French restaurant (the food, not the place).
Good omens: a 2CV is parked by the main door & half of the crowd speaks French.
Result: savoring a real Pastis while waiting for my food to arrive…
PS: Poulet rôti ou merguez?
PPS: Ended up with merguez & moules marinières.
This tooth has to go!
The pains of growing up: one of Thia’s tooth has been wobbling for a while and my little girl is ready to part way with it!
All tricks have been looked into so far and just before leaving home for school this morning, Thia tried the ultimate “tooth-attached-to-door-knob” option! To no success!
Being on the road this week, I have no doubt I’ll receive a Skype call before I get home showing me a big grin, a smile and a gap!
To be continued!
Loulou and the big horse
After 3+ years in the Santa Clarita valley, looking (not too hard though) for a place to go to with the girls and feed some carrots to horses during weekends (similar to our old weekly visit to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center when we used to live in Burbank), we finally found a place minutes away from our home that seems to be fitting the bill…
During our first visit there, attending the birthday of one of our little neighbors, Loulou conquered her previous fears and rode. My little girl seems to have felt totally at home on the back of the beast that was at least 3 to 4 times taller than her and I think we will be back there soon to spend more time feeding horses with carrots and riding on the trails!
Father Daughter Dance – Third Edition
Another year, another Father-Daughter dance at Thia’s school. Each year, the event gets better, preparation more intense and memories more durable.
This year, Thia got her first “heels”, specially bought for the occasion, as well as special dress, special neckless, special earrings and special mani-pedi! The party in itself was fun and went by in a flash. I didn’t see my little girl much though, as she spent most of her night running around and being the little social butterfly she is, until she came to me (around the end of the evening), looking at me very seriously and telling me that we hadn’t had much chances to dance together…
Similarly to last year, we ended up the evening with a father-daughter dinner-date made of sashimi and laughter.
Another year goes by. Soon, second grade will be a distant memory. I guess I simply can’t wait for next year’s party (and more importantly, next year’s after-party dinner!)…
Mommy gets a pedi, Loulou gets the mani!
Mother’s Day afternoon, the whole family is enjoying a holiday mani-pedi. Actually, mommy & daddy are getting the pedi part and the girls their nails painted.
Loulou, already well versed into the practice, seems to be enjoying her nails being painted purple while watching a movie on Mommy’s iPhone…
Happy Mother’s Day
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there (US only today though).
Changing our habits from previous years, the girls and I went on a couple of mission over the last few days, working on a home made meal and home made celebration!
First, yesterday, we paid a visit to a “French” store at the Americana (Glendale, Bro!) that had a lot of nick nacks and a beautiful neckless that Sarah noticed a couple of weeks ago… First hurdle: finding the store (I had never been there). Then once we had found the store, second hurdle: finding the bloody neckless. Luckily, the owner recognized the girls and came right at us, saying “I remember your wife! I almost sold it! I almost sold it! I am so glad I didn’t!”. I didn’t fully understand what he meant but the kind lady pointed me in the direction of the aforementioned neckless, picked it, wrapped it and off we went. Well, after we had stopped for a snack, a play at the playground, a visit to Barnes & Noble and all of the usual weekend activities with the little girls!
Then this morning, our missions were relatively simple: acquiring flowers, acquiring meal, acquiring dessert, writing cards, wrapping presents and finally cooking meal…
Girls got up very early (even to our standards) and we were all out of the house, trying to not wake Sarah up, by 7:30am… First things first: breakfast had to be eaten and cards had to be written (while waiting for the food to arrive)! Then flowers and the usual debate. Loulou likes blue. Thia likes red. So we usually go back and forth for a good 5-10 minutes, for the enjoyment of any bystander, until we finally reach consensus! Next, the meal… Fresh Lobster tails, some caviar, some smoked salmon, some fish stock here, some crab stock there and most importantly: the dessert! Another 5-10 minutes went by (this time for the enjoyment of the lady behind the counter) until we all agreed that mommy needed heart shaped food, that mommy usually prefers fruits and that macaroons with hearts on them are the best thing ever!
We finally made it back home in time and started prepping the meal while Sarah was out of the house, or should I be more precise: I was cooking while the girls were dancing to the tunes of some kids radio channel, hanging “Happy Mothers Day” banners for Sarah and wrapping presents (Thia did a superb job there).
Finally the Lady of the Day arrived, presents and hugs were distributed and food was consumed!
After all this excitement, next in line for Mommy Day: Pedicure afternoon!
Prepping for STAR testing
Thia is starting STAR (Standardized Testing And Reporting) testing tomorrow. Daddy and daughter are prepping exams at Starbucks on a grey Sunday afternoon! So far so so good!
