Movin`on

So, I am happy to announce that we are moving from Marseille! And into the coolest apartment EVER! It is a like 400 year old building with stone walls and a huge ancient fireplace. It has these massive wood beams too, for structure. It feels like a medieval castle, only in miniature. It is located in this teeny, tiny old village called Ventabren, which is a 10 minute drive from the city center of Aix en Provence.

We knew we wanted to move out of Marseille for a while now, but we had to search for just the perfect place and when I saw this apartment on the web site, I knew we had to have it! It`s actually pretty difficult to find these old, old houses and apartments in these French villages. The people living there have lived there maybe all their lives and own the building, so many times these apartments are hard to find. It is totally charming and the whole change will be great for us. A much needed change!

I have to be frank here, people. I really dislike living in Marseille. I haven`t really written too much about that on my blog, because I don`t want to be too negative. But, now that I am leaving here, I feel so relieved and happy! No more traffic! No more ambulance sirens and stinky city pollution! No more parking headaches! No more grocery shopping at horrible, massive stores!! No more work! (for the moment) No more punk ass teenagers asking me for money! Loves it!!!! PS-We got our brand new car KEYED yesterday. See, many people here are just `not dealing with a full deck`, if you know what I mean. People here have some majah attitude and quite honestly I greatly dislike the Marseille mentality. You could even say I hate it. There I said it! I vented!

Now on to happier thoughts! So, our view from the top of this little village is beautiful. We can see all the Provence valley, from all the windows in the apartment. We can see farms and vineyards and swimming pools. And there is this ancient church right outside our front door; the bells chiming on every hour during the day. It is totally tranquil and peaceful and I can`t wait to take some photos and post them.

We have two sets of guest coming to visit! In the beginning of May my best friend, Stephanie is coming with her boyfriend and then in late May my parents are coming. They came last year for 2 weeks and we had an amazing time, so I am planning some trips for when they arrive. It`s going to be a great spring and summer!

Also, we won`t have internet in our new place for at least 10 days, so don`t expect any new, exciting blog entries!

Next time I write, I will be coming at you France countryside style!

Have a lovely day.

Happy Valentines Day!

Well, were you dorky like me and make cards? This is what I do when I have lots of time on my hands! And I was so overjoyed to find a decent craft store that I had to make something. I`m so missing those Sunday mailers from Michael`s Crafts stores where you can like, like 50% off any one item. They practically give all those cute stamps, paper, and fabric away. Here in France one little crafty project can really set you back, so I had to do something smallish. Anyway, it`s the thought that counts! I made stamped cards and little pillows with a hanging ribbon. I will always be happily stuck in 3rd grade, making my holiday crafts and I don`t care if you make fun of me or not!








To my Valentine, Yann

I Love YOU!! (4-eva!!!) (& eva!)

"A kiss is a lovely trick, designed by nature, to stop words when speech becomes superfluous."
--Ingrid Bergmen



"I love you, not only for what you are, But for what I am when I am with you."
--Roy Croft



"There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved."
--George Sand

"The most wonderful of all things in life is the discovery of another human being with whom one's relationship has a growing depth, beauty and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing; it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of divine accident, and the most wonderful of all things in life."
--Sir Hugh Walpole





"I was nauseous and tingly all over. I was either in love or I had smallpox."
--Woody Allen

"Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes.
There's too much fraternizing with the enemy."
-- Henry Kissinger

The only time a woman really succeeds in changing a man is when he's a baby.
-- Natalie Wood





I`m wishing you all a Happy Valentines Day! And yes, it is kinda a Hallmark holiday, but hey, at least it`s got a positive purpose behind all the commercialism! I wish for everybody that they can find their true love in this huge and crazy world. And if you find that person, hold on to them, because it`s true love only comes around once. I believe that, at least, after my own experience!!

Like my dad says, "Every pot has a lid!" .....Well said Dad!

So, now I`m wishing for you to find your `lid`or if you already found it, go give it a big kiss!

xoxo

HIGH-larious

Stoned little boy after a trip to the dentist!

Winter Wonderland

So, as you can see from the photos we basically had an AMAZING, powder-filled day at Orcieres, which is a really cool ski station in the Alps, about 2 hours from Marseille. It was just Yann & The Girls or we can say it was Heather & The 3 French People. Whatever you call it, it was so fun. We woke up super early, like 5 am, and picked everyone up. We arrived and there was NObody there, which is always a great thing on a mountain on Saturday morning. The sun was shining bright and we had our picnic packed in the backpack.

We had a great morning and I have to say; I`ve been lucky enough to snowboarded in some great places in the U.S. & France and I am not lying when I say that this day, these conditions were the best I`ve seen. It was so freakin`fun! We were all trying the powder, which was fresh and untouched from it dumping down snow for 4 days straight before we arrived. I always assumed powder was a breeze, but let me tell you, it`s not as easy as it looks. And when you fall, it`s super hard to get up and out of. Of course, Yann has mastered the powder thing by now, but for us girls, it was so hilarious to try it out. Malou and Cecile are really great snowboarders, and it ended up that we were all at about the same level, so we could all stick together on the slopes.

We took a break for our picnic at the top, and after we ducked into a restaurant for some hot chocolate. After lunch, we hit it hard for another hour or two and then the clouds came over the mountain. It was actually pretty crazy; I had never seen thick fog like that. As we were taking a lift up to the top and were getting higher and higher we could really see what a white-out it was. We completely couldn`t see the chair lift right in front of ours! So, by the time we got up to the top the conditions were totally wild. It was much colder and the visibility was no more than 8-10 feet. In the States, I think the ski patrol would have shut down the lift, but not in France! Every skier for themselves! Plus, no one in my group of all-French seemed freaked out, so I tried to be cool too.

Well, as we began to make out way down, there were no other skiers in sight. We had such a hard time seeing the trail markers with our goggles on, so we tried to take them off, but the pure white all around us made us even more blind. So, we basically just had to go slow and squint to see the markers. I realized at that moment how easy it would be to get separated from your group and become disorientated and lost. So, we made sure to stay very close to eachother. It was so bizarre because I literally was snowboarding blind; I became overwhelmed with nausea because the sensor in my brain that detects movement and orientation was totally confused. It was like I was really seasick, but finally we reached the bottom. And that was it for the day, because the conditions had deteriorated so much. It was such a fun day and I am so glad to spend a day on a mountain with dear friends and my husband; it was just on of those days where everything feels right, you know?

Two Things Tuesday

1) I had a slip and fall yesterday that was totally spastic. It was pouring rain and I was leaving the grocery store with 2 heavy bags in my hands. As I was exiting I hit a slippery, rainy patch and burled into this woman`s legs and almost took her out too. But, here is the thing i am so proud of:

The first words out of my surprised and confused mouth were...in French! I told her: (all in French now) "Oh, no! Excuse me that I fell onto you, it`s just that it`s very slippery right there and I didn`t see it! Please be careful there too for yourself. Bye now and have a great day!"


2) Have you heard that the magazine Domino is going out of print? They have a message on their web site and all subscribers are receiving notices in the mail. That totally stinks because although I never subscribed to that magazine I still bought it a lot and loved it. It`s really a pity, isn`t it? The economy is really taking it`s toll on some great companies and businesses. Not only am I sad for such a cool publication to go under, but I also feel bad for all the people who will lose their jobs, who are connected to that magazine. I remember buying the very first issue and becoming addicted because their home decor was so rad. I guess, with this economic crisis many more beloved things will be biting the dust!



And so I don`t leave you on a totally depressing note...

CUPCAKES!!!

flower cupcakes 2582
Originally uploaded by hello naomi

how cute are these?

cherry blossom cupcakes 048 _2
Originally uploaded by hello naomi

too cute to eat

You Tube Love

Some of my favs from YouTube...


Yann`s next sport...





Miss Badu




He will make you smile





A 3 year old explains Star Wars





Charlie bit my finger!





Panda baby scares mom




Beyonce kills it at the Inaguration




A husband`s revenge




A scene in Shangai China




How to break up a cat fight





The Real Garfield

Snow Day

We went snowboarding last Thursday at Orres, a ski station in the French Alps. It was a big day of strikes, with many labor unions partcipating so we thought what better to do than escape and go hit the mountain? Nice day, not very many people at all since it was a weekday. Yann was in the snow park for a while and he did some crazy jumps. The best were towards the end of the day and my camera battery died so I didn`t get them!

Also, how cool is this Taj Mahal-esque igloo? We wanted to eat our picnic lunch in there, but we forgot to bring our sandwiches. But still it was fun to pretend it was our very own ice palace for like five minutes.


Also, at the bottom are two pics of our new (used) car! Isn`t she cute? It reminds me of my Subaru that I had to sell when I moved to France. I will have to do a post on our old truck when it sells. That truck deserves at least a shout out for being a strong and somewhat reliable vehicle. Have a great week and let`s see each other again soon, ok?














I like her voice and I like syrup too, I guess...