I Love Paris in the Winter...

Apparently, there are still a few of you out there reading my blog. (Or waiting for a post, more like.) So, I guess I will post about Paris. If you twist my arm hard enough.

Hubby and I finally made it to Paris last week! It wasn't the warm summer trip that we'd planned. Honestly, I'm totally OK with that, considering the lines were long enough in February. I don't even want to imagine what it would be like during the busier season.


I could try to squeeze it all in one post, but that would be super long and boring. So, I'll do several, dividing it up according to prettiness. Cause that's what I'm all about. Here goes.

The first thing we saw was Notre Dame.








Pictures just don't do it justice, though our new camera comes pretty close!

We climbed up the towers and was eye-level with this guy.
We were a little bummed not to run into Quasimodo. But we did run in to Albert Einstein.




Our favorite church we saw was Sainte Chappelle.

It's just breathtaking.



It was built for the Crown of Thorns that King Louis IX bought in 1239. The Crown of Thorns is now held at Notre Dame and only displayed occasionally.

Right next to Sainte Chappelle is the Conciergerie- the prison where they held people during the Revolution, including Marie Antoinette. They've set up a room to look like her's. Uber-creepy. The whole thing just gives me the heeby-jeebies.


We toured the Eiffel Tower at twilight. (Nothing to do with Edward and Bella, they went to Italy, not France.)

We were only able to go to the second level. That's all that was open. We felt really high up, though. I can't imagine what the top feels like, being more than twice the height of where we were.



When we got down and took more pictures, the lights went off and started sparkling. Talk about mezmorizing!!! We couldn't take our eyes off of it. It's just so amazing.


We also went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. (You can climb just about any monument in Paris, it seems.)

We got an unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower. And other stuff. We actually walked by this monument everyday as our hotel was just down the street. Cool, huh?

Napoleon's tomb is housed here. Built in 1840, not by himself. Who woulda thunk it? I think King Louis Phillipe had a little man-crush on Napoleon.




We also took a river cruise that made us freeze, but was totally worth it. (We just popped over to a close cafe and had quiche and omelettes to warm us up! For dinner!)






We went to Sacre-Coeur, another church you can climb to the top of. But by the time we visited the church, I was all climbed out.



Oh, yeah and Moulin Rouge. Totally over-rated. I blame the movie.



So, I think that's enough stimulation for one day. I'll post more tomorrow.

Why Such the Wait?

So, I have the chandelier, and the go ahead from hubby to do the entryway. So, what's the hold up? Well, we've commissioned some artwork for the niche. Here's a sneak peak of the inspiration. Ok, ok, blatant rip-off. You guys are such sticklers for the truth. Sheesh!

Gilding the Lily

So I've been watching alot of Top Design. You'd think that it would inspire me to go knock out my own home in 12 hours with a budget of $2000. But, alas, it doesn't. It just makes me realize how much I DON'T know. I'm like Andrea, only worse. So, I've just been enjoying the show. And trying to improve my taste level. One thing they keep stating this year is that flowers make or break a room. I guess all of my rooms are broken, because I never have fresh flowers. That's OK, I don't think Kelly Wearstler will pop round anytime. And if she does, my kids would make fun of her hair. So there!


I remember years ago seeing a Kirstie Allie interview where she says she spends the same amount on fresh flowers for her house that she used to spend on drugs.
Why, oh, why didn't I develop a drug habit in my early years, so that I would have that kind of cash set aside? I'm not that good at planning for the future.

But here are some beautiful arrangements that I've come across to inspire you so that your rooms won't be broken...only your bank accounts!






Botanica by Brad

Brian Davino Florist

Julianne Rocks!

My youngest turned three last week, so Julianne and I went to the park Saturday morning to take some pictures. They are so cute, that I have no idea how I'm going to choose just a few to display. I seriously could wallpaper her room, there are so many to choose from! Great problem to have, though. Which is your fav?

Obligatory FDOS pics...

...but still pretty cute.