Good bye Blondie, here is the new me....

Good bye Blondie, here is the new me....
Hey I needed a change....and my hair needed a break!
Hope you are all ok, here the cold has started to make its way threw...burr!!!!
Thanksgiving is almost here, I can almost smell it....Gus are you going to be around?
I've gotten so used to your presence here at this time of the year that it will be weird with out you here...
Greg won't be here this year as he is travelling on Tuesday for Hong-Kong and India and won't be back until the 28th of the month...
As usual we will be spending it with the Macaire's, my Jenny and her family and The Hanse family, my other Jenny, who has been joining to our table the past 2 years...I feel really blessed to have them in my life, they have become my family here.
We will be celebrating it on Saturday as the kids have school on Friday and we like to hang around and chat till late...with drinks of-course....
This year I'll be preparing one of my famous salads on entree....what else.....
As a main dish, a Chapon (a capon in English) a castrated domestic cock fattened for eating (much tastier than chicken).... sautéed with Marrons (chestnuts)...
Accompanied by my mom's famous grilled potatoes and sweet potatoes.....with a tasty cream mayonnaise...
Jenny M will be in-charge of the wine and Jenny H of cheese platter and desert...
Franc will be the only man as Greg and Stephan will not be here, so he'll just have to deal with all of us all by himself...
We need a man to cut the poor Chapon....and pour the drinks...and of-course to sit at the head of the table...
I wish you all a very warm, cosy, tasty thanksgiving, and know that I will be thinking of all you as we hold hands to give thanks...
Missing you
Warm thoughts
Andrea and the gang....

Me and Chloé...

Quick Question-Long Answere.....

Today I received an e-mail from my brother ……
Hey sis – nice pictures it always amazes me how much of a mother you are. Where you get the energy I’m not sure.
Okay t- this bring me to my question...
Between you and Greg – which one wanted to move to the country?
How did you come to terms with that decision?
At first you both lived in the city right? In the apartment in Paris. Then you guys bought the house.
Whose idea was it to look for a house out in the middle of nowhere?
Who did the research?
Was it a team thing or one of the 2 of you?
Anyhow – I wanted to know.
I’m craving to be outside the city – in the openness.
I need nature in my life desperately. I just have to get Natasha on the same wavelength as me. And if I can’t then I’m just going to turn into an asshole. Nature’s call is that strong.
Send my love to the kids-
Your bro
_d
Well first, I don’t know where I get the energy, but thank goodness I get it, it must be hereditary, just look at how strong mom is…
To answer you questions, in your mind, whom do you think wanted to move to the country?
You know I think it’s only natural that you have these feelings, we grew up in big houses all our lives, with huge gardens and in the woods…nature always surrounded us weather we noticed it at times or not….Then we went of to schools with great campuses specially you and Gus , I was mostly surrounded by housing projects and kids with no future….but that’s another story….And me personally I loved all that energy and thrived on it at that period of my life….Yosh… New York there was nothing else like it at that time of my life, except to one day live in Paris the most beautiful city in the world….and I still think that….
I finally got the courage and decided to make a go for it…I must have been searching for pain and solitude…well thank god love kept me going because if it were for the friendly French it’s a long time ago I would of hung up my French beret….
Paris was so beautiful, I could believe I lived in such an amazing place, surrounded by so much history and culture. We also had a great apartment and paid a great deal of money for it, then Chloe was born, and even though Paris still seemed to be great, the country side of Paris seemed even greater….I had been outside of Paris many times, to Versailles, Saint Germain-en-Laye, Fontainebleau, Chantilly, Deauville, gosh I could go on the list is so long, What I realized very quickly is that the minute you left Paris the Peripheric (the highway that surrounds Paris) well it’s all farm land….Green, Green and super Green…I could picture Chloe outside in her own yard playing with her own doggie, and me working in the garden, summer nights with long candle light dinners, smoking cigarettes as the huge white moon would be shinning over our property, smelling the morning dawn, running out side and making snowflakes when it would snow, oh I could smell the fire from the chimney we would own ….
That’s it. It was time to move on….
Find a place out in the country, give me green, give me air and give me space…Paris will always be there….but I changed, I was growing into something else, something that I was looking forward in exploring, and I wasn’t afraid….I just had to make Greg understand this change that was occurring inside me and either he changed with me or it was going to be a bit of a bumpy ride for us….once he understood that change was not something definite but something different, that we could both grow from and that if it didn’t work out , well Paris was not to far away , we could always go back. It’s ok to change; it shows we’re growing. So don’t be afraid….
Today, we wouldn’t give anything back for the life we have today. Everyday I discover a new places in my own small village, wood walks that I never dared before to take, and when I’m there walking I tell myself gosh I’m glad I changed….
Many times I have dreams of the Farm dad used to own in Argentina, all those fields, gold fields I would tell him, they would go on and on as far as your eyes could see, I often dream that one day I’ll own some fields and have all those feelings again….
But for now I’ll settle for the fields that surround me and for the farmers work I admire….as far as my Grego goes well it’s been ten years now, and from time to time he’ll complain about the commute, but when he gets home and hangs his coat he is in another place , a place we wouldn’t give up….
The west side of the outsides of Paris always had great reputation, money, good schools, famous people moving out there, so when we finally decided, we went west….a good investment we figured, at least that…What I wanted for sure was a super old house, so we bought all these fancy magazines showing the most splendorous homes…
One agency kept coming up with houses that really caught our eyes, we called and
gave them a full description of what we were looking for how far from Paris, how big, materials etc that we liked, and sure enough they had several things we may like…excitedly we booked a weekend with them and of to the country we went….
That day she showed us ‘’La Havienda Azul’’, the first house we visited out of 10 planned that day…for me it was love at first sight, I couldn’t believe it, this was it, gosh was it the way I listed everything I wanted in a house, was this agency really this good, or was it a miracle…soon Greg broke what ever of a miracle that was by saying relax, we still have some more houses to see….No, you see this is the one….It was perfect, I had live in so many places before, that I could totally see potential and the new face lift I would be giving it with time, I was ready to make out the check right then and there…We went on to see the rest of the houses that were planned for us that day, but of course nothing came close to Haciazul, and by the end of the week I won and we sighed for Haciazul….Slowly it’s come a long way, as we’ve live it, it lives with us…It’s cozy, and homey, it’s live able and child free, it has become us over all these years…we are all quite attached to it specially the children…
I have put so much love into this house, I see myself having a very hard time to ever part from it, it has it’s faults here and there but we still love it, and maybe one day it will be perfect, but for now it will do just fine….
Oct 2, 2006, Gregory called me static, said to me ‘’do you know what day is today?’’ ‘’Yea’’, I said, ‘’It’s Moday, and the kids have their school picture’’….’’no’’…’’no’’ ‘’what?’’ ‘’Today it’s ours…La Haciaenda Azul is ours’’….he didn’t know but tears filled my eyes, I never thought we would own some thing so big…..and in France of all places….A house with a name…I’ve moved so many times in my life before, loaded up cars full of boxes, gone up and down stairs with stuff, so much stuff, to a new door where a new key would fit, and to move every time was like walking away from a cluster of memories and to buy is to choose where the future will take place…So you see times fly’s by and before you know it your living in the future….
I hope this has answered your questions, but most of all I hope you realize that only you have the key to your future….
I love you brother and will always be here for you….so if nature is calling don’t be an as whole, just come take a long walk with me….
Love
Your sister

Halloween....

Hello , I hope you all had a spooky Halloween....
We sure did...
Tuesday morning we headed out to ‘‘Le Domain de Cleris’’ about 15 minutes after Fontainebleau, were Catherine and Olivier own a beautiful weekend Lodge house…
It’s in a gorgeous Domain surrounded by a golf course, a pony club, huge inside and out door pools, Tennis, Ping-Pong, soccer field….and so on and so on….In the middle sits an amazing Chateau that has been converted into a hotel, many events are also held there for the residents of the domain….Halloween being one of them this week….
The domain is split up into the English cottages and the American lodges, both being completely different architecture which is quite nice….and all this sits in an amazing forest surrounded by lakes, absolutely beautiful….You really feel like your in Connecticut…kids can ride their bikes freely and just have a blast…
We didn’t even see them actually, as we enjoyed each other company; the kids went about the domain and had a blast….
Victoria, had Voltage lessons as Chloé sat on the side line watching in admiration……Dylan and Maximillian were absorbed by the video games, and kept going for another revenge….
We started the first fire of the year, the temperature has really dropped since yesterday and to sit by a fire was a real treat…then came Halloween night, Chloé and Victoria were witches but of the good ones of course…and Dylan Frankenstein….well I tried!!!! Then the door bell rang and trick-or-treat began….So many kids, It was a great treat because this holiday has pretty much lost interest in France which is kind of sad because the kids love it…but I can understand the French it’s Saints day and all of a sudden you got all these skeletons walking around!!! Were is their sense of humor!!!!lol!….By midnight bags full of candy arrived, makeup was removed and monsters were put to bed….The next morning we woke up to Pussy (yes that’s her name) whining noises, which was just as well because a gorgeous day broke threw…Cathy got her apron on handed me one and in the kitchen we went for my lesson on how to make a paella as the men played backgammon, once we finished the delicious feast off we went for a long walk….
That late afternoon we parked the bikes and headed back to our Bazainville…
Merci pour c’est super Halloween Les Ribardiers…..
Bisous…

Just a bunch of Questions.....

I woke up this morning, and this was the first e-mail I recieved...I figured I'd post it....

1. What time did you get up this morning? 12noon, can you believe it...but actually it's 11 because we changed time zone...and well last night I went to bed at 3am....
2. Diamonds or Pearls? diamonds of-course.....
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? same "Nausica'' the Valley of the Wind (lovely) I was with you.....
4. What is your favorite T.V. show? Grey's Anatomy.....I'm in love with Derek Sheppard....
5. what do you eat for breakfast? start of with a tea and what ever then a nice expresso.....
6. What is your middle name? Karina
7. Favorite cuisine? Italian
9. What is your favorite chip flavor? dill and sour cream
10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? La Oreja de Van gogh
11. What kind of car do you drive? Volvo
12. Favorite sandwich? pastrami on toasted rie bread
13. What characteristics do you despise? hypocrisy and jealousy
14. Favorite clothes? pajamas
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation,where would you go? India, I'd love to visit India, it's one of the only places I haven't been too......
17. Favorite brand of clothing? DN67, and Noa Joe, if I don't say that my husband would kill me....
18. Where would you retire to? Retire? can we retire!!!!!
19. What was your most memorable birthday? My dad's 60th birthday in Paris...It's also the day I got Married.....
20. Favorite sport to watch? Soccer and tennis...
21. Farthest place you are sending this? China and Argentina
23. Person you expect to send it back first? Caroline
24. Goal you have for yourself? get my body back some day......
25. When is your birthday? March 21, 1967
26. When is your Anniversary? November 20th 1995
27. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night
28. What is your shoe size? 8 or (39) in europe
29. Pets? Nikita, Bella (our two golden Retrievers) and Mimi or awesome cat or 1/2 dog ....
30. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? Found my first white hair......
31. What did you want to be when you were little? an artist
32. What are you today? an artist
33. What is your favorite candy? jelly beans
34. What is your favorite flower? white margaritas
35. What is a date on the calendar you are looking forward to? Christmas as I do every year....Were ever we are we all seem to find our way back home....my parents house.....

Dylan's dream.....

Today Dylan woke up and said to me….. ‘‘mom I dreamed about my dream again’’….
‘‘Again’’ I said…. ‘‘yep’’… ‘’well let’s see, tell me all about your dream’’…..
and he began….
‘‘We woke up…. at 9:30 I opened the door for Mr. Ludovic and got one baguette and 4 croissants with the money you left on the desk…gave him 4euros…then I went to play with my dogs and told Nikita and Bella that there was a big surprise today….we were going to walk the fields with Rusty….Isn’t that great Niki you and Rusty will be free in the fields, you can run wild and have fun….and Bella you and August can finally meet…and I , well, I just walked and walked in the fields….we drive by them all the time but now I was really in the fields walking in them, and breathing in all the colors and the fresh clean air…I could hear the wind, and the birds singing in the woods, I could even hear the leaves flying in the air and slightly rubbing against each other as they would land on the muddy road…you’d be in the background chatting away with Jenny and the girls laughing and giggling about….Niki, Bella, Rusty and August would be by my side as we left the fields and entered the woods….In the woods, I would hear more wild noises, smell more funny smells like skunky smells and horse poops, I could hear the cranking of the branches as we would walk by, and then I would picture myself on my bike….could I take my bike, I would ask you….no, you can’t do everything Dylan…..you would say….and then at the end of the road that was laid there in the woods, as if it was painted for anyone to walk on, an opening a light would lead us out again onto the fields….and then my dream ended with a zillions of flowers and water all over…..
‘‘Wow what a dream, Didu….well, guess what. I have a surprise….
And off we went to have coffee with Jenny in Monchauvet and a long walk with all the dogs…
Our walk ended at the ‘‘Lavoir’’ of Montchauvet the ‘‘wash house’’ where it was blooming with flowers and the dogs went in for a long bath….so did everyone’s boots….
And as we headed home Dylan looked at me and said, hey mom my dream came true today….even if I didn’t have my bike….I saw one….
Je t’aime
xxxoooxxx
I thank god everyday for the life he has given, me and the family that embraces me....
Sending you all lots of love and sunshine....
have a wonderful weekend....

A long ride...

Well it's finally official the kids are all signed up for all of these years’ activities...
One more thing to check out off on my To do list...
Chloé is taking modern Jazz with Stephan Monday nights...this amazing dancer-teacher who danced 15yrs with a very famous French ballet dancer...
Tuesday they are both taking hip hop(rap dancing) with Ingrid another amazing dancer, she has danced with Mya Frie, Madonna, Yannick Noa at the M6 awards, Hit machine, and the list goes on and on...they'll be putting on 3 shows at the end of the year at the theatre in Thoiry ( a very famous village near by)..
Saturday June 23rd 2007 and Sunday June 24th 2007 to be exact... (Just in case anyone of you is in town you’re more than welcome to come!)
Wednesday Dylan has 1.5 hrs of Tennis in the morning he has made it to ''les espoir'' group this year (the children of the future hopes), then he has theatre class with the coolest and prettiest comedian teacher and then I cruise off to drop Chloé and Claire at arts and craft class...
Thursday back to one more lesson of 1.5hrs Tennis for Dylan...
Friday I'm off duty...the chauffer hat is hung up until Monday comes around again...
Today after school Chloé went to Claire’s house to work on a school project and I promised Dylan a long Bike ride,
I joined a group of ladies that ride in the village 3 times a week so Dylan of course wanted to check out my bike rides...
13.6 kilometres later he could not speak anymore and was sore all over ( so was I) and left me in peace until his sister got home at 5pm...
Another great exercise I found to wipe them out a bit and at the same time I get an effective workout...
Grego left this morning super early for New York and will be back Tuesday morning...
It would off been great to take off with him for a weekend of romance but we always have the same problem ''who to leave the kids with'' and we don't live in Paris near the family....I told some girls at school this morning and I got yelled at, ''why didn't you call me!!!'' What can I say I hate to impose...?
But next time I will I told them....
Well hope you’re all having a great weekend...
Miss you all lots...
Kisses
andrea
Dylan and I in for a long ride...

Hope you all had a great week end...
Saturday morning we woke to our boulanger’s (bakery's) Mr. Besnard’s horn...he comes every morning except Thursdays and Fridays with fresh baguette and croissants...and other goodies...
So I rushed to the door to buy breakfast and of course get the gossip of town, he loves to chat....I finally told him I had the water burning and that I had to go....I mean I just hopped out of bed, how much longer could I be outside looking like that!!!!
Greg worked all day, so after our nice breakfast I picked up Jenny and Julia and we headed out to St.Quentine-en-Yvelines to the Mall.
We walked around shopped a bit, had lunch and saw a movie...NAUSICAA...a Japanese cartoon film...pretty good...
Then we headed back home to drop off Jenny...saw a parachute in the fields...finally took a picture of the Princes stone wall for my blog....and then we headed to Houdan to La Fête Foraine....(A Village Fair)…
Sunday....Today we cleaned out kids closets...I can't believe how fast they grow out of their clothes....I made two huge piles for Lola and Lea, the rest I sell at the next brocante (tag sale)....
Dylan helped me with some new kitchen cabinets and then we went for a long walk with the dogs and surprisingly Greg joined us...
The sun finally made it's way threw so it was quite nice....
Hope you all had a great week end...
Kisses to all and
Happy Sunday!!!!
The gang in France...
Here are some pictures....

Happy Birthday my little man...

Today was my little price Dylan’s 9th Birthday….Hard to believe how fast time goes by…
We started of the day with a nice brunch at noon with the Bittoun’s...and then at 2pm all the kids showed up, Perrine, Hélène, Claire, Kéridwen, Raphaël, Remy, Lou, Claire, Lea and Lenny... and we headed out to LUDIMAX and attraction party place were they organise everything, it’s like the games at Mc Donald’s but 20 times the size and the kids go wild for 3 hours…they have BDay cake, candies, they open presents, then once their nice and wiped out we head home at the speed limit of course don’t want to rush things and usually as we arrive to the door there are already some parents waiting, we give them a nice big bag of surprises, a bisou and see ya tomorrow in school…before they can turn the house upside down one more time the door bell rings and one by one they disappear…Dylan had a great day and when he blew out all of his candles he made a great speech…Something new I decided to add in their lives…Since he’s taking theatre classes now I thought I’d take advantage of the situation and make him practice, he’s quite good and he made me a very proud mom today…
Happy birthday my little man, I am very proud of you always…
Love
Mommy
xxxoooxxx

Rise with it....

Hello everyone today is Wednesday and as you know by now Chloé and Dylan don't have school on Wed...So this morning I decided to take them all for a very long walk....1 and ½ h of country and farm land, it was a very beautiful morning...

These long walks are such therapy for me, Sometimes I get all caught up in my own stuff as we all do, the house, work, the kids, just simply overwhelmed, and taking the time to walk it off specially in such a surrounding is like a sort of renewal...I realise that every sunrise is like a new page, a new beginning, a chance to right ourselves and receive each day in all of its wonderful glory. As Opera says ''No matter what our troubles, when the earth turns on its axis one more time and we see what appears to be the sun rising, I feel it's the universe calling for a change in ourselves. You have one more day...Rise with it!''
I send all of you lots of energy and light...
Have a great day...
Kisses, Besos, Bisous
Me
xxxoooxxx
A Little message for my Caroline....

P.S. My Dear Caroline have a great safe trip tomorrow to China...We are all so proud of you, and we are with you everyday...You know if it's just too much you get on a plane and you head right home....we will be picking you up...
We will miss you, go get them girl!!!!!
MERDE!!!! Good Luck!!!!
A bien tôt
bisous

The Brocante of Montchauvet....

Happy Sunday!
Today was Montchauvet's Annual Brocante and I have been doing it with Jenny for the past 4 years...
Lynn our english girl friend joined us this year and instead of 5 meters we got 7 meters of selling space....

''Jenny, me and Lynn....ready to sell....''
Well I showed up at 5:30am the town was all quite and dark, I wanted to get there early because its hard to find parking if you show up any later
and the usual customers start off very early, before I even set up the table they already wanted to go threw my boxes...in the dark...I don't even know how I was able to get around Jenny's ''Grenier'' her garage storage...

infront of us ''La Jument Vert very famous restaurant in Montchauvet....as the day starts to open up...''

''the stand next to us, fresh Brioche...''
Well we had a great day and sold quite a lot....by 11am Jenny got some Pinot Rouge from a guy in the village who makes it himself, that warmed us up and got us real friendly....then for lunch she prepared this great feast for us with a nice bottel of Rosé so you can imagine we had a hell of a time, by the end of the day we were giving the stuff away....Well the night before I had done two trips to Jenny's house to drop of stuff and I said to myself no way am I doing this on the way back....one trip only so get rid of the stuff....the rest of the stuff that didn't go, I will be giving to my friend Laurance who does her annual trip to Senegal and always asks for stuff for the kids out there, last year I gave her two full suitcases full of goodies, and she's still thanking me for them...
The kids all had a blast, Montchauvet is a great little town, and everyone is so nice....
I hope you all had a great Sunday....

The Beginning of the year...

I hope you all started the month of September well...
Kids started school and are very happy with the new teachers and their classmates...
Greg and I also started working, this month is the trade shows in Paris, and so we have been quite busy...
Greg had his show at the Prêt a Porter he presented his two new lines Noa Joe and DN67 and things went great, he met some amazing people, and hired all his sales reps...Now hopefully they'll start writing orders....
Next month I start travelling back to Spain starting on collections....September is always like the beginning of the year a brand new white page that starts to get full of brand new things...
I hope you all started of this month great and that the kids are enjoying the New Year...
Our summer was amazing, full of emotions and great new encounters, it was great to go back to Connecticut and see everyone we had a great summer...
kisses to all
Andrea

Greg and I, at The Darien High School football field...where we met 20 years ago...

August 2006

We just got back from what was a great summer…
Five weeks of reconnecting with family got to see all of them even, Gus, Dario and Natasha, my cousin Mario from Mar del Plata who we got to see for a brief 2 days in Miami, my bambies Jackie and Ingrid, Danny, visiting uncle Mike & Tata and my cousin Alex in Philadelphia, a stop in New York, the big apple, were we got to see my dear friends, Chris and his beautiful family, Megan and Karen, and then we went 20years back, yep this summer Greg and I had our 20th high school reunion in Connecticut we visit our old homes, the school, Greg’s host family and great friend Richard, his wife Tara and they’re new baby boy, we spent a great afternoon with Mary and her beautiful family along with Gillian and the boys at the Wee Burn Beach Club, saw all of The Engel’s and spend the most wonderful morning in a magical Island, spent some time with my dear friend Andy who made it all the way from Zurich, and then the fun part…we got to see almost our whole class of 86…So this is a little e-mail thanking all of you our family and dear friends for having had made our summer so special, and also letting you all know what an awesome time it was to be with all of you, you all look amazing, you have created beautiful families, and it seems as all of you are also doing great in your lives, and I can’t tell you how happy and great it was to go back, when people ask me what did you expect it to be like, who were you looking forward in seeing etc…to tell you the truth living so far I was just so happy to be able to go this time and seeing everyone that I saw just brought back so many great memories, I mean I arrived to Darien when I was 12 and did from Hollow Tree, to Middlesex Junior High, to Darien High School there so that’s a couple of years a great deal of friends, and I must say you all look awesome, so to my friends here is too you! I hope we’ll be able to make the next one, but for the time being let’s try to keep in touch, and know that if you’re ever in Paris, France we would love to take you out so just give us a ring…

Having fun....

Well we have been having fun, enjoying the family, the sun, and the pool…and yes how could I leave out that monstrosity of ‘‘The Mall’’…just the other day we were taking about how much we are really loving Aventura I’m really happy my parents are out here, it really is great fun and young.
Sunday we did Lincoln Road, had lunch at Rosinnella’s an Italian restaurant that has become our Sunday place now for several years , we know the owners pretty good and it’s fun to catch up… now every other Sunday on Lincoln Road they have like a ‘‘marche’’ ( a market) fruit, flowers etc, it’s quite fun, and always what we love of Lincoln Road is that all the doggies are out on they’re walks so the kids love the show, and it sure is a show , some are all dressed up , some even have they’re hair dyed, it’s too cute …
This week we saw one more film John Tucker, too funny! A high school flick, Chloé loved it.
Last night Jackie and her husband Jonathan (one of my good friends out here) invited us to her house for a drink and then out to dinner. They just finished the house and it looks unreal, very Tuscany with a twist of modern but done in such a way with rich colours that it’s very cosy and warm, I just loved it and what impeccable details, Bravo! my friend…then we headed out to Quattro a new restaurant on 1014 Lincoln Road it just opened two days ago, Gastronomia Italiana, Great place I strongly recommend if your in the area, we had a great time catching up.
Well tomorrow we are off to Philadelphia to see my uncle and god father Mike, my aunt Tata and my cousin Alejandro for two days before heading out to New York and then Connecticut we’re were going for our 20th High School Reunion…We’ll keep you posted…It’s sure going to be fun catching up with old times….

Jackie, Lissi, Carla and I… Quattro Restaurant Aug 06
Lissi and Carla Jackie’s sisters just so happen to show up, it was great seeing them again…

Grego finally arrived….

My Grego finally landed this afternoon in Miami, I picked him up and we rushed to the house so he could see the kids get of the school bus…We made it just on time for their arrival…they were so happy to see their daddy, it feels great to be all together. Well there was certainly so much to catch up on it’s been a while since we’ve been this long apart, but he had so much work and with the new shows and all he had a lot of preparing to do.
Well today we just relaxed and caught up…Last night Danny invited me for dinner at his place along with Rita and her partner they live right next door to Danny a great couple we had a wonderful dinner, Danny’s place is lovely he has impeccable taste. I had a great time, can’t wait for Greg to see his place.
Tomorrow Gus is inviting us all out to Lunch; he’s been so busy with work that we haven’t been able to spend a lot of time with him, so we’re looking forward to it.

My best girlfriend ever….

We met exactly 10 years ago…My friend Joëlle who at the time was my neighbour said, ‘‘I know an American girl who lives in the village, I’ve got to make the both of you meet’’…and she did and since that day we have been friends…
My friend Jenny is so special, so special because she’s so simple, so loving, and such a good friend. She’s there to listen, to walk with me, go shopping, we even go to gym classes together but most of all she make me laugh so much. She can always put a smile on my face. She’s so talented, and intelligent. She used to be a very famous model and when we met was so humble about it, she reads like a book worm and has learned to write the most beautiful stories, her books are now published, she does all the illustrations her self, she’s an amazing artist, she has 3 children ‘‘The twins’’ who are now 20 and a little girl who is soon going to be 12, she’s the coolest mom, she’s married to a Famous Polo player and is in love with him like the first day they met, she has travelled the world and has the most fascinating stories…she is always so positive and is always there to push me when I’m down…she has been there for me so many times, working the shoe shows when I started my own business, taking care of my kids when I have to travel, making sure the kids speak English at all times, always supports the craziest ideas that come to my head, calling me every hour when my son went under surgery, corrects my spelling and gives me great writing advice, and sometimes we don’t even need to talk, she’s an awesome friend, and I just wanted to let her know how much I love her…and how much I respect and admire her.
She just lost her dad this month and I’m so far away from her, I wish I was there just to take her in my arms and give her a huge hug and hold her hand and just walk. I miss you Jenny and I’m so sorry that your hurting, we are all with you and we are thinking of you on this special day your day.
Happy Birthday my friend, I love you and miss you dearly…

Jenny and I at the Cup Macaire Polo Match Paris June 2006…

Award ceremony!

Today parents were invited to the camp at 2:45 for a Tennis award ceremony…
See the Tennis camp session was 3 weeks long, the first week they learn techniques, and movements, 2nd week tactics and how to count score a match and the third week they have a tournament…so today they were giving the awards to the winners of the tournament.
Toby the tennis coach started of on a great speech talking about what a great group of kids he had this year…kids, from all over the US and some from Colombia, England, China, and France, how great and how diverse. Kids all got along great and were all able to communicate, there was a healthy competition spirit and so on and so on, and then he talked about each kid for like 15 minutes. How great I was getting goose bumps threw his whole speech, then he gave them all bracelets reading, respect, honor and courage, and this was what it was all about. I kept saying what a country so supportive so encouraging what kid doesn’t dream in this country they make you dream they don’t kill your dream like they do in other countries. Bravo America for making both my kids live a dream and not only that but for giving them an award for it…in all the years Dylan has been paying in the clubs in Paris his never gotten a trophy so big. Kids need to believe in themselves and if this is how then long live the American dream…
There were eight huge trophies to give out…and guess what Dylan got two of them he won
the intermediate matches and the Advance matches, he was so excited and his face was so lit you count shut the light off for the rest of the day…
Then the biggest trophy went to a kid who as Dylan said he didn’t play so good, and I said listen, listen to why he won, he got the biggest trophy because he was the teams biggest supporter he was there cheering everyone on, he was the Best team player…how great was that the lesson I’ve been trying to teach him all along, support your team mates integrate yourself with the group because in the end your all a team.
I say Bravo to Toby to people like him who make this country a great country a country that’s united.

Have you confessed?

Funny, but I have and were else but in Lourdes….
Tonight guess what I went with Gus, Danny and two more guys to the Madonna concert…
The Confession tour…at the Miami Arena…50,000 people…all Madonna worshippers…
What a total Diva…Gus got the tickets…god bless him… 4th row seats because he knows someone who knows her etc…so we were sitting in the family and friends area…tickets were expensive but worth it…Nothing is free in life!
She is so unbelievable something else in person. What a body, what an artist I mean she is 48 and looks unreal…I swear since the concert I’ve been totally watching the line…got to look good before I hit 40…So now I got Danny checking in on me at lunch, what are you stuffing your mouth with???? ahhh!!! lol, lettuce!
It was an awesome night and I had a total blast with the boys! Thanks…
Check out our pictures…

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Movies…

Well since we’ve been here in Miami we have seen a couple of films; The Pirates of the Caribbean movie with Johnny Depp, Pretty cool movie a bit scary and the most amazing make up and costumes…his funny I like him…
Memoirs of Geisha , I went with my mom down stairs in the building were they live they’ve got a theatre and they were playing it the other night I was so excited because I read the book and was excited to see the movie, what a book, one of the most loveliest written books I’ve ever read…The movie was incredible of course the book, was better and if they were to have followed the book to a t it would of been a 4 hour film or more , but still it was very Holly woody and beautiful…Then we saw the film everyone has been talking about…the Devil Dressed in Prada…Loved it, great clothing what a closet! Great lines as well and what a Devil indeed that Anna Wintour…I guess you have to be a B___ in that business…and just the other night we saw Monster House…scary but cute…voila…we love movies.

El dia del amigo…

Today is ‘’El dia del amigo’’ they day of friendship…and my dear friend Danny and I spent the day together. We met at the Bal Harbour Mall one of the hottest Malls in the world…talk about money well here you can smell it as you walk…one of the richest malls ever.
We had lunch at Carpaccio’s delicious Italian restaurant…they should re-do it though it needs a bit of a renovation, but I guess it’s a money making pit…and the owner most likely doesn’t want to close it down…well back to us , we caught up on all the latest news and gossip and then walked around the mall and checked out what all the high end lines are doing…Danny knows most of the buyers and sales ladies because he buys a great deal of things for his clients at the designer houses…Danny is a image consultant and a very good one at that.
We had a lovely day…
So to all my friends I wish you a wonderful day, and thanks so much for being a part of my life.

Everything is much better…

Back to camp…Well as I said there was NO giving in …I took them to the bus stop and he was giving me a very hard time, so finally I decided I would take him myself and try to settle him in his camp cabin, the car ride would also give us some time to talk about…my integration conversation with him…Chloé got on to the bus like a champ all by herself…
The car ride out to the school is about 25 minutes, the bus ride is a bit longer because of all the stops it does, so we would probably get there before the bus and it would give me a change to take a peek at Chloé’s class as well…
Took him in to his cabin, met his cabin mates and as I said the kids are much rowdier, bigger, and very forward…he looked so lost , finally one of the counsellors took over and said go ahead I’ll take care of him and of I went with a little pain in my heart.
I ran off to take a peek at Chloé’s class and she just looked like she’d been at the school all year, she showed me her friends so cute , I’m telling you she’s living a film…As I was leaving the school I saw two counsellors at the tennis camp, and hung out and talked to them for a bit I told them what a great Tennis player Dylan is and they were like why don’t you switch him to tennis camp, so I ran to the admissions office and asked for him to be changed , NO problem they didn’t even make me pay the difference, thank god because at least with the tennis since he is so good it would break the barrier. I waited for the tennis coach Mr. Toby and we went together to announced the news to Dylan. As he saw my arrival his eyes lit up and when we told him the news a huge smile made its way threw. There I found my Didu again…I was finally able to leave with some nice peace of mind.
At 4:45 I was already waiting outside impatiently to see his reaction….They both got of the bus with huge smiles. ‘‘So, how was it?’’ I said…. ‘‘It’s the best camp ever’’, he said! Those words sounded so good to my ears…Really? Yea mom , I loved it we play tennis all day and if I’m tired or it’s too hot I just say ‘‘me duele la cabeza’’( my head hurts in Spanish) I was like what ‘‘me duele la cabeza’’ DYLAN! you’re supposed to be talking in English not in Spanish…and we laughed like crazy…he later explained that they go in and play video games, so yea no wonder it’s the best camp, Tennis and Nintendo….what kid would not love that! Then I asked, and the bus did you have a hard time finding the bus because as I left him that afternoon I wrote the number 28 in the palm of his hand very big so he wouldn’t forget his bus number. No mom no problem when the lady asked me what bus I was on I said ‘‘ veintiocho’’ WHAT….Oh man I just kept thinking how am I going to explain this to their father…Well honey ‘‘We are in Miami!’’