Wide Open Sky

See that countdown clock over there? Has it been driving you crazy? Are you one of the people who has emailed me asking for a hint, just a tiny hint? Well, I'm ready to spill the beans.

In the next few months I'm going to be working on launching my own Open Sky shop. Did I just hear someone say "A wha-?" Okay, let's backtrack.

Open Sky is a new concept in online shopping. A concept that brings a personal connection into your shopping experience, another way for me to connect with YOU!

Listen, I feel like we are buds. We banter back and forth, I ask questions, you answer. You ask questions, I answer. We laugh, we cry ... let's shop!

Each week I get emails from readers asking what color my paint is, where did I buy the twiggy reindeer on my mantle, what brand macaroni do I use in my Macaroni Salad (dude, that's good salad). I feel like it's a thing between you and I.

Open Sky will allow me to stock a shop with all the things I know and love. Things I think you'll love, too. I want to keep it funky and functional. I don't know if that's possible, but that's my goal. I want you to feel like you're getting a recommendation from a friend. A cool friend who likes to cook and decorate and build stuff. Yeah.

So, that's the big news. Bear with me as I try to get through my trip to the beach and getting these rugrats back to school. I'll be working on it slowly - we can do it together. Yep, I like the sounds of that. So, soon we'll be meeting in the wide Open Sky. I'll call you when I get there.

There is still time to link up for Tutorial Tuesday this week. Click on over and Teach Me Stuff!

Meet me back here tomorrow 'cause we going on a field trip...

One more thing - I forgot to announce the winner of the Firefly Blankets gift certificate! Congrats to Peggy AplSeeds!

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14 Years and Counting!

We celebrated our 14th Wedding Anniversary yesterday and you know I had to pull out my wedding dress! I horrified my kids by running around the back yard in it for a bit.

They grabbed the camera, so this is what I look like explaining how to work the camera...while in a wedding dress:



This is what I look like jumping around in the back yard...in a wedding dress:



My 9 year old decided to recreate one of our wedding photos. We were inspired by the Young Me Now Me website.

THEN:



NOW:



I started to plan our annual watching of the Wedding Video only to realize our last household VCR croaked this year, and my video is on VHS! Note: need to copy that video onto DVD!

We all went out for Italian and played Frisbee in the yard instead.

We exchanged cards and laughed when we realized we had bought each other the husband/wife version of the same card!



Good times. Ready to begin another year of wedded bliss :)

Don't forget to link up your Tutorials for a chance to win an Antique Framed Chalkboard from The Magic Brush!

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Good News! I Wasn't Killed in my Sleep Last Night!

This is the text I sent my husband this morning. He was out of town for a few days and we had had an"incident" the night before.

I don't know about you, but I'm always uneasy sleeping in my house overnight without The Big Guy. I complain about snoring but truth be told, it makes me feel safe to know that my husband will jump up at the slightest noise as soon as I pound him awake, to save us. Now usually he's saving us from a balloon that floated past the security sensor or a chipmunk in the attic, but still...

So, last night we all scrambled upstairs at 9 pm (we all get spooked when daddy's gone) and set the alarm. The kids went to sleep and I retired to my new redecorated bedroom to watch TV and play Scrabble on Nintendo Ds (hey, don't judge, it's my only vice!). I got sleepy around 10:30 and drifted off to sleep....cue sleepy sounds...

All of a sudden I felt like the world was coming to an end as I realized the security alarm was going off! If you don't have a security alarm, the volume is comparable to an indoor McDonald's playland during a 5 year old's birthday party while the Blue Angels are doing flyover maneuvers. Loud and terrifying with flashing lights!

I leaped out of bed (if The Big Guy was home I would have waited quietly under the covers quivering in fear) to turn it off. I could hear a child whimpering in the bedroom and I knew I had to turn that alarm off!

Okay, here is when the shift happened; I'm usually terrified that there is an intruder in the house when the alarm goes off in the night, but this night I leaped straight into the face of danger for my kids. I didn't care WHAT was in that house I had to stop that noise! It was scaring my kids! I couldn't get my fingers to work! I was shaking, I was sweating, I punched the number again and again and the alarm wouldn't deactivate!

I was standing there punching the numbers with my back to the stairs the killer would climb to come KILL us and I couldn't get that damn alarm off! Must. Stop. Noise. Just as I begin to imagine my kids scarred for life from the sheer terror of this moment, the alarm turns off. One crying child barrels out of the room and the other two sleep on, peacefully. What the heck? I almost died out here and you're SLEEPING?

Turns out, the "killer" was a rubber band that was stuck in my "door mantle" that decided to become unstuck at 12:09 this night falling directly in front of the security sensor. (If you are wondering "How did a rubber band get into that garland?" Then you obviously don't have boys). See that little sensor there on the left?



That has to be a one in a million...I'm pretty lucky, huh?
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Why I Started my Blog - For Wendy

Wendy, one of my bestest bloggy friends is having a party, y'all! She wants to know why we started our blogs. It's a question I get a lot, so I decided to do a last minute Sunday post to share all the gory details you never wanted to know.

I started my business Hope Studios, The Shop first and in order to grow I knew I would need to begin advertising. Yes, advertising...with no cash. That's a toughie.

Lots of bloggers accepted advertisers and charged money for them, so I thought to myself "Self? You can do that! YOU start the blog and bring in your own business!" (cue rubbing my hands together while laughing maniacally). Guess what? My blog was free! It came with templates and lots of advice and as a bonus I got to explore MORE creative things, and meet friends, and practice my photography, and develop a log of my life and my kids' lives...Um, why didn't I think of this sooner?

So, in February 2008, I got me a blog. Hope Studios, The Blog was born.

My very first post was a mini-rant about a mom's real life experience of returning from vacation called, Back to the Real World. I spent much of that first month talking about my shop. I got about 2 comments in 4 weeks.

I didn't know how to add photos, or links, or make something bold...It was boring.

Finally, in March, I decided to post about some funny thoughts that were running through my head in my kickboxing class (I still think of a lot of my posts while in that class. My teacher inspires something in me and I brainstorm some of my best stuff while drop kicking an imaginary opponent.). I entitled it My Secret Life as a Kickboxer and holy smokes! I got 16 comments! I realized I was onto something and began to use the humor I see in everyday situations as my inspiration. I began to talk about my business sparingly and instead began to focus on entertaining and teaching my readers.

I got my Soul Sisters on board and soon, we all had a blog: The Treat Girl, JoyBeadworks, Marzipan, and Girl in the Sticks.



We started having monthly tech-y meetings - none of us knew much but all the little things each of us knew added up to a lot!

We captured our outings, our parties, our projects, our recipes and each of our blogs is a great extension of the others'. We make each others blogs and lives richer.

We all take something different from our experiences, so you can read all four and get the full scoop. I think adding girlfriends to the mix was just right and seemed to speak to many of our readers - we have many of the same followers and names like Wendy, Saucy, Judy, and Whimsy come up in conversations when we're together as if we all know each other!

So, that's my story. What's yours? You can post one and link up with Wendy HERE and you might even win a prize. Tell her I said "hi".

Mother's Day - A Reality Check

Last week, on several "mommy blogs" and other mom oriented newsletters, I saw a trend. Mother's Day was looming and posts began to focus on the negative, as we so often do. Posts entitled, "10 Things I Hate About Motherhood" and "World's Worst Mother's Day Gifts" began circulating and seemed to be embraced by the readers. I felt sad.

I love being a mom. There, I said it. I love it.

I hate laundry, cleaning bathrooms, laundry...but none of those things ever make me feel differently about motherhood. I have never looked at a single gift my kids has ever given me and thought "Well, that sucked."

My 3 boys climbed into bed with me and gave me coupon books, poems, pictures, and pens decorated to look like flowers and I laughed and cried and handed things to The Big Guy to read aloud as I became too choked up to speak. Yes, the stories were about how much they love donuts and how crazy mom is when she drinks caffeine but I love those dang kids so much I just drank it all in - the gifts, the hugs, the kisses. I laid there in bed with 3 kids on my lap at once (and those kids are getting BIG) and tried to save every moment in a little capsule to draw up at a later time when they won't want to do this anymore. I live for this.

I commented on the blog, but realized that I couldn't think of something I hate about motherhood, but rather myself - My desire to excel at this most important job and never really knowing if I am.

I know it's cool to be negative and snarky, but Mother's Day and motherhood itself should be off limits. I love being a mom, and I can't bash it, not even if it's the cool thing to do.

So, happy belated Mother's Day to all of you. I hope you love it as much as I. I hope you got lots of useless gifts that touched your heart and made you cry. I hope you press them in a book because this stage of our lives is so very short.

You still have a few more days to link up with the Tutorial Tuesday party to win a gift certificate to my shop! Winner will be announced this weekend!

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We're Into It

Every few months I like to share our family's current obsessions. With three kids under 12, they change pretty frequently. So, what are we into these days? Let's check it out!

The number one obsession right now is Gogo's Crazy Bones. They. Must. Have. Them.



At $1.99 for a pack of 3, they are affordable enough for kids to collect many of them. They trade and play some sort of strange flicking game with them. I guess I would compare it to marbles, kind of. All I know, is that my 7 year old cleaned the basement for 2 hours for $5 to buy Crazy Bones. They are no joke.

Line Rider eats up a lot of computer time here, too. Ob. Sessed.



The kids basically draw tracks for a sled to ride on, kind of like a roller coaster. They try all sorts of shapes, jumps, and hills to see if the boy will continue on track or fall off. It's pretty cool.

While playing Line Rider, they almost always have You Tube on another screen playing the Van Halen music video for "Jump". Weird and random, I know.



I'm into American Idol right now. Big time. I even joined a fantasy football type league for the season. Sad. I'm already predicting Andrew will make it to the top ten. And if he doesn't...I will personally wring Simon's hairy little neck! Yeah, Dawg!



I smelled Amarige Perfume on my neighbor a few months ago and have been obsessed with it ever since. Perfumes usually give me a headache, so I haven't really worn it since I was pregnant with my oldest (he's 11!). But this lovely little scent is feminine and yummy and I've worn it every day since I discovered it.



I love this new song by Script, Break Even, so much that I could go all 6th grade on it and replay it over and over while writing down the words in a notebook. For reals.



Would You Rather? is a stupid card game that just cracks me up. I play it on twitter, I ask my friends random questions, I make my brother play it over beers. For some reason, these random and ridiculous questions really strike my funny bone. It's a sickness.



So, that's a list of our current must have's, what are YOU into?

The linky party is ON for Thursday! Compose your own "Into It" post and link up here. For those who want to get a jump on things, I should be opening up the posting around 10 pm Wednesday night. Grab your button now, and I'll see you Thursday!



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Sweet Tweets

Do you tweet? I'm not sure why but I do. I have also noticed a direct correlation between the number of tweets in a day and the status of dinner and the cleanliness of my house. But, I digress...

So, since Tweeting is defined as mini-blogging, why not take all the mini's and make them into one random, confusing post that will make you question my sanity?

Right?

So, here is a sampling of all the mini-thoughts that cross my mind and seem tweet-worthy:

Just flushed a fish that was mostly dead, but a little bit alive...

I thought it was all the way dead, and once it hit the toilet it began to swim again...but there was no turning back...right?

It's nose was all black and it was covered with tumors, people!

My 7 yr old walked in the house last nt announcing: I'm going to put on my pj's and to see if my fish is still alive!

I just found my ficus tree pot full of Slim Jims...My 7 yr. old said they looked disgusting and was trying to hide them

Maybe I could grow a Slim Jim tree?

My 7 yr old said one of the mom's on American Idol looked like she had 2 sets of boobs. It's hard not to laugh at that one.

@cosmicgirlie A pee or a pea? Because I can tell you where to look for the "pee". hee hee!

Open letter to all, if you close your tweet with "please RT" I will not be RT'ing. Just sayin'.

My 7 yr. old marched in circles around the living room last night pulling his suitcase. "getting used to pulling it thru the airport"

That crazy, bridge jumpin', dollar store dress wearin', country singin' Idol contestant last night had me crying!

I think I've entered an alt reality - hubs downloaded JayZ on his mp3. He is strictly am talk and country music listener. I'm afraid.

Just ate a 12 piece box of Andes Candies from the dollar store for lunch. In the car. In the parking lot outside the dollar store. Sad.

While I was sitting there, saw a truck with "balls" hanging from the hitch in the rear view mirror. Classic.

Hubs walking around the whole upstairs naked, brushing his teeth...why can't I be less inhibited. Wait, why can't he be MORE?

I keep getting erectile disfunction spam in my inbox - but it appears to be in German. Interesting...

Tried to plan a neighborhood goodbye party 4 neighbor - only 2 be told she needs to approve list, she doesn't feel comfortable with neighbors...huh

Why would someone sign my classmates profile 50 times rather than looking me up on facebook? Stalker?

And, I don't usually ReTweet, but this one was worth it:

@FakeAPStylebook RT The word "boner” is not capitalized, regardless of size. (commence immature giggling)

You likey? Well, there is more senseless ramble where that came from:

Hope Studios on Twitter

365 Days of Juniper...Give or Take.

I've come full circle with my 365 day project. I ended as I began, with the Big Guy on New Year's Eve.

I didn't capture one picture a day for the whole year, but I tried. I began to peter out once the kids were home for the summer. I ended up with 191 photos and each month was represented. Overall, I'm happy with the outcome. I think it really captures who I was this year. It captures the good, the bad, and the ugly. It captures my friendships, my family, myself. It sparked my creativity, emotion, and memories.

I showed the world who I was in the year 2009, and I leave this project satisfied, with a little time capsule for myself - of myself - for the future. I'm grateful for that.

This was a year in my life:

My 365, originally uploaded by hopestudios1.

My year page 2, originally uploaded by hopestudios1.

My year page 3, originally uploaded by hopestudios1.

My year page 5, originally uploaded by hopestudios1.

My year page 6, originally uploaded by hopestudios1.

My year page 7, originally uploaded by hopestudios1.

Here are my thoughts as I began this project in January last year:

Who am I? This is a journey lasting 365 days to answer that question.

It's so easy to lose yourself in your labels, responsibilities, relationships...who am I underneath all of that? Who is the woman who is also the mother, wife, sister, daughter, and friend?

This project forces me to slow down and spend time with me each day. I hope to learn to appreciate my face and body for what they are, not what they were or what they could be.

I want to reveal myself to myself as the days go on and see growth and progression by the end of the project, uncovering layers thought lost or never discovered.

I hope that if this project is discovered by my children later in life, they can look at it and understand who mom was as a woman, a person.

The Switch

I have a switch. It's the one that sounds like "itch" and begins with a "B". It doesn't get tripped often - but when it does, my heart pounds and impulse takes over.

So, let's set the scene...shall we?

It's an ordinary Tuesday afternoon, it's sunny, I'm happily approaching one of my favorite stores...la, la, la (skip, skip)...

This is the intersection in question. (To answer your question, yes, I drove back to the scene of the incident like a crazy person to photograph this for you)

I stood on the corner of the sidewalk on the right and a car was approaching the stop sign to the left...



See the stop sign??? It's clearly a stop sign! And just in case the large red octagon is too ambiguous for you, the word STOP is painted on the road next to it.



Here, let's take a look from the driver's perspective. Yep, definitely a stop sign.

Imagine me stepping off the curb on the opposite side. Imagine how I'm walking briskly because of all the crafty goodness that lies just beyond those doors. Imagine how excited I am to not have any kids while I'm doing this.



Now, imagine that I'm hearing the stopped car approaching...it's approaching kind of close...it's actually accelerating! Imagine me kind of quick stepping it a little faster as I glance a few times toward the accelerating car thinking "Holy crap! I've obviously just gained the power to become invisible and I can't even use this power to spy or prank people! I'm going to get hit by this car before I can even put this power to good use tapping my friends on the shoulder or moving chairs before people can sit down!"

And then...flick! The switch gets tripped (the bitch one) as I look into the windshield and see the person does indeed see me, and is just impatient.

So, now I have two choices. The first makes the most sense and is certainly the one I should have chosen: RUN! But, see, the switch was tripped and all self control is lost. I start to hustle a little faster, then, impulse takes over and I. Stop.

That's it, I. Just. Stop. I stand there with my hands on my hips, giving the most withering "Mom stink eye" I can muster and shout (no, I'm not proud of myself) "Seriously?! No, SERIOUSLY?!? You are accelerating toward me while I'm crossing in the CROSSWALK? SERIOUSLY??" (I'm not sure why I felt compelled to repeat the word "seriously" so many times. It just felt right)

The person then stopped accelerating and continued to drift toward me as I turned and took my own sweet time across the street and into the solace of my favorite JoAnn's - a whole parking lot full of people staring after me, gaping.

The end.

I Suck.

How can I be rollin' along feelin' pretty good about this mom thing, then suddenly be slapped with the realization that I'm mediocre at best? I try to do what's right for my kids, balanced with some time for just me, but in the end I always end up feeling inadequate, guilty. Does this sound familiar? God, I hope so, because I could use some back up.

Last week, I was in the shower when I suddenly heard the alarm on my phone ringing. First thought? "Crap! Where am I supposed to be that I forgot about?!" School. Mystery Reader. I'm late.

I twisted my hair up in a clip and took off for the school, book in hand, with a wet head. I waited impatiently to sign in, then took off for the classroom apologizing profusely. I missed it. The teacher covered for me and said we could reschedule. She said she had a reminder for me last week, but since the munchkin was home sick I never got it.

Now, I baked them treats this week, helped them with homework, made them yummy dinners, cleaned up their messes, and gave them lots of hugs and kisses, but this little episode sent me home in a funk. I suck. I suck, I suck, I suck...The chant in my head in the car.

I think, as mothers, we are our own worst critics. I know I was a good mom to them this week, but it was all erased in my mind once I messed up with Mystery Reader. How can I do better? Is it possible to never mess up? How can I accept it and move on without it demeaning all I've worked for up until that moment?

I don't have the answer. But, I can sit down here and type it out here and know that I do the best I can. That nobody's perfect. That they will not be scarred forever if I miss reading time at school. The big picture is much more than that. But, it would still be rewarding to feel like I have it all together at some point in this process. So, until then, I sucked at being a Mystery Reader, but I'm trying my best to be a great mom. That's all I can hope for at the moment.

**Edit**

One of my girlfriends just emailed me a Job Description for Mothers she wrote in response to this post:



Job Description:

Pray with the children each day and night, bathe them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair each morning by 7:00. Take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment, and an appointment for a haircut. Know all of the words to every stupid song that comes on TV and the name of each and every repulsive character on Nickelodeon. Take each child to play two sports and either music or dance classes. There is no fast food.

Cook, do laundry, decorate house, keep house clean and presentable at all times, and plant flowers outside. Correct all homework, complete science projects, pay bills and budget in money for groceries each week. Make cookies or cupcakes for a social function. Attend weekly PTA meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting.

Shave legs, wear makeup daily, which is applied either while driving or making lunches. Adorn self with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep nails polished and eyebrows groomed. Have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties.Know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name. Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor. Each child's favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.

Clean up after their sick children at 3:00 a.m. and then spend the remainder of the day tending to that child and waiting on them hand and foot until they are better. Make an Indian hut model with six toothpicks, a tortilla and one marker; and get a 4 year old to eat a serving of peas.

Have enough energy to be intimate with spouse at a moments notice. Do this over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years...eventually earning the right to be called Mother!
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Inventions...Mom Style

I was in the shower this morning, or as I like to think of it, my wet therapy compartment, and I started thinking about all of the inventions I've thought of over the years. They totally suck as far as execution, but man, wouldn't they be great.

What if?

What if the grocery store had a pharmacy-style drive up for staples? Call in your order and pick it up while your kids slept in the backseat?:

(Yes, I'll have a loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butta... )

A cushion of air above public toilet seats that allows you to hover with ease:

(I could be peeing with ease right noooooowwwww!!!!)

A toothbrush with a built in lazer flosser that flosses for you while you brush:


(I smell burning hair, but my teeth are squeaky clean!)

Little elves that live in my garage that refill my gas tank, top off my washer fluid, and sweep up crumbs...


(Fill 'er up?)

A "fold and put away" button on my dryer...


(Here I come to save the daaaaaayyyyy!!!)

What would YOU wish for?


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Always. Sometimes. Never.

Whimsy Girl always brightens my day and today was no different. She posted her Always Sometimes Never list and I knew it was a great idea right away. Sooooo...I stole the idea and ran away laughing! Here is my list:

I Always...

Misplace things
Forget to pay/mail the bills
Sing in the car
Cry when I sing the National Anthem or Christmas carols
Dance in the dressing room when trying on clothes

I Sometimes...

Remember to take something out of the freezer for dinner
Spend too much time on the computer
Forget to feed my dog
Refuse to turn on my car's high beams when driving the Big Guy at night, because it really irritates him.
Pee my pants a little when I jump on the trampoline!

I Never...

Smoke cigarettes
Text while driving
Send my kids to bed or to school without a kiss, like it or not!
Keep up with my housework as well as the Big Guy would like
Go a whole day without smiling or laughing

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I like it. I like it a. lot.

A list of my current obsessions. Don't judge.

People of Walmart. Okay, this website combines the best of all things funny - Walmart freaks combined with funny captions. I usually end up snorting something out my nose when I'm browsing this site. And, to demonstrate, here is a photo of my favorite topic...kids on leashes.


caption: "Let’s, for argument sake, say that I will concede that it’s okay to have your kid on a leash (which it isn’t). Don’t you think it’s time to take the kid off the leash when he starts smoking cigars? Seriously, that kid is like 6′2″ and that monkey is cutting off his circulation! You can’t lose him if he is bringing the car around for you!
Washington"

Awkward Family Photos Honestly, I don't care what sort of mood I'm in, this website cracks. me. up.



Chewy Sweet Tarts Dude, I will eat these until my mouth is raw. Love them!



My new Swatch! Honey, this isn't the Swatch we all wore in school. She's silver, with green stones in the band. She's boho and bangley and so cool!




HBO's True Blood is my guilty pleasure. I watch it during the day when my kids are in school (God forbid they see this! It's bad!) usually while eating cake or ice cream or something unhealthy. I'm obsessed and couldn't wait to get back to this season. Think of it as Twilight for grown ups. These are the people I pictured while reading that book, not high school kids.



OPI Overexposed in South Beach. This color is rich and purpley (not a word) with a hint of iridescence. Looks great on toes!



This song Use Somebody by Kings of Leon gets in my head and I can sing it all day. It reminds me of my 80's rock with a great chorus and gravely voice.



DIY Tuesday at A Soft Place to Land. My whole week revolves around coming up with something fun to share and then from Tuesday-Saturday I click, click, click! It is so inspiring to see the transformations, great tips, and decorating ideas there. It rocks!



My secret love...Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus is just so fun! Yes, I know I'm about 20 years too old for this song, but it's just so fun and catchy. Come on, don't hate, just dance!



50 First Dates, Man I love this movie...



IZ!!! This song makes me tingle, cry, smile, dream...It's the greatest song ever. No. Ever.



My girls...




My Guys...



What are YOU lovin' these days?

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My Paris Wrap Up

Okay, you all know I love this animoto tool and I used it again to give you a wrap up of my favorite photos and try to convey a feeling when you view them. Ready?



I used some of these photos for tomorrow's Tutorial Tuesday, so come on back to see what I came up with.

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My Eiffel Tower Experience

I know it's a cheesy French cliche, but I couldn't wait to see the Eiffel Tower! We checked into our hotel and I stepped out onto the balcony and saw her across the city calling to me...


The next day we saw her from our boat tour, closer but still far away:



I had to wait a whole day, but I finally went to visit. Isn't she lovely?



We attended a tour of the Tower with our group, and the first thing I noticed were the military guards at the base with machine guns. A little creepy...



The Tower's engineer (did you know she is managed by a private company?) spoke to us about the construction and the tons of paint that will be removed this year (once they figure out how to remove it). He told us about the elevator system, then took us down to "the beast" to show us the hydraulics.

Here they are, but that guy was so dreamy (a cross between George Clooney and Antonio Banderis...sigh), none of the women can remember a thing he said about this system. I just know, it runs using water and is lubricated using recycled french fry grease! (as the women ascended the stairs the chatter was all: "did you see the way his eyes crinkled when he laughed? Oh, his hair is just perfect! I wonder what his wife looks like, he was wearing a wedding ring you know. I bet she's either beautiful or rich!" Yeah, we're pathetic.)



After all of that elevator talk, we jumped in to try it out. Aaaallll the way to the top. From here, we could see Paris laid out before us:



Apparently, I lost my mind and forgot to get a proper picture of her lit but I did take these looking up at her as we left:





Okay, next I will show you some of my favorite photos from my trip to wrap up. So, I'll meet you here Monday. Don't be late!

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Cemetery Hoppin'

I know it sounds strange, but I love to visit cemeteries when I'm away from home. I think they are so peaceful and I always end up getting some great photos there. I knew I wanted to use some of the photos for my walls so off we went.

We originally chose this cemetery because I wanted to tour the catacombs, but after a mix-up on the Metro, we missed the last tour by 20 minutes. Bummer. Here is a visit to a lovely French cemetery in Mont Parnasse in Paris.







Later that same day, we stopped at a sidewalk cafe to pass the time as the French do - people watching!

We sat down with our beer (please, no more wine!):



and soon we were entertained by this fellow:



Oh, attention all street performers! If you play me music I will pay you! I'm a sucker for music and drop money in every guitar case I see. Now, are you looking pathetic and shaking a cup? Not so much. Take a look at some of the other performers we encountered:




Do you want to go to the Eiffel Tower tomorrow? Okay, meet me back here...

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