Hair

Today, I noticed an aweful lot of people with crazy old style hair. In my baby no-sleep haze, I have blocked out all of this weirdness but today I saw it. 80s feather hair, 90s poofer banges and a really bad perm. This had been right under my nose all of the time. If it were kids it would have been cute but sadly it was the older women in my neighborhood. I wish I could say that this was an American phenomenon, but while French women certainly wear more stylish clothes women of a certain age don't seem to have evolve very much in their hair styles... Why is changing our hair so hard? We do it for ever break-up? I guess I can be guilty too. Total mom hair. I gave myself my last hair cut. Will do better next time though, when I gotten a little more sleep and a little more time. Anyone know a good stylist in MD?

Cakes

 

This week was A's birthday.  Like the good wife that I always strive to be, I wanted to get him a yummy birthday cake.  When we were in France, he craved 'Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream' cakes.  Which were, of course, impossible to find in France.  Here in the US, all other good cakes are impossible to find.  I don't like a lot of cake in my cake -- I prefer yummy mousses, chocolates, fruits etc.  Something like a good Opera Cake or a Marzipan cake that is so easy to find in Provence.  

Well so we had to settle for a tarte aux fruite.  L (my 2 year-old) said 'oo-la-la' upon seeing it.

Missing you French cakes;(

Guy Cadel

Guy Cadel is the name of my favorite Champagne.  Real Champagne, the kind that comes from the Champagne region in France.  My favorite is the demi-sec.  Brut is good too.  So is Rose.  Well in short they are all good.  In a festive mood, I like Kir Royal, that is Champagne with cassis syrup.  What a splendid before dinner drink, Aperos.  My father-in-law always seems to have some on hand, just in case a special occasion occurs.  I think our visits are special occasion enough.  Or maybe he drinks Guy as table wine because he loves it as much as I do, and we only think that it's a special occasion.  In France special occasions are everywhere -- 'No strikes this week, time to celebrate', 'It's Friday, time to celebrate', 'Some random Saint day, bring out the bubbly'.  I wish Americans could find so many reasons to drink Champagne.  If you are in France, the check out Guy Cadel, you won't be sorry.
http://www.champagne-guy-cadel.com/

East Coast Blizzard of 2010.

The amount of snow that has fallen in the DC area is the most snow that has fallen since people started keeping track of that sort of thing.  The estimates in our area are between 2' and 3'.  Yesterday morning, we measured a little over 2'.  The snow started falling on Friday morning and stopped Saturday afternoon.  Today is Sunday and we have yet to see a plow.  I think that there must be about a meter of snow on the road.  I am not sure where the plow is going to put all of the snow. 
Digging out in Laurel MD....

Missing the Marseillaise Winter

You might find the term 'Marseillaise Winter' laughable if you lived anywhere in Europe north of Lyon and anywhere in the USA north of Georgia...  Because you actually know that winter has days below freezing and that you need a coat to go outside.  Ahh, if you have never spent the winter in Florida or Marseille, then you don't know how great a winter without coats can be.  Where winter is like late-October in the DC area.  I sure I only wore my coat twice the 2 years of winter-days spent in the South of France.  Two wonderful years of no hat, no gloves, no windshield scrapers.  I was actually in the VAR, so I even missed the big snow storm in Marseille last year.  It was 50C in Le Beausset.  Anyway, if you ever think that the weather outside is 'frightful', head south, where winter is just an extension of Fall turning into Spring.