A Gala in NYC

Guillaume and I were recently invited to a gala. Here is a photo of me with some of my current and former colleagues at the party. (l to r) Me, Ingrid, Jenn, Amber and Kristy.

Neema's First Day of School

Neema started school last week. She goes two days a week. Here is a picture of her on her first day! Isn't she the cutest???? She lives far away from us right now, but I can't wait to meet her some day.

More Summer Fun - France!

We went to France in September to visit Guillaume's family and friends. We started out in the South of France, near Spain, in a region know as the Basque Country (Pays Basque) and made our way back to Paris for the end of the trip.

Pays Basque is one of the most spectacular regions of France. The food there is like none I have ever tasted. The houses are well-kept and painted red and white in a perfect contrast with the rolling mountains around them. The Basque people are very proud of their heritage and wear it proudly. They speak Basque, an isolated language, that sounds nothing like French. It has lots of "k's" and "x's."

We spent some time with Guillaume's grandma in Cambo Les Bains. She has the most beautiful terrace on her home. It's so nice to hang out there on during the warm days or the cool nights listening to the crickets and other night time noises.

We also visited Guillaume's uncle, his mom's brother, in Capbreton, a surf town that reminded me a lot of California. We had a lovely evening with his aunt and uncle and then met his cousin Marion to go dancing at a local club. In the morning, we enjoyed an excellent breakfast of pain au chocolat outside in the sun. It was delightful.

After that, we visited the other side of Guillaume's family, his dad's brother, in St. Colome. It was about two hours away. His uncles home was nestled in the mountains. It is a beautiful wooden house that he built himself. The views from the terrace are amazing. After dinner, we drove to the top of the mountain and looked at the beautiful, bright stars. Wild horse and cows were roaming around. You could hear the sounds of the cow bells in the distance. It was amazing.

After that, we spent a few days at the beach in Biarritz and Anglet while enjoying some Gateau Basque. YUM. Then, we got on a plane (EasyJet - come on, let's fly!) and headed to Paris. After the short flight, we met Guillaume's good friend Julien, who was nice enough to get us at the airport and drive us back to Nogent sur Marne.

We spent the next couple of days enjoying the city and seeing Guillaume's family and friends. We were able to visit his grandparents and spend some time with them. It was nice to see them! We also saw some friends from NYC who had moved to France last year. It was a blast.

Of course, it all went by too fast as usual!

More Wedding Pix

Here is the whole Jedinak family at the wedding in August. Don't they look great?

Summer Fun Memories

Before we left for France, Guillaume and I were invited by Bill and Terry to their friend's house in Rhinebeck, NY. They invited a bunch of us to spend Labor Day weekend there. Tara, Ricky, Jeff, Andrew and others were all there. Everyone brought their dogs.

After work on Friday night, we hopped onto the Amtrak train at Penn Station and got to Rhinebeck around 8 PM. We took a taxi from the station and arrived while everyone else was cooking up a big feast of pasta and veggies. We ate outside on a big picnic table with candles and wildflower bouquets. Though it was early September, it was already getting chilly, so we all put our sweaters on.

After dinner, we did the dishes while listening to music and some of the guys built a bonfire in the backyard. That's when it began misting a little bit. None of us moved, though. We were having too much fun. Eventually, we brought the party inside of the historic house from the 1700s.

The house, called the Feather Farm, is named for the fact that it once had a barn full of birds on the property. The birds produced feathers for hats in New York City. The barn is still there, but the birds are long gone. It's located a little distance from the main house and looks dilapidated and creepy.

Part of the allure of the Feather Farm is that there is no television and no cell phone service. You are completely isolated from the world. Your job can't reach you. You can't check your email. No internet shopping. At first, this was weird for us. We spent most of the day hanging out and laying around and reading. It was very relaxing. One afternoon, we took a walk up the road to see the neighbor's houses.

When we weren't relaxing, we were cooking the next meal, eating a meal or cleaning up after one. Terry made some excellent dishes. We had an egg bake for breakfast that was delicious. There was a plum cobbler (with plums from the tree in the yard) that was excellent. We had ribs and grilled corn. Yum.

All in all it was a fantastic time. We are looking forward to visiting again!

France!

I will fill you in more later on our trip to France in September. For now, here is a picture of the small town where Guillaume's uncle lives. He built a beautiful house in the middle of the mountains there. The views are spectacular. After we ate dinner with them, we went up to the top of the mountain to see the beautiful stars. There were also wild horses running around! 

Jodi and Stephen Visit NYC

In August, Jodi and Stephen came to visit NYC. They came for a Horan family reunion and also to see an exhibit at the MOMA that featured the house that they live in. They own a "Lustron" house. Click here to see the website from the exhibition. They had a model house inside the MOMA that looked just like their house! Since much of the furniture is built-in, it looked exactly like their house.

We had a great time with them. I wish they lived closer! We spent some time catching up at a bar in our neighborhood called "The Other Room." They have an excellent beer list, including belgian beers and this Japanese beer that I love called Hitchino. If they lived nearby, I feel like we'd be spending time together all the time. Unfortunately for Guillaume and me, they live far away....

Bob's Birthday

It was Bob's birthday and we went to Randolph to celebrate with him, my mom and my sister. We had an excellent dinner at Pierre's and then had a yummy cake made by the local bakery.  Here is a picture of Bob and Sue.

Congrats to Zofia and Jozef!

Sorry I've been away for so long. Guillaume and I got very busy toward the end of the summer. Then, we took a short trip upstate with some friends. After that, we were off to France to see Guillaume's friends and family and relax a little. We had a great time, but now we are back to reality.

While we were running around, Zofia and Jozef were getting married in Budimir. The wedding photos are absolutely beautiful. The bride and groom look stunning and so does the rest of the family. I wish we could have been there to see them get married. It looks like it was a lot of fun. I'll leave you with a picture of the bride and groom. They sent us a couple of other great photos of the family. More to follow!