Welcome Miss Cuddlebug Alexa Rae Thiele!

Good Morning everyone! It is with boundless excitment and twirly wrists that I announce the birth of little Alexa Rae. I talked to Brooke yesterday and her, Alexa and Whit are all doing great and ready to head home today.
Alexa has some strong Omstead traits such as long gangly arms and fingers that she loves to curl and wrap around her mothers collarbone. She also has those lovely long Omstead toes. No peeptoe pumps in her future! :)
Congratulations you two, what a team! Alexa has the best parents on this side of the Atlantic fo sho!
I can't wait to meet the little lovebug in December!

Love and Hugs

P.S. this smilling piggy is from Sharon Montrose's etsy.com shop. I saw it for the first time on A cup of Jo.

Malta, be there or be square!

So Vince's new boss is in town and they had a meeting this morning to tell Vince that he was the man for the job. Now we just have to find out when we are going and sign the contract. Hopefully he will be able to do that before the weekend.

So family and friends pack you bags for Malta okie dokie? Bring things that will look good on the mediterranean like a big floppy sun hat and a smile! See you there in the new year!

Love and Hugs

P.S. photo is from beachhollidayguide.co.uk

HELP, this professional hotel guest wants more!

Simone writes about what she wants to accomplish through her blog. I too wonder the same thing. It's true that I started writing to keep my family and friends up to date on my life seeing as I always seem to live so far away from them. But I would be lying if I said that's all I wanted it to be. I would love to have a dream story like Clotilde who blogged about her favorite subjects, food and restaurants in Paris and then got a book deal...twice. Or Littlebrownpen who is paid to write on other blogs or even NieNie whose life story and blog have captured the interest of Oprah and is now scheduled to appear on the show. These women writers/bloggers are successful in my eyes and I don't want to be left behind. So what do I really want to accomplish through my blog? What is there out there that I want to write about every day? And do I want what I write about to become my profession?
Simone also wrote about how she finally felt that who she is and the job she does finally match. What a blissful feeling that must be. The only real job I ever had was the one at the airport. It challenged me and made me feel satisfied on certain levels in the sense that I felt good about my problem solving abilities, my calming effects on my co-workers and the math-type thought behind it all made me feel smart (something I hardly ever feel.) But I never felt that that job and who I am was the same person. At all.

So I suppose the best way to start is to make a list of things I like? In no particular order:

1. Food and Wine, preparation, buying it, smelling it and eating it…even photographing it and styling it.
2. Travelling, wandering and getting lost. Going to less developed countries even dangerous countries. Travelling to and seeing historical places such as Egypt, Italy….and now my brother has fuelled a dream of going to Carthage in Tunisia.
3. Love and caring for others. Making people feel special makes me happy. Buying presents that touch their soul. I spend a lot of time in my day thinking about the correct way to talk to the people I care about. I don't want to upset them or have them think I wasn't listening or simply didn't care. (That is kind of weird isn't it?) How do you make a profession or blog out of that idea?
4. Finding love for other people. Matchmaking I suppose? even though I’m not very good at it. But I would be so happy to help people fall in love all day everyday. I find myself thinking on the subway, “oh those two random people would be great together.”
5. Fashion, this too is a subject I think about all day, especially while I am people watching. Does that purse match her boots? Do you think that's women over there is carrying a vintage bag? By the way did you know Simone has a vintage Chanel bag in her collection? So jealous!
6. Mysticism such as astrology, palmistry, faceology, intuition, massage, reiki, aromatherapy……the list goes on.
7. Holding and taking care of babies
8. Making someone who feels left out feel good and important

Well I guess when I was a little girl I told my Mom I wanted to be a professional hotel guest. She won’t let me live that one down!

Now I have to list the things I am afraid of because of course I am or I would have done something already, right?

List of things I’m afraid of:

1. I will fail. No one will like my ideas
2. I can’t afford to pay for the education or start up I need for a business
3. That my future children will see their mother as a woman who just sat around all day and dreamt instead of did.
4. That I will waste money on my dead end ideas
5. That I will make people mad at me
6. The hard work and research it takes to go to school or find a job in a foreign country where I am not a passport holder. (my current status and future…who knows when Vince and I will get married and I will get and EU passport.)

So there you have it. A mess of ideas and feelings and me (no surprise) still sitting here left wondering.
I wish I was one of those people who always wanted to be a doctor or lawyer and then went to school and became that. Why isn’t it that easy?
HELP!

P.S. photo is borrowed from chicagonow.com

Nathalie and Leo's celebrate their birthdays

Leo in his king's chair

Lise enjoying her doggie and her brother's monster truck

(L-R) Sebastien, Lise, Daniele and Leo "taking the apero"

Leo at his little table enjoying dinner

Nathalie cutting her cake with her sister Delphine looking on

Goodmorning Everybody! Last weekend Vince and I travelled to Metz to visit his family. Today is the birthday of his oldest sister Nathalie and her son Leo. How wonderful to share your birthday with your son eh?

On Saturday we joined Nathalie, Leo and 5 of his little friends at an indoor playroom. There were slides, ladders, balls and basically a kids dream fun room. The music was loud and they could run and play until their hearts content. After the playing came the cake in a private room with a kings chair for Leo. He happily exclaimed, "Today is my BIRTHDAY!"

Later on we headed over to Nathalie and Sebastien's house for dinner and cake to celebrate Nathalie. We had champagne and talked about the kids... mostly little Lise's interesting independant food views and played poker after "Risk" was voted down by the birthday girl. Fun was had by all!

Love and Hugs

Image for Simone

The above image is: Death by Coton Candy by Daniela Edburg

Everyday I read Skinny dip. It's a great blog written by my Mom's sweet neighbor Simone. She writes mostly about relationships, fashion and lately her professional pursuits, which I find engrossing. I keep reading because I find myself in there and isn't that what we are all looking for? A common thread?

I love how she puts up beautiful images like the above with the hair and the feathers. Yesterday I saw the first image in a Paris newspaper and thought of her. It's pink and the character is in danger of dying from a tornado of coton candy! Love it! What do you think?

Love and Hugs

Our findings in Dole

Dole
Vince pretty excited to begin researching!

The inside of the building that housed the archives

The Baron's residence at 13 rue dusillet

Good Morning Every body! I am back in Paris after the weekend in Metz and Dole. We had a great time with Vince's family...it was Vince's sister and his nephew's birthday and I will post more about that tomorrow. For now I wanted to let you know about what we found in Dole. So our ancestor James Savage had a calling card from someone called Le Baron F. Fritsch from Dole, France. We were sent by Ryan to the municpal archives in Dole to do some research on the Baron and their connection. Maybe this would be the break in the case of the disappearing ancestor? Well no such luck. We found the Baron and his family easily in the sensus from 1921 living at the adress from his calling card but we couldn't for the life of us find out what he did for a job in order to form a connection between the two. It appears that the Baron and his family were just socialites and philantropists with no real profession. We also had a hard time finding information on the Canadian Forestry Corps in the area. Savage served with them and the headquarters were situated around Dole we believe. We have to go to the departmental archives of Jura (the province where Dole is located) to find out military information. No worries Vince is drafting up a letter to them as we speak.

And the search continues.....

Love and Hugs

Dole

Hi guys, I am at Vince's parents house and trying to navigate their french keyboard and not doing so sucessfully....bummer cause I have a lot to tell you about what we found at the archives yesterday. It will just have to wait until I get back to Paris. :(

One important piece of information is that our great great grandfather James Savage did not indeed run away with the Baron de Fristch's daughter!

I will update more soon.........

Love and Hugs

On the trail of our ancestors

Good Morning Every body, Vince got back late last night around 1100pm and is exhausted. Everything in Malta went great and he feels like the meetings and "interviews" were sucessful. The project manager for Malta will be in Paris next thursday and they will discuss further at that time. (hopefully a decision will be made!) The site manager from Malta also said he would like Vince to come to Milan and visit a similar site with him in December. Cool eh? I love Milan!

Anyways other than that we are on our way to Metz this weekend to visit Vince's fam and also made a road trip to Dole. Ryan has proposistioned us to do a little detective work down there trying to find out anything we can on the guy in this picture. He is our great great grandfather and he disappeared after the war. Apparently he spent some time in a military hospital in Dole and we also have a calling card from a baron from Dole that he kept..... all clues point to Dole. Wish us amatures luck! We are nervous and excited!

Love and Hugs

Malta Update

Hi everybody, I just got off the phone with Vince.
He was boarding the plane in Malta and didn't have much time but he said everything went great. The Italian site manager really took a shine to him and asked Vince to email him with the apartment specifics that he is looking for for us in Malta and he will start looking for somewhere for us to live. Whooohoooo! That said...calm down Sam.
There was no offer from the Project Manager but Vince made it clear he wanted a decision as soon as possible and the Project Manager said he would be in Paris next week and would schedule a meeting with Vince and his human resources girl to finish the details.
So nothing in stone but still looking pretty good.
He's going to call me on his layover in Frankfurt with more details......
Love and Hugs

P.S. photo credit #1 is from www.rentinthesun.com and photo #2 is from http://wallpaper-s.org/63__Maltese_Luzzu%2C_Malta.htm

List of things I do when my boyfriend isn't around

Good morning every body! So Vince is still in Malta...his flight was delayed last night so the meetings he was supposed to do yesterday were posponed till today. He won't be home till 10pm tonight. Bummer cause I am dying to find out how everything worked out. He should be calling me with an update in half an hour. I will let you know as soon as I can.

In the meantime.....I made a little list of delightful things a girl like me does when her lovely boyfriend is on a buisness trip.

1. Take off bra and put on comfy grandpa-like jamjams right apon entering the door.

2. Listen to the song "Girl" by Destiny's Child on repeat for a ridiculous amount of time.

3. Eat all and I mean all of the delicious pate du campagne without sharing! Mauhahahhaha!

4. Finally, lay out on the couch and watch a extremly girly fashion movie such as "The September Issue" without having to pause it and explain fashion terms and quirks.

What do you think? Sounds like a fun filled girls night alone or what? What do you ladies do when your men are away? Come on be honest!

Of course I miss my lovely boyfriend desperately especially our morning cuddle. I can't wait till he gets back tonight....but until then more indulging in my girly side!

Love and Hugs

Notre Dame de Paris

Good morning Every body! A few Sunday's ago we took the metro down to Ile de cite to visit the Notre Dame cathedral. It's a beautiful gothic church on an island in the middle of Paris. It's first stones were laid in the year 1163 but was built on top of the site of the former cathedral St Stephens which was consicrated in the 4th century. Needless to say the whole area is steeped in history and we were excited to explore it. We were lucky enough to arrive in time to witness sunday mass. Later we wandered around inside, lite a few candles for the grandma's and then headed over to a nearby cafe for a little susitanance before heading off to Versailles on the train.

How is everybody's week going? At least Monday is over right? Vince has finally taken off for Malta. The flight was delayed 4 hours this morning due to the ground staff at Orly airport being on strike. Go figure!

Love and Hugs

The Dodges meet the Kleins

Good morning Every body! I wanted to share with you the epic meeting of our parents a few weekends ago. Vince's parents are sister graciously came to Paris to meet my family for the first time. Vince and I choose a "french chansons" restaurant called "Le Limonaire" in the 9th arrondissment near to their apartment. It was a quaint little place in a covered alleyway off of grand boulevards. After a quick glass of welcome champagne at our apartment we all took the metro down to the resto. We started by having a delicious three course meal before the show began. There were three different female singers that preformed and each was more different than the last. First up was a cello player with a sense of humour and second was an avante garde signer with a sweet accordian player that sat right beside Dad. The last preformer was so amazing that she had me believing she was an angel from heaven singing jazz songs just for us. I included just a little snippet of her signing a song about my friend Sue sweet Sue. She kinda messes it up at the end but I hope you can still hear her signing your name Sue. I love you and miss you so much!

So what so you think? It looks like it was a great time had by all...do you agree?

Love and Hugs

Paddling Versailles

Good morning Every body! This is a follow up blog to the last one. While Mom and Dad and the Aunts were inside the castle we were paddling our way around the large man made lake in the center of the gardens. It was 11 euros for a half hour. We first started out paddling together and then I let the man in Vince take over. Can you see the chateau in the distance of the picture with me in it? It was so romantic and serene....a perfect day in the park.

So what is everyone up to this weekend? We are taking it easy tomorrow and then hanging out with Vince's sister Delphine on Sunday hopefully. Maybe see a movie or go to an art gallery and then dinner at home. See you back on Monday!

Love and Hugs

Visiting Versailles

Good afternoon every body! I wanted to share a few pictures from our trip to The Chateau of Versailles last weekend. It's a magnificant castle on the outskirts of Paris that was the seat of the government of France from 1682 to 1789. King Louis the 16th and Marie Antionette lived here until they were dragged back to Paris to have their heads cut off during the French Revolution. Our trip to visit Versailles was much less dramatic although Mom, Dad and the Aunts did have a little golf cart trouble at the end as you can see. :) They wandered around inside the castle and listened intently to the audio guide as they passed through the hall of mirrors. The second picture is of Aunt Jane inside this famous hall where the treaty to end WWI was signed. And of course we had to have our picture taken all together outside the beautiful gates. I hope you like them.....

Love and Hugs

Oyster bar tasting

Good Morning Every body! While Mom and Dad were here we wandered around peaking in flower shop after flower shop and decided to give Dad a break by stopping for some oysters. We went to a fish shop called L'Ecume Saint-Honore in the 1st arrondissment. There is a tasting bar there where you can have 6 oysters and a glass of wine for 10euros. The oysters are from Brittany in France and had a bright blue tinge. SO tasty! The fish shop played background music of seagulls on the beach and for awhile we completely forgot we were downtown Paris. A very fun experience.

I hope everybody is getting back to work slowly this week with big bellies full of turkey!

Love and Hugs

P.S. The last photo is us taking a coffee break at the Gourmand Galeries Lafayette after the oyster bar tasting. :)

Fashionistas!

My entourage fashionably waiting for the show to begin
Super cool models in the rock and roll portion of the show

A gorgeous Vivenne Westwood suit we would all die to own

Last but not least the real stars of the show.....

France's next top models, Ann and Jane!


Good morning Every body! I'm so sorry I didn't post for the last few days. Vince and I moved into our new apartment in the 16th and there is no internet connection there. We have however sourced out the cafe around the corner and they say there is free wifi so I will try that out tomorrow.

The first friday the Aunts arrived in Paris we all went to a free fashion show at Galeries Lafayette. It was on the top floor and packed with anticipating fashionistas just like us. When the music started and the models stomped down the runway we were flabergasted. It wasn't a specific desinger show but it felt like it to us. I don't know if it was the lack of sleep, the excitment or the fact that we were simply together but we were all a little emotional (read-teary). But what else is new eh? We can all cry at the top of a hat can't we? At the end of the show Aunt Ann and Aunt Jane got up on the catwalk and did a little walk of their own. I think it was the best performance of the afternoon, don't cha think?

Love and Hugs