Our Life in Dallas

Shaking things up!

2010-04-18T20:54:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone!

So, we have been out of things for quite some time but we are back. And to make things easier we are moving to Flickr.

From now on, please head to http://www.flickr.com/photos/spychampi/ to see what we're up too!

Bonjour tout le monde!

Nous voila de retour, desolee pour cette longue abscence. Pour nous rendre les choses plus faciles et mettre les photos plus vite sur internet on va maintenant tout mettre sur Flickr. Comme ca vous verrez les photos plus vite et aussi vous pourrez les telecharger plus facile et en grand.

Voila notre nouvelle adresse http://www.flickr.com/photos/spychampi/

Bisous bisous

Our wedding

2010-01-11T21:07:00.018-06:00

Hello everyone! Happy new year!
Looking back at 2009, we realized we never got around to posting the pictures from our wedding, so here it is! Thanks again to everyone who made 2009 such a wonderful year for us!

We went to take some pictures before the wedding at the castle ruins near my village

Trying to keep the dress clean...

Roxane my sister, Gisèle my grandma, me, Héloïse my sister

The best sisters I could ask for! Les meilleures soeurs du monde!

Jay's mom Barbara, his sister Liane and his dad Don

With my grandma and Jean-Luc

My dad Richard and mom Brigitte

Time to start the procession to the City Hall

At the City Hall. My dad is ready to marry us, in french and in english!

We're married!

Signing the official marriage certificate

Mike was Jay's witness. Roxane was my witness.

Mike, Jay, my dad, me, Roxane nanite

With our families!

Exiting the City Hall

Posing with our witnesses and the musicians

Liane, me, Roxane and Héloïse

Mike and Jay

Roxane and me

The Vin D'honneur behind City Hall

Don is entertaining friends and neighborghs

My dad with my grandma and my aunts

At the reception, Anita, my uncle Patrick and adopted grandpa Jean-Luc, printing their picture for the guest book

Mom and dad (koud12 a amené l'opinel desfois que...)

Don and Barb

Mike, Liz, Adeline and my cousin Alex

Nanites pour toujouuuuuurs!

Finally some food, we didn't get to eat anything during the cocktail hour, I was starved and getting tired already, it was a big day!

Let's party!

La pièce montée, traditional wedding cake in France

The cake topper with the marzipan flags

The cutting of the cake (more like stabbing really)

Dancing with my dad

Mike giving his speech, it was really nice and had to be translated in french right away (or strike!)

Don gave a speech as well and stressed the importance of compromising

Toward the end of the night, my aunt Nathalie had a funny surprise!

Singing the Dallas TV show theme song. No comment

Christmas in New Mexico

2009-12-30T22:10:00.011-06:00

For Christmas, we drove to Hobbs, New Mexico with our very good friends Marina and Lani to go visit their family. We had a great time with the family and got to do some site seeing!
On the way to Hobbs, usually 7h driving from Dallas, we got stuck in a snow storm, so it took us about 13h to make the trip! It was fun though, we had some great company :)
It gets some use to checking for scorpions in your shoes every day but we really liked it and the Lins are amazing cooks! It was a great Christmas even though we missed you all.

It's starting to snow right outside of Fort Worth

Finally over! It doesn't look like much but there were some strong winds and there are no snow plows (chasse neige) in Texas.

Lots of wreackage, cars and trucks in the ditch

Lani, Jay and Marina at a little diner in Eastland. We had just learned that the I-20 was being closed, we got pretty lucky we didn't have to sleep in the car!

In Hobbs in front of the family restaurant Pacific Rim

At the Lins house with Penny

Penny Loafer

Sunset on the desert at the foot of the Guadalupe mountains

The Guadalupe mountains in the back

Hiroko, Lani, me, Marina and Jay at Carlsbad Caverns

Can you see the buffalo's head?

In the cavern

Here we can see a shark's head coming out of the ground, all teeth out

One of the big column

The ceiling is full of needle-sharp stalagtites, scary!

Hiroko, Marina, me and Lani

We didn't get to see the bats since they migrate to south america during the winter, they won't be back before march.

Welcome to Hobbs!

Marina and me freezing

Merry Christmas!

Night picture in the backyard

Marina and Lani's mom with Penny

Lots of oil and natural gas in Hobbs

Jay, Marina and me

At the state border between Texas and NM

Playing outside in the cold

I found a tumbleweed! Now we're really in the far west!

Marina and Lani's dad KC who loves photography, Jay and him had a great time.

On the way back home we can finally see the wind turbines

Jay's new car

2009-12-27T21:09:00.003-06:00

Jay likes his Christmas gift.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-27T20:49:00.007-06:00

For the 2nd time, we hosted Thanksgiving for our close friends. It was a great day of food and games. Here are the pictures, not in order again but we will be better with our blog, it's our new year resolution ;)

Corrine on the drums (Rockband)

Brad and I singing

Adam's turn

After the battle

During the battle

Before the battle

Paparazzi

Posing with the 24 pounds turkey (almost 11 kgs)

Michael and Corrine

Christie and Adam outside our house

The day before, preparing the brine

Malaysia

2009-12-20T22:00:00.018-06:00

Finally! Our pictures from our great trip to Malaysia for Corrine and Michael's wedding last october. It was such a wonderful experience!
We stayed in Kuala Lumpur and surroundings and we had the best time, people were really nice, food was delicious, it was beautiful! The pics are not really in order, sorry.
And soon I will post our Thanksgiving pictures!

Jalan Petaling in Chinatown where you can buy pretty much anything
The Blue Mosque just outside of Kuala Lumpur

Bukit Bintang, the street where our hotel was. A great area, we loved it!

At the wedding

Corrine and Michael's first dance

Christie and Kit

Playing with the decorations

The traditional tea ceremony before the wedding

Jay, Kit, Mai, Kaz, Mahinda, me and Rudi

In front of the King's palace. The king is elected every 5 years.

Malaysia's national monument, designed by Felix de Weldon who did as well the Iwo Jima monument in Washington DC

Christie and me riding our elephant at the Elephant Sanctuary

Feeding the baby elephant

And now feeding the big one

Michael and Corrine

King fruit or Durian. It is really good but it smells rotten.

Foot massage on Bukit Bintang

Fish Spa! Special fishes called Garra Rufa eat your dead skin. Yum!

Kaz and Mai like it.

You can do hands, feet or even whole body!

Inside of the Batu cave, a Hindu shrine to Lord Murugan

Going up the 272 steps to enter the cave

The silver-leaf monkeys of Bukit Melawati in Kuala Selangor

The strait of Melacca

Hanging out on the cannons of the old fort

Feeding green beans to the monkeys

Making friends

In Chinatown

Butterfly, this one is the most common in Malaysia

I don't know what this one is

This one liked me.

In the Museum for Islamic Art

Masjid Nagara, the national mosque

Dataran Merdaka or Independance square

It used to be a cricket field before being the place where Malaysia declared independance from Great Britain

Walking in the city there is a lot of vegetation

Petronas Towers

And that's it!

Rock Climbing... again

2009-09-19T19:07:00.006-05:00

Oklahoma eatin'

2009-09-19T18:59:00.006-05:00

For labor Day weekend, we went to the Kansas lake house with Michael and Corrine. On the way there, we have to go through Oklahoma, it's pretty boring but we did manage to find some good places to eat.

First, the Railhead diner in Purcell on the way to Kansas

And then the best Vietnamese restaurant so far, in Oklahoma City, on the way back to Dallas

Tennis

2009-08-31T21:08:00.007-05:00

Most sundays, we play tennis with a few friends in the morning. The usual suspects are Marina, Corrine, Michael, Christie and Kit.
Last sunday, Jay brought his new camera and had some fun.

Corrine took some pictures too

Marina and Jay

Michael and Corrine

Christie

Kit and Christie

Kit

Kit is flying!

Looking so british!

Marina and me

Baseball game: Texas Rangers vs Boston Red Sox

2009-08-31T21:02:00.003-05:00

A few weeks back, we went to the ball park to see a pretty important game: Texas Rangers vs Boston red Sox. Of course the rangers won :)
It was a fun evening with friends and hot dogs.

It's never that full!

Mike, Liz and Terry

Christie and Kit

Back in Dallas

2009-08-19T21:55:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone!

We have been back in Dallas for quite some time now and we have settled in the married life pretty easily :)

The wedding has been great, everything was wonderful and everyone was so nice and generous! We were so happy that so many of our far away family and friends made it to France to be with us on our wedding day. Thank you everyone!

Since we've been back, my mom (coucou maman!) and my grandpa sent me this article from the local newspaper. Jay and I now officially had our 15 minutes of fame!

More info about the wedding pictures will be coming soon, so stay tuned!

Last details for France

2009-07-09T09:55:00.006-05:00

Hello Everyone!

So, it is almost time to go to France! Are you as excited as we are?

I just wanted to fill you in with last details. First, when you arrive in Habère-Poche, you will need to stop by my parents' home to get the keys to your guest house. My mother will buy some breakfast food and such so you don't have to worry about it. You will probably need to go to the store at some point though. There is a little grocery store called Petit Casino at the entrance of the village, coming from Annemasse.

Here is a simplified map of the village. I hope it helps. I will be sending an email to everyone with my parents' address and phone number in case anyone gets lost but I'm sure you will all be fine :)

Then, sheets and bedding are provided but no bath towels, so you will need to bring your own. My parents can provide some if you forgot but there won't be enough for everyone.

There is no laundromat in the village (it closed down) so you will need to go to Thonon or Annemasse, or work something out with my parents, if you need to wash some clothes.

As for internet access, no cybercafé in Habère-Poche but you can find them in Annemasse and Thonon. My parents don't have WiFi but then again, we can probably work something out with them if you really need to check your emails.

Temperature wise, it is nice during the day but gets chilly at night. I would recommend that your bring some sweaters in case it gets cold. Cross your fingers for nice weather please!

I had already posted about some of the things to do in the area, here is the link if you want to check it out again. And this one too.

As for restaurant, I have two recommendations. The first one is in Yvoire, on the lake. It is called Le Bar-Restaurant des Pêcheurs and my dad's family has been going to that place forever! We would recommend that you order the Filets de Perche with sauce au beurre citron. Don't forget to walk all around Yvoire, it is a beautiful medieval city.

Then, a little closer to Habère-Poche is Chez Baud in Bonnes. It is really a great place to have a delicious french dinner. We highly recommend it!

Finally, here is a little diagram of the wedding day timeline. On saturday 25th, please meet us at my parents' home around 3:45-4:00pm. Click to see it bigger.

Don't forget about our hike to Les Replans on sunday 26th. No worries if you prefer to drive to get up there, it is definitely possible. We will meet once again at my parents' home around 1:00pm. If the weather is not with us, we will just go back to the reception place and have our picnic inside.

We want to thank you very much for traveling to be with us on that special day. It means a lot for us that so many people will be coming to the wedding. Thank you!

See you very soon :)

Rock Climbing in Carrollton

2009-07-01T16:03:00.005-05:00

Last saturday, while Jay was at his bachelor party (pics to come soon) I went rock climbing with friends in an old silo in Carrollton.

It was a lot of fun, we had gone to our favorite restaurant, Jeng Chi, just before and went to Babe's for some delicious fried chicken afterwards. Sharon, Marina and Lani's cousin, was in town from Chicago so we needed to show her a good time in Dallas!

The silo

Marina and me

We took a lesson before starting. Here we are, learning how to make knots and to belay.

Sharon during her first climb.

Now it's my turn!

Marina was belaying me.

Afterwards at Babe's. Here with Lani.

The whole gang full of fried chicken deliciousness:

Marina, Sharon, Laurel, Matt, me, Warren and Lani

Bachelorette Party

2009-06-26T19:50:00.007-05:00

Last weekend was my Bachelorette Party organized by Lizzie and Laurel. It was great! The girls had reserved a room at the Gaylord resort in Grapevine.
It all started at 3 o'clock for coktails by the pool, then in the evening we had the lingerie party!

I was gifted some really nice lingerie by my wonderful girlfriends. The girls even had made a video of Jay answering some questions, I had to answer as well (hopefully the same)

I was told I did pretty good :)

And after a great dinner, it was time to party at the Glass Cactus!

Enjoy the pictures!

Corrine and I by the pool

Lizzie, laurel, me and Corrine

Back in our room, Liz and Laurel had done a great job decorating.

Our fancy glasses

Ready to party!

The lingerie party. Thank you girls!

All the girls and their party favors

Hostesses with the mostesses

Dinner, we had the big room to ourselves

From top left to bottom right: Tiffany, Laurel, me, Nikki, Liz, Corrine, Marina, Erin and Carrie

On stage with other brides-to-be.
It was a 70's night, Le Freak was playing.

Me and Marina. Grooving!

The last ones standing :)

At the end of the night, with all the dares I accomplished.

Sand Castle 2009

2009-06-14T22:22:00.006-05:00

Some pictures from our weekend in Galveston for the sand castle competition.
Enjoy :)

View from our beach house

Our beach house name was "Conched Out"

Laurel and I ready to go to the beach bash on friday night

Saturday morning. Laurel, me and Lizzie, ready to play in the sand

And in the water

Me, Lizzie, Mike and Jay

The theme was "It's easy being green!" So here is Kermit the Frog

We worked on Miss Piggy's hair (especially Lizzie...)

With Shamu

Back to the beach house for burgers and cocktails

The girls, smoking cigars (it was to keep the mosquitoes away... it works!)

Mike, Liz, Jay, me, Matt, laurel and Selso

Washington DC

2009-05-31T20:01:00.013-05:00

For Mother's day, we went to DC spend some time with Jay's family. We stayed at Liane's who now lives in Arlington. It was a great weekend, way too short. We need to come back during the Cherry Blossoms Festival :)

We did get to walk ALL AROUND the National mall and to see the beautiful National Cathedral.
And Jay got to play with his new camera too.

DC by night

The Washington Monument

The National Cathedral, completed in 1990

The builders of the cathedral incorporated a moon rock in this window. So cool!

The last supper

The Cathedral's gate

The Jefferson Memorial, at the very end of the National Mall

The Vietnam War Memorial

Korean War Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln

Jay's dad going up the stairs toward the Lincoln Memorial

The World War II Memorial

World War II Memorial amd Lincoln Memorial in the background

At the Capitol

The Smithsonian Castle

A pretty merry-go-round by the Smithsonian Castle

Union Station.

The statues of Roman soldiers all around used to be naked, but since it shocked people, capes and shields were added.

Jay's dad with president Barack Obama. He he he.

Derby

2009-05-13T19:53:00.005-05:00

We went to the derby at Lone Star Park about 2 weekends ago, it was in celebration of the Kentucky Derby . It was a lot of fun and rain!
Here are some pics that Mike took.
Enjoy!

P.S: Pictures from our trip to Washington DC coming soon!

Terry, Laurel, Lizzie and me

Lizzie and I with our fancy hats

Pink 8 won the race.

Busted Volvo

2009-05-04T19:12:00.002-05:00

Camping at Lake Whitney

2009-04-26T21:04:00.012-05:00

Hello everyone,

We went camping during Easter weekend, it was an adventure!

We had an egg hunt, drove around in the back of a pick-up truck looking for some cliffs to jump off of, were hit by a thunderstorm and had to find shelter, almost got deported for picking up bluebonnets... An adventure!

Laurel and I arrived first at the camp site. And look at how well we packed the truck!

This is our tent!

At night, the guys had a light show. Jay wrote his name in light.

Morning after. Marina is in charge of the bacon.

Lizzie was the scrambled egg master

Jay woke up a bit late...

Breakfast is served!

Bluebonnets

Indian paint brush

Taking a walk around the lake

Marina, Laurel, Mark (Lizzie's little brother), Lizzie, Mike, me and Jay

Can you see the frog?

Laurel, me and Lizzie

Marina, Laurel, Jay, me, Lizzie, Mike and Mark

Trilobite fossil

And shell fossil

Lizzie found this really cool trilobite fossil

Back at the camp site for lunch, the guys played ladder ball.

Then we had the egg hunt!

The guys were nice enough to hide all the chocolate while we went to buy fire wood (and sangria)

It was fun!

Then, a storm was brewing on the horizon, so we moved to a sheltered area.

Some more bluebonnets...

Lots of marshmallow bunnies were harmed during the taking of these pictures.

Time for bed after a loooong day

The morning after. There was a big thunderstorm during the night, we were happy to have moved to the shelter!

Finally, we found the cliff! We didn't jump this time but we'll be back...

That's the spot!

Wedding Registries

2009-04-12T21:29:00.004-05:00

So we did it. We finally made our registry.
This is not something we were thinking about doing but it seems it is better this way, so here it is!

We decide on 3 different stores.

First, Macy's. We chose this store mainly for bedding and bathroom stuff (and some random items too)

http://macys.weddingchannel.com/gvr/guestregistrydetail.action?retailer_registry_uid=310580666&listby=dept

Then, Crate & Barrel. This is our favorite store for plates and silverware, as you can see we are really into white!

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/Gift-Registry/Guest/ViewRegistry.aspx?grid=4302423

Finally, Sur La Table. This is for specialty items and especially prepping and cooking.

http://giftreg.surlatable.com/slt/grws

We just want to say that it is a great pleasure and wonderful gift that the people we love will be there to celebrate with us, sometimes traveling from far away. Your presence will be our gift. We look forward to a wonderful time with our family and friends!

It is not as easy as it seems, we were always second guessing ourselves everytime with zapped an item...

Jay had the most fun at Sur La Table

DiscGolf

2009-03-28T21:05:00.006-05:00

We have a new favorite sport. It's disc golf, or frisbee golf. We went to play the past weekend and we'll probably play much now that the nice weather is here!

Lizzie with her frisbee Skeeter (all the frisbees have really cute names and different qualities)

Me with Purple Rhino (I know, I have great style :)

Laurel and Eagle

Mike and Destroyer!

Jay with Bluey

Team frisbee!

February/March in pictures

2009-03-22T14:02:00.003-05:00

It snowed a bit in february

My amarillys bloomed

We bought a really cool mobile sculpture in the style of Alexander Calder. Now we need to find a place for it, probably above the booth, so we need to find a cool floor lamp.

We started going back to the lake

How is your spring coming?

Rockband

2009-03-19T19:08:00.004-05:00

"The paperwork"

2009-03-12T23:10:00.004-05:00

Our neighborhood courthouse

Lizzie and me in front of the courthouse, waiting for Mike to arrive. He was coming home after spending the week in Atlanta for work and his car at the airport didn't want to start, he had to take a cab to come be with us on time! It did make for a great band name!

Jay and Mike

Doing the paperwork with Judge Cercone

Auto Show

2009-03-12T23:03:00.004-05:00

Sorry, it's been a long time since we've updated the blog, we've been very very busy with work, wedding stuff and starting the greencard process!
Anyway, last month was the Dallas Auto Show, and Jay went with Michael and Kit. They had lots of fun and Jay found a car he really likes.

It's the Mazda mx5, Corrine actually has the older model

Ready to drive away!

Save-the-date - Part II

2009-01-11T15:36:00.006-06:00

Hello family and friends!
We took some pictures of our save-the-dates before sending them out, so here it is for the frenchies who didn't get one.
The name on the envelope has been changed to protect the innocent :)

And as well, I wanted to add something else on the list of things to do while in France. I can't believe I forgot it the first time as it is one of my favorite places. It is Annecy!

It is about 30-45 minutes drive from Habère-Poche and there are lots to do. So be sure to add it to your list.

And don't forget to let us know your travelling dates as soon as you get them so we can try and organize the guest houses.

Thanks!

Holidays 2008

2009-01-04T17:28:00.000-06:00

We spent our first Christmas in our house and Jay's family came to visit. It was a lot of fun, everyone enjoyed the nice texas weather! Hopefully everyone will come visit us again very soon.
Then we spent New Year's Eve and New Year's day with our friends Michael, Corrine, Christie and Kit and some of their neighbors, fun times! We have no pictures of that event though, sorry :(

Jay, me, Liane, Paige and Blake (Jay's cousins), Don, Barb and Terry (Jay's aunt)

The Christmas tree

The paper doilies wreath we made for the occasion

At the arboretum: Liane, Paige, me, Jay and Barb

At the mall, in front of the biggest indoor Xmas tree in the US

With the Dallas skyline in the background

Liane and Terry switched place

We went to visit Jay's work. Here is an accurate reenactment

Happy New Year everyone! We love you!

Save-the-date!

2008-12-10T18:50:00.000-06:00

We just sent our Save-the-Date today so you should be receiving yours shortly if you live in the US (desolée pour les francais mais il vous faudra attendre les invitations)

And now for the details:
First, we rented guest houses for everyone from July 18th to August 1st, so there is no need to look for hotel.

Then, don't forget to buy your plane ticket for Geneva, as my hometown is on the border between France and Switzerland. Geneva is the closest airport (about 30 minutes from Habère-Poche)

We would recommend that you rent a car since it is the countryside and you will not find public transportation.

There is lots of things to do in the area. Hiking, swimming, biking, horse-back riding, gliding...

Here is the website for things to do in the Vallée Verte where Habère-Poche is located.

While in Habère-Poche, you will be very close to go visit Geneva, Evian and Thonon-les-bains (where I was born!)

From Thonon and Evian, you can easily take the boat to go to Geneva or Lausanne.

Don't forget to go check out the springs both in Evian and Thonon and maybe enjoy a day at the spa. And you should definitely go for a swim in the Leman lake, there is a nice beach in Thonon called la Pinède that I love, it is near the Château de Ripaille where you can enjoy wine and walks in the very old oak forest.

Or you can go to Lyon, it is a bit further, about 2 hours, but definitely worth it. I would recommend taking the train from Annemasse to arrive directly in the center of Lyon at the Pardieu station.

You can go visit Chamonix as well, at the foot of the Mont-Blanc, and don't forget to go to the Mer de Glace!

While you are in Chamonix, Italy is right across the mountains, through the Mont-Blanc tunnel, and Aosta is only 2 hours from Habère-Poche!

If you want to go hiking, you can check out my dad's blog, he and my mother are out and about all the time in the mountains. The blog has great pictures and it can give you ideas on where to go hiking.

We will keep posting about things to do as soon as they come to mind :)

As soon as you know which dates you will be able to come, please leave a comment on that post. We would love if everyone could be there for the full two weeks but we understand it might not be possible.

Don't forget, the wedding is on July 25th!

Christmas tree

2008-12-09T22:35:00.000-06:00

Our Christmas tree is up as well as all the Christmas decorations! We got some great stockings hanging on the mantle, we are just missing some lights for outside.
Here are some pictures, enjoy!

Putting up the decorations

On the mantle

The finishing touches

Ta da!

Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T23:08:00.001-06:00

Last thursday was Thanksgiving, it was special because it was Cheryl's last day in Dallas and it was the first time I was preparing the turkey by myself!
Enjoy the pictures!

The day before, preparing the brine
While Cheryl was preparing the green beans

The brine where the turkey spent the night. It's lots of salt and sugar, carrots, celery, onions, cloves, peppercorns and lots of spices

Our organic free-range 14 pounds turkey

The morning of. happy Thanksgiving!

Preparing the stuffing. Chestnuts, apples, celery, onions...

Basting the turkey so it stays delicious and moist

Almost ready!

Waiting to be cooked (the oven was barely big enough for the turkey so the sides had to wait)

Buffet style. Sweet potatoe casserole, mac and cheese, mashed potatoe, bread, ham, cranberry relish... Miam miam!

Pumpkin pie for dessert, we had pecan pie too

Tom turkey is ready!

Jay is carving

Table is set (our beautiful farm-style table)

Cheryl, Tiffany and Rich mingling while waiting for the food to be ready

Michael and Corrine

We prepared a cheese plate so people wouldn't get impatient!

From the left: Corrine, Michael, Rich, Cheryl, Lizzie, Jay, Mike, Tiffany, Joe and Krystal

A full table!

Sushi night

2008-11-30T22:58:00.000-06:00

Last week, the girls and I went to Oishii, our favorite sushi place, for one last dinner with Cheryl. Cheryl and Sabrina moved to Montreal on friday to be with Francois and Petula (the cat)
We did get to spend Thanksgiving together which was great, we wish her all the happiness in the world!

Tiffany and Cheryl

Cheryl and me

Enjoying delicious rolls!

Kim and Tiffany

The banana tree: How it came to an end

2008-11-23T21:25:00.000-06:00

No comment

Madonna

2008-11-23T21:13:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I went to Houston with my friend Cheryl to see Madonna in concert. It was great, we had the best time. Madonna was incredible and gave an awesome show!

Sorry the pics are not really good, it wasn't easy since she was moving and jumping constantly and the light show was pretty impressive.

This was some sort of strings of screen so we could see her in the middle while something was playing on the screen. Really cool!

After the concert, tired but happy

On the way back home, we stop at the statue of Sam Houston. It's very white.

A little history...

Election party

2008-11-23T21:07:00.000-06:00

On November 4th we had an election party at the house. We were all very excited when Barack Obama was elected the next president, so we popped some champagne to celebrate!

Jay, Brad, Tiffany, the Sabster, Cheryl and me
Obama giving his first speech as President-elect

Rich and Tiffany

Toasting to Obama's victory!

Fall

2008-11-03T20:02:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone!

Sorry it took so long to post anything. Two month, I can't believe it!

Anyway it is fall now and we went to the arboretum back in september, so here are some pics we didn't have the time to post earlier with work, and wedding stuff, and being lazy in general...
And a pic of one of the pumpkins we carved for Halloween. We didn't dress up this year though.

It won't take us long to post more stuff since last saturday our friends threw us a great engagement party! Lizzie and Cheryl organized everything and it was a blast, so stay tuned for the pics!

The last of the water lilies

Can you see the dragonfly?

It was late morning but there was still dew in the shade

Pumpkin!

It is not scary, I was going for some kind of lacy (dentelle) design. I wanted to drill a lot more holes but Jay wouldn't let me use the power drill so I had to use a screwdriver which gave me blisters...

Dinner with friends

2008-09-04T22:02:00.000-05:00

Last monday was Labor Day (Fête du travail) so we had a long weekend. We went to the flea market in Canton and finally ordered our dining set! Then we had a wonderful dinner at our friends Michael and Corrine with Kit, Christie and Mark. It was the occasion to celebrate Kit and Christie's new company and their first big contract!

Everyone is ready to eat

Mark, Christie and Kit

Christie and Kit posing with their congrats cake

Jay and Michael
And Corrine got a new car! It's a really nice convertible
Corrine, me and Christie
Michael and Corrine

Playing Taboo!

Our roommate

2008-09-01T19:14:00.000-05:00

It's that time of the year again: back to school!
So since last week we've been harboring Brad, our favorite philosophy teacher, for a few days every week (his schedule is actually quite complicated)
Brad will be traveling between San Francisco and Dallas during the fall and the spring, while teaching at SMU. It's been a pleasure to have him at home and we hope he feels confortable with us.

Here's Brad ready to have dinner, and you can see our brand new spice shelf on the wall (on the right of the window behind Brad)

Bon appétit!

The ring

2008-08-17T20:58:00.000-05:00

Finally! We got the ring fitted. We kept the one Jay chose in the first place, he made a very good choice, the ring is very pretty and simple. I love it!
So here's some pictures for those of you who didn't see it yet.

France - Ivoire

2008-08-06T22:16:00.001-05:00

Ivoire is an old medieval city on the Leman lake. This is where my family's favorite restaurant is, it's called Le Bar des Pêcheurs (my dad as been going there since he was a baby)

With my sister Roxane

France - A hike to Les Replans

2008-08-06T22:11:00.000-05:00

It was a nice day so we went for a hike up to Les Replans.

This is it!

France - Fun at the Leman lake

2008-08-06T22:00:00.000-05:00

We got back from paris and spent the weekend with my family and friends to share the good news. For pictures of that weekend, you can check out my dad's blog, on your right.
And then my sister Roxane got back from the south of France where she worked as a waitress. We went to Thonon to take a dip in the lake.

Roxane and Héloïse

Roxane and Jay

Enjoying a panaché

Or a perrier strawberry

France - How he proposed!

2008-08-06T21:31:00.000-05:00

First we had a very nice dinner at a restaurant near our hotel in the Quartier Latin. It was the same hotel and same restaurant we've been to two years ago. The restaurant was called Les Degrés de Notre-Dame because you can see Notre-Dame from it.

After dinner we decided to take a walk toward the Eiffel Tower, we knew she was all pretty and sparkly and wanted to take some pictures.
So after walking all that way, we sat down in the Trocadero Garden to enjoy the show. And at midnight, the Eiffel Tower started to sparkle again and that is when Jay asked me to marry him (in french!) and I said yes!

France - Three days in paris

2008-08-06T21:19:00.000-05:00

Then we went to Paris, we had a lot of fun. We just visited Versailles since we've already been two years ago and visited then the Louvre, Notre-Dame, the Arc-de Triomphe...

Paris by night

The Eiffel Tower from the Louvre, it was not sparkling then.

Notre-Dame

Versailles, la Gallerie des glaces (hall of mirrors)

The royal chapel

France - A stroll in Annecy

2008-08-06T21:08:00.001-05:00

Sorry it has taken so long for us to post anything but here it is, finally, a new post about our french vacation! Enjoy!

The first few days in France we spent in Habère-Poche with my mom, dad and little sister Héloïse. We went for a little stroll in Annecy. The weather was perfect and we had a very nice afternoon snack sitting in the grass and looking at the lake.

In the old town (La vieille ville)

At the lake

And here is one of my favorite dish, la Tomme Blanche, served with potatoes and a salade, and of course charcuterie.

Spore Creature Creator

2008-06-28T17:22:00.000-05:00

Meet Chumba-woo.

Make your creature at: http://www.spore.com/

Artwork

2008-06-23T21:41:00.000-05:00

We're still in the process of furnishing/decorating the house. Very soon, we'll have our farm-style dining table and benches made with wood from old barns (I know, it's really cool!)
But for now, here's new paintings that we got for the bedrooms from artist Olga Cuttell.
What do you think?

Spring Warble

This one is in our bedroom, on my side

Morning Song

Still our bedroom but Jay's side

Haze Grace

And this one will be in the guest bedroom when we're done adding moving stuff around.

News from the backyard

2008-06-21T20:30:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time we didn't post any pictures of our flowers and of the famous banana tree. There's less and less flowers with summer being here, so this will probably be the last of it before next year.
Enjoy!

The pink hibiscus

The blue hibiscus

Don't know about those, they actually are wild flowers growing near our trash outside.

Same as above...

And the banana tree!

The banana tree flower, not very colorful...

Beaver's bend

2008-06-16T22:22:00.000-05:00

The weekend after we got back from Cincinatti, we were out and about again, this time in Oklahoma. We went to spend the weekend in Beaver's bend with our friends Cheryl and François. It was really fun and relaxing, even Sabrina had a blast!

We're back

2008-06-16T22:02:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

Sorry, it's been a long time we didn't post anything new. Life got in the way.

Now we're here, so here's the pics from Jay's dad retirement party! It was a surprise party and Don had no clue of what was being prepared. The party was at a golf course, we spent the whole day playing and driving around in the golf carts (that was my favorite part)

Enjoy the pictures!

On the way to the golf course with Craig (Jay's uncle)

Don and Craig

The Axe family

Our team. We didn't win the scramble but Jay got longest putt

No worries, I was the designated driver.

Happy retirement!

All the friends together

Rockingchair, bedside table and other news

2008-05-19T19:58:00.000-05:00

So we're back from a fun weekend in Cincinnati where we went for Jay's dad retirement party.
It was a total surprise for Don to see everybody together. Liane and Barb did a great job at planning the party and keeping it a secret! And we all had a great time playing golf! Pictures will be posted soon.
But for now, may I present you with our refinished rockingchair! We bought that old rockingchair in a thrift store, sanded it, primed it, sanded it again and painted it white.
I know my mom will love that chair!

Jay is sanding

The priming process (2 coats of primer)

Done!

Before and after

And we also have a bedside table in the making. We are not done yet, it still needs some love, but here's some pics.

Taking off the old drawer knobs (still need to find new ones!)

Sanding

Ready for its first coat of paint! Hopefully it will be finished over memorial day weekend.

News from the backyard

2008-05-14T23:15:00.000-05:00

Here's some new pics of the ever amazing banana tree, I know you're all eager to see how it's growing, right?

We actually have 4 banana trees throughout the bakyard

The asian lillies. They have faded now, hopefully we'll see them again next spring!

The asian lillies are gone but we have new flowers blooming all the time. Here's the latest.

Does anyone know what it is?

Flea Market

2008-05-14T23:01:00.000-05:00

On the 1st weekend of every month, the biggest flea market in the country takes place in Canton, just 30 min east of Dallas.

With our friends Michael and Corrine, we went in search of a farm-style dining table and benches. We found the perfect table but unfortunately it was not available. But no worries, we got the name and number of the guy who makes it with old barn wood and stuff (yes, it's all recycled)

Here's some pics of that very fun day.

Jay, Corrine and Michael

In front of the truck we rented for the occasion

Michael is your typical texan. Here with a smoker

He he he

The flying pigs from Ohio

Sabrina

2008-04-23T22:49:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, we had the cutest little dog with us! We were dogsitting Sabrina while her owner, our friend Cheryl, was having fun in New Jersey.
It was a pretty quiet weekend, just walking around the lake and relaxing.

The frisbee was as big as her but she didn't mind.

And after all that running and walking, a little nap on the couch with Jay was very welcome!

The new grill

2008-04-16T00:05:00.000-05:00

I just realized that we uploaded pictures of grill night and kept talking about our new grill to everybody, but we didn't show you the new grill!

So here it is, our new grill:

I know, it is amazing!

And now, some news of the amazing banana tree:

It's getting really big, and there's two banana trees now!

And a pretty flower grows with the banana trees, some sort of lily, I guess.

Grill night

2008-04-13T12:26:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we had some friends over for a last minute grill night. Jay was the chef and he did very well, we still lack some essential ustensils but it is getting better!

All the pics were taken by Brad and Adam

Jay, Cheryl and me

Elisabeth and Jay

Adam. Tiffany and Kim

The feast! Shrimps, asparagus, sausages, lentil salad, potato salad...

At the arboretum

2008-04-08T18:50:00.000-05:00

Now that we live close by, we got a membership to the arboretum. Last weekend was the start of the spring blooms, it was very colorful and the smell of all the flowers was really wonderful.

Enjoy the pictures!

Jay saw something!

Do you see it too?

Here it is!

It's a hummingbird. At first we thought it was a bee.

So cute!

A chinese snowball

This is a Hardy Amaryllis or San Antonio rose

Roping lesson

2008-03-17T21:39:00.001-05:00

On sunday, Laurel and I went riding and then we went to a roping lesson. And yes, that's what the cowboys do to capture a cow to brand it or take care of it. They have a calf roping competition at the Fort Worth rodeo, where they have to lasso the cow and then tie its feet up.

Our roping teacher, Glen, is a team roping champion. He's a header and doesn't rope calves but young cows, too heavy to be tied up, that's why you have a team with a header and a heeler.

We didn't actually rope any cow but we saw Glen do it, and it's very fast! What we roped was a dummy pulled by a horse, and it was already pretty hard. But we had lots of fun, it was a great day!

Back from the ride with Cody and Twister in the back

Ready to go!

This is Zeus, he's Laurel's mom. I usually ride him but he was missing a shoe so we couldn't take him on a trail ride. He was a little upset to be left behind.

At the roping lesson, trying to rope a non-moving dummy

Laurel is trying first!

My turn now!

I got it! Yeah!

A little double ride around the propertie before going back home.

Snow and banana tree

2008-03-07T16:31:00.002-06:00

So it snowed yesterday during the night, our backyard is all white! It's like we are living in the Alps with Nanite and the Yeti! (Not exactly but very close, the snow melted really fast)

For Dallas, this is A LOT of snow, it was all over the news!

And now, some news of the banana tree. Remember a month ago how small it was?

It got big! And this is just the beginning, AMAZING!

Oscar party

2008-03-02T17:38:00.000-06:00

Last sunday was Oscar night, so because we're really fancy down here in Dallas, we had an Oscar party with a red carpet and really good food.

Here's some pics!

With my good friends Liz and Cheryl

With Tiffany

Liz, Dorothée, Cheryl and Sam

Happy Jay and favorite wine of the moment

2008-02-26T19:05:00.000-06:00

A while ago, Jay saw the commercial for the new Dawn Direct Foam "One pump is all you need!" and he's been dying to trying it out. So when we went to Target to get our new energy efficient light bulbs and we saw the little blue bottle with a pump, we had to buy it. Verdict: It does need only one pump to go through all the dishes! Incredible!

In other news, we really like the Layer Cake wine, but it's hard to find here in Dallas. It goes very well with desserts (or sweet snacks)

Dawn Direct Foam and Jay

A tasty snack to burst in snacky happiness!

Delicious Layer Cake wine from Australia

Working monkeys

2008-02-24T23:52:00.001-06:00

When I came in to work on friday, there was a terrible chemical smell in the building. Turns out some work was being done on the roof and a seal was applied, hence the smell.
We were offered masks to avoid breathing the fumes. Here's Adam and me with our personalized masks.

Fuel City

2008-02-20T22:42:00.000-06:00

Just south of downtown Dallas, on Industrial blvd, is Fuel City. It's basically a big gas station and that's where you can find the best tacos in Texas! And those tacos were really amazing!!!

Doesn't it look delicious? My favorite is barbacoa (the two on the right)

There's even longhorns behind the gas station. Now that's really Texas!

Ryan's visit - Part II

2008-02-18T19:10:00.000-06:00

Here's some more pics of Ryan's visit!

The rolling ball sculpture in downtown Dallas

At the Modern Art Museum in Dallas

Alexander Calder's mobile. Jay wants one.

And a little video of the Fort Worth Stockyard's rodeo

GoGo's

2008-02-13T20:47:00.000-06:00

On february 5th, my friend Cheryl and I went to the House of Blues to see the Gogo's

I've never heard about this band before Cheryl told me that she wanted to go see their concert, and I'm very happy that she did! It was great! We had the best time even if it ended quickly (no encore)

The lead singer Belinda

Belinda and Charlotte

Now I'm in training to become a rockstar!

Ryan's visit and pictures of the house

2008-02-11T18:19:00.000-06:00

Sorry it took us so long to post some pics of the new house but we didn't have internet hooked up until last wednesday. I think we are finally settling down and realizing this is it. We have lots of plans and ideas for the house, but first we need to get some new furniture, next weekend will be all about Ikea!

This weekend, Jay's friend from college Ryan was in town. It was a beautiful weekend so these are pictures from outside (picture of inside the house to come very soon)

On friday, the guys went around town, visiting the Dallas Modern Art Museum and the Nasher sculpture center (pictures later) and on saturday, we went to Fort Worth to visit the Modern Art museum and the Stockyards, and of course we had a drink at Sundance square (we did go see a very bad movie, but that's another story...) Sunday was relaxing with brunch at Jeng Chi and then a nap at the Arboretum.

Jay and Ryan

Our house. Yeah!

Our chimney (it's so pretty)

The sunroom, best part of the house!

The hammock, ready for my dad!

The banana tree. It's short right now but will grow very very fast with the hot weather.

It's already starting...

The rosemary bush

The great light we have in the garden, it's very disco!

Winter

2008-01-17T22:22:00.000-06:00

Another evening spent walking around the lake, we will be spending even more time than before there because our house is so close. We finally closed on wednesday and will be moving this sunday. Pictures to come of course!
But for now, the winter sunset:

2007 in pictures

2008-01-08T22:31:00.000-06:00

Some of the forgotten pictures of 2007.

At the Corgan volley-ball tournament

With Laurel

The winning team

Big Lebowski party

Liz's bachelorette party

The famous Oklahoma poking stick

New Year's party

Laurel

Liz and Mike's wedding

New appliances

2008-01-03T18:55:00.001-06:00

We are getting the new house very soon so we bought a fridge and a washer and dryer. We might have to change the fridge for a smaller one, we need to check for the actual space we have in the kitchen. The one we got is LG and it's a titanium fridge with side-by-side door, it's really beautiful! Our washer and dryer are LG as well, the Tromm ones, I can't wait to try them out!
Here's the pics so you can tell us what you think!

Titanium LG side-by-side fridge

LG Tromm washer and dryer

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T16:31:00.000-06:00

We were party-hopping this year! First we went to friends Michael and Corrine to see their new townhome and left around 10. Then off to Mike and Liz house to meet with all the Corgan people. Here's the pics!

With Liz

Mike, Jay and Josh

In Cincinnati for the Holidays

2007-12-30T17:57:00.000-06:00

Christmas in Jay's family in Ohio was a lot of fun and we had a great weather!
We went to see the ballet The Nutcraker, it was wonderful! The museum of contemporary art was not interesting except for the exposition of artist Julian Stanczak and the building in itself was amazing. We saw friends Ross and Em and their baby Bailey, we had a great time with Jay's friends from high school and his sister when we went out for dinner at the Sake Bomb and then for drinks at the Blind Lemon.
All in all great vacation!

The beautiful Christmas tree

Jay and his mom are making a cake for his dad's birthday

At the Aronoff opera house to see the Nutcracker

The contemporary museum by architect Zaha Hadid

Our favorite piece in the museum by artist Julian Stanczak

Merry Christmas and Joyeux Noël

2007-12-18T20:56:00.001-06:00

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Ready to party

2007-12-14T17:09:00.000-06:00

All dressed up to go to the Corgan Christmas party. Like last year, it was at the Women Museum in Fair Park. It was a lot of fun even if we didn't go to the after-party (I was wearing beautiful new shoes, a fatal error!) I was also wearing one of the designer dress I got for playing model on WFAA (local TV) for my friend Christie! As soon as I get the clipping I will post it.

Isn't he handsome?

I love that dress but it got all wrinkly very fast from just sitting :(

World record meatball

2007-12-12T22:59:00.000-06:00

May we present you with the biggest meatball in the world!

The chef is working!

Ready for the oven.

Christmas spirit

2007-12-10T20:00:00.000-06:00

Last week-end, we went and bought a beautiful Christmas tree. Here's some pictures of our tree and of us, full of Christmas spirit!

Jay with our Advent Calendar

A Little Dance

2007-11-28T00:08:00.001-06:00

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Thanksgiving - Part II

2007-11-23T14:49:00.001-06:00

Getting the stuffing out of the turkey

Carving the turkey

The chef

Gratin Dauphinois

Enjoying a nice dinner

Desserts: Pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie

Thanksgiving - Part I

2007-11-23T14:36:00.000-06:00

So yesterday was Thanksgiving here in the US. We had the day off, so we went to our friends Adam and Brad's place to share a great dinner.
Adam prepared a delicious turkey with great stuffing, the best cranberry-orange relish and of course sweet potatoes. Brad made the best pumpkin cheesecake ever, Bénédicte and Benoît brought creamy spinach, Sébastien took care of the cheese and we brought butternut squash-apple-curry soup and a gratin dauphinois.
Here's some pics of this nice and relaxing day, thanks to Brad and Adam!

Relaxing by the fire...

...While the cook is working on the sweet potatoes...

...And the turkey!

Almost ready!

Brad and Adam

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-21T21:14:00.001-06:00

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Car damage and Modern Art

2007-11-15T21:00:00.000-06:00

So here's some pics of the damage on beautiful Versa's bumper.

Just scratches and some punctures

And a picture of the new painting we got at work for the Celebration of Science on wednesday the 14th.
The artist is Jacques Mandelbrojt, a french mathematician, theoritical physicist and modern artist.
The left painting represents Natural Immunity and the right one is Acquired Immunity, both paintings are very big so I couldn't manage to take a pic of the whole display.

Mario Galaxy and "petit accrochage" (fender bender)

2007-11-14T22:21:00.001-06:00

On tuesday afternoon, Toys R Us was releasing the new Wii game, Mario Galaxy, at 5:00. And when you buy it, you get a $25 gift card! I couldn't miss this opportunity so after work I went to go get game and gift card.

Not only I didn't get the game, but I got in a little car accident. Beautiful Versa is fine, just some scratches and small punctures on the bumper, the only damage was the plastic bumper of an old Ford Taurus. I was just leaving a red light when the guy in front stopped, and BAM!

The evening ended well when my friend and coworker Adam called to say he got the game for Jay and I, thank you!

Beautiful Versa should be repaired very soon, no worries!

Wii got it!

Oklahoma week-end - Part III

2007-11-12T22:15:00.000-06:00

Oklahoma week-end - part II

2007-11-12T22:06:00.000-06:00

Oklahoma week-end - Part I

2007-11-12T21:45:00.000-06:00

A summary of our fun-filled week-end with friends Mike and Liz:

Cabin, hikes, nature, fog, friendship, slate, camp fire, poking stick, hot dogs, marshmallows, s'mores, pine cones, mulled wine, snape, woods, stars, cigars, jacuzzi, vegas light, canoes, lake, grill and much more.

Enjoy the pics!

The wild Jay, a very rare sight

The Jay look

Texas State Fair - The butterflies house

2007-11-04T10:18:00.001-06:00

Texas State Fair

2007-11-04T10:10:00.000-06:00

Just realized that we didn't upload the pics from the State Fair. It was fun as usual, we had turkey legs and funnel cake and fried guacamole (humm), we saw the longhorns, rabbits, sheeps, even butterflies!

Big Tex is still the ugliest statue ever!

That was GOOD!