Wow, what happened to 2014? I’ve had a crazy year, I can’t believe it’s almost over. As you may have guessed, my 365 Days Challenge fell apart again. 😦 I got sick again, and that was that. Once I get behind a week or so, I’m lost. Oh well, c’est la vie. I’ve moved on, and tried not to beat myself up too much about it.
SO! This year has been good. Well, there was some bad stuff, but the good greatly outweighs the bad. For example, just a couple of days ago, I became an Aunt for the 4th time! My newest nephew is just adorable, with his chubby little cheeks! hehe
Rob and I also took an amazing vacation! For our honeymoon we went to London for 2 weeks (and one day in Wales!), and then to Paris for a week. We saw and did SOOOO much! We went to the Dr Who Experience in Cardiff, Wales, which was amazing! I insisted we take a day and drive out to that. Rob is a big Dr Who fan, he loved it years before I did, but I had to put my foot down and tell him we were going to that (so I guess now I’m the bigger fan ;)) He’s glad we did though, and he even did awesome driving in London, like a BOSS! hehe We also had the opportunity to meet the New Doctor, Peter Capaldi, and his companion, Jena Louise Coleman. Check it out:
AND, the day before that happened, we also randomly stumbled on the World premier of Expendables 3, so we saw Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Banderas, Wesley Snipes, and JASON STATHAM in person, live on the red carpet. So freakin’ amazing!!
I was also so happy to see so many paintings that I had always wanted to see, my favourite of which would be Bal du moulin de la Galette by Renoir at Musee D’Orsay in Paris. Hands down oen of my favorite paintings, and it was a cooler experience for me than seeing even the Mona Lisa (which we saw as well at the Louvre).
The whole trip was just amazing. A once in a lifetime trip for sure. While I liked London, of course I LOVED Paris. The food alone was enough to make me want to live there. We went out to a fancy restaurant one night, and I had the best meal I have ever had in my life. Again and again, almost everywhere we went, the food was amazing. Rob loves Croque Madame, and had it a few times in Paris, so I’ve found a good recipe to make it at home for him. Only once in awhile though, as it’s SO very rich.
We rented apartments for our stay ( I HIGHLY recommend Airbnb, their customer service was amazing, just outstanding). Our flat in London was in the City of London, right on the Thames River, with a great view of South Bank (so pretty at night). But, the real gem was our apartment in Paris. Check out this view:
Yeah, needless to say, I loved doing dishes (normally I hate dishes). The bathroom was on the same wall, and the window was in the shower, so I showered with the window open every morning so I could see the Eiffel Tower while I showered. Anyone on the top of the tower using binoculars, looking in just the right direction at that moment got an eyeful! hehe
I was able to cross a bunch of things off my bucket list on this vacation too!!! Visit London, visit Paris, go to the Dr Who Experience, have afternoon tea in London, buy a red Chanel lipstick in Paris *squeee!*, see the Eiffel Tower, visit a castle, and have champagne at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Those are a lot of things to cross off the list at once. Did I mention the food in Paris? The coffee, cheese, wine, creme brulee, steak, macarons, pain au chocolate, EVERYTHING was SO delicious.
*whew* Oh, besides the celebrity schmoozing in London, I got to go to a rug hooking seminar with one of my favourite designers, and a real insperation to me, Kaffe Fassett this summer in Nova Scotia. It was great, and I learned a lot.
We also recently got to meet Mark Sheppard at a con, and he is so nice, and funny, and just fantastic. If you’re not sure who he is, he’s had bit parts in every. scifi. show. ever, from Xfiles on. More recently though, he’s become a regular on Supernatural (season 5 on), so he doesn’t have time for bit parts on other shows any more, which is sad, but at the same time I totally love his character on Supernatural, so it’s good. For someone who plays the king of hell, he’s awafully snuggly. hehe
Sorry I haven’t posted any creative things lately. Life has been SO busy! I “quit my day job”, and am a self-employed artist now. I have been doing creative things for years, but I finally took the plunge, which I never would have done without the support and encouragement from my wonderful husband Rob, and so far, it’s been more successful than I could have imagined. My main focus is sewing; I design and manufacture custom paintball gear (as Paintball Tailor), but I love to keep things interesting by doing lots of other things (it can get a bit boring working in nothing but black and olive drab fabric). Check out my facebook artist page, and remember I’m for hire for everything from face painting to wedding decor to interior decor to sewing (and everything in between). I do, indeed, do it all! If you have a creative project you want done, I’m your girl!
So, I’d better go get some work done of some sort. Sorry to not post creative things any more, I wish I had time to do so on a regular basis. if you want to follow my creative happenings, I do suggest following my facebook page, I’m more apt to do a quick photo post from my phone to that page than write a big post here. 🙂
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