Film School for Olive
Back in the Before time, when Olive was spending her senior year of high school as an au pair in Montpelier, France, it was time to think about college. We know from experience, the process is overwhelming, so Ben Blair and I scheduled weekly calls with Olive, specifically to discuss college options and track application progress. Olive knew she wanted to attend a film program, and she started the process by making a spread sheet where she would list info about potential schools, so she could compare and contrast. The first three entries on the spreadsheet were her top choice schools in Paris, London, and New York, and the school she chose in Paris was EICAR (which is where she is now enrolled!).
At the time, figuring out how to attend college in France felt overwhelming, and as she looked into EICAR their website described very limited enrollment, so she felt her chances there were slim and maybe not worth the effort. She decided not to apply.
…A Few Days In Empty Paris
On Sunday afternoon, we drove to Paris. On Tuesday afternoon, we drove back. I shared a little report about our visit on Instagram Stories and thought you might like to see it as well.
The main purpose for our trip? Olive is starting college in Paris! She was accepted to a Film Directors program at EICAR and her classes started this week. So exciting!
So we needed to sign her housing contract and confirm her class schedule and begin to get her settled.
…A Few Things
Hello, Friends. How was your week? To me, this year felt like it was inching along, and then suddenly it seems to be in high gear. I can not believe we’re halfway through October.
Our kids have a two-week school break starting today, and we are all looking forward to the non-school-day morning routines. Last year for the October break, we went to Prague, but this year, we haven’t made any travel plans at all.
The thing that is exciting us the most is progress on the renovation. Bathroom wall tiles started going up today and they look incredible! We’re thinking that a fun weekend project would be to plant a tree in the garden — and maybe some strawberries for next spring. What about you? Any weekend plans you’re looking forward to?
In the mood for some good links? Here are a few things I’ve wanted to share with you:
…Tall House Updates
In this batch of updates you’ll find:
-More treasures we found in the house! I’m especially excited about the book/scrapbook(?) about WWI. I’m also trying to figure out what to do with all that old tile.
-The kids bathroom floor tile is installed. Holy cow it looks so good. It’s now ready for grout (and I share which grout color we picked). This is my first ever custom tile design and I LOVE it so much. The parents bathroom will have the same design, but a different colorway (green for the kids, blue for the parents).
…The Senate Hearing is a Sham
The senate hearing for Amy Coney Barrett has me on edge. The size and makeup of her family doesn’t impress me, nor does it interest me. I don’t find it qualifying or disqualifying. There are a whole lot of other things about this rushed, forced, sham of a confirmation hearing that are worthy of our attention.
Barrett has shown she’s untrustworthy. Lots of “I’m not going to comment on that” and “I don’t recall hearing that.” Even an unwillingness to say even basic things like it’s illegal to intimidate voters.
…Living With Kids: Jo Bird
Jo and her family started out in Boise, Idaho, lived in London and New York and now find themselves in an expat community in Shanghai, China. Her husband’s work has given them the opportunity to travel, but being on the other side of the world from their friends and family during a pandemic has been tricky. Happily, Jo and her community have drawn close together and are weathering the storm, just like so many of us. Her home is a rental, and she’s done a wonderful job making it feel homey and full of charm. Welcome, Jo!
…Found Objects at The Tall House
Over the weekend we cleared out the living room at The Tall House. We have been using the space to house all the cool things we’ve found at the house, so I decided to make a record of them as we worked.
Old tools, a dusty soap block, a pantry with jam and wine, vintage wooden boxes, and a whole bunch more. Come see.
…A Few Things
Hello, Friends. How are you doing? I woke up so angry again today. Every once in awhile I realize how many people are still supporting Trump and I’m furious.
Brené Brown shared this quote the other day:
“Historians have a word for Germans who joined the Nazi party, not because they hated Jews, but out of a hope for restored patriotism, or a sense of economic anxiety, or a hope to preserve their religious values, or dislike of their opponents, or raw political opportunism, or convenience, or ignorance, or greed.
That word is “Nazi.” Nobody cares about their motives any more.
They joined what they joined. They lent their support and their moral approval. And, in so doing, they bound themselves to everything that came after. Who cares any more what particular knot they used in the binding?”
— Andrew R. Moxon
I realize that Trump supporters don’t see themselves in this quote. They don’t see themselves as being anything like Nazis. What they don’t seem to have realized is that the term “Trump Supporter” now carries its own negativity, oppression, and evil, just as the term “Nazi” does. You’re a Trump Supporter and you don’t think the term Nazi applies to you? Okay. You should know the term “Trump Supporter” is just as bad.
You watch: Every Trump Supporter you know in real life will one day deny they were ever cheering for Trump. They will try to hide it. They will pretend it never happened. (Of course, it’s different now than the 1940s, and much harder to hide — the internet remembers everything.) If you’re a Trump Supporter and still reading here, you should know I don’t make content for you.
On a separate but related note: I find I have two brains these days — the house renovation brain and the election brain. (The photo at top is the new doorway making a suite between the bedroom and bathroom.)
I’m finding it really hard to make time and energy for other creativity and problem-solving (like writing) beyond those two brain categories. I have a dozen blog post drafts waiting to be finished up, and a newsletter to send out, and every time I sit down to finish things up and hit publish, my brain starts moving like molasses. Anyone else?
Now to the link list. Here are a few things I’ve wanted to share:
…A Quick House Update/Blog Experiment
Hey there. I subscribed to some new software that will allow me to share the Instagram Stories I’ve created here on Design Mom. (I don’t think it will allow me to share older stories — just the new stuff moving forward — but I’m not totally sure about that yet.)
Let me know what you think about this format. And I should note: Stories include a mix of still shots and video, but I know not everyone can listen to video, so I try to be careful to add captions.
…A Few Things
Hello, Friends. Happy October! How was your week? Are you doing okay? What’s on your mind most? Trump having Covid-19? Trump’s criminal tax evasion and money laundering? The embarrassment that was Trump at the debate? (How are Trump supporters not exhausted by him about this point?)
The news came so fast and furious this week — I feel like I could barely keep up. And Monday feels like it was a month ago. Will things slow down over the weekend? We’ll find out.
Speaking of this weekend: I am trying hard to finish up the details of our kitchen design. My goal is go through each future cupboard and drawer and figure out what is going to go where, so that I can see if any of the cabinet configurations needs to change. Beyond that, I’m sure we’ll watch a Halloween movie or two.
Ready for links? Here are a few things I’ve been wanting to share:
…Random Thoughts
I hope you’re in the mood for a Random Thoughts post. Here are some of the things on my mind these days.
-The Presidential debate happened at about 4:00 AM France time. I woke up to texts about it and spent the first hour of my day watching highlights and reading commentary. It was painful to watch. Trump doesn’t debate, he just spouts lies and nonsense. Trying to have a logical, productive discussion is not even a possibility for him, and is a waste of time for everybody else.
Olive and I had appointments with a doctor this morning (just a quick checkup as part of our visa applications) and when he saw on our paperwork that we were American, all the conversation turned to Trump. He was so embarrassed on our behalf, and I don’t blame him. Trump has completely changed, in only negative ways, how America is viewed by the rest of the world.
…Living With Kids: Jennifer Colello
When Jennifer reached out to me about being featured in Living With Kids, she had such a compelling story to tell. Jennifer’s youngest has Spina Bifida and her family had the unique experience of having someone hold a fundraiser in their honor, to help them get a service dog for their son, to help manage his frequent seizures. It’s so great to be reminded that there is goodness and kindness in the world when everything else feels so difficult.
Jennifer also has a lovely home in Connecticut that she graciously wanted to share, and I think you’re really going to love taking a peek. Welcome, Jennifer!
…
A Few Things
Hello Friends. How are you? Did you have a good week?
I’m feeling LOTS of emotions this week. Ben Blair flew to Utah for his mother’s funeral and I’m having all sorts of angst about it. At first, we didn’t even think about traveling because A: pandemic, and B: we only have temporary visas at the moment and are still waiting for the official renewed long-stay visas to arrive, so leaving France feels risky.
The funeral will be an outdoor gathering for Julia’s children and grandchildren only. No friends or cousins, aunts and uncles, or church members from her congregation (but I should acknowledge that just her kids and grandkids is still a lot of people). The funeral will be live-streamed for those who can’t attend, and there is no plan for a future delayed memorial once the pandemic is in check.
As these plans came together, we realized that Ben’s siblings, and the grandkids, were making travel plans to Utah from all over the country, and from England too. Suddenly, we felt quite a bit of pressure to attend in person.
Having the whole family travel didn’t seem wise, so we decided Ben would go alone, and booked him a flight — Paris to Newark to Denver to Salt Lake City. He left for Paris on Tuesday night and I admit, I continue to be very stressed about the trip. The covid numbers in Utah are climbing, and it feels so risky to be there.
At the same time, I’m second guessing myself and wondering if I’m paranoid — sometimes it seems like I’m the only one nervous about this gathering mid-pandemic. In fact, things seem to have opened up in Utah over the last couple of months, with people apparently going about their business. Am I going to conclude it was a mistake to stay home? Will this turn into a big regret?
I find it all incredibly confusing, and I’m feeling some anger that there aren’t specific nationwide guidelines in place so that individuals aren’t having to make these decisions on a case-by-case basis.
In addition to the angst and paranoia, I’m feeling such loss from my mother-in-law’s death. She was dear to me and I’m feeling heartbroken that I won’t be there to celebrate the life of Julia Blair. I’m also feeling comforted that Ben will see our two oldest kids, Ralph and Maude, in person. It has been painful to be without them for so long. And I’m feeling worried that because of ever-changing travel restrictions, Ben won’t be allowed back into France.
I’m also feeling grateful. Ben left Tuesday night and Olive has been so great about feeding everybody. She’s made pumpkin cookies, cream of zucchini soup, quiche, and cherry turnovers. All the kids have helped me manage communication — coming with me to appointments, meeting deliveries at The Tall House, and helping me run errands. I’m very lucky.
Beyond my personal troubles this week, I know it was also a hard news week for the world in general. On that note, here are a few things I’ve been wanting to share with you:
…Living With Kids: Lesley Colvin
Lesley has been on Design Mom before. Her beautiful photography work has been on a few different Living With Kids post, and we featured her own home when she and her family lived in a small space on the Upper West Side.
That was a couple of years ago and Lesley and her family now live outside the city in a beautiful historic home. It still has all the bright white walls and open space of her previous home, but with so many cozy corners and adorable vignettes, you’ll want to pause on every photo. And Lesley shares some lovely advice about how her family has managed during the pandemic. Welcome, Lesley!
…Julia Gay Groberg Blair
My diligently positive mother-in-law, Julia Gay Groberg Blair, age 87, passed away this morning at her home, surrounded by several of her kids. We are so so sad.
Born December 28, 1932
Died September 21, 2020
Julia was an ideal mother-in-law. Seriously. I can’t believe how lucky I got in the mother-in-law department. She had 8 kids; Ben Blair is number 7 and the last one to marry. So by the time I joined the family she was a total pro. She gave us plenty of space, and was vocally supportive when we made decidedly risky plans to move across the country and around the world. She made a point of being expressive of how proud she was of what we were doing. She generously sent money when we moved to New York and started graduate school and just never had enough to make the bills.
There are some people in our Mormon community who questioned my priorities as I worked through young motherhood, but never Julia. She was consistently supportive. If she was judging me, I never knew it.
…May Her Memory Be A Revolution
What a colossal loss.
May her memory be a revolution.
May our collective sadness become a raging fury of action.
Here in France, we are six hours ahead of New York; nine hours ahead of San Francisco. Often, when I go to bed, I feel a dread about American news I’ll need to face when I wake up. This morning I woke up to panicked texts saying: NOOOOO. IT’S TOO MUCH.
My morning twitter feed ends up being six hours worth of people processing — but shown all at once. There are tweets from 6 hours ago officially announcing her death. Tweets from 5 hours ago wishing her memory will be a blessing. Tweets from 4 hours ago condemning McConnell’s ongoing hypocrisy. Tweets from 3 hours ago with meaningful tributes from those who knew her personally. Tweets from 2 hours ago talking strategy for preventing a replacement before the election. Tweets from 1 hour ago with old footage of Republican senators swearing they would never support a nomination this close to an election. Tweets from 30 mins ago showing record-breaking fundraising for Democrats running for senate. But it’s all mixed in, and the feed shows all of it at once, a deluge in no particular order.
…A Few Things
Hello, Friends. How are you? What was your week like? Smoke and fires? Fall sweater weather? Early winter? Late summer heat? We’ve had a warm week here in Normandy, and we’ve been glad we didn’t pack away the summer clothes quite yet.
We made some renovation progress over at The Tall House this week and I found it so encouraging. We brought in a power-sander for the attic floors (it took 3 people to carry it up and down from the attic!). The bathtub and faucet for the attic were delivered. Window restoration on two of the floors finished this week. We arranged for glass to be added to the “barn doors” that lead into the back yard. And plaster work started on the main floor.
I’m so grateful for the forward momentum!
And hey, I know I haven’t been great about writing up all of the house updates here on the blog, but if you’re curious, I share almost daily on Instagram stories, and then save those stories into highlights. (I wish I could figure out a way to publish the same content here simultaneously — if you hear of a way, please let me know.)
Are you ready to jump into links? Here are a few things I’ve wanted to share with you:
…Living With Kids: Karen Nyberg
[ This home tour (in space!) was originally published on October 8, 2013. ]
This tour doesn’t exactly qualify for our Living With Kids series. Rather, I should probably title it Living Without Her Family And Missing Them Like Mad While She Is In Outer Space! Because Karen Nyberg is an astronaut. I know. Incredible, right? Just wait until you see her daily views from her windows.
(New York and south along the US East Coast)
I couldn’t resist her generous offer to show us around her out-of-this-world living space (A little sterile, but the view!), share some of her best coping tricks (Again, that view!), and maybe even inspire those of us with kids who routinely travel as part of our careers. (A two-hour plane ride and three days at a Hilton doesn’t sound quite so unbearable when you compare it to a six-month expedition with a waiting husband and toddler son!)
She’ll tell us how she brings her family into the mission with her, how she prepared to climb aboard a rocket and leave her family, dog, and home for six months, and how she will satisfy her need to create something with her hands (She is a DIY girl and an astronaut!) and clear her mind with a good run while living on the space station.
Super inspiring. Friends, you are going to love this one. I promise.
Q: I think this is the first time I’ve described a home as “out there,” but it truly is!
A: I am currently living on the International Space Station about 250 miles above the surface of the earth. We orbit the earth every 90 minutes; that’s sixteen sunrises and sunsets every day! There are usually six crew-members living here at a time, and we exchange three crew-members approximately every three months.
I arrived on the Space Station via a Russian Soyuz rocket on May 29 with two others, and will be departing for home in the same capsule on November 11. Other residents of ISS at this time include one American astronaut (an US Air Force Flight Test Engineer), an Italian astronaut (an Air Force Test Pilot), and three Russian cosmonauts.
…A Few Things
Hello, Friends. How are you? Did you have a good week? Ours hasn’t been my favorite. I’m not sure what it was but I found myself getting easily overwhelmed by big and small things.
The news this week has been a lot. Our daughter Maude has been sending pictures of blood red skies in Berkeley. I’ve been hearing from Instagram followers who are being evacuated in Oregon and are terrified. The news from Bob Woodward’s book is so depressing. It’s 9/11 today, and it’s hard for me to comprehend that loss in the context of a pandemic. It’s also my father’s birthday today (he died when I was pregnant with my first baby).
Closer to home, we’ve had a couple of setbacks with the house renovations that are leaving me discouraged. My website is acting up and I need to hire a WordPress expert. And our youngest child, sweet Flora June, is not feeling well (no signs of covid-19, but any sickness during a pandemic feels scarier than normal).
That’s a lot of complaining, but really, we are safe and fed and very lucky to be where we are. I’m glad it’s the weekend and I’ll be happy to take a break from my phone and laptop.
How are you doing? Were you overwhelmed this week as well? Or maybe this was a good week for you? (I hope so!) Are you ready for a link list? Here are a few things I’ve wanted to share with you:
…A Visit to La Cressonnière
When we lived in France before (February 2011 through July 2013), we rented a house in the countryside, about 15 minutes from the small town of Argentan where we live now.
The house we rented has a name: La Cressonnière. And it’s a special place. It’s currently being rented by an artist from England, and her husband who is a writer. The owners of the house are also a creative and artistic couple and it’s a place where creative people can really thrive.
The artist who lives there now, Kathryn Holford, had an Open Studio a few weeks back, and we got the chance to visit La Cressonnière. We hadn’t seen it for six years. What a treat to be there! Those were truly magical years for our family. So many memories came flooding back:
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