A Few Things
Hello, Friends. How are you? How was your week? The biggest thing for us this week is that the new school year began. Oscar started 10th grade (it’s the first year of le lycée in France). Betty started 9th grade (it’s the last year of college in France). And Flora June started 5th grade (it’s called CM2 in France).
I realized my youngest child was starting the last year of elementary school and it definitely hit me with all the mom feels. I’ve had at least one child in elementary for the last two decades!
Classes are happening in-person here in Normandy. If you’d like to hear about the school safety precautions, here’s a post I wrote in July when the kids returned to school after quarantine.
Today we’ll be working over at the Tall House. The tile for the bathrooms is being delivered! (Remember the Winckelmans factory tour?)
I’ve been online quite a bit this week, as I managed responses to my latest Twitter thread, and I’ve found lots of good stuff. Here are a few things I’ve wanted to share with you:
…A Continuing Discussion on Setting Boundaries & Disrupting Normalcy
When I write a thread for Twitter, I can’t predict if it will go viral, or what the responses will be. I don’t know how it will be misunderstood, or where my words aren’t clear, until I see the responses to it. I always wish I could revise it for clarity, but you can’t edit tweets. With the thread about Trump supporters, all responses so far (they are still coming in) have fallen into 3 categories:
-85% of the people who responded love the thread. They said things like: It was a balm! It was a relief! It gave me hope! I didn’t realize I needed permission to stop putting up with the abuse. I wrote the thread for these people.
-10% of the responses are from die-hard Trump supporters. They typically haven’t read the thread and just take a moment out of their day to call me a cunt, yell at me for being intolerant, call me a fascist, and say they feel sorry for my kids. I block them and delete their comments.
-5% of the people who respond are not Trump supporters but feel very protective of them. They insist we can’t just “give up” on Trump supporters.
…A Continuing Discussion on Setting Boundaries & Disrupting NormalcyRead More »
The Consequences of Your Actions
Hey there. I wrote a Twitter thread about the consequences of supporting Trump. I’m sharing it here because I know many of you don’t use Twitter.
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The other day I saw a tweet where a person described that when they find out someone they know personally supports Trump, they lose all respect for them instantly. I liked the tweet and retweeted it, but stopped short of sharing it on Instagram.
Why?
…Living With Kids: Julie Gortemaker
Julie and her family live in Grand Island, Nebraska just outside of Omaha. Despite being a relatively small town, it because a hotspot of Covid-activity early in the outbreak, as Julie and her kids sheltered at home like so many of us did. Her husband works as an anesthesiologist, which I am sure made everything much scarier.
Things are calming down now, and luckily Julie and her family live in a gorgeous home with a few outbuildings (including one with a skeeball machine!) and a lot of land for kids to run around in. You’ll love getting to peek around her home and see all the fun details. Welcome, Julie!
…Tall House Bathroom Mood Boards
I woke up thinking about the two main bathrooms at the Tall House. Is it possible that they’ll be installed by the end of September? Or is the end of October more realistic? We’ll see.
The choices for the bathroom fixtures and finishings have mostly been made, but there are a couple of decisions still to go.
For the kids bathroom we started with the tile palette in warm greys + green. Then we chose gold + brass for the metals. I was really pleased with the glam green vanity we found — it should arrive next week and I’m very curious to see it in person.
This mood board above will give you a sense of what we’re going for, though not every product represented is exactly what we’re using — sometimes it’s hard to find product images that are collage-ready, so I use placeholders with a similar look or feel.
…Living With Kids: Cristina Cavallari
[ Note from Design Mom: Since we spent a day at Lake Como in Italy this week, I thought it would be fun to re-publish this Lake Como home tour. It was originally shared in 2014. ]
I know of two people who live in Lake Como, Italy: George Clooney and Cristina Cavallari. Lucky for us, one of them is with us today to take us on a tour of her family’s unique home: a monastery built in the 1400s that’s been modernized, transformed, and constantly reconfigured to hold lots of family.
There’s so much that’s interesting to me about this tour, from the idyllic location to Cristina’s commitment to ethical and organic products, the grace with which she’s preparing for her eldest’s move away from home, to a tragic circumstance that has changed her life in the past year. And when I read her thought about how she is raising her kids — “More real friendships, less internet” — my heart sang! It’s inspiring stuff, all of it, and I’m so grateful to be able to share it with you today. Friends, please give a rousing Benvenuto to Cristina! (And just as soon as Mr. Clooney has some babies, we’ll hit him up for a tour, too!)
…Happy 25th Anniversary to Ben Blair
Happy 25th Anniversary to Ben Blair! He is my very favorite person and I feel lucky to have him as my partner in life.
25 years is called the silver anniversary and we live in Argentan, which can be translated as “silver town”, so I thought maybe we’d do something silver-themed to celebrate. But we ended up eating pasta and gelato in Milan instead and I have no complaints. Hah!
…Last Minute Anniversary Trip to Lake Annecy, Geneva, and Milan
We decided we should take a trip this week. It’s traditional to take off a couple of weeks in August, and all the tradespeople for the renovation are on vacation, so we figured we should also get out of town for a bit. Plus it’s our anniversary this week (a big one!), and a trip seems like a good way to mark it.
I’m actually writing this from Lake Annecy at the foot of the French Alps. We are staying in a little apartment that’s about a 10 minute walk from the lake. We drove here yesterday (Sunday) — it’s a 7 hour drive from Argentan.
…Last Minute Anniversary Trip to Lake Annecy, Geneva, and MilanRead More »
A Few Things
Hello, Friends. What’s up? How has your week been? Our school starts on September 1st, so we’re still in summer mode, but we did tackle the school supply lists for Betty and Flora June this week.
French school supply lists are epic and legendary — and I find them very intimidating. I rely on Google Translate quite a bit and it’s incredibly helpful. But the supply lists are so specific and use such technical words, that Google Translate doesn’t seem to work. So it’s a bit of a treasure hunt trying to figure out what to buy. Hah!
In August, a lot of French businesses shut down, and pretty much all of the tradespeople who work on our house are gone for the next two week. So we originally scheduled a trip to the South of France. But that particular trip has been put on hold — without Ralph and Maude it didn’t feel quite right. We may do an alternate trip instead, but if we do, it will be last minute.
What about you? Are you still in summer mode?
I’ve got a great list for you today. Here are a few things I’ve wanted to share:
…Living With Kids: Katie Chandler
Katie and her family who live in Friendswood, Texas. It sounds like the perfect place for Katie to live, because reading her profile you’ll see how friendly she seems. She’s a mom of 5 younger kids and was staying home with them before the pandemic even started, so she has some good perspective on keeping kids involved.
Also, it was interesting to learn that Katie has an autoimmune disease called Hashimotos, which was something I didn’t know a lot about. It affects her thyroid which is what regulates all the hormones in the body, so it’s something that can have big challenges and requires a lot of care. One more thing I should note: Katie’s house is totally gorgeous! You’ll love peeking around. Welcome, Katie!
…Is This What Hope Feels Like?
KAMALA!!!
It’s very late here in France. I heard the VP news first from my son Ralph — he texted the family chat with one word: Kamala
My heart about stopped. Then my phone rang. it was my dear friend Laura Mayes calling from Texas. When I answered the phone we both shouted KAMALA. She said: Is this what hope feels like?
ALL the heart eyes.
Need a place to share your joy? The comments are open. Or you can cheer with me on these Instagram and Twitter posts. (Celebratory comments only — this is not a discussion post. Feel free to move along if you’re not in the mood to celebrate.)
P.S. — Kamala Harris is from Oakland, and she launched her presidential campaign from Oakland. My family was there and I’m so glad.
Just Not THAT Woman
My oldest two kids can’t come to France. With few exceptions, France is not issuing visitor visas to people in the U.S. because the virus is still raging out of control in the States. I miss Maude and Ralph so much it hurts. I don’t know when I’ll get to see them again in person. Will we get to be together for Christmas? Is there a country that is accepting American passports where we can all meet up?
I am mostly able to remain grateful. My kids are safe and healthy. I can talk with them and see their faces on FaceTimes and Hangouts. Though sometimes I’m really angry. The photo at top, taken a couple of weeks ago, is missing two people.
…A Few Things
Hello, Friends. How are you? How was your week? Our week was mostly filled with Visa-renewal tasks (so many tasks!!), including a visit to Caen where we stopped by the building above (it’s where Williams the Conquerer is buried).
Beyond visa-renewal tasks, my weeks have become progressively filled with more and more decisions, design work, research, and physical labor on the house renovation.
I find it all very exciting, but I keep being surprised by how much time it takes up. Stuff like meetings with different tradespeople, getting multiple bids for different projects, figuring out options for vanities in France, and then the actual on-site work like demolition and floor restoration. Plus sharing it all on Instagram Stories.
I definitely have less time to create blog posts, and I feel very conflicted about that.
Anyway, I’m glad the weekend has arrived. It’s going to be a hot one, so we plan to stop by a nearby lake on the Orne River for some swimming. And hopefully, we’ll make more progress on the attic floors. What are you up to this weekend?
Ready for the link list? Here are a few things I’ve wanted to share with you:
…Living With Kids: Megan Isennock
I’m so excited for you all to meet Megan today for Living With Kids. Megan and her husband, Rob, and their two kids live in a super cool apartment in Baltimore that used to sit on top of an event space/ gallery. And now that we are stuck inside for the foreseeable future that space has become a kids gymnasium/ play space/ lounge. And I am sure you can already tell from the intro photo that Megan and Rob’s house is full of some impressive and amazing artwork. Welcome, Megan!
…A Few Things
Hello, Friends. How are you? How was your week? It feels strange here because we’re having an unusual heat wave for this area — it will be 96 degrees in Argentan today. I grew up in St. George, Utah, a town that hits over 100 degrees for 3 or 4 months of the year, so 96 isn’t a record breaker or anything, but it’s pretty much the hottest it’s ever been either time we’ve lived in France.
This area is not really built for this kind of heat — no A/C, no sprinklers, etc. — so we’re keeping our shutters closed during the day to keep out the hot air, and we’re hanging out on the first floor of our rental, which is much cooler than the 3rd floor. We’ll be eating sandwiches for dinner so we don’t heat up the kitchen with the stove or oven, and we’re keeping cans of Evian Mist nearby when we need a quick cooling off (these misters are much more affordable here and sold pretty much everywhere).
Yesterday in the evening, Ben Blair took two of the kids to check out a nearby lake, and tonight, we might track down a swimming hole on the Orne River. How about you? How is your weekend shaping up?
I’ve got a really good list of links this week. Here are a few things I’ve wanted to share with you:
…Did You Know You Can Finish Wood Floors with Soap?
I’ve been trying to figure out what we want to do with the wood floors in the attic. If possible, I’d like to avoid sanding them down. I really like the patina they’ve developed over the decades, and I want to preserve the history of the floors as much as we can (we’ve found 3 more pieces of shrapnel since the last discovery). I’m also interested in using a traditional, natural finish that protects the wood, but is also really kind to it and doesn’t change the current color; something really safe.
I’ve been asking around for a few weeks, and our friend Gjisbert brought up the idea of a soap finish. Soap as in soap + water. He said it’s very safe and natural, and gives a really soft finish, and that it’s easy to clean (you just use more soap).
I’d never heard of finishing floors with soap. It sounds like a folktale! His advice sent me down an internet rabbit hole on soap finished floors, and it turns out that in some parts of the world, it’s a very common and effective way to finish and protect wood floors. Here’s what I’ve found:
…Did You Know You Can Finish Wood Floors with Soap?Read More »
Living With Kids: Keri Dunn
I think you’ll really enjoy getting to know Keri today. She wrote to me about her family’s recent decision to downsize to a much smaller home (right during COVID!) and I thought it sounded like a great story. I appreciate how thoughtful Keri was about the decision and how she was motivated by a desire to spend less money on housing and maintenance and to have a smaller ecological footprint.
Even thought their house is small it’s got tons of light and bright white walls and feels plenty big. It’s worth peeking into every corner. Welcome, Keri!
…Winckelmans Tile Factory
Over the weekend, while we were in Lille, we took a tour of the Winckelmans tile factory. The tour was actually the primary reason for our visit to Lille. We’re using Winckelmans tile for the bathrooms in our renovation — I’ve never ordered custom tiles before and wanted to see what the process was like.
And honestly I was blown away. The materials, the handwork, the science, the quality, the history. The whole thing is such an art and a skill. And getting to see the bags of colored sand turned into basically indestructible tile right before our eyes was such a cool thing.
I’m going to take you through our tour and tell you everything I remember. I took a ton of photos, so it will be a visual tour too.
…A Few Things
Hello, Friends. How are you? Did you have a good week? We are headed to Lille this morning. It’s a city in the very north of France — not far from Belgium and The Netherlands. We are taking a tour of the Winckelmans tile factory this afternoon, and we’ll be confirming our custom tile designs for the bathrooms. I LOVE factory tours and am really looking forward to this.
Lille is about a 4-hour drive from our town, and since we’ve never really been to that part of France before, we’re going to use the weekend to explore. Based on our searches, it’s a gorgeous place! Have you ever been? We’d love any recommendations you might have.
Before we head out, here are a few things I wanted to share:
…A Small (But Big!) Discovery in the Attic
The other day, Gijsbert, our Dutch friend who has been transforming our attic space at the Tall House, made a small-sized-but-big discovery. He felt something hard on the floor:
…