well, hi everyone !
time's flown by & we're already Monday again ... wow.
so, as you're as busy as I am, I'll announce right away the name of Monday's giveaway (springy colors).
Sarah Elizabeth !
congratulations !! now, Sarah Elizabeth, as I didn't have any email in your comment, would you please send me an email with your full name & postal address, thanks. My email addy is in the column, to the right. Yes, over there >>>
Thanks ! And good luck to everyone for the 4 other giveaways !
Now .... I asked for them, you gave me lots ... I hope you'll learn a bit more about me. But before starting, I wanted to thank you all again for participating, for playing along, for asking me so many questions that made me think about myself, about what I love , about what I do. It was really therapeutic in a way, and I would kind of advice everyone to answer these questions, for yourself of course, you may find it interesting too.
ok. I hope you're comfortable in your seat.
cuppa in hand ? a couple of minutes to kill ? ok, here I go !
how did you come to live in the South of France and do you enjoy living there ?
... well I was born in France & raised in France, so that's why I'm living in France right now ! And well, yes, I quite enjoy living there, even though I think French people might not be the most interesting persons on earth ... (OK, there, I said it)
what did you want to be when you grew up ? Something you were interested in high school ?
... for as long as I can remember, I'd always wanted to be a teacher (for little ones) but I realized long ago that it wasn't for me. I prefered to raise my own children rather than others'. And in high school, I was very interested in foreign languages, as at that time I was studying English, German & Italian.
have you been living in another country than France ?
... nope, I have always lived in France, in various places, for sure, but always stayed in the limits of my country !
where is your favourite city or place ?
... eeek too tough a question ! each place on earth can be interesting, I think I loved all of the few trips abroad that I made. I enjoyed going to Italy (Piacenza, Parma, Bologna, Venezia, Murano, and a few others), to England (Cambridge, London, Canterbury, and a few others too), to Belgium (Brussels & Bruges)
what do you love more, baking or crafting ?
... ahah, funny one ! I think I love crafting more, but baking is close !
do you like to travel and what destination would you choose ?
... I love to travel, and it's been ages since I last visited a country in which I need to speak another language ! This said, we have planned a 2 weeks trip to England this summer, so it's going to be fun !!
what is your favourite ice-cream flavour or brand ?
... I used to lover Ben&Jerry's Vermonster or Haägen Daaz's Caramel Cone Explosion. I think I need vanilla icecream, caramel sauce & nuts of some sorts ! LOL But I do love mint icecream too !
what's your favorite thing to make ?
... I love creating in general, I think I've always had this in me, but I'm slowly working on expressing my artistic side, and it takes a whole lot of time to know what you like doing, to know what you're best at, to know where you're going to, to know what is worth & what is not, to know what's inside of yourself & that you don't even know about !
how do you manage to balance your crafting, blogging, parenting etc. ?
... ooooh the one question !!! I do as I can, like everybody else ! there are weeks during which I hardly craft at all (and I'm almost on top of things at home), and there are weeks I craft as much as I can (and then I'm not really on top of things at home ahahah) Blogging requires me a bit of time as I don't blog in my maternal language, but one good thing is that I "think" in English when I'm at the computer (I know, it's totally crazy). Sometimes I manage to blog daily, but most of the time not. So, as I said, balancing is a tough act & it hardly ever reaches the balancing point. (but sometimes it does)
would you love to have a girl or two kids are engouh ??!
... another great question ... well, I had two great pregnancies, with few pains, not *too* tough birth givings, so being pregnant is something I really loved. This said, where we live now (and no no no, I don't mean to move before many years ! -we moved 9 months ago-), we have a bedroom for us, and a bedroom for both the boys (they're in the same bedroom, I mean) Having a third child would be a bit unreasonable. I don't know where we'd put him/her !! We prefer to have two healthy, beautiful boys, being able to help them through the years (studies & all). I think that two is way better than nothing. You must be happy with what you have.
what do you do in your down time when you aren't crafting ?
... being a loooot at the computer, catching up with everything (Flickr, Twitter, Etsy, emails, blogs .... that takes veeeeery long). Browsing through books, books from the library (most often botanical books, this time I also borrowed poetry books), daydreaming (I do this A WHOLE LOT !) ... I think this is it.
what is your favorite room in your house and what makes it your favorite ?
... I think it must be the huge room that is our living-room/kitchen/creative space. Basically the first room when you enter (no hall), and you're directly in the living-room, and my creative space (including computer) is in one corner. Then you can see the kitchen in the other half of that spacious rectangle room. Why that room ? because it's such an open space. In that "room", I can be at the computer, or sewing, or crafting in general, or baking, cooking, hanging laundry (yep, the room for that too, glamorous not to have a garden or balcony) ... and the boys (or hubby) can be at the kitchen table (writing, drawing, etc) or on the sofa (reading or watching a DVD) ... so it's a room where we're in, almost all the time, except when hubby works in his "home office", in our bedroom.
what was your most recent favorite discovery ?
... it has to be the fact that my bucket, which was once upon a time stainless steel & isn't anymore, could turn the eucalyptus dye from light yellow to dark grey. That was pretty amazing !
where else in the world you've lived & how you ended up in France ?
... already answered ! :)
what is our favorite dessert ?
... eek I'm such a sweet tooth, I can't give ONE answer only ! I love lemon meringue pie, I love a good fondant chocolate cake, I love coffee or violet religieuse (like an eclair, I had the most amazing violet religieuse in Ladurée tea-room two years ago), I love strawberry tart ... I love too many different cakes for naming one only !!
why do you think you craft? When did you fall in love with doing crafty things ?
... I think I craft for the pleasure of the process, for improving my own skills, for expressing my inner creativity, for showing people I love that I love them & that I can make things for them ... And when did I fall in love with doing crafty things ? Um, I remember when I was 9 y-o or something, there was an activity at school which really interested me much, and it was a kind of tapestry on a plastic grid ... I really loved that. My first steps into embroidering, I guess. But my mom is a wonderful seamstress, so I had a model right at home.
how many projects do you get done in a week ?
... I really can't say. It depends if the week is a crafty-good-one or not. It also depends on what kind of projects they are. It can be one, it can be two, it can be three, but hardly more than that. (I'm no WonderWoman, hey !!)
where do you hide your time management magic potion ?
... oh good grief, I can't remember where I put it for the last time !!! aww, sorry girls, I really can't share it, then ! Maybe next time ! (LOL)
who is your favorite actor and what is your favorite movie ?
... I don't watch much TV & hardly go to the cinema, but I love both Gene Kelly & Woody Allen. And favorite movie ? wow, even tougher. Um, let me see. Take me out to the ball game. (with Gene Kelly & Frank Sinatra, among lots of other great actors & actresses) Maybe because it sounds so exotic to me. And because I could sing along all the songs in the movie. And because it's a fun movie. I hate dark movie. Scary movies too. Don't get me wrong, I don't like honey-sweet-idiot movies neither.
what is the color of your hair ?
... light chestnut, and now, as things are going, with 1/3 of them silver ! I have decided months ago to give up hair dyes, even the most "eco-friendly" ones. Dyeing my hair every three weeks is too much time spent, too much money spent, too much useless pollution generated, for something that is natural. If I must get silver hair at 32, then let it be !
what is the best thing to do/best site to visit in that lesser-known city ?
... wander, and enjoy life as is. See how the buildings in streets are. The smallest details. The front doors, their colors. Look for small shops, if possible shops carrying locally produced items or products, or handmade / locally handmade products. Stop by a café, drink your favorite beverage & "observe" how life seems to be from your point of view. Go to the botanical garden, if it has one. (one of my fav thing to do) I love very simple pleasures.
do you have a favorite cookie recipe to use with the cutters you are giving away ?
... believe me or not, but I VERY hardly bake cookies, and when it happens, they're always sugar cookies, and I use a recipe adapted from one of Annabel Karmel's books. I'll have to look if I find it in my archives.
which would you say was the best project you ever comepleted ?
... it's very hard for me to say. I really LOVE the process, everytime I craft something. The first time I ever felt that super feeling of super accomplishment was when I finished a (decorative) cushion cover, with a house, a clotheline and all, in Oct 2008. My friend Laurraine is its owner now.
how many countries have you traveled to ?
... except from France, of course, 3. Belgium, Italy, England.
where o where do you buy fabrics/wool/yarns and things like that ?
... in local haberdashery shops. I have a good one over here, and my mom has a great one where she lives, 35km away from here.
why did you decide to have have your blog title written on a notebook ?
... well, I love to change my blog banner very regularly, and as I was taking a photo of a Moleskine I had just embellished, I opened it & took a photo of the inside, and thought it would maybe come in handy for a banner of some sort.
what do you like most about living in France ?
... well, like in all occidental countries, being free of doing what I want, to go what I want. Other than these obvious fact, food in France can be very yummy, for sure.
phew, that is all for today ! (quite a lot already, isn't it ?!) I wish you all a nice start to the week. I'll leave you with a photo taken two years ago (what ? already ?)
time's flown by & we're already Monday again ... wow.
so, as you're as busy as I am, I'll announce right away the name of Monday's giveaway (springy colors).
Sarah Elizabeth !
congratulations !! now, Sarah Elizabeth, as I didn't have any email in your comment, would you please send me an email with your full name & postal address, thanks. My email addy is in the column, to the right. Yes, over there >>>
Thanks ! And good luck to everyone for the 4 other giveaways !
Now .... I asked for them, you gave me lots ... I hope you'll learn a bit more about me. But before starting, I wanted to thank you all again for participating, for playing along, for asking me so many questions that made me think about myself, about what I love , about what I do. It was really therapeutic in a way, and I would kind of advice everyone to answer these questions, for yourself of course, you may find it interesting too.
ok. I hope you're comfortable in your seat.
cuppa in hand ? a couple of minutes to kill ? ok, here I go !
how did you come to live in the South of France and do you enjoy living there ?
... well I was born in France & raised in France, so that's why I'm living in France right now ! And well, yes, I quite enjoy living there, even though I think French people might not be the most interesting persons on earth ... (OK, there, I said it)
what did you want to be when you grew up ? Something you were interested in high school ?
... for as long as I can remember, I'd always wanted to be a teacher (for little ones) but I realized long ago that it wasn't for me. I prefered to raise my own children rather than others'. And in high school, I was very interested in foreign languages, as at that time I was studying English, German & Italian.
have you been living in another country than France ?
... nope, I have always lived in France, in various places, for sure, but always stayed in the limits of my country !
where is your favourite city or place ?
... eeek too tough a question ! each place on earth can be interesting, I think I loved all of the few trips abroad that I made. I enjoyed going to Italy (Piacenza, Parma, Bologna, Venezia, Murano, and a few others), to England (Cambridge, London, Canterbury, and a few others too), to Belgium (Brussels & Bruges)
what do you love more, baking or crafting ?
... ahah, funny one ! I think I love crafting more, but baking is close !
do you like to travel and what destination would you choose ?
... I love to travel, and it's been ages since I last visited a country in which I need to speak another language ! This said, we have planned a 2 weeks trip to England this summer, so it's going to be fun !!
what is your favourite ice-cream flavour or brand ?
... I used to lover Ben&Jerry's Vermonster or Haägen Daaz's Caramel Cone Explosion. I think I need vanilla icecream, caramel sauce & nuts of some sorts ! LOL But I do love mint icecream too !
what's your favorite thing to make ?
... I love creating in general, I think I've always had this in me, but I'm slowly working on expressing my artistic side, and it takes a whole lot of time to know what you like doing, to know what you're best at, to know where you're going to, to know what is worth & what is not, to know what's inside of yourself & that you don't even know about !
how do you manage to balance your crafting, blogging, parenting etc. ?
... ooooh the one question !!! I do as I can, like everybody else ! there are weeks during which I hardly craft at all (and I'm almost on top of things at home), and there are weeks I craft as much as I can (and then I'm not really on top of things at home ahahah) Blogging requires me a bit of time as I don't blog in my maternal language, but one good thing is that I "think" in English when I'm at the computer (I know, it's totally crazy). Sometimes I manage to blog daily, but most of the time not. So, as I said, balancing is a tough act & it hardly ever reaches the balancing point. (but sometimes it does)
would you love to have a girl or two kids are engouh ??!
... another great question ... well, I had two great pregnancies, with few pains, not *too* tough birth givings, so being pregnant is something I really loved. This said, where we live now (and no no no, I don't mean to move before many years ! -we moved 9 months ago-), we have a bedroom for us, and a bedroom for both the boys (they're in the same bedroom, I mean) Having a third child would be a bit unreasonable. I don't know where we'd put him/her !! We prefer to have two healthy, beautiful boys, being able to help them through the years (studies & all). I think that two is way better than nothing. You must be happy with what you have.
what do you do in your down time when you aren't crafting ?
... being a loooot at the computer, catching up with everything (Flickr, Twitter, Etsy, emails, blogs .... that takes veeeeery long). Browsing through books, books from the library (most often botanical books, this time I also borrowed poetry books), daydreaming (I do this A WHOLE LOT !) ... I think this is it.
what is your favorite room in your house and what makes it your favorite ?
... I think it must be the huge room that is our living-room/kitchen/creative space. Basically the first room when you enter (no hall), and you're directly in the living-room, and my creative space (including computer) is in one corner. Then you can see the kitchen in the other half of that spacious rectangle room. Why that room ? because it's such an open space. In that "room", I can be at the computer, or sewing, or crafting in general, or baking, cooking, hanging laundry (yep, the room for that too, glamorous not to have a garden or balcony) ... and the boys (or hubby) can be at the kitchen table (writing, drawing, etc) or on the sofa (reading or watching a DVD) ... so it's a room where we're in, almost all the time, except when hubby works in his "home office", in our bedroom.
what was your most recent favorite discovery ?
... it has to be the fact that my bucket, which was once upon a time stainless steel & isn't anymore, could turn the eucalyptus dye from light yellow to dark grey. That was pretty amazing !
where else in the world you've lived & how you ended up in France ?
... already answered ! :)
what is our favorite dessert ?
... eek I'm such a sweet tooth, I can't give ONE answer only ! I love lemon meringue pie, I love a good fondant chocolate cake, I love coffee or violet religieuse (like an eclair, I had the most amazing violet religieuse in Ladurée tea-room two years ago), I love strawberry tart ... I love too many different cakes for naming one only !!
why do you think you craft? When did you fall in love with doing crafty things ?
... I think I craft for the pleasure of the process, for improving my own skills, for expressing my inner creativity, for showing people I love that I love them & that I can make things for them ... And when did I fall in love with doing crafty things ? Um, I remember when I was 9 y-o or something, there was an activity at school which really interested me much, and it was a kind of tapestry on a plastic grid ... I really loved that. My first steps into embroidering, I guess. But my mom is a wonderful seamstress, so I had a model right at home.
how many projects do you get done in a week ?
... I really can't say. It depends if the week is a crafty-good-one or not. It also depends on what kind of projects they are. It can be one, it can be two, it can be three, but hardly more than that. (I'm no WonderWoman, hey !!)
where do you hide your time management magic potion ?
... oh good grief, I can't remember where I put it for the last time !!! aww, sorry girls, I really can't share it, then ! Maybe next time ! (LOL)
who is your favorite actor and what is your favorite movie ?
... I don't watch much TV & hardly go to the cinema, but I love both Gene Kelly & Woody Allen. And favorite movie ? wow, even tougher. Um, let me see. Take me out to the ball game. (with Gene Kelly & Frank Sinatra, among lots of other great actors & actresses) Maybe because it sounds so exotic to me. And because I could sing along all the songs in the movie. And because it's a fun movie. I hate dark movie. Scary movies too. Don't get me wrong, I don't like honey-sweet-idiot movies neither.
what is the color of your hair ?
... light chestnut, and now, as things are going, with 1/3 of them silver ! I have decided months ago to give up hair dyes, even the most "eco-friendly" ones. Dyeing my hair every three weeks is too much time spent, too much money spent, too much useless pollution generated, for something that is natural. If I must get silver hair at 32, then let it be !
what is the best thing to do/best site to visit in that lesser-known city ?
... wander, and enjoy life as is. See how the buildings in streets are. The smallest details. The front doors, their colors. Look for small shops, if possible shops carrying locally produced items or products, or handmade / locally handmade products. Stop by a café, drink your favorite beverage & "observe" how life seems to be from your point of view. Go to the botanical garden, if it has one. (one of my fav thing to do) I love very simple pleasures.
do you have a favorite cookie recipe to use with the cutters you are giving away ?
... believe me or not, but I VERY hardly bake cookies, and when it happens, they're always sugar cookies, and I use a recipe adapted from one of Annabel Karmel's books. I'll have to look if I find it in my archives.
which would you say was the best project you ever comepleted ?
... it's very hard for me to say. I really LOVE the process, everytime I craft something. The first time I ever felt that super feeling of super accomplishment was when I finished a (decorative) cushion cover, with a house, a clotheline and all, in Oct 2008. My friend Laurraine is its owner now.
how many countries have you traveled to ?
... except from France, of course, 3. Belgium, Italy, England.
where o where do you buy fabrics/wool/yarns and things like that ?
... in local haberdashery shops. I have a good one over here, and my mom has a great one where she lives, 35km away from here.
why did you decide to have have your blog title written on a notebook ?
... well, I love to change my blog banner very regularly, and as I was taking a photo of a Moleskine I had just embellished, I opened it & took a photo of the inside, and thought it would maybe come in handy for a banner of some sort.
what do you like most about living in France ?
... well, like in all occidental countries, being free of doing what I want, to go what I want. Other than these obvious fact, food in France can be very yummy, for sure.
phew, that is all for today ! (quite a lot already, isn't it ?!) I wish you all a nice start to the week. I'll leave you with a photo taken two years ago (what ? already ?)
take care, girls
see you tomorrow for another winner & lotsa questions answered
oxox
Sonia
Congrats to the lucky winner!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sonia-for taking the time to answer all of those questions :)
I won! How exciting - I never win anything! I've sent you an email with my address. Thank you so much for your generosity and for answering all those questions!
ReplyDeleteMerci beaucoup
Sarah Elizabeth xx
wow, that's a lot of answers! :O) Nice to read them Sonia.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to the winner. Lucky thing!
Must scoot. Am busy.hmm. seem to write that an awful lot!!! ;o)
xx
I loved reading this. You answered everything so thoughtfully. And you know, I forget that english isn't your maternal language. I always imagine you as speaking english, just with a fabulous french accent. I hope to hear for myself one day. :D xoxo
ReplyDeleteC'est toujours un plaisir d'en savoir un peu plus sur toi, chère Sonia, et tu m'épates de te dévoiler si amicalement à nous. Merci pour tout ton temps, car il en a fallu, j'en suis sûre, et bravo à l'heureuse gagnante. Et puis je suis ravie d'apprendre pour vos futures vacances en Angleterre ... C'est très excitant ! Peut-être pourras-tu voir notre chère J. ? Par contre, tu vas pas t'en sortir comme ça pour la cachette de ta fameuse potion ! :D
ReplyDeleteGros bisous et à demain ...
Good evening/night Sonia. I read all your answers and your English is so fluent that it is difficult to think that you've never lived in an English speaking Country. It 's really a pleasure to read you. I discovered that you visited and you enjoyed Piacenza! I live about 30 kilometers from this city. I'm totally with you with the answer you gave to the question "what's your favorite thing to make". I'm looking forward to reading the next replies.
ReplyDeleteA bientôt
Eli
I really liked reading all your answers (even if I didn't ask anything), Sonia. :) Thank you for taking the time to do it. And congrats to the lucky winner! Will be back to "learn" ;) more about you in a few days, hugs from white (for snow) Scotland! :)
ReplyDeleteSonia, thank you for sharing so much of yourself with us--I learned a lot! I think I would like to share a violet religieuse with you some day after seeing an old movie and strolling through the botanic garden. I am sad that you aren't coming to the U.S. this summer after all!
ReplyDeleteHave you seen this violet religieuse on Flickr? http://www.flickr.com/photos/cakespy/4409949030/in/set-72157623393120665/
ReplyDeleteOh, my!
Hello Sonia! Enjoyed reading your answers and congrats to Sarah Elizabeth :o) I always find it amazing how well asked questions can really help us reflect on ourselves. Prob something I should do more often than I do these days.
ReplyDeleteCake has to come out of the oven. Must fly! Big hugs xoxo