Hello, Friends. I am in love with Spring today. Right now, the roadsides and hillsides are carpeted in wild daffodils. Gorgeous. I think these are the first wild daffodils I’ve encountered — they are about half the size of the type you buy at the florist. Olive, our 9-year-old, goes out each day and collects another vase full. There are now vases in every room of the house. : )
Did you have a good week? My mom arrived on Wednesday night — our first houseguest! It’s so fun to have someone here to join in our oohing and aahing over La Cressonnière. We have been exploring and hope to see a few chateaus and cathedrals this weekend. Mostly, it’s just fun to drive through the countryside and gasp at the beauty. While we make our weekend plans, here are a few things I’ve been wanting to share with you:
-Are you over this trend?
-Another fun family photoshoot.
-She’s learning how to grieve and helping others learn too.
-Rad lyrics posters.
-Old Brand New.
-Loving.
-My obsession continues.
-Heartthrobs then and now.
-Get ready for spring cleaning.
-Baskets.
My Babble posts from this week:
-You’ll never guess what this jewelry is made of.
-Would you use these if I told you Jessica Alba does?
-Still thinking about how to display family photos.
-Bento fans unite!
-The coolest job chart ever.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I’ll meet you back here on Monday. I miss you already.
kisses,
Gabrielle
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, I love that family photo shoot!
So many amazing links to bookmark here! I agree with Lori, that is some kind of amazing family photo shoot. Wow. Have a wonderful weekend to you and everyone else. Those daffodils give me hope that spring might finally poke it’s head out of the snow here in the YUL. Thanks for all your help this week Gabrielle! xo
Aren’t those paper doll decals beautiful? They’re by Australian company Mae. Made from fabric, they hold up extremely well to wear. I wrote about them recently on my (new!) blog:
http://itsyfactor.com/2011/03/15/mae-wall-decals/
If you’re blocking links Gabby, please accept my apologies for commenting again! Having trouble getting through this morning.
Lucky you to have all those gorgeous daffodils growing wild! Funny that you posted about this today. I had to run to the grocery store last night and they had a ton of daffodils on sale, so I now have a bit of springtime in my house, too! Yay for spring (as I look out my window at the snow we got last night – le sigh)!
A little late on the photo shoot post, but better late than never!
I think that Jerome the – French – photographer from Photomatonchic in NYC is brilliant. Not only does he take terrific photos, but he cleverly puts them together into a stop motion film that looks like an old fashioned video! Would be a fun project for Ralph to try. Check it out here: http://www.photomatonchic.com/video.html
wow, those daffodils are amazing! love those music lyric posters! have a great weekend!
Wild Daffodils!!! What could be lovelier!! Total delight, especially with your beautiful mother’s visit! Seize the moment!!
Loved the ‘then and now.’ I used to be so in love with Michael J. Fox. I would daydream I would meet and marry him. I did meet him (he even kissed me on my cheek!) but the marriage did not follow. Which is just as well, because we both seem to be happy with our spouses!;)
wow! i can’t even believe that “wild” flowers still exist! that is so beautiful. thanks for sharing
Are those wild daffodils the same thing as jonquils?
I wondered if they were jonquils, too. I know that they can grow wild and are native that area of Europe (Spain, specifically). For some reason my mom liked to plant jonquils instead of daffodils. Cheaper, maybe? ;)
Rural Arkansas is covered with daffodils/jonquils. Old homestead owners planted them in their flower beds and though the houses are long gone, the daffodils have taken over. There are different kinds and some have evolved together to make an even different breed. We’ve even been lucky enough to stumble up on an old homestead site that was taken over by wisteria. A good acre or 2 of nothing but purple blooms from the ground to the tip tops of trees.
My two favorite chateaux in France are Chateau Chambord and Chateau Chenonceau. Both of them are in the Loire Valley. All of them are beautiful! Chambord I like because of the winding staircases- apparently two wound around each other so that wife & mistress could avoid each other (gasp!). Chenonceau because it’s built directly over a river and has an art museum, so it’s like a 2-for-1. :-) Have fun!
This would be such a fun project for your kids!
http://veryheatherly.blogspot.com/2011/03/fun-fruit_5459.html
Are you using stock photography and making up all of this loveliness because every single thing there is a delight! It’s just all too good to be true!!!
LOVE the post on Heartthrobs Then & Now! All I have to say is Harrison Ford, Denzel, and John Stamos have aged gracefully and are still, IMHO, heartthrobs! Patrick Dempsey has definitely grown into his looks and is my celeb crush! I love the lyric posters, then again I love lyrics!!
I still love all the wall decals and defiantly love love those hang tags! So cute!
There were wild daffodils growing along roadsides when I lived out in Virginia/D.C. area. It was gorgeous! It was my happy first sign of Spring while we were there.
Gabrielle,
I was trying to follow through with your link to art.com to order some blown up pics of my family while the 40% off sale is available, but I’m having trouble locating the area to upload picures. Can you give me some additional directions to do this? Grazie!
I love the wall decals because it is an easy way for my kids to decorate their own rooms – which I think is important for them to learn artistic expression and experiment with different ideas.
How can those gorgeous flowers not make a person happy? Love it! Enjoy your time with your mother!
Oh my goodness…such beautiful daffodils, and WILD?!? would love to photograph them. Similar to the TExas spring bluebonnets but because they are the state flower, it is illegal to collect them;(
My thoughts on all of the above: I’ve never been much of a fan of the wall decals, but I think the Australian paper dolls are adorable. I love daffodils–ours are not up yet in the northeast. I recently found Lonny Magazine and have been reading the archives. I have always loved Paul Newman–I know, he wasn’t on the list! I am looking forward to checking out the Stephmodo blog for inspiration.
I lost a child two years ago and I think that the blog as grief journal is a good idea. I know that my thoughts and feelings were bordering on profound during my period of grief. I wanted to step outside myself for awhile. I think writing would have been a good outlet for doing that. In regards to the helpful comments: I have a friend who always refers to our baby that died by his name, Francis. So often people are afraid to speak about the person that died and as a parent, you need people to acknowledge that the death really happened. The moment of your loss is so crushing that you need to talk about it. People might think that people who are grieving aren’t paying attention to the details, but every detail is magnified and committed to memory. I’m so thankful that I could see God’s love in those details. I’m thankful that I made it to the other side of that pain.
Love those daffodils! So many great ideas here. My favorite thing is the idea for displaying family photos. It’s so interesting that a sweet family photo can become modern art when blown up and cropped in different ways. It’s always a challenge to display personal things without sacrificing style.
Gabby
I’m always loving you ;-)
xoxoxoxo
jos
the image of having wild daffodils in vases all over the house makes me smile. thanks!
thanks for the shout out, gabrielle. old brand new has one fab house! xo
A hillside of daffodils….delight for the eyes! Here in the high desert, I am grateful for my 5 (yup thats all), and brought one in to enjoy today: thanks for sharing yours also!! Have a wonderful butter-yellow day!
Thanks so much for the mention! I’m super flattered:)