Allo, mon petits! In honor of “The Artist” winning Best Picture at last night’s Academy Awards, I wanted to brighten your day with some of my favorite French phrases:
Agent provocateur
'Provocative agent' - a spy employed to induce or incite a suspected person or group to commit an incriminating act; also a spicy, spicy lingerie brand ;)
Avoir le cafard
“Having a cockroach” means that you're feeling down in the dumps.
Bien dans sa peau
“Good in her skin”—someone who is comfortable with herself.
Bon vivant
“Good liver” - a person who enjoys life, especially 'wine, women and song'.
L'esprit de l'escalier
“The spirit of the stairwell”—when you’re able to think of the perfect retort or comment after the fact, as if someone said something, you left the room, and in the stairway a little spirit whispers in your ear what you should have said.
N'est-ce pas?
Is it not so?
Si jeunesse savait, si vieillesse pouvait.
"If youth only knew; if old age only could," which is similar to the English proverb, "Youth is wasted on the young."
On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur.
"We see well only with the heart." -- Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Bringing you a little culture from up the Pali Hwy. You are all bon vivants full of joie de vivre in my heart. I hope you have a great week!
A tout a l'heure! Toodles!
-meredith
Sources:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/french-phrases.html
http://french.lovetoknow.com/Famous_French_Sayings
http://french.lovetoknow.com/Funny_French_Phrases
Monday, February 27, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
2/21: Family Apple
Hi Friends:
Hope you had a great three-day weekend! My batteries needed some serious recharging, so I took off Friday, too--which I found actually makes it harder to come back to work, not easier. : )
Recently, my family instituted what I've been calling Action Family: every Sunday we try do a hike or have an adventure. The goal is for us to be active, and build great memories that the kids can treasure, and spend quality time together--you know, all the stuff they tell you to do in the books. This past Sunday, my husband had an appointment, we had to clean the house, the weather was iffy, and everyone was lollygagging. I was getting totally irritated because we were supposed to be doing Action Family.
By that time, it was mid-afternoon. I was trying to get control of the situation, plan something we could do, looking online, trying to get the kids to pack up some stuff. I cut up some apples for everyone, and sat with the family, trying to figure out what to do. My husband and I were going back and forth, suggesting things to do and nixing what the other was saying, when my little daughter holds up her slice of apple as if giving a toast and says, "Family apple time!"
And so we all "clinked" apples and just hung out for a little while. Sometimes you need Action Family, but just as importantly, sometimes you just need family apple time.
Hope you have a great week,
meredith
Hope you had a great three-day weekend! My batteries needed some serious recharging, so I took off Friday, too--which I found actually makes it harder to come back to work, not easier. : )
Recently, my family instituted what I've been calling Action Family: every Sunday we try do a hike or have an adventure. The goal is for us to be active, and build great memories that the kids can treasure, and spend quality time together--you know, all the stuff they tell you to do in the books. This past Sunday, my husband had an appointment, we had to clean the house, the weather was iffy, and everyone was lollygagging. I was getting totally irritated because we were supposed to be doing Action Family.
By that time, it was mid-afternoon. I was trying to get control of the situation, plan something we could do, looking online, trying to get the kids to pack up some stuff. I cut up some apples for everyone, and sat with the family, trying to figure out what to do. My husband and I were going back and forth, suggesting things to do and nixing what the other was saying, when my little daughter holds up her slice of apple as if giving a toast and says, "Family apple time!"
And so we all "clinked" apples and just hung out for a little while. Sometimes you need Action Family, but just as importantly, sometimes you just need family apple time.
Hope you have a great week,
meredith
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
2/13: habit forming
Hi Friends:
It's mid-February! Already! How many of you still have New Year's Resolutions you're working on? My friend sent me this interesting link about making and keeping habits--good habits. Please ignore the gastric bypass and other irritating advertisements and enjoy the article:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/18-tricks-to-make-new-habits-stick.html
Have a great week,
meredith
ps. Before I forget, this Saturday is a Zumbathon! St. Francis School.4-7p.m. with a social afterwards, 7-8. $10. Zumbathons are a great way to try new instructors, make new friends, dance to new jams, and sweat sweat sweat! I have tickets, if you want to buy from me. ONLY $10 for 4 hours of fun.
It's mid-February! Already! How many of you still have New Year's Resolutions you're working on? My friend sent me this interesting link about making and keeping habits--good habits. Please ignore the gastric bypass and other irritating advertisements and enjoy the article:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/18-tricks-to-make-new-habits-stick.html
Have a great week,
meredith
ps. Before I forget, this Saturday is a Zumbathon! St. Francis School.4-7p.m. with a social afterwards, 7-8. $10. Zumbathons are a great way to try new instructors, make new friends, dance to new jams, and sweat sweat sweat! I have tickets, if you want to buy from me. ONLY $10 for 4 hours of fun.
Monday, February 6, 2012
2/6: war paint
Hi Everyone:
Hope everyone had a great superbowl weekend, and that your team won. We went hiking (because we are not football people) and could hear the cheering up and down the ridgeline.
Today I wanted to talk about makeup. Now, by the time I see you guys in class, most of you are makeup free. There are a few reasons for this: you don't wear makeup; you have taken off your makeup to work out; or, like me, you had make up on but it has since run down/off your face. And you all look great! But for many women, makeup is as necessary to their day as, say, underwear: technically, they could go without and people might not even notice, but they would feel reeeeaally uncomfortable. I haI kve friends who don't wear makeup during the work week, but do when going out at night, looking for "Mr. Right"; an old coworker only wore pantyhose and makeup when she had a big meeting and needed her "war paint" to give her confidence; one girl I knew during high school actually put on makeup before going to sleep because she felt it made her have better dreams; and Kathy Lee and Hoda seem to only forego makeup on the same day they get drunk. It's amazing the powers we confer onto makeup.
So I wanted to share a link from xojane (the same site that brought you the bare bellies tumblr), where women take a picture of themselves first thing in the morning, sans makeup:
http://www.xojane.com/janes-stuff/gallery/morning-faces-gallery-xojane
And I wanted to ask you:
-Is makeup a big deal to you?
-What do think when you see a woman wearing a lot of makeup? Wearing no makeup?
-Do you feel different when you are wearing makeup v. not wearing makeup?
-What would be harder for you: taking a pic without makeup, first thing in the morning, or taking a pic of your belly, with no flexing or sucking in?
Tag me back when you get a chance, and I'll share some comments on Wednesday.
Have a great week,
meredith
Hope everyone had a great superbowl weekend, and that your team won. We went hiking (because we are not football people) and could hear the cheering up and down the ridgeline.
Today I wanted to talk about makeup. Now, by the time I see you guys in class, most of you are makeup free. There are a few reasons for this: you don't wear makeup; you have taken off your makeup to work out; or, like me, you had make up on but it has since run down/off your face. And you all look great! But for many women, makeup is as necessary to their day as, say, underwear: technically, they could go without and people might not even notice, but they would feel reeeeaally uncomfortable. I haI kve friends who don't wear makeup during the work week, but do when going out at night, looking for "Mr. Right"; an old coworker only wore pantyhose and makeup when she had a big meeting and needed her "war paint" to give her confidence; one girl I knew during high school actually put on makeup before going to sleep because she felt it made her have better dreams; and Kathy Lee and Hoda seem to only forego makeup on the same day they get drunk. It's amazing the powers we confer onto makeup.
So I wanted to share a link from xojane (the same site that brought you the bare bellies tumblr), where women take a picture of themselves first thing in the morning, sans makeup:
http://www.xojane.com/janes-stuff/gallery/morning-faces-gallery-xojane
And I wanted to ask you:
-Is makeup a big deal to you?
-What do think when you see a woman wearing a lot of makeup? Wearing no makeup?
-Do you feel different when you are wearing makeup v. not wearing makeup?
-What would be harder for you: taking a pic without makeup, first thing in the morning, or taking a pic of your belly, with no flexing or sucking in?
Tag me back when you get a chance, and I'll share some comments on Wednesday.
Have a great week,
meredith
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