The stupidest gadget ever...

Look at what I found in a swiss shop (the famous Migros, for those who have ever been to Switzerland):

Yup, that's a banana cutter... How useless is this? Oh, and my favorite part: the little picture on top, just in case you didn't understand how it works:
Too stupid, I love it!!

Project 365

There's a big buzz about "project 365": taking a pic a day all year long! On of my "101 in 1001" projects is to take one pic a day for a month, so we'll see if I can manage to keep going longer. Here's my pic for January 1st:

My goals for 2009... and how to get there

In 2009, I want to

• Be a better person
  
• Be in better health
• Make my career move forward
• Manage my money better
• Be more organised
  

Those are my resolution, but they will remain dreams unless I define them more precisely and turn them into goals... so here we go!

In 2009, I will (notice the subtle difference between my 1st sentence and this one! LOL)

• Thighten my relationship with the ones I love and develop my "internal life" (creativity, personal interests, culture)
• Get to a healthy BMI, that is below 72 kg (158 lbs)
  
• Decide where I want my career to move forward and take at least 2 steps in that direction
• Get educated about finance managing, define a budget, stick to it and adapt it to big changes in my life.
• Create order, beauty and peace in my home and be able to maintain neatness without too much effort
  

Now to get to that point, I need a plan. Setting goals without knowing how to achieve them is like going on a trip into an unknown country without a map: you have great chances to get lost along the way, even if you know where you're going! Since this is a long journey (a year-long one, to be precise), I will break down my plan into manageable, monthly steps.

In january, I will:

• Collect all my loved ones' birthdays dates and prepare cards for the first trimester.
  
• Get back to exercise: work out at least 15 minutes 5 times a week.
• Collect informations about the different options I have for my career: classes, exam, etc.
  
• Collect informations about financial management (blogs, books, etc.)
• Get back to my routines, think about giving them a twist if necessary.

To help me follow this plan, I have created a reminder that I will update every month and post everywhere:
Credits: papers by Victoria Greenlees (Crafty Fall@ chirpi.co.uk), stitching by Chere Kaye (Tristan's Treasures collab @ TDC), "2009" and month alpha by Victoria Greenlees (Delicate Dreams @ chirpi.co.uk), "my goals" stamps by Michelle Coleman (Stamped Alpha freebie), swirls by Christine Smith (Flourish), fonts by Darcy Baldwin (DJB Lorraine Bold and DJB Chloé).

Happy new year!!

Hope 2009 will be a fabulous year for you and all your loved ones!

Christmas pix

I had a fabulous time with my family and friends. Love you guys!!

My grandparents:
My mom:
My dad (reading a book he got for Christmas):
My brother Jeff and I:

My cousins and I (Anne, Fanny, me and Nelly):
My aunt Anne:
My grandcousins Yanis and Ugo meeting Santa for the first time (Ugo wasn't totally secure about that weird guy... LOL):
My best friend's son Tristan and I, reading the book I gave him for Christmas:
and having fun together:
My friend's Nora's daughters Zaya...
and Kimi:
My mom's dog Calypso and my grandparents' dog Bagheera having fun in the snow:
And finally a gorgeous circular rainbow I saw with my mom... just stunning!

Hold me accountable

Here are my goals for the end of my vacation (I go back to work on Januray 5th):

• clean up my home office (I've taken before pix but I'll post those only when I'm done... I'm too ashamed of this room right now!),
• decide of my 2009 goals and make plans to reach them,
• clean the remodeled room (previously a garage, soon-to-be a living room) and help DBF put the floor (and take before / after pix),
• get slowly back to a "normal" sleep routine = get to bed by 10:30 and get up around 6:30

I'll soon be back to let you know how I'm doing!

BTW, this will be my "Tips Tuesdays" post: don't make "resolutions", make goals. And, more important, make plans on how to reach them. SparkPeople has great articles about goal setting. I especially like this one, entitled "Do's and Don'ts of Goal Setting". Have a look!

Merry Christmas!!

I know I'm late, but since I was with my family for the holidays since 8 days WITHOUT INTERNET (what was I thinking????), I still wanted to wish you a merry christmas and happy holidays. Hope you and your family are safe and enjoying the season together. Take care!!

Busy, busy, busy

Oh, did I mention BUSY??? I barely had a free minute over the last week. I'm working like a mad woman to try to finish everything before the holidays. Until tonight I thought I wouldn't be able to go to my grandparents' home for the big family party on the 20th, but after talking to my boss, we may find a way... I really hope things will work out!!

On the positive note, I received my late birthday/early christmas gift: a Nikon D60 with a AF-S 18-55 mm VR lense... I'm so excited!! Lookie, lookie:
BTW, I took those pix with another camera (well, obviously) but then I put the memory card back in my camera. I wondered if having the pic of a camera into the said camera could create some space-time loop and destroy earth... or I'm just working too much and should definitely have some rest! Not sure yet! LOL

Here I am, practicing my photographer's pose (in my bathroom):
Talking about photography, I just discovered this great site by Nikon... So many fab infos there! I just had time to have a quick look but I can't wait to watch them more closely...

One last thing: we got our kitty Flamby neutred on Monday, and when he came back he had some ointement on his balls... or rather where they used to be... and this ointement was silver. Not grey, silver. Just perfect for the holidays, so festive! LOL Poor Flamby, we laughed sooooo hard. Guy even whistled "Jingle bells" every time he crossed the cat. We're mean. Oh, and of course I took a pic... Couldn't resist!!
Have a nice weekend, everyone!! Mine will be... guess what... BUSY!!!

Organizing - Where on earth do I start?

Well, this works for organizing as for any other project that seem too overwhelming... This is a tip from Marcia Francois, hope it will help you get started!

First of all, relax and take a deep breath :-)

1. Start with the area of your home or life that bothers you the most.
If you can't bear to choose clothes every morning because your wardrobe is too cluttered, then that's probably a good place to start.

2. Decide what you want to have happen in that space.
Do you only want clothes in your wardrobe, or do you want shoes and handbags in there too?

3. Declutter.
You can't organise clutter. Get rid of everything that shouldn't be there. Some things need to move to other rooms and some need to move right out of your house!

4. Organise what's left according to your personality.
Not everybody is a minimalist. Some of us need to surround ourselves with our treasures and that's okay. Your system works as long as you can find what you're looking for relatively quickly (within a minute).

5. Maintain.
Last but not least, do a quick, 5-minute maintenance session in each major space every week so that your space remains organised.

Marcia Francois is a time management and organising coach who empowers small business owners and other busy professionals who want to make the most of their time. You'll get simple, practical organising and time management secrets to help you work less and enjoy life more! Visit http://takechargesolutions.org for your free Organising Success Pack.

Talking cat

What a better way to start the weekend than with some fun? Here's a little video that is just simply hilarious...

Gratitude...

I've heard so much about being thankful and the power of gratitude, that I really would like to give it a try... ;-)

Let's see... It might be basic, but I'm really thankful to have a good health. Okay, I'm not as healthy as I could, but I can walk, I don't have any disease or disability, and if I manage to treat my body correctly I'm sure it will pay me back with a long and enjoyable life. Thank you, my body, for having been a reliable partner for the last 29 years. Except on very few occasions, you were there when I needed you, you didn't let me down, I could count on you to help me through tough times.













It feels good indeed! LOL

What are you thankful for? Please share and make me happy for you! Have a nice day!

My grandcousin Masha

Ain't she cute? She's 2 months old, she's my cousin Nicolas and his girlfriend Lara's daughter.

30 seconds rule

Here's a great tip from Sandra Felton aka The Organizer Lady: "If it takes 30 seconds or less to do it, do it now!" This can apply to many different little jobs that, when added one after the other, make a great difference in how the house look: putting a dirty plate in the dishwasher, putting things back to where they belong after using them, picking up an item that fell down (or that my lovely cat pushed down the table when playing with it! LOL), etc.

Here's the explanation of this rule by Sandra Felton herself: "Sometimes when I mention that if something takes 30 seconds or less to do that we should determine not to put it off, people object. "If I start doing everything that takes thirty seconds, I will work myself to a nub." And that is true. So let's limit how we apply it. The thirty second rule needs to be applied in two ways only. The first place we should apply it is with what happens in the future. The second place we should apply the thirty second rule is with those that are high priority needs."

I will focus on that today. Do you have any example of 30 seconds jobs that would help you have a more organized and neat home?

A very inspiring site

As I want to post more on my blog(s) but can't seem to find the time during the week to do so, I've decided to prepare my posts on weekends and let Blogger do the work for me! LOL

On Mondays I plan to post some personal things... either a LO I created, something that makes me happy or inspires me... I've entitled this category of posts My Mondays... yeah, so original, I know!! LOL

Today I'd like to share a fabulous site, very inspiring: Amy Atlas Events. Check out their Eye Candy page, they have absolutely gorgeous stuff! I especially like the Candy Shop Dessert Table (starting pic #22): so colorful and fun, plus I love the retro candies!

Have a nice day, everyone!!

My friends are helping... so cute!!

As some of you may know, we're TTC, and my friends Jean and Iris, who had a cute daughter Amandine 14 months ago, are trying to help: they offered me this box:

It's written "Love seeds" on the box and it has everything in it to grow red flowers... or babies, maybe? LOL I thought that was just too cute!!

I'll definitely keep the box to customize and make some hybrid craft... one day... maybe! LOL

New LO

For this week's scrap challenge @ TBLDS.


Journaling reads: "I know that all this hard work, all those frustrations, all those deprivations, will finally pay off. I’ve already lost those pounds... twice already!! I know it, but yet I have to keep in mind that I can do it, one habit at a time. I now have almost 14kg to lose and when I look at the big picture I feel completely overwhelmed. But when I only think about the first 4 kg, or the coming week, or simply my next workout, things seem suddenly so much more doable and I gain confidence."

Credits:
"Let's get physical" by Mandabean and Heather Roselli @ SSD,
glittered and stitched circles by Amanda Heimann (What Goes Around kit),
fonts are DJB Writes a Lot by Darcy Baldwin and Elizabeth Skinny,
Color Pop and B&W Photo Action by Andrea Burns.

Feeling so overwhelmed!

I'm having a hard time keeping up with things and, even worse, with people! I'm stressing out more and more about the coming holidays, not knowing if I'll be able to be with my family on the day we'll celebrate Christmas. Since we're a HUGE family, we rent a place the weekend before Christmas to celebrate all together. It's a giant mess full of love, of fun and of excitement, very tiring, but I love it! I wouldn't like to miss it, but since it's the busiest time of the year for me at work, I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it or not.

I'd hate not to be there, but on the other hand I have to do what's best for me. If I create more stress by trying to be there at any cost, that's not good either, right? Last year I even got terribly sick while I was there (sinusitis), probably just because my body couldn't handle the travel in addition to the stress it was already under... NOT a good way to enjoy the holidays, believe me!!

Anyway, I will call my mom tomorrow, talk to her about it and try to make a decision by the beginning of december. Wish me luck!!

Nice weekend

I had some friends over for dinner last Saturday, and we had a great evening. We hadn't seen each other for waaaaay too long, so it was really nice to catch up on everyone's life! The not-so-great part of it is about weight loss! I chose a pretty healthy meal ("chinese fondue": everyone cook it's meat in broth) but the appetizers and sides just knocked me down!! I really craved all this fat and salt, but I paid it this morning on the scale. Hopefully drinking a lot of water over the next days and watching my food carefully will help me get back on track. Wish me luck!!

I had a dream...

... and it became true! Both litterally (I dreamt of Barack Obama's victory last night) and in reality. I'm really happy that he won this election, I'm proud of the United States today!

Happy belated birthday to me!!

Yesterday was my birthday! I had a nice day, that ended with a night out with Guy... I had the best freaking chocolate cake EVER!!!! We'll celebrate tonight again with inlaws and some friends! I can't wait, it's gonna be fun!!

I'm also starting a new blog for a 101 in 1001 mission: have a look here to know more about it!

Happy DSD (digital scrapbook day) everyone!