Old and new - Happy 2015!

Laimīgu Jauno Gadu! Happy New Year!

Welcome back! After such an intriguing month spent exploring the traditions and folklore of the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian holiday season with 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas, Femme au Foyer is back to more regularly scheduled programming: me. The attempt to give myself a month off while still featuring interesting content backfired, and instead of lazing about with some holiday reading I was busier than ever; signing up writers, learning about new Christmas traditions and trying out recipes and crafts that appeared on the series. Of course there was some coaxing, some editing and a bit of a mad scramble to cover a few days mixed in, but overall it was a wonderful learning experience and I’ve developed some new virtual friends in addition to adding a lengthy list of blogs to my reader. I hope you enjoyed reading and writing 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas, and I welcome any comments, suggestions or questions regarding the series.

Midway through the month I was interviewed about hosting A Baltic Christmas for Laiks, the Latvian weekly news periodical. Featured on page 6, “Kad rakstīšana ir sirdslieta” appeared in Volume LXVI Nr. 2, the January 10-16 edition along with a picture from the Spartanburg International Festival last year.

Then while the final days of 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas were reaching your inboxes, we were already en route to the un-snowy north where we completed a holiday circuit worthy of its own Christmas movie. As I sit here now nursing a hot mug of tea and recovering from a cold, I think about how often we seem to need vacations after our vacations. We accomplished so much in the past month; in addition to the 6 homes in 3 states we visited to celebrate Christmas, we also hosted our son’s christening. For New Year and Roberts’s birthday we took the three boys to Costa Rica, and now amongst the piles of thank you cards to be written and pictures to be sorted I have the makings of Mikus’s third birthday party. There is no time to slow down even if I wanted to – the talk to make sure and slow down/smell the roses is nice, but for me it’s full speed ahead for 2015, the train already having left the station and rolling downhill of its own accord.

As the sun set on 2014 I was on a nearly-vertical return hike from a waterfall featuring a naked Brit. (We made it back through the jungle in the near-darkness just in time to join everyone in the lodge for the vecgada vakara feast, the naked Brit having retrieved his clothes!) And the first day of the New Year found me flying through the cloudforest canopy, hundreds of feet above the forest floor. Last year was great, but I’ve got a feeling 2015 is going to be a good one – I hope you stick around to share it with me. 

Some sunshine on an autumn day

Thanks to Sara in Le Petit Village who nominated me for the Sunshine Award! Perfect timing, as it gives me an opportunity to take a break from reporting on the minutiae of the last week (and the stuff that needs to be done around the house), and instead spend a few minutes sharing some things about myself and then passing the sunshine on to a few other bloggers.*

 

First – eleven random facts about me.

1. I didn’t know Pittsburgh was an actual city until I was in high school. My parents always joked about “sending me to Pittsburgh” or lost items being “in Pittsburgh” and I thought it was a made-up place, like Never Never Land, Atlantis or Montreal.

2. I once scared a small child while dressed in a Smoky the Bear costume. Unintentionally.

3. Instead of buying the more expensive color-coordinated bag of M&Ms, I would rather sort out all the yellow/orange/browns to make Halloween cookies (and bisous to my husband for helping).

4. I’ve never been to Disneyland/Disneyworld/Disneyland Paris, but I really, really want to go!

5. My idea of fun in college was playing broomball with the Baltic Club, hanging out at a bonfire or selling Christmas trees with the Illini Foresters.

6. Speaking of college, did you know I played rugby? I was a line-out jumper for all of two months.

7. The longest inseam I’ve ever worn is 46, I prefer a 43 but most often make do with a 41.

8. Eight, eight, I forgot what eight was for

9. I'm a sucker for natural resource mysteries, like Nevada Barr, C.J. Box, Steve Hamilton & William Kent Krueger.

10. I'm a product of the Chicago Public School system.

11. I spent a month living out of an Audi in upstate Michigan while working with the Forest Service; ten years later my sister married my then-bosses cousin.

 

 

Next, I answer Sara’s questions

1. How would you describe your version of a perfect home?

Home is where the heart is! But wood floors, high ceilings and lots of natural light don’t hurt…

2. Tell me about your first date... what did you do, where did you go, and who was it with?

I’m not even sure, but I think junior prom was my first official date. Bart showed up in a tux (the average kid was wearing jeans and sneakers) with a wrist corsage for me, and we spent an awkward evening hanging out with friends on the playground, because the blaring rap that was being passed off as music in the school gym wasn’t our thing.

3. What was your favorite vacation ever?

Isle Royale, northern Italy, Greece, coastal Oregon… I can’t pick one, but I’m lucky to have someone to travel with and know there will be plenty of favorites to come.

4. Do you believe in ghosts?

                I’m not sure.

5. What accomplishment are you most proud of?

I’m very proud of paying off all of my debt 4 years out of university, and giving birth naturally to my second after a Cesarean with the first.

6. Twilight or The Hunger Games?

                Ha, I haven’t read either!

7. If you could try out any job for the day, what would you like to try?

                Coral reef scuba diver. Is that a real job?

8. If you had a €1000 gift card to any store in the world, what store would you pick?

                Amazon.com

9. Describe your perfect weekend.

Travel (near or far), good food, good company and a little exploring plus a little pampering. The way last week went the kids might stay home with grandmother.

10. What would you choose as your last meal?

An apéritif, clam chowder to start, smoked salmon, then scallops, steak, sweet potato fries as a main, a cheese course, a dessert of truffles and coffee-flavored macarons, coffee and finally le digestif.

11. You inherit 5 million dollars the same day aliens land on the earth and say they're going to blow it up in 2 days. What do you do? (Gold star to anyone that can tell me what movie this is from.)

(Sara, it’s from Heather’s – I had to google it but I want my gold star)

I splurge and pay someone to get rid of those pesky aliens. However, I think it would only take a million or so, the rest would go to travel and investments.

 

Next, I nominate:

I’m an Outlaw, not a Hero

Have Goslings, Must Travel

Inese Bokiša, Are you Happy?

Small Town Jules

The Misfortune of Knowing

Latitude Adjustment

Life in Dutch

Fit Anniversary

Hillside Lane

Queen of the Armchair, aka Dzintra Stitcheries

The Reedy Review

 

Your eleven questions guys–
1. If you could choose only one blog post to represent you, which one would you choose?
2. Name your favorite author, and favorite childhood author.
3. What is one thing you are most looking forward to in the coming year?
4. Your favorite accent? (for example, an Aussie speaking English)
5. (Repeating this one from Sara) What would you choose as your last meal?
6. Do you have a favorite spectator sport?
7. If you could spend one year living anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? (Pretend language and distance from family isn’t a barrier)
8. Name five things your refrigerator is never without.
9. What is your biggest pet peeve?
10. You win an all-expenses paid, week-long vacation to anywhere in the world – where are you headed?
11 Describe the favorite place in your home.

 

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* The rules: 1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger, 2. Share eleven random facts about yourself, 3. Answer the eleven questions set by your nominating blogger, 4. Nominate eleven bloggers yourself, 5. Post eleven questions for your nominees to answer then let them know they're up.

Indie Craft Parade's in Greenville and a big THANKS!

A heartfelt thank you to all those that voted me and my blog to #4 on the Circle of Moms “Top 25 Southern mom blogger” list. With a very short voting period (as I only found out about the nomination with less than a week left in the contest) that included Labor Day weekend when everyone is out having adventures or busy watching football (and not stuck in front of a computer!), I was astounded at the support I received, and am immensely grateful for not only your votes but your kind comments and words of encouragement.

 

To those asking “what did you win?” – well, that new badge on the right side of the screen is about the only tangible thing…. But really, the competition once more has provided inspiration to keep blogging at a time I’m feeling confusion as to where this blog is headed, as I initially started it as an expatriate diary in France. Add to that all the new blogs to explore and local bloggers to meet, and that’s what makes the effort worth it. I hope you’ll check out not only my interview with Circle of Moms, but also the list of the South’s Top 25 Mom Bloggers!

 

More congratulations are in order… Last week I announced the first ever giveaway on Femme au Foyer, a handmade assortment of beautiful dishcloths, made by my very talented cousin Annelī. From all the entries I received Lauris pulled one name out of the hat. The lucky winner is Tim! Thank you to all those who entered, and maybe it’ll be your name pulled next time!

 

It’s a big weekend here in Greenville; not only has school restarted but it’s the 4^th annual Indie Craft Parade. A festival designed especially for Greenville to showcase local artists and craftsmen, this juried crafts fair will be running today and tomorrow in the historic Huguenot Mill at the Peace Center, located at 101 W. Broad Street in downtown Greenville. It is a free festival and the hours are 9am to 6pm today, 11am to 5pm tomorrow. I attended the first ever ICP in 2010, and having missed the last two (we were living in France) I’m looking forward to stopping by, especially since I enjoyed the very similar Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago so much.

Have a wonderful weekend, and I hope to see you at the Indie Craft Parade!

 

 

Circle of Moms Top 25 Southern Moms

Happy Labor Day weekend!!!

 

This time last year we had just returned from a trip to Utah, where I crossed off a lifelong wish to see Arches National Park. Soon after we were back in Gaŗezers for a last hurrah of the summer, and then it was back to house-hunting in South Carolina. It was a time of readjustment and reverse culture shock, and looking back on those hot and humid days spent in temporary housing I swallow hard, reminded of all I have to be grateful for. Although our time in France ended much too quickly, we gained so much from our experiences and adventures there. In addition, it was moving to Clermont-Ferrand that brought about this blog!

 

Hardly even a year into our expatriate journey Femme au Foyer was nominated as a Circle of Mom’s Top 25 Expat Mom Blog. If you look over to the right side of my blog, a little ways down you’ll find a “Circle of Moms Favorite” badge, which is just one more memory of the years in France – and a reminder of all the readers that cared enough to vote, to get this blog to #4 on the list. Best of all, I made several new blogging acquaintances, including Ariana at And Here We Are and Aidan at Conjugating Irregular Verbs - whom I still follow.

 

Once again I’ve been nominated for a Circle of Moms Top 25 blogger, this time in the Southern mom category. If I could ask a favor from y’all, and to click over and vote for me? These first days I’m still listed under the “Pending Approval” tab, but all you have to do is find my blog and click on the red heart next to it. There is no signing in, no registration, only a few clicks. It would mean a lot to me to make the Top 25, and I’ll tell you why. First off, I look forward to checking out the other blogs and meeting some new bloggers from down South, and second, my competitive streak has kicked in. But most of all I look at this as an opportunity for some closure; no longer am I an expat mom blogger, and since I’ve been struggling a little with finding a purpose to keep writing, this recognition would give me a renewed sense of purpose to keep searching for my niche.

 

Thank you for each and every vote, comment and email. I wish all of you, whether French and expat friends from our time overseas, Latvian readers here and abroad, Americans, Brits, Aussies… all of the readers who drop in now and again, a wonderful Labor Day and last days of summer.

 

PS Please remember to enter the giveaway! Bonne chance!

Sunshine

My friend Barbara passed on some sunshine from her blog, Footprints in the Sand, to mine. As I’ve had my share of these fun, pass-it-on virtual hugs, I debated letting this one go, but I’ve changed my mind. I participate in a “Post of the Month Club” at Life on Planet Baby, and some of Jane’s recent posts have really resonated with me. More specifically, this post asks what/if anything has changed in blogging in recent years, as commercialism seems to be taking over the average blog. I’ve not been blogging for very long, but I do remember the big boost I got when I received my very first blog-award (I was called stylish!) So, if you're still reading...

Here's my little contribution of sunshine to blogland!

Accepting the Sunshine award requires that I answer these ten questions...

Favourite color? The blue eyes of my two little boys.
Favorite Animal? Most recently, a hedgehog. Not that we have one at home, or even that I’ve seen one recently. But I had to pick one, and the hedgehog beat out the owl and the polar bear this time!
Favorite Number? Three. The current ratio of males to females in this household.
Favorite Drink? A nice cold riesling. But something I can enjoy more often now that the closest Starbucks is just minutes (as opposed to hours) away, a decaf-mocha-frappuchino-no-whip. I believe it's simply because I could not have them in France that I want them now.
Facebook or Twitter? Facebook, although I wish I could stay away.

Your Passion? Not sure. This one seems to be an ever-evolving number of things. Hiking, reading and camping might have been replaced by mommy-ing and blogging. But traveling remains at the top of the list.

Giving or getting presents? Neither. Or both. One or the other.
Favorite Day? I have three: the day I got married, the day Lauris was born and the day Mikus was born. Corny? Yes. True? Also yes.
Favorite Flowers? Poppies. Sunflowers. Gladiolas. Roses. Maijpulkstenīši. Lavendar. Daisies.

I’ve decided I’m not very good at this 10 questions thing; I’d rather choose my own questions. So maybe the more important part of this post is the following list of 10 blogs I want to pass on some “sunshine” to? Maybe you want to take a look at some of them, maybe you have time to visit them all and say hi, but here is my attempt to spread a little sunshine:

The blog I mentioned earlier, Life on Planet Baby: Jane, thanks for all your recent posts, I wish you luck in your newest endeavours and I can’t wait for the next post of the month club!

And Here We Are... Ariana, I love your pictures, I love your chickens, and I hope you’ll accept this sunshine as a little token of my thanks for all your kind words and comments!

Coal Valley View: A Farmlet, 4 Kidlets and a Whippet: Mel, I’ve only been following for a very short while, but I sat down and read your back-posts for hours! An amazing trip, an amazing family, I look forward to reading more...

Diary of A Hobart Housewife: Romy – a mere au foyer! In Tasmania! One day I will travel to your part of the world, in the meantime I wish to read all about it.

Gina, (from The Baynhams), here’s some sunshine in honor of your seven years blogging! (And how is your meat tenderizer working?)

The Salad Days: Great Scott, it’s been five weeks since your cliffhanger of a post! Will some sunshine bring you back out? (And since I wrote this, she's baaaack! But with a plethora of news! Congratulations, and good luck!!!)

Still Life With Crockpot: Another regular writer for the Post of the Month Club, Jennie and I have been blogging for almost the same amount of time. Some rays of sunlight your way Jennie, for the sunshine you recently brought to your friend in Ohio.

Snaps and Blabs: On a journey around the world! Noticed in a recent post you were in search of the sun, well here’s some in return for taking me with on the next leg of your travels.

Mama Mzungu: Kim, I’m passing you on some sunshine in hopes that you can spread it around in your part of Kenya. I appreciate your honesty, keep it coming!

And last, but definitely not least, Grammy Goodwill! Grammy, you always have a kind word and comment for me, I hope these rays brighten your day as you so often brighten mine. Enjoy your retirement from blogland, and feel free to stop back in once in a while and say hi!

The Liebster award

The Liebster blog award is one of the coolest blogging awards I have received, because it is a different take on the chain-blog. It recognizes blogs with fewer than 200 followers in the hopes of expanding their readership.

I do not deny that followers are important to me; every time a new follower signs up I do a little happy dance, and if one leaves I ponder what I am doing wrong. Just as blogging has become more to me than updates on our life in France, my followers have become more than just people who read my blog. They are my gateway to blog-world and to other remarkable blogs. Followers also answer questions and solve problems through their comments; and at a more basic level, followers are like friends.

And so a GIANT merci beaucoup for the award Aidan! Aidan’s blog is Conjugating Irregular Verbs: letters from my dining table in the south of France. My first thought on reading her post was that her blog would have been on the list of my five favorites, and my second was what, she doesn’t have 200 followers?

So after narrowing down my favorites (liebster in German means dearest, favorite or beloved) I’ve come up with these five blogs that I believe deserve more followers. I hope you have the time to visit them and have a look yourself.

1. Zosia at Polonica: Home Again. After 21 years of living and working in Canada, she’s back in Poland and keeping this journal of rediscovering her home country. Through her posts and her photographs I’m becoming acquainted with a Poland I would like to visit someday. I’m also impressed that she posts each and every post in Polish as well as English, it dwarfs my attempt at trans-posting (?) in Latvian!

2. Mook at Hello Latvia. After growing up in Australia, Mook has now been living in Latvia for ten years. I see the posts about her two sons as lessons on how to raise a couple of boys, but I also appreciate the insight on a country that has shaped my life despite never having lived there, from another mother that can look at it with the eyes of someone not having lived there her entire life.

3. Bridget at Tales of a Tai Tai. I read her blog for the first time because of the similarities in our blogs’ names – a tai tai is also a woman who stays at home – and then I was hooked. She lives in Hong Kong with her husband and 5 week old son, and the last month I’ve been reliving the joys of being a first-time parent through her posts as we start our life as a family of four here in Clermont. Bridget’s Hong Kong is alive and vibrant, as are her high-quality pictures.

4. B at Is There Such a thing as too much cheese. I’m sorry I discovered this blog shortly before she moved from France back to Australia, as I could have used the insights on French culture, traveling and food. However her journey is only getting more exciting as she awaits the birth of her first with her husband in Melbourne. (And the due date is soon, can’t wait to meet little B through the blog!)

5. Momma at HJ Underway. Having just moved to Paris from the East Coast (of the US) with  husband and little boy HJ, her brand new blog is a fresh look on the expatriation process with all its trials and snags. I can sense the excitement of it all and it reminds me of our arrival here in France; Momma, I hope you don’t lose that spark!

If you would like to keep the blog love going, you

- link back to the blogger who awarded you as a big thanks!

- copy and paste the blog award on your blog

- reveal your 5 blog picks

- let them know you choose them by leaving a comment on their blog

Thanks to each and every one of my followers, subscribers and readers, and I hope you enjoy my five picks!

Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana

On the first of February (the eve of Independence Day), the Republic of Estonia honored 99 people with the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (Maarjamaa Risti teenetemärk in Estonian and Māras zemes krusta ordenis in Latvian). This decoration was instituted in 1995 to honor the independence of the Estonian state, and the highest class (of six), the Collar of the Order, is bestowed upon the President of the Republic. The five classes of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana are given as a decoration of the highest class on non-Estonian citizens who have rendered special services to the Republic of Estonia.



Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana
Source: Wikipedia



I am extremely proud to announce that my uncle, Guntis Šmidchens, was one of the recipients of this award. The President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, signed a resolution to give the state decorations; “As the Head of State, I consider the decorations of the Republic of Estonia to be the highest gratitude and acknowledgement of the Republic of Estonia to people from Estonia and other countries, whose work and activities have contributed to a better, safer and richer Estonia and, in a number of cases, the nominees of the decorations have expressed special personal courage. They have done more that their work would have assumed them to do.”

Guntis is a professor at the University of Washington and one of the founders of the Baltic study program there. He joins the ranks of distinguished persons such as former Latvian presidents Valdis Zatlers, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga and Guntis Ulmanis, as well as former US president George W. Bush as recipients of this decoration.

The announcement comes on the heels of another major accomplishment, receiving tenure at the University. Apsveicu Gunti! We are so very proud of your accomplishments and wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Link to offical press release here.
Link to official declaration by President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, in Estonian here.
Link to list of former recipients here.

Creative Blogger Award

Way back in November Barbara at Footprints in the Sand passed on the Kreativ Blogger Award to me. Please don’t let the amount of time that has passed be an indicator of my thanks! I’m honored she thought of Femme au Foyer when passing it on, and as always I’m a little floored by the knowledge that someone other than my mother (and now my grandmother, on her own personal iPad!) is reading this blog.

Barbara also lives in Clermont-Ferrand and gave birth to adorable little Noah in December just before Christmas, so it was informative and reassuring following her blog and her pregnancy as I was embarking on my own last year. Stop by her blog to see some adorable newborn and maternity pictures or just to say “hi”!

For the record, it does bug me a bit that Kreativ is spelled wrong…

Anyway, I'm supposed to share seven random things about me and pass on the award to other lucky bloggers. So here goes!

1. I’m Latvian. As if you haven’t figured this out already from the posts in Latvian. But I think this rates the number 1 slot because I’m actually from Chicago, so credit for being able to speak Latvian fluently and having such an affinity for Latvian traditions and culture goes to my family. My grandparents originally came to the US after WWII, but somehow I’ve managed to end up married to a Latvian with a son whose only words currently are in Latvian, go figure!

At the International Festival in South Carolina in 2010

2. I’m 39 weeks pregnant. Again, not exactly headline news, but definitely tops my list of current events. At this point I do want to add that Lauris was perfectly content to hang out until 42 weeks, so maybe hold off with the “is the baby here yet???” for another month or so.

3. I’m 6 feet 3 inches tall. This is 1.905 meters. Wreaks havoc on my pants-shopping trips.

4. I wear a size 13 shoe. My most recent pair of boots has the European equivalent listed as size 46 ½. Can you blame me for having to buy my shoes in the US?

5. In my former life I was a wildland firefighter. My forestry degree led me to five years with the US Fish & Widlife Service and the Forest Service, conducting prescribed burns and fighting fire in over 10 states. I can run a chainsaw, have flown half-hanging out of a helicopter, know how to drive a type 6 fire engine and have sucked my share of smoke. Now I eat baguettes and cheese, change diapers and hike volcanoes.

Yep, that's me hooking a load up to the Bell Jetranger...

6. I would love to hike the Appalachian Trail. There was a point while living in Georgia that I could have taken the 6 months needed to give it a shot, but life took some unexpected turns and I might have to wait some years until I get my next chance.

7. Roberts and I dated for more than 10 years before finally tying the knot. Guess we had to make sure, huh sweetie?

Now for the fun part! I pass this award on to:

Chunk and KJs Adventure

Conjugating Irregular Verbs

Inga Vītols Photography

Kimberly Cabe Photography 

Our Adventures…

For your creative photography, creative blogging and creative approaches to life!

Stylish Blogger Award

Thanks to Aiden at Conjugating Irregular Verbs for passing on this award! It feels like a kind of bloggers' chain letter, but at least in the place of 'threats of terrible things to come if I don't pass it on', I've been called stylish :)

Being 27 weeks pregnant and surrounded by très chic French women doesn't help one feel super-stylish. Especially being surrounded by très chic pregnant women who wear their bump like a fashion accessory. Which is why I have little tricks of my own to make me feel like a fashionista, if not exactly look like one...

1. The hair band. I take that extra roomy pair of cute jeans I bought after Lauris was born, then wrap a hair band around the button to close the top. Putting off wearing pregnancy jeans for another three weeks, worth it!

2. The BellaBand. Guaranteeing the nice folks at the local Carrefour won't have to see the undercurve of my bump or my bare back while I'm packing the stroller or picking up after Lauris. Because I don't always realize that my clothes are fitting funny, and I do want to wear my stretchy shirts for a few more weeks.

Source: Target.com

3. Lots of walking. Lauris and I go out every day: to the store, to the park, to playgroup or just around the block, but we walk everywhere. The fresh autumn air (even if getting a tad chilly) helps clear the head, and I believe this lifestyle agrees with pregnancy.

4. Fresh flowers. Who doesn't feel like their home is straight out of Real Simple with a bouquet of dahlias from the marché on their dining room table?

5. Comfy shoes. OK, this one is actually anti-style, especially if comparing my gym shoes to the gorgeous boots coming out of the afore-mentioned French women’s closets. But come on, cut the pregnant woman some slack!

6. One or two more-expensive pregnancy outfits. On those days I really feel clumsy and hormonal, I put on that soft woolen sweater my sister helped me pick out (insisting that it's ok to buy a few articles of clothing that cost too much, even when you will only wear them a few months, because by gosh, you're worth it!) or that bump-hugging trendy black top. It boosts self-esteem and reminds me that pregnancy is a wonderful time to be enjoyed... because in three more months when that screaming bundle of joy is around there'll be even fewer days of feeling stylish.

7. Roberts. Makes me feel like the most beautiful woman on earth... Even if he does sometimes bump into my belly as if he wasn't expecting it to be there. <Smile> 

I would like to pass the award on to these lovely ladies:

Stylin’ Mrs. B at crankymonkeys in london for her recent post "Things NOT to say about somone who's pregnant"

Barefoot Roses at A Barefoot Rose By Any Other Name for her unique barefoot style

Mamma M at Mamma 'Round the World for her parenting style

San at Life of a West Coast Latvian for her stylish Etsy finds

La-La-Liene at Never a Dull Moment in LA-LA-Land for her honest, positive blogging style

And Barbara at Footprints in the Sand for her two-weeks-more-pregnant-than-me style!

(Step 1: Your list of 7 things. Step 2: Pass it on!)