Write Expressions

Quote of the Week

2012-02-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

“Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.”

~ George S. Patton ~

Official U.S. Navy Imagery

Quote of the Week

2012-02-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

"For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can."

~ Ernest Hemingway ~

Image by: Lloyd Arnold

The Real Way to Handle Stress

2012-02-02T06:29:00.000-08:00

I poked at the baked chicken and broccoli on my dinner plate and sighed. “I’m not really hungry.”

“Why not?” Josh forked in another mouthful, chewing industriously.

“Uh…I think I ate too much earlier,” I mumbled.

He arched a brow. “Moooom? Were you stress eating again?”

I arched a brow right back at him and getting up from the dinner table, walked over to his homework spot to point out the towering pile of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup wrappers.

“Yeah, well…” At least he had the grace to look sheepish.

My son and I were both under a lot of pressure last week. He had high school finals to contend with, and I had a writing project with a tight deadline. Unfortunately, even after years of careful parenting, I’ve managed to pass my terrible stress-eating habit onto my boy. We both chowed down on junk food with abandon.

The thing is, I know it’s not healthy. I think every stress eater knows it’s not healthy. So why do we do it? Why does our body crave stuff that’s not good for us whenever we’re under pressure?

I “Googled” the topic and discovered one reason may be because under stress, our body produces extra cortisol, a.k.a. “the stress hormone.” And cortisol causes cravings for sweet and salty food, a.k.a. “junk food.” In the olden days, cortisol served a purpose, helping people bulk up on food to sustain them through times of scarcity. However, here in the suburban Midwest, where food is rarely scarce, we simply bulk up. Period.

Another reason we may stress eat is simply nervous energy. Some people bite their nails or grind their teeth. And some people eschew the unopened bag of baked tortilla chips and instead munch on Cheetos, or endless strands of Twizzlers, or uh…stuff like that, maybe.

Then I Googled, “healthy ways to deal with stress,” and found a bunch of common sense advice from experts. After contemplating it all, I thought, Really? And came up with my own, more practical advice (at least I think it’s more practical):

EXPERT TIP #1: EXERCISE.

My advice: FUGGEDABOUT IT.
I actually enjoy exercising, but now isn’t the time! (Okay, maybe squeeze in a few daily stretches to stay loose.)

EXPERT TIP #2: AVOID CAFFEINE AND SUGAR; EAT HEALTHY, BALANCED MEALS.

My advice: NOT. HAPPENING!
My daughter’s away at college and my boy is 17 years old. They both know a healthy diet includes fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and high-grain breads. I’ve done my job. So if I choose to eat three Snickers Bars for dinner one night, what’s the big deal? The key is, don’t force yourself to eat the healthy food on top of it. And voilá! Weight gain successfully avoided! But DO load up on vitamins! This helps counteract the effect of all the unhealthy eating. And as far as caffeine, I say drink up! This counteracts the sugar crash you’re sure to experience from ingesting all the junk food and keeps you going well into the wee hours.

EXPERT TIP #3: RELAX: GET PLENTY OF SLEEP, TAKE LONG BATHS WITH SCENTED CANDLES, GET A MASSAGE, CALL A FRIEND, OR CURL UP WITH A GOOD BOOK.

My advice: SERIOUSLY. NOT HAPPENING!
C’mon! One of the big reasons we’re stressed is because we don’t have enough time to do what needs to be done. So how are we supposed to fit in all this great stress-relieving stuff?! You can do all those things when the crisis is over. Think of them as rewards for a stressful situation well handled.

Disclaimer: I am NOT a medical expert, I’m only playing one on this blog. This advice is purely for entertainment purposes and any similarity to real advice is a bizarre coincidence.

So how do you handle stress? Any healthy tips?

Quote of the Week

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

"There is no exercise better for the heart

than reaching down and lifting people up."

~ John Andrew Holmes ~

Image by: Grow Wear

Quote of the Week

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

“They can because they think they can.”

~ Virgil ~

Image by: Chips Not Dead Yet

Penguin Dilemma

2012-01-20T07:19:00.000-08:00

Well, I’m deeply buried in a travel writing project covering fascinating Southeast Asia. My deadline is pretty tight for this one, so I’m “cheating” on my blog post this week and sharing a short video. I realize I should be sharing a video on Southeast Asia, but I put an app on my super-cool, totally fun new iPhone which alerts me to unique holidays.

Apparently today is Penguin Awareness Day!

So in honor of appreciating this native of the Antarctic (which is what the Midwest is feeling a lot like today!) enjoy the following Penguin Dilemma…

Quote of the Week

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

"Adventure is worthwhile."

~ Amelia Earhart ~

Image by: familymwr

Girl Sleepovers vs. Boy Sleepovers

2012-01-12T09:55:00.000-08:00

My son Josh has a very active social life. His older sister hadn’t reached his level of sociability until she was a senior in high school. But every child is different, and although he’s only in his junior year, his social calendar doth overflow with abundance.

Now, I’ve become aware that when boys hang out together, it’s a very different experience than when girls hang out together. Where girls like to giggle and talk, boys like to shoot each other.

I became aware of this during one evening event when my son and some of his friends, armed with Airsoft guns, came clambering upstairs from their basement sanctuary to head outside because one of the boys had volunteered to be the target.

“What?! Wait a minute, you can’t shoot those guns at people!” I cried.

“Don’t worry, mom. Ronnie wants to get shot at.” My son patiently explained.

I turned to Ronnie. “Ronald, you’re a smart kid. Don’t you think letting people shoot at you is not the wisest choice?”

Ronnie grinned. “Well, Mrs. Bowne. There’s a part of me that thinks it’s not wise. But then, there’s this bigger 16-year-old boy part of me that thinks it sounds really fun.”

Oi!

Over the Christmas break, aside from hanging out with his friends nearly every day, my social boy participated in multiple sleepovers. Growing up, I don’t recall my brothers ever having sleepovers—back then it was more of a “girl” thing—but no more.

And now, after hosting more than a few of them, I figured I’d share some of the interesting differences I’ve noticed between Girl Sleepovers and Boy Sleepovers.

Girl Sleepovers – Mom goes into the basement to replenish snacks and drinks to discover girls snuggled under blankets, talking, giggling and/or watching movies.

Boy Sleepovers – Mom goes into the basement to replenish snacks and drinks to discover a few boys using the padded exercise mat as a protective fortress against the other boys who are intently shooting (airsoft guns again!) at them from across the room…INSIDE THE HOUSE!

Girl Sleepovers – “Mom, can we borrow your makeup kit and nail polish to play with?

Boy Sleepovers – “Dad, can we borrow your throwing knives to play with?”

Girl Sleepovers – Girls drive to Blockbuster to rent popular chick flicks such as P.S. I Love You, The Proposal, or The Princess Bride. Then stay up all night watching them.

Boy Sleepovers – Boys Drive to Best Buy to catch the midnight sale of Modern Warfare 3. Then stay up all night doing battle against evil forces.

Girl Sleepovers – “Mom, we’re going to take the family bikes and go for a bike ride to the ice cream stand.”

Boy Sleepovers – “Mom, we’re going to take apart one of the family bikes to see how it works.”

Girl Sleepovers – “Mom, can we bake brownies?

Boy Sleepovers – “Mom, we ate the entire pan of brownies and the three dozen cookies you made. Is there anything else to eat?”

Teen sleepovers…you gotta love ‘em!

Image by: Oakley Originals

Quote of the Week

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

"If there is a wrong way to do something, then someone will do it."

~ Edward A. Murphy, Jr. ~

Image by: Crystl

Quote of the Week

2012-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter

is New Year's Day.”

~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce ~

Image by: Jo Naylor

Quote of the Week

2011-12-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:

the presence of a happy family

all wrapped up in each other.”

~ Burton Hillis ~

Image by: Kai Hendry

Uplifting Moment...

2011-12-22T12:15:00.000-08:00

I'm deep into Christmas preparations (like so many of you!) and spending as much time as possible talking with my girl who is home from college, my hubs who is officially on vacation, and my boy--in between his many social engagements. So in light of this, I'm taking a little bloggie break.

But never fear! I'll not abandon my blog completely during this time. To add an uplifting moment to your holiday season, I'm posting a video I posted several years ago. It has since inspired a massive international movement, but I'm going to share the 2006 video that I originally posted. I promise, if you haven't already seen it (and even if you have) it's totally worth the short commercial you must endure to watch it. Enjoy!

Quote of the Week

2011-12-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

“Close friends contribute to our personal growth. They also contribute to our personal pleasure, making the music sound sweeter, the wine taste richer, the laughter ring louder

because they are there.”

~ Judith Viorst ~

Image by: ImNotQuiteJack

Twenty Something

2011-12-15T18:19:00.000-08:00

The other day, my son told me a story which he found most amusing. An acquaintance of his turned eighteen. Amidst birthday congrats posted on her Facebook page from various friends, her mother added the comment, “Woo Hoo! I’m free! I’m free!”

I laughed out loud along with him, then I commented, “But you know, we’re never really free. We’ll always be ‘the mom’ (or dad).”

Then I started thinking about how our parenting role keeps changing over time. With the changes getting more dramatic as our kids age. Lately I’ve been freaking out about the fact that very soon I won’t be a “…freelance writing, happily married mom of two teens.” It’s not the “freelance writing, happily married” part, but the changing “mom of two teens” part that’s causing the freak.

I believe I’ve mentioned in the past that my daughter’s birthday is on Christmas Day. My due date back in 1991 was December 16^th, and as it got further and further into December without our unborn child even hinting at a debut, I remember I started praying. “Okay God, please make it any day but Christmas. Any day but Christmas. Any day but Christmas…”

Yeah, well.

If anyone out there doesn’t think God has a sense of humor, I can assure you he was most likely laughing uproariously when he had our little package delivered (Sorry honey, couldn’t resist the pun!) at 10:47 a.m. Christmas morning. I’m sure he was like, “Puh-leeeze! Your names are Chris & Holly! What other day would I have your sweet baby girl arrive!”

But I digress; it’s not her birth story that’s causing me to freak either. It’s the year. Our sweet, baby girl is turning TWENTY!

Two decades.

Four quinquennials.

One-fifth of a Century.

How can I be the parent of a twenty-year old!

Part of the problem is that although in “real life” I’m 49 years old, inside the imaginary world in which I dwell, I’m a super-cool twenty something. My body knows it’s 49 as evidenced by my annoying knee twinges, plantar fasciitis, biceps tendonitis, blah, blah, blah. But in my head I only graduated from college a few years ago.

I’m not the only one who thinks like this, am I?

It’s like, all this stuff keeps happening that logically I should know is going to happen, and yet, always seems to catch me by surprise.

Like when our oldest graduated from high school and went off to college. Or when our youngest began learning to drive.

And now this. In ten days I’ll no longer be a mother of teens. My role is changing. Again.

Sigh.

But time waits for no man, or mom. So I must press on. And in so doing, I come to the truly important part of this post. What am I supposed to do with my bio on here? Since I can no longer refer to myself as a “mom of two teens,” what am I? I don’t even know how to explain myself anymore. The mom of a twenty and teen? A mom of kids who are bigger than I am? Help me out here, people. Any suggestions?

Image by: baileyraeweaver

Quote of the Week

2011-12-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

"Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."

~ Marcel Proust ~

Image by: Moonlightbulb

Two Funerals and a Girls Night

2011-12-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

I just attended my second funeral within two weeks. And while I do not park myself in the “bad things happen in threes” camp, it does feel a bit strange to have them happen so close together like this.

Whenever life-altering events like these happen around the holidays, they seem magnified for some reason. Even without dealing with funerals, it’s easy to let ourselves get dragged down by all the inherent stress that typically accompanies this time of year, to let minor speed bumps become massive potholes.

Like letting myself get seriously annoyed at the company that messed up my carefully crafted Christmas card collage. Or raging at the high-tech printer which took longer to spit out my mailing labels than if I'd hand-addressed them myself. Or to grumble over ruined cookie dough.

To sweat the small stuff.

So I’m flipping the switch. I’ve decided my “third thing” is going to be a GOOD thing. Attending these funerals has reminded me how important it is to focus on every good thing in life. That it’s our relationships which really matter. Spending quality and quantity time with the people we love.

…And the people that crack us up with their outrageous antics, shocking behavior and hilarious stories.

That’s right. I’m talking about Girls Night!

This Saturday night, I’m hanging with my Babes. They are some of the brightest lights of my life. And I’m talking the funky, iridescent, twinkling, singing (Nora!) kind. My Babes are technically my Bunco Babes. Although, whenever I mention “It’s Bunco night, baby!” to my hubs, he just rolls his eyes. Because we haven’t actually played Bunco in er…well, a few years. But that’s not the point.

I’m sure it’s a proven scientific fact that women have an actual physical need to talk. When these 12+ women and I get together once a month, it’s less about playing Bunco than it is about sharing, venting, bonding, giggling and laughing uproariously. And baby, I can use some belly laughs right about now. Salve to my soul!

So, if you aren’t already, I encourage you to join me in focusing on the good stuff. During this season of rush here, hurry there… just stop. Breathe. Think of everything you have to be grateful for. Write it all down. And if you don’t already have Babes of your own, get some!

Heart Image by: Sarah DuMay

Quote of the Week

2011-12-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

"It is difficult to say what is impossible,

for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today

and the reality of tomorrow."

~ Robert H. Goddard ~

Image by: Shamanic Shift

Quote of the Week

2011-11-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

"Love is the great beautifier."

~ Louisa May Alcott ~

Image by: bravenewtraveler

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

A friend sent this to me a while back and I thought it was adorable. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Video Source on Youtube

Quote of the Week

2011-11-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

"Sweet is the breath of vernal shower,

The bee’s collected treasures sweet,

Sweet Music’s melting fall but sweeter yet

The still small voice of Gratitude."

~ Thomas Gray ~

Image by: Tejvanphotos

Cooking Burnout

2011-11-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

For some odd reason, I’m always drawn to cookbooks and recipe magazines. It doesn’t matter if I’m in a gift shop on vacation, or waiting in line at the grocery store. They pull me in like a kid to a candy counter. And I devour them. Tasting the ingredients on my tongue as I read and dream about those dishes. Hot, fragrant and fresh from the oven.

As long as I’m not the one cooking them, that is.

Does anybody remember Lisa’s “hot cakes” from the old television show, Green Acres? Okay, I’m not that bad, but my culinary skills definitely leave something to be desired. And unfortunately, I don’t have Zsa Zsa Gabor’s “hotness” factor to make up for my lack of technique in the kitchen.

To be honest, I didn’t realize I even had a cooking problem until recently. Maybe because this deficiency hasn’t always been the case. Over the years, my culinary talents have followed a sort of bell-shaped curve.

As a teen, I started out pretty lame. Never did much cooking while living at home with my parents, aside from acting as “sous-chef” on occasion. During my college days I survived on and bologna ‘n cheese sandwiches supplemented by Doritos, M&M’s, (and sneaking tidbits from my roommates’ home-cooked meals when they weren’t looking). And believe it or not, my hubby cooked dinner the first six years we were married!

Then along came our first child. I became a stay-at-home mom and somehow making family meals ended up on my plate. I was cautious. Started out slow, following simple recipes to the letter. Gradually, my skills improved and I could diverge from the written word a bit. I even figured out how to use the Crockpot we’d received as a wedding gift.

But I think my skills must have peaked about the time my youngest was in middle school because I’ve been on a steady downhill progression ever since.

The thing is, I’m not sure why. It’s not that I don’t like cooking. Cooking is creative and I’m a creative person. Maybe the problem is I try to get too creative. Bored with simply following the recipe, I attempt to add my own personal flair…and fail. Epic fail.

I know part of the issue is being born without that female gene that allows women to multitask. Whenever I am cooking, if I attempt even the tiniest conversation, or to answer the phone or— Heaven forbid—sit down at the computer for “just a sec,” well, forget it. Whatever lovely cuisine I had planned is history.

It’s gotten so bad my son actually photographs my failed dinner “experiments” and sends them to his sister at college with notes attached stating: “SHE EXPECTS ME TO EAT THIS!!!” My daughter in turn finds great humor in posting these photographs on the web within her own blog.

Yeah. Real funny.

I struggled with what to do about this issue, even considered pulling a trick I learned from an old college friend who once confessed he “made dinner” for his new girlfriend by ordering delicious Chinese food from a local restaurant, then raced home to dump it all into his own pots and pans before she arrived.

But that could get expensive.

Then I considered taking cooking lessons. But my youngest is now a junior in high school. In two years we’re empty nesters. What do I need great cooking skills for then? I don’t even have to pretend I’m eating my vegetables anymore if I don’t want to.

I finally concluded the real problem is: I’m burned out. Heck, after 20 years of cooking for my family, I’m ready to retire. So instead of cooking lessons, I think it’s time to pass the scorch—er, torch. Yessiree, maybe I’ll just kick back and let my beloved children do the cooking. How about that? My son can handle the school year, and my daughter can take care of the summers. Sure, they may not be happy about it at first. But I’m actually helping them develop a necessary life skill. It’s only good parenting, right? And for me, it’s a win-win. Nice dinners on the table every night (at least none worse than I’m serving now), and I don’t have to listen to any more jokes or view any more online pictures of my cooking fiascos.

And just for the record, I am a decent baker. I make great snickerdoodles and a mean batch of M & M/chocolate chip cookies. So I’ll still be able to pull off the successful cookie-baking grandma role someday. But for now…

Seriously. I think it’s a good plan.

It’s got potential.

Quote of the Week

2011-11-14T14:07:00.000-08:00

"Never mistake motion for action."

~ Ernest Hemingway ~

Image by: fictures

Quote of the Week

2011-11-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

"You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to

go to bed with satisfaction."

~ George Lorimer ~

Image by: Coneybeare

How I Spent My Summer: Adventures in Paris - The Final Chapter

2011-11-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

It was our last Parisian morning. We checked out of our apartment (sniff, sniff), but since our flight home didn’t leave until later in the afternoon we enjoyed a final stroll through the city streets and along the Champs D’Élysées. Here are some of our more memorable street shots…

The ornate architecture is so inspiring…

Several times we had these “party busses” drive past us!

And check out the way Parisians park!

Whenever somebody wants to leave, they just start whacking against the cars in front and behind until they eventually maneuver their way out of the parking space. I guess that’s what “bumpers” are for, er, oui?

We also took one final sightseeing excursion to the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

As we stood in line to go to the top, I once again took advantage of my captive audience and shared the fact that this 160-foot triumphal arch was planned by Napoleon. He liked to think of himself as an heir to the Roman emperors so he had the arch built to celebrate his military successes. It’s actually inspired by Rome’s Arch of Titus. Check out the similarities…

Arch of Titus

Arc de Triomphe

Also, France’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is buried beneath the archway to honor soldiers lost in World War I. The Eternal Flame is rekindled every evening.

Here’s a detail of one side of the arch showing this incredible sculpture by Francois Rude, titled The Departure of the Volunteers, honoring the hallowed figures who fell on the fields of battle.

Finally, we climbed the nearly 300 steps to the top to see L’Étoile, the “star” effect of the 12 radiating avenues below.

Here’s the amazing vista down the Champs D’Élysées.

And see that massive hollowed-out square-frame structure in the horizon? That is La Défense, Europe's largest purpose-built business district.

Then…it was time.

Exhausted, we trudged onto the airplane where we discovered my well-travelled hubby had arranged a surprise for us. He’d used his Frequent Flyer Miles to upgrade all of us to Business Class! It was so awesome!

I realize all of you regular business class travelers won’t be impressed by this, but for the rest of you: Our seats reclined nearly horizontal without impacting the person sitting behind us at all! And the provided blankies were much bigger, warmer and comfier than mere economy class blankies.

Chris, the well-seasoned traveler that he is, immediately set up his bed and went to sleep. I knew I should have done the same thing but I was way too excited to sleep. Who knew when I would get to experience amenities like this again?! So instead, I enjoyed a marathon “chick flick fest” on my supersize movie screen while sipping champagne and dining on some of the best Parisian cuisine of our trip. I also played with every button, switch and lever available. I couldn’t believe Chris was sleeping through all this great stuff! Oh, to be so cavalier about such luxury! And apparently, he did not appreciate me waking him up to share every new found delight I encountered.

All in all it was an incredible adventure. Au Revoir Paris! Until next time!

Image by: ReneS

Epilogue

HOLLY: Oh. My. Gosh! Chris, hey Chris! This airplane seat has a massager in it!

CHRIS: Zzzzzzz.

JOSH: Mooooom! Ashleigh took champagne when the flight attendant was passing them out before the flight!

ASHLEIGH: Cut it out, Josh! I thought it was apple juice!

HOLLY: Never mind. We’re technically still in Paris, so it’s not illegal. Did you guys see that the seats have massagers in them?

CHRIS: Zzzzzzz.

If you’re feeling particularly inspired, click the links below for my previous Parisian posts:

Parts I-II (just skip the Quotes of the Week!)

Parts III – V (ditto note above!)

Parts VI-VII

All photographs © Holly, Chris & Ashleigh Bowne unless otherwise noted.

Quote of the Week

2011-10-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Man is an imagining being."

~ Gaston Bachelard ~

Happy Halloween!

Image by: Brett Holt

How I Spent My Summer: Adventures in Paris VII

2011-10-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

If you’re feeling particularly inspired, click the links below for my previous Parisian posts:

Part I

Part II

Parts III-VI

It was our last full day in Paris. So after dining on light, flaky sacristain (LOVE those!!) and other pastries for breakfast…

Image by: Jack06

We travelled to the Palace of Versailles!

The line to get in was over two hours long. (Naturally!)

And I could see Chris already shaking his head, preparing to leave. But I was desperate! Approaching the entrance security guard, I summoned the skills earned from my single year of college French. I indicated the line and said, “Pardon monsieur, mais est-il une autre option?

“Oui!” he replied. Then in really great English, he explained we could save time by purchasing our tickets from a restaurant directly across the street. Dashing between cars, we bought the tickets, dashed back and made it inside the palace within 45 minutes!

The intriguing story behind this opulent structure is this: In 1661, King Louis XIV’s finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet invited the king for a weekend of lavish entertainment at his luxurious new château. Twenty-two-year-old Louis felt his authority was being undermined by Fouquet’s show of wealth, so after the festivities, he had Fouquet tossed in prison on trumped-up charges, then hired his talented building team to start work on what later became the Palace of Versailles. Louis wanted his palace to embody the divine majesty and absolute power of the French monarchy; it took 20 years and over 30,000 men to build.

Years later, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette’s extravagant taste in decorating—which is apparent throughout this incredible structure—along with Louis’ military campaigns abroad, eventually drained the royal treasury, inspiring revolution and the end of Versailles as the royal seat of power.

Versailles Chapel

Many of the rooms are named after Roman gods and goddesses. Here is a famous Bernini bust of Louis XIV in the Salon de Diane. (Diana Room—Roman goddess of the hunt.)

The rococo decoration of Marie-Antoinette’s bedroom is sooo over the top!

Since I’d just finished reading Diana Gabaldon’s historical Outlander series, which incorporates this palace into the events of one of the stories, I was thrilled to see the glittering Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors) for myself.

It’s renowned as one of the most famous rooms in the world, holding 17 mirror-clad arches—each with 21 mirrors—reflecting the 17 arcaded windows overlooking the amazing Versailles gardens.

I could just envision the room at night, lit by hundreds of candles. Dancers swirling past in beautiful gowns of colorful silk…

It did not disappoint!

“Hey Josh,” I said as I squinted through my camera viewfinder, snapping photo after photo. “Did you know that it was in this very room that Otto Bismarck proclaimed the unified German Empire in 1871? Then ironically the Treaty of Versailles declaring Germany’s responsibility for World War I was signed here in 1919.”

“That’s interesting, mom.” Josh said. “I’m going to go check out that beautiful garden view from the window.” He was off in a flash. That’s strange. Josh never cares about beautiful garden views at home.

Aside from the Hall of Mirrors, I was most thrilled to tour the amazing gardens of Versailles. Arguably the most famous gardens in the world…

Designed by Andre Le Nôtre between 1661 and 1700, the lawns are painstakingly manicured featuring parterres of flowers, sculptures and fountains in classic French Baroque style.

Do you see that mile-long, light-filled rectangle of water behind my boys?

That’s the Grand Canal. It’s an original creation of Le Nôtre, and was the setting for King Louis XIV’s nautical spectacles. In the summer, his fleet of reduced model ships sailed its length.

We found the sculpted shrubbery most inspiring.

Good times, good times.

Arriving back in Paris, we wandered the banks of the Seine, browsing the treasure-filled iconic “green boxes” of the outdoor booksellers, or bouquinistes.

Image by: Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College

The bouquinistes have been a Parisian tradition since the 16^th century, and you can often spot them in famous Paris landscapes, particularly from the Impressionist period.

Pariser Büchermarkt (Bouquinistes)

Creator:Fritz Westendorp (1867 Köln – 1926 Düsseldorf)

Image by: AndreasPraefcke

Deciding the evening was still young, we took a sunset river cruise down the Seine.

With vintage French accordion music as our backdrop, we viewed the famous bridges of Paris.

(Okay, this guy isn’t exactly “vintage” but this is a good sample of the type of music we listened to so you can get the full effect:

This shot was taken on dry land, but here we have Paris’ controversial “Love Locks.”

Apparently couples inscribe their names on padlocks and attach them to the wire-mesh bridge railings, then toss the key into the Seine below in a poetic declaration of everlasting love. Aaaah, le romance! (Or vandalism, depending on your point of view.)

It was such a beautiful Sunday evening. Parisians relaxed by the riverside waving, playing music and blowing us kisses as we passed…

It was the perfect end to our final night in Paris.

Tune in next week for my final Parisian post!

All photographs © Holly, Chris & Ashleigh Bowne unless otherwise noted.

Quote of the Week

2011-10-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Standing at his appointed place, at the trunk of the tree, he does nothing other than gather and pass on what comes to him from the depths.

And the beauty at the crown is not his own.

He is merely a channel."

~ Paul Klee ~

Image by: Grand Canyon NPS

How I Spent My Summer: Adventures in Paris VI

2011-10-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

If you’re feeling particularly inspired, click the links below for my previous Parisian posts:

Part I

Part II

Parts III-V

Chris arranged to rent a car for the remainder of our stay in Paris. (Yeah! No more waiting for taxis!) And we arose super early the next morning for a day-long excursion to Normandy Beach.

Now, I’m about to confess something that will probably leave many of you thinking a lot less of me. But if nothing else, I strive to be an honest person. In my defense, I’ve never been a huge history buff (aside from reading historical romance novels) and I have only a rudimentary knowledge regarding the major wars in which the U.S. has been involved.

My confession: I had no idea what the significance of Normandy Beach was in regard to World War II. Neither could I understand why Chris--and my non-art-enthusiast son—were so adamant that we would drive three hours one way, just to look at a beach!

Needless to say, when we arrived, I was shamed and awed. Normandy’s Omaha Beach Museum was amazing!

We learned fascinating details about the brave, young soldiers who lost their lives helping reclaim the world’s freedom.

I studied the posted timeline which covered all significant events from the start to the end of the war, including an hour-by-hour account of the Normandy Campaign—the largest amphibious operation in history. This battle marked the beginning of the end of the war.

The Allied forces rehearsed their D-Day roles for months before the Normandy invasion, which began with overnight parachute and glider landings, massive air attacks and naval bombardments, followed by early morning amphibious landings on five beaches.

We wandered through the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, where over 9,000 American soldiers who lost their lives during the invasion are buried.

The ocean glowed blue and serene in the distance, making it difficult to imagine the bloody battle that once took place there. The cemetery was beautiful. Immaculate. Peaceful. Fragrant with blossoming flowers, pines, carefully manicured trees and sunshine.

After leaving the cemetery, we drove to the quaint medieval village of Bayeux for lunch.

Chris often travelled to the nearby city of Caen for work and knew we would enjoy exploring the massive 11th-century cathedral located there.

Image by: Mcaretaker

As we dined in typical French style, facing the street from our little table, we noticed something odd kept happening. The narrow sidewalks were filled with people shopping among the charming boutiques lining the cobblestone streets. But every so often in the midst of the crowds, we’d spot somebody dressed like this:

Hmmmm…

These strangely dressed folks would walk past us, then disappear around a corner. Naturally, when we were done eating I insisted Chris wait on getting his gelato fix so we could follow the trail. I had to find out where those people were going!

We went around that mysterious corner…and discovered a fair! It just happened to be Bayeux’s 25th annual Medieval Festival! Complete with street performers, theatrical presentations, and costumed vendors selling their wares.

And the focal point of the fair was the very cathedral Chris wanted us to see.

The aptly named Bayeux Cathedral was consecrated on July 14, 1077. One reason it’s famous is because it was here that William, Duke of Normandy and King of England forced Harold Godwinson to take the oath, the breaking of which led to the Norman conquest of England.

It was massive and beautiful…

As we left the cathedral, we spotted these elaborately dressed women on stilts making their way through the crowd directly towards us.

Striding past, they came to a halt in the doorway of the cathedral we had just exited. Joining hands, they began to sing an enchanting medieval song in beautiful harmony.

It was so cool!

We finally left Bayeux, driving through rolling French countryside, past acres of golden wheat and this amazing field of sunflowers.

From the highway we spotted a castle ruin and spontaneously pulled off to explore it. The castle rose from a high hill and had a stunning view overlooking the entire Rouen region and River Seine.

Apparently we’d stumbled upon the Château de Robert-le-Diable. It was built during the 11th and 12th centuries and is a French feudal castle from the time of the Dukes of Normandy. The castle takes its name from Robert the Devil, a.k.a. Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy and father of William the Conqueror! Another interesting tidbit is that King Richard the Lionheart stayed here.

Well, after our major road trip, we got back to Paris late that evening, ate dinner late (by American standards, anyway), and went to bed late--well after midnight (of course!).

Tune in next week for our trip to the Palace of Versailles!

All photographs © Holly & Chris Bowne unless otherwise noted.

Quote of the Week

2011-10-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The only thing we can count on to see us through an uncertain future is our ability to ask questions."

~ Andrea Batista Schlesinger ~

(The Death of "Why?")

Image by: Teo Sze Lee

How I Spent My Summer: Adventures in Paris V

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

If you’re feeling particularly inspired, click the links below for my previous Parisian posts:

Parts I, II, III, IV

Figuring we’d pushed Joshua’s museum gallivanting to the max, we visited the L'Hôtel National des Invalides, a complex of museums and monuments relating to France’s military history, as well as the burial site for some of France's war heroes, including Napoleon Bonaparte.

Later, the boys humored Ashleigh and me by accompanying us to the Latin Quarter and the famous book store, Shakespeare and Company!

It was exactly what you might expect--this totally cool, cluttered shop with loads of new, used and rare books crammed into floor-to-ceiling shelves, and overflowing from cardboard boxes scattered outside the shop’s door.

Image in public domain

I ended up buying a book about Paris in the Middle Ages (which Ashleigh yawned at!), plus I picked up an 1866 copy of Beethoven’s Letters from 1790 – 1826 for FREE, baby!

The boys were anxious to move on, so from there we went to ancient Sainte Chapelle.

Image by: marsupilami92

This church was commissioned by King Louis IX to house his collection of Passion Relics, including part of Christ’s Crown of Thorns. (Although this relic is now kept in Notre Dame’s Treasury.) But the church is really famous because it contains one of the most extensive collections of 13^th-century stained glass anywhere in the world.

Well, we got there, and naturally the line to get in was miles long. We knew La Conciergerie, another site we wanted to see, was around the corner. So we went there first.

Image by: Hugovoyages

No line at all! Plus, we discovered that by purchasing a dual ticket for Sainte Chapelle and La Conciergerie, we would get to skip right to the front of the ridiculously long line for Sainte Chapelle. How cool is that?! La Conciergerie is the famous prison where Queen Marie-Antoinette was locked up during the French Revolution, before being carted off to the guillotine.

Waving “au revoir” to the poor suckers still waiting in line, we sailed into Sainte Chapelle. We explored the lower chapel...

...before climbing a narrow spiral staircase to the upper chapel. As I came up through the floor of the upper chapel, my first impression was just…WOW.

Framed by eloquently painted stonework, fifteen stained glass windows stretch from mid-wall to the incredibly high ceiling. Stories from the Bible are told in rich, glowing color within these shimmering panels of colored glass.

It was awesome! After dinner we visited Le Tour Eiffel at night.

We were herded like sheep into elevators which took us to stop number one for this beautiful sunset view:

We then boarded a second elevator with took us to the ear-popping 1000-ft. top. It occurred to me that while we were crammed together in the elevator, I had a captive audience.

“Hey kids,” I said, pulling out my totally cool fact sheets and turning to the Eiffel Tower page. “Did you know the the Eiffel Tower never sways more than 4-1/2 inches, even in the strongest wind?”

“That’s really interesting mom,” said my captive audience.

“And did you know that originally, this tower was never intended to be a permanent addition to the city? It was created for the World Exhibition of 1889. For years Parisians hated it. They called it the Giant Asparagus!”

The elevator doors opened and my kids rushed out ahead of us.

“Some day they’ll be grateful that I shared all this stuff with them,” I grumbled to my ~~captive~~ husband, who merely nodded, towing me forward to see the view.

The AMAZING view!!

It was windy and cold, but soooo magical. At one point, Chris and I heard happy cheers and whistles which we assumed were in celebration of the Eiffel Tower’s twinkling light show. The lights twinkle for 10 minutes every hour at night.

But we later discovered through Ashleigh and Joshua, who were on the opposite side of the tower, that the cheers were for a young man who had just proposed to his girlfriend. Trés cool!

Once again, no taxi in sight and we got home in the wee hours of the morning. We decided our official theme phrase was: You cannot go to bed before midnight in Paris!

Jusqu'à la prochaine fois, mes amies!

(Until next time, my friends!)

All photographs © Holly & Chris Bowne unless otherwise noted.

Quote of the Week

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Success is a finished book, a stack of pages each of which is filled with words. If you reach that point, you have won a victory over yourself

no less impressive than sailing

single-handed around the world."

~Tom Clancy ~

Photograph © Joshua Bowne

How I Spent My Summer: Adventures in Paris IV

2011-10-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

If you’re feeling particularly inspired, click the links below for my previous Parisian posts:

Part I

Part II

Part III

I left off last time with our glittering view of the Eiffel Tower. A perfect ending to a beautiful day. Or so we thought…

It was around midnight, when we attempted to catch a taxi to take us home. Key word here: attempted.

For the next hour, we tried everything we could think of—waving wildly, dancing, showing some leg, standing at high traffic street corners, low traffic street corners—all to no avail. Every taxi we spotted whizzed past, ignoring us completely!

Except one. Somewhere around 12:45 a.m., a taxi pulled up alongside just to let us know that he would not accept our fare.

“Mais pour quooooiiiiii?!” I whined through his open window.

He indicated a young couple across the street from us who had only just stepped up to the curb.

“Because,” he explained in halting English. “Zey standing under ze sign.” He indicated a miniscule “Taxi” sign above them which we had failed to notice. And with that, he raced off with the beautiful people, leaving us breathing in his exhaust.

Image by: Dave Newman

A short while later we admitted defeat. We were freezing, our feet ached like crazy, but we started walking the endless miles back to our apartment. We distracted ourselves by singing loudly (& badly) as we trudged along and by watching Joshua try cool Parkour moves on the nearly empty sidewalks.

At one point we cut through the Jardin des Tuileries park. It was so dark we could barely see the dirt path, but I smelled an unmistakable aroma.

“Watch where you step!” I warned. “We don’t need horse poop on our shoes!”

Becoming grumpy and slap happy in turns, we laughed hysterically after encountering a young couple on the darkened path, walking in the opposite direction. They were each towing a huge suitcase through the dirt and horse poop. We didn’t need a translator to understand what the woman was saying in an unending French diatribe.

“See kids,” I giggled. “Things could always be worse!”

Famous last words.

Now, there are positives to staying in an old Parisian apartment building, and there are negatives.

Positive: You get to experience life as a true Parisian. You get to open screenless windows each morning and experience the delightful fragrance of fresh baked goods while observing the pigeons roosting on your neighbor’s rooftop. (I wonder if they ever fly in through one of those open windows?)

Negative: You get to experience life as a true Parisian. Arriving back at our apartment around 2:30 a.m., we discovered that while we’d been gone some pipes had burst. The apartment above us had leaked toilet water all over our kitchen counter, soaking everything on it including our food and my camera battery charger complete with back-up battery.

Awesome.

But we were just too tired to care.

In the morning we called maintenance, then closed the door on the mess inside in favor of enjoying a L’Open Bus tour.

It was lovely riding around, listening to French music and learning about the city via the multilingual headsets. At Ashleigh’s insistence, we got off the bus to explore notorious Moulin Rouge.

I knew the area had a “naughty” reputation, but I had no idea how naughty. At one point a woman approached Chris saying something I couldn’t quite catch, while he just looked surprised. Suddenly, she glanced behind him to see me, Ashleigh and Joshua hot on his heels.

“Oh, you’re with them,” she said in English, and moved away.

“What did she want?” I asked curiously.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “But I think she was a female pimp.”

Interesting. Are you paying attention to all this culture, kids?

We caught the next bus for Montmartre to see the famous Sacre Coeur Basilica, constructed with donations from people who thought the French Revolution and Paris Commune uprising of 1871 were punishment from God for their lack of faith.

“Hey guys,” I said, as the bus glided to a halt. “Did you know that every time it rains, the basilica’s white dome gets even whiter because of the type of stone they used?”

“Mmmm…” Ashleigh and Joshua murmured, quickly exiting the bus.

Hmph! Well, I was excited I was finally going to see this famous building. So you can imagine my disappointment when we reached the top of the hill and saw this:

Nice historic building, eh?

I guess one man’s historic beauty is another man’s regular ol’ church picnic complete with inflatable slide.

After our day of bus touring, we celebrated Joshua’s 17^th birthday at the lovely Chez Clemént on the Champs D’Elysées.

“Well, Josh,” I said with a smile, once we were seated. “How many kids can say they celebrated their 17^th birthday in Paris?!”

“Uh…everybody who lives here when they turn 17?” replied my smart-aleck boy.

Jusqu'à la prochaine fois, mes amies!

(Until next time, my friends!)

All photographs © Holly & Chris Bowne unless otherwise noted.

Quote of the Week

2011-10-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

"The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass,

it becomes a mysterious, awesome,

indescribably magnificent world in itself."

~ Henry Miller ~

Image by: 0xC001D00D

How I Spent My Summer: Adventures in Paris III

2011-09-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

If you missed my first few Paris posts and would like to start from the beginning of our adventure, click the links below:

Part I

Part II

After the Mona Lisa experience, we left the Italian Art section and headed to the Ancient Greek, Etruscan and Roman wing. The thrilling Winged Victory of Samothrace stood at the top of a staircase. I got Josh to pay more attention to her by letting him know he was looking at the “real” Nike (Greek goddess of victory). It was sculpted c. 190 A.D.:

We also viewed the alleged epitome of graceful, feminine beauty, the infamous Venus de Milo. Honestly, I found her a bit too broad-shouldered and masculine to be the “perfect woman.” Although I think Chris may have appreciated her demure silence as opposed to my tendency to, er, vocally express my opinion on matters.

It was cool seeing all the different artists throughout the museum sketching and painting these great works of art.

We wandered for quite a while amongst the sculptures of ancient rulers and mythological characters, while Ashleigh educated us on the finer points she’d learned during school last year.

Eventually though, after so much art appreciation we started getting a little loopy…

Chris found great humor in snapping this shot of Joshua, just a tad bit bored by now.

We ate lunch at a cute, little café near the Louvre, then headed to the Musée Rodin. This museum is actually a mansion, dating from 1731.

Image by: Michael Scaduto

Rodin liked his work to remain intentionally messy—leaving fingerprints along with marks from the tools and rags used to keep the clay moist, because he wanted his sculptures to reflect the artistic process of creation.

The museum is surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens filled with some of Rodin’s most famous works. And after spending so much time indoors it was nice to be outside.

We saw Rodin’s original sculpture, The Thinker (c. 1880).

As well as The Three Shades.

Rodin later placed The Thinker and The Three Shades on top of his masterpiece of all masterpieces, The Gates of Hell.

Note the smaller version of The Three Shades standing at the top of the gate? They’re a triple representation of the same figure directing the viewer’s eyes down to The Thinker who sits contemplating the fate of the tormented figures below.

"Abandon every hope, ye who enters here," (taken from the inscription above the Gates of Hell Dante’s Divine Comedy a.k.a. Dante’s Inferno.)

As we stood in front of The Gates of Hell, (no pun intended!) I turned to Josh. “Did you read the packet information on Rodin I included for you?”

“Nope,” he grinned.

“No worries,” I said, unzipping my purse and once again whipping out the extra copy I’d printed. I flipped through several pages, stopping at the Auguste Rodin summary. “Did you know that this project ultimately became Rodin’s obsession?”

“Nope.”

“Uh-huh. He spent the last 37 years of his life working on it!”

I looked up to find Josh walking rapidly away from me up a random garden path. I do not understand why everybody isn’t as fascinated with these details as I am!

I followed him to arrive at the beautiful, peaceful setting of what I consider one of Rodin’s most disturbing pieces, Ugolino.

The story behind this sculpture is a depressing one. Apparently, in the 13^th century this Ugolino character was accused of corruption. He, along with two sons and two grandsons (or nephews, in other versions) were imprisoned in the Gualandi Tower where they were all starved to death.

And here they are, starving to death:

Nice, eh?

But the gardens were beautiful, and we had a good time there.

Figuring we’d pushed 17-year-old Josh’s museum gallivanting to the max for the day, we headed back for a nice dinner and a view of Le Tour Eiffel at night.

Jusqu'à la prochaine fois, mes amies! (Until next time, my friends!)

All photographs © Holly, Chris and Ashleigh Bowne unless otherwise noted.

Quote of the Week

2011-09-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Know how to live within yourself: there is in your soul a whole world of mysterious and enchanted thoughts; they will be drowned by the noise without; daylight will drive them away: listen to their singing and be silent."

~ Fyodor Tyutchev ~

Image by: Yosh3000

How I Spent My Summer: Adventures in Paris II

2011-09-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Photograph © Chris Bowne

If you missed my first post on Paris,
you can read it here!

We started our second day with a trip around the corner from the apartment. In a tradition which lasted throughout our stay in Paris, we visited this delightful Boulangerie to select fresh pastries for breakfast.

Some of us really enjoyed having dessert for breakfast every day!

Our first stop was my husband’s favorite museum, the Musée d’Orsay.

Image by: orange74

Unfortunately, the Musée d’Orsay does not allow photographs. So I can’t show you all the impressive artwork we saw there, like Degas’ pastels, Whistler’s Mother and an entire special exhibit of Édouard Manet’s work. Just suffice it to say, we were all impressed! At one point, Ashleigh said in awe, “I can’t believe I’m standing here looking at Van Gogh’s self portrait!”

That night we wandered along the Champs D’Élysées and experienced Paris in the rain…

C’est magnifique!

On our third day, we finally visited the Louvre!

Known as the “museum among museums” the Louvre’s unrivalled collection is much too extensive to see in one day, so we focused our touring on specific areas. Since Ashleigh had studied ancient Greece & Rome during her freshman year at college, we chose the Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities wing, as well as the Italian paintings section. (Do you even need to ask if I grabbed myself an audio tour headset?)

We started with the Italian paintings which were hung along both sides of an endless, wide hallway, smaller anterooms shot off to the sides. I plugged myself in and meandered along, absorbing all sorts of fascinating info about the paintings I viewed. At one point, I entered a side room and sucked in my breath. I had stumbled upon the Louvre’s largest painting! Paolo Veronese’s Wedding of Cana (1562-63) spans an entire wall! I punched in the audio tour code and learned about this amazing work which depicts Christ’s first miracle where he turns water into wine. It was impossible for me to get a photo of the entire piece, but here are two details:

Shaking my head in amazement, I left the room and wandered further up the hallway. Suddenly, I felt a light touch on my arm and turned to find Ashleigh looking at me.

“Did you see the Mona Lisa?” she asked.

“No! Where?!”

She rolled her eyes. “It was in the room you were just in, mom!”

Huh?!

I dashed back into the room and saw what I hadn’t noticed before. The Louvre’s most famous painting hung directly opposite Veronese’s Wedding of Cana. I couldn’t believe I’d missed it, nor the huge crowd gathered around it.

I swiftly crossed the floor and that was the last “swift” thing I did for the next 20 minutes as I soon found myself crushed in a sea of bodies slowly surging towards the painting. It was suffocating! And the worst part was, I seriously could not escape. I’ve never been claustrophobic, but I fought a rising sense of panic as the crowd moved forward at about the speed of a teenager doing a chore. It didn’t help that I’m on the short side either. For several interminable minutes, this was all I could see:

I was frustrated and disgusted as smelly, sweaty bodies pressed against me from all sides. Eventually, I caught a glimpse of Mona through the crowd.

When I finally stood in front of the painting, I attempted to raise my camera to my eye but was shoved sideways by somebody and poked in the head by another as they too attempted to snap photos of the masterpiece.

“All right, that’s IT!” I growled in super crabby English. “Would you get your elbow out of my face!” My neighbor peered down at me in astonishment, as if surprised to find me there, but obliged grudgingly.

I snapped this photo…

And got the heck out of there! After all I’d read about Mona, and why she’s so famous, I hadn’t even had the opportunity to absorb any of it in that crowded mess!

After that fiasco though, things went more smoothly. Despite the crowds, we witnessed many really great pieces. However, since this post is already running long I’ll wait to share more of our adventure in my next post!

Paris Travellers Tip: Part of the reason for the huge crowd we experienced when we went to the Louvre was that we inadvertently visited the museum on its most popular day of the week: Wednesday. The Louvre is closed every Tuesday, so crowds on Wednesday are probably particularly intense.

Jusqu'à la prochaine fois, mes amies!

(Until next time, my friends!)

Quote of the Week

2011-09-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Almost anything is easier to get into

than to get out of."

~ Agnes Allen ~

Image by: baileyraeweaver

How I Spent My Summer: Adventures in Paris

2011-09-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

One benefit of my husband Chris’s job has been Frequent Flyer Miles. Over the years he’s done quite a bit of travelling for work and as a result, our family has been blessed with several very nice vacations, including Hawaii, Mexico, Rome, and this past summer, Paris! I thought I’d share some trip highlights and photographs with you over my next few blog posts.

We left for our adventure on June 26^th, flying overnight to arrive in Paris around 8:00 a.m. the following morning. We grabbed a taxi and got to experience Parisian rush hour traffic firsthand.

Since we’re a family of four, it was cheaper to rent an apartment as opposed to staying in a hotel. Chris found a cute, little place right around the corner from the Louvre. It was also conveniently located next door to a detective agency--just in case we uncovered a mystery while we were there.

Photograph © Ashleigh Bowne

The apartment building elevator so tiny, it seemed designed to barely fit two regular-to-petite-size people. In fact, we couldn’t even fit all of our luggage with one person. On a challenge, the kids and I managed to cram the three of ourselves inside!

Photograph © Ashleigh Bowne

The day was incredibly hot, hitting around 100 degrees. So we headed to the Louvre with dreams of wandering the famous museum in air-conditioned comfort, but unfortunately, everybody else had the same idea. The line snaked about a mile long, so we gave up and walked to Notre Dame instead.

We entered the hushed atmosphere, appreciating the way its gray stone interior was illuminated by candlelight and sunlight glowing through stained glass windows.

Now for those of you who’ve travelled vicariously with me before through my blog, you’ll recall that I love to make certain my kids fully appreciate what they’re looking at on these family trips. So as usual, I put together a “little” packet of interesting facts concerning everything we were planning to see in Paris.

“Hey guys,” I whispered. “Did you read my notes about Notre Dame yet?”

“No,” they whispered back.

“No problem,” I said, whipping the extra study packet I was carrying from my purse. “Did you know that Napoleon was so geeked to become emperor, that he seized the crown right out of the pope’s hands and placed it on his own head in December 1804, right here at this very cathedral?”

“No,” they said.

“And did you know that Notre Dame is constructed in the high Gothic style? Renaissance artists gave Gothic architecture its name, basing it on the word “Goth” which implied the style was barbaric compared to the clean, noble lines of Roman architecture.”

I looked up. Somehow the kids had sidled away and were nowhere to be seen. Hmmm? No worries. I’d find them again. From Notre Dame we headed to the modern art museum, Centre Georges Pompidou.

Photograph © Chris Bowne

Along the streets we observed several homeless people, as well as people entertaining passersby by playing music for money:

Needless to say, I’m also one of those dorks who always wants the audio tour headset when I visit a museum. However, in this case we all opted out of getting one. Perhaps we should have. I confess, I’m not a huge fan of most modern art. And I mean no disrespect to those of you who are. But, seriously. Some of this stuff I just don’t get.

I saw a guy wearing an audio headphone standing in front of one work of art for five minutes solid. After he left I walked over to it. It was a white canvas with a series of evenly spaced pencil lines drawn onto it--essentially looking like of a piece of notebook paper. And the title? “Untitled.”

C’mon, really? What could he possibly have heard about this piece that would have lasted five whole minutes?!

We saw stuff like this…

And this…

(I know, dude. I don’t get it either.)

(My entire family agrees this must have been the inspiration for Darth Vader’s headwear.)

We had dinner at a lovely sidewalk café. Dining Parisian style, we faced the sidewalk and street to blatantly people watch. I love it!

Afterwards, we wandered through the Jardin de Tuileries, soaking up its carnival-like atmosphere with its huge Ferris wheel and wide walking paths.

Image by: Marie de Bueil

We grabbed a taxi and arrived back at the apartment, hot, sticky, exhausted, and wishing our 4th-floor apartment had air conditioning. But other than that, happy! And exhausted.

Tune in next week for more of our Adventures in Paris!

All photographs © Holly Bowne unless otherwise noted.

Quote of the Week

2011-09-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

A Lazy Afternoon by Gustave Leonard de Jonghe (1829-1893)

"Spend the afternoon. You can’t take it with you."

~ Annie Dillard ~

Blog Awards

2011-09-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

I would like to publicly apologize for my negligence in thanking two lovely bloggers: Alexis and Annette. They each presented me with a Blog Award over the summer and I never acknowledged them! Please forgive me. I am now officially saying “THANK YOU!”

If you’re looking for a great blog covering the topics of writing and parenting, be sure to stop by Alexis’s blog, Bunny Ears & Bat Wings: Read. Write. Love.

And I encourage you all to visit my bloggy buddy from down under, Annette Piper. She shares interesting stories about making jewelry (or as she writes it: “jewellery”) and family life on her Australian ranch in her blog, Under the Loupe.

Now, onto the awards…

I received the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award from Alexis, and the Versatile Blogger Award from Annette. Thank you so much, ladies. I’m honored! These awards came with some rules. Now, I freely confess I don’t always follow the rules (gasp!). I know, I know. But I decided to follow at least some of them in this case. Recipients of these awards are supposed to:

Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
Done!

Recommend a whole bunch of other blogs for your readers.

I personally get overwhelmed when I see big, long lists of blogs. So I’m not going to do that to you. Plus, I like to share a bit about why one might want to visit a specific blog. So I think I’ll just stick with the two recommended blogs above to fulfill this requirement for now.

Contact that whole bunch of blogs to congratulate them.

Skipping this one!

Share seven random facts about yourself.

Okay, I’ll play…

1. 1. I never told my children I couldn’t swim, until AFTER they’d successfully completed swimming lessons. I just wanted to make certain there would be more people around able to save me if I ever fell overboard.

2. 2. I never performed in plays in high school, yet to my great joy I managed to snag the lead in the first play I tried out for in college, an 1880’s melodrama called, The Shame of Tombstone—it was a blast!

3. 3. I have a cockapoo who requires weekly allergy shots from August through December.

4. 4. My racial background is comprised of over 10 different ethnicities and I’ve been mistaken for an Egyptian, Spaniard, South American, Italian and most often, Mexican. (One summer during college, I worked for the W.I.C. program and I would overhear people asking to speak with “that Mexican girl who doesn’t speak Spanish.” And darn it all, I did speak Spanish--just not super well!)

5. 5. I taught my children to make their own lunches starting in first grade because I dreaded making them so much.

6. 6. I made it through high school and college without ever taking Chemistry. (Back in the day, my Photography and Advanced Photography classes counted instead for some reason, which was fine with me!)

7. 7. If my younger sister and I stand far enough apart, we can be mistaken for twins. It’s only up close that the six inches she has on me is startlingly clear.

Tune in next week for my first post on our family adventure in Paris!

Quote of the Week

2011-09-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

“Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced—

even a proverb is no proverb to you

until your life has illustrated it.”

~ John Keats ~

I’m baaaaccck!

2011-09-01T16:15:00.000-07:00

I apologize for falling off the face of the Blogosphere! I was so busy preparing for our family adventure in France, then playing “catch up” once we returned. And then…well, the sunshine beckoned. The pile of books I’ve been wanting to read beckoned. The limited time I had with my college girl at home beckoned. The yard work and neglected-from-the-school-year housework beckoned. And before I knew it, the end of August had arrived!

We took our girl back up to college a little over a week ago. Her new apartment is adorable and I know she’ll have such a fun time during her sophomore year. It was still tough leaving her, but not nearly as difficult as it was last year. Hopefully, I won’t start breaking down while listening to love songs on the radio like I did last August. (Boy, was I a mess!)

I love the break from our routine that summer brings. But now I’m dusting off my computer keyboard, fixing up my neglected website (www.hollybowne.com), and slowly working myself back into my regular writing schedule.

I would love to know how my website’s links--to writing samples I’ve personally uploaded--get all convoluted and messed up when absolutely nothing’s been changed on my end! Fortunately, my biggest fan (Hi Mom! *wave*) noticed things were amiss and let me know. Hopefully everything is linking smoothly now. I feel about operating my website the same way I feel about driving a car. It’s necessary and I have a basic idea of how it all works, but when something goes wrong, I really don’t have the first clue on how to fix it!

I hope everyone is having a lovely summer! (And yes, it’s still officially summer until September 23rd!)

Image by: adihrespati

Quote of the Week

2011-08-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

"You grow up the day you have

your first real laugh at yourself."

~ Ethel Barrymore ~

Image by: Eric Ward

Quote of the Week

2011-08-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Nothing happens unless first a dream."

~ Carl Sandburg ~

Image by: Temari 09

Quote of the Week

2011-08-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

"For a crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."

~ Francis Bacon ~

Image by: ElvertBarnes

Quote of the Week

2011-08-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader."

~ Robert Frost ~

Image by: Megyarsh

Quote of the Week

2011-08-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense."

~ Tom Clancy ~

Image by: bravo!

Quote of the Week

2011-07-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

“Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.”

~ Anthony J. D’Angelo ~

Image by: Kevin Thomason

Quote of the Week

2011-07-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

"It matters immensely. The slightest sound matters. The most momentary rhythm matters. You can do as you please, yet everything matters."

~ Wallace Stevens ~

Image by: Kreative Eye - Dean McCoy

Do I Love My Daughter Or Do I Love My Daughter?

2011-07-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

(That’s a rhetorical question, in case you were wondering!)

Image by: Celticblade

This post will be short, because I’m in the midst of co-hosting a Harry Potter Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Premiere Bash with my daughter. She and her friends will be attending the midnight showing tonight.

I’ve written posts in the past about my failed cake attempts, and I believe I’ve mentioned that both my daughter and son find great humor in taking cell phone pictures of my myriad cooking disasters to share with friends and the rest of cyberspace. But when my kids were little, a good friend of mine taught me some basic cake decorating techniques and I successfully made a variety of decorated cakes throughout their early years. It’s been about eight or nine years since I’d made one of them, however, and I’d forgotten how time intensive they can be.

I was up into the wee hours of the morning completing this cake for her party. So, a mere three hours and three exploding cake decorator bags later, here is the final result:

Not bad, eh? I must say, no matter how this cakes tastes, I made it look pretty cool, right? I’m patting myself on the back right now. (Well, at least before anybody tries eating it!)

Quote of the Week

2011-07-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

(Oops! Better late than never, right?!)

"Derive happiness in oneself from a good day’s work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us."

~ Henri Matisse ~

Image by: Lee Coursey

Le Tour Eiffel

2011-07-07T16:52:00.000-07:00

All right, I know I'm being a really bad, bad blogger, but I have a good excuse. We have only just returned from a fabulous family adventure in Paris! I intend to write a couple of upcoming posts about our trip, but I'm presently buried under mountains of laundry, mounds of bills and paperwork, and loads of e-mails. So as I try to catch up on life, I'll leave you with this video my daughter took of the Eiffel Tower at night.

When I was there nine years ago, the tower was a lovely golden color at night. Now, they have added 20,000 sparkling lights that glitter once every hour for five minutes. It's cool! People clap and cheer whenever they go off, just as if it were a fireworks display. So, let's hear an "Oooooooh, ahhhhhhh" for Le Tour Eiffel!

P.S. Um...unfortunately she had to turn the camera sideways in order to get it all in and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to rotate the video (like you can with an regular picture), so I hope this 30-second video doesn't give anybody a kink in their neck!

2011-07-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

"This nation will remain the land of the free

only so long as it is the home of the brave."

~ Elmer Davis ~

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

Image: U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 2nd Class David P. Coleman

Quarterback Scores Cheeky Touchdown

2011-06-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Yup, I'm still on a break. (For some reason that just made me think of Ross and Rachel on Friends. Bah, ha, ha!) Aaaaanway, here's another cute video for you. I know it's not football season right now, but let's just go with it!

Quote of the Week

2011-06-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Too many people overvalue what they are not

and undervalue what they are."

~ Malcolm Forbes ~

Image by: dr_XeNo

A Day In The Not Too Distant Future

2011-06-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a little blog break over the next couple of weeks. So in lieu of a "regular" post today, I thought I'd share a cool video my mother sent me a while back. Of course, it's a pretty blatant commercial, but I still thought it was really fascinating. Enjoy!

Side note: I shared this video with my boy, and after watching it, he pointed out this could be nightmare as far as spreading germs goes. Ha, ha!

Quote of the Week

2011-06-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly;

'tis dearness only that gives everything its value.

~ Thomas Paine ~

Image by: Steve Garvie

Lie to Me

2011-06-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

I think as parents, we occasionally come up with creative ways to teach our kids life lessons. I was reminded of one of those creative ways not long ago. It happened when my 19-year-old daughter was harassing me about “honesty.”

She caught me busily uploading CD’s onto my computer so I could put them on my iPod. Now before you get all in a tizzy, let me explain! I LOVE audiobooks. It’s even safe to say I’m sort of addicted to them. I do buy them on occasion for my iPod, but I also have borrowed books on CD from our local library. When I do this, I often load them into my iTunes so that I can play them on my iPod instead of lugging a CD player around wherever I go. I don’t sell them. I don’t share them. I don’t keep them after I’ve listened to them. I just delete them when I’m done and move onto the next book.

My daughter thinks I’m being dishonest whenever I do this. I argue that I’m just choosing a different mode for listening to my audiobook. We go ‘round and ‘round, never coming to an agreement. But our discussion reminded me of the time we impressed the lesson of honesty on Ashleigh.

Yup, that’s right. Pull up a chair and get comfy. It’s time for an embarrassing story about my kid. And don’t even feel badly for her that I’m doing this! She’s created a blog of her own where she’s merrily posting pictures of all my failed food experiments (of which, unfortunately for my poor family, there are many) for her readers, so all’s fair in love and creative writing. Besides, according to one of my relatives, this story makes me sound a lot worse than Ashleigh, but hey! We’ve got to grab those inspired teachable moments when they hit, right?

Once upon a time, when Ashleigh was around five years old, she developed a bad habit of lying. It got to the point of ridiculousness. And the thing is, she would lie about the most obvious things, so she’d get caught every time.

“Ashleigh, why did you color all over your Barbie toys and playroom furniture?”

“I didn’t.”

“Uh…then why is there crayon and marker ink all over your face, hands and toys?”

“I don’t know.”

“Mhm.”

We tried heart-to-heart discussions. We rationalized. We rewarded her every time she told the truth first. We tried various forms of punishment. Nothing was working! Then one day I had a brainstorm. I decided to apply a writing principle to the problem. I decided to “Show, don’t tell.”

After breakfast the following morning, I pulled Ashleigh aside and said, “Honey, I have a secret to tell you.”

“What is it, mama?”

“I’m going to take you to see 101 Dalmatians today.”

“Really? Yeah!!” This was accompanied by lots of happy bouncing and hand clapping.

I leaned in and added conspiratorially, “But please don’t tell Joshua yet! Since he’s only three, he won’t understand that we aren’t going until later and he’ll bother us all day about it, okay?”
“Okay, mama.”

Our day passed as usual—with Ashleigh behaving particularly well. Then, at around 7:00 p.m., I said, “Time to get ready for bed, guys!”

Joshua barreled up the steps to get his pajamas, but Ashleigh hung back, a confused expression on her pretty, little face.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

“I thought we were going to the movies?” she whispered.

“Oooooh, right. Yeah, um…I lied.”

Her little rosebud mouth fell open. “What?”

“I lied.”

I have to admit I felt a little bad when I saw the shocked dismay on her face, but I held firm. “You’re probably feeling pretty mad at me right now, aren’t you?”

She nodded.

“Sort of sick, sad and angry inside all at once?”

Another nod.
I squatted down and met her at eye level. “Well honey, that’s exactly how Daddy and I feel every time you lie to us.”

She started to cry.

I cradled her in my arms until she’d stopped. Then I repeated all the things her father and I had told her a million times before about the importance of being an honest and honorable person. But this time, the message really sank in.

(See, I told you I’d sound mean. Yup, I’m a mean mom!) But she never told us another lie--that I know of, anyway. Ha, ha! And we all lived happily ever after.

The End.

Quote of the Week

2011-06-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

"You are a writer. You just need to keep writing. Don't let the Writing Fairy tell you that you aren't. That you need something more, that you're pretending to be something you're not. Hemingway wasn't Hemingway when he started. He was just a guy named Ernest who sat down at his typewriter."

~ Joseph Devon ~

Image by: Juliana Coutinho

Sin City Or Family Getaway

2011-06-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

My hubby Chris and I journeyed to Las Vegas a few weekends ago for a family function. I’d never been there before and was curious to see what this place--known as everything from “Sin City” to a great family vacation destination—was actually like. We were only there for a weekend, and with all the family fun scheduled, we only had little time to see the city’s sights. But I think we managed to catch a few of the highlights.

When we arrived, we met my uncle for lunch. He’s lived there for 21 years and guided us to some beautiful views…

…including the Hoover Dam and bridge.

We witnessed the 30-foot tall bronze sculptures known as “Winged Figures of the Republic,” created by Norwegian-born, naturalized American Oskar J.W. Hansen. They guard the plaque commemorating the 96 men who died during the dam’s construction.

On our final night there, we booked a room at The Venetian, which I must say, was the most amazing hotel I’ve ever had the privilege of staying in!

They even offered gondola rides!

We traversed the Las Vegas Strip—that infamous 4-mile stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard. I was excited to see it, and at first, walking around was pretty cool. We saw loads of fascinating people and interesting things, like Pretend Paris…

And Pretend Rome…

I’ve heard the lights of Vegas are so bright that to airplanes flying overhead, they emulate the effect of the rising sun.

I wandered through some exclusive shops and came really close to buying an adorable little, white sundress for a mere $1,950. NOT!!! Seriously, who buys this stuff?!!

Now on the flip side, I must respectfully disagree with anybody who suggests that Las Vegas makes a nice family getaway. We witnessed some pretty sad stuff on The Strip, as well.

First, there were the hot little numbers wearing their super short, super tight little numbers, teetering along the sidewalk and clearly looking for…ahem, a little fun. Chris and I observed many of them the following morning, just returning to the hotel as we were leaving at around 6:00 a.m.

Then there were the “Card Flicker Dudes” (CFD’s), at least that’s what I’m calling them. These were men and women whose only job appeared to be to stuff naked women’s er, business cards into the hands of passersby.

Image from Jimmy Hoofa’s Las Vegas Blog

One of these CFD’s tried to hand a card to my brother-in-law as he was walking beside his 16-year-old daughter, and I actually had a female CF reach across me in an attempt to hand a card to Chris. Don’t worry I used my karate chopping techniques and she backed off instantly.

Image by Memekiller

Neither Chris nor I are gamblers. And I know many people find gambling a fun form of entertainment, but I must confess I don’t get it.

It was a beautiful, warm sunny day, and as we took a shortcut through one casino I found it a little sad to see all the people spending their day propped up on stools in front of machines, eyes glazed and faces reflecting the neon-colored glow of the flashing game screens in front of them.

But you know I like a happy ending, so to finish off this post, I’ll share that some of my favorite movies are the Ocean’s trilogy. (If you haven’t seen them, rent them!) So I was especially excited to see the Bellagio in real life, as well as its beautiful musical fountain—the one that’s depicted at the end of “Ocean’s Eleven.”

Image by Poco a poco

Here’s a short excerpt from the one I watched. They performed My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion:

Just beautiful!

Quote of the Week

2011-06-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

“When one door of happiness closes,

another opens; but often we look so long

at the closed door that we do not see

the one which has been opened for us.”

~ Helen Keller ~

Image by: Richard Croft

Hoping For The Worst

2011-06-02T15:09:00.000-07:00

I’ve drilled it into my kids’ heads that a lot of people’s personal problems in life often boil down to a lack of confidence and self-esteem. Now I know this isn’t always the case, but negative feelings in these areas can lead to unhealthy relationships, and trouble with alcohol and drugs, to name a few. My hubby and I have worked to encourage attitudes of positive self-worth within our kids, starting all the way back in toddlerhood.

I’m also aware, however, there is a distinct difference between raising a child who has healthy self-esteem, and raising a child who is self-centered, unaware of the needs of others, and filled with a supercilious attitude of entitlement.

The youth minister of our church recently shared a blog post by Reggie Joiner, co-author of the book, Parenting Beyond Your Capacity. I really liked the points Joiner made concerning the topic of children and self-esteem in his recent blog post titled, "How To Raise a Jerk." They reminded me of this Andy Rooney essay I heard about a long time ago regarding letting your children fail, hoping they drive old junker cars and experience difficulties as they grow up. I tried hard to find Rooney’s essay online to include with this post but I experienced an “epic fail,” as my son would say.

Anyhoo… Here are some ideas contained in Joiner’s post that struck a chord with me. Some good advice if you want to successfully raise a jerk:

· * Protect them from the consequences of their own mistakes.

· * Keep them away from anyone who thinks differently than they do.

· * Try to give them everything they want.

· * Convince them they are more special than other kids.

· * Always take their side when they get in trouble with their teacher or friend at school.

· * Don’t give them consistent opportunities to help or serve other people.

· * Never require them to do chores.

· * Never let them hear you say “I was wrong. I am sorry.”

You can read his entire post HERE.

I think it’s natural to want our children to have an even better childhood experience than we had. Even if we thought ours was great, there’s always room for improvement, right? But how do you balance that desire without raising a jerk? What are your thoughts?

Image by: o5com

Quote of the Week

2011-05-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The Soul would have no Rainbow

if the eyes had no tears."

~ Cherokee Proverb ~

Image by: Adrian Michael

You Say Puglia, I Say Apulia

2011-05-26T20:10:00.000-07:00

City of Polignano a Mare in southeastern Italy. I love

how it’s built up above the craggy limestone

to overlook the sea. (Image by: Idéfix)

My deepest apologies, dear readers, for not posting last week--and for my late posting this week. I was immersed in a super cool travel writing project with a tight deadline. When my project coincided with three weekend-long family commitments in a row, well…let’s just say I lost several workdays and was really sweatin’ it towards the end! But I’ve finished and was quite pleased with the results. Now, of course, all I feel like doing is lying around reading, watching movies and catching up on all the Dancing With the Stars episodes I missed!

My writing project involved investigating a specific region of southeastern Italy known as Puglia (a.k.a. Apulia), right on the glittering Adriatic Sea. For a little switch from my usual type of post, I thought I’d share three of the more interesting things I uncovered in my research.

The first thing I’d like to show you are Italy’s most unusual homes, known as trulli. They are found nowhere else in the world, and their origins remain a mystery, with theories linking them to ancient Greece, as well as their creation as 15th-century tax dodges due to the fact that each dwelling could be demolished and reconstructed within a matter of hours.

Image by: Marcok di it.wiki

The greatest concentration of trulli is in the city of Alberobello, where more than 1,000 of them cluster along the narrow cobblestone streets. Trulli are pieced together without mortar from thick slabs of the area’s limestone. They are whitewashed and their conical fieldstone roofs are decorated with primitive symbols blending Christian, pagan and erotic love icons.

In the city of Matera, I found the sassi even more intriguing.

Image by: Marcok di it:wiki

Matera is located in the easterly province of Basilicata. These rock-hewn dwellings known as sassi, were originally gouged out from the malleable tufa rock by troglodytic nomads. In later centuries, blocks were cut and used to add rooms and create elaborate façades for these cave homes. Each roof served as the foundation to the level above. The sassi contain more than 120 rock churches carved by monks between the 8th and 13th centuries (one church is still in use!) and they are decorated with beautiful frescoes.

Image by: Marcok di it:wiki

What I found most interesting is that the people of Matera lived in these dwellings until the 1950s! At this point, the population was rehoused by the Italian government. In the 1980s, however, people began returning and the sassi are in use today.

Another interesting fact: Because of the city’s resemblance to ancient Jerusalem, Mel Gibson chose this location to film his movie, The Passion of the Christ.

And last but not least--guess when this castle was built?

Image by: Niccolò Rigacci

Did you guess the 13th century? I know! Bizarre, right? This is the Castel del Monte which was built between 1240 and 1250. It’s in the town of Andria and was commissioned by Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick II. (I could spend an entire blog post on just him, but don’t worry, I won’t!)

Frederick II had extensive intellectual interests and a love of mathematics, and this castle is a geometric study of the number eight. Currently pictured on the one-cent Italian coin, this octagonal bastion is considered one of the most sophisticated secular buildings of the medieval era. It was constructed from huge blocks of limestone loaded with quartz and is an exact octagon—a shape which symbolized the transitional stage between Earth and the heavens in medieval times. The castle is full of strange symmetries and pre-Christian astrological meaning. Each floor contains eight rooms of equal size, and eight austere towers overlook acres of beautiful olive groves and vineyards.

Thanks for travelling with me. I hope you enjoyed these highlights of southeastern Italy!

Spero che abbiate gradito il viaggio!

Quote of the Week

2011-05-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

"It's taken me all my life to learn

what not to play."

~ Dizzy Gillespie~

Image by: ky_olsen

Quote of the Week

2011-05-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Adversity is another way to measure

the greatness of individuals.

I never had a crisis

that didn't make me stronger."

~ Lou Holtz ~

Image by: The National Guard

Mother’s Day Getaway

2011-05-12T07:23:00.000-07:00

In the past, I’ve shared my Mother's Day protests. But this year marks the first time since my boy started playing club soccer that I celebrated Mother’s Day on Mother’s Day and did not spend it on a cold soccer field. Now, he did actually have a game on Mother’s Day as usual, but I—bad mommy that I am—blew it off (*shocked gasp*) and instead celebrated this year by spending an entire Mother’s Day weekend with my sister and my mom! Yeah, baby!

We road-tripped to Holland, Michigan for their annual Tulip Festival!

We started out cruising through the arts & crafts show, then took a tour aboard the Tulip Time Bus. Here’s our knowledgeable tour guide:

We viewed some of Holland’s historical sites and areas of particular beauty, and learned some interesting facts. For example did you know that Holland, Michigan is the second happiest city in the nation?

The only bummer was that because of the cold spring we’ve been having so far, many of the tulips and flowering trees hadn’t bloomed yet. But we still managed to see some beautiful blossoms…

After hitting the festival, we drove to our hotel. We’d booked a spa package at the J.W. Marriott. While I got a massage, my sister had a pedicure and we gave mom a manicure. Side Note: The masseuse told me I was carrying a LOT of tension in my neck and upper back and should really consider having massages a couple of times a week until all the knots are worked out. (Uh…hubs, are you reading this?)

Annnnyhoo…

After our spa treatments, we got all dolled up for an awesome dinner at Holland’s Alpen Rose restaurant. After completing my recent travel writing project on Austria, it was so cool to get to eat real Austrian cuisine made by an Austrian chef from Austria. Like this dish of fresh handmade spaetzle dumplings sautéed with cherrywood smoked bacon, spinach and Swiss cheese. Yum!

After dinner we attended a performance of Cheating Cheaters at the Holland Civic Theatre. It was a cute performance, but I think we were all a little wiped out from our busy day and I noticed mom kept “resting her eyes” during the performance. Ha, ha!

We headed back to the hotel and had a glass of wine in our room. We turned off all the lights to enjoy our lovely view of Grand Rapids’ by night.

After sleeping in and enjoying a delicious Mother’s Day, we road-tripped back home. Thanks mom and sis for a FABULOUS Mother’s Day!

And a Happy Belated Mother’s Day to all the other Moms out there!

All photographs © Holly Bowne with the exception of the following:

DeZwaan Windmill Image by: Becky Anne
Dutch Dancer Images by: Benimoto
Welcome to Holland Image by: Bazooka Joe

Quote of the Week

2011-05-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

"A metaphor is like a simile."

~ Author Unknown ~

Image by: joguldi

Spring Break Adventure - The Final Chapter

2011-05-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

(If you missed the start of this adventure, click HERE for Part I and HERE for Part II.)

We eventually reached a point where we could no longer continue sideways along the ravine.

“The original trail must be up there,” Chris said. I followed the line of his finger pointing back up the 75° slope we were standing on, and promptly sat down, folding my arms.

“What are you doing?” he said.

“I’m not going.” I said flatly. “I’m staying here.

He smiled tolerantly at me. “Holly, you can’t say here.”

“Just go get the minivan then come back to get me.”

“We’re not leaving you.”

I exploded. “What part of ‘I don’t want to do what we did yesterday’ did you NOT understand! I am NOT hiking up another stupid ravine! I’m not!!”

Then Chris just gave me “the look.”

And I knew I had no choice. I knew the big, clunky mom-mobile minivan wouldn’t make it five feet into this stupid forest. I stomped to my feet, muttering under my breath the entire time and began scaling the cliff with the boys. And oh mama, it was so much worse than the hike of the previous day! We slipped on mud and wet clumps of leaves. Vines we grasped to haul ourselves up came out of the ground in our hands, and the saplings we clutched in desperation, bent dangerously with our weight. Several times I thought we’d reached the top, only to discover we had further to go. Once again I was trapped in sweat-soaked gear.

Finally, Josh called down from above, “I see a house!”

A what?

Daron gallantly offered me his assistance as I struggled up the final bit, “Here, Mrs. Bowne, just take my hand.”

“BACK OFF!” I growled, most ungraciously, clawing at dirt and tree roots to heave myself up the remainder of the sharp incline.

“Oookkkaaay,” he cautiously withdrew his helping hand.

Sure enough, at the top we found ourselves in some random person’s backyard.

Chris lifted his Indiana Jones hat, and scratched his head. “Hmmm. I had no idea we’d come this far.”

“Uh, exactly how far are we from the car?” I asked.

“About a mile and a half.”

Ready to collapse, I muttered even louder as we cut through the yard and began trekking the mile and a half (which for some absurd reason started out uphill) along the road. Now, one thing I’d noticed when we’d been driving around earlier was that everybody in this particular area of West Virginia had at least two dogs. Unleashed dogs. Ferociously barking dogs. Dogs who did not like strangers walking past their yards. One dog charged towards us, barking and following us up the road. Chris was shouting (bramble-hacking knife still out), while I repeated a “Go home!” mantra in as soothing a tone as I could muster.

Are we having fun yet?

Eventually, we made it back to the car. Alive. And cleaned up as much as we could before driving four rainy hours back home. It was during the drive, that I finally calmed down and had a moment of enlightenment.

I thought I loved hiking. And I do. It’s just that I love “regular” hiking. “Inside the box” hiking as opposed to “boy” hiking. I like to know I’m on a legitimate trail. One that somebody has walked before me. One that has a definite starting and ending point. Life itself is enough of a “boy” hike for me: Beating my way through an unknown wilderness with no knowledge of what lies ahead, or how steep the next ravine will be. That’s life. I don’t need to deal with this stuff on my vacations, too.

So I’ve informed the men of my family that next time they won’t have to deal with my whining-grumbling-grouchy-panicked self. Next time, I’ll take a good book and if it’s not raining or hailing, I’ll just spread a blanket beside the rushing river, lie down and read. Maybe even take a little nap, while the boys hack their way through the wilderness to their hearts’ content. Yessiree. No more boy hikes for me!

Epilogue: A few days later…
“Hey Josh, you don’t think I scared Daron, do you?”
“Probably. You were pretty scary, mom.”
“Do you think he could tell I was annoyed during the hikes?”
“Uh, yeah, mom. We could ALL tell.”
“Really? And I thought I hid my emotions so well.”
*Dramatic sigh accompanied by HUGE eye roll*

Photographs © Holly & Chris Bowne

Quote of the Week

2011-05-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

"Spend as much time as you can with your

mouth shut and your eyes and ears open."

~ John Jakes ~

Image by: Franc Serres, cropped by Zanaq

Spring Break Adventure - Part II

2011-04-28T11:45:00.000-07:00

(Click here if you missed Part I.)

The next day we did the one part of our trip Chris had arranged just for me. We toured one of the most famous Frank Lloyd Wright houses ever built: Fallingwater! The home is amazing; it’s actually built right over a waterfall!

When our kids were in elementary school, I volunteered as an art presenter and taught a lesson on Frank Lloyd Wright’s work, so I was especially geeked to tour the place. On our way there, I handed each of the boys a handy two-page fact sheet I’d created, complete with pictures, to help them fully appreciate what they were about to see.

Daron politely took his packet and began reading. Joshua groaned, “Not again, mom!”

(Yeah, yeah. So I’d done the same thing when we had our European Vacation Adventure in Rome.)

“Don’t you want to understand what you’re looking at?” I said.

*Dramatic Sigh*

“Daron is reading it!”

*Another Dramatic Sigh*

“Look, I know you only pretended to read the last packet I gave you, so I’m quizzing you this time.”

*Grumble, grumble*

We arrived and took the tour. Even though it was raining, it was so cool. You could hear the soothing rush of the waterfall throughout the house.

Afterwards, we returned to OhioPyle State Park for more hiking. We chose a trail renowned for its steep, rocky passes and spectacular overlook of the Youghiogheny River Gorge. As we hiked, white stuff fell from the heavens.

“Is that…hail?” I said, as little white balls bounced on the ground and pinged off my cheeks.

“Yup.”

“Super.”

“Yup.”

Well, at least I was dressed for the chilly 30° temps we were experiencing; I just kept my face down, trying to appreciate the natural beauty, until…

“Is this what you thought hiking would be like?” Chris asked Daron who had confessed earlier that he’d never been hiking before.

“It’s great!” he responded.

(Pay attention, because here comes the critical part) “Is this as rough a trail as you were expecting?”

“Actually, I thought it would be rougher.”

Uh-oh.

At this point, Chris guided us all off the trail and down the edge of the super steep gorge. After hiking down and sideways for a while (really awkward, by the way), what goes down must eventually come back up. So we started making our way up the steep ravine.

Now I exercise regularly, but I admit… I. WAS. DYING! I had to stop continually to catch my breath and get my heartbeat back into a normal range. By the time we reached the top, I was soaked with sweat which was trapped inside my hiking-for-30-degree-weather gear. By the end of the day, I was exhausted. I was not having fun. And I freely shared these thoughts with my fellow hikers. I knew I should really give myself an attitude adjustment.

Unfortunately, day three arrived…

It was our last day and time for our return trip home (Yeah!). On the way, Chris drove us through an area of West Virginia he’d in lived as a boy for our final hiking adventure. We stopped at Tomlinson State Park where it had been in the low 40s and pouring rain the entire morning (of course). It was still drizzling as we climbed from the car.

Standing in the middle of a rain-soaked path, Chris asked, “Which way?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said, rain dripping from my eyelashes and chin. “As long as we do NOT do what we did yesterday.”

The boys chose a direction and we headed out. Although the trees were bare, it was sort of pretty and there were some beautiful views.

Then…they did it again.

As if I’d never spoken, Chris asked, “Is this a challenging enough trail for you guys?”

Now I ask you, is that really a question to ask two teenage boys?

Off the trail we went. AGAIN. Hiking down and sideways along an even steeper ravine than the day before. We stumbled over tree roots and rocks and clambered behind waterfalls. It was rougher going because of all the rain, and every one of us (except Chris) fell at least once so that our backsides and legs were covered in mud. (Please note: we still had the four-hour ride home ahead of us.) Sharp brambles smacked at our faces and Chris actually had his knife out, hacking a trail for us through the bush like he was Indiana Jones or Crocodile Dundee or something. And to top it off, three out of four of us definitely heard bear-sounding snorts coming from surrounding caves. I am NOT making this up!

Then, it got worse…

Tune in next week for the conclusion of Spring Break Adventure!

All Photographs © Holly & Chris Bowne

Quote of the Week

2011-04-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The quality of mercy is not strain’d

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless’d;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes."

~ William Shakespeare ~

Image by: Iris Dragon

Spring Break Adventure - Part I

2011-04-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

All right, that’s it! I’ve had it. No more “boy” hiking trips for me!

For Spring Break this year, we opted for a three-day hiking adventure among the foothills of the Appalachians in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. We allowed our son Joshua to invite a friend, to make the trip a little more enjoyable since we didn’t have his college freshman sister with us this time. *Sniff, sniff*

Now before I share the details of our adventure, I want to emphasize the fact that I love hiking. I grew up hiking and I even enjoy a little “rough” hiking. But what I discovered on this particular vacation, is that I do NOT enjoy “boy” hiking.

Let me s’plain.

Before we left, I was a bit concerned that the promised sunny forecast had turned dismal, with threats of rain, thunder and snowstorms.

“It’ll be fine,” my hubby Chris said.

I resigned myself to hiking in yucky weather and packed accordingly. Our first day, we arrived at OhioPyle State Park in Pennsylvania. It promised beautiful waterfalls and the rugged terrain the boys were hoping for. The day had started out raining, but miraculously stopped soon after we began our hike. The wet weather created a glowing mist along the trail, giving the landscape this cool, ethereal quality.

Pretty, right? So far, so good.

Occasionally the boys and Chris would veer from the trail, exploring little patches of wilderness. I remained ON the trail and took pics.

Again, so far so good. I could see them while they explored and I got to stay on the trail. The first trouble arose around 6:00 p.m. Josh and his buddy Daron were hiking faster than Chris and me, probably because we stopped to take pics like these:

We knew it would be getting dark soon and I could no longer see the boys’ bright-colored coats amongst the bare, brown tree trunks. So we began calling for them. And calling. No answer.

The sky grew dark and angry looking. We called louder. Still no answer.

Then it started thundering.

Have I mentioned in the past that I tend to panic easily? I think it’s safe to say that in a crisis situation, or anything that resembles a crisis situation, I’m not the person you want to be standing next to.

I started to FREAK OUT! I knew the temperature was supposed to drop dramatically overnight, and snow was predicted. Why hadn’t we brought our cell phones?! Why oh why hadn’t we let Joshua finish his Boy Scout training?! If he’d become an Eagle Scout, he’d have known what to do while trapped in a freezing cold forest. I immediately envisioned the boys lost in the woods and freezing to death overnight. I sobbed and screamed their names louder in the rising wind.

Chris grabbed my hand in an effort to calm me. “The only thing I can think is they may have taken that off-shoot from the main path back there,” Chris said, indicating the way from which we’d come. “Let’s go back and check.”

“But what if they didn’t? What if they kept going?” I cried.

Chris took a stick and wrote Joshua’s initials in the dirt with an arrow pointing in the direction we went to find them.

“He’ll never see that!” I wailed as he pulled me along beside him.

We came to the off-shoot and Chris told me to stay put while he jogged up to see if he could spot them.

I was truly hysterical now.

Hours passed (okay, it was probably more like 15 minutes) when I heard Joshua’s voice calling me. I looked up the main trail and saw the boys headed in my direction. I ran and fell onto my son, bawling like a crazy woman, and babbling incoherently about how terrified I’d been for their lives. He patted my back, while poor Daron gaped at me with wide, bewildered eyes. And Chris, hearing my screams and sobs, of course, came jogging back.

Apparently the boys had simply gotten further ahead of us than they’d realized. Both boys being possessed of good common sense, had heard the thunder and simply turned around to come back. Just as they should have. Why had we doubted them?

Needless to say, I was completely wiped out as we drove to the hotel. I only hoped the rest of our trip would be better. I should have known…

STAY TUNED FOR PART II OF OUR SPRING BREAK ADVENTURE.

Photographs © Holly & Chris Bowne

Quote of the Week

2011-04-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Do what you can, with what you have,

where you are."

~ Theodore Roosevelt ~

Image by: Jessicizer

The Perfect Daughter

2011-04-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

My son would call this post "cheating" because I'm not actually writing anything. But it's been one of those weeks, you know? I'm deep into a travel writing project about Austria--which looks like an AMAZINGLY beautiful country, by the way--and have had an unsual number of circumstances draw me away from my writing time. So, I decided to share this funny video my mother sent me instead. It cracked me up! It's titled The Perfect Daughter. Enjoy!

Quote of the Week

2011-04-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls, and looks like work."

~ Thomas Edison ~

Image by: CarbonNYC

Dressing Like a Mom

2011-04-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

Twittering birds, warmer days, fat buds cropping up on formerly bare tree branches. Ahhhh. Often with the coming of spring, comes the desire to revamp our wardrobes. Out with the old and in with the new. In honor of this, I thought you might enjoy this abridged version of an essay I sold to Girlfriend 2 Girlfriend magazine a while back.

“You look fine,” my friend Vicki said, in response to my question. “You look like…well, like a mom.”

What?! Yeah, so I AM a mom, but that was beside the point. I didn’t necessarily want to look like one. Heck, when I was in my twenties I was known for my funky, artsy style. I mean, I used to work in advertising and everything!

I walked over to the mirror and stared at my sit-at-the-waist jeans complete with belt, and button-front oxford, neatly tucked in. I guess they did kind of scream “Hello, 80’s!” With a shock I realized I was vintage, and not in a good way. I decided right then, I needed to do some serious style revamping.

With my teenage daughter’s fashion advice ringing in my ears, I headed to the mall, a woman on a mission. In the jeans section, I chose several low-rise styles and locked myself in a dressing room. Squeezing into the first pair, I rechecked the tag. Strange. They were supposed to be my size. Well, I had to admit it was kind of liberating to have my stomach pouf sitting on top of the waistband for a change. But the rest of me was so uncomfortably packed in, I quickly took them off.

Moving on, I pulled up the next pair. Or rather, I tried to pull them up. They were so low my underwear hung out a good four inches above the waistline. Not quite the look I was going for.

The third pair actually fit, but sported so many holes and tears in strategic places they didn’t really fit the over-forty-yet-sophisticated effect I was trying to create. I finally discovered some hole-free styles which sat “slightly below the waist,” then headed to the Intimates Department to find low-rise undergarments to wear with my new low-rise jeans.

I found myself surrounded by thongs. I held one up for closer inspection.

Nope.

I know there are women my age who actually like these, but I totally don’t get it. How could they possibly be comfortable? So after selecting some regular hip-height styles, I moved onto tops.

According to my daughter’s recommendation, I wanted tops that didn’t need to be tucked in. When I was younger, tucking in was good. Now apparently, it’s bad. I grabbed a bunch of different styles and once again closeted myself in a dressing room.

Okay, here’s a question: why does everything need to be so form fitting?!

I peered over my shoulder where unflatteringly magnified were some “lovely lady lumps” of which, up until then, I’d been blissfully unaware. Several tops sported wide, low-cut necklines which, my daughter told me, I was supposed to layer over camis. After trying everything on, I was sweating and feeling suffocated by all of this “layering.” But I plunged gamely on, finally selecting some not-too-low-cut, not-too-form-fitting shirts. I made my purchases and headed home.

Hmph! Let’s see who ‘looks like a Mom’ now!

A few weeks later, my daughter and I were out shopping when I spotted a woman about my age. She was wearing a pair of the torn-and-shredded variety jeans with a low-cut top (no cami!). She cruised the aisles comfortably untucked, with a smidgen of tummy peeking out.

“What do you think about that?” I asked pointing in the woman’s direction. “Should I be dressing more like that?”

My daughter’s eyes grew wide, “No way! She’s a Wannabe!”

“What’s a Wannabe?”

“You know, a mom who wishes she was still a teenager.”

Ugh! Seriously? I wouldn’t go that far! I felt relieved; at least I wasn’t a Wannabe.

My daughter paused and looked me over in my slightly-below-the-waist jeans and untucked but-not-too-form-fitting shirt, and she smiled. “I like how you’re dressed, mom. You look fine.”

Cool. I guess I look fine. And that’s fine with me.

Image by: Playingwithbrushes

Quote of the Week

2011-04-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

"You can't wait for inspiration.

You have to go after it with a club."

~ Jack London ~

The Kool-Aid Mom

2011-03-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

I have a confession: I always wanted to be the Kool-Aid Mom. You know, like in the old commercials. All the neighborhood kiddies playing and having a great ol’ time hanging out at our house. Then I'd sweep in with the overflowing tray of drinks and snacks. Everyone would take a break from all that incredible fun to gather round and chow down. Oh yeah!

Image from: faithfulnessfarm.blogspot.com

That's what I wanted. But I never got it. And it wasn't my fault. It was my oldest child's fault! Okay, okay, it wasn't her fault either. It's just that the conditions were never quite right.

First of all, in order to be the Kool-Aid Mom, I needed a neighborhood that actually had kids in it. Our neighborhood never really had the numbers necessary to fulfill my fantasy. Also, those neighborhood kids needed to be the right ages--somewhere in the vicinity of my own kids. Again, didn't happen.

But there was an even more important factor necessary for me to become a real Kool-Aid Mom. You see, I also needed a Kool-Aid Kid.

Our oldest daughter is an awesome young woman. She’s beautiful and smart, well-adjusted and talented (yeah, okay, I’ll stop now), however, she was never a Kool-Aid Kid. During her elementary and middle school days, she was perfectly happy hanging out at home with her nose in a book.

Of course, I was constantly pushing, “Why don’t you go to the movies with a big group, then come back here for pizza?” Or “Hey, why not have friends over after school on Friday?” or “Let’s plan a pajama party!” While these ideas occasionally came to fruition, more often than not, they were met with a smile and “Good idea, mom.” Then the nose went right back into the book, and the suggestion was conveniently forgotten.

I used to worry about her. I mean, sure she was active in sports and dance, and she had a few nice friends. But I was concerned she would eventually become lonely or depressed. I couldn’t understand why she didn't have the burning need, that I apparently thought she should have, to maintain a busy social life. Looking back now, with that perfect 20/20 vision only hindsight can provide, I can say in all seriousness…

Boy, was I ever a Type-A, first-class goof!

My kid turned out just fine, with perfectly normal social skills and everything! Fortunately, before I completely messed up her psyche, I did realize that being the Kool-Aid Mom wasn’t what was important. The healthy development of my children was. And once I embraced this fact, I was finally able to abandon my Kool-Aid Mom fantasy.

Ironically, that’s when it came true. Sort of.

See, when our girl entered high school, I witnessed her social life begin to blossom. And by her senior year? Fuggedboutit! Instead of begging her to go out with friends, I was begging her to stay home. “You’re so busy all the time. Wanna have a family game night, tonight?”

“But mom,” she’d explain, not without sympathy. “I already made plans with so-and-so to do such-and-such.”

“OOooookkkaaaayyy,” I’d pout.

“But we’ll all come back here afterwards, okay?” she’d add with a quick hug before heading out the door.

And it was okay. One thing my hubs and I did and still do, is make our home available for teen gatherings. Rather than me being a Kool-Aid Mom, together we’ve become, er, “High School Kool-Aid Parents.” Even if it’s last minute, our kids know their friends are always welcome. So instead of having little kids playing tag in the yard, we have teens playing music in the basement. But just like in my original dream, they’re still laughing, talking and eating snacks.

As my regular readers know, our oldest is now off livin’ the college life, but her teenage brother is still here. So I get a few more years of being a High School Kool-Aid Parent.

Oh yeah!

Are you, or have you ever been a Kool-Aid Parent?

Image by: The Shifted Librarian

Quote of the Week

2011-03-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Life is not a race, but a journey

to be savored each step of the way."

~ Nancye Sims ~