My Mom- Three years ago but it feels like forever!

Three years ago today, my mom took her last breaths and left this world. We were all with her and she is at Peace now. I will see here again, one day!
Me and my mom!

















My Mom! My mom is Louise. My mom is beautiful, loving and kind. My mom is brave, strong and inspirational. My mom is special to me because she gave birth to me on Nov. 28, 1965. She nurtured me and raised me to be the special woman I am today. She supported me, put up with me, listened to me, gave me good advice, and loved me unconditionally. She was always kind and funny!! I LOVE my mom very much....

Dear Mom,

I wanted to let you know how much I miss you and that I think about you all the time... day and night! It's so hard to be without your beautiful smile, loving words, and warm hugs. You live on in my thoughts and in my heart. You are everything to me. You are the best mom EVER and you have always been there for me. I LOVE YOU MOM!!

Love, your one and only daughter, Leese

Birthday celebration at the gym!

I may very well be one of the only Americans in France who brings her b-day party to the gym!! Well... it's not so far-fetched if you know me well! I love celebrating my b-day... or anyone's, for that matter.

I went to my morning SPIN class and Alex came by afterwards with the cake... There were just a few of us, but it was cozy!!! A HUGE thanks to Anna for the lovely gifts.. You really shouldn't have, but I'm glad you did!! Sooo thoughtful!!! It was a nice time!!! Thank you all!!!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Here is my party with my little group of five kids! It was fun... We had cake and they presented me with a GORGEOUS moth orchid plant... I even got a drawing from one of the little girls... Sooo cute!!!

WE WON!!!!!!

WE WON! WE WON!!!!!!! WE WONNNNNN!!!!!!! I'm sooooooooooo happy now! It's a monumental event in history! 333 to 158! Landslide Victory! I feel proud once again to be AMERICAN, to be an Amercian, to have been part of this historical election with a new PRESIDENT who will be able to evoke the CHANGE this country needs!!! I am a very, very proud and thankful American today! God Bless America, the American people who elected him as our PRESIDENT, and God Bless Mr. Barack OBAMA!!! AMEN!!!

In Remembrance of 911... a moment of silence.

It's been 7 years since 9/11. It still chokes me up when I think about what happened that day... I am dedicating today to remember those who died without reason, for those who gave up their lives trying to save others, and for all of those who helped in the efforts... May God Bless you all.

I pray for the friends and families who lost their friends and loved ones on 9/11/2001.

New blogger friend in Australia!!

Thanks to a MEME to meet random bloggers, I just had the pleasure of meeting and to be stalked by Australian blogger girl- Rat Girl! She's a young and very funny Aussie girl so I highly recommend you check out her two blogs- Giggles and The Adventures of Rat Girl! I just added you to my blog roll, too- So now we are stalking each other!!!

APARTMENT HUNTING in PARIS big SCAMS out there!

I am writing this post to get an important warning out there for anyone and everyone who is looking to rent an apartment in Paris... Awhile back I posted about a big apartment scam on Craig's list Paris but there seems to be other really bad scams out there, as well, that don't involve Craig's list. Please take caution because this just happened to a friend of mine and it involves a huge chunk of money that was lost, not to mention the disappointment of NOT getting the apartment that she believed she was renting. Plus the sheer anger and frustration of being scammed. I have a link to an article in French, so if you read French, please see the article here. If not, here is a rough summary of what it is about...

Apartment SCAM in Paris - subletting an apt. in Paris seems to be the big thing right now...
If you sublet an apartment from someone you have virtually NO recourse if you are
scammed. The scammers are very thorough and come equipped with false
contracts, false copies of their identity- (i.e. copies of passport, edf receipts, id. cards..)
They ask for cash for the first month- usually over 1000 euros... and give you keys
to an apt. they have shown to you, that happens to already be rented but the person is out of town and the scammers have somehow gotten ahold of their keys.

The scammers rent the same apt. to multiple people, so they really make out good.. And, when you go to the police to file a report, the police basically tell you there is nothing they can
do... PLEASE warn people about this scam... My friend lost a big sum of money from
this scam about 2 weeks ago... Get the word out!!

The Accidental Husband- GREAT chick flick!!!

And actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan is such a cutey-- hunky guy! Uma Thurman and Colin Firth are great, too... Just a fun, light romance story!


Just saw this really cute chick flick the other day in VO... See it if you are a sucker for a good romance story!

Back to work....

It's a big thing for me!! I have new students this year! I am excited! It's also a "weird" feeling to be going "back to work" after having the entire summer off from July- this week!! I teaching this Friday!! I'm still trying to get my teaching schedule settled!

Dulce de leche brownies!

This is what's in the oven right now... I'm baking it for tomorrow's lunch with MIL. I know she LOVESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS my brownies and these are extra special made with cajeta (be careful, it's VERY addictive)!!! For the recipe, click here.

Note: Pictures taken off the net!

Affinity Wellness in Del Mar, California, Dwayne Lee

Two things I SWEAR BY! If you ever have the occasion to try either, or both... I HIGHLY recommend it.. It cured my asthma, and really helped with my severe PMS symptoms/menstrual stuff, back pain when I had acute pain from a herniated disc... If you find someone good.. He becomes your best friend... Kind of like a saviour, too.... Here's mine... Dwayne Lee, my wonderful acupuncturist in San Diego.. I can really say that the treatments he did over the three years that I did acupuncture were highly effective... Here's his website... He opened an incredible place in Del Mar, California called... Affinity Wellness.

55th Annual World Championship Over-The-Line Tournament

What would I be doing in San Diego if I were there this weekend, you wonder?! Well, I'd be heading over to Fiesta Island to watch the OTL tournament... YOUSA!!!! It's fun and exciting and action-packed!! If ANYONE visits San Diego at this time of the year.. It's a MUST to watch OTL.. I mean, you must see it at least once in your life time.

It begins on July 12/13 and continues again on July 19/20 Better off going the first WE.. That's when all the action takes place... See OMBAC's Official Website for more info. This tournament is a tradition amongst local San Diegans... It's a gran' old party!!

Note: Photos taken off the internet.

KICK ASS...

SPIN CLASSES ("RPM") NOW PLAYING AT CLUB MOVING in La Haquinere!!! I cannot even begin to express how HAPPY and EXCITED I am that my gym now offers spin classes 7 days a week.... I went tonight and it was just AWESOME!!!! I used to spin 6 times a week at 24 hour fitness in San Diego until I injured my back in 2004 and again in 2005 (herniated disk L4/L5). I never thought I'd spin again because of my injury but when we went back to S.D. in April/May I did a few classes and I was okay.... I have been taking spin classes since spin started in San Diego YEARS ago.. I dunno ... maybe in the mid to late '90s or so... It's my fav. cardio workout at the gym so I am so happy that I can do it now in France.. Heck... I never need to go back to the U.S. now!!! I have everything here that I need!!!

Note: Photos taken of the internet.

A new arrival in France--- YAY!!!!

Okay friends and fellow bakers...

Happy is the day now... You can make MAGIC bars and other flaked coconut recipes as this new item has just recently appeared in your local supermarkets such as Atac, Monoprix and I am sure some others, as well... It can be found in the baking section.. with the pepites au chocolat and nuts... GREAT!!! If you are interested in making that deadly as sin recipe, "magic bars," now just google it.. It's very easy...

**** moist (flaked) coconut as opposed to the common dry, toasted coconut flakes you find all over France for baking! It's equivalent to Baker's Coconut.. YUMMMM!!!! Surprise your French friends with the sweeter than sweet dessert- Magic Bars!!!

Moist and tender sweetened coconut flakes... YUMMM!!!! So glad it's here! Bienvenue en France!!!
This is the one that has been here forever now... It's dry, flaked (shredded) coconut, also for baking.

Friends in San Diego celebrating the 4th July!

Johnny, Jeff, Shelly, Fu, Gabe, Marie, Mattias, Shari-- and others at Shar's place in Del Mar!