Last few weeks passed by like a storm. The day after returning from Italy, I made a last minute trip out to LA. Much needed trip to be with my family. Plenty of intense and tiring moments, but all in all, thankful that everything is ok now. Also thankful of witnessing little subtleties which I would’ve never noticed otherwise.
A few days after returning to Paris, it was my birthday. Mattie surprised me with an original artwork by Paul Cox he bought from 10×10 event. It was a huge surprise! There is a long back story of me being very disappointed of not being able to buy one ; )
Even though the storm feels as it has passed, I can’t just chill yet. In fact, I’m off to Amsterdam tomorrow for two weeks for work. It’ll be a fun job so I look forward to it, but I’m very much looking forward to be back home beginning August and start my summer holiday. Time for our tandem trip <3
In July, I had my birthday. I don’t like throwing birthday parties for myself. I’d feel very awkward in the center of a party and worry if people are not having fun. But the subconscious reason for not having birthday parties would be because I don’t want birthdays to have such a big mark on my life. If my life were a book, I’d prefer them to be a comma, not a start of a brand new chapter.
But birthdays are special after all, and a good excuse to do something a little different than usual.
The day started with the arrival of my present (which I requested) – an oven! Yes, Mattie and I have been together long enough that I can request what I’d like for my present, and I’m at an age where house appliances are my favorite presents ; ) Then Mattie spoiled me with things I like from our street – an éclair and a religieuse from the best boulangerie and some blueberries and fresh orange juice from the fruit store. The rest of the day passed like any other day. For dinner, we had no plan. So we packed our left over pasta salad from the day before (Mattie had made a kilo of pasta salad the day before), and walked around our neighborhood to find a picnic spot. We ended up at a quiet spot next to the Seine, unintentionally across from the Eiffel Tower. I don’t romanticize the Eiffel Tower at all, but maybe this evening, I felt a little in love with it. The evening ended with us feeding baby ducks with our left over baguette.
This is what I looked like on the day I turned 34. Looks like I tried very hard to look my best ; ) I wish rest of my birthdays will be as quiet, simple, unpretentious and a little tiny bit romantic as this one. Happy 34 to me. I’m grateful for everything I have and what I do not have.
The day before my birthday, Mattie was busy cutting and drilling pieces of wood in the living room while I was busy shooting something in the atelier. He had told me that it was my birthday present, but a surprise. So I remained in the atelier, but once in a while I peeked out the door and quietly observed him. I can confidently say that I’m usually pretty good at guessing and figuring out, especially about Mattie : ) But this time I had no clue at all, which made me even more curious. Above all, secretly watching his back from the atelier, his effort was way too sweet.
The next day, I got to see what he had made the day before. It was this:
In case you are as confused as I was when I first saw it, this is a leaf pressing machine. I’ve been wanting to press leaves for a while, and Mattie researched about it without me knowing and made it for me. I’m an emotional person and his thoughtfulness almost made me cry : _ (
There are two pieces of wood with four screws on each corner holding them together. The leaves are first placed in between newspapers and cardboard pieces, then they are placed in between the two wood boards, then the screws are tightened to press the leaves.
The second part of the present was the book, Herbier, or herbarium in English. It explains the process of leaf pressing, the materials needed, examples and other related informations.
In the back of the book, there are empty pages with beautiful papers to place your own pressed leaves. And these labels for documentation!
Then a day after the birthday, Mattie brought me to Deyrolle to pick up this super handsome tin box for collecting leaves. Afterwards, we sat on shaded steps for me to admire this new beautiful thing as we snacked on some cashew nuts. Then we went straight to collect some leaves in style.
Now I wait for a week or two for the leaves to completely dry. As a person who doesn’t celebrate birthdays, I’m overwhelmed for receiving such beautiful presents. I’m a happy kid : )
A few days before my birthday, Mattie took me to a bookstore around the corner from ours and bought me ‘Le petit Nicolas‘ as a pre-birthday present. We saw the Le petit Nicolas series displayed on the bookshop window a few weeks back, and Mattie thought it’d be a nice book for me to read to learn French. Then I realized for the first time that Le petit Nicolas is from France. When I was little and still living in Korea, I vaguely remember my older brother buying the Korean version of this book, 꼬마 니콜라, whenever my mom took us to a bookshop. I was not much of a reader when I was young,and don’t remember reading the series. But more than 20 years later, I got a copy of Le petit Nicolas in French.
Even though it is a children’s book, I am pleasantly surprised how much I can actually understand when I read the first couple of chapters. But I still run into so many words I don’t know, and I end up asking Mattie every few minutes. Many would be annoyed after a while, but Mattie tells me the meaning of each word every single time. Yes, he is very patient, especially with me, which I am very thankful : )
Written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Jean-Jacques Sempé, it is refreshing to enter such a naive, honest and simple world of a child, petit Nicolas.
So far, most of the chapters end with “un coup de poing sur le nez” which means, a punch on the nose. This makes me giggle every time, and wonder why I didn’t read Le petit Nicolas when I was little.
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I'm Jin Angdoo.
This is what I do. But here is a little more personal and casual place where I hope to share and meet like-minded people.
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