A Few Things | Dec 12

Betty's graduation, house guests, stump removal, and more!

Personal Update

Well hello there, Mid-December. How did you get here all of a sudden? I swear, it’s like I blinked and 3 weeks passed. Here are a few things I’ve been meaning to tell you about:

Betty Blair’s high school graduation ceremony happened! Yes, she finished school in June, but graduation ceremonies are a rare thing in France (if they happen at all), and her school held their ceremony a couple of weeks ago. Betty was the valedictorian (though they have a different word for it) and was asked to speak. She did an amazing job (I shared it in this IG highlight) and we’re still getting comments about what a great speech she gave. We hosted a reception beforehand and a party and sleepover afterwards. What a fun day.

The day after Betty’s graduation, we had a belated Thanksgiving while both Oscar and Betty were in town. I made the stuffing.

Meanwhile Ben Blair took out five different stumps with an ax and it’s surprisingly fun to watch. See these two highlights: Stumps and Stump 2.

A few days later, we hosted Ben Blair’s lovely sister, Carol, and her terrific husband, Dan. They were our first winter guests at the Small House and tested it out for us — turns out we need more electricity in order to run all the heaters at once! We went to the Christmas Market in Rouen, and the D-Day Beaches.

Speaking of the Small House, there has been good progress on the ground floor bathroom. The framing is in for the walls, and much of the plumbing as well. Next up will be sheet rock and then tile. Very exciting!

And now, holiday activities are in full swing, including a concert at the church across the street, where Flora June performed on oboe with the orchestra for the first time.

In other fun Flora June news: this week, everyone in her grade is doing a “stage”, which is a week long internship that the students arrange themselves. Our kids have done stages at a clockmaker, bookstores, and the city pool. Flora June is doing her stage with a radiologist and she’s been spending the week at the hospital. She’s really enjoying it. She was already interested in studying medicine, and this seems to be encouraging that interest.

While we’re on the subject of medicine, I did an Ask-Me-Anything about my recent surgery and ended up hosting a wide-ranging and heart-wrenching discussion about healthcare and the systems in America versus other places. It’s still happening in my IG stories and I’ve saved the conversation in two highlights called Healthcare and Healthcare 2. Related: I have many thoughts on the CEO shooting and am working on an essay about that.

Coming next? The kids start arriving home for Christmas starting tomorrow! Oscar, Betty, and Olive should all be here by next Friday. Ralph and Paola aren’t sure if they can make it, but are exploring options for joining us for New Year’s.

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Move To France Workshop

Ben Blair and I held our Move To France Workshop last week. We scheduled 90 minutes, but it went for about two hours — we tried to pack in as much information as we could, across a lot of subjects. We had enthusiastic attendees and are grateful for the questions and feedback.

It was interesting to learn about people’s reasons for signing up for the workshop. Some people have been thinking about moving abroad for many years and were just curious to learn more. Others are seeing parallels between 1930s Europe and 2020s America and are contemplating whether they need to leave for their family’s safety.

Personally I find my thoughts on this swinging wildly. On some days it seems like maybe the worst won’t happen. On other days, it seems likely that huge numbers of people will be rounded up and put in camps — immigrants, trans people, and anyone who has spoken out against MAGA. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the air at the moment.

If you missed out on the workshop, you can purchase the recording (it comes with the resource page too).

Or you are welcome to book an Office Hours call with me to talk about moving to France, or about any topic you like. I just opened up new meeting dates in January.

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Teen Gift Guide

Thank you for comments about this year’s Teen Gift Guide. There are 94 ideas and most are under $20. I think it’s the best one yet. I get messages every day from people who found the perfect gift by using this list. Makes me happy.

And I’m also told it’s not just good for teens — apparently people are finding good options for people of all ages.

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Best Sales This Week!

I’ve been tracking sales this week for December shoppers and these two are both standouts:

Samsung is holding the final sale of the year! Grab these deals on tech and appliances before the predicted tariff-based higher prices next year. The Design Mom community absolutely raves about this French-door Fridge (every time I mention it I get a dozen messages about how much people love this fridge). Click for $1200 off this beloved fridge.

People are also grabbing the famous Frame TV. The Frame can display modern art, classic art or your own personal photos with Art Mode. Instead of a big black rectangle on your wall when your TV is off, you'll now have a piece of art — and then it switches to TV mode when you're ready to watch something. Fun fact: Many art museums have Frame TV-sized downloads available that you can display! There are discounts on all sizes of The Frame TV, up to $1000 off — click to check out the sale prices!

J.Crew’s End of Season Sale is on now! Get up to 60% off almost everything, and 40% off their newest styles. I posted some of my favorite picks from the sale on Instagram, and the most popular items are:

Ribbed Tech-Touch Gloves, available in 4 colors.
Was $39.50, NOW $14.50 (63% off!)

Ribbed Cotton Button-Collar Sweater, available in 6 colors.
Was $98, NOW $36.50 (63% off!)

People also loved the Cotton Pjs, available in lots of colors and styles, for up to 60% off! J.Crew pjs are my favorite.

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That’s all for now. I hope you are having a wonderful week. Feel free to comment on anything I’ve written above or whatever is on your mind.

kisses,
Gabrielle