Coming to America!
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Hey there. For those following the nightmare my nephew and his wife have been going through, I have a small update: The hearing is now scheduled for August 8-10. It’s hard to wait that long, but the babies are with their grandparents, and it means the lawyers have more time to line up expert witnesses.
I also shared another twitter thread with the whole story as written up by the mother (my niece). You can read it on Twitter or on Instagram highlights. Thank you so much for the supportive notes and comments. It means so much.
We’re Headed West!
Have I ever told you that our three youngest kids — Oscar, Betty, and Flora June — haven’t been back to the United States since we moved to France? We moved here at the very end of August 2019. So it’s been nearly 3 years since they’ve been home.
It wasn’t the original plan. When we moved to Normandy, we assumed that we would probably bring the kids back to America for visits every summer. But then the pandemic arrived, and travel changed. Ben Blair and I have been back a couple of times for family events (a funeral, a graduation) — but the kids haven’t been back at all. I’ve never been away from the U.S. for three years without a visit, so I can’t even pretend to know what it’s like to be away from your home country for so long.
Anyway, we finally get to take them back! We’re headed to the U.S. later this week. We’ll be spending 4 days in Colorado, 4 days in California, and 4 days in Utah. There’s a Blair Family Reunion, a Stanley Cousin’s Week, and we’ll get to see all our favorite things in Oakland.
When our kids think of “home” in the United States, they think of Oakland, so they’re especially looking forward to the California leg of the trip. They’ve been making lists of places and they want to visit, and foods they want to eat, and with every new addition to the list we’re all getting more and more excited.
One thing that has been mentioned like 25 times as a must-eat item is Ice Cream Sandwiches. Nothing fancy — just the standard version you can get in any grocery store. Do you think they will be as good as the kids remember? What food do you think you would crave if you hadn’t been home for three years?
Recently on Design Mom
Rebecca Harmon’s Home Tour. Rebecca and her family live in a historic neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia. And I love her style!
How to Put Together the Perfect Picnic. All the inspiration you need to host a summer meal for your friends or family.
Making DIY Crate Shelves. We built these for our reading loft in our California house, and still use them in our French house today. They are so useful!
That’s all for now. Feel free to comment on anything above, or whatever is on your mind. I hope you’re having such a good week.
kisses,
Gabrielle
P.S. — Thank you to everyone who has signed up for my Book Launch Group for my Ejaculate Responsibly book. The first Book Launch Group newsletter went out yesterday — I shared some of the color explorations that the book designer did. At the moment, there are 851 people signed up for the group (it’s free!). If you’d like to join, here’s the link.
I just read your niece's twitter thread, which was horrifying and terrifying. I'm so sorry she and her family are going through this. I can only hope that this ordeal results in a major exposé and change to an abusive, ignorant system. Really, I don't know whether to scream or cry.
Would love to join the book launch group but the link says it's "invite only." Any chance to still join?