This November my blog will be 16 years old. To celebrate I am asking you my readers to submit a Guest Post for my blog as a way of celebrating our connectedness as a community through social media.
I hope you will send me your story or at least a glimpse into your life (please send your story and JPEG photos to my email then I will post them to my blog. This will introduce you to one another.
Some of you are feeling shy, or worse not worthy as if there is a prize for the best life lived. I hope, truly hope, you will take a leap of faith in telling me and my readers about yourself, a cherished memory, a recipe, a hobby, what inspires you, what you dream about, and more importantly how are you? What are you living with or through right now?
Your story, as all of our stories, are one, interconnected by the weaver, the river, the dreamer, the wind, the path as we are on moving forward to the light. Please consider sharing a bit of yourself with me.
Thank you in advance for being part of French la Vie / Tongue in Cheek.
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To All… The tribe of French la Vie,
I am Arnelle Louise.
Corey asked if I would share a little of my life but where do you begin? Maybe by telling you about a box I opened. The cardboard had that mildewed smell of staying in a damp basement for a way too long. I will add that my husband had been after me for years to go through this mystery, so one morning he put it in front of me and said, “today is the day!” Not to dwell on all the bits and pieces of my childhood I found hiding, I will just say my childhood scrapbook held the key to what became and still is my career. This large-format, 5 and dime book held page after page of furniture, room layouts, house facades, and close-ups of fabric. I always thought my memory was fairly on point, but I do not remember ever cutting or gluing these pages. So there you have it, I became an interior decorator.
This path was not direct.
-I was a postman.
-Worked in a now-famous Hippie Leather clothing company (Lenny Kravitz collects vintage pieces)
-Nurses Aid for terminally ill children
-Worked in a Vietnamese refugee camp in Hong Kong
-Had a small catering business
I have no formal training.
My drawing skills are pathetic.
But the realization that came to me was the importance of ‘finding home”.
Creating environments that clients feel safe, happy, and reflect who they are becoming my goal. Early on I realized that meeting a new client was not unlike being given a script of a character in a play. My goal was to be my client, walk in their shoes not the other way around. After almost forty years I have had the opportunity to act in many different roles in many different homes.
The rewards of this career have been tenfold. Working with individuals and families helped me to become more flexible and understanding as a person. I had to put aside how I live and what I like. How wonderful it is to look at colors with new eyes. Using colors that you thought you hated but now loved because the purple fabric and paint were perfect for your client.
How lucky I am.
On another note, I do not know how I know Corey, that is the truth. We share being independent California girls. We both grew up in a state that was filled with small farms and had a much slower pace. All I know is that my own journey to “finding home” lead me to France and my truly generous friend, Corey Amaro.
Yes, COVID 19 has taken away temporarily half of our lives, but Roger and I are healthy and look forward to returning to our corner of paradise... and also being reunited with Corey and Yann.
Peace and Health to All-
Each guest blogger brings such a lovely posting.
Thank you Corey for introducing us to them all.
I enjoy reading these very much and always love your own postings.
Blessings
Jeanne
Posted by: Jeanne | 22 October 2020 at 11:48 AM
Another reader living my dream life. I love the story of how you found your French home. Are the photos of your house? The stone work is beautiful and the interiors are wonderful. I'd love to live there. Is it very old?
Posted by: Lil | 22 October 2020 at 08:08 PM
Another great story. I want to go to "Camp Corey:)"
Posted by: jackie | 22 October 2020 at 10:39 PM
So interesting!!!! didn't understand if you live full time in France or if you spend half time in calif and the other half in France. Thank you for sharing
Posted by: Texas Francophile | 23 October 2020 at 12:33 AM
Dear Lil and Texas Francophile
Thank you for your comments-
Yes, the photos of the stone house is our bit of heaven in France. Parts of the house are 300 years old!
We love living there and miss it very much.
We divide our time between San Francisco and the South of France..although we are not allowed to return at the present, which is very sad.
Arnelle Louise
Posted by: arnelle | 23 October 2020 at 12:58 AM
I think you are living a dream shared by so many of us, interior decorating and living in both California and France! I love the description of finding your French home, I think we may have all fell in love with it too! Thank you for sharing your story!!
Posted by: penni | 23 October 2020 at 06:49 AM
Dear Penni,
Some mornings when I wake up to the stunning light of the south of France I have to pinch myself!
My other life in California is very different, but very special.
The clients I have invite me into their homes and families and then extend the gift of trust.
I am a very lucky women.
Arnelle Louise
Posted by: Arnelle Louise | 24 October 2020 at 12:48 AM
Lovely posting- such beauty! Thank you.
Posted by: Kathy | 24 October 2020 at 06:58 AM
Kathy,
Thank you for your lovely response!
Arnelle
Posted by: Arnelle Louise | 24 October 2020 at 04:55 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed your post, the beautiful photos. You must miss that lovely spot in France very much.
Thanks for sharing with us!
Posted by: Susan | 26 October 2020 at 03:42 PM