IT'S CHRISTMAS AGAIN!!!

After a little over four months, today our boxes from Paris arrived in Kansas City!!!  I guess that marks the official end of our Paris adventure!  We had no idea in September when our things were packed and taken that it would take this long to receive it here.  We actually expected it to arrive by Thanksgiving...in fact, we were a little afraid it would beat us here.  How naive was that???!!!

Anyway, we were given a six-hour window for this morning's arrival and at 1:00 (or so) the huge truck pulled up with our few boxes (compared to most people).  And here you see our whole Paris life!!!!

Since we lived in a furnished apartment, most of these boxes are filled with smaller items...clothes, shoes, books, dishes (plenty of those!!), miscellaneous items and a plant stand and antique table we bought at brocantes.

The first thing I opened was the plant stand (you could tell from the wrapping that's what it was).  It's a simple little piece but I was so excited to see it!  We actually had considered leaving it and, at the last minute, thought we could use it in our sunroom (with a big Boston fern on it).  So right now it's sitting in the sunroom waiting for a fern!!

This unnpacking was a piece of cake after all our corporate moves where we had boxes for each room of the house plus all the furniture for those rooms.  We worked hard for about four hours, cleaning up some of the trash as we went and we were done.  Now, that doesn't mean everything is in its right place...but everything is someplace!  Of course, nothing is on the walls yet and we're gone tomorrow for my sister's birthday so Tuesday that will be the project.  I cannot wait to get things on the walls.

Til then, here are some little shots of small areas that are housing our French things and our American things....

This picture was in the dining room in Paris..I'd forgotten about it.  Not sure if this is its permanent home or not!!

Added my French copper pots to my new set..I'm not sure how to hang them where they look the best...for now it's fine.  I also had my French wooden spoons I bought at the store where Julia Child shopped.

We've missed this little antique table that was in our foyer in Paris.  This little nook is the perfect place for it with the French candelabra on it.

I love this little corner of the living room!  It needed something (and I may still look for a little square table or trunk) but,  for now, our French picnic basket (which we used in Paris) and lantern fill in the spot nicely

And this is what's left to put away.  These four boxes are books so it should be pretty fast and easy to find a home for all of them.

Book boxes - the empty wall behind them is waiting for its perfect thing..we're hoping to find an authentic, small church pew but for now it's bare

These three stacked boxes are Christmas boxes,  and they'll go in our storage area.  I'm not really sure what's in those boxes since we didn't take our ornaments to Paris..I know our Nativity scene and the santon village we bought there are in one box...I guess I'll be surprised next Christmas!!

Christmas boxes waiting to go to storage

So, that's it for now from us.  I can't explain it, but I think we both feel our life can really begin now.  And, little by little, it's finally beginning to look like home to me.  I've always had door wreaths for each holiday/season but our front door has been bare since after Christmas when our wreath dried up and was taken down.....

but I'm home now and we're ready for Valentine's Day!!!!