Holy Euro

Wow. I haven't checked on my chateau lately (letting day to day life interfere with my dreams) so today I decided to look her up. Well, what do you know - with the strengthening dollar and weakening Euro, she's down under $1 million! This is becoming more encouraging.

Tuition or a Chateau?

I already went to college. But if I didn't, I'd be this guy. He's on to something -hey, wait a minute, I thought of this first (ok, maybe not first but definitely somewhere up there). Thought you'd get a kick of seeing what others are raising money for online:

From Collegeotr.com:
While our parents and professors lose sleep over the loss of their retirement funds and life savings that they’ve been watching slowly fade away everyday, most college students aren’t really feeling the effects of this financial crisis. Since most of us don’t have money in the stock market except for maybe a small share here and there (my mommy got me Disney stock to keep my childhood alive!) we don’t really understand how bad the economy is.

But with that in mind, we can still cut back on a few extras and do some things to try to get a little bit of beer money. While erasing those 2 a.m. Taco Bell visits is probably the best for your bank account (and your love handles and/or beer belly) there are other things you can do…like emailing people you don’t know and begging for money!

NYU student Max Stephenson had the right idea when he sent out an email to his friends, relatives, and acquaintances asking for donations for college.

In a heartfelt email begging for tuition money, Stephenson raised over $5,000 in TWO WEEKS!! That’s a better salary than I can even dream of! You must be thinking this kid has to have some rich relatives or something, but that’s surprisingly not it.

He only asked for donations of two dollars and fifty cents. That’s right--$2.50 aka pocket change for most. By sending this email to only 300 people and asking them to forward it, over 2,000 responded and sent money.

Although that $5,000 won’t pay the ridiculous cost of NYU, it’s a start and it's just short of a year's tuition for in-state students at JMU (those lucky bitches).

Great Gateau

Tonight, I had two kinds of cheesecake - one of which can be improved upon en France. The first was a crawfish and chicken sausage cheesecake app - sounds gross, but ooh la la, tres delicieux. The second was a blueberry cheesecake with a lemon crust (dessert if you didn't already figure that out) - not so fast there, it was more like a graham cracker crust with lemon curd underneath. I can do better.

So, for the first taste of the menu au Chateau, here you go:

Blueberry cheesecake - tall, rich, purply-blue enchanted cheesecake with creamily blended farm-fresh blueberries and oh so yummy fresh French cheese on top of a sugar cookie crust with just a hint of lemon zest and lemon juice. Top with a dab of creme fraiche and eat by candlelight on the back patio - c'est magnifique. I'm gonna try it out this weekend.

Wordle of the Day

Gaultier the Great

What I love about the French is their ability to remain quirky and approachable, despite their success. Jean Paul Gaultier is a great example, as he appears in this article from the New York Times on his favorite Paris haunts. I love that his eyes twinkle, and he's delighted in some of the simple or even gaudy things about his home city. As our country continues through this crazy financial crisis, I think this article is a great reminder to revel in the simple and beautiful things that surround us every day.

Get Out and Vote

No, not for the presidential election silly, for the name of my Chateau. I need your help figuring out what to call the Chateau - although I'm in marketing, it's super hard to come up with the name of my own thing. Here are a few ideas I have as food for thought/fodder if you will:

Chateau Papier (Paper Chateau - looks good on paper, not so much in reality, right?)
Chateau du Gens (Chateau of the people)
Chateau du Monde (Chateau of the world)

The name doesn't have to say Chateau anywhere, I've honestly lost my creativity here. How about Krug-ville? :) Help! Post your answers here on the blog for all to see.

Webbed Bliss

Today my prayers were answered - in the form of a new web designer for my beloved Chateau site. Reggie Bliss of The Bliss Factor is my go-to man, and cousin of long-time supporter Mary Kay Schultz (both of whom will be getting free Chateau stays, of course). Expect lots more news soon - momentum is gaining and I'm totally blissed out!