Super Bowl and then some...

Are you ready for some fooooootball? some Patriot packed football?!?!?!?!

Superbowl – well for other reasons as well, but if the Patriots hadn't made it I am not sure I would have had the same vigor to try and make it back to the homestead to watch this big game with my family. Although to be honest, I think as happy as my parents were to see me, I think they would have enjoyed watching the game with a bit more silence then they had. But seriously – I hadn't seen everyone in so long and my attention span isn't what it used to be! It was a night though – everyone in their Patriots gear, eating, drinking and laughing. An evening that will be cherished in my memory bank forever – minus the fact that the Pats lost but next year baby, next year (especially because the Vegas odds are already favouring them – thanks for the tid bit of info Pa, now I sound like I know what I am talking about!! Hehe) Aside from this game I was able to catch up with most of my family, all my besties, play with the two most adorable babies EVER, see a few people from the office and just all around enjoy my time at home. It was a bit jam packed and it went much too quickly, but I think it was just enough home to get me through the next few months, which will be full of who knows what, especially now that I am waiting (and waiting and waiting) to hear about the job I interviewed for a week or so ago (I hope you all have your fingers and eyes and legs and everything else crossed for me). I also stuffed my suitcase full of American delicacies including Velveeta and blue cheese salad dressing. One of the best things about this trip aside from seeing my loves, eating lots of (disgusting and not good for you) delightful American food was that I missed an incredibly cold streak here in Paris. Don't get me wrong I grew up in New England and can handle some pretty bitter temps but the cold here is a whole new ballgame. It is so humid and bitter it freezes you to your bones, actually it was so cold when I left last week the equipment that moves the planes on the tarmac was actually frozen in place and my flight left almost two hours late!! I am hoping that I brought some of the mild temperatures back with me...

Those tired eyes are from the jetlag not the beer I am drinking... I swear ... sort of...

And... just for fun... my favorite Super Bowl commercial this year:

Happy New Year (a few days... ahem.. weeks late)

Well well well. Happy New Year – better a little late than never – ok so better 23 days late than never. Yes, I have fallen into yet another rut with this little baby blog of mine. I don’t know why it happens exactly because writing and sharing on here is one of my favourite things to do. I am going to blame it on all of the long hard hours I have been putting in at work and not balancing out my energy enough. So in order to make up for it I am going to try really hard to continue sharing my experiences here – on this note, you would think that after almost two years here they would be slowing down, but it is just the opposite. So for those of you who keep checking and still read this – Thanks and I will do my best to keep you entertained from now until I start to pack this road show up and head back to the good old US of A. So let me take a few on this welcome back post to share with you how my New Year has started. I think a list is in order…


1. First and foremost – I am happy to say that I rang in the New Year dressed up to the nines (why is it to the nines and not to the 10’s or the 30’s … both also very good numbers!) with a few fantastic friends and we actually lit fireworks off in a restaurant. Pretty sure that is literally starting the New Year off with a bang.

2. The Soldes of 2012 have started and yes I have taken full advantage of these bad boys – only one week left and I am sure I will be out scouring the racks at least once more before the sales are over and everything is back to normal expensive Parisian prices.

3. I found out that I am going to be an AUNT – real deal holyfied – it threw me for a bit of a loop but seriously I cannot wait to spoil this new little nugget ROTTEN the second it enters the world. I may even start before that.

4. The Patriots are going to the Superbowl – yes I know this has nothing to do with Paris but I love this game and all the fun parties and food and drinking that comes along with it and I actually want to make a special trip home just for this.

5. I made it through the holiday season alone in Paris without my family – I know this list is supposed to be New Year related but I feel like making it through the holiday season was a big one for me and being able to do it in great spirits with my amazing friends here helped get me started off right.

6. I won the fevre in this traditional French cake called the gallette de rois. It is a pastry that tastes like butter with an almond-y type filling in it. A small ceramic toy is hidden inside and the person who gets this toy (hopefully doesn’t break their teeth) get’s to be the king or queen for the night. Now maybe this seems a bit silly but after two holiday seasons here and eating way more of this cake than any normal person should I felt very attached to the thought of winning this. It was a piece of France that I knew I wanted to always have with me. Maybe the piece I received was a bit rigged but hey I am taking that toy and running with it!!!!

7. I found out that I will be lucky enough to have another visitor in the month of March. My college roommate and lovely friend miss Becca Burns. Although we haven’t seen each other as regularly as either one of us would like over the past few years, she will forever remain near and dear to my heart and I am beyond excited to waltz around the city drinking café and eating pastry and cruising the streets for cute boys.

8. Went to the most amazing house party and now officially am starting to think that I am much too old to be staying out until 5am and drinking random combo’s of alcohol and wine and whatever else is around on the counter. Seriously - the music was amazing, the company was beautiful and the evening was great. But being curled up in a ball or hugging the toilet is not the best way to spend a Sunday. I have never been so happy in my life for it to get dark outside so I could go back to bed. What used to take me a few hours to recover is now a two day process... I am pretty sure I swore to more than one person on that Sunday I was NEVER drinking ever again... let's see how long that little promise lasts.

9. The Bachelor started – again this has nothing to do with Paris, but this is one of my favourite shows, mostly because I used to spend Monday nights before I moved here watching it and analysing everything that happened with some pretty awesome people. So now instead of watching it with them, I write full recaps as if they were sitting next to me and send it via email. I am sure that my play by play commentary woudl make much more sense and be more entertaining but hey - you gotta work with what ya got!!

10. I applied to a very interesting job back in the US. It is still with the same company and it maybe a bit above my experience level but I am ready for the next challenge in my life. I had no idea updating a resume could be so annoying and difficult. Lucky for me I have the support of a great friend and mentor to help guide me. Even if he would rather I kept my blond butt in Paris.

11. I went ice skating in Paris in front of the Hotel de Ville ( the city hall) with lights twinlking, bad dance music blasting (think YMCA and It's Raining Men or I Will Survive) and surprised myself that after years of not being on two thin m etal blades, I still got the moves. I can thank my parents for always bundling us kiddos up to skate on teh pond behind our house in NH.

12. I experienced a delightful little creation called a Boite Chaude. Which is basically cheese (Mont D'or) in a wooden box that you bake (boite chaude literally translates to hot box) but you can't bake it until afte ryou scoop out chucks of it,  and then fill the holes in with wine and cloves of garlic. You eat it with a special kind of  saucisse ( Saucisse de Morteau ), charcuterie, pomme de terre and of course fresh baguette. I could have eaten an entire box by myself had I not felt like exploding, but it is one of those things that once you start you just can't stop!! I think what made this first littel experience even better was the amazing company I was with. Some people make even the most normal experiences - like eating gooey cheese from a wooden box -  feel a little magical.
I think that covers most of the exciting things that have happened so far in the first 25 days of this new and hopefully exciting and adventure filled year.

I will be sure to keep you posted though…

Superbowl? What....

This time last year and this time for many many many years before I would be cooking, cleaning and getting the beverages cold for one of my favorite days - the Superbowl. This Sunday has always had a nice warm fuzzy place in my heart. A day you can get together with friends, family, eat, drink, laugh at commercials or groan at how awful they are, and yell at the tv. Yet as so many things have been this year - this Superbowl Sunday - just won't be the same. Actually to be totally honest I didn't even realize it was Superbowl until I was reminded while talking to my mom on the phone the other day. So on this lovely Parisian Sunday I am catching up on True Blood and practicing my passé compose and imparfait tenses of Francais, while remaining in my comfiest clothes ever. Yes that's right french homework on a Sunday afternoon, maybe surprising but.... Somedays this language thing ALMOST makes sense and I have found some good motivation to really start speaking French. Go - ha wow realized I don't even know who is playing the big game today- so go whichever team you want!!!! And please feel free to pass along the best YouTube clips of the commercials this way.