Year in Review (better late than never, right?)

Year in Review


1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
I travelled to lots of new places. I did some neat diving stuff that was all new. Um, cooked some weird stuff in the kitchen? I don't think that I was particularly adventurous this year, unfortunately.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't think so. If I remember correctly, I wanted restart Italian lessons; I didn't hardly think about doing that.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My sister, a cousin, a few girlfriends. Thank goodness its not contagious.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit?
I traveled to the Maldives, Ireland, Brazil, England, and of course the States. I suppose, considering the amount of time I hung out at the airport, I could legimately add Iceland to the list...

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
A job (outside the home). Patience (this is sort of an ongoing problem...) Thick hair (a girl can dream, can't she?)

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Nothing in particular. This wasn't a very dramatic year, I guess.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting B to agree to the kitchen renovation that I wanted, I suppose. Also, getting my diving license.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Failure to move forward on the job hunt. There are so many things that I could have done, even after I didn't get accepted to the program that I had applied to. I could have done language lessons. I could have done a different course, even if it was just an online thing and not necessarily towards another degree.
I suppose I should also list our failure to sell our house, even though, in the end, I think it all worked out for the best. We have a great flat in a great area and we have so many friends here. I would have hated to move away to a different neighborhood, even if the new house was everything that we've dreamed of.
I am also incredibly frustrated that I haven't managed to keep up with the photo albums of Ella. I have such good intentions but the big problem is that the albums that I started using for her are soooo expensive that I can't just run out and buy a new one when I fill up the last one. I have to wait until I have some money and then there is always something a bit more urgent or interesting to spend the money on and voila, here I am with about 18 months of photos sitting on my desk, waiting to be pasted into a book. Sigh.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not really- unless you count the self-inflicted kind brought about by elective surgery. Which I do not regret in the least, by the way. Extremely happy with the decision.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
I think it would have to be the bouquets of flowers that I insist of having every week. Technically, I know that it is a waste of money; but it really makes me happy to have fresh flowers around and so, unless there is absolutely zero space in my budget, I will continue to do this.
I am also very very happy that I bought that white leather Vivienne Westwood jacket. It really makes me feel good when I wear it.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Too many people to mention.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I have to say that a good friend of mine who is divorcing his wife has shocked me. I honestly can't believe that someone could behave so appalling to someone that they once loved. I suppose its par for the course in divorces, but thankfully, I haven't had to watch very many of those.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Definitely, we've spent most of our money on vacations this year.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The Harry Potter book. Going to Brazil. The Amy Winehouse CD. My solo vacations in San Fran for a wedding and in NYC with my best girlfriend.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Anything from the Amy Winehouse CD, I listened to that so so much. Oooh- also I think the remake of 'The long way home' sung by Norah Jones. I listened to that song over and over after going to her concert. The funny thing is that it had been on my ipod for months and I hadn't noticed the song particularly when I listened to the whole CD. But hearing it live just marked me, I guess. I really really love that song.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? maybe happier, because last year at this time we had our apartment up for sale and so many things seemed unknown for the year ahead, which was a bit scary. This year, I just feel like I know a bit better where I am headed.
b) thinner or fatter? About the same, I suppose. Probably I'm in better shape (although 6 weeks of vacation has had a slightly detrimental effect...)
c) richer or poorer? Richer, but not exceedingly more so.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Exercising. I love having a regular work-out routine and I just have to be more committed to sorting out my babysitting situation. I also wish I had done so more studying, of any subject.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Less mindless surfing of the internet. I waste hours doing this.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Going to mass with my parents and siblings and then sitting down to a gorgeous meal of Alaskan salmon, lemon risotto, and asparagus washed down with several lovely bottles of wine. Christmas morning was enjoying having all my family around me and watching Ella enjoying her presents so much that she left half the pile unopened so that she could play with the first few toys. Being able to spend time with my grandparents. Watching the snow float down and turn it into a scene from Currier and Ives. Finishing up the night on the sofa with a Tom&Jerry in my hands, watching movies with my brothers and sisters.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
I continued to be in love with the same person, although we might be a bit more loved up than last year.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Little Britain was our fav discovery of the year although I also bought The Office (US version) and realized that I really really like that show, as well.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Can't think of anyone in particular. Such a waste of energy hating people, anyways.

24. What was the best book you read?
I think my fav was Eat, Love, Pray . It was just the perfect book at the perfect time. But I also really liked the Harry Potter book and it was so nice to finally reach the end of the series; I liked Julie and Julia and it got me on a cooking kick, pushed me to buy the Julia Child cookbook and maybe had a little bit to do with my need to re-do the kitchen so that we could do big dinners with our friends a bit easier. I can't help but felling that I am really missing out a biggie. Can't quite figure out what it might be though.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I suppose Amy Winehouse and Mika.

26. What did you want and get?
I'm spoiled. I feel like I got just about everything that I asked for this year.

27. What did you want and not get?
I didn't get a new apartment this year. That was for the best. I didn't get the place on that program that I applied to.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
I saw a lot of movies really liked this year but nothing really stands out.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 32 and had dinner under the stars, watching the sharks circle around in the water below our table when we were on holiday in the Maldives. It was so perfect that I can't see how I could possibly top that.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Some sort of work. I am not happiest when I have this much free time as I am someone who needs to have a project.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
This year has been a lot of jeans and t-shirts due to my current mommy gig. I am hoping that 2008 has a lot more call for the fav items in my closet, specifically my Louboutin heels and my VW jacket.

32. What kept you sane?
Love of husband. Also bikram yoga.


33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I don't have any particularly celebrity crushes; how boring is that?

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
I am totally apolitical. If there was a political movement against stupid people who disrupt my day, I might be able to work up a bit of steam for that. Otherwise, I can't be bothered.

35. Whom did you miss?
My family. Also, I really miss having my girlfriend Elizabeth in Paris; I have lots of good girlfriends (not in Paris); I have mommy friends; I have friends that are fun to go out with. But I haven't found anyone else who fits into all three categories, like she did.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
My diving instructor. She has given me lots of details to flesh out my fantasy life, wherein I abandon my boring Paris life and run off to a tropical island where I split my time between swimming, tanning, and eating coconuts.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
Happiness is not mankinds natural state. You have to work hard for it.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I haven't any idea.

Kitchen renovation progress to date

Of course, it was all very well to come back to Paris and see my dear husband, but obviously I was far far more anxious to see what had been done to my kitchen. I have to admit that I was a teeny bit disappointed because in my head, I imagined it looking far more finished. When B described it to me over the telephone, it seemed like there had been legions of builders slaving away on 24 hour shifts, going as fast as possible to have it all perfect for my arrival. Granted, the change was pretty dramatic, but it is far from complete. Obviously, we can't have a sink til the countertops are installed (we are having an underhung sink) and the stone cutter just got back from holiday today so I think we have to wait atleast another week for that. These photos were taken a few days after I had arrived, and I had the chance to put some boards on the top of the cabinets so that we could actually have a place to work and set stuff down. B then installed the extraction hood. I also had B put the induction cooker on the temporary countertop (after the photos were taken) because it was getting impossible to think up healthy meals (that Ella would eat) that could be prepared using nothing more than a microwave and the kettle.

Anyways, my verdict? I love the floor tiles, which have a very discreet leather look to them and are the same format as our old tiles, that is to say, large rectangles laid out like brickwork. The finish on the cabinets is very nice and it looks great with the long steel door handles. I definitely wish that we had decided to cap each of the doors top and bottem with the thin metal plates. I thought it might be too much, since the handles make quite a dramatic visual statement but I think it would have given the kitchen a slightly more expensive look and it actually would have been very useful for maintaining the door and easy for cleaning. Oh well. Live and learn. I also am thinking that instead of leaving a spotlight in the corner near the window I'll ask the electrician to set it up so that I can hang a pendant light over the sink. It would be a nice design touch and that spot is a bit useless where it is. In any case, all the ceiling spots will be replaced with positionable inox spots. The only real problem that came up during the renovation had to do with the fact that we didn't have enough electricity coming into the kitchen to support the induction cooktop, the electric oven, plus all the new ceiling lights and plugs. They actually had to add a new switch box to the electric board in order to get up to an acceptable level so some of the fancy lighting things I asked them to do (like separate inside lights on the glass cupboards, a plug inside the niche) had to be nixed for safety reasons.

Now, on to the bad. I also do not like the glass in the upper cabinets. We weren't able to see the actual product before ordering, but in the catalog, they did not look this green. I think it looks like cheap Ikea glass. What the hell is up with that? And since they have frames on the exterior, the glass is glued on, and I can't paint the interiour or replace it with clear glass. Now that I am trying to pick out the backsplash tile, I am really confused about how to deal with this. Its such a huge block of color, I can't just ignore it. I feel like I have to somehow tie it in the rest of the kitchen, but aqua blue is definitely not top of my color preferences. I think that the best solution will be to have a multicolored backsplash using the Ann Sacks Metro tiles (or maybe Metro Crisp?) I'm starting to like the idea of using a mix of whites and creams, maybe even in an etched finish.

We chose all Siemens appliances, mainly because we liked the look but I am overall really disappointed with the stuff. They do look nice but there is no functionality. Compared to the Smeg appliances in our old kitchen, these are terrible. The oven is overcomplicated and I can't cook anything without getting out the instruction manual. The microwave is the same. The dishwasher is practically useless. Even the induction cooktop seems to have more buttons than necessary, all the while being incapable of doing half the jobs I want to do. Would never recommend this brand to anyone else- unless it is someone who doesn't actually use their kitchen.

The other problem that came up, that you can't quite see in these photos is that the island ended up far closer to the doorway between the kitchen and dining room than I had expected. I had asked B to be there when they were installing it to verify the distance and ask them to remove a small element on the adjoining wall if necessary. This would have moved the island 15 cm closer to the window wall and I think it would have worked out perfectly. He wasn't there that day and didn't think it was a problem, but when I pointed out that the counters would extend another 20 cm beyond the edge of the cabinet, he saw what I was worried about. We had the builder come and have decided to take out the entire door frame between the two rooms and knock out the 15 cm of wall on one side. Unfortunately, because the heating vent is just above this door frame, we can't make a clean line with the ceiling (atleast, the builder was pretty doubtful). It would have looked great, and really unified the space if we could have done that, but already taking out the door frame will be an improvement. I had asked for this to be done originally and B made an executive decision to leave the door, to make it easier on the builders. When will he learn that his wife is always right- even if he doesn't know why?

After the door is knocked out, the plasterer will come and finish up the walls. I am already leaning pretty heavily towards a dark brown Farrow and Ball Paint for the two walls around the eating area. I think that it will look really cozy and make a nice contrast with the cabinets and countertops. Of course, its just paint, so why not give it a try, right?

Overall, things are going along very nicely, no bad surprises, just a bit slower than I would have liked.

Chef Ella's first batch of cupcakes

They were a resounding success!

christmas holidays

So, 20 hours after having stepped off my flight from Brazil, I was back at the airport, with a different set of luggage and a child, waving good-bye to B. I was so exhausted that I hadn't had the energy to even glance inside our bags and hadn't the slightest idea what I had brought along with me. Luckily, I had had the foresight to do all my packing before flying off to Brazil. The only thing that I hadn't managed to pack was fois gras, thinking that I could surely buy it in Duty Free before getting on the airplane. Bad luck, they've decided that fois gras is too dangerous to carry-on the plane and so has been outlawed by security. High time, I say. Who knows how many innocent people have been killed while caught in the shrapnel of an exploding passenger unable to contain one more mouthful of pure unadulterated transfat.

Amazingly, Ella and I arrived in the States without having any major blow-outs, emotional or diaper-related. She napped nicely and I got to stretch out and watch the inflight movie, since both our planes were only half full. Little did I know that we were squandering a mountain of good luck and that we would pay for it on our return flight...

For the first time in I can't remember how many years, we arrived to snow; a nice thick, white blanket of snow all over everything. Global warning? Bah humbug! Not in Wisconsin. Its so pretty when it is white and snowy everywhere, the best thing is that it feels like Christmas right away. I went up to spend a few days at my Grandpa's house- which is even deeper in the NorthWoods than my parents house- and I think it was easily ten times more beautiful than the most beautiful beaches we had seen in Brazil. Granted, I am horribly biased, but Hollywood would have had a hard time topping this scene. The pine trees had snow piled thick on the branches; the sky was clear and blue and the sun was so bright on the snow on the ground that it hurt your eyes; the wind picked up just enough to blow a light dusting of snow off the roof and the air sparkled as if someone had emptied a container of silver glitter. And then, just as we all stood at the window marvelling at how pretty it was, a family of deer wandered out of the woods and into the yard. Honestly, Walt Disney couldn't have designed a better picture postcard. I tried taking a photo or two but I erased them because they looked completely blah after having seen how perfect it was in reality.

Everything was just perfect for Christmas this year. As usual, when we're in the thick of things, it seems horrible and stressful and disorganized, and but it all works out in the end and we have a fantastic time. This year we had a major crisis when we couldn't find the recipe for white fruit cake- toasted white fruit cake for breakfast is a Christmas tradition in our house so there were telephone calls flying about for two days while we scoured old cookbooks, the bottom of cupboards, and finally- in desperation- resorted to Google. Crisis averted. Let's see, what else? Oh, of course there was the missing fois gras. Luckily my brother was sent to Amsterdam for a few weeks for work. I called B and was arranging for an emergency shipment of fois gras to be delivered to the hotel, in order to save our Christmas Eve menu, when my brother decided to make a quick detour to Paris before flying home. Poor B was getting a bit lonely at home in Paris, overseeing the kitchen renovation, so I think he appreciated the company. Besides, the heat had been turned off while the builders were in and our apartment was freezing cold. B and the brother spent a few nights cuddled up in our bed- since every other room in the flat was stacked to the ceiling with kitchen cupboards and appliances and boxes- and there wasn't even a large enough square of free floor space for a boy to stretch out. Luckily, my brother had more reasons than just the fois gras for going to Paris because his bags were lost on his flight home and we had to do without, boo-hoo.

I tried very hard to minimize my stress by doing nearly all my 'Santa' shopping for ella over the internet. As soon as I arrived home, I scoured all the catalogs that my mother had collected for me, I weighed the pros and cons of all the different things (which generally boiled down to whether or not I would be able to get it home in my suitcase and find a place for in her already overflowing toybox) and placed my orders well within the deadlines for delivery. Well, naturally it is never that easy. I very nearly had a nervous breakdown waiting for her things to arrive. Finally, FINALLY, on Christmas Eve morning (slipping in just under the bell) I got the box I had been waiting for. I bought Ella a dollhouse, all the furniture and the little doll family to live there. Of course, I had to go a little bit overboard (it would be totally out of character for me to be reasonable), and I ordered the Christmas decorating set, complete with miniature candy canes, tiny wrapped presents, and a battery-operated lighted Christmas tree. Its entirely possible that I loved it far more than Ella did (or maybe, ever will) but it was definitely worth staying up late, after Ella was in bed, putting it all together. I think this is my first real Christmas as a mommy. We had one last little crisis, when I realized that I couldn't actually put the house together with screws because they were locking screws and I risked not being able to get it apart to fit in my luggage so I made an executive decision to put the house together with clear packing tape. Ok, it wasn't the ideal solution or very pretty, but at 11:30 on Christmas Eve night, I didn't really have the time to think up a better solution.

I got stacks of lovely things under the Christmas tree, obviously I was a very good girl this year. I don't know if I mentioned that B bought me a travel wallet at the Mulberry party that was the most perfect gift, and already is very well broken in. The best surprise gift was a camera tripod that has flexible legs that can be manipulated to make the camera stand (or hang from) any surface. I love it! I had seen it in a magazine weeks ago and the article said that it was only available in Japan so I hadn't even mentioned it to anyone. Ella decorated a picture frame for me, which I adore. She was so proud and excited to give it me, there is no way that I could not love it more than all my other presents put together.

Christmas day a big snow storm moved over, leaving a fresh blanket of fluffy snow over enerything and the next day (or was it the day after? There is an eggnog fog hanging over the post-Christmas days that makes it difficult for me to remember precisely...) I took Ella sledding for the first time. It was so much fun! We found a short little hill just near my mom's house and grabbed my nephew and my sisters and spent about an hour dragging her up and down, while she giggled her head off. Even better, when we went back to the house, my mom had homemade hot chocolate for us and we threw in a few of my homemade peppermint marshmallows. In a fit of Christmas spirit, I had spent an afternoon making these marshmallows about two weeks before and hadn't even tried them yet. How much better could a vacation get? If only we had flown home immediately...

The next day, the plague descended on the house and there was hardly a person left standing. Stomach flu. I'll just leave it there.

So, after recovering enough to pack my bags, I quickly decided that I would simply pay the extra baggage charge rather than repack and repack to squeeze everything into 4 suitcases, and we headed to the airport. It was an ill-fated trip from the get-go. First off, there were no 4-wheel drive vehicles available. My parents driveway could easily be confused with a used car lot and there is a constantly rotating choice of vehicles. My mother was just about hysterical over the idea that we would be forced to drive her precious Mercedes on actual roads, very possibly getting actual mud, which comes from dirt, on her car which may or may not be made of sugar. Personally, I didn't find it such a complete tragedy... Although, I did feel a bit badly when Ella vomitted in the car on the way to the airport. The plane was completely full and I had to put Ella to sleep on the floor. There was a horrific storm over Iceland and after barely making it to the ground, they informed us that we were stuck there until the eye (!) of the storm passed, when they would try to get us all out. 10 hours later, after the passengers of the Paris flight got so irate that they were required to call in the police to calm us down, they managed to find a crew for our plane and we were on our way once again. For the entire 10 hours in the airport, Ella only laid down for 45 minutes, amazingly. She is the best traveller and hardly fussed about anything, preferring instead to run up and down the hallways with the other 50 toddlers also trapped in the airport. I had barely slept on the first flight but apparently 3 hours of sleep was enough to wind her up like a Duracell bunny. By the time we did get back in the air, though, Ella was hysterical with sleep deprivation and hadn't eaten anything in about 50 hours (if you don't count half a box of smarties, which frankly, I don't), was so filthy that I would have been horrified under normal circumstance but I was so tired I was just happy to still be able to walk.

It's no wonder then that I am still totally exhausted. B has started making noises about how a week is surely enough to recover from the jetlag, but honestly, I don't know. The day after we arrived, I had to stay up all day playing with ella. Then that night we had NYE plans so we were out til 3 am. I felt like a bit of a spoilsport not going on to a club after we left our friends, especially since we were paying a fortune for a babysitter, but I was trying to be sage. Sweet Ella let us sleep until 1 pm the next day. Then I got a horrible cold- surprise surprise- so I am slowly snuffling my way back to normal. I've given myself Monday as a deadline. Ella is back to daycare, all her classes start, and it will be time for me to start sorting myself out for 2008. I have big big plans and I can't wait to dig in and get it at it. Only about 6 more New Years cards to get in the mail, and so i think that we can label Holiday Extravaganza 2007 a smashing success.

But like I said, it wasn't all gloom and doom. Buzios is a gorgeous little fishing village with tons of fabulous shops and restaurants. And after taking a boat tour of the area, we found Tartaruga Beach, which me basically made our QG for the rest of our stay.

The beach was most easy to get to with the water taxis. We would get dropped off at the edge of the water, choose which beach shack looked nicest for the day and install ourselves in a couple of reclining chairs under an umbrella. Then the owner of the shack would come around with fresh cold drinks about every 45 minutes and when lunch rolled around, he would show us what the fishermen had brought in that morning so that we could choose our lunch. One day we were lucky enough to get two lobster, that were grilled for us. Obviously, it cost next to nothing and it was absolute paradise.

I had been told about other beaches that were supposed to be really nice but honestly, I can't think of anything that was missing from this one. The best thing of all was that this beach had the most amazing golden sand. The stone that lined the hills behind us were a dark color with flecks of shiny gold. You can see that the sand on the beach looks quite ordinary, but when you walked in the water and stirred it up, it looked like someone had dumped glitter in the water. I've never seen anything like it. Sadly, we couldn't manage to get a photo of it but it doesn't matter, as I'm unlikely to ever forget how gorgeous that was.

After a day at the beach, our taxi would come back to pick us up and we would wander back to our hotel for a nice sieste before getting ready for a night out. Buzios had far too many nice restaurants and bars for us to have worked our way through them all but we didn't find a single place that we didn't like. Of course, the downside was that the prices were practically the same as in Paris, but you can't have everything, I guess.

The best night out, we were invited by a friend to go to the main disco in the town. While we met lots of foreigners at our hotel and in restaurants and bars, this place seemed to be 100% Brazilian. The music was local pop music which was funny to listen and the drinks were beyond potent- which was unnecessary considering how cheap they were. The highlight of the evening was when a samba band started its show. It was so much fun! Everyone was dancing up a storm and the atmosphere was phenomenal, with the drums and the feathered dancing girls and the open air nightclub. I think my head would probably explode from excitement if I was actually in Brazil for carnival. It was better than I had ever expected it to be. Mostly, if its just B and I at a club, I think its really boring but I think we just got so swept up in things that I felt like I was there with 200 of my closest Brazilian friends rather than just being a tourist, hanging out on the sidelines with my hubby.

That night was also memorable (and I'm just using that as a figure of speech) because it is the most drunk that I have been in years. By the time we left I had drunk a grand total of 2 margaritas over the course of the entire night. I hadn't been drinking because I didn't want to poop out early and then these two drinks were so potent that I was drunk as a skunk by the time B dragged me out the front door. I think that either tequila is more potent in the southern hemisphere or margarita is just a loose translation and really I was drinking something more like lime juice mixed with rocket fuel. I may never know, but rest assured, I had enough of a hangover to convince me to never do that again. Also, B's unmerciless teasing is too too much for a girl to have to live with, when all she wants to do is be left totally unaware of her mistakes. Granted, I went home with the right person, which is very good. I didn't vomit at all over the club or the htoel or any unsuspecting spectators, which is very very good. But I must confess to a hopeless case of the giggles and general drunken shenanigans. First, I started undressing in front of the security camera to get into the hotel. I have no idea why, perhaps a clumsy seduction technique? Then once I giggled my way up all the stairs to the pool area, surely waking up every roomful of people we passed, I decided that it would be fun to get my feet wet. Bruno immediately ordered me to get out of the pool before I got my clothes wet, which inspired me to dunk myself all the way under water, in order to get all my clothes wet. Finally he persuaded me to get out of the pool and dragged me to the door of our room, where he shouted at me for being all wet, because now there would be water all over the place. Which convinced me that he was totally right, I definitely did not want the rooom all wet. So while he struggled with the lock, I undid the straps on my dress and left it in a puddle outside the room. B turned around to find me standing there as naked as the day I was born, although I think he was rather resigned to his role as useless babysitter at this point and could only shake his head in disbelief at how ridiculously drunk and stupid I was that night.

Oh Buzios, will you and I ever share drunken shenanigans again? I still have that 5 year Brazilian visa so once my liver recovers, there is no reason why not.

After all the adventures in the jungle, we were quite happy that we had planned on spending the next seven days at the beach just chilling out (our first morning, after looking out at the beach, B cancelled our flights to Iguazu Falls and extended our stay at the hotel). I had a reserved a really nice room at a hotel that had been recommended to me at a beach town a few hours up the coast from Rio, Buzios. Buzios is fantastic! Beautiful and chic and relaxed and very Brazilian. I loved it. Our hotel, Casas Brancas, was less of a delight.

Don't get me wrong- we didn't suffer through our entire stay. The hotel is beautiful, the music and atmosphere is the height of cool, and the food and drinks were great. Our room was less awesome but maybe other people would have found it perfectly adequate. Let me explain.

When we finally arrived at the hotel, it was nearly midnight and we had more or less been travelling since 8 am. We were thoroughly exhausted. The clerk showed us to our room and as we walked through the hotel we were so impressed by how gorgeous it was that I think our mouths were hanging open. Our room was enormous and very beautiful so we thanked him and quickly went about unpacking our suitcases. You see, because it had rained to hard the last night, everything in our bags felt a bit damp and after a day sitting in a closed suitcase, I was a bit worried about things smelling funny and getting wrinkled beyond repair. Once we were done we collapsed into bed.

Only to be woken bright and early by the sun shining in the room through the two windows that didn't have curtains! This didn't really matter so much though, as breakfast had started- in the room located directly above our beds and we could hear people chatting away. It sounded like our window was wide open; it wasn't just open, it was broken and couldn't be closed. We wrestled with it for about 10 minutes before giving up and climbing out of bed. I had a better look around the room and realized that we didn't have a balcony although I thought that I had reserved a deluxe room in order to have one. I figured that I must have changed my mind at the last minute. After stuffing our selves at the breakfast buffet (which was really fantastic, by the way) we flopped down on the deck chairs around the pool and talked about which of us should go and ask for a new room. By the time B finally went to talk to them, they said that there were no rooms free until Sunday night (we were Friday) so they couldn't switch us. I was feeling too lazy to actually want to repack all my things and it did look like all the ocean view rooms were quite close to the restaurant and therefore probably equally noisy, so we let it go. We had eyemasks and earplugs from the airplane, that would probably be enough to help us through the worst of it.

The hotel also has a spa and guests are treated to a 15 minute welcome massage (although I wasn't told this at the desk, it was only after a mix-up at the spa reception that I learned about this...) so the first afternoon, I went down and booked treatments for B and I. I managed to get in a facial straight away. The staff are lovely, and the decor is as lovely as the rooms but once in my treatment room, I realised that the equipment was all broken. After my facial, they asked me if I wanted to use the jacuzzi and gave me a gorgeous black bikini to wear (I wish I kept it, it was more flattering than any of them that I tried on when shopping!). I went to the room where they had a tray of drinks out for me, and... the jacuzzi wouldn't work.

It was the beginning of a long list of broken equipment at the hotel. The shower next to the pool was out of order; the pool filter was blocked, which you could see by the layer of grease and leaves floating on top of the water (and of course, as we were staying in a room just next to the pool, we were privy to the early morning meetings of the repairmen around the pool); the security gate to the beach didn't open so guests had to pull a fence aside and climb over the potted plants. It was all a bit disappointing for what was supposed to be the best hotel in Buzios.

The real disappointment though, was yet to come. We had decided that we couldn't be bothered to move rooms because it would be so much work to pack up all our things but one day, I happened across our reservation papers and lo and behold- I had reserved a deluxe room. I asked B what we had paid for the room and he said he wasn't sure because the rates were quoted in dollars but he had to pay in reales. We did the figures and sure enough, we had paid the deluxe room rate. I went to the front desk to sort things out directly and was assured by the deskclerk that my room, room 11, was definitely a deluxe room. I pointed out that there was no balcony as stated in my reservation. He admitted that there wasn't one, but that it was bigger room than the other deluxe. I insisted it couldn't be a deluxe room because it said on their own internet site (now corrected, atleast) that all the deluxe rooms had balconies. He said that they had finished up some renovation work and the website must not have been changed. I pointed out that it didn't matter to me what the excuse might be, I refused to pay the price for a room I didn't get. He couldn't do anything about it, I had to come back the next day. The next day, it was the same thing. Come back later to talk to the manager. The manager said the same thing, it was a mistake on the web, blah blah blah.

The biggest problem was then that our vacation was being ruined by having to go and argue about this everyday and then ruminate on the argument all day long. Obviously, they had our money and were convinced that it wasn't cheating to give us a room that didn't correspond to what we had paid for, so they weren't giving any of it back. We were having a lovely holiday in the sun even if we were in a (relatively) lousy room and were too lazy to move our mountain of clothes and luggage and souvenirs and books and sunscreen and... so we let it go. I think that there is a point when you have to ask yourself if the fight is worth it and in this case it definitely was not. On the other hand, how shitty. And quite frankly, what a scam. It still pisses me off.

Of course, the real reason for the trip to Manaus is to see the Meeting of the Waters, where the Rio Negro meets the Rio Solemoes and turns into the Amazon. The two rivers are different colors and end up running alongside each other for something like 6 miles before they finally mix. It seems like a bit of a tall tale, designed to get the tourists out on another silly boat tour but it was absolutely true and pretty impressive to boot. We saw dolphins playing in the water since there is a huge amount of fish at this point in the river, although I didn't manage to see any of the pink ones. Shame- how cute must that be?!

It took us literally hours to get there on the boat which was sooo boring- although they had a few coolers full of soda and beer for us. I finally managed to taste a Guarana Antartica, the local drink. I think that Red Bull is actually a base of guarnica, a hyper caffienated berry that grows in the rainforest. This drink is somewhere between a Coke and a Red Bull, I guess. Its quite sweet and fizzy and after drinking about one an hour for the duration of the boat ride, boy was I ready to kick some piranha ass on our fishing trip. Seriously guys, I could have paddled us up the river faster than the motor was pushing our little fishing canoe. Laugh, but I managed to hook the biggest fish of the day. It was so funny though because here we were out hunting for these little devil fish, half shitting ourselves thinking of them swarming around in the water under our (scary rickety) fishing boat, and what do they give us for gear? A cane pole, a tiny little hook, and a paper cup of cut up steak. I was kind of hoping for something more like chain mail and and an ax, you know?

We went out into this reserve area and hiked into the jungle a bit to see the giant lily pads and also get assaulted by children with jungle animals gripped under their arms for photo ops; I made B hug a sloth. The little baby sloth got one brush with B's furry chest and I think that he thought he had discovered his long lost daddy. Too funny- especially since that animal reeked to the high heavens and B had to grimace through every photo. I absolutely refused to pick up any of the animals offered; I did not want to hug a caiman or an anaconda or anything else on offer. Call me a spoilsport, I had had my fill with the monkeys.

On the boat ride back to the hotel, we layed out on the deck in the sun and drank beer, which was a super nice ending to an exciting of

day of jungle trekking and animal molesting. We saw some dark clouds on the horizon and all of us stupid tourists lazily discussed the possibility of it raining that night. As they blew closer and the sky got darker, we joked about how likely it was that it would rain before we reached the hotel. The look on the face of our guide should have tipped me off but i was still shocked by how sudden it went from steamy and sunny to a reenactment of Noah's Ark. Good lord, let me assure that there is a valid reason that the call it the rainforest. It was throwing down buckets on us and when we did finally arrive at the hotel, no one managed to make it to the reception dry- regardless of the length and breadth of their raincoat. B and I decided it would be better to simply embrace the wetness and went and put our swimsuits on. I think the rain was coming down twice as hard as the water in our little shower- and the temperature was pretty similar, thats to say, icey. You might notice that I have a showercap on. The problem with the rainforest is that it is sooooo damp that nothing dries out and my hair was already so frizzy and out of control that I didn't feel up to dealing with another mop of crazy person curls. My haircut which had looked Posh Spice cool in Paris had turned into Betty White when I stepped off the airplane in Rio. So awesome when the camera is out 24/7. Sigh.

A few days in the Amazon

Although our plane tickets seemed to imply that it was a direct 6 hour flight from Rio to Manaus, in fact, we had to stop in Sao Paolo and after we got off, the flight continued on to Caracas. Apparently this is the norm in Brazil- very few direct flights from one destination to another and lots of these "circuits". It wasn't that big of deal to us except for when we first arrived at the airport and could not find our flight listed on the departures board. There was some serious panicking until we finally found someone who understood enough of our pigeon Portuguese to tell us to just get in the (40 person long...) check-in line. I was still freaking out because I figured by the time we got the front of the line and were presumably able to get an explanation from the agent it would be too late to fix the problem, ie all the other flights to Manaus would already have left. It was only after having some special ticket-like things given to us by the (non-English speaking) boss ticket agent and getting sent to the international terminal that we managed to figure out what was going on.

I should say right here that we had a sort of difficult time since there were so few people who spoke English, even in the big tourist areas, like the airport. Both B and I speak quite a bit of Spanish but even this wasn't too useful. Generally, though, I was able to understand what they were saying and B was able to be understood through a very creative use of his Spanish. Its not that I expect people to speak to me in my language when I'm in their country, it was just a bit of a surprise. English is so universal now that generally in tourist traps you can atleast get your point across if you keep it simple and are good at charades. I suppose it has a lot to do with the sheer size of the country, but even more so with how much internal culture they have. In Europe, you are used to finding American movies and TV shows and music everywhere, so its not surprising that its easy to find people who understand a bit of English. Just as an example, at the airports, when I went looking for a magazine for the airplane I would look through a wall covered with roughly 150 different magazines and not a single one would be in English. There were the odd magazines in Spanish, but really only a few.

Lucky for us, at the jungle lodge where we were staying, we were assigned a guide, Nielson, that spoke perfect English and French! I had read about the Amazon Eco Park in a guide book and found good reviews of it on the Internet so I was really happy to manage to get a room there. We had the best time at this hotel that I can't recommend it enough. We didn't have very much time scheduled for this part of our trip so I decided on this place in large part due to the fact that it was only about a 20 minute boat ride from the docks (although probably more like an hour and a half from the main Manaus boat landings.) We had a really simple little cottage to stay in which was a good 10 minute walk through the jungle from the reception buildings. We were told if we ever found a big snake on the path we just needed to throw a big stick at it, an instruction that didn't make me love the hike back to the room at night but did make me feel a little more like an intrepid jungle explorer (which I am sure they intended) and less like a fat lazy tourist. The Park does a lot of education on the Amazonian ecosystem and even though we didn't sign up for any of the lectures we did get to visit the Monkey reserve, where I was very generously volunteered by Nielson as main monkey perch for the photoshoot. Sounds like fun until you have a nervous monkey clutching your skull with his long monkey toes, shaking sand down your tank top and wrapping his freaky tail around your throat- a tail that feels like a really big calloused finger. Actually, that doesn't quite capture the weirdness of the sensation. I'm such a ham, though, I'll do anything for a good photo. We didn't manage to get down to the Bird reserve but had quite a bit of fun with the two parrots that hung out in the bar area (I think this gives you a good idea of our priorities while on vacation), begging banana chips off the guests. Nielson also dragged us to the "Indian Village" to see a tribe of locals do some dancing for us. I hate stuff like this because it seems like you're treating people like animals in the zoo. In the end, that was a bit silly, because it was more like going to see a little show while their kids poked us in the back of the head with sticks. What I REALLY ended up hating was being dragged out to participate in the dancing. Ugh. And of course, B immediately turned on the video and started taping me stomping around like a dancing bear next to this tiny little naked man, to a soundtrack of him giggling madly in the background. And like good tourists, we then blew all our cash on silly souvenirs. Well, Christmas was just around the corner, seemed like a good chance to find something better than gift certificates (don't know if my siblings quite agree...) but honestly, how many lucky people found a blow dart gun under the Christmas tree? A blow dart with real piranha teeth on it? I probably would have bought a dozen if we had had the money.

View from the Corcovado of the bay of Rio

Greetings from Brazil

We made it! Despite mounting evidence on Friday that I would absolutely not be ready in time, we made it to the airport on time, with everything we needed. Plus, with Ella gone, I managed to fit in a trip to a Power Plate gym (which I loved and now wish that I had started doing a month ago considering that I have hardly put on clothes since we landed in Brazil) and go out to a club on Thursday night AND have lunch with a girlfriend on Friday AND AND get all my Christmas shopping done. With all that productivity, its no wonder that I slept soundly for 9 hours on the plane. Poor B wasn't so lucky.

And sadly, although the location of our hotel here in Leblon is fabulous, our room is located right beneath the events room and we have been unable to sleep due to either weddings or wedding preps or wedding clean-up. The upside is that B has said that he won't be paying for the room last night due to said noise and so we can maybe spend an extra night at our gorgeous hotel in Buzios.

The beach is beach-y, but the waves are specatular! Huge crashing waves pounding the sand and its all churning white foam washing away your flip-flops, and drowning surfers and salty spray. Would like it much better if the drinks didn't cost so much on the beach. Basically, we paid 15 euro yesterday for a beer and a pina colada. Call me a lush, but on my tropical beach holidays, I like there to always be something coconutty in my hand and at those prices it is not happening. In fact, prices here seem to be more or less the same as Paris. I'm sure that there are cheap places but everyone keeps freaking us out with stories about getting mugged and warning us to stick to the nice well-known places. I hadn't really thought of Rio as dangerous but now I'm too skittish to test out my theory. Skittish and sober- bad combination.

Anyways, this afternoon (after changing hotel rooms) we are heading up to Corcovado to take photos with the Big Jesus and then over to Copacabana beach to oggle the girls in their brazilian strings. Talk about buns of steel- yesterday we bumped into a bunch of Samba dancers, as you do, and their asses were a sight to be seen. Honestly, the feathers and sequins were just distracting from the real show, which was their amazing physique. I could do Power Plate every day for a year and I could still only dream of looking like that. Sigh. This really is a country of have and have nots.

Peeka-blue

I have to make a note of this because even though it is evidence of my rather subpar mothering skills, it is very very funny. I know that the picture is really blurry, but basically all I want you to notice is that my child has been dyed blue, from the tip of her nose, all the way to her knees, backside as well. Now, I'm sure that you're thinking that I will tell you a story of ella dumping ink on herself, or making a pen explode, or something like that. Nope; this was all me. Or rather, all due to my stupid pediatrician who suggested that this might help her rash disappear. B tried to make me stop, but I didn't want her going away to the grandparents house and getting more sick so I just went for it and covered every thing that looked even vaguely rashy. I don't know if the rash actually looked any better afterwards, but you certainly don't bother noticing it when the child is covered in indelible blue ink. OK- and maybe I didn't realize immediately how much this stuff stained skin, and maybe it was good intentions that made me paint it all over her face, but it was simply not nice to laugh so hard that I had tears streaming down my face when I realized that Ella was going to have to go to school, to the park, through the streets of Paris, and to her grandparents house looking like a Giant Blueberry. Ella didn't mind, though. She kept lifting up her pyjama shirt and shouting 'Boo! Ella boo!' Look that happy little face, while she does her little nekkid blueberry dance. How can you not laugh?

(side note: Ever since Ella was a baby, B has called her Peekachoo. Its too early to tell for sure, but I think from here on out, she will officially be known as Peek-a-blue)

interview recap

Alright-
Just got home from the interview and it went ok. Not fabulously well, and I was irritated on my bus ride home thinking of all the brilliant interviews that I did for stupid jobs while this interview, for a job which seems even more perfect now that I have the inside scoop, was just average. I lost my vocabulary a bit. Also, I like to practice in my head the answer to questions like what is your strong/weak point, etc. I didn't do that so I ended up sort of floundering around, which is such a waste when its easy to have a good answer down pat. I couldn't think of the word 'transacation', which was just nerves. I didn't have to deal with any direct questions about my French level, which may be a good sign (she didn't see any reason to ask me) or a bad sign (it was so evident that I am NOT bilingual). Hopefully, I'll hear something before holiday.
I had a bit of a crisis this morning which sucked up a bunch of my prep time- I didn't know what to wear and had no one to ask for help. I know that this is a very traditional French company so I thought that a black skirt suit would be the right thing, but B told me to wear my grey Sonia Rykiel pants suit. I tried them both on and I still liked the black suit better but I realized that I don't have any good black office heels. I decided to wear my new animal print Manolos, but got super worried that even with a black suit and black tights that it would be a bit too flash for a very buttoned up business. I decided at the last minute that changing into my new glasses would balance out the heels, because glasses are nerdy and serious, everyone knows that. Ooo- I just realized that maybe it looked like I was dressing up as 'naughty librarian'. Gosh, I think that the leap from stay-at-home mom to financial wizard may be more of a shock to the system than I thought...
Anyways, I came home to an empty house because Ella's grandma picked her up extra early; I didn't even get to say good-bye. I figured it was better that way because if they waited for me, maybe Ella would get upset and then the poor woman would have to sit in Paris traffic with a screaming toddler, and frankly, just trying to keep sane while battling traffic is enough for one person.

Nerves are getting to me

I am generally immune to nerves- I don't get nervous about anything. I just figure that I will prepare myself and do my best and whatever happens after that was meant to be. But right now, I am a ball of nerves. I am really really worried about this interview because I want it so much, and I know that the fact that I don't write very well in French could knock me out of the competition before it even gets started.

The worst part is that I had decided that I would take advanced French classes, starting in September, because any job I would want to have at this point would be one where I would have to have a really good handle on the written language. If you are just some office gopher, it doesn't matter so much, but I couldn't get by on my "street" French any more. I told B my plan and said that I wanted to start looking around at programs, although I thought it best to do the Sorbonne course. He immediately said, "No no no. What a waste of money! You can do it at Berlitz and my office can pay for it because... (very long complicated explanation that somehow involves cheating the tax man or something. Sorry, I didn't really pay attention. Suffice it to say, its the sneaky sort of thing only a Frenchman would think worth the effort.) So I agree to let him sort out the inscription and I wait. Except a few weeks go by and he doesn't say anything. For various reasons, he put me off every time I mention it and voila! I get an interview for my dream job, which appears to require me to spend my days writing reports in French and who has still not started French class? Why, me! And suddenly B has changed his tune and said that it wasn't him putting off the classes, all I had to do was make an appointment at the school. He looked at me blankly when I repeated back to him all the excuses he had made over the past 3 months, as if he hadn't the slightest idea what I was talking about.

Arg. Its not his fault. I should have just signed up for classes after a week went by with no news from him. If I really thought it was important, I wouldn't have let all this time pass while I did nothing. Its just so frustrating to think that no matter what I do tomorrow, this job is probably going to slip through my fingers. Even if they don't notice that my level of French is not up to par, I know that it would be pretty impossible for me to bluff my way through my trial period, if I did manage to get hired. Being fired would be humiliating, which is probably a bit worse than just being a bit frustrated.

Oh, well. Nothing I can do about it now. I'll just go to bed tonight, clinging to the hope that their office produces their reports in English.

Anyways, I didn't spend all day crying about my appalling French. I also listened to the Mika CD and danced in front of the mirror, pretending that I was trying to make Ella laugh but really it was just because I liked the music so much. (I'll admit it, sometimes I like have a little kid around because you can excuse any dorky behaviour by saying it was a joke to make the baby laugh.) Ok- I know that this isn't a brand new release and I think I might have already heard every song on the CD, but I loved it! Its such fun fun music. I even took a break from my studying to install I-Tunes on the new computer so that I could have the music on my ipod. Which didn't actually work. I had to go and wrestle with my broken laptap to get it uploaded, but hey. I think that we have firmly established my total lack of techie skills.

AND I had one super good piece of news today- B's stepmom is picking up Ella on Thursday morning to take her to the country. We don't leave for Brazil til Friday night so that means I get a bonus day and a half at home with no baby. I am almost more thrilled about that than I am about the Brazil holiday. I have soooo many things to get done and now I finally have a fighting chance at getting through my list. Plus, we get to have a wild Thursday night out and we don't even have to get a babysitter!! Even crazier, I might be able to meet a friend for lunch. For me, that is like the Holy Grail- 2 hours in the middle of the day to eat a relaxing meal, without having to drag anyone out from under the table or dash home before the bill even arrives or just sitting down at the table and realizing that someone drew a giant 'E' on my trouser leg with pink marker.

Right now, I am trying to decide between having another glass of red wine and doing some more serious interview prep. On the one hand, I need to go through a few more things for tomorrow. Like what am I going to wear?!!! On the other hand, the bottle of wine is a 2007 Beaujolais which is lovely, if you haven't tried it yet. (Rasberries. Very fruity and drinkable.) And we bought Season 1 of Heros this weekend, which has turned out to be a lot more fun to watch than I thought it would be. Hmmm. Tough one.

impending death

Sorry for the silence- I have an excuse though. My computer is dying. Well, to be exact, the screen is slowly falling off my laptop which is making it impossible to use. Also, have had a few things going on, so lets bullet point it:
- on top of 8 million things to do for Christmas preps and holiday, I have a MEGA IMPORTANT job interview on Wednesday; I would love to work for this company and the job description is like reading off my CV, but this being France, I know that I have atleast 5 interviews to go before I get an offer and I am trying not to get my hopes up. All the same, I have been studying up day and night to be prepared for everything and anything
- Got my hair cut super short. I went in for a trim and my stylist said that long hair was boring and I should just whack it all off, do something much more modern . I just cannot be bothered to have an opinion on hair styles, so I said, "Go for it. Anything you want." Its very... Victoria Beckham. I like it. I've gotten tons of compliments so I think he chose well. But like I said, I do not have any space in my brain right now for thinking about my hair so it is what it is.
- I finally got my Brazilian visa. With all the stupid transport problems in Paris, I didn't manage to get over there last week. I popped in today with Ella and had it straight away- plus, they gave me a 5 year visa, which is a bit weird. Anyways, that went fine, and then B called and asked me to meet him to do computer shopping. So rather than take line 1 home, I tried to get a bus to the Opera. Long story short, no buses, and Ella fell asleep in her stroller, so I ended up walking all the way from Alma Marceau to Sully Morland, which for those of you not on top of Paris landmarks is a long fucking way to walk in the cold. I was just about home and I heard Ella moving around, so I stop to talk to her and see that she has taken her hat off. Its not on the ground, its not slid down behind her, its not in her hand. She clearly took it off and tossed it when I wasn't looking and its gone. Which would have been no big deal if she had been wearing her own hat. But no. See, she was being a typical two-year-old and refused to wear her own hat today.But it is so cold out, that I asked if she would rather wear my brand new gorgeous soft hat that I bought only after searching for something perfect for the last few weeks. I know you are not supposed to call your kid names, especially on the internet, so I won't. But I'm thinking them really hard right now. This is a thankless job, if you hadn't noticed, and I am suddenly much more motivated to go and spend my days with grown-ups and not small people who scream at me from the other room to come and pick up the booger on their finger.
-Ooh- just got a call from B. He has bought me a new laptop. I was really hoping to replace this one with another Samsung but no luck finding them in stock at places in central Paris. And since it is impossible to move around Paris at the present time, I ended up with a Toshiba, for not better reason than the fact that it is a 17 inch screen with a number pad on the side and they had it in stock. One more thing off my To-Do list.
-Remember the stupid French girl that I said was useless and I wouldn't work with her anymore? Well she called me to say that she was free all week for babysitting if I needed her. SO, being a strong believer in second chances, I said I must have misjudged her and asked her to come the next day so that I could go to an appointment. The day arrives, and due to transport problems, I ask if she can come an half hour earlier and she says she will try. Instead of a knock on the door, I get a phone call at the appointed hour - she went out to the banlieu in the middle of the transport strike and was shocked to find that there were no trains to get her in to Paris. So she would have to cancel. Okay, either this girl is phenomenally stupid or ridiculously optimistic to think that she had a snowball chance in hell of getting a train in the first place. But worse, I had no time to find a backup babysitter so I had to haul Ella with me across Paris in the cold to my appointment with the optometrist. (People, if you saw the horrible glasses I have been wearing, you would know that it was not an option to cancel this appointment. I NEEDED new glasses).
- So I got new glasses. They are the cutest! B wanted me to get some very rectangular tortoise shell frames, but I picked out a brown metal pair from MaxMara which I love. There were some sort of big plastic frame Phillipe Starck frames which I thought were really cool and B thought made me look even more dorky than the former glasses so that didn't work. But here is the crazy thing- the frames cost far less than I expected, I was really happy when I found out the price. But due to the fact that I am practically blind, the actual glass cost 500 euro. That is about the same price as having laser surgery on one of my eyes. When I saw the bill, my mouth hit the table. Honestly, next summer I am absolutely having the surgery and getting rid of my glasses forever.
- How is it that 5 close friends have had babies in the last month? In a way, it is very practical because if the metro ever starts running again, I'll run over to my fav baby boutique and pick-up 5 of the same gift, through them in boxes, and do one drop off at the post-office. But honestly, I wish they all could have just squeezed their legs together tight for a few more weeks so I didn't have to think about this til after Christmas.
-And this may not be news to anyone else, but geez, I cannot believe how every single person in this city is in a vile mood due to the transport strike. EVERYBODY. We are all just bitching at each other at the drop of a hat and I am so ready to go on holiday. Doesn't even have to be while you are trying to get on a train/bus/etc. It could just be in line at the grocery store. Its just that you spend all day fighting to get from one place to another and then once you get there, you have to worry about how you'll get home. Stress stress stress. Dear French workers, you are a bunch of moan-y assholes. Give me back my metro. Love, nicole (Except not really love)

We had a nice quiet weekend here. Dinner at a friend's house on Saturday night and a lazy Sunday lunch at Cafe Baci before we all collapsed into bed for a nap. Honestly, what a luxury, being able to sleep in the middle of the day. Ella deserves a pony for allowing B and me this rare rare treat. And while its lovely that my husband still likes me enough to think that when I say I'm going to take a nap in the afternoon, he automatically thinks "nap" (wink, wink) , I was even happier that he left me alone so that I could actually sleep. I don't even care if this means we have turned a corner in our relationship. Sometimes a girl is just too damned tired, know what I mean? The stress of this kitchen project is wearing me down. All I dream about is granite countertops, undercupboard lighting, and inner cabinet storage systems. How sad is that? At the very least it is a sign that I am well into middle-age. Twenty year old hipsters do not dream about lazy susan corner cabinets.

On Saturday morning, B took off work so that we could try and make some kitchen deco decisions but it wasnt' meant to be. We drove all the way out to the marble warehouse- only to find that it was closed exceptionally for the holiday on Sunday. Because they not only take off the holiday but ALSO the eve of the holiday, when the holiday falls on a Sunday. Talk about having to read the small print. Geesh. So we drove all the way back to Paris and managed to get Ella to danse class, then thought we would pop into a few tile stores on Blvd St Germain while we waited for her.

Again, the universe was just giving us the middle finger, to make sure that we know that nothing about this project is going to be easy, because we wandered into Carrelages du Sud which has gorgeous gorgeous stuff, so much that I was like a kid in a candy shop. Each drawer is organized like a mini tear sheet, with different floor tiles, wall tiles, and countertops put together so that you can see all the different possibilities. It is just a huge inspiration looking at their stuff. And they have a design service. So rather than lay awake nights trying to figure out what stupid tile to put on the floor, I could have walked in this shop a month ago and had it all done in an hour or two. Sigh. Of course, B and I saw a sample of a gray wall tile with metal bands running through it and fell in love immediately, thinking that it would be perfect on the two walls nearest the eating area in the kitchen. B thought it was fairly well priced when he read the ticket - 80 euro. But then the salesman explained that it wasn't 80 euro a m², it was 80 euro a tile. A tile, my friends. That means that it is about 500 euro the m². And we have atleast 4 or 5 m² to tile. So we are still thinking about that...

This morning we went back to the granite warehouse (for the 3rd time) and I think that we have made the decision. We are either going to use a very light colored stone called St Croix or a more gray and beige called Jura for the countertops. Its going to mean a few months of treatments on the stone to make it impervious to staining, so we'll be covering everything with plastic and glass and wooden cutting boards to try and keep it clean but I think will be worth it. I really think it will look a lot more elegant and expensive using a very plain stone than some wild marble. Of course, as we walked out of the lot, we both looked whistfully at the slabs of white Carrera marble and the beautiful Calcutta Gold. The thing about the stone countertops is that even if they get destroyed, they aren't that expensive and it won't be that much of a disaster to have them replaced. On the other hand, the white marble is more fragile and more expensive, so its just too risky. OR is it...

Anyways, I can hear little miss E banging around in her room while she supposedly rests. Generally, I would just leave her to it for the entire nap period, figuring she'll fall asleep eventually but today I think I will just take her out with me to run some errands. Did I tell you that I thought I had found a new daytime sitter? And this sitter told me she would be available all last week? And then everytime I called, she was unavailable? Well, originally I was going to have her babysit today so I could get some stuff done. Now, I am so pissed off about how unreliable she is that I think I'll have her just once more, so I can pay for the 4 hours she did babysit and then fire her. Honestly, if she is like this the very first week of work, when she is trying to make a good impression, how can I count on her at all? Maybe I am too impatient but I just cannot stand when people waste my time. I want to pay someone who wants to earn money, not someone who acts like they are doing me a favor by coming around occasionally to watch tv while my kid takes a nap. Maybe its the same everywhere but I have to admit that I have had a fairly long string of bad experiences with my French house help and their rather shabby work ethic. I want to grab some of these people by the shoulders and give them a good shake while explaining that having a work ethic is actually a good thing.

I better just plan on staying in on Wednesday. If I run into a crowd of striking fonctionnaires, my head will probably explode from suppressed rage.

Success!

I had to roll out of bed about an hour earlier than I would have liked, but it was all for a good cause- I managed to get in the door for the Maria Luisa sale with the first bunch of shoppers and I snagged three pairs of Manolos and a gorgeous white leather coat from Vivienne Westwood. I wore the jacket out last night and I just felt so incredibly sexy, even though I was just wearing jeans and a T-shirt with it. I think that there is just something about the way VW cuts her clothes that give an ultra-feminine shape. This is something that is going to get worn to death, I can already tell. They actually didn't have a very big choice for shoes. Lots of plain black heels, which I suppose are useful but just a bit boring, you know. The selection of Pierre Hardy heels was much more interesting but in the end, I decided classic Manolos were my best bet. Everything was more or less 80% off. Now, that is what I call a sale. Of course, the actual press got to go through the shop last night so I couldn't find any Alaia, which made me a bit sad as I had seen a really gorgeous navy blue dress at the beginning of summer that I would have loved to get my hands on. As far as I could tell there wasn't any Tomas Maier either, which would have definitely made the trip down there worthwhile. Anyways, I spent my allotted budget twice so its not as if I should have bought anything more.


B and I went out last night to see the film Supergrave (I think the original title is Superbad). Obviously, B choose the film although I agreed that I thought it might be good because the main character, Michael Cera, was so great in Arrested Development. I can't lie- I laughed really hard. Not at everything- I'm not the 15-year-old boy that the film is aimed at, but enough to have made it a good night out. I like Judd Apatow films. I like Seth Rogan. (And now I may be stating the obvious but..) I am not a film buff, I have no pretentions in that direction, but when I pay a fortune for a night at the movies, I want to be entertained. And sometimes, when I am playing with Ella and I see her laughing like a maniac over the stupidest stuff, I get a bit jealous trying to remember the last time I laughed that hard. Its a sad truth that when you are an adult, going about your day in the ordinary way, you just don't laugh out loud very often. It feels good to laugh, I believe everyone of those studies that supposedly proves that laughing can cure illnesses and improve your health.

Although, having said that, ancedotal evidence in our own house at the present time is a bit weak. This morning, B and I overslept and I thought that I would have to skip Gymboree since I wouldn't have enough time to take the metro all the way there. B told me to just call a taxi, so finally I got all our stuff together and we jumped in a taxi. I wasn't paying much attention to Ella since we had the most retarded taxi driver alive, who got in nearly two accidents within 50 meters of our house and then took the most ridiculous route imaginable to get there. We were almost there when we got stuck in a traffic jam near the peripherique. By this time, the meter was at 21 euro and we only had 10 minutes before our class started. I asked him to drop me off because I was going to take a tram instead. All of a sudden I noticed that Ella had a very odd look on her face- and before I could even wonder why, she started SPEWING vomit every where. Well, no. Not everywhere, mainly in my hands and then once I managed to get it out of my purse, into a diaper. The driver was having an absolute fit, I actually think he was nearly puking from the smell. We came straight home (and amazingly, with a puke-y kid in the car, he managed to do the return trip in a quarter of the time.) and I put Ella straight to bed.

Its only noon, and already I have spent 35 euro on taxis. I have another 20 euro of dry-cleaning to drop off. I cannot get the smell of puke off my hands, despite having washed them a good half-dozen times. And I have an entire afternoon of cranky baby games to look forward too since I can't take Ella to daycare now. TGIF does not apply to motherhood.

My kitchen design dilemma

I don't think it is a coincidence that today I received an email from a cuisine (kitchen) coach offering to help me sort out my project, for a mere 250 euro consultation. Its tempting.... Take a look at their website. The only thing that makes me really hesitate is that I am sort of at the end of the project and I am a bit afraid that they might suggest things that I can't implement because of decisions that we've already made. I also think, and this is partly from experience, that decorators tend to stick pretty closely to one particular style. This is fine if you love that style as well but no use at all if it is something that you find uninspiring. Since the site doesn't demonstrate very well the style of their designers, I hesitate to have someone come in. What if I spend 250 euro and she suggests speckled granite and copper pots, you know? I'll mention it to B tonight but I don't see him going for it.

Ups and downs

Just cracked open a bottle of our bubbly red wine- its a Demi-Sec Rouge from Cellier Leonardo de Vinci that I really like. B thinks its nice for summer picnics but a bit embarrassing the rest of the year (eg, he wouldn't let me open it the other night when we had people over. Sometimes he is such a French snob). So tonight, I figure I'll have to make quite a bit of headway into this bottle so that it doesn't just go flat sitting in the fridge for days on end. Or atleast, that will be my excuse. Otherwise, I could say that I am mourning the end of Season 3, Desperate Housewives, since we finished off the last episode of the DVD's I bought B for his recovery. Don't know what we will do with ourselves now that we have to resort to French TV for entertainment once again.

Of course, I deserve a bit of a treat, since last night I went to Bikram yoga, once again. I have been brilliant lately and gone on a very regular basis, resulting in some very good results. Obviously, results would be slightly more impressive if coupled with some sort of healthy eating plan, but I am not a saint. I don't need to weigh 50 kilos to find happiness. I am more than satisfied with a flat stomach.

Oh, and I also got my hair dyed yesterday. I don't know if its all the exercise or the phase of the moon or what, but my hair had grown about 2 cms since my last color 6 weeks ago. Thats insane. So I asked the girl to do something to help it grow out better. I was thinking of maybe going a bit darker, but adding a darker color on the underneath bits. She decided to go a more honey blonde and in the salon, I liked it. Today, I'm not so sure. It makes me look sort of .... blah. The color seems a bit too uniform. Or maybe its just that the color matches my skin to closely. It looks flat. And also slightly more reddish than I originally thought. I am going to give it another day and another washing to see what I think. Maybe I need to go back and ask her to do something else.

But balancing that out, I popped over to the Brazilian consulate yesterday morning and managed to complete my visa application with minimal hassle. I really didn't expect to get away with only 2 visits. Of course, it wasn't all smooth sailing. I had mainly been reading the visa info in English, since it was all specifically aimed at Americans so I thought that the visa cost 100 USD, pretty shocking in and of itself, right? Well, if you are in France applying for the visa, then it costs you 100 EUR, or roughly 40% more. Can you believe that scam? I think my chin hit the counter when the woman told me the price. Seriously, I don't care how fantastic Brazil is, it is not worth an extra 100 euro to me. Still, I was so happy to just be done with the application, I handed over my money without too much regret.

And I do have more important things to spend my money on. Tomorrow morning I am going to get in line at the Maria Luisa Braderie. Last year I got 2 gorgeous pair of shoes and I only managed to get there on the 3rd day. If I can go on the first morning, I have warned Bruno that I may need a small donkey to help get my bags home. Of course, he suggested that I might need to spend the evening convincing him that these will all my very worthwhile purchases, necessary for my survival... That man has no morals. Honestly, what a girl will do for a pair of Manolos...

PS if anyone knows when Christian Louboutin is doing his vente privee, let me know!! I have been harassing all the fashion insiders I know to have this info, but no luck so far.

kitchen wallpaper

kitchen wallpaper
Originally uploaded by aprilpschwab

I love this kitchen! I found the image via thekitchendesigner.org and it really got me thinking.
We finally heard back from the marble/granite wholesaler re: the stone we had picked out for the countertops. They sent us a photo of the sole slab that they had in stock and it was awful. It had a huge section at the top with no variation in color so it looked more or less like concrete, while bottom half was speckled with small "stones". It wasn't pretty at all so we said "No thanks". Now we can't figure out what we want to replace it with.

I didn't mind the dark brown that B had picked out, but I don't like the idea of dark floors-light cabinets-dark countertops- light walls. So whats the alternative? Maybe light colored countertops and dark walls? After seeing this kitchen on a decorating blog, I started thinking that maybe a really bold wallpaper would be just the thing to give our design some direction. I went on the Cole and Sons site and found this paper, that I LOVE:

The drop is 80 cm, so I think the pattern must be quite large. I need to see it in real-life and think that BHV carries this brand so I'll try popping over there tomorrow, I think. B probably won't be thrilled with this pattern, but I think that it could really work, since that red/orange color looks to be the same that I used in our office- Red Earth by Farrow and Ball. I like the idea of keeping our color scheme consistent throughout the entire flat. We could do the countertops dark brown, maybe even use this marble, since B fell in love with it when he saw a sample of it. The floors could stay dark chocolate brown as well. We stopped in at Raboni on blvd Henri IV last week and looked at some dark chocolate brown floor tiles with a very subtle leather grain pattern to them. The only thing that held us back from ordering them was the fact that they only existed in a 60 x 60 model. Then, we can use a chocolate brown pain in the niches. The only thing that bothers me a bit is that there is a gold accent in the paper (which I really like) which would maybe class with the stainless steel appliances. Hmm.

The other minor problem would be that we would have to change the wallpaper in our hall/entry. Right now it is a beige on white leaf pattern and it runs right up to the kitchen door. I like pattern, but even that would be a bit much for me.

I don't know about this. It would take a lot of bravery to commit to orange flowered wallpaper and gold veined marble in the kitchen. Even on paper, this idea scares me. Maybe I'll keep looking for a wallpaper just a teensy bit more subtle.

Let's do brunch

I know that this is a bit cheeky, but since I have gotten a bit behind on my blogging this week, I've decided to make several separate entries rather than one big one, to make myself feel a bit better.



Just as a side note- you can totally tell that Ella is half-French every time the yogurt comes out. That kid acts like I have handed her a bag of chocolate if I give her one of B's cheap Monoprix brand plain, low-fat yogurts with cane sugar. She is sitting next to me right now, scrape-scrape-scraping the bottom of her second container so that she doesn't miss out on even a drop of the yogurt-y goodness. Of course, her American side still shines through, as she is staring at the tele with a look at total adoration, watching an episode of Dora the Explorer.



Now, in an effort to win myself a few more minutes of computer time, I asked her to open up the packages of dishes that I bought at Habitat this afternoon. I ended up getting a few set of giant cups and saucers, in a soft taupe color and a half dozen mugs, in the same color. I saw other stuff that I liked in bright colors and typical Habitat patterns, but I took the boring option in the end. First of all, I knew that B HATES wild colored stuff. And secondly, I feel like, every time I go to Habitat, I see a million things that I think I need, choose something that I think will be incredibly cool, only to get home and realize that it is the worst of bad taste, cheaply made, and end up shoving it to the back of the cupboard where it will sit for 5 or 6 years til I feel like I can throw it out without too much guilt. Last item bought at Habitat: 6 plastic plates, I giant platter with crazy tropical flower/bird design in neon yellow, hot pink, and orange. Number of times used? once. Number of years sitting in my cupboard? 4 years. Sure, it probably only cost me 30 euro but still. I always go there before a party, thinking that I'll just pick up the one implement that I am missing and end up walking out with a bag full of crap. Hopefully this time I did OK, but only time will tell. I'll be packing up the entire kitchen in about 2 weeks, to have it ready for the renovation work starting the beginning of December - when I am away on vacay. I think that I will use this opportunity to just ruthlessly clear out my cupboards.



I am a very firm believer in "Organized desk, organized mind", except I stretch that to include every cupboard in my house. I think that its the best feeling in the world to walk out the front door with a giant bag of useless crap that has been cleared out of some closet. It feels like I am throwing my problems in the trash. God, there are probably lab rats that have a more complicated psyche than me, but there it is. I am a simple girl with simple needs.

Anyways, I needed to get a few more mugs since we have invited friends over for brunch on Sunday. Its been ages since we've done this and such a shame since I love having big lazy sunday afternoon meals. On the menu are Bacon-wrapped polenta egg cups; Goat cheese biscuits with chevre, smoked salmon and homemade red-pepper jelly; choco-banana cupcakes; fresh bread and croissants with jam and nutella; fresh orange juice and coffee. Yum.