Year in Review...

2007 got off to a great start. Mr. MP let me tag along with him on a business trip to my favorite city in the world. A car picked us up from the airport and we checked into The Muse hotel. We had a wild night out with a college friend and her significant other, who happens to be an English lord, in their neighborhood: Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I experienced a hangover at Tiffany's. We saw four Broadway shows in three days: Little Dog Laughed, a hilarious play, The Apple Tree starring Kristin Chenoweth, Spring Awakening before it became a huge sensation and Tony winner and Grey Gardens, based on the documentary that MP loves and adores. Just when it was time for MP to head home, CF flew out to join me. We moved hotels, and were joined by his brother and sister-in-law who were visiting from Boston for his birthday. We found out that people with long legs shouldn't see opera at The Met, but we had a fabulous dinner out at Otto. I also caught one more Broadway show, a fantastic revival of Company. D&M headed home and we were joined by yet another travel buddy, Mr.PdP! We had Brazilian fusion at Sushi Samba and CF had a light night slice from Joe's while we were in the right neighborhood. We missed the West Village on this trip! We hopped on the subway back to our hotels, our stop being a couple before P's we waved goodbye to him and the train winded away. I thought to myself what an amazing life I have that I can meet up with a friend in NYC and part ways on the subway! The next morning we enjoyed brunch at SaraBeth's West and discovered Jacques Torres while waiting for a delayed flight home. What an adventure!

I designed Oscar party invites for a friend, ended up attending and winning the trivia competition! I'll have to check out the calendar this year and try to host a party. I flew to San Diego to help host a baby shower for my sister. Thanks to Yelp.com I found a fantastic place to host a ladies' tea party in her honor. It really was nice.

We spent our anniversary in March at the Ventana Inn in Big Sur. We had discovered it on our honeymoon (while on a drive out of Carmel) and had an amazing lunch on their restaurant's huge back patio. The view of the ocean was incredible. We had always wanted to return so we finally did. The hotel wasn't quite what we might have expected and it rained so much we couldn't go for the hosted nature walk like I had been hoping, but it was a nice and relaxing weekend. On our way home we stopped in Carmel for a meal at Casanova. They have great food but the shining star was their sun-dried tomato and olive tapenade served with the bread. The waitress said they knew it would be a hit if they could bottle and sell it but it doesn't keep well enough. So if you ever need a nice meal in Carmel, do yourself a favor and go try it!

Right before our anniversary I drove to SF to turn in a resume for my current job. I was expecting to have drive the 45 minutes just to turn around and come back after handing it over, but the person I happened to hand it to asked if I'd like to talk to the area manager, and she asked me if I'd like to interview right then and there. Another 45 minutes later she asked, "So if I were to offer you a full time position, do you think you would probably accept?" And I said, "Yeah, I'd need a little time, but probably." This was followed with her saying, "Okay, well I'm offering you a full time job." Instant job offer! Knowing what I do now I can see how this was an easy decision for her, but it seemed pretty crazy at the time! So this was the beginning of my crazy retail career. I met the team of people who had been rounded up, a few of these people are still with me at the store. I instantly liked KM, though I had no idea we'd practically end up being sisters, or maybe even twins. So we did our training, and helped with the actual set up of the store. We opened at the beginning of May, just before my birthday.

Speaking of birthdays, this year was the big 3-0. I had a great time going out with friends in Half Moon Bay. Honestly I am liking myself more than ever lately so I don't mind the getting older. Sure, sure, my back is always getting out of alignment, my knees have very recently been giving me a scare, there are a few lines on my face and some gray hairs that can no longer be ignored. But really, I was excited to start a new decade, it felt like a clean slate. My birthday present from CF was one of my most prized possessions, my digital SLR, a Canon Rebel. I've taken it many places and taken many photos with it. I try to experience life and the people and places I am near, but damn it, I love getting a great shot too!

CF celebrated his birthday with a trip to the city. We took the ferry to Larkspur and had lunch at the Marin Brewing Company. We splurged on a nice room at Hotel Vitale back in San Francisco, it was one of the few upgraded rooms I've ever thought was worth the money. We had amazing views of the Bay Bridge and Ferry Building.

My niece was actually born near the end of April, but I didn't have the opportunity to go visit her until her baptism at the end of June. She is adorable and it was great to have the whole family together in San Diego.

In August I got to take my mom back to NYC, yes folks, that was the second time I was there in 2007! But this trip was planned further in advance. A month before we went I had a frantic morning of dial-and-redial which scored us a reservation at Babbo, the crown jewel of Mario Batali's NY restaurants! We left early Monday morning and took the AirTrain and subway into the city. I had reserved the Greenwich Village guest studio that CF and I had stayed at two birthdays ago. Our hostess was actually away from home right then but because she knew me she let us stay anyway! Her friend let us in, and it was great having our own place all week. We went for a walk and that night we had our magical dining experience at Babbo. It was absolutely amazing. I know we kept notes about the food there, I should do a write up. The next day we took the subway to Brooklyn and found the Jaques Torres storefront there. The woman behind the counter asked where we were from and when my mom answered, "Davis, California." I gave her a bad time, expecting the woman to only recognize Sacramento or San Francisco. But silly me, it turns out this woman had visited Davis with Jaques himself... he spoke at UC Davis, which totally makes sense considering the emphasis on food science! We loaded up on "Wicked iced hot chocolate" a version of their spiced hot chocolate blended with ice for the warmer months, and then we walked back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge. We took a brief rest and then walked through Little Italy, continued through SoHo, and then to grab a sandwich at a place I had read about on newyorkdailyphoto.blogspot.com. It took a couple hours but we had walked all the way home from Brooklyn! We rested a while and then went up to Tiffany's, Rockefeller Center (and the Top of the Rock) and then went to try our luck at the Wicked lottery. $25 tickets for the front row weren't in the cards for us, so we got seats for The Drowsy Chaparone at the TKTS booth. We had another amazing meal, this one made up of four appetizers we split at Little Owl near home before going and enjoying the wonderful show. And then we had my required NYC food experience, tempura green beans at The Red Cat in Chelsea. My poor mother got in bed and started to read her book, but promptly passed out. What a day! The next day we went to check out the Union Square green market where a lot of the restaurants in the city get their fresh ingredients. Then we got matinee tickets to Curtains, a cheesy show that won me over with David Hyde Pierce's huge fantasy dance number. We got to experience Burger Joint, the hidden hole-in-the-wall inside Le Parker Meridian hotel for lunch before the show. We considered seeing a second show that day but when we still didn't win the Wicked lottery we decided just to take it easy and had slices from Joe's for dinner at home and got to catch up on a little sleep. Thursday we trekked up to brunch at SaraBeth's on the UWS, and mom had a soap star eating right behind her. We checked out Zabar's grocery store, imagine sight seeing in a food wonderland while little old ladies try to do their shopping! Then we got back on the subway and trekked all the way up to the Cloisters, an amazing satellite of the Met, with a beautiful garden. My friend from high school who moved to NY in '01 had always recommended the Cloisters from my very first visit in '04 on... and I finally made it up there. It was wonderful, totally worth the journey. We rode almost all the way home but stopped to check out Chelsea Markets, and wander back through Greenwich Village until we got home. That evening we had dinner with some friends of mine from college who happened to be visiting as well. I finally got to try Bar Pitti, a cheap but popular Italian joint near home. I think my fellow travelers enjoyed it all right, but they were really sold once I pointed out Kirsten Dunst (and Simon Pegg as it turned out) eating in the outside dining area! We all hopped on the subway and my friends went off to enjoy Avenue Q while I made a return visit to Spring Awakening. My special NY connection had booked us the best house seats I had ever scored. 5th row and dead center. It was so cool to see a show from such great seats! The next day we packed up and said goodbye to our special little home away from home. We got lunch from Murray's Cheese and enjoyed a little picnic in a little fenced off park. It was a nice way to wind down. We grabbed one last round of cookies from Rocco's Bakery and jumped on the subway to Brooklyn. We visited a friend of mine there who had just had a baby. We got some dinner and then trekked out to JFK, where we were horribly delayed thanks to a little bit of rain. But we made it home eventually, tired but happy.

Two short weeks later I was jetting off to a different city, we visited Chicago with our friend the DP's. I got to visit my store's headquarters and distribution before they joined us. We had a weekend of dining, drinking and lots and lots of fun. The first night we had martinis at Martini Park, before crossing the street for dinner at Fogo de Chão (never have a seen a restaurant so full of drunk people!), and then we even managed to have a round of beers at the Clark Street Ale House. It was crazy! The next night we had a huge Italian meal and visited Howl at the Moon, a dueling piano bar with overly caffeinated musicians playing their hearts out. Good fun! I came back tired and ready to take a break from traveling, but the truth was the biggest trip of the year was yet to come!

The weekend after Chicago we attended the wedding of one of my oldest friends. It was such a trip to see people who I met when I was 12 and hadn't seen in something like 10 years. The ceremony was performed by a comedian and he opened by giving the impression that the entire thing was going to be delivered like the priest in The Princess Bride! The groom's brother (another theater buddy of mine) sang, and it was so nice to see a couple have so much fun with their wedding. At the reception I sat at "the kids table" which meant I was sitting with my old theater friends and we danced and drank the night away. I barely made it to work in one piece the next day.

Later that month we were back in San Francisco where we had yet another magical dining experience by visiting Restaurant Gary Danko. The whirlwind continued the next weekend with FallFest, a fantastic event in the city full of wine and food. CF had too much sake though and the evening was cut a bit short. The DP's were with us and were great sports about it. I think they'll even go back with us next year... maybe.

It wasn't too much longer after then that we took off for Europe... and well, you know what happens next!

Currently I am hanging out in Davis with the whole big family. The niece is entertaining us just by being her cute little self. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, CF and I are rounding up the troops to trek out to Roseville for a party we were instrumental in scheduling. Hee hee. I'll try to write some more later about my thoughts about a new year. But just writing everything that happened this year out makes me realize what a great year this was. I know I always say this, but I can't wait to see what happens next!!!

Merry Christmas ya'll!

Didn't want the day to get away without posting a Christmas wish (looks like I caught it just in time!)... I hope you're all happy and I thank you all for making a difference in my life, large or small, it means a lot. This year has been one wild ride! Who knows what the next one will bring! I am actually pretty excited to see what happens next.

For a little Christmas funny I was going to post a musical number from my favorite Christmas movie, White Christmas. But instead here's my favorite scene from my second favorite holiday flick...


Okay, so if you want to get your musical nerd on, what you really need to see is this spoof of the Saturday Night Live video "Lazy Sunday." This one was done by the cast of the newish stage version of White Christmas. I give you: "Lazy Tuesday."

P.S. I love the outtakes at the end.

Holiday kisses to you all!

I'm fat, not stupid!

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It isn't the first time I have encountered someone who doesn't know the difference between being fat and being stupid. But I guess I expected more from a doctor. Silly me! Ready for an angry, sarcasm filled rant?

I decided to switch doctors because this office is much closer to our house and the medical group is supposed to be wonderful. Only two females were open for patients, I took the one with more qualifications. I showed up for my appointment this morning and met a really friendly nurse who was fretting over the fact that her fiance was currently taking some sort of certification test for electricians. She got me all set up and left me to change into the fabulous paper gown, reminding me it should be open to the front, natch. And then I waited... and waited. Eventually I heard a doctor talking to a patient in the hallway. I felt a little bit bad about being to hear this conversation, until the doctor said something about needing to get on to the next patient, or maybe she was pointing out that her next patient was waiting. Either way, I realized this was most likely my new doctor. Hmm, great start.

She came in and started right in with standard questions. Making sure to move on to the next one before I could elaborate too much, she was clearly trying to catch up with her scheduled appointments. I forget why it came up, but I said to her, "About three years ago I did a major diet overhaul and started losing weight." And she quickly asks, "Do you mean gaining weight?" With a pity filled little smile. I look at her with a blank face. "No! Losing." She at least had the decency to look slightly apologetic. I said slightly. She'd basically lost all my respect at this point though.

I answer her questions about my diet and exercise. I tell her a bit of what I did three years ago, what my routine has been more recently, and then explain that I was gone for five weeks traveling and came back to a chaotic work and life schedule for the holidays so I haven't been able to keep up with my usual number of workouts per week. She sort of listens. She then tells me, as if she was turning on a light bulb over my head, that the good news is there is room for improvement in my exercise routine! I can workout more than once or twice a week. Really?!?! Brilliant idea. Why didn't I think of that?

She proceeds to tell me to eat more salads. The girls at the salad bar at Pluto's probably found themselves snickering at that moment without really knowing why. She tells me I need to weigh 160 or less, which Luisa, who has been working out with me for over a year has already told me will never be me considering the muscle weight I now have. By the way, she also told me I should get down to that weight before I consider having children, so the one small thing I like about her is she is one of the few people in the world who don't wonder why I'm not doing this now. She asks me if I eat a lot of carbs. I start to wonder if she's joking. She asks if I'd like a referral to see their dietitian, I tell her I've already booked an appointment with one to help me break this plateau. When she hears that the dietitian is at my gym she suggests hers is better since they will have "more medical information." Yeah, I can see how much that's helped you. She asks me to come back one morning for a blood test for cholesterol and blood sugar. "Maybe your blood sugar is high. If it is I will ask you to see our dietitian instead." The blood test will also test my thyroid. Gee, no one has ever thought to check that before! You really are brilliant.

What happened here is she walked in the room and saw a fat girl and assumed I don't know how to live healthy, don't know how to lose weight and clearly must be stupid. She thought she had all the answers for me. Eventually the fact that I've lost 80 pounds on my own sort of sunk into her head and she did say, "I am proud of what you've done." Huh? Honey, you didn't do anything, I just met you! "If all your test results are normal I will just see you in a year!" she says as she runs out the door. Don't count on it, sweetie!

So what do you think? She was stressed and pressured to keep up with a packed schedule? She was never taught any better? Do I put up with this treatment and just see her once a year and figure that most doctors assume the same thing?

This reminded me of the first trainer I ever met and worked out with at my gym. His name was Spiro (that name was the first warning sign). I had put in a request for my free training session and had asked for a female. I don't know if it was because the gym was lacking female trainers then even more than it is now or if he just got over anxious but it was Spiro who called me to make an appointment. This was a few months after starting the South Beach Diet, I had lost somewhere around 25 pounds already. This guy had me do 20 squats followed by 20 lunges on each leg. During the second leg I fell backwards onto my butt, he gave me a hand up, and then told me to finish the set. He proceeded to thoroughly kick my ass and then decided that I needed help with my diet (even though I had already told him I had that nailed down). His idea of being helpful was to show me the contents of his lunch box. He said all the cardio I had been doing was useless, that I needed to lift with him three times a week and buy expensive vitamins that he just so happened to have a personal contact for. By the end of the session I was worried I might fall down the stairs to get back down to the locker room, and instead of taking the stairs down to where I parked my car I walked around to an auto entrance and walked down the ramp. I couldn't walk for three days, which has only happened to me two other times in my life (once was after my first spin class, the other time was after an overzealous dance audition where the choreographer had us in a row doing high kicks while he put is hand in front of our faces and yelled, "Kick my hand! Kick my hand!"). I was almost shamed into buying sessions with him, I thought I must be in such need that I should submit myself to that. Then I got angry and considered looking for a new gym if this was the kind of idiot they employed. Instead I avoided the weight room for months until I somehow got smart and emailed a female trainer directly. I was so worried she would treat me like I was stupid after seeing my size. I was beyond relieved when she scoffed at the idea of me training with a meat head like Spiro, and I ended up working out with her until she moved back out of the state a year and a half ago.

So I guess I need to look for another new doctor, one that might speak to me a little before deciding they know everything about me. This one that I met with this morning? I fear for her safety actually, I told LT & OT at the gym about what she said and they were almost ready to accompany me back to the medical center for a little health education for a certain young and naive doctor. I arrived at the gym so fired up and angry, I actually had a fantastic workout! I've also been in a bad food rut and it's killed my appetite. There was very little food in the house, so while riding the high I get from a great workout I managed to go grocery shopping. So maybe this year is the year I get into pants from the regular sizes, or see a weight that doesn't start with a '2.' Or maybe it isn't. Either way I'll just be glad to know that I happen to be a whole hell of a lot smarter than someone who managed to make their way through Med School. I might be utterly lost. But I am not stupid.

The story needs some mending...

A link to this video is currently in my GoogleTalk status message, but in case you didn't see it yet I'll post it here too. I just love Sara Bareilles! This recording of Fairytale isn't quite as polished as the one that made it on to the album, but it's fun and the video is great.

All I Want For Christmas...

What do I want for Christmas? My first instinct is to say I want to feel like I've finally caught back up with my life. We adjusted very quickly when we returned from Europe but there is still mail we haven't really dealt with, a big mess in our bedroom from when I was packing, a million hours of television on the Tivo, and I remain behind on Christmas preparations. At a party Saturday night, I was paid a compliment but it also made me worry I've fallen off the weight loss wagon. A nice guy asked me how long it took me to lose the weight, and I asked if he thought I looked like I was done, but then laughed it all off and said, "It's been three years." So maybe this is more of a New Year's resolution, but I have to buckle down asap! Okay, but what I really want for Christmas is some direction in life. I've always just gone with the flow and well, the flow left me hanging a couple years ago. But the truth is I've never known what I really want. Quiet, and not so quiet, rumblings at the store lead me to think it's time now to try to figure out "what's next." I've always felt a little bit silly being the one person working there who doesn't even notice or care when it's pay day, the one person who isn't either in finals right now or wondering how to get back into college, and of course I'm one of the oldest people working there. I knew I didn't fit in, but I bring a lot to the table. I hold that place together at times by thinking quickly on my feet and just being willing to go the extra mile, even though I'm not being compensated for it. I try, and I think I succeed, to be friends with everyone who works there. There's a lot of talking behind people's backs that makes me nervous, I wonder what they say about me when I'm not there.

I've actually gained a lot from this experience. I lost out on an opportunity I was very excited about about a year ago because I lacked customer service experience, and I like knowing I have it now. I've learned a lot about people, human nature, stress, and communication. I've given up things I thought I wouldn't be willing to part with, my Sundays, mainly, and being available for every possible social engagement. I don't make it to the gym nearly as much anymore but being on my feet all day is actually a good supplement to what I do get done. It's nice to know that I can put myself into a really unfamiliar situation and not only make the best of it, but also learn how to really shine.

But it is time to at least start thinking about what will be next. Part of me just wants to do nothing for a while, so I can focus on the remodeling we want to do on our house that no one has any time to research, and for that matter, I'd like to think about the decorating around the house that we never finished. I'd love to be available to drop everything for traveling with CF. However, now that I'm slightly back on my feet and out there in the world, I don't think I should do that. I just wish something would click with me and make me actually want something. That's what I want for Christmas, to WANT something.

Just for the sake of the few people asking and if you want to know what's going on inside my odd little head (er, not so little), here's what I'm thinking might be nice if I can't get that #1 thing on my list (don't worry, I'm not actually expecting you to solve all my problem, or buy me anything for that matter)...

• Pretty coffee table style books (mostly of NYC) to put on my lovely bookshelves we bought earlier this year that remain quite empty. My amazon.com wishlist is full of ideas.
• I'd like a new perfume, I like Aveda's newish higher end scent, but I wonder if it's time to try something different. CF never likes the Jo Malone samples I've had him smell but I think her Amber & Lavender is delicious, even if it was originally designed for a man, it's a unisex scent. And her new scent, White Jasmine & Mint, is also wonderful, I got to smell it several months early because I've made friends with the manager of the nearby boutique (she loves our store).
• This satin clutch is still available in turquoise in the stores, but considering how hard a time I have finding an evening bag I actually like I should probably just go get it. Hmmm...
• There was a cute teapot/cup with a peacock on it at Urban Outfitters, but that design might be gone. I don't need it but you know I want it (thanks Becki!).
  
• Funny how the iPod started out seeming so tiny but now I hate how "big" and "heavy" my 60gig iPod video is when working out at the gym. I wouldn't mind a Shuffle for workout music. Aren't I awful?
  
• They'd be a bit of a splurge but I can't shake the desire for letterpress personal calling cards from Paper Source.
  

But the truth is, there's really very little materials goods that I want that I don't have. So mostly for Christmas I'd like a little taste of direction for the coming year, and to be with the friends and family I love. That's all I really need.

If only all the answers came to me so quickly!

I know I was a big talker Sunday night, eventually the three consecutive days of closing the store at 10pm got the best of me and I came home incredibly cranky. I wish I could stay in bed all day! But there is so much to do and I have to head to the gym in an hour or LT will have my head.

Yesterday morning I woke up late but had just enough time to shower and get dressed before our Christmas tree was delivered. I went and picked it out the day before and paid an extra $10 to have it brought to our house. And of course instead of using the few hours I had before going to work to get something responsible done like putting away the laundry or catching up with the Quicken, I decorated the tree! I got it almost entirely decorated before I had to head down to San Jose for work. I have to admit, I am getting tired of the drive and the amount of gas I'm going through makes me feel awful. Things were crazy at the store when I arrived, but you know I got everything whipped into shape in no time at all! This was our busiest evening so far this week, at least it wasn't boring!

I had a little blast from the past moment... a basketball player from my days at UC Davis came in with his girlfriend/wife (not sure which). I had actually seen him there before but thought we were getting a little bit old for (said with sorority sister voice) "Did you go to Davis?" This time I decided to talk to them. He confirmed that he was indeed who I thought he was and then I told him I was in the band and had gone to Louisville. (I doubt anyone reading this doesn't know but: Davis played the DII national championship in '98 and a group of us paid for our own travel to get there and slept on a dorm lounge floor all week so we could play and cheer at the games. Davis ended up winning the whole darn thing. One of my memories of the evening that followed was this guy throwing flaming paper airplanes out a hotel room window as the band and team partied together.) He got a big smile on his face and the girl with him exclaimed, "You were in the band-uh?" She looked very familiar too, I don't know if it's from Davis or if she's been in the store without him. You never know with my memory. I didn't get to talk to them too much as business picked up in the store but we kept exchanging smiles. I felt like a big goober, band nerd and shop girl... aren't I impressive?

I had two straggling customers at 10pm, I need to remind my coworkers to check in with people and let them know when we're closing soon. People are so oblivious to what time it is, they don't really mean to be keeping us, but at the same time they probably wouldn't hurry anyway. I did my best to stay polite but I was beyond ready to go home. I The first night I was done at 10:05, second night 10:15, last night I was finally there till 10:30. I was probably speeding on the way home, I just wanted to be there already. CF called me and caught me just in time, he had taken the shuttle to work and needed a ride home (he left his car at the shuttle stop in San Carlos). We ended up staying up late watching TV, finishing decorating the tree and having some midnight cranky-mood-reducing junk food. Thanks CF, I can always count on you to cheer me up!

Today is my one day off this week when I will actually be home. I have so much to do! But here's a few things for entertainment purposes:

Footage of the Spring Awakening kids singing during the strike last month:



Then, while clicking around YouTube, I ran into footage from my favorite show from my first trip to NYC this year, the Company revival. The show closed back in July, but PBS filmed the last two performances. I started to wonder if that footage would ever see the light of day on Great Performances. And oddly enough it was a matter of hours before I got my answer! Playbill.com posted an article that says Company airs on February 20!!! Woot! Since it will air soon enough and you're all going to watch it (please tell me they release these things on DVD!), instead of posting a badly shot bootleg video from the show I thought I'd point out this footage of the star, Raúl Esparza, singing a song from quite a different show. You might recognize him from a few supporting appearances on my favorite new television show, Pushing Daisies. I just love that show! And I hope his character comes back!

Tiffany's Not Included

My first holiday season in retail is proving to be manageable and actually rather boring. Today was the first day of holiday hours, Sunday are usually noon to 6pm but we were open from 10 to 10, and basically will be till Christmas Eve. I knew I'd be out late last night (at the DP's holiday party, one of my favorite annual events) so I asked to come in as late as possible today. I got exactly what I asked for (it's true what they say about being careful) and had the honor of closing at 10pm tonight. Thank goodness I didn't have to be there till 2, that was just about the time that I managed to come back to life from last night's festivities. Business was decent but it wasn't all that busy. Between 8 and 9 we made $83.07, and between 9 and 10 we made $83.79. And when I say between 9 and 10, I really mean between 9 and 9:24 because there was no one in the store after that. My two lovely coworkers got the store cleaned and straightened and I let them go home early. I got the drawers counted and most of the closing tasks done and ready for that clock to hit 10. I think I clocked out at 10:05. I have the pleasure of closing at 10pm the next two nights as well. I hope it's a little more exciting than tonight. CF actually went to work today too, and being the nice guy that he is, he drove me to work so I didn't have to deal with holiday mall parking. How's that for service? We came home, ate some ice cream (some of the delicious Bi-Rite Creamery loot I brought home after my haircut in San Francisco on Thursday), watched the Something Wicked This Way Comes episode of Ugly Betty (yes, I am still very much behind on all the television that aired while we were traveling, and also yes, I did love the Wicked footage), and now we're hitting the hay.

Ms. D is coming over in the morning and we're going to walk up my neighborhood hill. I actually am crazy enough that I pondered getting up for 5:30am spin with my favorite teacher since I haven't seen him since before the trip, but I am closing so I really would have had to come home and go back to sleep in order to make it through the day. So instead I will hike our crazy diagonal streets and D has agreed to come with me. What fun to have her around so much lately! Last Wednesday she came over and kept me company while I made Baby's First Christmas cards for my sister, then we went to a matinee showing of Enchanted (I loved the good, cheesy fun, but she found McDreamy to be its only redeeming quality), had a very successful mall run, then we came home and watched 3 DVD's while I finished the cards and CF cooked us dinner. Not a bad life! The three of us had a good time getting dressed up for the party last night. We were as chic and as French as we could manage. We'll all be together again this weekend for another holiday get together. We keep making jokes that we'll be sick of each other soon. But I really just don't see that happening.

I've been back to the gym a whopping two times since returning. Both times have left me quite sore. I returned from Europe around the same weight I was at the beginning of the trip, but apparently somewhat leaner/smaller (the dress I wore to CF's company holiday party used to be snug and now is lose enough that I had to be careful to keep things "in place" during the evening), and getting the muscles lifting what they did a month and a half ago is proving to be a challenge. The day I went back to the gym I brought a Swiss dark chocolate bar and a Belgian bar filled with a cognac creme to my dear friends the trainers. O, a 7 foot tall, buff as can be, black man squealed like a little girl when he saw the sweets. L, my favorite grumpy Italian, played it cool but later called my cellphone and informed me that she didn't care how I did it, if I had more at the house or if I had to go back to Europe, but that I had to bring her more cognac filled chocolate. Uh oh. I guess I have to go back to Belgium! It's nice to have friends at the gym, they keep it fun.

This week I've got to get back on track with going to the gym, getting the house cleaned up and Christmas-ified, and actually buying some Christmas presents and not just the wrapping paper. Today wasn't such a good jump start on that plan, since the whole day was eaten up by hangover and working, but I did my best. What can I say? I tried to do better than I did last year, and I did manage that. There's always next year to try for even better!

Kindred spirits

Things are hectic right now. Thank goodness for two days off! I am going to be making some wonderful "Baby's First Christmas" cards for my sister, they're her birthday gift, and her birthday was in July. But at last they're finally happening. I'm about to push "print" as soon as I finish my coffee. Every time I think about Christmas I start to panic and it gets a little harder to breathe. Hopefully I can put some time into planning today. We're hosting my family here on the day of, which I am so excited about. But the past couple years I have become an awful gift shopper. I just don't seem to make it happen anymore, the ideas just aren't coming to me. Maybe I will brainstorm a bit on gift options and make a post about it later. So if I can make these cards, plan some Christmas gifts, and get myself ready for holiday party madness in the next two day, I will be a happy girl. Speaking of holiday parties, every year I seem to find half of an outfit to wear to one particular party, and then I spend the week before scrambling trying to complete the outfit. This is such a waste of my stress right now!

So I promise to write more soon, but for now I will just share one of my recent favorite Gap photos. Oh, did I mention I just love Gap marketing? Patrick Wilson dancing in his khakis earlier this year almost killed me I loved it so much. But here is Amy Poehler and husband, Will Arnett sharing some warmth. I just love them, his television show, Arrested Development, was just about the funniest thing ever. So no one watched it, their loss. And Amy is hilarious on SNL, and was featured in my favorite sketch of recent years (RICK!). I just love how funny and cute they are together. Not that we're nearly as funny or cute, but I do think we might be able to claim "kindred spirits," what do you think?

How I Met Your Miserable...

The Good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good: The Broadway strike ends today! Whew!

The Bad: We had to say goodbye to my family's precious dog yesterday. She had been sick so it's not a huge surprise but I'm mad at myself for not going to see her over the weekend.

The Ugly: A woman was in the store earlier today asking for Advent calendars, which we didn't have. She filled out a comment card suggesting we get them and left her email address on it. A couple hours later we actually got some Advent calendars in! Too funny! I sent her an email, she replied asking if we could send them to her, I replied explaining shipping costs, she called the store, asked specifically for me, told me how sweet it was of me to email her... and proceeded to chew me out for our "ridiculous" shipping charges. I know I don't have my head back in the game 100% but this was so unreasonable I almost just hung up on her. I had gone out of my way to help her find what she was looking for and then she went out of her way to be ugly to me. Merry Christmas!

Home again.

It happened last year when returning from Ireland, but I am amazed at how easily we fall back into our life at home. It didn't feel strange at all. With the delay and claiming checked luggage (we almost could have carried on but decided not to push it) we didn't get home until about 7pm. We did some laundry, ordered an Amici's pizza for delivery, watched some Heroes (the Tivo is full and has been for at least a week) and went to bed around 9. I tried to post the three blog entries I had finished on the plane, I got two of them up and then suddenly found myself waking back up with the third one still on the Blogger screen. I had fallen asleep with my laptop on my lap, in bed. Guess I was exhausted, can't imagine why. I can't even tell you how good it felt to get into my own bed. We had some pretty good beds on this trip but nothing compares to our own. We both woke up around 3:30am and bad memories of the first couple nights of sleep in Zurich made me a bit nervous, but we drifted back off pretty easily. I think I got about ten or eleven hours of sleep. I feel great and it's wonderful to be home. But damn, I don't want to get out of this bed!

Fear of Flying.

Last year on the way home from Ireland, something happened on our flight that one of the attendants called the worst thing to happen to her in thirty years of flying. It was our JFK to SFO leg, things started getting bumpy, and the captain had everyone buckle their seat belts and even advised staying out of the bathrooms. Turbulence didn't really bother me, but who really likes a situation like that? Suddenly it felt like the plane had hit a tree, and we dropped. We free fell for what we guess was something like 3 full seconds. Anything not strapped down went in the air, all the papers in the back pockets of seats, all the beverages, and all the flight crew. It was terrifying. It felt like we recovered, but we weren't at a window so it was hard to see what was going on. Drama queen that I am, I asked CF, "Are we going down?" He didn't really answer. I'm very proud of that fact that in that moment I thought myself, "It's all going to be okay." I wasn't scared, I was with CF, and whatever (and I do mean whatever) happened, it was all going to be okay. I was snapped back into reality by an apology over the intercom from the captain, he felt awful but we were back in control. Everyone on board appeared to be okay, even the six foot tall male flight attendant who I had to look away from when I saw him hit the ceiling. Later I saw a man behind on in the plane with an ice pack on his head, I wonder if something hit him or if he didn't have his belt on. Someone's drinking water was dripping on me from the ceiling, but the attendants had their hands full with more important business and I certainly wasn't going to unbuckle to stand up and take care of it! I covered up with my blanket and just let it drip until it was gone. When I did have the guts to stand up and go to the restroom I found my legs were still shaking, I hurried back to my seat as quickly as possible and belted in tight. When we landed everyone clapped, and I thought everything would go back to being the way it was.

Two weeks later when we pushed back from the gate on a Southwest flight to go to Vegas for a friends wedding I found out I was wrong. The moment the plane moved in the slightest way I was gripping the arm rests with white knuckles. Welcome to my new fear of flying. And what a flight to discover it on! Landing in Vegas is a bumpy ride due to the hot air rising off the desert. Everyone else was chatting and laughing, excited about their visit to Sin City. Me, if it had gotten any worse I was going to cry. I requested a large cocktail the minute we got off the plane. I didn't get it right away but later in the evening CF bought me a $20 monstrosity resembling a volcano, complete with dry ice steaming in the middle. But the fear of flying has stuck with me. I am one of the worst people to have to sit next to in turbulence, just ask my dear friend MP who flew to NYC with me last January.

So yeah, I hate flying. Which sucks because I love traveling. The first leg of our journey home we had seats about three rows from the back of the plane. It was a bumpy ride but the seat belt sign never went on, I forced myself into a little meditation and stayed calm the whole time. CF thought I had been asleep and hadn't noticed, since usually I am such a pain about it. We landed in Frankfurt, found our gate number for our connection, we had an hour and a half layover. But as we made out way in that direction we heard an announcement for passengers of our flight to go to that gate. We got a bit scared that our flight had been moved up and we were going to miss it, like what had happened to the Z's on the way to Europe. We had to go through security again, just like the last time we passed through Frankfurt. The line was backing up and moving irritatingly slow. I was clever enough to be the first to notice a new line opening and I scooted CF's and my stuff over there quickly. They were being extra rigid with the screening, which is probably why the line was so backed up. CF's small can of shaving cream was closely inspected. He didn't want to appear too desperate but he did offer to discard it if it was going to be a problem. I wondered why he hadn't put it in his plastic bag of liquids, but it turns out that was the closest thing to liquid he was even bringing home. I thought we were finally in the clear but then a woman said something scary to me in German. "I'm sorry?" I said in English, I wouldn't have known what to say in German even if I had the wits about me enough to remember what country I was in. "Take all your belongings and follow me," she translated for me. Oh no. Well it didn't take too much longer but my camera got an extra special close inspection. When she was almost done inspecting it the zoom on the lens started to move and just for a second I could see a little bit of worry on her face. She wouldn't have been able to take down to me so well if she broke my camera, now could she?

We sort of wanted to stop to finally get some food, but we still weren't sure what was up with our flight. We walked past crowded Air India gates and lines for the restrooms, people everywhere! We finally found out gate and found rigid passport control and tons of people. It was pretty crazy. The people checking passports asked us, "And what have you bought at the airport today?" I heard one woman snip, "Nothing, I've been in line the whole time!" Eventually we boarded, but there were latecomers who were checked in but not boarded so we were missing our scheduled departure time. A woman traveling with her cute little baby sat down next to me, but we're in the row behind the bulkhead row and it turned out that's where they were supposed to be sitting, so my little friend is out of eyesight right now. Then the dreaded announcement came that someone who had checked baggage had not boarded. They had to pull their bags off the plane, and everything was already loaded. So we waited and waited. Then there was trouble putting all the luggage back on. People groaned and booed. CF said, "I can tell already this is going to be quite a flight." People were getting cranky and a little rude at one another. The flight crew did what they could to keep the peace. I whispered to CF, "The man across the aisle from you is wearing a checked pattern shirt with skinny dark lines, and it perfectly matches the pants of the woman behind him." Yes, I am overly observant. He laughed. "Do you love it?" I asked him. It really was pretty funny. We imagined it was actually one outfit that they had somehow agreed to share. At least we were amusing ourselves while waiting for one of the most chaotic and cranky planes I've ever seen to take to the sky.

So I'm typing this as I flying somewhere over Canada. There's about four hours left until we land and the only movie I cared to see has already played. I am sorry to have caught up with my blog finally because that leaves me with nothing else to do! I will say though that I found a fantastic distraction from turbulence, a movie musical! They were showing Hairspray earlier. It was pretty good expect John Travolta was terrible and they cut one of my favorite songs. I am thrilled to be going home right now. I do miss it. But I am anxious to see what the next couple weeks will bring. I expect to have a crazy holiday season at the store. We'll be seeing friends again soon, there are plenty of holiday parties and plans. Here comes "real life." I don't know what the last five weeks were, if they weren't real life.

Thanks for reading along, I thought it was just my mom, my sister and Ms. D when she wasn't here with me. But I'm getting the impression that there are more of you than I thought. I can't believe I actually journaled about the whole trip. I've never kept it up so long, and this was also the longest duration of travel I've managed yet. Sorry for constantly rambling, I'm sure there were times when you wondered if I had ever heard of editing. But I was musing on memories for myself, as well as letting you all know what we were up to.

Now I'm wondering what I should try to blog about from home. I started this blog early last year and posted a thousand times but kept going back and deleting. I guess my blogging, much like my life, is a bit lacking in aim. So I can't say what will be appearing on this page in the coming weeks. Any advice or requests? Regardless, I've had fun doing this travel journal. Thanks again.

Good things come to an end, Part II.

On our last morning in Barcelona, the beginning of the last day of our great European adventure, Ms. D and I decided we had one last "tourist attraction" in us. We decided to pay the 16.50Euros to go inside the Casa Batllo. It really was incredibly cool to see. I guess it's hard to imagine what it was like with all the furniture in there and people living their every day lives. But I think it had to have been pretty wonderful! The whole thing is so organic, every wall swooped and curved, and really, there isn't a straight line to be found. Add that to Gaudi's devotion to building in good air circulation (the doors all had grates so air could flow from room to room) and you've basically got my perfect space.

We wandered a bit, did a last round of shopping (D finally found herself an extremely flattering new coat), and sat down to another fantastic tapas meal at the restaurant we had started at the night we arrived. It was so good we had said we'd love to get to try it again, and we were all pretty pleased that we managed to make it happen. After lunch CF headed back to the apartment for a nap, he left me with the map he had been holding and reading all week and told me to be careful. I really had wanted to do a bunch of Christmas shopping, but everything I encountered had been made in India and therefore didn't make a great gift from my current travels, so I didn't feel like it was worth the Euros. So instead of shopping I just took myself for one last walk. Sometimes I still can't believe that a little girl from Davis can find herself strolling through unfamiliar European neighborhoods. The sun was starting to go down, I spotted the Arc de Triomf and realized I was closer to home than I was to a convenient metro stop. So I settled on walking home with all the other people of the city, I still love that I can slip into so many people's worlds, just for a moment.

The day we had arrived here the odd little man who checked us in had told us about the "Magic Fountain" that danced to music. He said so many tourists were there snapping flash photos of it you could barely see it, but he also said a whole lot of other things that we weren't quite sure what to make of. That was Sunday night, and we're pretty sure the music show only happens on the weekends. We read up some info in our books and CF, D and I decided to head back out on one last adventure. We took the metro back to very close to where we had been the day before and then took a different line to the other side of Montjuic. We came out onto a scene unlike any we had witnessed in this city all week. There were hoards of tour buses, and tons of people all around. Up on the hill behind the fountain was the National Museum, and it was lit up rather brilliantly. One thing D and I had been bothered by all week was the lack of good lighting of monuments and sights at night. But here we were finally presented with fantastic lighting and a lovely evening setting in the city. We went all the way up the museum and back. There were people all over, everyone keeping an eye on the fountain. But alas, we had the time wrong, I guess it was still on the summer season schedule for some reason. It was going to be another hour before the darn thing would dance! We laughed it off, knowing we had to get home and pack. Some last hurrah!

We went back to the metro and heard a train pulling in. D and I ran and told CF to hurry up. We just made it! What fun! Until one stop later we realized that we had jumped onto a train going the wrong direction! Too funny. We had another good laugh and rode to the next stop after that where we were actually able to transfer straight to a line that would get us pretty close to home. As we walked from one line to the other (transfers can be quite a ways apart in Barcelona metro stops) we walked past one of the most talented street musicians I had heard on the trip. CF turned and looked at me and gave me a funny smile. Later I would think to ask what the smile was for, and it turns out he was thinking exactly what I had been thinking. In a strange little way I was happy for the metro mistake, that way we got to hear the music.

Back at home I sat down to work on catching up with this blog, the others prepped our leftovers to eat. Everything we had was just what we hadn't finished over the past couple days, but it was yet another great meal. We drank a bottle of red wine between the four of us with dinner, and us three younger travel buddies decided we hadn't quite had enough so CF graciously went out and found us one last bottle of cava. I made sure to round up the photos from the digital cameras in the group. It was fun to look back over the past couple weeks. I seem to be stuck on my arty landscape shots so I love seeing everyone else's people shots. Even the bad ones of me making a silly face with my camera pressed to my eye. PZ was online back at home and he asked if CF was finishing off bottles of liquor since it was the last night of our trip. I told him it was ended much more mellow than that. I guess it wasn't a huge last hurrah, but I think it fit the three of us very well. We were all satisfied with our travel experience, with our friendships, and with quiet company one last night (before the next trip, of course).

It was midnight, but I felt wide awake. I had to get up at 5am to get ready for the airport, but since I was clear headed now I decided to pack. I unzipped the pop-up expansion on my suitcase just to make the job easier. I hadn't really collected a lot of physical objects on this journey. Around 1am I finally laid down, and I got four beautiful hours of sleep.

We all got up early, actually had time for some coffee and finished off yesterday's croissants, and we headed out on to the still dark street to flag down a cab. It wasn't too hard to find one. As we drove to the airport I noticed bits and pieces of the city that I had seen during the week but hadn't really realized how they all fit together. The sun was raising, but a huge moon was still visible in the semi-cloudy sky. On a hillside just outside of the city we saw a beautiful looking cemetery with flat, glossy surfaces of some kind reflecting the light and sparkling. It's amazing, we had spent what had felt like more than enough time here but there really is always more to see.

We got the airport, failed miserably at finding any decent food to grab for the plane, parted ways with D and her mom (I saw them boarding their Amsterdam bound flight) and just a little bit later we boarded our flight and the journey home began.

Giving thanks... and having a landmark meal.

Our first Thanksgiving away from home, away from family, and damn it, I guess I just miss out on the Broadway performances at the beginning of the Macy's parade. By the way, I can't believe Broadway basically got shut down by the stagehand strike and I didn't know for most of two weeks! Anyway, Thanksgiving this year would be just us, D and her mom, in Barcelona. We had talked about signing up for a cooking class, but the ones that sounded any good were outrageously expensive so we decided to instead take ourselves out for a fabulous meal in the evening. We discussed a couple possibilities the evening before and figured we'd call for a reservation. We didn't want to miss the holiday altogether!

That morning we decided to take the short trek to a part of the city called Montjuic. We took the metro to the bottom of the hill and then a funicular took us the rest of the way. The Olympic stadium is up there, as well as several gardens that sounded worth checking out. Unfortunately the awkward layout on the hill and the muggy weather made for some pointless and miserable wandering. This place was supposed to be crawling in gardens, so why was it so hard to actually find our way into one? But we rebounded nicely, we took sky gondola baskets (ala the old Disneyland ride, but more enclosed) up to the very top, to the old fort. There we found a lovely view of the Mediterranean, Italy is out there somewhere! We met back up with our other two fellow travelers and we did the trip down the hill. While we were in that area we took the opportunity to check out what sounded like one last great beer destination. A tapas bar that has its own beer made in Belgium. Perfect! The book did say it was "postage stamp sized." So we figured it was going to be small, but decided to have a look.

We walked up and it was indeed small, a bar along both sides, a couple small tables here and there, the walls were lined high with shelves of wines and liquor for sale, but there were no chairs. D's mom wasn't feeling quite up to the experience, and they decided on having lunch somewhere else. CF and I decided to plunge ourselves into a new adventure. We walked in and got a gracious, "Hola!" Luckily there was a nice spot for us to stand at the bar where they made the food so we could watch and point. We ordered two of the house beers right away, as well as some croquettes and anchovies. They've been great everywhere else so that gave us something to start with. I was so pleased to find out the beer was a Double, my favorite! And a fantastic one at that. Worth the visit to this place alone. The anchovies were served up with two small marinated onions and artichoke hearts, a nice little bonus. They only had three croquettes left so we had taken one empañada instead. Everything was so good! CF recalled that they were known for having a good selection of cheeses so we asked for a mixed plate and some bread. We were given one good sized plate with small slices of a good number of cheeses, one small poached pear sliced in half, and a small gelatin which we determined was Cava (Spain's sparkling wine) flavored. The bread plate had only a few slices of bread, along with several kinds of crackers. Both plates were drizzled with a tasty olive oil. While we ate the delicious cheese we soaked up the scene in the small room. Not a word of English was being spoken besides what little we were saying to each other. We mostly communicated with our eyes, "Look at that dish!" and "Oh wow, that looks so good!" It's amazing what you can say with eye contact. We noted the small toasts that were being topped with all kinds of good stuff and decided to ask for some of those, as well as another round of the house beer. I saw one being made with some sort of tomato spread and the darker anchovies that we hadn't had earlier so we ordered two of those. As we ate these we started to smile because we both realized what an amazing experience this meal was and how lucky we were to get to share it with one another. Then we ordered one each of two other toasts to split. One of our little dishes was topped with marinated red pepper, crème fraiche, shrimp and caviar. The other was just crème fraiche and amazing fresh, raw salmon. We both noticed when the younger of the two women working there started making three servings of an eggplant dish. She put down a slice or two of their grilled eggplant that had been soaking in olive oil, next was grated Parmesan cheese, then olive tapenade and finally drizzled with even more olive oil and a thick balsamic vinegar reduction. We had been feeling quite full but neither of us was sure we could leave without trying this one last dish. Then another round of these plates were started for another party in the small restaurant. We caved in and ordered one to split. Heavenly! CF declared it the best eggplant he'd ever had. Of course it was swimming in olive oil but we just didn't care. This meal will certainly be added to our list of lifetime truly magical meals. The beer had brought us there and had rewarded us with an amazing meal. So we decided to try to take some of the beer home with us. We were pleased to be told we could indeed buy it in bottles so we ordered two to take back to the apartment so we'd be able to share with Ms. D. The bill wasn't exactly cheap for a stand-up meal, but it was beyond worth it. As I said, it was magical.

We got the metro home and called a restaurant to get a reservation for dinner, and then promptly passed out. I think I mentioned how good we are at siestas. D and her mom came home after a little while and I got up to see what they had done with their afternoon. They had encountered a very good lunch as well, but had ordered too much food once they considered the portions. We all admitted to being stuffed silly and quite satisfied. So much for Thanksgiving dinner out, we were in for the night.

CF and D ran out to pick up some more of our favorite Spanish nibbley things. Our intention was to start with that and then eat the leftovers from our salmon feast the night before. But we enjoyed the first course too much and instead of salmon we just had another bottle of cava. What an extraordinary Thanksgiving!

I am definitely thankful for good friends and amazing traveling companions. Loving family back home, they're following this blog and the photos, I won't have anything new to tell them when I get back. They were with me the whole time, playing along at home. I am thankful for my other half, Mr. CF himself. I know this is still just one of many adventures to come. And I am thankful for the great big world out there, always teaching me more, always making me feel like a part of something so much bigger than myself. And I guess I should be thankful that this year I find myself a little closer to figuring out what to do with myself, perhaps I am every so slightly less utterly lost than I was last year.

Catching up with Barcelona.

I'm writing this on our last night in Europe and I expect to be coming home to a hectic holiday season schedule, so I'm going to try to catch up with most of our week here in Barcelona as quickly as possible. I apologize for leaving out some of the details!

Our travel crew was down to four, just D and her mom, CF and me. After our Eiffel Tower adventure we didn't get much sleep, we had to get up early, pack up and get outside for our airport shuttle. We had an uneventful and short flight to Barcelona. We caught a taxi to our new apartment. It was more than obvious just how different the climate is here. What a relief to no longer be freezing! Our apartment isn't quite as nice (or well stocked) as some of the other places we've stayed on this journey but I am still a big fan of the lodging choices of our dear Ms. D! I don't think I'll ever want to stay in a hotel again.

We settled in to our new place and noted that you can see the top of la Sagrada Familia from the balcony off the bedroom CF and I are sharing. We went out around 6:00pm for a light meal, planning on having dinner at home later in the night. We headed out to a tapas place that we read would be serving food all day, so we knew we could get away with eating at a non-traditional time for Spainish habits. Our meal quickly spread out over a couple hours and we left stuffed full of fantastic patatas bravas, croquettes, anchovies (four people who all like anchovies, is that even possible?), jamon, grilled cuttlefish, red peppers and wonderful cheeses. The city was so relaxed, so much more laid back than Paris. It was a welcome change. We stopped by a flower shop on the way home and got some Irises for the apartment. Stuffed silly, we basically didn't eat again that day. But I did enjoy the downtime, we rested up and I caught up with some photos and blogging.

The next morning we set out to see some of the famous architecture Barcelona is known for. We got metro passes, and giggled with delight when a train was so easy to catch. We walked up the Passeig de Grácia and saw the Casa Batlló, I almost missed it. It's much smaller than I had expected! The scales on the roof were almost impossible to see from the street. Though the pickpockets were plain to see, as the tourists stopped and looked straight up, they really could have tried a little harder to blend in. Then we headed to the Sagrada Família. Even CF had to admit it was an amazing place. Actually he said it was his most favorite church ever. CF and I had lunch at a slight Italian place, the manager (owner?) had lived in New York for 14 years and asked us if Thanksgiving was this Friday. We told him it was Thursday but indeed this week. Amazing to think about, our first Thanksgiving away from home. D, CF and I went out for a bit of a shopping adventure that evening. We had noticed the lack of soap at the apartment so we visited a very cool looking soap shop. As the salesgirl was packaging up our purchase I recognized the logo, the Z's had shopped in this store (or another location they own) and had brought D a gift back from here! How funny. Such a small world!

We stopped by a meat shop to pick up some jamon and cheese to have for dinner. As CF shopped I wandered down the next street, I ended up looking in my guidebook and realized the very store he was in then was in my book and he had mentioned wanting to go there. Funny how things work out. We shopped a little more, rounding up veggies to have for dinner.

We seem to be making a tradition of visiting an Irish pub in as many countries as possible, so next up we sat down for a pint. CF asked the bartender for directions to a brew pub, but we ended up with directions to a beer shop nearby. Turns out this shop sells beer in bottles but you can choose to drink it there. CF chatted up the fellow working there and they bonded over their beer knowledge. He was selling Anchor Steam so we told him we were from the San Francisco area. We bought a big bottle of something to drink there in the shop, and several to take home with us. As CF left, clutching a sack of bottles, he declared himself "the happiest boy in Barcelona!" And I think he smiled through the whole walk home. That evening we had a great time munching at home. It is so nice to have a place to call home while traveling!

The next day we headed up to Park Güell, another Gaudi influence on the city. It was very cool to visit a place I had learned up in a design class many years ago. We had quite a walk up there. It reminded me of the times that D, CF and I have gone for walks on the weekends in the Bay area along the Bay trail or up near Crystal Springs. D and I even went to the top of the tower with the crosses. What a view! Made me a bit dizzy though. We headed home and had a nice little siesta. Hadn't had one of those since Italy a few years back.

That night we got on the metro to go back to the Gothic Quarter. The plan was to wander for a bit and then meet up for dinner at a slightly more appropriate time for Spain. We took the train two stops and then transfered to a line we hadn't been on before. It was stuffy and smelly, instantly unpleasant. A woman started asking CF questions in Spanish and he tried to explain that he didn't understand. Then a couple of other people started moving towards the metro door. A big mess of red hair was suddenly touching my face. Yuck! It was all so weird, so uncomfortable. The man ended up with his arm in front of CF, then he changed it to be behind him. CF frowned in discomfort, I knew it was bad if he was bothered by the situation. We couldn't tell if they were just trying to be near the door to get off at the next stop or what. We got off two stops later and I ran up the stairs, practically gasping for fresh air. D had watched it all go down. None of us knew quite what to make of it. Even when we got out of the station the air was humid and I couldn't shake the gross feeling of that hair on my face. I wasn't sure I'd be up for two hours of wandering before dinner but I decided to try my best.

I was a bit cranky, and CF wanted to just go home a couple of times. But we ended up sitting down to some coffee, and then some cava and a very few bites of tapas. The rain started so the humidity in the air actually dropped. I felt like I could breathe again. We spotted a good looking place for dinner, rounded up D and her mom at the spot and time we had planned, and proceeded to have a delightful meal.

It wasn't till the next morning that CF realized that his metro pass had been in the outside pocket of his jacket and it was now gone. The scene on the metro was indeed just what it seemed. Thank goodness we are smart travelers, he was well aware of the risk he was at in the moment, D was watching him and the people crowding us were watching her watch them, and everyone was ready to make a scene if need be.

Wednesday in Barcelona the three of us set out for some wandering and shopping. It turned out to mostly be walking, but we were on the look out for good food to bring home to make for dinner. We had a great lunch at a tapas bar in a huge market (not the famous Boqueria, but it was almost as impressive). We had the best fried artichokes I've had outside of Rome, some great veggies, and even had grilled calamari, which I don't usually enjoy at all. I couldn't believe this was the same trip as previous weeks. I had no coat on, only a scarf, and after lunch we all got some gelato and then went for a walk at the beach! Eventually we did end up at la Boqueria to buy groceries to bring home and cook for dinner. We asked for four pieces of salmon and they took a huge knife and cut thick steaks from a fresh, whole fish. We rounded up veggies and herbs at another stand. Bought anchovies and olives from another. What a way to shop! This was Food Paradise. The meal was absolutely amazing, even if it was cooked improv style by CF in our understocked kitchen. D's mom is so impressed with his mad skills. D and I already knew what he could do though.

Barcelona could be visited in two or three days and we had all week here. It was nice to sleep in and take siestas. It might seem like an anti-climatic ending to our adventure, but it really does feel like a vacation from our vacation. Or rather, it felt like we were traveling, and now we are on vacation. This week was about relaxing and taking it easy. It's back to reality this weekend when we have to head home!

Just a few days left to recap! I think I will type them up at the airport or on the plane and post them when I get home. Thanks for reading and "playing along at home."

One last day in Paris.

Friday night in Paris was a restless night of sleep. The apartment was beyond cool to be living in but the floorboards and doors were all so extremely noisy that I couldn't sleep if anything much was going on in other rooms. I hate being such a light sleeper. The Z's had to get up around 6am to get their shuttle to the airport, they would have been able to get a bit more sleep and take the metro, but the strike was still going. They weren't able to reach any taxi companies, so they had given in and booked a shuttle. A little more costly but totally worth the peace of mind. I decided to get up and say goodbye, and so did CF. We got a bit more sleep but gave up on that idea before too late in the morning. There was so much I wanted to do with the day. There were sites left to see and I didn't feel at all satisfied with the amount of shopping I had managed to squeeze into the week.

We had a little breakfast while CF and D worked on possible transportation methods for gettin to the airport the next morning. They looked up several shuttle companies online and we made a reservation. CF and I set out to visit the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise and see some famous graves. We bought a map for 2euros and started navigating the huge cemetery. The map listed many graves of famous people, and it appeared that the more famous the name, the larger and bolder the name was on the map. The first big one we came near was Chopin, it was obvious when we had found it because it was covered in 4 times as many flowers as the others around it. We made a stop at Jim Morrison, no security guard was visible at the time but it was fenced off and crowded with people trying to snap a photo. This place was starting to rub me the wrong way. We went over to Sarah Bernhardt, and two women walking by stopped there too only because we were there. I had read that people leave lipstick kisses on Oscar Wilde's grave, and having seen his classy but irreverent memorial in Dublin I somehow pictured shiny marble and one perfectly imprinted kiss. How silly of me. It was stone that looked dull from all the times it had been touched and it was covered all over in gross lip prints and graffiti. I held out hope for Edith Piaf's grave. But there we found a tour group of Russians in big fur coats laughing and stumbling over the graves between the path and hers. One guy sat down on the poor soul at her foot and proceeded to take photos of each one of his companions posing with the grave. I felt dirty for being there. Yes, I took a photo, but I felt like even if this place has become a tourist attraction you should at least bring a little bit of respect to pay to the "people" you've come to see. We saw a few more graves and then couldn't take any more, I'm really not sure how I feel about our going there.

Next we headed over to Promenade Plantée, a raised park that's really mostly a walkway. It was a little bit tricky to find a way up there, we had approached it somewhere in the middle. It was very pretty and I liked seeing the people exercising up there, reminding me what torture I am in for when I finally return to the gym after being away for five weeks! The view down at the neighborhood was nice too, we could see apartments stacked on top of each other and cafes of different sorts. I'm not sure if the darn thing was a whole lot shorter than I had expected or if we started closer to one end than I had thought, our walk up above the rooftops was over rather quickly.

I was itching to shop, and CF had plans to hit the Sewers of Paris Museum, but we decided to get some lunch first. We found ourselves back near the Ile Saint Louis, hoping for some tasty street food. Before not too very long we saw a window open to the street from a restaurant, the sign stated that they were selling crepes to go. The woman there was swamped with business and we were constantly losing her attention as she tried to run the show going on inside, but she made us fresh buckwheat crepes filled with toppings we selected ourselves. CF had an egg which is very traditional and she broke it open right onto his meal while it cooked on the griddle. He smiled with giddy anticipation. We walked with our little meal across the bridge to Notre Dame, it was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining, so street musicians were braving the chilly air. On the middle of the bridge a man was playing soprano sax, accompanied by man playing a small upright piano. Right there in the middle of the bridge! A crowd was forming around them. We found a bench in the park behind the great cathedral and enjoyed the warm, tasty, melty goodness. Who could ask for anything more than what we had right then? Out in the world and enjoying a beautiful day. This is real happiness. This was our Paris moment. We decided to get some ice cream and crossed back over the bridge. The crowd was still watching those musicians, it was one of those days when you just know that most of the people around you are happy. We easily found a stand in front of a restaurant that was selling that same delicious salted caramel ice cream we had enjoyed the day before and each got a cone. (In fact I believe it was where Giada deLaurentiis got her ice cream cone on her Weekend Getaway show. But shhhh, don't ruin the moment!) We gave each other a little salty caramel smooch goodbye and parted ways.

I made my way over to Shakespeare and Company since I knew the legendary bookstore was so close to Notre Dame. Rarely have I been hit with such a strong energy the moment I enter a room. Maybe I was still reeling with the happy emotion from my wonderful lunch with CF, but I swear I could feel the creative energy surging in every corner of that place and I was almost moved to tears (or maybe the lack of sleep was getting to me). It was lined from floor to ceiling with books of all shapes and sizes, new and old. Beds and writing desks were tucked away here and there. Two old movie theater seats were the available seating in the rather unusual magazine section (it was actually just a section for writing publications). In the middle of the main floor there was something that looked like an empty water feature, it had coins in the bottom, I still have to look up what the meaning of it is, but I knew it had to be something witty and clever. Upstairs a man was getting ready to run a come-one-come-all writing group. And all throughout the store twinkling piano music could be heard. At first I was sure it was prerecorded, but I found the fellow sitting at the upright in the back and it was then that I was certain this place was really magical. I looked for a while, feeling almost desperate to find something to buy so I could take a bit of the magic away with me. But nothing made itself obvious, so I went on my way. Happy with the experience of having been there.

I tried to finally do my great Paris shopping adventure. I don't know if it was the crowds, or if I had gone to the wrong places, or what. I just wasn't in the right groove. I am a little bit sad that I didn't get to do more shopping. I just don't shop in a group very well and this was the first time all week that I had been alone. Oh well, I guess that just leaves something on my list to do if and when I get the chance to go back. I sent CF a text message asking what he was up to, he said he was done at the museum and we should meet up. Another message a few minutes later told me that the metro was packed and he was walking to meet me. It took him a little over half an hour and we still had more than that left to walk to get home. This week in Paris was quite the roller coaster. So many wonderful things, but some really big disappointments too. I was so tired at this point, I wasn't sure how to feel about the experience.

We made our way home, planning on stopping by for just a little while before going out on a date (it was Paris, afterall). I took a little nap and went to the computer to have another look at the photos from our trip to the Eiffel Tower the night before. My stomach dropped, the photos wouldn't open. I remembered trying to get on the computer right before my nap and it wasn't responding so I had restarted it. And I remembered that the night before when I had imported my photos from my camera everyone had crowded around to have a look, and I ended up moving away from the laptop before closing out of iPhoto. Oh my god, iPhoto had done it to me again, I had taken a couple hundred shots the night before, and they were all gone. I cried my eyes out for a while, I almost cried myself right to sleep, but then I realized I was still in Paris and metro strike or not, I just couldn't leave with zero photos of the Eiffel Tower at night. CF came in the room, probably relieved that I had stopping being such a drama queen. "So, where do you want to have dinner for our date?" he asked me. "Well, I guess it's going to have to be somewhere near the Tower." CF loves an adventure, it didn't take much to get him in on the crazy idea.

We walked to one metro stop but couldn't tell how long it would be until a train came and we were worried about losing too much time before the Tower closed. We considered a taxi but traffic looked bad. We were tired, and I haven't mentioned this but my back was starting to bother me and was now hurting, but we did the best we could at the time and started walking. We did find a metro ride to take after we walked for a bit. Sitting there on the train I almost started crying again. What was I thinking? Was this even worth it? They were only photos, wasn't having an amazing time up there enough? And CF, wasn't he such a trooper? He didn't even like going up there and here he was making a grueling trek back with me, back to very close to where he had started walking from only a few hours earlier. A million things were flying through our minds.

Cue the cheesy metro riding musician! He got on the train with his sax hanging beneath his shirt in case he had to make an incognito getaway, turned on his canned backing track, and started playing Fly Me To The Moon. CF and I finally just started laughing. What a tension breaker! He played another song or two, and went around the car asking for change. He almost didn't hit us up, but made eye contact with CF just as the train stopped and the doors opened. "That was so worth a Euro," CF said to me. He handed him the coin, and the man slipped off the train with the rest of the crowd.

We still had plenty of ground left to cover. The metro had delivered us to a mid-point on the Champs Elysees. We rushed in the direction of the tower, but soon found ourselves a bit confused. Hey, there's the Dior where Sarah Jessica Parker fell on the series finale of Sex and the City! I'd been wondering all week where it was! Too funny. We went past some pretty swish restaurants, and saw plenty of Parisians going about their everyday fabulous lives. CF tried to figure out the best way to go, but I pointed out that I could see the light coming from the top of the tower and he was suggesting going away from it. Things got a little frantic for a while there! I could see the top of the Tower when the lights started sparkling, this is done on the hour, so that meant it was 10pm, closing time was 11. It was going to be close. I stopped to take a few shots, but was scared to let too much time slip by. Finally, we were there.

The line was blessedly short, and it seemed like no time before we were up on the tower again. We had made it. I fell to pieces.

"Who cries on the Eiffel Tower?!?" CF scolded me. All the emotion I had just been holding in bubbled over and I needed to get it out. So yes, I cried on the Eiffel Tower for a few moments. And then I moved on. And started snapping photos again. I could feel right away that they weren't going to be as good as the ones I took the night before, but still, here I was, back on the Tower just one night later. Who lives like this? My life can be so weird! CF even came out the edge with me and we looked out over the foggy city. It's no New York, but it really is lovely. And even though it was a drama that brought us back to the Tower, it was one of my favorite parts of the trip so I was actually sort of thrilled to do it again.

We made our way back down and headed towards the metro station that we would have arrived at if we had stuck it out and got that first train we had checked on when we had set out on this adventure. But then we wouldn't have seen the funny sax playing man, and SJP's Dior. Then it wouldn't have been such a grueling adventure. But man, were we happy when a train with plenty of seats pulled in about a minute after we got down there. As we rode home I closed my eyes for a second and thought about how long we've been away from home. I was tired and my body was hurting. I opened my eyes and looked around the train at all these strangers and thought about all the crazy stories going on in their lives right now. It was one of those moments when I just feel so connected to the world, and at the same time, so very small.

We were utterly exhausted, but we had never had our dinner date. We thought about sitting down in a restaurant between the metro stop and the apartment, but decided not to press our luck in case we crashed once the adrenaline ran out. Our Paris dinner date ended up being a 1am shawarma sandwich and Nutella banana crepe. And I don't know if I could ask for anything better.

Good things come to an end.

Friday morning in Paris, the morning following that great concert, we all just had a quick breakfast. Considering the fact that we only had dinner at home one in Paris, I'm glad we had those sit down breakfasts with everyone. But this was a nice change of pace. There was only a croissant and a half, plus there was no milk for my coffee, so I decided it was time for me to hit the streets of Paris alone. It was very cold but the sun was shining, it was also day three of the metro strike. I watched a roller blading father push his child in a stroller the opposite direction as me, and then a bike darted around me going my direction, another roller blader and a motor scooter as well. I looked at the little old lady next to me with big eyes, the commuters on wheels were cutting it a bit close to us for comfort! She said something to me in French that I assume was something along the lines of, "Those crazy kids, better be careful!" I nodded and smiled and we walked towards the corner. We stood with other people on foot at the intersection and looked to our left. A bus was collecting passengers a little ways down. My new friend told me in French, "Oh my! The buses are running more like normal even with the strike." Or something like that. I smiled and nodded again. It was only then that I saw a look on her face that looked like she wondered if I understood her, but the crossing signal turned green and we were on our way. I ordered some more croissants mostly in French and managed to communicate enough in broken French and English with the man at the little market to figure out which cream was for my coffee. I was conquering the language barrier after all, but what a trip it's going to be when I get home and can communicate even more easily with the people around me!

D & CF and I decided to walk to the Opera and see Google Paris. It was a long walk to see a small office but we're glad to have seen it. They have this ridiculous view from their lunch room of the Opera house. It's insane. After a rather quick and uneventful stop there we trekked down past the Louvre again and stopped for lunch on Ile Saint Louis. Afterwards we found perhaps the very jewelry store where Ms. D had bought the earrings which are lost and well, she bought some new ones. Then I found a store where I proceeded to buy two new scarves and wasn't sure which of the three I was now carrying I wanted to wear most. After that We all split an ice cream from Berthillon. Salted Caramel is really giving chocolate a run for its money. It might very well be the best flavor on earth. This ice cream was seriously divine. Then we walked through the Latin Quarter just a bit, and then through the Luxembourg Gardens. The thing that has struck me most about French gardens is the geometry. The trees are all manicured into perfect shaped lines and paths. I'm guessing the gardens are even better in Spring or Summer but they were quite lovely. There were plenty of locals sitting out enjoying the sun, even if no warmth accompanied it. We walk back past the first macaroon store we visited earlier in the week and I picked up one last box of precious cookies. I have been so spoiled this month! I didn't really get to do any of the shopping I had hoped to get to see, besides the earring and scarf stop, but we had a great day of walking and saw lots of Paris. It was time to head to the Eiffel Tower to meet up with the Z's so we went in that direction. It was time for something of a last hurrah. Though I knew from the start it couldn't possibly live up to that last night in Ireland.

The line for the tower was long, and it was freezing. It was unpleasant but the setting was so lovely and I was getting so giddy about going up that I didn't really feel it until I realized my fingers were shaking from being so cold. We were the last ones to get in the elevator, so I was right by a big glass window. The ride was amazing. Slowly, and diagonally, we moved up the tower's leg. We rose through all the beams and passed turning wheels, the view spread out wider and wider below us, it was incredible. We arrived up at the second level and I walked right to the railed edge. KZ and Mr. CF himself found yet another thing in common. They were both pretty scared of the view down and mostly stood back more in the center of the tower. But I was so taken with the view that I didn't even notice that CF hadn't walked forward with me. Now, the Empire State building is much taller than the Eiffel tower. And when I was looking down at New York at night it wasn't nearly so breath taking because we were so far away from all the sites, and the lights were just little tiny specks, it all blended together. From this height you can see Paris in every direction, but everything is still close enough that you can easily pick it out and remember that you were just at the top of that Arc or standing in that garden, etc. etc.

Just a few minutes after we had been up there the tower's lights started to sparkle. Yes, I know it does it every hour, on the hour, but it seemed magical at the time. I snapped an unreasonable number of photos because I knew a number of them would come out blurry and I figured there was safety in numbers. I used the rail as a bit of a tri-pod and took some shots in every direction out from the tower. Some of them seemed to be pretty focused and had a good balance of light. I love my camera. Then it was time to get the other elevator, the one that would take us to the top. We arrived in the glassed in room and I was disappointed, it was crowded and hard to see out. We had paid extra to come see this? But there was a staircase up to go outside. It was small and very fenced in, but it was amazing to know we were at the top of the Eiffel tower. PZ noted the fog was below us, and I have to say, the view is almost better from the second level. It was great though, I loved it. We were about ready to go but KZ and CF decided they did indeed want to see the outside part of this level so we took our nervous significant others up the stairs, the teased each other walking to the edge, and then we quickly went back inside. There was a wait to go back down to the second level. And then there was a really long wait for the elevator back down to the ground. It was then that I realized I was freezing and my feet hurt from basically standing still for a couple hours now. This part of the experience was my least favorite. But soon enough we all made our way down and ran towards the water. We had debated going on the boat cruise, people were worried about it being cold. When we were told that it would be most of an hour before another boat left we decided to go get dinner and see how we felt about coming back for the ride. D led us through the streets of her favorite neighborhood, the plan was to eat at one of a couple restaurants she had been to before and really enjoyed. We had a group of five and no reservation. We struck out at the first place she checked on, but were quickly seated at the second one. It was a really nice looking place on the corner, with a little bit of a street view, it was perfect.

My frozen friends all started to thaw, and the feeling returned to my fingers. They actually started to feel like they were burning! My goodness we endured some low temperatures! We ordered some beers and wine. Dinner was served. Many of us had the onion soup, which was perfect to warm us up the rest of the way. For dessert I tried to order the caramel ice cream from earlier in the day but they were out of that flavor. I ended up having some chocolate cake. PZ was going to have the ice cream as well but when we had to pick something else he went with a Rhum Baba (I think it was called). Soon after ordering a bottle of rum was placed on the table before him. Did these people know what they were getting themselves into? A little taste test indicated that there was simply syrup (sugar water) mixed in, but that didn't stop CF and PZ from indulging. Okay, I had a little too. Our server saw this, and actually encouraged us. And when his actual dessert arrived, which I believe was sort of cake like, she helped him pour plenty of that sweet rum on top. CF proceeded to help him more too much on, but apparently he still enjoyed the dish. Our server also teased a woman at the next table over who hadn't put nearly such a dent in her bottle of rum. Apparently, we had set a fine example!

We were all warm and happy and quickly admitted that the boat ride would just have to be something to do when returning to Paris. We lucked out and had a fairly easy time catching a metro ride to get close to home. CF and D had been realizing all week that their long legs allowed them to walk together more easily than they can probably walk with anyone else. They were too cold to slow down, but the Z's and I weren't too far behind. We arrived back at the apartment and right away I wanted to see the loot I had come away with from the tower. I got the photos off my camera as a last couple drinks were poured. In a later post I will tell you why it was so unfortunate that I got distracted and walked away from the computer without closing iPhoto, but everyone seemed to be hypnotized by watching the "slide show" of my photos that CF had started playing.

Paris was wonderful but between the freezing temperature and metro strike, it really took a lot of energy out of us. It was clear that no huge party was happening, so we all decided to go to bed. I pouted and said my goodbyes to the Z's, they were out of vacation time and heading home the next morning. I hated to see them go. CF said his goodbyes too, he was laying on the couch and when each of them had come over to him, instead of standing up, he pulled them down on top of him for a hug. My goodness, I am such a lucky girl to have such a classy Fellow.