Paris in pictures

Trip stats:
Times locked in or out of the metro due to faulty all day ticket: 7
Croissants eaten: 12
Books bought: 1
Monets seen: 3 floors worth
Nights of Chinese: 1
Late night fights over heard: 1
Beds per person: .5
Smelly Europeans next to me on flight: 1
Crepes: 1.5

Bon weekend!

I'm going to Paris this weekend. I've never been. Can you believe that I've lived in Europe for 3 1/2 years and I've never been to Paris? C'est la vie.

source

One of the dreams I have is eating my way through France. When I went to Lyon last year I couldn't get over how good everything was. And I live in Italy. I'm taking my camera and plan to take lots of pictures and remember how everything tasted.

I can't wait. Have a great (3-day for my American friends) weekend!

Help Haiti

Looking for some ways to help the people in Haiti? Here's a few I've found:

CNN listed a number of charities that are helping out in Haiti. Please visit their websites for further information.

The Red Cross is donating $10 for every "Haiti" text they get to 90999.

Yoko Ono is telling people about helpful charities too.

Joyce Meyer Ministires already had missions set up in Haiti and are there as first responders. Here's how you can help them help Haiti.

My good friend Jocelyn was in Haiti doing missions when the earthquake hurt. She's safe, and the people she is staying with are ok, but their building is in shambles. Please keep them, and all of Haiti, in your prayers.

French Milk

French Milk by Lucy Knisley is my first graphic novel. I am so inspired by this book. I am starting to get into art journaling. French Milk is Lucy's journal of her trip to Paris with her mother for 5 weeks. It includes pictures and drawings and explinations. Plus Lucy is kind of a foodie like myself and documents what they eat the whole time, which I love. Some of the reason this book really hit home with me is because I love hearing people's stories. What they did, what it looks like, what they were feeling. Knisley encompassed all of that.

I borrowed this book from the library, but am seriously thinking about buying this book so I can study her sketches and be inspired over and over.

This weekend over President's day I'm going to Paris with Cecilia. After reading French Milk I'm even more excited for my trip. We plan on hitting all of the major tourist attractions one day and the Palace of Versailles the next. I'm not sure if this is true, but I heard that you can rent golf carts to drive around the grounds of Versailles. I hope it's so. I hope it in my heart of hearts.

New shoes for school

This past week was pretty intense for me because I was working the split shift (which means 0545-0945 then again 1300-1800, rough). So yesterday I woke up at 6 am and felt like I had slept until 11. On my break in the middle of the day I worked on school work, so by the time I got home at 7 my brain was pudding. I was just functioning enough to pour cereal in a bowl then pour myself into bed at 815. I'm not kidding. Last week I was in bed by 815 every night. Wild, I know.

It's given me a lot perspective on the American lifestyle. Work, work, work isn't healthy. I'm going to be very glad to have my quiet mornings again to work on school work and exercise and sip tea. All good productive things. I like to take a little time at the end of everyday to sit and think about my day. What was good. What was wasted. How to change tomorrow. Quiet tea in the morning? Good. Exercise? Good. Watching E! in the morning for 2 hours before work? Waste.

The school work went great, so to reward myself I went shopping:

Please notice the cute head band and adorable Italian sneaks.

That silver stripe is full of sparkles, didn't really come out in the picture. I've been looking for black sneaks for MONTHS. Plus these are velcro, I LOVE velcro. You don't have to waste all that time with tying and re-tying and double knots.

Maybe I'll post some pictures on adventures my new shoes are going to take. I'm so glad to be back to the land of the living.

Pasta con pepperoni

I'm not usually a pepper girl. Black pepper? Yes, please! Some heat I can handle, but the taste of peppers themselves? I'll pass. That was until last Sunday when I went to Giovanna's house and she made a peppery cream sauce. It was outstanding.

Even though I watched as Giovanna prepared the simple dish, I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to create it myself. Since I was preparing it for some friends, I thought something would go wrong. It's just like me to make a dish I've never made to bring to a potluck or serve at a party. Preparing something you KNOW is going to taste good is boring, especially for me since my guinea pig is currently MIA.

The girls loved it.

Pasta con pepperoni

1 small onion

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 pint light cream

2 Tablespoons chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 pound pasta

parmesean cheese (added at table to taste)

Chop onion and peppers. Coat pan with olive oil and add chopped onions and peppers. Let simmer until soft, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile set a pot of water to boil then cook pasta to taste (11 minutes for al dente). Add the salt and pepper and cream while the pasta is cooking and let reduce into a sauce. Once the pasta is finished strain it and add to the sauce. Serve with parmesean cheese and watch the people at the table light up.

Ciao 2010!

I spent the first half of yesterday relaxing and journaling and welcoming 2010. The second part of the day I spent rumping through Venice. I hope that yesterday is representative of how 2010 treats me. Quiet, reflective and adventurous, observing.

Venice is still bearing a fair amount of their Christmas lights.

A lot of the stores were closed because they were observing the new year holiday (as you can see of this picture taken on the Rialto bridge.

Welcome 2010. I can't wait to start our adventure together.