Checking in from France

Bonsoir! I hope you all are having a great week. Frenchie and I have been eating and drinking a little too much but the chocolat chaud and vin chaud is too tasty and comforting to turn down. Unfortunately, Frenchie dislocated his shoulder on the ski slopes this afternoon, something that he's done two times prior. We were lucky as a French couple, both doctors, helped us off the slopes and popped Frenchie's shoulder back in place. We'll judge how conditions are over the next few days and see if Frenchie wants to continue skiing on Thursday. My friends back in Texas also delivered a healthy baby boy on Friday while we were in transit so congrats to them as well. I can't wait to get back to meet him.

Je vais a Chamonix!

via here

Crud, I'm not ready.  We are flying out in less than 12 hours and I'm not ready.  I have kinda packed - throwing every warm thing that I own into a pack.  I have kinda prepared - printed most reservation receipts and generally have some sort of idea of where everything is and where we're staying.  I don't think we're ready for skiing as we aren't even sure what mountains are suited to our ability and we haven't been able to maintain any type of physical  training routine.  I am mentally not ready - this past week has been a whirlwind and I barely remembered that we were going somewhere.  I haven't practiced French pronounciation like I said I would or learned any key words / phrases (like foods!).

But whether or not we're ready, we're going and we're going soon.  I don't know what the Internet situation is going to be at the hotel but I'm hoping that we'll be able to find some sort of connection that isn't absurdly priced.  I'm going to try not to injure myself or Frenchie and I'll be back soon with tons of pictures.  Until then, BON VOYAGE!

The write stuff

There are less than a handful of ways to maintain my sanity on a daily basis: drinking very hot coffee very quickly in the morning, unplugging at night, exercise in general and writing.  I went a little nuts the other day and went on a journal buying binge.  This is probably the healthiest of all the binges I could possibly go on and I justified it by saying that it's just a way of staying sane.  I'm currently working with a lime green Paperthinks journal from Kate's Paperie.  It's really bright and compact but it doesn't have the elastic band that keeps the journal closed like Moleskines.  The pages are a bit thinner and will bleed through if you use any type of marker.  But it's serviceable and adequate for my scribbles.

Below are the two cuties that I bought - a Leuchtturm1917 and Rhodia.  The Leuchtturm looks the same as a Moleskine but has some unique features.  I ordered one that has light dots spaced across the pages instead of lines and the pages have page numbers in the bottom corner.  The Rhodia has really smooooth pages and you can tell that it'll be nice to write in.  Frenchie wants that one for himself so I might have to order myself a new one.

There are a few other things that are tumbling around in my life (including a sht ton of work) and preventing me from blogging and reading blogs as often as I'd like.  At my earliest ability, I am going to TRY TRY TRY to catch up and see how the new year is treating everyone.

Year of the Dragon

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

Happy Chinese / Lunar New Year!  Good luck, health and prosperity to all!  Did you get your red envelope filled with crisp bills today?  Or did you dole out the cash to younger relatives?  It is the year of the dragon, which means this is my sister AND my dad's year.  This year is also supposed to be a prosperous one, according to Asian people everywhere.  Apparently, it will be a year of financial boon and baby boom!  It is good luck to have children in a dragon year as dragons are seen as auspicious and those who are born in the year of the dragon tend to be brave, innovative and highly driven.  So here's your second chance to start that new year over again and with some dragon-like resolutions.  Mine? 

Don't be afraid of to stoke the fire that burns within.  You may just ignite the world.  (Sorry, sorry, I just couldn't resist.)

Ma, the meatloaf!

via here

My sister spent the weekend with us and on Saturday night, I made chorizo pork tacos and tonight I cooked meatloaf.  Meatloaf is one of those classic American comfort foods that I never ate in my childhood.  The first time I had it, it was actually my own kitchen experiment in college.  It was so filling, easy to make and cheap that I put it in the regular rotation.  However, cooking regularly is hard!  Buying the ingredients, spending the time and effort and then cleaning up afterwards.  I have so much more appreciation for what my mom did on a regular basis when we were children - a different, healthy meal everyday.  And that was just the feeding part.  So for all you moms out there, kudos to you.  I don't know how you manage the time or have all the energy to do what you do.

Feelin' the love from San Francisco

This afternoon Frenchie returned from his conference in San Francisco - hooray!  While he was in the city, he went shopping and scouted out All Saints (for me, I really want some boots from there), Ted Baker, Ben Sherman and other stores.  I haven't been to SF in a fairly long time but from what I remember, it was always blustery and had a lively, bopping little Chinatown.  I thought it was so much cooler than Los Angeles, my only measure of other cities in California.

Frenchie came back from his trip talking about how tasty the seafood was and how steep the hills were and also bearing a little package for me!

They are really sweet and my favourite part is the inscription on the insides.  The red / orange one reads "Meet Your Match" and the gold one says "Heart of Gold."  Frenchie does good sometimes - real good.

Crossword puzzle race

In the wee hours of the morning, I boarded a Southwest flight and plopped myself down in a window seat (so I could fall asleep leaning on it).  Southwest airlines has an open seating policy so you can sit wherever you would like.  Within moments of sitting down, an older couple in their 60s sit down next to me.  The older woman (let's call her Barb) sat next to me in the middle seat and her husband was in the aisle seat.  It only struck me as a little odd at the time, as the flight was half empty and there were plenty of open seats all around us. 

I had forgotten to bring a book to read, so I picked up the in flight magazine and flipped to the "easy" version crossword to kill some time.  Next door, Barb also flips open the magazine, turns to the same page, same crossword and starts furiously filling it out.  And I mean fast and furious.  I try to ignore her, even though she is literally inches away and the pink feathers on the end of her pen are wriggling violently in the corner of my eye.  As she gets further along in the puzzle and the clues get more difficult, Barb slows her pace, although it is punctuated with moments of frantic scribbling when she's figured a word out.  At around two-thirds of the way through the crossword, I start to lose interest and as I'm folding up the magazine, Barb triumphantly places her finished crossword puzzle down on her tray.  I quickly sneak a glance at it and then start shaking in silent laughter.  Her answer for 23 across, Pine for... "AHEL" and for 30 down, exotic apparel... "CHLENM"... and it just got worse from there.  The poor woman was so caught up in her crossword race with me that, in order to beat me, she just filled out the words she knew and then filled in random letters for the blank boxes.

So, Barb, if you're by chance reading this, you win the race.  Now go back and fill out the answers correctly this time.

Pointless post #1

Today has been a full day - I just got home from work and have to wake up in a few hours to catch an early flight out to the west for work.  It's just a short day trip and I'm sure I'll find things along the way to share via blog tomorrow.  I hope my apologies will suffice for now and I will check in with y'all tomorrow!

It smells like burnt milk



via here.  Isn't it lovely?

Frenchie is out on a business trip this week and my sick sis stayed over with me last night.  When someone is sick, what do you offer them?  The custom at my house is to offer him or her a hot beverage.  In my sister's case, we had tea.  Lotsa loose leaf green tea and then gypsy cold care tea with honey.  It isn't very cold outside but there is something comforting and soothing about a cradling a hot cuppa tea in your hands.  Yesterday, we must have drank tea for around five hours.

After around 9 straight hours of work conference calls during the day, even though it was supposed to be a day of rest, it's finally quiet.  I have the doors propped open and it smells like someone is burning milk outside.  For some reason, the smell is calming and carries with it a memory of my mom making oatmeal (with raisins) for breakfast when we were little.  She would invariably burn the milk a little but, no matter, it would fill up our little round tummies full.

A little cottage on Cottage Street

This cute, quaint little cottage is aptly located on Cottage Street (they get really original here in Houston).  I'd like to pose a question to y'all though.   Why is it that builders don't separate the family room and kitchen layouts like they used to in the 1920s?  Sometimes when you're cooking, you don't want the food smell to seep into every room.  The owners of the house are able to tie in the two rooms effectively with the matching cabinets.  With these older homes, it's easy for them to feel tight and cluttered but the storage system hides the mess in a classy way.  The house is little, less than 1,400 square feet, but has a large front and back deck and also lets in plenty of light in the bedrooms and living areas.  The house has the original woodburning fireplace and wood floors.

PS - I'm currently in the market for a dining room set - can anyone tell me what type of chairs those are?

Why I couldn't sleep a wink during Christmas holiday

via here

I have an irrational fear of stepping out of my apartment in the morning and being attacked by zombies who have been transformed during the night.  I also have an irrational fear of seeing a little girl with long dark hair standing at the foot of my bed in the middle of the night.  All of these irrationalities compounded by reading The Strain by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro during the Christmas holiday kept me awake until the wee hours of the morning... peeking over my covers and making sure I memorized the quickest and easiest exit out of my bedroom.  Yes, it's quite insane.  The Strain, very briefly, tells the tale of a vampire virus being transmitted rapidly and without mercy through Manhattan.  The carriers of the virus, once turned into vampire / zombie hybrids, return to their homes and seek out their loved ones, satisfying an insatiable need to feed.  For those who like scary stories, it's a truly entertaining with a fair share of gore and action.  It's not angsty or full of teenage love triangles and you can enjoy it casually and for fun.  But I couldn't get over the chapter where a little girl walks out of the morgue to her home in Connecticut, goes up to her parents' bedroom while they slumber and unhinges her jaw to eat her dad.  Or the chapter where the suburban mom sips on a few of glasses of wine while her children are down for their afternoon nap, goes to check in on them and finds her neighbor feeding on her newborn daughter.  Just make sure, if you read the book, that you're okay with sleeping with the lights on!

Is it so easy to bring me down?

via here

 It's funny (or really, not) how quickly my mood can change, with the blink of an eye, because of something that someone says about me.  I can become elated, walking on rainbows and floating on pink marshmallows, or deflated, like a kiddie pool forgotten outside in the fall.  With all the mucky, stale brown water to match.  I know I'm supposed to be at the age where I have enough self confidence to take it all with a grain of salt, to know that one statement does not define my worth or my value as a person.  I'm not there yet though.  True, I can brush it off more easily - take in criticism, assess it for what it is and then move on with my life.  But it's the little gnat, constantly buzzing around my face and for now, I can't shake it.

Today I'll take it for what it is.  But tomorrow is a new day and I will start all over again.  I did say this year that I will forgive, particularly myself, more.

Patio Huguenot

I don't have a background in design or architecture but I know what I think looks good - and these horse stables designed by 10dedosvalentes in Oporto, Portugal are pretty stinking handsome.  Horse stables have a tendency to lean toward the country or rustic-style design, so it's more rare to see a modern-type structure.  The design team's goal was to create a combined horse and human environment next to the outdoor riding arena.  The bottom floor is comprised of the horse stalls and tacking area whereas the top floor has a indoor viewing area, toilet and lockers.  It almost looks more like an apartment complex than an equestrian building, particularly with the sunny balcony up top, which I'm sure will be a popular resting haven for riders after a long day.  My only criticism of the building is that I would have wanted more windows downstairs to increase air circulation for the horses.  What do you think - thumbs up for the modern design or do you like the traditional style instead?

Pictures via here

Extreme weather

via here

The blog gods must be reading my entries because right after I gloated to everyone about how glorious the weather was in Houston, we had the most extreme weather on Monday.  This morning, I woke up to a pale green sky and, being a tornado-alley born girl, I knew exactly what that foretold.  Over the next few hours, Houston took a pounding of  tornadoes, hail, severe thunderstorms and flash floods.  I was stuck in traffic for over five hours trying to drop my car off to be serviced.  At times, it's okay to have a conservative and safe personality and today it totally paid off.  I saw more cars than I can count think they could drive through the high water and have to get towed out because the owners flooded their engines.  I may have sat idle in the middle of the road for over two hours but at least I didn't have to "float" down the middle of the street and chalk up my vehicle as totaled.  I also asked myself around 20 times why I don't own a truck - must remember for future vehicle purchases.  While taking some back roads to get back to work, I saw blocks of houses under water as well.  I hope everyone in the blogosphere is safe, warm and DRY.  Happy Monday folks!

It is flipping glorious outside

It's a balmy 75 degrees outside right now and sunny - a glorious Saturday in Texas.  We went for a jog this morning and everyone was out walking their dogs or riding bikes.  The patio we had brunch on was actually kind of hot with the sun beating down on us.  It's hard to imagine that it's winter on such a spring-like day.  Sadly, I'm back in the office for the afternoon but hopefully will get this work pounded out quickly and can spend the rest of the day enjoying the sun and warmth.  I hope y'all are enjoying your Saturday, catching some football if you want to and resting up.

PS - Houstonians, clean up after your dogs!  There is nothing more disgusting than smeared dog poo all over the jogging trail that people have tracked for another five feet... 

Something to look forward to

So after the downer of a post yesterday, I do have some fun news to share - Frenchie and I are going to France!  We'll be flying into Switzerland at the end of January and then hopping over to Chamonix for a week to ski, eat, shop and sight see.  This will be a trip of firsts: I've never been to France before and I've also never skied in Europe.  I'm absolutely delighted to be able to try skiing in Europe where I hear the mountains and trails are very different from the states.  Mont Blanc is the tallest mountain in Western Europe and the verticals here are twice what they are at Whistler! 

You can't imagine the change this has had on my outlook for 2012.  I was actually excited to go back to work because I have this trip coming up this month.  Now, mind you, the off-trail skiing here is supposed to be the best in the world but I am in no way an expert skier.  So I'll be attempting to stay safe but also test my boundaries a bit and push myself to be braver.  I've also downloaded some Learning French podcasts to try and memorize some basic phrases before I go.  I'll leave you all with a few pictures of where we'll be going (eeps!) and also welcome any suggestions or advice if any of you have been before.

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Goodbye old buddy

via here

My trainer called me last night to let me know that my buddy had coliced and died.  Although he wasn't my horse, I was the only person who rode him with any frequency and he always greeted me at the gate to his paddock.  He was a cookie hound and loved to nibble on you while you tacked him up.  Urkel (yep - you heard it right) was an old man (around 20) when he passed and had a good life up to the very end.  Riding is going to be put on hold for the next few weeks until they find a new horse.  I'll miss my sleepy yet dependable partner in the ring but also look forward to the new horse they're bringing in.  Unfortunately, this isn't encouraging me to buy a horse - even though that has been on my resolution list since I was a wee one!

This is a stick up!

Have you all seen this stunning exhibit by Yayoi Kusama at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (found via notcot.org and pictures via here)?  Kusama set up an all white room as her blank canvas and then gave the children visitors thousands of dot stickers for them to stick wherever their little hearts desired.  They turned this very sterile almost-IKEAesque environment into an explosion of colour, which is appropriately named The Obliteration Room.  I never get tired of looking at the pictures of the transformation - it makes me smile real big.  Who didn't love putting stickers all over the place when they were children?  My bedroom at home still has gobs of permanent stickers that my sister and I stuck everywhere when we were kids.  We just found her old Lisa Frank stickers last month - guess what rainbow surprise accompanied each gift tag for Christmas?

Rrrrr!

Isn't this awesome?!  This is one of the best gifts I received for my birthday: an embossing heating gun, embossing powders and stamps.  Okay, so it's super dorky but I love it.  I write a lot of cards - thank you cards, birthday cards, holiday cards to everybody and this allows me to make my own.  You can bet I'll be making some lovey dovey ones for Valentine's Day.  For now, I'll just be stamping and embossing my glossy gold initials on everything.

Bake me a cake!

via here

In my previous blog entry, I had mentioned that my sister was planning on baking a champagne layer cake for the New Year's Eve party that my parents were throwing.  On Friday, when I asked her if she wanted to go buy the ingredients and get prepared for baking, she threw back at me, "You make things not fun!  Everything turns into a task!"  Which I almost retorted back immediately with a "No!" but didn't because it's actually true.  I get so focused on completing the goal at hand that I laser focus on laying out the steps to getting it done.  It is true that my mom called me Monica, as in Monica from Friends due to my bossiness, the entire time I was home this holiday break.  I forget that it can be fun getting things done and "teamwork doesn't always feel like work."  My sister and I have opposite personalities - she is incredibly creative, artistic and the consummate procrastinator while I am more linear, organized and a planner.  I owe my sister one for trying to slow me down and for providing some balance to my over-the-top personality sometimes.  In 2012 I will try to be more forgiving, particularly towards myself and just focus on enjoying the journey instead of concentrating on getting to the destination.

And in case you were wondering, she did make the cake in time and it turned out beautifully and tasted delicious! 

A little French flair

I can't believe I'm coming on the end of a wonderful holiday and break back at my parents' home.  This was the longest amount of time I've spent with them ever since I graduated from college and it was divine.  It was incredibly relaxing and I was able to unplug from work, which was the most important.  I trust you all had a good time welcoming the new year. 

And what better way to do it but with a new house discovery!  The facade of this home is just too quaint - I love the awning over the front door and the shutters flanking the windows.  The interior is decorated not exactly to my taste - leaning a bit much to a French rustic theme.  But it's definitely roomy enough inside and the kitchen has the perfect design for entertaining.  Plus who can resist those exposed beams that extend from the family room to the kitchen?  You could even add a little herb garden in the side yard, adding a bit of fragrance in the air when you dine al fresco or just sit outside on a cool evening with a glass of wine.