Top 10 reasons my 3 weeks in Europe were great

There are so many things that happen over a 3 week period, most are mundane, some are interesting, some shitty, and some can't be kept in.  In order to share, I'll distill them into a top-10 a'la David Letterman.


10) Staying in a nice hotel in Antwerp, unawares of the shit-hole I would be in for the subsequent 2 weeks :(

9) The momentary freak-outs waiting for the train/ metro/ RER (and questioning whether I was waiting for the right train, going in the right direction), getting off the train (I couldn't buy tickets with my pin-less credit card, and didn't have change, without a pass, I couldn't get out!), and getting to the train (like when I was waiting to board to get to my train to Amsterdam and there was a message in French that I couldn't read, and the next train wasn't for another 45 min - I spazzed worrying I wouldn't make my connection).
8) Not killing my coworkers (trust me, this was harder than you'd think).
7) The fantastic weather the whole time, it may have been ice cold in Belgium, but it was mostly sunny all 3 weeks, and graciously rained only at night.

6) Being told by the waiter my first night in Paris that I had a nice accent (not sure if he meant my English or attempt at French...).
5) Having 1000+ restaurant suggestions, and eating probably the best food of my life - then walking it all off.

4) Seeing the iconic Parisian monuments (again) and the Parisian's acting every bit as French as the stereotypes about them.


3) Spending a fantastic weekend with Alia - and walking or metroing through almost every district in Paris... I believe there are 20 in the city center area?? Even if I did get a nasty cold/ flu at the end of it all - I still love you bitch!!

2) Finding out I got the new job and meeting some of my soon to be colleagues!!!
1) Making new friends.
Friend 1: The Belgian in Amsterdam who is "in a band", and getting a free cappuccino - we're fb friends now, so that makes it real, right?

Friend 2: When asking the waiter his favorite dessert, his response of "The classics: the creme brulee, the molten chocolate cake, and the french kiss (while he leaned in to provide said dessert...)." Of course, he gave me his name (Thomas), the restaurant's card, and told me to fb them.

Grilled shallot-carrot mousse-prosciutto
Amazing.

Friend 3: Finding a fantastic restaurant on my own for V-day, then returning with Alia, only to have the owner happily remember me (and proceed to make sure we only paid for 1 glass of wine each, rather than the 3 we each had...if you get a chance, try a Gris 
Blanc!). I've never had a better appetizer. Ever. If you ever find yourself in the 19th arr. go to Draco!

Chestnut souffle

Friend 4 (and my favorite): Emilie at Le Cosi. In the first week there, my team had dinner here. My coworkers had already made friends with her. The baby cow (veal) was delectable, and the chocolate cake like nothing I've ever experienced. After dinner on my last night in Paris, we went back to Le Cosi for a night-cap. She was there, and we also got to meet the owner and the chef. He probably knows he's amazing, but I had to tell him again. So he made me dessert... I could have died after finishing that. Nothing will ever compare. We also only paid for 3 drinks... while we had 9...don't worry, I got her business card and plan on fb'ing her as well ;-) when I'm done with this whole lent thing...


I'm (gratefully) home now.  Paris certainly did not disappoint.  There is definitely something special about that city.  And I can't wait to go back again - someday :)

Yoga pants and high heels

Yup, that was what I ended up wearing home after yoga tonight because I forgot my flip flops.  And as you can guess, I along with the rest of the world have started strong on my New Years resolutions.  They are (drum-roll please):

1. Workout more - at least once a week, I've been THAT bad lately (and that doesn't mean I get to average it out ;))
2. Volunteer - I was thinking since I'm kind of a people person, it should involve that - maybe at an assisted living home?
3. Waste less food - and at least compost it (my apartment complex finally has a compost bin!)

As I was driving home, thinking about how we all make resolutions, and most are lucky to make it through the first quarter of the year.  Maybe there is a reason for that, and it's not that most of us are lazy or quitters - but that this time of year has a lot less distractions so we find something else to focus on.  Football season is winding down, no one likes the NBA, baseball doesn't start for a few months, and the holidays are over.  Also, for those of us in the Northwest, the sun isn't out, so there isn't the pressure to have to take advantage of every minute of sunshine.  In fact, working out in a dark yoga room for 90 min is better than being in our cars or at home in the dark.

Maybe we have a need to feel busy and purposeful (plus, no one wants to spend a ton of money and a few dance or yoga classes are cheaper than eating out or Christmas shopping).  And I actually didn't come to any conclusions on whether this was a good or bad thing!  It was either, we all need to take a break and take this winter time to relax, not feel like we have to go go go.  Or else, it's that this time should be taken advantage of to form some good habits, try new things, and even if only 1% of it sticks, isn't that better than we were the year before?

So whether you decide to make resolutions, decide to just give your all in everything, or take this winter to re-energize, may this new year bring you happiness and joy - even if that comes in a pair of heels and yoga pants :).

My "To Do" List

I think I'm too young to be writing a bucket list, and I don't plan on kicking anything anytime soon. Rather, this is more of a list of things I want to do or places I want to see and haven't gotten to yet;-).

Cheri and Natalie - Winter 2011

• Go to South Africa and go on safari
• Live in Italy for a month
• Take a cruise on the Mediterranean
• Always spell vacuum correctly;-)
• Go to Austin, TX
• See the Olympic National Forest
• Perfect my chocolate chip cookie recipe
• See the beaches of Normandy
• Visit the battlefield at Gettysburg
• Go to an Olympic event
• Stay in an ice castle/ hotel
• See Coldplay in concert
• Explore Boston



Damien Rice - Fall 2009

• See a game in every MLB park
• Take more staycations
• Go to the Super Bowl
• See the Kentucky Derby
• Road trip in the Midwest/ southwest
• Watch all the movies I own and then purge them;-)
• See Damien Rice in concert every opportunity I get
• Read at least 1 classic novel a year (maybe something less depressing than Wuthering Heights)
• Go to Nome for the iditorod
• Visit the Statue of Liberty and go to the top of the Empire State building
• Find a speakeasy in every major US city I visit
• See live jazz in Memphis, Chicago (again), and New Orleans
• Learn to golf (thanks to my Jacq for the start!)
• Play a full 18- holes on my own
• Go to Jordan
• Waste less food - this is actually my 2012 resolution, preferably it would be waste no food but that may be a little unrealistic when last minute travel plans come in to place



Speakeasy in Chicago

• See a play in London 
• Go back to Paris - see the Musee national Picasso, the Catacombs, more of the Louvre, and the Musee de Orsay
• Watch all the Godfather movies
• Use a whole chicken - including the carcass for making chicken stock. This may be the most difficult, I hate chicken skin, bones, veins, tendons, etc etc etc
• Have an herb garden
• Actually be in Munich for Oktoberfest
• Learn to speak another language
• Decide which language I want to learn:-)
• Go to Norway for my grandma and take hundreds of pictures for her
• Learn to like NYC
• Trace my family lineage - is my last name really German?!



Paris 2010

• Find 1 good thing about Houston - no one has been able to tell me one yet!

And when I've found that one good thing about Houston, my life should be over by then, right?;-)

Gourmet?

I think I know why I'm not married...I would probably either kill or starve a husband.  I can't cook a simple dinner to save my life.  And I have no idea how to just 'throw' something together.

Tonight was my first night home with nothing to do in a long while.  I had some sea bass in the freezer, some frozen corn (which I'd boiled and saved from the spring), and I still had some potatoes. How hard could it be to broil the fish, microwave the corn and bake a potato?  Well, problem one - the potatoes were a little old... no biggie, I can just boil and mash'em, won't even notice!

So I put the still partially frozen fish in some blueberry vinaigrette, some lemon juice and garlic... ok yeah, like I said I don't know how things go together...into tin foil and put it under the broiler on high (then I decided it would be a good idea to find out how long to cook it by googling it).  I cut up the potatoes, threw them in the pot to boil and put the corn in a microwaveable container.  Man, I felt like it might all come together.  Ha!

I looked in the fridge - uh, no milk, oh, there's heavy cream... err, well, there WAS heavy cream, this was more like moldy cream.  While in there, I noticed the cheese had gotten completely covered (and I've cut off mold 2 or 3 times before), so out that went, then there were the strawberries from...who knows...and some Greek yogurt that was at least a couple weeks old.  Guess I should take the garbage out tonight (for the second time, since when I got home the old garbage was home to a pod of fruit flies)... oh did I mention that while cleaning up my living room I learned that beef jerky grows mold?  Yeah, totally gross.

Now that your mouth is watering, back to the food.  After 8 minutes, the fish wasn't close to done, so I put it in a different dish on top of some butter (like google said!), put some garlic powder and cayenne on it - yes, I'm sure these would all go together perfectly.  Google also told me what to substitute for milk in my mashed potatoes - sour cream (that was not expired).

Once the potatoes seemed sufficiently boiled, I drained them, added a stick of butter, sour cream, garlic, bacon bits (cuz bacon makes everything ok, right?).  Pulled out my hand mixer and went to town.  Who knew you could mess up mashed potatoes?!  At one point, I tried scooping the edges of the pot into them middle with my fork...got the fork caught, sprayed mashed potatoes (very thick and sticky potatoes I might add) all over my counter and when I cleaned it all back up, I finished mashing them, only to see that in the battle between fork and blender, the fork won... my beater is completely twisted. :(

I was so ready to throw in the towel at this point, but hunger won out.  I pulled the finally finished fish out of the oven, the warmed corn out of the microwave, and loaded up my plate.  All in all, it was edible.  I've definitely made worse (oh the burnt mac and cheese... bleh!).  But I guarantee, I won't be recreating this anytime soon.  I just kept think, the poor fish died for this?!

So, anyone out there interested giving lessons in cooking simply?

Single and Mingling

*Sigh*  I always love it when someone who has been in a relationship for more than a year gives dating advice.  "You find the person when you stop looking", "Don't date guys in bars", "It's creepy to meet a guy in the gym", and "Online dating, you could be meeting Ted Bundy".  I'm sorry, where should I meet guys?  Oh through friends?  Yes please, I love when a friend says they "know someone who would be 'perfect' for me" and he turns out to be rude and overbearing.  I'm sorry, what about me says I like rude, overbearing men?

I have to admit, I recently signed up for eHarmony.  My bestie and her mom were doing it, she invited me to join them for a 6-month membership... 1 date/ month.  What was there to lose?  My dignity?  I had a date with a guy tonight.  Very nice, good profile, easy to converse with, good job, established, yadda, yadda yadda.  And I couldn't help thinking to myself at the end of the date - what is wrong with him?  Why isn't he married by now? (ok, he is 10 yrs older than me)  And I realized, as I climbed into Meredith - what the f*ck is wrong with ME!?

I have been single for (almost) 2 years now.  And honestly, I have enjoyed EVERY minute of it.  I can't help feeling that where I am is wrong in other people's eyes.  Whenever you see someone after an absence the first thing they ask "are you seeing someone", or "23, you were old when you got married" (said to someone else... apparently, I should be put out to pasture!).  The best is hearing that my father thinks a girl should do certain things to get a guy... I'm sorry, but even my daddy doesn't believe I am good enough.  So, where does that leave lil' old me?

I'm here, and I'm queer... oh wait, no, I'm happy.  Happy with who I've become.  Happy with my beliefs.  Happy with how I love others and accept people for who they are.  Happy that I'm able to do what I want (travel, shop, eat, drink, be merry).  Happy that I have a great group of friends who accept me for who I am as a person.

So to all you married/ relationshiped up couples out there - don't be scared or jealous of your single friends.  Be happy for them in where they are in life.  Support them, and put your worry towards your own relationships... not our lack thereof.