getting prepared for the holidays

Hello all,
I know I havent written in a couple of weeks, I have been super busy with work and school. I literally feel like there arent enough hours in a day. Not too many exciting things have happened in the last 14 days or so. But here's the scoop:

Last weekend I went to an Arthur H concert at the Elysée Montmartre which was surprisingly awesome. I have one of his cds and I do like him, but now I love his music and his voice in general. It is funny because he is a geeky looking guy with big ears, but his voice is so sexy. He was also a great performer and lucky me, I got front row!

On saturday I went to Versailles with the Uconn group. We got a private guided tour of the private living chambers that you don't get to see on a normal tour! It was actually really interesting and I am glad I went. The tour guide was very well informed and had answers to all of the questions that we asked. Also, Jeff Koontz, the artist who makes the giant shiny balloon like sculptures, has an exhibit there right now...a cool mixture of classical art and modern art.

This week I have been getting a little into the holiday season. I have some spicy smelling candles burning and I put my tiny strand of christmas lights up around my window. Tomorrow, I am celebrating Jérôme's 37th birthday, WOW, and making him a really nice dinner. Then on Saturday Trish ans Sam get here! They are staying here for a week, and I am so excited to have some visitors, espescially on Thanksgiving. I have a couple of things already planned, but I figured we would make an itinerary once they got here. Saturday night is a Tokyo Decadence party, which could be fun...but it depends on how tired they are and if Jérôme can get them in. Then on Sunday we are going to go to Versailles. So that's all that is planned for now...unfortunately I dont have a break so I still have to work and go to school, but it should be a blast nonetheless.

I mentioned in my earlier post that I am going to Barcelona for Christmas! Well, I am super excited. We got a hotel room for the 24th-26th at this very fancy hotel right across the street from Gaudi's "Le Perdrera" and the rest of the time we plan on backpacking around the entire Catalonia region. I'm definitely ready for a little adventure. I may also go to Strasbourg before I leave for Spain to go to the famous Christmas market. Strasbourg is a town in France right near Germany that is considered to be the "Capitale de Noel" (the capital of christmas)...in Europe anyway..and I definitely wanna see that, and maybe eat some choucroute!

okay until next time....CIAO<33

A weekend of hors d'oeuvres and the Hippodrome!

This weekend was a busy one where I was never actually able to sit in front of my computer. I like those weekends where you are never bored enough to go on Facebook for hours doing nothing. This weekend felt particularly busy because I didn't spend one night in my room!

Friday is a busy day in general. I work at the high school from 8am to 5pm and I am exhausted afterwards. Jérôme, Caroline, Jonas and I decided to go and see Hellboy 2 at the ciné...it was good, except I was so tired I fell asleep...I woke up just in time for the end though...ha. After the movie we all headed back to Jérôme's apt. and played a game of Dungeon Twister...this french board game that is addicting...and I won of course! bwa haha. Caroline wasn't too happy about it. We all passed out over at the apt. and on Saturday I spent the morning just cleaning and doing some laundry then I met up with Caroline and John for a fantastic (and cheap) American lunch...SUBWAY...gotta love Subway, at least I do. After our little lunch date I left straight for Sevres and met up with Jérôme and his best friend Arnaud. We chatted and had some tea before we ended up being late for Jérôme's mother's birthday dinner. She made a delicious array of hors d'oeuvres for her birthday...I stuffed my face...free food is the best, espescially here. There were little brochettes of cheese, ham and tomato, wraps filled with chevre smoked ham and chives, mini salami pizza rolls etc etc...so basically I was in heaven. We all sat and chatted on the couch and started to play games, but me..being very fatigued as I was FELL ASLEEP AGAIN..on the couch int he middle of everything...c'est fou. Anyway, we all ended up staying over night at his mom's place.

Yesterday, we went to the Longchamps Hippodrome...the very famous horse race track in Paris. This past weekend it was free so we decided to go, since normally we couldn't afford to. The racetrack is in the missle of the 16th arrondissment which is the wealthiest quarter of Paris. We stayed for the races and even won a few that we bet on...we only gambled with about 2 euros a race, but it was fun to just play along. There was also free cotton candy, hot chocolate and fondue...mm yum yum. My camera died so I wasn't able to take any photos unfortunately, but it was a fun experience.

Today I started planning my Christmas vacation and guess where we decided to go?!?!

Barcelona, Spain!

more details on that to come:):):)

à plus

Barack Obama- "Yes We Can"

Today I am so excited and so happy for our country. I have never been so excited about the outcome of an election...even from over here across the ocean. I think the fact that we elected our first minority president is a great feat! And I also forsee that the world is going to change along with our country. I didnt realize how much I actually was hoping for this change...i argued against it even at times, but now I realize that it will do wonders internally and externally for our country. The minorities, both ethnic and religous, willbe more integrated and our foriegn politics and relations will change drastically. And on a lighter note, I think it will raise American spirits in this hard economic recession. Not only that, I think it says something that our country is not even 200 years old and along with all of our racial crisis and problems in the past, we have maybe gotten over that bump...at least a little bit hopefully.

So, YAY for Obama!!!

Yesterday, I went to buy a chess set for Jérome's birthday and I got a really nice one! Caroline also bought a small cheap set to so we can improve our skills. So we spent the afternoon in the park by Notre Dame, ate Berthillon ice cream and played chess on a bench. The weather was beautiful and th leaves are floating from the trees in all different Fall colors.

Later in the afternoon we all went to see a movie, The Visitor, which is an American film about our immigration problems...as a very general synopsis...but it was very good and I recommend it to everyone who can see it. I dont know any of the actors, but it was a very well made film.

After the movie we decided to go to the bar and watch the election. We headed over the Wide Open Spaces by rue de l'estrapade then went to the Violin Dingue to visit Momo..i had an amaretto sprite, hung out a bit, then headed home.

Today I am heading to the Grand Palais to see the Picasso exhibit...it should be neat, theyve been raving about it for a while.

so à plus for now!