Ausfahrt.

Well I don't have much to say as this week has been anticlimactic. Saturday we woke up very early to go shopping in Germany (I didn't buy anything). However, I did eat delicious falafel.

I did see a woman with a crazy mohawk Afro thing going on.

And, we did, as always, laugh at the German exit signs (because we're immature).

But, that's really all we did. It continues to be either freezing cold, snowing, raining, or sleeting which isn't really fun. I guess that's winter for ya.

I joined the gym here two days ago at the incredible price of 90 euros ($118) per month. I literally gasped. I am not sure what the price of my gym back home is these days, but I used to pay $60 a month and that included a ton of amazing classes, a ton of equipment, two pools, a hot tub, etc etc etc. This gym is SO small - there are only 2 treadmills so it's a game of chance. It doesn't even have dumbbells. It certainly doesn't have any classes. There isn't a place to do any abdominal exercises so I have to come home and do that on my yoga mat. There is a pool... I'll give them that.

I think I am too hard on France sometimes and always want to compare it to the wonderful things I am accustomed to at home... but gosh, in the USA, possibilities really are endless. The United States is a blending of all cultures, and that's what makes it so special.

I am looking forward to the Spring and one glorious month in the USA :) April, are you here yet??

amsterdam.

view from hotel window

all the bikes from the hotel window

see my excitement upon finding this place in the video below

Two weekends ago we spent our weekend in Amsterdam. It was a short, spontaneous trip. My guy was going there on business starting that Sunday and Friday night he suggested I come a day early (the following day) so I could meet his friend, see the city, and spend a night out dancing our butts off. And, so that's what we did. We arrived Saturday evening. I met his very nice friend (whose English had a very wonderful Croatian accent). We stayed out until the wee hours of the morning - because, well, why not? Sunday we enjoyed an Asian food festival and had one too many (or not) veggie spring rolls. We had to, of course, go to a French fry place and eat French fries smothered in ketchup (although there were about 20 different toppings to choose from). We walked all around the city - Bopping in and out of shops, looking at old buildings, marveling at bikers and houseboats aplenty, and paying 1€ to use the 'loo' all the while. We ate at a delicious Thai restaurant for dinner (SOOO good!). Then, Monday morning I was on the first flight back to France. Boo!

The nice thing about Amsterdam is that almost everyone speaks English. It made things very easy for us English-speakers. There are so many tourists in Amsterdam, but luckily, my guy had studied in Holland while in University so he knew a little bit about the city to help us steer clear of too much touristy stuff. 

I first went to Amsterdam in 2005 with my sister. We did the whole hostel, meeting people, being young thing. It was so much fun. We went to coffee shops. I ate space cake which was a big thing for me as I was a vegan. I figured, when in Amsterdam, eat space cake. We went to the Anne Frank house which was so so so moving and something I would love to do every time I am in Amsterdam. Our youthful trip was wonderful and fun (and a trip to remember!), but it is always a different experience doing things with someone new. It is nice to walk through a strange city, seeing new things, and holding the hand of someone you adore. I enjoy that... a lot. I don't think I will ever tire of walking through strange cities and seeing new things and holding the hand of that someone I adore. ....as long as life is always as spontaneous and bizarre as it is now. Because, as I have said before, I bore easily.

Video below makes clear two things. The first is that I love Asian food. The second is that I am a pig! 

oh, happy day. happy year.

I just love a Monday like this. I was organized and had my clothes ready the night before. I woke up in time to have a cappuccino before leaving the house. I had the time to primp and thus felt great leaving the house. AND, when I walked outside, it was sunny and magnificent (although freezing!).

Now that is surely the best way to start the morning. Usually, I am a very unorganized, unpunctual person. I am always running around like a chicken with my head cut off. As prepared as I think I am, I am always sliding by at the eleventh hour. I don't know what it is - but I can never get my butt in gear to get out the door. As much time as I think I have, every single day I end up running out of the house like a bat out of Hell. Today just wasn't one of those mornings. A new day!?! WOOOOO!!

It's 2:15. I've worked for 5 hours and gone food shopping! This is just an incentive to try to be more organized. It is one of my favorite feelings to be somewhere on time (early is too much of a dream) and put together. However, I rarely get to feel this feeling. I think I will make it one of my New Year's resolutions.

As far as New Year's Resolutions are concerned, I really didn't have the chance to think about that or to make any goals for myself. With the death of my Uncle and my travels and then trying to get back in the swing of things and then spending the weekend trying to tie up all the loose ends, I haven't had the time to sit, reflect, and set some new goals.

Some wonderful things did happen in 2011 but let me put it this way : I'm happy it's over. I think that 2012 is a wonderful opportunity for a fresh start.

If 2011 wasn't your best year, then move on. It's over. There is nothing you or I or anyone can do now.  Things happen for a reason, and perhaps through all the bad, we can make some good out of it. We are where we are today because of actions and choices that have brought us here. All we can do is seize the day. Carpe diem. We are here. We are now. Make the best of it. As Leon would say (Curb Your Enthusiasm), "Turn that shit around." 2012: Let's do it!!!!

What are your New Year's resolutions?

My New Year's Resolutions:
1. being punctual
2. being happier (more positive)
3. being more organized
4. controlling my anger
5. stop sweating the small stuff
6. saving (hence not spending so much) money
7. paying off a big chunk of my college loans
8. buying (not renting) an apartment
9. being better at calling friends and family (not all my communication should be done through e-mail and Facebook)
10. becoming fluent (!!!!) in French
11. SO I can start my dream job (rather than teaching English forever)
12. losing my last 6-8 pounds
13. taking up a hobby
14. getting on a routine of exercising and sticking to it
15. running another marathon
16. actually making progress with les écoliers du partage / friends across borders (see #10 - if I can become confident enough to make calls in French, then I could really be more useful with this)
17. visit new places


What I'm listening to right now:

jet-lag

Jet-lag is seriously such a killer. My eyelids were so heavy today! It's only Tuesday and I am already looking forward to the weekend. I need to catch up on so many things - work, cleaning, UNPACKING, rest... I just need a few spare moments when my eyelids aren't so heavy to get my life together.

You know that feeling when you feel like you're forgetting something...? That's how I feel when my things aren't organized and arranged and in order. I'm experiencing a whole lot of that right now.

I also really need some catch-up time with my guy who has been so wonderful through all of this!

What I'm listening to right now:

lately.

sunshine.

What I'm listening to right now:













So life has been crazy these past two weeks. My Uncle (who was like a brother to me) unexpectedly died. I flew home the next flight out. The time was wonderful spent with family but it was so busy. Every day was filled with running a million errands and every evening was spent with the whole extended family. I had to make a collage for the services and prepare and practice the eulogy. There wasn't enough time in the day - pair that with jet-lag and just being sad about the circumstances, it was a hard time. I was so happy to be with my family through this time and really would have regretted it if I didn't fly home. As upset as we all were, it was amazing to ring in 2012 with my whole family together. We aren't often all together in the same country let alone the same state. The circumstances that brought us together were and still are heartbreaking, but it was a wonderful time with family, regardless.

My Mom, "a snowbird", now spends her winters in my parent's condo in Florida. She had already planned to leave the day after the services. She was going to cancel but my Dad convinced her that she should still go. She didn't feel right about the whole thing since I would be home and there were still a lot of loose ends with dealing with death stuff - so my Dad said, "What if Kaylan flies down with you? Would you do that, Kay?" Well, I don't know anyone that would turn down a trip to Florida.

After the services and the gathering after, my Mom and I headed home and packed our bags for Florida. We left early the next morning. I spent Tuesday afternoon through Saturday morning with her there. We had such a great time. I ate a lot of yummy fish sandwiches and coconut shrimp and cajun fries. We made homemade guacamole with freshly picked (huge) Florida avocados. We had a lot of time to talk and read and shop and to relax!! It went by too fast.

Saturday morning I was flying home after one last apple strudel sitting by the water. I flew directly to the airport in Atlantic City where my Dad picked me up. We stopped for a late lunch, and then we drove to the airport in Newark where he unloaded me and I was off to Europe.

I had one of those crazy, exhausting trips. I just about missed my flight as I went to the wrong terminal. I was bringing my skis with me and a huge suitcase and a rolly carry-on as well as a big overnight bag. After discovering I was in the wrong terminal, I had to lug all 4 of those bags to an elevator then to an air tram then to another elevator and then to the Continental check-in desk. I, of course, at to redistribute the weight in my overweight bag which really made me angry. The bag is allowed to be 50 lbs. I had to pay $70 for an extra bag (the skis) that weighed like 20 lbs. Doesn't it seem like my bag weighing 60 lbs should be OK then considering I actually paid for more weight? No, so there I was unloading everything while sweating and freaking out because it was now 35 minutes before my flight was leaving and I hadn't gone through security yet.

I arrived at the gate just as the last few stragglers were piling on the plane. I had a layover in Paris and then for some odd reason (booking a last minute flight) I had to go to Frankfurt and then back to Switzerland/France. By the time I got home last night, I had been traveling for more than a day.

Am I exhausted today? Yes. Was it all worth it? Yes. I'll share some pics tomorrow.

what a wonderful weekend.

This past weekend was really great!

It started on Friday night. My love took me to the old city part of Belfort where we went to a traditional French restaurant. Everything from the food to the decor was so French. We both really enjoyed it.

Saturday morning we had planned to go to a G Star outlet store in Germany. He really likes the clothes there and the prices are really affordable. We both did some browsing and didn't find anything. However, it was such a beautiful day, and we didn't want to head back to Belfort just yet.

My uncle had written on my Facebook about how we should go to Freiburg and so we did. I didn't even realize we were going there until I started seeing signs and realized which direction we were headed. It was just wonderful driving with the windows down, letting the sun seep in, and having the freedom of going wherever we pleased.

The city of Freiburg was really cute! All of the architecture is, of course, very traditional German. There were so many coffee shops and pastry shops. Because it was such a beautiful day, every cafe was packed. Everyone was sitting outside; the streets were bustling; it was very jolly. It must rain a lot there, because all the streets had a little steam running down them. I guess how we have sewage drains, Freiburg has these open streams. They are about 1 to 1.5 feet wide. All the kids had these little boats on strings that they would pull along with them as they walked down the streets. It was very cute! *We didn't bring a camera, an iPhone or anything with us to take photos as the original plan was just to go to the outlets. We bought a disposable camera so I will post more about Freiburg when I get the pictures back!

After we returned from Freiburg, we went over to see his sister who was 9 months pregnant! She has another baby girl that will be 1 year this month. When we arrived, she was wearing her I <3 NY onesie that we brought from NY! It was nice to see the family!

We went back to his Mom's house where I prepared a dish I had been really looking forward to making. One of my favorite bloggers posted this recipe back in March. My love and I truly enjoyed the meal! I omitted the wine and instead added lemon juice. I also doubled the tomatoes since I love cooked, fresh tomatoes. I also added 2 peperoncinis to the pan because we didn't have any dried red pepper flakes and we wanted the extra kick they would have provided. We used all fresh ingredients - fresh shrimp (this turned out to be a bit of a pain as peeling, deveining, and cleaning the shrimp was quite time consuming but thankfully my love took the reigns on that project), fresh tomatoes, fresh parsley, even the juice from fresh lemons (I cut up lemon slices and cooked them in the pan, too). We served it over pasta. It was so delicious! I will definitely be making that again.

We were woken up at about 9 on Sunday morning with the call we had been anxiously awaiting - it was time!!! We hurried ourselves out of bed, threw some clothes on, and we were out the door. My job was to watch the baby while my love took the expectant family to the hospital. This, as it turned out, was not a job. The baby slept until 10. She didn't make a sound when she woke up. I kept checking in and eventually found her standing up in her crib. I was nervous she might cry when she saw me (thinking, you are not my mom!). However, she had a big smile which warmed my heart - I could see all 4 teeth!! We enjoyed the morning together eating, dancing, singing, and hide and seek (although not even a year, she is a very fast walker!!!)! I welcome the fact that this beautiful baby girl is the only person on this planet that enjoys my singing!! She also loves Lady Gaga (as she danced she said, "Gaga!")! It was so funny. Every time the music would come on.. she would start bending her knees and bouncing up and down or swaying back and forth. I just love her!

And now, she is a big sister!! Another beautiful, healthy baby girl was welcomed into the family yesterday... how exciting! Yesterday was my father's birthday so I was secretly hoping the new baby would be born on that same day, and to my delight, my wish came true!

On that note, Dad, hope your birthday was a good one!

After leaving the hospital, having a coffee back at the hotel with his oldest sister and her family (it was my first time meeting them and they were SO nice), we took a short drive to  Montbéliard. We took a walk and soaked in the last moments of the weekend together before Monday would arrive and bring with it another busy week. The weekend was such a happy one and we didn't want it to end.