Talkin' Chai

Did I ever share how to make Chai from scratch? It is so super delicious; and I don't know if it is in spite of or because of the 5-8 minute effort over the stove that it is such a treat. I learned how from my wonderful Indian friends almost two years ago now.

Yesterday we went to Juanita and Frank's 70th Wedding Anniversary (you don't attend a "Platinum Anniversary" Celebration every day) -- more on that later -- and I think being around Juanita inspired me to make something with a little extra effort this morning. And OH was it worth it.

So here's how to make your own Chai at home as I learned it from Mita -and in the spirit of a Juanita recipe, I don't have exact measurements, just a general guide. Anyway, and all the best recipes seem to come that way:
-Start by measuring out your water to approximately how many glasses you intend to serve (for this example, I'll say two teacups) into a pan
-Boil this water along with:
-1-2 pods of cardamom, crushed to make sure the little black seeds come out and maybe a few of them are lightly crushed
-1-2 heavy sprinkles of cinnamon
-3-4 slices of fresh ginger - Mmmm (if no fresh ginger, go with 2-3 sprinkles of ground ginger if you must)
-2-4 cloves or about a 1/4 tsp of ground clove
-1-2 light sprinkles of nutmeg
(the more you make it, the more you'll be able to micro-adjust the spices to your liking)

Once this is boiling well, add a spoonful of loose black tea and stir. The length of time from now until the end will determine 1-how caffeinated and 2-how bitter your tea will be. the longer, the stronger. I usually let it go for about 1 minute or less.

If you are going to sweeten, you want to do this as close to the end as possible. So once it's boiled a little longer with the tea, add in your sugar and give it a couple swirls with a spoon. Because I'm already being fussy will making this lovely treat, I've only ever used turbinado (raw sugar), but I'm sure any sugar (oh, or even honey?!) would work. As an alternative, you can of course sweeten each cup after serving.

As soon as the sugar is dissolved, which isn't long-- or if no sugar, once you feel your tea has steeped long enough: you are ready for the final step.
-add milk (or half and half, which -surprise, surprise- is what I use) until it is a creamy carmel color.
-a dollop which might be ~1 teaspoon mexican vanilla (this is my modification since rarely have vanilla bean pods on hand and this adds lovely flavor. if you had a vanilla bean, you'd slice, scrape and boil with all the spices at the beginning)

this will temporarily cool off your water and it will quit boiling. a few seconds longer and you're done. let it heat back up until it is steaming and almost scalded, but don't let it boil again or your milk will separate.

remove from stove and strain either directly into heated tea cups (i have a lovely little 1/4 cup mesh strainer that works perfectly) or a pre-heated tea pot. I just swirl a little hot water in there first so it doesn't cool the tea too much.

Voila! You're done. Sniff, sip and enjoy. OH! and by the way.... your house is going to smell incredible for the next couple hours now.

Do me a favor? Let me know how it works out.

It's All Uphill From Here!

It was a truly lovely birthday in spite of my first birthday surprise: getting sick on birthday eve and losing my dinner (to the point that I wondered if I threw up the baby) starting at approximately 12:08. My first birthday 'gift' was Mr. Price putting the barf bucket by my side of the bed just in case. Good times. Oh, and don't forget the extra pillows so I could 'sleep' sitting up. Didn't sleep much at all and felt like hell all night long. Good news: no fever. But I did wonder if maybe my body was just rejecting the 30s?

So from this perspective, it was all uphill from here, right? I mean, when you start the bday off puking (and NOT because you had too much fun and were over-served)- it can't get worse, right? Well, in this case, it didn't; i'd already hit bottom. (whew)

Definitely didn't go to work becuase I still felt like hell in the morning -and here's where it starts to turn around-- Mr. Price stayed at home with me. I finally got to sleep around 7am and slept on-and-off until 10, then got breakfast in bed (can't get enough of those honey nut cheerios lately!). Eventually got dressed and we went up to Central Market to get lunch which was tasty - even if I was still slightly queasy... I figured it was better to eat through the pain ;)

Followed by some light shopping, my side-kick in tow and repeating that it was my birthday and I got to pick. Worn out, I headed back home and much to my dismay had to take some work calls/shoot off some emails and try not to be too annoyed. Thankfully, I had a hard stop with work due to a 3pm doctor's appointment (which came in handy given the prior night's events). But I DID take the calls from bed and Mr. Price DID bring me my favorite tea, with my fancy honey, in my favorite mug. So that takes the edge off, you know?

GOT to love those wonderful ladies at my Doc's office. Nothin' but love for them!! =) I was feeling a better by then anyway, but two of them squealed and hugged me when they saw me which ABSOLUTELY made my day!! **I later suggested to Mr. Price that we take the first letter of each of their names and come up with middle name for Shorty. But for some reason, he didn't go for that idea... go figure**

Anyway - great appointment. All is well and we heard shorty's heart on the doppler (and a couple swooshes and kicks which impressed her) and we were about to leave and she found a sticky note in my file that said I get a 'free' sonogram for fun. WOOHOO!! So that was LOADS of fun. I had just accepted the fact I wouldn't get to see him and BAM! on goes the sono gel and there he was in all his glory. GOOD times, folks. GOOD times. She sent us home with some pics from the sonogram.

With a clean bill of health (I might have lost my dinner, but no swine flu here!!) Mr. Price suggested I move up the time on my massage appointment (which he suggested I call and set-up earlier in the day) and lo-and-behold: they could take me early... and I was dropped off right after the doc. WOOHOO. AND THEN - my massage lady didn't have anyone after me and decided to 'just keep going' as she told me later. WHAT!?! when does that ever happen?? She didn't even know it was my b-day. YAY for pre-natal massage. Even if you do have to lay on your side. =)

Got picked up from that by Mr. Price... in... MY CAR!!!! it is finally done. A month in the shop and wowza- it looks great. I missed it. But at the same time, after being all repainted and shiny, we're thinking of selling it while it is in such good condition. hmm. something to think on.

Don't forget that approximately a MILLION wonderful friends remembered me and sent me notes, messages and voice mails to wish me a happy day. Okay, maybe not a million, just enough, and those few are certainly WONDERFUL! So I kept checking my phone and seeing more and more sweet messages.

Went home, changed, headed out to Hudson's on the Bend for dinner. Mmmmmm. Given that I was feeling better, we decided to press on with our plans. -oh, but it gets better! We had some extra time before our reservation, so... Mr. Price smartly suggested we stop by the baby super-store to try to figure out what we need for shorty. (I'd already been and started the process with sister Kim)

YAY! why so excited? Lately, I have suddenly felt the urge to figure out what we need to get and make the choices of what type/kind/size/quantity of the seemingly never-ending list of baby things. You know I'm a list maker and this for me is bringing order to chaos. We are making decisions. We are picking things out. We are making a list. Ahhhhh.....

Then on to dinner. And a superb dinner at that. Lobster, Duck, fancy shrimp thingies with fancy sauce and an ancho paste (the 'ancho paste' thing obviously stuck with me...) and then... stop it. really? get this: our kitchen back (in some restaurants this would be the bus boy, but at Hudson's it takes more skill and attention) decides he wants to TREAT US to dessert! what!?! then our uber-professional waiter comes over and says something about it is an occasional perk they get to do and our guy was pulling that card for us! he said to pick what ever we wanted (i knew from the beginning of the night) but then they brought an extra THIRD dessert. WHO DOES THAT!?!?! I want to put them and the nurses/PAs and the masseuse all on a boat and throw a big party for them!

To top it all off, when we got home, Mr. Price had gotten me some Divine bath potions, candles and such from my favorite: L'Occitane and a little bath caddy for the tub so into the tub I go for a nice long soak. Mmmmm...

It was a happy birthday to me.

And in the mornin' we'll make WAFFLES!!

Mmmmm is for morning....

Shorty Price

Leading with the big item - as I do seem to walking the talk lately:

We've got a bun in the oven! That's right, party people: a Shorty of our own will arrive in just 6 short months - which is easy to believe if you've seen me lately because I already have at least 10' additional inches on the area formerly known as my waist... it changes by time of day (implying it is bigger at the end of the day than in the morning when the muscles are more fatigued).

Rest assured that my belly is massive. Now for the Question and Answer session of this blog post:

How have you been feeling? If there is a pregnancy symptom out there, I've had it in spades. I spent the entire month of July with all-day-long morning sickness. Ironic and taunting little name for that symptom, eh? Food aversions like mad and cravings that have done resulted in the following scenario:

Me: Hey, what are you doing?
Mr. Price: Working. You?
Me: Thinking about carrots. Anyway you could help out with that? Since most veggies have been abhorrent to me lately, I thought I should act quickly.
Mr. Price: I can run to the store now.
Me: That would be super-wonderful.

-30 minutes later-
Mr. Price walks in the door and proudly holds the carrots up for me to see.
I see them and immediately want to vomit.
Me: (moaning) put 'em away!!! I don't want to SEE them...
I reach for one of my 20 ginger candy/lozenge/anti-nausea treats and start sniffing the nearest half-a-lime until the sensation subsides.

Much like the Nordics can have 10 different words to identify the shade of white due to their exposure to constant snow... I can now identify at least 10 levels of nausea. So really, behind a month of supreme nausea and my newly formed ability - the other symptoms: dizziness, fatigue, blood pressure drops, constant trips to the bathroom and forgetfulness -- all a walk in the park.

What kind of cravings have you had? No peculiar combos, but the cravings are strong and definite!! Things I can recall:

-Cream Cheese & Pickapeppa sauce which I inhaled for about 2 days straight
-White cake with white buttercream icing
-one meal in particular consisted of the following: a salad from Central Market, soup from La Madeleine, and french fries from P. Terry's. No substitutions, please. And bless Mr. Price's heart if he didn't walk in the door from his 3 stops and realize that our ranch dressing had expired (which he won't have any part of me eating anything with a remote chance that it's gone bad) - so back out he went to the grocery store for some ranch dressing.
-Cucumber sandwiches - just like my grandmother and I used to make. Annie and I would smear a thin line of cream cheese on both sides of white bread (crusts removed), cucumber slices, salt and dill. Mmmmm.. I didn't think it was strange until I heard Mr. Price telling someone (for the second time in my presence) that I was carrying them in my purse.
-Daddy and I made a few ice cream sundaes - complete with a cherry. But really - that's not out of the ordinary for me, now is it?
-Popcorn dipped in melted butter (again, not exactly out of the ordinary)
-Crab Rangoons from the nearby Chinese place. They deliver =)
-I'll think of more...
-Things I normally LOVE and cannot fathom eating: tomatoes, spinach, chicken salad
-Speaking of 'chicken salad,' for about two weeks I couldn't say "chicken salad" without gagging/dry heaving 3-5 times uncontrollably

Are you going to find out the gender? Yes! Can't wait. My wonderful doctor will guess early rather than waiting for the more typical 18-22 weeks. So long as Shorty cooperates, we could know very soon. I'll keep you posted.

What names do you have picked out? Yes - the same ones we've had for several years now. Many of you already know them but I told someone a year ago who was 3 months along who didn't have any names picked out yet and lo-and-behold when 6 months later we got an announcement that their baby -with our name- was born. Yes, a name stealer. (Did you see the Sex & the City episode? hilarious. and incredibly similar to my situation) So for now, no baby name posts. Call me gun shy =) ...I know, I know... it's a bit late for that!



Those are the most frequent questions and at this point, this is a SUPER long post so I'll sign off. Just one last question:

Is this going to become a baby blog? Nope, that's not the plan. While I am sure that our lives will be greatly impacted by many more baby-related or baby-growing themes in the future, we have actually started a separate blog for Shorty. You can expect continued rants, updates, confessions and other non-mommy like commentary here. However, if you are interested, shoot me a note and I'll add you to the reading list for that one. We're keeping it private since our Shorty is a bit shy at this point in development. ;)

That's all for now.

Love from the three of us,
EmPrice, Mr. Price, and Shorty

The Best of the Worst

Once again, I worked through lunch today. In order to counterbalance the resulting bitterness, I decided I would go to Zorba's for some baba ghanoush and hummus (among other things) for my 3:30 lunch. Pulled up and ...that cracking sound you heard about an hour ago was my heard... because they close at 2:15, which I never realized before today. Heart wrenching, I know.

Despair not, dear reader - I made lemonade! (Figuratively, obviously, since it was late in the afternoon and I was sans any food in sight). I did not panic. Nearby was a handy selection of fast food restaurants I usually don't even see for the fact that I rarely -if ever- eat there.

I quickly determined to gather my favorites as a consolation prize. And with each stop, I was tempted to just finish out my list and head back to the office, but ultimately, I stayed the course.

(1)Driving though first at Chick-fil-a for an 'Original' chicken sandwich
(2)Next driving through McDonald (yes, I went to McD's!) and got my since-high-school favorite combo of fries and their hot mustard sauce --got to give props to Sarah's mom for teaching me that little gem.
(3)Pulling into Sonic for a Cherry Limeade.

Chipotle!!

This was too much fun to not share. www.chipotlefan.com lets you descirbe what you order at Chipotle (I always get the same thing) and it gives you this handy dandy Nutritional label!

Anyway, this was my lunch today.

Clever, huh?

Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving
Calories 1000	Cal from Fat 570
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 62g	95%
Saturated Fat 19g 93% Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 70mg	23%
Sodium 2550mg	106%
Total Carbs 91g	30%
Dietary Fiber 22g 88% Sugars 25g
Protein 26g
Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 0% • Iron 0%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
INGREDIENTS: Sour Cream,Guacamole (4oz),Fajita Veggies,Corn Salsa,Tomato Salsa,Rice,Black Beans,Cheese,Chipotle Vinaigrette

Click'>http://www.chipotlefan.com/index.php?nutritionId=17:18:7:13:12:4:5:16:21:">Click Here to view

Don't know what all that really means, but it's fun to see things add up as you click items.

What it doesn't reflect is the "extra sour cream" I always get. Mmmmmmmmmm.........

All because of the peanut butter

so... i got a concussion last weekend! lovely, eh? i was moving the shelves in the pantry and two full tubs of peanut butter fell and landed squarely on top of my cabeza. yes, we eventually made a trip to the ER after three medical professionals (two nurses and a doctor: sister-in-law, doctor's office after-hours line and friend, respectively) insisted on Sunday that I go after symptoms increased. now, who doesn't love an emergency room visit? at least we didn't have to wait.

anyway, who gets a concussion from falling peanut butter?? seriously.

two days later from the bump and i have an awful headache, am still dizzy & nauseous and keep forgetting words and what i'm trying to say.... which is extremely irritating - as you might imagine. in general i just feel a bit spacey.

while it should just be a few more days until back to normal -- Nurse Marines had a very smart analogy: consider the lack of focus like a runny nose... it's a symptom that will go away, it's not you, it's just the bruise -- but it could be a few weeks until back to normal. the thought of which would likely really piss me off right about now; but my head hurts too much to be too angry.

silver lining: if bad things happen in 3's, we are DONE for a while.

Still not feeling lotz better...

Nothin' like a few bad tomatoes in your medium original from Schlotzsky's in Hillsboro to taint an otherwise lovely day. Felt overly full about an hour after eating it, nausea set in about 3 hours later, and two hours later, by 7pm I was seeing it again. Dis-gust-ing.

No one else in the car had the misfortune of diced tomatoes or olives on their sandwich. I was the lone lucky one.

I keep seeing in my head that stupid road sign that gave us the brilliant idea "Lotz Better" and it makes me want to... oh, wait... I already did that.

So, here on day 4 post-poisoning, still with a sore back from yakking so much and my stomach still loud and irritated, I have managed to branch out from the jello and occasional chicken broth diet to potato soup. Little victories. On the mend.

More than you wanted to know, I'm sure.

i made cookies

so, in spite of my horrific attitude lately - springing mostly from the jobby-job - today was quite a good day. and it was a monday to boot!!

in fact, i even got a wild hair and made some cookies. peanut butter chocolate oatmeal praline cookies, thanks for askin'.

The general disposition was most certainly helped by the fact that I worked from home today. Still productive, but didn't get my daily dose of 'life-sucked-out-of-me.'

and for that, i'm grateful. ;)

cookie, anyone??

Journal: Jour 6 & 7

Day 6 (Wed):

 

• up and breakfast in the room
• walked to Jardin du Luxembourg delicious long lunch in a cafe watching passers-by and finished with cafe (espresso)
• meandered through Luxembourg and found a couple chairs that looked out over the carousel with a view of the palais and eiffel
• more walking through the gardens
• Musee Rodin  (one of my favorite museums, of which, I have very few) and saw "the kiss" and "the chapel" as well as the more famous 'gates of hell' and 'the thinker' where i did the obligatory mimicked picture below to match the one done 9 years prior.  we found a lovely spot to sit  and chill and watch the light through the beautiful trees and gardens
• headed over to Invalides and saw the Cathédrale Saint-Louis des Invalides as well as Napoleon's tomb - whoa!  that thing is huge.  And to think, all that for a small little man.  never seen it before, so it was kinda fun to check it off my list.
• wandering out of Hotel du Invalides we decided to 'pass through' the Musee de l'Armee on behalf of JP.  Which was fine with me because I had to use the toilette and going to the Museum provided that opportunity.  The 'passing through' of the War museum ended up as an hour of War history through the eyes of the Frenchies.  It was, actually,  pretty interesting, likely because my Great Grandfather (Annie's dad, Papa Gene) was in France for WWI (The Great War) after lying about his age and enlisting.  Joe's Grandfather and my Granddaddy were in Asia for WWII, but had significance for us, anyway.
• We walked through the exit door as they started announcing the Museum was closing (excellent timing) and of course, it was pouring rain.  Luckily, we had our trusty ponchos with us and headed to the Metro while the other suckas had to wait inside Invalides massive doors awaiting a break in the rain-- which was not to happen for quite some time.
• made it home through the rain and by then, I was significantly congested (boooo) and sneezing.  JP went to the pharmacy for me and we relaxed for a bit
• headed out towards ile de saint louis for dinner at Cafe Med.  lovely dinner.  LOVE that island.
• walked home

 

Day 7 - May 14 (thurs):

 

• JP was up at 7:30 this morning and by 8:15- walked to Notre Dame and went in again, then walked through the Latin Quarter and to the Pantheon, by the Sorbonne and back down Saint Michel - went to the Starbucks and got a cafe Americano, then strolled over to Pont Neuf then found a pastry shop on Rue Dauphine and picked up some eclairs, macaroons and croissants before heading back to the apartment.  All before I even work up.
• After breakfast in the apartment, we headed over to the Archaeological Crypt of Notre Dame (not really a 'crypt', but the Roman ruins that are under what is now the plaza in front of Notre Dame. 
• In the Notre Dame again, sat down and spaced out.
• Lunch at the 'ol favorite cafe - Cafe Panis - and enjoyed a lovely cafe lunch and I felt much better after some tea.
• Strolled over to ile Saint louis for some gelato - Mmmm.... and walked the length of our favorite little island before finding the perfect bench to sit and space out some more while watching boats go by on the Siene and the sun peak out of the clouds over the top of the Eiffel Tower.
• Time for Coffee (and another eating adventure)!  So we headed to the nearest cafe and got some cafe (delicious) - spaced out some more watched people pass by
• picked out my standard keepsake of any/every place I visit - which is to collect postcards.  Loitered and perused the vendors on the wall above the river, thinking/trying to buy something but couldn't convince ourselves of anything we really wanted
• back to apartment and pack up [most of] our stuff; showered and got dressed for dinner
• stepped out only to realize it was raining again and we'd just retired our broken umbrella to the trash as we packed up.  Sooo... Mr. Price trippity-tropped on down to the souvenir stands and picked up an 'elegant' umbrella. YAY!  Problem solved.
• with wine in tow -along with the handy plastic champagne flutes we picked up at the grocery story earlier this week- we found a marble bench on the river banks below and had some vin rouge to toast our 4th anniversary. 
• when we'd had enough, he headed up the stairs to le Caveau du Palais to dinner (less than 1/2 mile from our apartment and quite lovely, albeit snobby)
• fantastic dinner included escargot, steak tartar, white asparagus, truffled risotto, a fish I cannot identify but was divine, and lots and lots of butter. finished with creme brulee, of course.  then home in a flash--which was good since it was raining.

Tomorrow: leaving for  CDG by 9am via RER.  Home to Austin by 8:30p Friday.

Other Parisian Observations

-Frenchies now wear jeans. when here in 2000 & 2001, you could pin point Americans from blocks away because they were wearing jeans. Now, about 1/3 the population is in them. (and there are far fewer Americans than during the dot-com crazed early 00's)

-LOTS more cameras and much more picture taking. i couldn't count how many DSLRs i see walking the street on any given street block- but I assure you there are many. If not a DSLR, a herd of folks with mini pocket point-and-shoots they are standing in line behind each other to al record the same thing. you should see the museums - it's like a scavenger hunt to just snap a picture and be on your way to the next famous painting, forget the admiration- that's for later.

-worth mentioning again: sadly, grafitti has caught on here- it is everywhere. i don't mean the occasional initials carved into a tree, i mean brooklyn-style, huge colorful block letters in places that make you stop and think: "now, how in the hell did they get up there and how on earth did no one see them doing it??"

Journal: Day 4&5

Day 4:

• started our rainy day at Saint Chapelle - beat the crowds and decided to get a 4 day museum pass
• Sandwiches in Latin Quarter - gyros & panini Mmm.
• Top of the Notre Dame - can't believe i'd never gone up there. it was incredible. my favorite view of Paris to date. I took an inordinate number of pictures.
• Louvre for 2.5 hours, highlights: Jacques Louis David, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, Medieval Louvre, chambres of Napoleon III, Babylonian law
• grocery store and back to the apartment
• Sangria @ Bar 10 (Odeon) - YAY!! we found it. thrilled to have located this hidden little latin quarter treasure and to visit again after so long. after a couple french songs, lo and behold: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Texas Flood starts playing on the jukebox. the sangria was potent and delicious.
• dinner in our apartment: basil/parmesan ravioli, camembert and baguette and prosciutto with vin rouge
• pont du arts with a bottle of vin rouge and waited for the tour to sparkle. got some great pics
• walked to the hotel de ville & notre dame for night time pics

Day 5:

• walked to Musee d'Orsay - lunch in a cafe at the museum. this is my favorite museum-- saw Renoir, Degas, Monet and Manet, to name a few. And the old train station itself is worthy of admiration.
• walking towards the louvre and there was a man wihth 4 or 5 instruments playing "Take 5" and it echoed through the tunnel from the river to the Tulieries as we walked along. magical.
• arrived at Angelina on Rue de Rivoli for incredible chocolat l'Africain and Mont Blanc. wow. divine. I hit a wall; a chocolate wall. yes, it is possible; but fun still. this place was a favorite of on Miss Audrey Hepburn and Madame Coco Channel. Feels/looks like HP village inside - but chocolate like that cannot be found in the states.
• back to apartment
• Mr. Price went on a run; I read Pride and Prejudice by the Seine
• journalled the past couple days
• went to the Champs du Mars and had champagne under the Tour Eiffel while toasting 4 years of marriage and 9 years since the last time we did the same. no, i still didn't agree to going on the top of the tower - this time he gave up a little more easily. the sky was blue and the birds were chirping... it was perfect.
• headed home and rolled my ankle stepping off the RER. That sucked.
• changed for dinner, had some vin rouge
• Dinner on Ile Saint Louis and the most fantastic little restaurant i've ever known. Incredible! I had the duck confit, jp had the lamb. two bottles of vin, 4 appetisers, 2 entrees, a cheese plate and two desserts later, we walked home past the Notre Dame and moments after getting back inside the apartment- it started to rain. perfect!!

Journal: Jour Deux, Jour Trois

Day 2 (Saturday):

Didn't get out the door until 1p; headed to Montmartre with the sun shining. Arrived at Montmartre only to see it was raining (boo) so didn't even leave the metro station, turned around to go home and get our ponchos and umbrella. Arrived back at Montmartre by 2p, and by now, the rain was barely sprinkling.

• Climbed the mountain up the front to Sacre Coeur. With the rain sprinkling, the ground was wet which makes for fantastic photos- and there weren't as many people out.
  Wandered around the top of the mountain, past where the courtyard where the artists camp out and in the nooks and crannies of the mountain top. Settled into lunch at a lovely little cafe with a creepy mime just outside the small gated patio. There was plastic up due tot he rain which gave a little more blockage from him, but the table of three french girls next to us kept talking to him - giving him reason to 'mime' at us (weird-O)
• wandered down my favorite steps to descend Montmartre. Wandered past Abbesses metro stop and onto see the Moulin Rouge, which I had never seen. It is a bit like the Times Square of Paris-- lots of tourists from dozens of countries standing in the middle of the road snapping pics of the facade of the building, ignoring the handful of french teenagers standing out front smoking a cigarette to follow up the peep show they just enjoyed.
• The most entertaining part to me was that directly across from the Moulin Rouge was a Starbucks. Yes, a Starbucks. Nothin' like some good 'ol American coffee after a strip tease. What? But I suppose I can at last report to Kate, Condrey and Shea'aline that should we repeat our 2001 trip, we won't have to wait until London to order a coffee and know what we are going to receive.
• Wandered Latin Quarter
• Dropped of the ponchos and rain gear
• Wandered Ille Saint Louis
• Stopped at a sidewalk cafe and enjoyed a carafe of vin rouge.
• Watched the sun set over the Notre Dame.
• Dinner at Cafe Panis- my favorite french cafe that looks out over a lovely park and is directly across (south) from the Notre Dame - Mmmm.
• Stopped at a bar on the way home for Mr. Price to get a Guiness.

Day 3 (Sunday):
up and at 'em by 10:30a (well, kinda). Coffee in our apartment.

• Walk past the Notre Dame, past the Palais de Justice & Saint Chapelle, through the Sunday morning bird market, off the island over by Hotel de Ville and on to Pompidou Center.
• Lots of picture taking and a panini by the fountain followed by un cafe au toast at a cafe.
• Walk through lovely Marias and over to Place des Vosges - a lovely park which is Paris's oldest public square, surrounded the equivalent of a 17th century 'Gables' [apartments] which housed folks such as Victor Hugo, and some other famous people from history. And since, Jim Morrison - but his stay wasn't as inspiring. The 'red brick' isn't actually red brick: that is reddish-pink marble. hmmph.
• Strolled over to Bastille and hopped on the Metro over to Opera
• Saw Opera; didn't see the Phantom. Disappointed to learn that you can no longer walk into the lobby of le Opera without paying 8 euro and you have to walk in through the back. Did you know that in 1896, it was an 8 ton counterweight for the main chandelier that fell on the audience during a show? Did you know that there really is a lake under le Opera? Just checking.
• Tried to buy tickets to the ballet, but that booth isn't open on Sunday
• Found Harry's New York bar -which was high on JP's list of things to do. Started in 1911 when a Scottish man shopped a wooden bar from NYC over. Had a couple cocktails, enjoyed picking out the different university pendants from the wall, saw two mice. Yep, just like New York.
• Walked past The Ritz and over to Concorde, Louvre and Quartier Latin. Our little grocery store was closed, despite Joelle (the lady who let us into the apartment and told us about it) telling us it was open, "even on Sunday!"
• Back to the apartment for wine and cheese. Mmmm. Now blogging while listening to the bells from the Notre Dame ring.

Tonight: picnic on the Siene.

Fish market

Standing in the queue right now for sushi at The Fish Market in Tokyo. Every color, shape, size, texture you can imagineof shell, fish, or sea creature, alive or dead, sliced or snapping.

Bustling with men in rubber boots, crisscrossed by electronic carts, and filled in with bikes, wooden carts and and men carrimg large styrofoam boxes overflowing with crushed ice....and an occasional large fin flopped out of the back.

The familiarity with the energy and excitement is fascinating.

Sat April 4. ~9am

Cupcakes & Cocktails

Sadly, this year has not (yet) seen a repeat of last years hit: Cupcakes & Cocktails. Which is ashame, because this cupcake could use a cocktail... or three. The thought has floated through my head occasionally over the past few days but usually when standing in line at the grocery store on while driving to work -- not ideal time to try to plan a party. Even if halfass.

Not quite giving up yet, but things aren't looking good.

On a brighter note: for Valentines Day, I brought cupcakes over to the TriPrices and we decorated. I PLANNED for the containing of the potential explosive mess. My planning worked! What I DIDN'T plan for, was the explosive excitement coming from the power of 3-year-old-cubed. Wow- totally blew my plans out of the water and became quite the balancing act. However, it was loads of fun and worked out just fantastically.

We actually had two date nights this week (!) Thurs & Fri so I was feelin' the love. Sat night:

we cooked in (made sushi) with a The Griers and our precious next door neighbor - totally casual, completely lovely.

Noteworthy (to me) on an otherwise Normal day

Went downstairs to grab lunch today- a bit late so it was pretty cleared out. The usual swarm of lunch grabbers milling around the stations or a stream of people standing in line to check out were cleared out. In fact, I walked right up to the register.

A normal day in the check out line not much more time than an exchange of simple pleasantries, followed by a quick"Need a receipt today?" returned with "No thanks" and she's on to the next.

My normal check-out lady, Maria, (I usually get in her line) was training some one new. I asked them both how they were doing and Maria stopped me, turned to the new girl and started in on something very serious... talking about 'some people being nice' and such... but then turned to me and said I really was nice, 'happy-go-cheery' and that I had a good heart. She went on to say that and she appreciated it and that she likes seeing me in her line. I'll spare you the rest of the details but suffice to say, this TOTALLY made my day.

The take-away from this story: I may be classified as, well, "anything but" by some, but Maria thinks I have a good heart.

My heart swells.

Cookiethon 2008

Another memorable Christmas cookie-thon came and went... dozens of cookies baked and the neighborhood was treated with ~5 hours of fresh cookie sented air.

The night was capped off with puffs of powdered sugar falling from the sky. And that MUST have been what it was, because we all know that it never snows in Austin-- and certainly not in December. But sure enough-- freezing rain, sleet- and yes, SNOW -- fell in the ATX that night.

spicey obsession

ah- the temperature finally dipped to 50 degrees. running errands this afternoon and at each place i was told 'stay warm!' as I left. With this cold front, the Texas seasons are changing. Winds are blowing, leaves are falling and the gorgeous sunsets we are so accustom to are that much more vibrant and crisp.

okay- so 50 degrees REALLY doesn't merit all this 'stay warm!' business, but i'm celebrating the season change nonetheless.

And just how am I commemorating this occasion? Glad you asked! since you can't step into my home, you'll just have to stop by your nearest Williams-Sonoma and pick up your own little 'pumpkin spice' kit. Mmmmm.... hand soap, lotion, candles, cleaning fluid, dish soap... it's incredible how much this stuff makes the whole casa smell delicious. I can't stop sniffing the stuff. seriously, it is divine. put a pumpkin pie in front of me and i'll pass (it's just never been my thing) but this stuff.. wow.

My TexMex Star-Crossed Love

Jalapeno ranch dip,
Why are you so mean?
You know I LOVE to eat you
And lick the bowl clean.

I choose you over Queso!
But my Chuy's lunch will remain
To bring me twenty minutes later
Into a world of stomach pain.

Cupcakes and Memory Cards

So... i made cupcakes tonight and I am quite thrilled with them. They have a creamy amaretto center. Mmmmm.... The problem is that i ate: batter when i was done with the bowl, amaretto cream filling when i was done filling, icing once i finished icing, and then a couple cupcakes (just to test the filling, of course). I am now officially on a ridonculous sugar high and can't really even imagine getting ready for bed, let alone doing it. More of a problem: tomorrow will be a busy day at work, i meant to get some work done tonight and we have a fund raiser party thing tomorrow night which I will likely be a zombie at. but whatcha gonna do? at this point, i can't undo the cupcakes and absurd amounts of sugar I consumed tonight so here i am. posting. at midnight.

on a separate front: thanks to sweet Amy who got me to accompany her on a camera class last weekend.... i learned that memory cards can have their pictures recovered, even if accidentally deleted (so long as no new pics are taken on the card) OR if, say, it got wet. YEP! "Just dry it out and bring it to the store" the guy tells me and you, too can have your pictures recovered. WAHOO!!! THIS, my friends, means that ...you're sayin' there's a chance*.... that I might get those July 4th pictures, after all. ~holla!

I'll keep you posted. (Pun intended.)

*from the movie Dumb and Dumber -- A favorite that should definitely be added to this list.