Random Ramblings

Last week, with encouragement from my Frenchie colleagues, I tried sardines. I have memories of a picnic with my mom in the backyard as a kid, and there were sardines involved, but that was circa 1987...

Visually, they are not the most appealing food, but the taste was actually good! These babies filled me up and then some! Plus, who can resist the vintage-looking tin they come in??

Copain and I went to see Le Tour du Monde en 80 Jours (Around the World in 80 Days) at Café de la Gare. While we were standing in line to get inside the theater, I looked up and saw a ballet class in the top windows of the building - they were going across the floor, doing jetés. It took me back to all of my ballet classes, tombé, pas de bourrée, glissade, jeté! It made me want to put on a leotard (that's saying a lot!) and join in... I miss dance.

Thankfully, the show helped me to get out of my Debbie Downer mood - it was HI-LARIOUS. I may have missed about 10% due to the quick-talking Frenchies, but still, funny stuff, good actors, cosy, funky theater vibe. Copain loved it and asked to see it again the following day :-)

You may not be able to see him in the picture, but I think I may have found the bird lady, errr, gentleman, from Mary Poppins! He likes to hang out over by the Pompidou and the birds pretty much flock to him. I'm sure this means that he has mass amounts of bread crumbs in his pockets, but still...

I had to stop and get a photo while simultaneously cringing. 

Poor Copain, I'm on a soup and salty cake kick that I just can't seem to get out of. Just the other day he said - salty cakes? Again?! Yeah, dude, again. 

I can't help it! The cold weather makes me want to bake and make hot soup! This one happens to be pumpkin, carrot, sweet potato and leek (with lots of emmental cheese and fresh rosemary on top!) The "salty cakes" are really just corn muffins with random things of my choosing mixed in - ham, cheese, olives, chestnuts - then I mix it up with the flours I use - corn, quinoa, regular, chestnut etc.  Throw some butter on top and you've got yourself a par-tay! (or just a cosy dinner in front of our favorite new American show, Homeland).

On one of our days off last week, Copain asked if we could walk to his favorite store in the whole, wide world - Truffaut. He got really excited at the prospect of buying this orchid (his favorite flower), until I reminded him that A. we already have two orchids, B. we live in a pigeon-hole, and C. 20 Euros could be spent on other things right now - like the holidays. It was like telling a kid he couldn't have the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle at the toy store - sadness came over Copain and I had to help him step slowly away from the orchid...

I saw this at Casa last weekend and immediately thought of my brother. I should probably buy it for his future children's bedrooms. Note: in our childhood home, my brother used to live in what we have now deemed "The Man Den". The Man Den includes deer heads, hunting photos and other taxidermy creations (fish, birds). Small children run, and when my little cousin spends the night at my parents house, she refuses to sleep in there. So do I, for that matter. My poor sister in law.

In less than a week I'll be home with my family for Thanksgiving! This will be the first Turkey Day on American soil in 8 years! EIGHT YEARS!!!! It's going to be fab - as long as I can get over the flight anxiety I'm already having (keep it together Air France!!). My mom's been keeping me in the loop weather-wise since I usually forget that Cali has only one season, and bring boots instead of Birks (last Christmas I had to borrow clothes!). Last week she sent me this photo: how the heck am I supposed to go from Parisian cold to 90°?? 

I recently ordered a bracelet from Etsy but it had been taking FOREVER to arrive. Finally, on Friday, I got a call from a gentleman, Monsieur Laurence, asking me if I had been waiting on a package - he had received it in the 14th district of Paris! The package had been addressed to the wrong zip code, and the post had sent it to a street with the same name in the 14th. What a nice guy! He left the package with the concierge at this office and I took a stroll on Friday to pick it up in the 8th. This was my walking scenery... 

The whole experience was a reminder that there are kind people out there and that I live in a pretty amazing city.  Paris, je t'aime.