Tuesday, February 21, 2012

FINALLY


I am officially a resident of France!


Monday, February 20, 2012

Birthday Cake!

Thank goodness for Duncan Hines!



Baking a two-layer round cake in a toaster oven and then trying to fit it into a rectangular tupperware was a bit of a puzzle, but my lab mates were all very complementary about the cake, so I think they liked it! It was double-chocolate with raspberry jam filling. :-D

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Happy Birthday to me!


Last year, I didn't even have a birthday party. I was stressed about finishing my thesis, the weather was cold and awful, I just couldn't bring myself to plan and execute a party. This year I went back and forth about it. On one hand, many of my closest friends are not anywhere near here. On the other hand, I've met some wonderful people that I am very happy to call new friends. So in the end, I decided to do a low-key but fun party: birthday brunch at Breakfast In America. I invited friends from three areas of my life: Americans, knitting, and lab. And as you can see, I had a great time!


A tour around the table, from the bottom left: French lab mate, me, American, American, British knitter, French lab mate, American, French lab mate.

Some of my friends even surprised me with wonderful thoughtful cards and gifts. It warmed my heart to know that I have met such wonderful people here in the four months I've been here so far!

I <3 my French posse!

Fleurs

Ever since I've arrived in Paris, I've been attracted to the Ranunculus flowers in the bouquets outside the florist shops. I think it might be because they remind me of my visit to my Aunt in Oregon, where we planted Ranunculus in her yard.

The Nadolny girls:


So for my birthday, I bought myself some Ranunculus to make me smile. Quel jolies fleurs!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

More Wendells in Paris!


This weekend, the number of Wendells in Paris doubled! Almost tripled! (But not quite yet, they didn't tie the knot yet.)

Ross and Malima came to see me, and we went all over Paris to see the sights!





Sunday, February 12, 2012

L'Aiguille-en-Fête

On Friday, I went to the Paris needle crafts show called L'Aiguille-en-Fête. It was HUGE and tons of fun. There were many vendors selling sewing, knitting, needlepoint, and quilting supplies. I was restrained in my purchasing but I am already looking forward to next year!

Friday, February 10, 2012

The Deep Freeze

The arctic cold in Europe continues...

Things in Paris that don't have heat:
- my lab
- the trains
- elevators

[[sigh]]

Monday, February 6, 2012

Awww

My first strike in my building! We'll see how many more of these I see in two years...


Sunday, February 5, 2012

Snow at last

This morning, I woke up to this sight outside of my window:


Snow finally came to Paris! As I ran my errands, I snapped some pictures.


Luckily it was barely a dusting, so the metro was still running. Since it is the first Sunday of the month, the museums were open for free. Today I went to Musée de l'Orangerie, the museum which holds Monet's massive round waterlily paintings.

The museum is in the middle of Paris, near the Concorde. The snow was already almost completely gone around the Obelisk.


Outside of the museum there are several sculptures. I liked this one by Rodin of two people in a passionate kiss.


Inside the museum, the Monets were AMAZING!!! What beautiful rooms!


I read in the guide that Monet donated them to the French State so that Parisians would have a tranquil place to escape the intensity of city life. This still holds true almost a hundred years later!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Happy February!

Its been a hell of a week. I got sick, again. Paris is freezing, along with the rest of Europe. That would be ok, except that they can't really deal with it. For example, my lab does not have heat. This makes work... uncomfortable... to say the least when its 10F outside. The trains stop running, leaving you standing on a platform for hours on end because apparently French trains can't run on tracks that are below freezing. Seriously, you think they would have sent some people to Siberia or something to figure out how to fix it by now.

On top of that, my package that was so lovingly assembled and mailed for my amazing boyfriend's birthday was denied entry into the USA. You want to know why? Because (1) I hadn't filled out the FDA documents about the candy bar I was sending him and (2) the hand knit hat I included did not have information about type and source of material (wool from the USA, damn you!). And ironically neither of these things would have been an issue if I had walked these items into the country at an airport, but because I dared to mail them, the entire package was confiscated.

So basically, I'm spending today as a me day. Probably tomorrow too. I'm trying not to leave the house and deal with the weather. I'm knitting. A lot. Its helping.