Blue Dahlia
Today, Amanda and I met Irisa for lunch at this new little gem called Blue Dahlia in east Austin. The menu online sounded so delish, but I wasn't sure if this was going to be another brief Austin trend or a genuine Austin treasure. Well, added to the fact that it's located a mere two blocks from my wonderful hometown church in a neighborhood that's busting at the seams with new, lively development, I found the exquisite food and community-friendliness of the place to be a perfect pot of gold. The tartines that are served here are remarkably inventive, and just plain tasty. I loved my chevre and granola tartine, and was equally blown away with Irisa's chicken salad tartine, (and I'm pretty picky about my chicken salad). I didn't try Amanda's turkey tartine, but that's mostly because she ate nearly every bite, including her and my helping of sliced cantaloupe that's included with the bed of greens and cucumber on the the wooden cutting board the tartines are served on. Perhaps the perfect weather had a little to do with it, but even a brave, hungry bee didn't distract from the absolute beauty of this lunch. I'm sad that I can't eat here everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner but will make every effort to visit each time I return to Austin. Maybe they'll let me start a franchise of the place in Paris! Now, I just need to figure out how I would export the Austin weather...
Leaving ain't easy
OK, so UPS hasn't completely ruined my life...yet (it takes time to steal someone's identity, doesn't it?). That being said, they did give us a scare that they wouldn't deliver our documents as requested the second time around. But, they did, so we're happy about that, and now it's just a waiting game to see if my mom will get her passport in time to fly out to Paris. It's definitely a nail-biter.
I spent the first part of the weekend with my mom, driving into Austin together and enjoying a good dose of tex-mex. We even waited in line for nearly an hour (stomachs grumbling and all) to get seated at a favorite, famous Austin eatery. It was totally worth it, though. I was telling my mom how waiting for that long is pretty much unheard of in Paris - I mean, why wait an hour to eat when you could just as easily go next door for an equally good meal, or heck, find a panini stand and be sure to have a fully satisfied belly?
It's just really crazy that this will be my last week (for a long while, at least) in my hometown. Hopefully, I'll get to see everyone and eat everywhere I love before making the move official. My friends are planning a very secret bachelorette party for me next weekend (absolutely can not wait!), and my cousin from Georgia is coming to celebrate - which is the coolest thing ever. On top of that, we'll be lunching and dining and happy-houring the week away, so much to look forward to in this final week.
The weather in Austin has been some of the best I can remember and the food seems to be tastier by the bite. The long-standing, come-and-go relationship I've had with this city is coming to an end as I leave it for the (possibly) final time, and it isn't letting me go without a good fight. It won't be easy to leave, but I've got to make myself a home in my new city with the love of my life. I'll be back, Austin, so don't worry. And next time we rendezvous, I hope it'll be with my new family and for a time long enough to really enjoy your company.
I spent the first part of the weekend with my mom, driving into Austin together and enjoying a good dose of tex-mex. We even waited in line for nearly an hour (stomachs grumbling and all) to get seated at a favorite, famous Austin eatery. It was totally worth it, though. I was telling my mom how waiting for that long is pretty much unheard of in Paris - I mean, why wait an hour to eat when you could just as easily go next door for an equally good meal, or heck, find a panini stand and be sure to have a fully satisfied belly?
It's just really crazy that this will be my last week (for a long while, at least) in my hometown. Hopefully, I'll get to see everyone and eat everywhere I love before making the move official. My friends are planning a very secret bachelorette party for me next weekend (absolutely can not wait!), and my cousin from Georgia is coming to celebrate - which is the coolest thing ever. On top of that, we'll be lunching and dining and happy-houring the week away, so much to look forward to in this final week.
The weather in Austin has been some of the best I can remember and the food seems to be tastier by the bite. The long-standing, come-and-go relationship I've had with this city is coming to an end as I leave it for the (possibly) final time, and it isn't letting me go without a good fight. It won't be easy to leave, but I've got to make myself a home in my new city with the love of my life. I'll be back, Austin, so don't worry. And next time we rendezvous, I hope it'll be with my new family and for a time long enough to really enjoy your company.
UPS is ruining my life
I had an inkling that the forces that be would come crashing in on me without pause for expecting a simple short engagement and planning a wedding overseas in 2 months. What was I thinking?
It's already a little sad that, besides my mom, my family won't be able to attend the ceremony on such short notice. Now that we've mistakenly relied on UPS to actually do their job by delivering extremely vital documents to a person (not a patio), my mom may not be able to attend either. Not to mention, because of the nature of the documents (not just my mom's, but mine as well), we may run into issues of fraud and identity theft in the future that, with my luck, will be seriously detrimental to my or my mom's life or well-being.
What sort of company allows a delivery driver to provide this information about delivering goods: "left at patio, signed by Sarah?" Does this make any sense to anyone else living a slightly educated life? Didn't think so. Je tu déteste, UPS.
It's already a little sad that, besides my mom, my family won't be able to attend the ceremony on such short notice. Now that we've mistakenly relied on UPS to actually do their job by delivering extremely vital documents to a person (not a patio), my mom may not be able to attend either. Not to mention, because of the nature of the documents (not just my mom's, but mine as well), we may run into issues of fraud and identity theft in the future that, with my luck, will be seriously detrimental to my or my mom's life or well-being.
What sort of company allows a delivery driver to provide this information about delivering goods: "left at patio, signed by Sarah?" Does this make any sense to anyone else living a slightly educated life? Didn't think so. Je tu déteste, UPS.
Way overdue photos
I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to post these - I've had them uploaded for at least 2 weeks! But, alas, here they are at last.
PARIS WITH FRIENDS
BRUSSELS & AMSTERDAM
BACK IN THE STATES
PARIS WITH FRIENDS
BRUSSELS & AMSTERDAM
BACK IN THE STATES
I'm baaack!
I don't even know where to begin. So much has happened since my last posting. My wonderful friends came to visit me and Gui in Paris. We had such a great time here and really enjoyed the short side-trips to Brussels and Amsterdam. Brussels is my new favorite place...whoever created that city has my greatest thanks. We all kept a beer diary throughout our trip and filled our diary with entries of every new beer we could treat our taste-buds to. Of course no trip to Belgium could be complete without indulging in chocolate and of course, mussels in Brussels!
We had the time of our lives in Belgium, which might explain my lukewarm experience in Amsterdam. The city, history and architecture are beautiful; the people and the atmosphere are another story. My two favorite moments in Amsterdam were 1) the trip to Anne Frank's old house (I didn't want to leave - so amazing), and 2) the canal boat ride through the city at sundown. Overall, the trip was a great success. We had a ton of fun, and it was great to see my friends on the other side of the pond.
(pictures from the trips to come soon...)
I spent my last 10 days in France sharing as much of my time with Guillaume as possible and trying to organize my affairs for my return back to the States. I've been back now for 3 weeks, and it feels like so much longer. Being apart from Gui never gets any easier. This time was particularly difficult. In the past, we'd always managed to work out a way to spend most of the year together, but this time was a little different. We had come to a crossroads where both of us were embarking on journeys towards our long-term goals, and neither of us knew when we'd see the other next. For us, it made no sense to make plans for our futures without considering how the other would fit in it. So, long story short, we are now making plans for me to indefinitely return to Paris in May after we exchange our vows on April 26th this year. It's the most wonderful feeling to be on the same path with the person I love, and to know that we'll no longer have to tailor our separate lives to be together. I'll be posting my experiences and obstacles throughout the transition, many of which I'm sure will be very difficult and frustrating. But, it is almost an understatement to say that these days I'm a very happy girl.
We had the time of our lives in Belgium, which might explain my lukewarm experience in Amsterdam. The city, history and architecture are beautiful; the people and the atmosphere are another story. My two favorite moments in Amsterdam were 1) the trip to Anne Frank's old house (I didn't want to leave - so amazing), and 2) the canal boat ride through the city at sundown. Overall, the trip was a great success. We had a ton of fun, and it was great to see my friends on the other side of the pond.
(pictures from the trips to come soon...)
I spent my last 10 days in France sharing as much of my time with Guillaume as possible and trying to organize my affairs for my return back to the States. I've been back now for 3 weeks, and it feels like so much longer. Being apart from Gui never gets any easier. This time was particularly difficult. In the past, we'd always managed to work out a way to spend most of the year together, but this time was a little different. We had come to a crossroads where both of us were embarking on journeys towards our long-term goals, and neither of us knew when we'd see the other next. For us, it made no sense to make plans for our futures without considering how the other would fit in it. So, long story short, we are now making plans for me to indefinitely return to Paris in May after we exchange our vows on April 26th this year. It's the most wonderful feeling to be on the same path with the person I love, and to know that we'll no longer have to tailor our separate lives to be together. I'll be posting my experiences and obstacles throughout the transition, many of which I'm sure will be very difficult and frustrating. But, it is almost an understatement to say that these days I'm a very happy girl.
Blogglessness
Man, I just realized I haven't really blogged so much lately. I guess I've just been concentrating on getting everything ready for the arrival of my dear friends - all 6 of them!! They'll be here in 2 days, so we've been sorting out the final details about where we'll be staying on our little side-trips to Brussels and Amsterdam, and what we'll be doing while we're in Paris.
But, Gui and I have still been enjoying our time in Paris. The great news is that Gui signed a contract for a job, and he's very happy that it's in a position and company he likes and, thankfully, it's based in Paris. He was lucky enough to be given the option to start the job on the 11th, so he'll be able to join in on all of the fun while our friends are visiting. The cool thing for me about him finding a job is that we got to go shopping for him - for nice clothes. Not that I don't appreciate and love his regular mode of fashion, but it's nice to see him all dressed up for a change, too. And, it was fun shopping for things we don't usually look for - like ties and jackets.
We've been visiting with friends, too. I got to meet some friends that Gui knows from his young, engineering-school days, and it was fun listening to them talk about their old professors and the times they spent "studying" together. Boys will be boys. We also enjoyed a nice French dinner at a really great restaurant (suggested by Gui's aunt) called Memere Paulette. It was really wonderful, but the unusually gargantuan portions were way too much. The chef came out and suggested a wine for our meal, too, which was pretty cool. The experience was definitely a treat and we'll be recommending it to everyone. The menu is a book about 15 pages thick, with a freshly printed menu every single day, and an enormous wine list. As the chef's a sommelier, he has his accreditations printed in the menu along with an index of various terms used to describe wine. They even have a menu of other drinks, with Coke priced at a whopping 30 euros!! Really funny. The place isn't chic or fancy at all, but it's really authentic and certainly my favorite dining experience in Paris so far. Although, we did have a very nice boeuf bourguignon recently, too, but in a much less authentic setting.
So, that's pretty much what I've been doing since I haven't been blogging....eating. I've also been following the US Primaries, playing Cerebrale Academie & Super Paper Mario, checking schools and jobs, oh, and watching the NFL playoffs (while eating hot-dogs, of course).
But, Gui and I have still been enjoying our time in Paris. The great news is that Gui signed a contract for a job, and he's very happy that it's in a position and company he likes and, thankfully, it's based in Paris. He was lucky enough to be given the option to start the job on the 11th, so he'll be able to join in on all of the fun while our friends are visiting. The cool thing for me about him finding a job is that we got to go shopping for him - for nice clothes. Not that I don't appreciate and love his regular mode of fashion, but it's nice to see him all dressed up for a change, too. And, it was fun shopping for things we don't usually look for - like ties and jackets.
We've been visiting with friends, too. I got to meet some friends that Gui knows from his young, engineering-school days, and it was fun listening to them talk about their old professors and the times they spent "studying" together. Boys will be boys. We also enjoyed a nice French dinner at a really great restaurant (suggested by Gui's aunt) called Memere Paulette. It was really wonderful, but the unusually gargantuan portions were way too much. The chef came out and suggested a wine for our meal, too, which was pretty cool. The experience was definitely a treat and we'll be recommending it to everyone. The menu is a book about 15 pages thick, with a freshly printed menu every single day, and an enormous wine list. As the chef's a sommelier, he has his accreditations printed in the menu along with an index of various terms used to describe wine. They even have a menu of other drinks, with Coke priced at a whopping 30 euros!! Really funny. The place isn't chic or fancy at all, but it's really authentic and certainly my favorite dining experience in Paris so far. Although, we did have a very nice boeuf bourguignon recently, too, but in a much less authentic setting.
So, that's pretty much what I've been doing since I haven't been blogging....eating. I've also been following the US Primaries, playing Cerebrale Academie & Super Paper Mario, checking schools and jobs, oh, and watching the NFL playoffs (while eating hot-dogs, of course).
I believe
From someone who is struggling with the idea of returning to school simply because I may not be able to afford it, who's seen my aging father struggle to get affordable medical care because he's self-employed, whose mother and step-father don't have the support or compensation they deserve as educators, whose animosity and disdain for a government I once hoped to work for has grown to the point of apathy, I say: YES WE CAN! I believe in change, in the idea that I can once again believe in my government, that I can trust my president to make the choices that will be to the ultimate benefit of the people who deserve it and lack it the most. I believe in change. I believe in Barack Obama, and I'm - once again - hopeful for the future!
LONDON
As predicted, we had a really great visit to London. After answering a few questions at customs in Paris, we boarded our train and headed north toward the big city. It was a bit of a culture shock when I arrived - everyone spoke English, but it took me a while to get used to the British accent. I even thanked someone who held a door for me with a firm "Merci!" before realizing I wasn't required to use my French. We had a great time visiting Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Big Ben, Abbey Road, Brick Lane, the Texas Embassy, and taking a ride on a double-decker. We also spent some time at Oxford Circus drooling over the sales at Top Shop and French Connection (I somehow managed to come away with only a pair of tights - my self-control is improving)!
I finally reunited with my long-time friends over dinner. The Lebanese food was fantastic, but the company was better! It had been nearly 5 years since I saw them last, and they all looked like the same, young Texas Six that I remembered! I wish I could have spent more time catching up with them, but it gives me an excuse to return soon. We also, of course, visited with Gui's sister and boyfriend who have a nice place in Shoreditch. They showed us around their 'hood and took us to a few cool places - one to which I will remember to return. The time we spent in London pretty much reconfirmed my sentiments about the city - it's AMAZING.
I finally reunited with my long-time friends over dinner. The Lebanese food was fantastic, but the company was better! It had been nearly 5 years since I saw them last, and they all looked like the same, young Texas Six that I remembered! I wish I could have spent more time catching up with them, but it gives me an excuse to return soon. We also, of course, visited with Gui's sister and boyfriend who have a nice place in Shoreditch. They showed us around their 'hood and took us to a few cool places - one to which I will remember to return. The time we spent in London pretty much reconfirmed my sentiments about the city - it's AMAZING.
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