What I made off with yesterday

After breaking it this summer.... a new Chi flat iron for my hair!!!

Gift cards! (Origins, Barnes & Noble, Target, Jamba Juice, Walmart)

Williams-Sonoma pizza stick pan and cutter

Berry desserts cookbook

Fruit and vegetable mandolin

Stem-less martini glasses

Cocktail and bar food cookbooks



...And last, but not least - Wii Fit!

There were some more items not listed, but you get the idea. Thanks everyone for the awesome gifts :)

I hope you got what you wanted this holiday season!

....Now about that puppy......

Feelin' good

I think that the best way to blog is two glasses of red wine into the night. I think that's it for me tonight, but other than the wine party I went to with my parents on Sunday, I really haven't drank in a long time. It's so weird to be in the United States, not sipping wine in October as one year ago I was stressfully teaching and planning course lessons.

Anyways, for my first autumn back in the States, I'm getting overly excited about the array of seasonal foods. A few days ago I purchased a decent-sized butternut squash and finally got down to cooking it today.

I looked up nice fall recipes and found something for a marshmallow pecan acorn squash dish. Well, I have butternut which probably would have tasted as similar (like it matters because the whole thing was drenched in brown sugar, butter and marshmallows anyways!). I also substituted slivered almonds for pecans because that's the only nut I have in my cupboard currently. Essentially I made a rip-off Thanksgiving dinner with roasted garlic chicken, green beans and my 'mallow squash!

I have my days in the kitchen :)

And speaking of holidays.... I'm starting to get super jazzed for Christmas. Target already is loading up on Christmas decorations. So Mom and Dad if you're reading, here's what I want this year:

The Sony Reader Digital Book:

It's pretty sweet and comes with a subscription for a bunch of free titles. Though it is slightly pricey.

Which is why my only other request is a new pair of Rainbow Sandals. Size 7-8 please :) I'm kind of a fan of the chocolate brown with the thick (not skinny) straps!

Promise I'll be good this year!

<3,

Monique

Changement d'avis

Remember before how I said I didn't think I was cut out to be a teacher, or it's probably not something I want to pursue once I get back to the United States?

Yeah, I've changed my mind.

Christmastime is a very hard time to NOT want to be a teacher. I only had two classes this morning from 8:30 to 10 a.m., but my teachers BOTH shared their boxes of chocolates with me and then the teachers entering school in the salle des maîtres brought holiday goodies to share with me. In both of my morning classes, teachers were bestowed HUGE Lindt boxes of chocolates. My mouth is still watering.

Then I had three afternoon classes. A pair of sisters brought each of their teachers ridiculously over-sized floral bouquets, while the male teachers also received boxes of chocolates and bottles of wine.

Way cooler than the lame #1 teacher pins you guys get in the U.S.

Oh yeah, one of my classes all chipped in money to buy me a package of Ferrero Rocher praline chocolates (see image above) and drew me a huge Joyeux Noël poster. Too cute :)

12 More Days Until France BANS Indoor Smoking! :)

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5 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS IN FRANCE!!

It's always nice in Nice.

Even in the early stages days of the winter months. See?

I only had to work half a day today, so that left plenty of time for Aimee and me to hop a train 30 minutes East over to Nice -- my former stomping grounds. I say that because that was the last place I studied abroad and I can navigate the city pretty well (shocking isn't it?).

Well we only planned on spending about a half a day in the city, but the beach was calling our names! Even though it was much too cold to even think about taking off our jackets, let alone plunging right in the crystal clear blue water, we did bring a picnic lunch to the lone sandy spot we could find on the otherwise pebbly beach and spent a good hour just taking everything in. Then we decided to walk off our excess hunger by climbing the hills to Castle Hill, where a beautiful waterfall caps off the skyline.

Then you know, we did the requisite shopping thing. Our excuse? It is Christmastime, after all. So we got to wander Vieux Nice as well as the crazy main part of the downtown area.

Around 5 p.m., we figured might as well stay for dinner since we've made it this long. But the ongoing joke in France is that no one will even think about opening their doors for you until it's after 8 p.m. in any restaurant. Upsetting really. Why do you French people eat so darn late?! So we continued on our wandering path, looking for a cafe or someplace to pass the time.

Finally at 7:15, we stumbled across a really cute little Indian restaurant where we ordered up Indian kir (sparkling white wine with rose and orange syrup), chicken tandoori, garlic naan bread, curry vegetables and potato rice. Oh man it was delicious. And that was probably my first real encounter with Indian food. I'm definitely going back another time! This is what the restaurant looked like from our table:

And here I am near 1 a.m. with absolutely nothing to do. My classes are almost done, it's almost vacation, and as usual, I have Wednesdays off :)

So until the next time, check out my photo album from the day's adventures!

14 More Days Until France BANS Indoor Smoking! :)

- and -

ONE WEEK UNTIL CHRISTMAS IN FRANCE!!

Elf Yourself.

Seriously. Just do it.

Watch this first, then go to the homepage to make it yours!

I love that movie :)

And now I pack for the weekend! I just realized I'm going to be gone every weekend from here on out. Woo! See you on Monday. Bisous.

Dec. 8-9: Toulon and Forcalqueiret
Dec. 14-16: Lyon
Dec. 22-26: CHRISTMAS in Forcalqueiret
New Year's: PARIS
Jan. 3-6: Annecy, France and Switzerland

Some days, I'm really proud of myself

In a totally selfish way, today is one of those days. I am proud of me. (Even though I look like a pregnant lady this month... by the way I'm working on that every day. Hardly any sugars consumed today!)

It all started at 7 a.m. with my roommate running into the kitchen this morning, shrieking like a little girl, laughing and HUGGING ME!! A couple of things to consider: French people DO NOT give hugs. She is 30-something, I still haven't figured out exactly how old, but I'm guessing in between 32 and 35 (the age of her older brother).

Why was she acting like a crazy person??? Because I decorated the house in Christmas festiveness and paper snowflakes. Her boyfriend thought I actually bought a mini Christmas tree, but in reality I just hung ornaments and bows on our little tree plant in the living room.

Then at 8:30 this morning, one teacher stopped me up the stairs to her class. She said, "I just wanted to congratulate you on the way you've been teaching the class."

That means a lot. Apparently all the teachers think I have a natural authority (wow, I'd never have guessed that from how rowdy the kids are, but I guess I don't get upset with them and handle it well or something). But then again, she told me the assistant last year would show an English movie and then talk on the phone with her boyfriend or family for 30 minutes. She ended up leaving in April, even though our contract is supposed to go until June. Whatever.

But the best thing to happen to me today...... I RECEIVED MY FRENCH SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER!!!!!!!! So I suppose that means I can go fill out the form to receive government assistance for housing (MEANING France pays half of my rent), and I'll have my medical insurance card coming very, very soon. My paperwork's almost completely done here!!!

And I'm now 100 percent legally in France. It's about freakin' time!

26 More Days Until France BANS Indoor Smoking! :)

- and -

19 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS IN FRANCE!!

You know what I did last night?

Kicked ass at bowling!

That's right, my roommate and her quasi-boyfriend took me out to the bowling alley in Antibes. Now, it's been awhile since I last went and so I was a bit out of the swing of things. And upon our arrival, I was quite impressed with how similar everything is to American bowling. Except all the sizes and measurements. Thus, it must have been funny for the people behind the counter when I kept asking to try a different size shoe. At least now I know that I'm somewhere between a 38 and 39.

Then the balls themselves were different too. So it took me a few frames to find one I liked. Oh yeah, and you know that oil smell that gets trapped in the back of your throat after a good night's bowling session? It's even more intense here, because they really grease their lanes up.

So it definitely took me the better part of the first game to get into the swing of things. I just had to determine how much the oil was making the ball curve and in what direction, then readjust my approach depending on those variables.

So Game 1 I bowled an embarrassing 111, while I rebounded on Game 2 with five strikes -- not bad I guess -- for a total of 148 that game. Hopefully I'll get a few more chances to practice some more! However, it was pretty expensive at 6,50 a game and 1,50 for shoe rentals. So perhaps I'll keep my bowling days to a minimum like I've been doing in the past. After all they did invite me, so I don't want to have to keep showing them up time and time again ;)

And Day 2 of my gym usage is really making me feel the burn! I got a good hour and a half in this morning because it's only open on Sundays from 9 a.m. to noon. If I'm going to be paying 43 Euros for a gym membership, I better be getting my money's worth out of it!

Oh YEAH, I have a chocolate advent calendar counting down the days until Christmas! So excited to open a door each day :)

30 More Days Until France BANS Indoor Smoking! :)

- and -

23 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS IN FRANCE!!

Salsa, Santa and Sweat, OH MY!

These last two days have certainly been pleins d'aventures. Starting last night, all the girls met up and shared a few bottles of wine and boxes of Chinese take-out at Kathy and Valentina's new apartment right in the middle of Old Antibes. And WOW is that one of the cutest apartments I've seen here! So not only do they have that going, but it's also right in the middle of everything happening downtown. Good work, girls.

After much stalling last night, we finally made our way out to this salsa dance club/bar in Juan-les-Pins, after Kathy and Natalie's French teacher friends invited them/us out. They went last weekend and told me how intense everyone was with the salsa dancing, and since I have NO IDEA how to do it, I -- again -- had no idea what I was in for.

Let me just say that the highlight of the night probably was taking part in this huge line of people doing some crazy choreographed dance. The thing that kept running through my mind was that one line from the prom scene in Not Another Teen Movie, "I didn't know everyone at this school was a professional dancer." Haha, and then right after that some 1950s songs came on and then everyone busts out SWING DANCING. Fantastic!

Natalie and I were asked by this gay man to salsa and he taught us briefly during one song. I was super nervous about it, but he was hysterical so that made things a little easier. But the point of this story is that this morning I was feeling the burn. Salsa is fantastic exercise, even if I only did dance to three or four songs.

Waking up in their apartment this morning -- did I mention how CUTE it was?! -- Valentina, Kathy and I all got together and made a quasi-American breakfast consisting of fried eggs, toast and jam, Italian coffee to represent Valentina's heritage, and oatmeal. Then we decided to go exploring in their quartier of Antibes. Our mid-morning journey took us to the CHRISTMAS MARCHE that kicked off today, the open-air market, and then Yves Rocher which is pretty much the French equivalent of Bath and Body Works, but much neater.

After that was all done, I said my goodbyes and made my way to the gare routière to purchase my next monthly pass for the city bus since it's finally December, the final month of 2007. Wow, already?! Then I'd been hearing rumors about us already receiving paychecks, so I went to my bank to see if that was true, AND IT TOTALLY IS! Meaning not only do I have 100 percent of my paycheck from November, but also the other 25 percent from October finally!! Needless to say, this month is probably the richest I'll be in France.

Then I came back home around noon only to remember that my roommate said her boyfriend's parents were coming over for lunch, so I see the biggest array of food ready and waiting to go in the kitchen! Oh my, I'm gastronomically in way over my head here. It was another good time. Tomorrow I think Karina and I are going to have another roommate cooking session and make MEXICAN FOOD together, since I purchased a really cheap kit from the international section at Carrefour.

So to end my day, I finally decided to sign up for a gym here in France. I rationalized that decision by a thought process that goes something like this:

"Well, I didn't end up going to Italy today. The train ticket alone would have been 25 Euros. Then I probably would have made a few purchases, including lunch if nothing else. Thus, my total for the day most likely would have been nearly 50 Euros. For one month of gym membership I can pay 43 Euros, plus that will fill up a lot of my down time that I spend eating. And if I'm going to continue eating all these delicious things here in France -- which I'm entitled to do, damnit -- and mentally refuse to give in to buying new, bigger sized clothes, then I better start working out a lot more. And I can't exactly stick to running anymore since I've exhausted all the routes, it gets dark super early, and it's freezing/raining more often than it was at the end of the summer. So it's 43 Euros well spent."

Oh yeah, and did I mention the gym's called Versace Gym and is modeled after Muscle Beach in Los Angeles, because the owner is super obsessed with 1980s beach culture?! Haha, that alone is worth my patronage.

...31 More Days Until France BANS Indoor Smoking! :)

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24 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS IN FRANCE!!

Goodbye November!

Tomorrow is December 1st. While I've been in France immediately following the winter holidays, I've only been here once for New Year's -- and figures it was the year France switched their currency over from the Franc to the Euro.

But what I'm trying to say is that I've never celebrated Christmas abroad! And here, the celebrating officially begins tomorrow, on December 1st.

I can hardly contain myself. Supposedly there's a Christmas market downtown that goes all month and kicks off tomorrow evening.

After Aimée arrives in France, there's an official tree-lighting ceremony (presented by IKEA, cute huh?) mid-December in Nice and the following night Antibes is hosting a "Christmas log" soirée. The French tradition in most cities is to build a super long cake shaped and decorated like a Christmas tree "log." Then they're going to be cutting out pieces for all the guests and serving hot chocolate, coffee and vin chaud.

I'm kind of torn, however. One part of me wishes it would snow to be super festive. The other part is quite content with warm and dry feet, socks, mittens, etc. So perhaps I'll get to experience that in Switzerland the days following Christmas.

I leave you with this final thought: Today's an exciting day because we get our pictures!!! Let me take a step back, last month was class photo day at one of my schools, and I was invited to be in the teacher picture! My heart warmed at the idea of them accepting the strange foreign girl who comes into their classes twice a week, into their photo which will be immortalized on the school walls for years to come. And I get a free copy!

Here's to hoping this photo isn't as awkward as all my other elementary school pictures...

...32 More Days Until France BANS Indoor Smoking! :)