Oh yeah....

In addition to today's earlier post (go read it if you haven't already!), I've also decided to change the look of my blog header. You know, I get bored really easily :)

It's still pretty hard

Almost all of the time I'm reminiscing about living somewhere else.

Back at the beach where I spent my college days in Santa Barbara? Living in Nice, France, on the beach as a student studying abroad? In the middle of a residential community in the hills of Antibes, France, where I taught English for a year? Traveling through Europe a number of times during my life?

I really want to keep traveling. I don't want to be fixed stationary in one place. I don't want to keep doing the same job day-in and day-out because it's "safe." I want to explore, travel for work, become physically exhausted every day but know that I've seen everything.

I mean, I'm only 24 and I'm not married.... now's the time for job like that more than ever.

But since I committed to a full-time position in the athletics department, that dream's going to have to wait. How much longer? I'm not sure. But I do know the longer I postpone it, the less realistic it becomes. And let's not talk about how badly I want to write books and become a published author. I've got stories and stories piled up, waiting to be put together on paper and bound up for sale.

Sometimes I wish I could fast forward momentarily to see how it's all going to end up and whether or not my dreams will come true.

But in the meantime, I realized I've yet to post my new condo pictures and I've been there for over a month. So rest assured that when I come back from being at home for Father's Day this weekend, I'll get right on that and show you all the progress on my new (temporary I hope) home!

On moving, etc.

Well, I'm finally almost 100% moved into the condo in Stockton! And by that I mean, all my stuff is over there, not that I'm all situated and settled.

Far from it.

He has not yet moved his stuff in, so until that happens I'm in boxes awaiting the rest of the furniture before I can keep unpacking and start decorating. The kitchen and dining room are almost completely settled, however, so I've had some time to decorate there to distract me from the endless cleaning/unpacking that seems left to do.

I'm really excited to have my first place all to myself! Everyone keeps telling me it's like I'm finally a real adult :) Or something like that. Definitely far from it, that's for sure.

But I proooomise I'll put all kinds of pictures up once everything's all settled. I'm so excited! I come home every night and have to pinch myself because I can't believe that I'M the person who actually lives there.

Oh yeah, I'll be at USF (the University of San Francisco, not Southern Florida) all afternoon traveling with the Pacific baseball team to do radio and write the game story. I've never been to USF, despite frequenting the city of San Francisco at least 3-5 times a year, so I'm certainly looking forward to checking out the campus. And then instead of riding home on the bus with the team, I'm sticking around in the Bay Area and making my way towards Oakland, where I'll get to see the A's-Angels game.... my first A's game of 2009! Well, technically that's not true, I did go to a Stockton Ports game, the Single-A minor league affiliate of the Oakland A's. And I did get to see the Giants-Brewers game on opening night in San Francisco.

Lots to look forward to and keep me going/busy. Stay tuned for more!

Just to let you know

That I have changed my format. I was getting a little bored with the old style and since it's been about a year, I feel like this is more fitting of "me."

Pictures from Easter to come! Until then, you can see them on facebook.

I probably won't be updating for a while since baseball's heading down to Cal State Fullerton this weekend. I finally get to see my sister Aimée's apartment down in Newport Beach. I think we're going out for dinner in Huntington Beach tomorrow night at some Mediterranean restaurant with our friend Gianna. I'm looking forward to it!

New Year, Old News.

Now that 2009 is here, stories are starting to come out in retrospect analyzing some of the 2008 calendar year.

The first one, I obviously can't avoid. Everyone's talking about it.


The 2008 stock market figures show that last year was our worst financial year since the Great Depression. That's promising, that's really promising. I know I didn't major in economics or anything, but I feel like the stock market is all a virtual indicator that somehow predicts real life. So unless someone smarter wants to fill me in, here's my take on it.

Much like gas prices, everyone is so scared about a stock market crash. People have stopped investing because "stocks are down" and companies are going stale or laying off employees. So why don't we embrace the low stocks and start buying?? If prices are low, that should encourage more spending activity. And wouldn't that in turn raise stock prices and the overall economy? It just seems like such an easy fix that people aren't willing to latch onto. And so what if the dollar's weak? Let's just spend the hell out of it and try to get back up to par.

But then again, that's just my opinion. I'm at least enjoying all the ridiculous year- and season-end sales and plummeting oil prices.

The other thing I can't not talk about is..... Barry Bonds. Quite possibly the bane of my baseball existence. I think Derek Jeter and the Angels used to don that title, but I'm giving it to Mr. BALCO himself today. Unappologetically.

Apparently the all-time home run leader is undergoing hip surgery so that his hopes of playing in 2009 can be satisfied. Look dude, you've been accused, by a federal court no less, of lying under oath for having taken steroids illegally. So maybe he wasn't the biggest user of them all, but for some reason Mr. Bonds won't own up *cough*asterik*cough* I'm sorry, I think I'm getting sick. (Please note, that article is taken from The Onion, and is minorly satirical.)

But I digress. He went without a team in the 2007-08 offseason when the Giants finally broke up with their home run love affair, I mean for God's sake, AT&T park (are we still calling it that now?) was built for him to tee off the cove in right field. Shockingly, not a single team was lured into Barry Bonds last year. So why the F does he think someone is going to do so in 2009? That's quite the New Year's resolution Barry Bonds, quite the resolution.

And I better not have to eat my words in the future (meaning Oakland, I swear to God, if you snag Bonds this year, I might just have to become a full-time Dodgers fan or something).

Last chance to enjoy 2008

And also, for those of you who live in California, savor your last *legal* day of texting while driving.

The new driving laws in 2009 are going to make my life a little more difficult. But breaking the law can be cool....

....I mean, I have no idea what that feels like. Happy 2009, everyone!

New hair!

I think I go through hair cycles in my life. I don't know what to do with it and then I get bored. For the longest time, I'd straighten and fry it and that was that. Then I cut long side bangs, then it was short, middle bangs. And now I've finally been able to recreate what they do for me at the salon! It's layered in such a way that I can curl it with nothing but a hairdryer and round brush. Finally.

This time I'm serious.

If you've been following this blog since I was living in France, then you probably know a little about my weight and health struggles.

My big flaw -- and this has been quite cyclical over the past three years -- is a.) I lose a good amount of weight and get back to my happy high school/freshman year of college size, then b.) I live abroad and go nuts and weigh much more than I ever have before. But the food in France was so wonderful....

Neither here nor there.

Diabetes is something that runs in my family, and it's something I don't ever want to have. I've always known that I've had high triglycerides (blood sugar levels) and cholesterol. But does that stop me from making poor eating decisions? No. Knowing this, I've tried (half-heartedly) to eat better and lose weight, but that generally lasts about a week before I get bored and go back to my sugar-eating ways.

After my mom listed off to me some precursors to diabetes, all of which I had, she mentioned some concern about it. And I don't know if I'll ever get it, but I am quite at risk for the disease. This prompted me to see a doctor and get all of this checked out. Yes, in fact I am getting closer than they would like with my "out of whack" cholesterol and triglyceride levels (like you see in all those commercials). I saw a nutritionist.

What this means is that I need to very closely monitor what I am eating for a transitional period of time. Basically, I have to cut out everything bad for a few weeks and wean my body off synthetic foods and starches. When I can physically stand that and don't have thousands of nagging cravings, then I can get back into moderate levels of sugars and starches in very, very small doses.

That's where Lance Armstrong comes in. I've been tracking all of my eating habits on The Daily Plate which is part of the LIVESTRONG.com Health Network. It's really neat what you can find there.

On The Daily Plate, I can track ANY food I eat, as specific as the guiltless salmon dinner from Chilis, to a grande skim, no whip frappuccino from, you guessed it, Starbucks. There are also networks of other users in encouragement groups, recipes, health/beauty tips, you name it!

And I think it's starting to work. The difference this time is that I keep thinking, if I fall back into my old habits, there's a chance I could be priming my body for a disease later in life that could possibly be something irreversible. But I'm taking control and trying to stop that from happening.

Granted it's only been three days at this point, but I'm noticing some changes. Other than the sugar-withdrawl headaches I'm suffering through, I'm losing some weight, my clothes are a little more loose than before and overall, I just feel more energized without sugars.

Here's to keeping it up!

In the mood!!

I don't know what it is about the holiday season that tickles me so, but I'm already raring to go this year!

Maybe I'm overcompensating for the fact that I missed out on nearly every American holiday last year by living in France. Though, I am quite bummed I won't be spending my winter vacation running throughout Europe again. Tant pis!

Well Halloween is almost here and my roommates and I are going political this year. I guess because I have brown hair and the glasses, I was told I should go as Sarah Palin. Plus all my roommates are democrats, so I guess I should bring in some conservative flavor (even if I don't know who I'm voting for.... please let's not take the conversation in this direction).

And that's as political as I'm gonna get here.

Though I'm not exactly sure how much of an opportunity I'm going to have to dress up and go out this year. We have a volleyball match Friday, Oct. 31, so I'll be working until at least 10 p.m. Maybe later.

And as jumping the gun as this is, I'm ALREADY prepping myself for Christmas music! I can't wait!!! And Thanksgiving (again, volleyball tournament the next day, so it'll be a short-lived holiday), with its yummy overload and football in the background.

Christmas is just around the corner :) You can't stop it.

And we turned on our heater for the first time this morning! It was 41º this morning (nevermind that it almost hit 70 in the afternoon). But morning and night are turning in to quite the autumn affair.... I'm ready for mittens, sweaters and scarves!

Am I a grown-up now??!

What exactly makes someone an adult? Or a grown-up? And am I finally at that point where I envisioned when I was younger and people asked what I wanted to do when I was bigger?

Maybe I'm not at full-time salary status yet -- heck, the school is paying for my private education on top of my stipend, so I'll take it -- but I think I'm finally close to being classified as that dreaded word: a "grown-up."

For the first time in my life, I'm paying nearly all my bills and get this, I've finally moved into my own bedroom and have the first double-sized bed of my 23 years of existence! Granted, these are minor steps, but having a room to yourself in a house with a large bed might just qualify as heaven in my book.

So this is where my life is headed... I'm getting excited about new "adult-like" purchases and inheritances. Either way, I'm getting way more excited about grad school than I've ever been before. Unlike senior year of my undergrad career, I won't have to balance an ongoing thesis with regular classes. We only have two classes a semester, one of which is to assist with our research, and then it's all thesis, all the time.

Even though we haven't yet officially held class, we're already being asked to research thesis topics and I'm getting quite excited about finally being able to do my own line of study, on my own agenda. No general education b.s. that we had to suffer through during the first two years of our undergrad careers. This is the real stuff.

Again, in more ways than one, I'm "on my own." And a 9-5 workin' girl. Who ever thought I'd reach this point in my life, firing on all cylinders and enjoying it?!

Commutes around the (MY) world

After living on a campus known for its seven miles of bike trail and 14,000+ bikes, it's sort of a weird feeling driving to school here. UC Santa Barbara was best known for its student community adjacent to the campus, Isla Vista, where I happened to live for the three years after I moved out of the dorms. I took for granted not having a car and walking/biking no more than 15 minutes from my house to the farthest part of campus.

But now here in Stockton with temperatures in the high 100s, I can't do that anymore. First, because parts of this city are not "pedestrian" friendly to put it nicely. Secondly, I live about two miles from the campus. It took me 30 minutes to ride to work once and I was drenched in sweat by the time I arrived. No leisurely rides for me here.

This is all great news, considering gas is over $4.50 a gallon right now.

I sort of also took for granted my 12 Euro bus pass in France. But do not miss all the billions of strikes that occurred on a weekly basis. If I could walk 25-50 minutes to get to my elementary schools in torrential rain.... never mind, I refuse to do that again.

It is nice to have a vehicle again, even if it cuts in to my future children's college funds...

Can you hear me now?

I'm pretty pissed off right now. Why?

Well, because I don't want to look like a crazy, space-aged alien from now on out. Maybe that, or I'm just a little bitter (I'll get back to this). Although, David Beckham doesn't look so sci-fi and futuristic, so maybe I won't in 2035 when I, too, jump on the bluetooth bandwagon.


I'm not really sure why he showed up when I Googled "bluetooth headsets," but here Mr. Beckham is in all his facial glory. Maybe because he's too old to play soccer (decently) he reverts to smothering his face over all things American. Whatever, I'm not going to stop looking.

Anyways, after taking my GRE today -- I kind of feel bad for not ever caring/studying, but I still hit my 1100 range and am already accepted into a grad program, so who am I to have a conscience? -- I answered a phone call in the car and almost had a heart attack.

You know that feeling I'm talking about, when your chest literally caves in on itself and you have to take an extremely deep breath because you've been scared enough to almost wet yourself.

Oh, you don't know that feeling? Maybe it's just me then.

But anyways, beginning TOMORROW, July 1st, all motorists in California must refrain from answering their phones while driving on the road. This really pissed me off. It seemed so far away in 2006 when Arnold signed this into effect.

Well, I'm a little jealous about looking like a space-age freak, because my P.O.S. cell phone is broken and does not detect hands-free bluetooth devices. And I can't seem to find the headphones that originally came with it, and they can't be just any set of headphones because it's a USB charging cable.

So instead of shelling out money I don't have for a new phone -- which is silly since I think my contract is up for renewal in two to four months -- Monique's going ghetto style.

That's right, if anyone tries to call me while I'm behind the wheel, you're getting put on speaker.

Let the ridicule begin....

(I am also super excited about re-joining the workforce tomorrow! Wish me luck!!)

We don't need no water...

Wait, yes we do.

I can officially report that from both sides of the mountain range in Northern California -- coastal and inland -- are being heavily affected by the 800 rampant wildfires spreading through our half of the state. Typically around this time of year I was always moving out of my dorm/apartments at UCSB and inhaling thick smoke from as far south as San Diego County. So June is always associated with SoCal fires in my head.


Fittingly enough, since today was my big move-out-of-my-parents'-house day, the skyline was covered with a thick, brownish haze. Not only could I barely see Mt. Diablo from the living room -- a feature that sold the house, because we literally are at the base of the mountain -- but just looking at the ground, my world had taken on a reddish hue. I can't imagine what the sun must have even looked like under its smoky guise.

Point of my story is this: everyone I've been talking to lately feels like they've been heavy smokers for the past few days. And it's no different no matter where you go, we're all being hit pretty hard. Well, I guess I can be thankful for the fact that this is all I have to deal with, other than, you know, having my house burn down or close friends and family die in the flames.

And on to another, unrelated topic, I'm having a hard time blogging under the name "French State of Mind." In theory, yes, it's always going to be in the back of my mind, especially how all of my dad's family comes from Francophone regions. But I feel like more of my life these days is spent rambling about coping with California and re-establishing a new life here.

That being said, I'm thinking that I'm due for a big revamp soon. If I can figure it out. Plus, I am ADD girl and my blog has looked like this for nearly one year now.

According to Lisa, I'm a "sea goddess"

Here's the hairstyle I think I've finally come up with for when I'm a bridesmaid in Meghan's wedding in a little over a month!


Hopefully my hair will work with this style because it a.) never does what I want it to and b.) is in different lengths and layers. I'm not sure what the front will look like, but the back part is really cute! And does anyone else picture Katherine Heigl being the face on the other side of this 'do?! Or is that just me...?

In other news, TOMORROW is my big moving day! Stockton, here I come. I'm almost done packing everything I need up for this week, but will be back here for the weekend to take my GRE. Then beginning July 1, I will be working and living just a little east of here.

Oh and did I mention, ON MY OWN AGAIN?!

Another exciting event coming up is the 4th of July! This will be one of the few times I'm actually celebrating the holiday in the United States, so that's always a big deal when people actually care that July 4th means something. And for the second time in five years, I'll be celebrating it in Santa Barbara. So that's my one big road trip coming up. Hopefully I'll get in a few more in the near future...

The next time I write to you will be from my new house!

Leaving college and coming back isn't that great of an idea

After hanging out at my little sister's graduation from UC Santa Barbara and spending a lot of time with all my old dorm friends, I definitely miss Santa Barbara.

Logically, this is going to be a really easy transition:

Going from living on the beach in Southern California with tons of friends from the past five years, to moving to Stockton in the Central Valley at a very small school, where I have one really good friend from high school.

So maybe I should change my title to: "From the Americain to the French Riviera, to the Middle of Nowhere." Catchy, isn't it?

Monique's going to have a lot of growing to do in the next few months. At least the job I'm taking sounds like it's going to be heck of exciting! And I have Meghan, so I won't be totally alone ;)

And I'll always come back

I believe it's safe to say the book of "Monique's Misadventures in Europe" is finally finished. My story is written and I am now comfortably back home in California.

But let's reflect back, shall we? But before I get into it, I'm really glad I got to experience this entire situation, living and teaching abroad, because I learned a whole lot about myself. And on a much higher level than just moving away from home for the first time and going to college type of education. All I can say, is that it's good to be back.

I'm going to take the easy way out and say that my trip ended just about as horrendously and in the same by-the-seat-of-my-pants fashion with which it began.

Remember my first terrible encounter with French bureaucracy? As in, getting turned away three times from the French consulate in San Francisco before finally getting my visa and deciding on the spot, at the end of August, that I would be moving to France for supposedly the next nine months of my life?

Then when I finally did pack up my life and leave -- isn't this funny -- I came down with some really strange 24-hour stomach flu, slash nerves vomiting spell. On an international flight, in what is my opinion the worst airport in the entire world: Heathrow in London.

Then I had to deal with endless strikes day-in and day-out. Especially the first day on the job: Welcome to France! I was new, confused, and totally foreign to the city. That was a nice introduction to my life abroad.

My next hurdle came when the government said we all had to have a bank account open before October 10th if we wanted to receive our paychecks. That sounds reasonable, but opening a bank account in France is like... I really can't think of any good analogy because it was one of the worst things I've ever experienced. You need document X to open up an account. But you cannot get document X from the government until you have a statement from a bank. I'm amazed at how anyone ever gets anything done in that country...

Luckily I was on top of my stuff and got it done on time.

Since we're on the topic of impossible French bureaucracy and documents, I also had similar issues with my long-stay work permit, insurance, housing, and... other things that have currently slipped my mind. I guess they really left a lasting impression on me, even though at the time it seemed to be the end of the world ;)

Another disaster on the scale of misadventures in France came with my entire roommate situation. Nevermind she lied about her age and not smoking the day I met her. Nevermind she started making me pay for more than my half of the rent, when she was using the same amount, if not more of the utilities and water than I was. But when she stopped cleaning and then got mad at me for one day not doing her week's worth of dishes and when she threatened to kick me out for having guests from California over, even though she said two months in advance that it was cool for them to crash with us... the rollercoaster of love-hate between us came to an abrupt halt.

Nine months became seven because frankly, I don't need to be thousands of miles away from my friends and family and unhappy.

So now here I am, on my last day in Europe.

And what should happen?

More of the same old garbage. My two hour layover in Cincinnati became six. And I was doing all I could to keep my eyes open in the terminal. At least I got a free meal voucher out of it.

And at least I'm home safe! After having picked up so much more French, realizing that I can survive in any city in the world, completely on my own, without my parents' help. After working a career-type job, and for the first time not asking for anyone to pay my rent/insurance/tuition or any other expense that comes with being a dependent.

I went to France, I traveled the world, and I lived to tell about it! And that is worth every souci (worry, in English) I've wasted on my life over the past seven months.

P.S. I bought the A's shirt and shoes, since *drumroll* I got my CAF money for half my rent YESTERDAY!!! That means after being in France for seven months, I've broken even. No more debt for me... that is, until I find a job. And P.P.S., my fantasy baseball team is complete GARBAGE!

I wonder if I'll get to 200 posts before I leave France

Here are some things that I'm really looking forward to in the upcoming weeks, be it in France, Spain, Germany or the United States:

-My mom's visit! It seems that being so far away has really made me miss a lot of things. And while I thought I was pretty independent in college and down at Santa Barbara, I've grown quite homesick. And I think I've seen my family more often over the past seven months here in Europe than I would have during a normal academic year at UCSB.

-Saying goodbye to the beaches of the South of France in the gorgeous SPRING weather! Finally.

-My birthday weekend. Who doesn't like cake? Need I say more?!

-Germany! Being able to visit a country I haven't yet seen. I have NO idea what to expect because I'll be hanging around with a crowd of locals :) Supposedly beerfests will be kicking off soon as well as crazy German football fans. Oh yeah and sausage/canned veggies, that'll be fun.

-Barcelona with my parents! More seeing my family, always fun. But also, seeing another country I've yet to see! And I believe that the weather in Spain will be the hottest I've experienced during this entire trip. With that also comes Spanish beaches, beautiful architecture, TAPAS/SANGRIA, and oh yeah, going out until 8 a.m. If only I can convince my parents to join me...

-Jeopardy! I love that show. Who cares if they're going to be reruns shortly.

-Grey's Anatomy! When the writers' strikes hit, I was still able to catch up on old episodes I'd missed online. But now that that's (supposedly) resolved, new episodes will begin airing in the month of April. When I come back home!

-BASEBALL! My favorite sport. My favorite season. The reason for living -- well, one of the many reasons. And since the A's have gone into such an overhaul mode this season, I imagine their marketing department will be doing all it can to entice fan attendance, i.e. even cheaper tickets, anyone?!

-Road-tripping! With my sister still in Santa Barbara and friends spread out from San Luis Obispo down to San Diego on the coast, I might take a long Wednesday to Monday trip down the 101 and take in all California has to offer! Who cares that I've already seen/done it all, it's been a freakin' year since I graduated and nearly 10 months since my last visit!

-Healthy Food! As much as I've LOVED -- understatement -- the food over here, it's been doing a number on my body. It'll be nice to get back to whole grains, low fat, low carbs, and really small portions. I'm trying to convince myself to stop buying fixed price menus. Even though they're way cheaper, it's still an ungodly amount of food!

-Gym memberships! My gym experience here was ridiculous. Can't wait to finally join a 24-Hour Fitness or something like that with real, modern equipment ;)

And one last thing:

-Customer Service! Sorry France, you just never really got on board with this one. But you know what that also means? NO MORE TRANSPORTATION STRIKES! Those really threw a wrench in many of my travel plans over here.

It's kind of hard to be a spoiled American and adjust to the French lifestyle, isn't it? But I'm really glad I tried it for almost a year!

Odds and Ends

I've officially been given clearance from the Inspection office in Nice and both my schools to leave after next week. And I'm only probably going to work on Monday and Tuesday.

Then my time working for the French government is up.

It's funny because now that I'm about to leave and have friends visitng, I've been doing all the fun things I should have been doing this entire time here. And I'm really enjoying myself! Maybe it's because I know that I have a finite number of days remaining in this country.

Either way, I've done a lot of administrative crap like filing for an address change (22 € ridiculous!), finishing my CAF document, etc. Basically I'll be keeping my bank account open so that way the CAF can be putting in half of the rent payments that I've made since October all the way through June. Then supposedly I can close the account online, but I'll need to figure that out for sure.

As for today, all afternoon classes were cancelled so the teachers could sit and argue on the new government's plan of action for proposed programs during the 2008-2009 academic year. Supposedly the ministry of education has already signed off on these plans, but all schools are banding together to oppose them.

And as usual, I sat on the side while everyone argued.

But supposedly the new plan includes over ten hours a week of French grammar lessons and the regularly allocated time to foreign languages. That leaves less than five hours of the week to dedicate to geography, math, art, sports, science and maybe one or two other subjects. And don't forget about the two 15-minute recreational breaks they get before and after lunch.

So where does the rest of the time in the day go?

France will be reinstating daily "moral" lessons for the first time since all the teachers were children.

Oh, celestial sphere

Hello, going back to my days in Astronomy 1 freshman year of college! Anyways, just when I thought I had many of the subtle nuances of French culture down, nature has to go and throw me off my learning curve -- again.

You see, normally I pretty much got that people say bonsoir either when it's a.) dark or b.) the working day's over. And for the past few months, the two have usually been one in the same.

But now, with the approach of the vernal equinox in only two days (good riddance, winter!), our days here in the northern hemisphere are getting much longer. In fact, almost equal to the amount of time that is night. Which means, when I get off work (on the two days I work past/until 4 p.m.) it's still very bright and sunny outside. So wanting to take advantage of this weather that's slowly getting more and more dry and less and less chilly, I'm walking around much more. When I enter my humble abode after a full day of work and at least a solid hour at the gym, I can almost make dinner in full sunlight at 6:30 p.m. -- almost.

That's all going to change in a little under two weeks anyhow, when France finally hits on daylight savings times and jumps ahead one hour. Then it'll be sunny until 7:30 and beyond!

The only complaint/qualm I have with all of this is as follows: When's the appropriate time to say bonsoir now?! When I said hello to the people at the gym at 4 p.m. in broad daylight, they corrected my "bonjour" with a "bonsoir" in return.

Is it just me, or is there something wrong with saying "good evening" when there are still nearly three good hours left of sunshine?!

Well, at least I don't have to worry about the cultural importance of saying "good night" at 8 a.m. like they do in parts of Spain. Oh wait, I'll be there in about three weeks...

PLUS DE PLUIE!

Welcome to my lovely département, The Alpes-Maritimes, in the greater Provence-Alpes Côte d'Azur region!

Well, as of today, I once again feel like I live right on the Mediterranean Sea! Why all the exclamation points, Monique? Oh that's because after months and months of yucky rain, ominous clouds, fog and evil Mistral winds, it finally is getting to be weather you'd typically expect from this little beach region. Never-you-mind that we're on about the same plane/latitude as the Eastern Canadian border, ok?

Regional météo forecasts indicate that over the course of the next few days, we'll be seeing weather anywhere from 15 to 17 degrees Celsius. Hello mid-60s and possibly even 70s on Thursday! That's what a girl from California likes to see.

I'm also pretty stoked on life right now because one of my afternoon classes was canceled today, so I basically had to work from 8:30 to 10:00. And after I eat lunch/give myself an hour, I'll be making my merry way back to the gym. Speaking of the gym, I've already lost about two kilos since I've been back from my "vacation" in the United Sates -- which, by the way, I flew home exactly one month ago today!! Since then, I've been making a point to do cardio exercises for about 35-50 minutes a day. I've stopped eating past 9 p.m. and for the most part, I've cut out lots of added sugars (and alcohol)!

And the best part is that IT'S EASY! I mean, I get a few cravings every now and then -- I'm allowed to cheat once or twice a week, I think that's the key to longevity -- but I'm quite impressed how easily I can say "no" to dessert or even the 28,482 pastry shops I pass each day. Ok that's a little exaggerated, but yeah point made right? (Oh yeah, and I've had a little help from this diet. Too bad they don't include the recipes online, but I ran across it in a fitness magazine when I was home in February and decided to give it a try! It really does work!)

***EDIT: I searched and searched online and I actually found the equivalent diet for men in the Men's Health Magazine. Their website has included a few of the recipes for the male version, some of which cross over for the ladies too. Hey, I'm all about it, new recipes and we all know how much I do love me some smoothies!