Paris: Day 3

Our first stop of Day 3 was to the Pont de L'Archeveche bridge near Notre Dame.

Both sides of the bridge are covered in padlocks. After locking their love with a padlock, couples then throw their key into the Seine.

We added our own love padlock to the bridge.

And then threw away the key.

Next we stopped at Shakespeare and Company bookstore, a favorite of expats. It was a favorite hangout for Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald and even Julia Child.

Then on to Notre Dame.  

One of the beautiful stained glass windows inside the church.

Then on to Luxembourg Gardens. A lot of the flowers had not yet been planted so it was more bare than I had hoped but still a great stop.

Lunch with a window seat at the Armani Cafe. It may be a chain but we had really great food and service here. In fact, we had Italian food a few times in France and it was exceptionally good.

Later we stopped at a little cafe for chocolat au lait. Yum!

Then on to the Musee de l'Orangerie to see eight Monet Water Lilies and lots of other great art. Afterwards we went back to the hotel before going out for pizza later in the evening. Yes, even in Paris my husband had to have pizza. Great thing it was a local spot and very good so I forgave him.

Paris: Day 2

Day two in Paris took us on a tour to the Normandy region of France to visit Giverny, best known for the home and garden of Claude Monet. We then went to Versailles before arriving back in Paris.

The name of the street we visited in Giverny, Claude Monet Road.

A view of Claude Monet's Garden. It was exactly as I had pictured. It is more picturesque in May-July so not everything was in bloom yet but still beautiful and well worth seeing. Monet is one of my very favorite artists so this really excited me. (My other favorite artists are Van Gogh and Seurat - perfect for a trip to France!)

Monet's house which we also toured.

Joe and I in the gardens. One of my favorite trip photos.

After touring the home and gardens, and a trip to the Museum of Impressionism, we walked to a nearby church to see where Monet was buried.

An upclose view of the grave marker.

Lunch was at a quaint little water mill restaurant in the countryside. Probably my least favorite meal in France though because I do not love (or like) salmon pate.

Next was Versailles. Here I am at the gate to the Palace.

Here's a view inside the gates. At one time there were 3,000 servants working here. This place was so crazy, over the top.

Joe in the Hall of Mirrors.

Marie Antoinette slept here.

A small view of the gardens. It actually started pouring and hailing while we were inside the Palace so when it finally stopped and we went outside, our time was very limited to see the Gardens. The photos I did take don't do it justice - vast and beautiful.

When we returned to Paris we made a stop at this wonderful patissier across from our hotel. I should have taken a photo of the wonderful things we bought but I'm afraid we ate them too quickly.

Finally our wonderful dinner. Most restaurants in Paris don't even open until 7:30 pm so it was common for us to go back to the hotel, take a brief nap and then go to a late dinner.

Paris: Day 1

We just returned from Paris and I had many friends comment that they didn't even know we were going. Well we booked and planned our trip in just six short weeks! Yes, we are sometimes adventurous.

I got by on the trip with a few necessary phrases: bonjour, bonsoir, merci (beaucoup), au revoir, etc. My husband, on the other hand, taught himself several things that were quite useful to us. He could count to ten (far more necessary than you'd think), ask for a table for two at a restaurant, ask someone if they could speak English, ask for flat water (or sparkling), etc. He was fabulous at learning some key phrases in a very short amount of time and really great at understanding people, too.

Our first day in Paris went something like this...

We dropped our luggage off at our cute boutique hotel. It was built in late 1700s! And the only elevator was a tiny cage elevator from the 1920s that we barely managed to squeeze into.

We then had lunch - our first real French meal -  at the cafe next door to our hotel.

Imagine my surprise when an article on the internet pointed out Julia Child's apartment address...in the same structure as our hotel, just on the other side of our lunch spot. I loved knowing that I was in her old stomping grounds.

Then we took off walking to one of the most well known landmark's in the world - the Eiffel Tower.

I really couldn't believe how big it was once we were close to it.

I'll admit it, going to the top was THE scariest thing I have ever done. I think it was because you could see out the window throughout the entire elevator ride...and the structure was built in 1889...and it is over 1,000 feet tall! (After reaching the top level, my better half may or may not have walked the stairs with me to the very, very top.)

Joe and I taking our own photo at the top (almost the tip top). Still wearing clothes from the plane ride over. We kept hearing announements that "Pickpockets are active in the Tower." Pickpockets were common at many tourist spots in Paris so we were very vigilant. Also most pictures we took were either self shots or just one of us taking a photo of the other - no handing our camera over to just anyone for a shot of us.

View of the city from the top of the Tower.

After officially checking into our room, and finally changing our clothes, we went to the Musee Rodin (Rodin Museum). It started to rain so we didn't linger in the garden too long but we did get to see The Thinker.

Our last museum stop of the day was the Musee D'Orsay for lots and lots of art. (No photos allowed inside.)

After a very long day, and a big time change, we decided to stop at the bar across from our hotel for something quick and easy. It was here, believe it or not, that I had one of my favorite meals in Paris. My croque monsieur was so good! I am still thinking about this sandwich.

Maroon 5

Holly and I enjoyed a night out at the Maroon 5/Neon Trees concert last night. My husband may or may not have asked me before I left for the show if that was the band with the front man Avril Lavigne. Um, no, that would be Adam Levine. He makes me smile.

Holly and I at the Maroon 5 concert.

Easter Prep

Joe making his "famous" corn casserole in preparation for tomorrow's Easter lunch.

Our propensity towards being homebodies has become increasingly so as of late. Today was no exception. We cleaned the house and started our preparations for Easter with some friends tomorrow. I made deviled eggs and Joe made his favorite corn casserole. Cleaning, napping, cooking, going on a walk...what a perfect day!

Finished

The historical wall display and interactive system I have been working on for the past year. The room looks different now with furniture in place and this view does not show the entire display.



I'm finished. After a year of working on my special contract project, my original assignment is complete. We still have an employee event on Tuesday but tonight was our BIG grand opening celebration and I put in a 13.5 hour day. I'm exhausted and my feelings were running between being relieved and being sad. I have put so much into this project and now it's over. I even caught myself tearing up a time or two, not that you should be surprised.

St. Pattys Day Fun

Tonight I met up with Alison to celebrate her birthday over dinner. And because I am full of surprises, I suggested somewhere totally out of character.  Our first time at I Love this Bar & Grill will probably be our last time but we did have fun with the photo booth. Happy birthday, Alison!

Crazy photo booth fun

Snow Day Pizza

I headed off to work today as usual but not my husband. Joe was fortunate enough to get a rare snow day. I came home to homemade pizza - his crust is the best. If this is what happens when my husband gets a snow day - bring on the snow, please!

Lunch Reunion

With my friend, Dan

Today I had the pleasure of meeting up for lunch with an old friend that I hadn't seen for about four years. Dan and I were very close friends when we both lived in Missouri and spent lots of time together going to concerts, movies, out for coffee and out for dinner. Towards the end of my time in Missouri, Dan moved to Colorado and then I moved to Chicagoland...and now it's been four years since we've seen each other. Dan was in the city so he made the jaunt up to the burbs to see me this afternoon and it was so good to catch up. And just like most good friendships, it was easy to fall back right to where we last left off. 

Just Thought I'd Check In

Has it really been almost a month since my last post?

I can only explain it by saying, we've been rather boring around here. I think after running nonstop from October through January, things have finally quieted down and we've been enjoying the silence. For the past month we've done very little. Almost nothing.

Today was even the first time we went to the movie theatre in five weeks. If you know us, you know that is definitely a first.

Otherwise, we've been up to the normal stuff...work, great Valentine's Day dinner, Downton Abbey (Did I mention that I watched three seasons in one week? No? Maybe this is why I don't have time to blog?), doing our taxes, going to the ER for kidney stones (yes, I did that, too, since my last post)...you know just typical life.

My husband over the weekend enjoying breakfast.

Gotta love a latte...My beverage of choice from the same breakfast. Too pretty and delicious to not capture in a snapshot.

Pizza Saturday

Joe, Terrie and Kirk at Burt's Place

About a year ago, I saw an interesting little pizza place featured on a local food show. Little did I know at the time, it was also featured on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations (video above). It's been on our list of things to do for awhile so Saturday night, along with Terrie and Kirk, we finally made the trek to Morton Grove to check it out.

It's unlike any restaurant I've ever been to before. Not only do you need to make a reservation in advance, you also need to pre-order. So ten days earlier, I called in our order (right down to the salad and appetizers) and then was given a time to show up. When we showed up, our food was waiting for us.

I was a little skeptical about all the pre-planning and some of the mixed reviews I read but the pizza really was excellent! A little far for us to easily venture to again but I am so glad we checked it out - another true Chicago experience.

My Favorite Season

Today marks the start of my favorite season - awards season. I've seen just about all the big movies with the exception of Amour and Beasts of the Southern Wild which I hope to still see in the next month. I have seen some amazing films (Lincoln, Les Miserables, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi, Django) all very worthy of winning awards and containing award-winning acting performances, however, my personal favorite movies from this past year are:

• Silver Linings Playbook
• Argo
• Skyfall

What are your favorite movies from the past year?

Saturday in the City

Ten months ago I bought tickets to a production that Joe has been dying to see and today was finally the day!

We saw The Book of Mormon and it was comedic gold!

 



Afterwards, we marked another Chicago landmark off of our list with dinner at The Berghoff.

Happy New Year!

Sickness has hit our household despite our best efforts to avert it. Over the last several days, I have had many ups and downs. Seems that every 12 hours or so, I feel better. Like I'm okay. Then I feel bad again. Joe, on the other hand, seems to just feel bad. So when I am doing better, I've been playing nursemaid.

We had grand plans for our vacation. Taking cold medicine, hoarding tissues and staying in bed all day wasn't on the agenda.

Our movie quota is low. We haven't done any shopping or been to many restaurants. My tree is still up and will be for the forseeable future. The house looks like it's been ransacked. And tomorrow we're supposed to go back to work. Right now, that seems impossible.

I did have a good day yesterday. For the most part, I felt on the mend. Much better. We had big plans to go to a 9 pm dinner with three other couples. The restaurant was just a couple blocks from our house. I waited on Joe all day, giving him teas, medicines and vitamins in between him sleeping. I was determined for a rally. You see, this was the first NYE in our married life that we had REAL plans. It was the first NYE we were hanging out with other people and we were guaranteed to be awake at midnight. So last night Joe got out of bed at 7:30 pm, showered, and started putting his tuxedo on - he rallied!

For three hours last night, we had dinner and celebrated. Today, it's back to laying around in our pajamas.

NYE 2012

O' Christmas Tree

The tree in the famous Walnut Room at Macy's.

This is the fifth year I've lived in Chicagoland during Christmastime and the first year I've been able to dine in the Walnut Room at Macy's. 2012 marks the 105th year that Macy's, formerly Marshall Fields, has had a tree in the Walnut Room. People flock here at this time of year to dine and, hopefully, get seated under the tree.

I've been here before to see the 45 foot tree, its 1,200 ornamaments and 25,000 lights but the long dining wait has always eluded me from staying - but today we planned ahead. Joe and I had tickets to see War Horse (amazing show!) so we came early and waited at Macy's to dine. To give you an idea, we showed up at 11:15 am and our seating time was for 12:30. Then at 12:30 we were able to get in another line for 15-20 minutes before actually getting a table.

I may not have the patience to do this every year but it is a Chicago tradition that you should experience at least once.

Christmas 2012

Joe and I spent a couple days in Missouri to celebrate Christmas with my family.

I think part of being an aunt is buying all the girly stuff you really wish you had.

Aunt Amy & Uncle Joe also bought the girls new suitcases. Brylea was obsessed with pulling hers around the house and putting all of her valuables inside - like her sippy cup.

Lights!

We have very few holiday traditions (okay, almost none, unless you count putting up our Christmas tree) but I've always wanted us to spend an evening driving around looking at lights. Unfortunately, I know very few "must see" places in the area but thank goodness for the internet. With a little searching, we found a few destination spots and set out tonight to find them. We found two houses that had their lights blinking in tune to music. Just pull up, find the radio station and watch the show. My favorite house was featured here in the Wall Street Journal - amazing! And then we also found a house that had what seemed like, approximately, 300 yard ornaments - wow! So wrong but so fun to see. I'm hoping this can be a new tradition for us.

One of the many houses we saw on our "Christmas light" drive.

Our weekend

After spending three weekends in a row out of town, I was so glad to have this weekend at home and free to just catch up...cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking, laundry. But despite our "to do" list we still managed to fit in some other fun plans, too, like a concert, a movie (Lincoln) and lunch at a favorite restaurant. And, while I still maintain that it doesn't seem like Christmastime (Global warming, anyone? I'm driving with my windows down and wearing short sleeves today.) I have still managed to finish almost all of my Christmas shopping with just a few minor things left. Last night I wrapped gifts, today we decorated our tree and I just finished addressing the last of my Christmas cards. Yes, it doesn't "seem" like Christmastime but I know it is...and I'm ready!

Lentil soup

I have had my eye on a lentil soup recipe for awhile and, finally, made it this weekend. It took a trip to the bulk bins at Whole Foods to find some of the ingredients but I'm not complaining. I will gladly accept any excuse (or recipe) that takes me to Whole Foods.

Lentil Soup

1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, diced fine
1 large carrot, diced
1 1/2 cups lentils, washed
56 oz veggie stock
2-14 oz cans of diced tomatoes (fire roasted)
Olive oil
1/4 cup millet
1/4 cup amaranth
1/4 cup flax seed
1/4 cup quinoa
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried ground marjoram
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

Heat stock pot on medium heat and add olive oil. Add onion, celery, garlic and carrot to post, cooking until onion is soft but not brown, stirring occasionally. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the balsamic vinegar) to the pot and stir to combine. Turn heat to low and simmer on stove for 1 hour. When the soup is finished add 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, stir and serve.

My Friend in the Middle East

My friend, Wanda recently moved to the Middle East. I am still sad about her leaving and moving away but she has started an awesome blog that I thought my friends would find interesting. It's fascinating to read about her adventures. If you're interested, you can read her blog here.

The Great Northwest, Day 6

Our last full day in Washington state had us enjoying coffee with one of Joe's cousins, out for shopping and lunch, and one last family dinner before our "day seven" travel day back to Chicagoland.

Joe in Coupeville.

I'm posing before heading off to my delicious lunch of clam chowder. I love seafood! I ate it every day on the trip except for once. And I'm giving myself a pass for that one day since I usually ate it at least twice a day.  

One final family dinner.