Feb 23, 2007

I woke up with a chest cold :( and what a horrible day for it to happen!!!! So i had class at 8:30 which was a CD. And we learned Pork (yuck) with a mustard and pickle sauce, Trout flan with a truffle reduction sauce and fruit with sabayon and vanilla ice cream. However my stomach didn't feel well so i didn't eat much. After class, I went to the pharmecie to buy something for my cold. Then I went to the hairdresser. I thought afterwards, bad idea...but my friends later when they saw it told me it looked amazing. Like I always say, pictures don't do it justice...so don't judge! Anyway, he chopped it! I can't remember when I had it this short! It feels weird. However, the color i LOVE. i think it's the best color I've ever gotten! AND i paid less here for a shampoo, cut, color and blowdry than I do at home...odd huh? Not to mention I don't have to tip as much! Below is the guy who cut my hair...and you will see better pictures of the cut later!

He was super nice, and he told me I would be back in a week giving him kisses cause I loved the cut so much. As for now...I pretty much don't like him too much :)
Then as I was leaving Katie called me to see how it was and I pretty much started to freak out. She said she was going to Laduree, so ofcourse i said I would go. It was almost 3 pm and I hadn't eaten since 7 that morning so i needed to eat badly. I met her there and had a great sandwich. Then ofcourse I had to try a dessert. It was called a pompadour. It was a coconut macaroon with exotic fruit inside and vanilla cream. So light and refreshing. Anyway, I walked home to see if I could find a shirt for my outfit, which I still hadn't gotten, and low and behold the LAST place i went to before i gave up had one! So i went home and it was 6 pm by now. I showered, got dressed and this is what i looked like. You can see the hair better. All of the clothes on my body are new, except the belt! And check out my new boots...I paid an arm and a leg for them...but i LOVE THEM!!!!! I'm trying to be more french but with a Penny twist!


Well I left at 7 pm still feeling crappy to go to Apollo, the restaurant our Basic dinner was at. I got there at 7:35ish and my friends showed up a little later. I didn't wanna drink cause I want to get better this weekend cause I am almost done with school, so I wanna be healthy. So I just chatted with fellow classmates. These are the pictures we took!

After the party all my friends went out, but I didn't think I was gonna survive. So I went home at midnight and went to bed. However, I had a very fun night!

Feb 22, 2007

Hello! Easy day! I woke up early to go to the gym. Went to the grocery store, came home, got ready, did some laundry, some cleaning, then met Katie at Lenotre to buy Kaili some goodies (and one for myself)!!! Went to school for my only class of the day which started at 12:30 and it was a PD!!! We learned the Mogador (chocolate mousse cake!) and chocolate tempering! Let's just say I ate too much chocolate today! It was good though. After class, I walked an hr to Galleries Lafayette to buy something to put under my dress for the dinner friday nite...but no luck. There was however the Barbie Loves Mac thing going on. So i took pictures! RANDOM! It was like a fake barbie trying to move like a real barbie would, and she was being posed by a fake designer. I just sat there for 5 min and laughed.



I tried to walk home in the rain for a while, but i gave up and took the metro. Got home at 6:30 and left again at 7 to meet my friend Trephene for dinner. We had a beer, then picked a really nice restaurant to go to for dinner. It was yummy. Came home at 11 and went to bed. Sounds like a short day...but it felt VERY long for me ;)

Feb 21, 2007

Well today I had 8:30 CD. We learned Langoustines with different spices and a side salad, salmon with a mousseline sauce, and beef stroganoff. However the stroganoff was not how you all think it was back home. I think of it with egg noodles in a white based sauce with ground beef. This was sirloin, in a red paprika sauce with rice. Interesting to say the least! Then I went for tea with Kaili and Katie very quickly cause we split ways since we got done early. I went to check my email and sat down and relaxed for a bit. Then at 12:30 we had CD and we made the stroganoff. In walks a FEMALE chef. Never seen her in my life. We were all so confused. She is helping out since one of the chefs left and a lot of them are on break right now. Anyway, she spoke PERFECT english, she is from australia and she was SO helpful. Her comments actually meant something! She said my brunoise for THIS specific dish was too small...but for any other dish would have been perfect. It's because they have to be the same size as the green bean since you can't control that size. She said my meat was cut too small, BUT they were all the same size, so that inturn equaled itself out so it wasn't a big deal. My sauce had great flavor, just enough paprika and the meat enfused itself very nicely. She liked the color and consitency as well. And the meat was cooked correctly also. Overall I did well today, even though I didn't like the dish much.

We got done early again...so I got to sit downstairs, have a coca light and relax for once. It was nice. Then at 3:30 we had a PP. We made the delicious Pear Charlotte. Very easy. We got out early of that too. But we had nice silent chef. He made our italian meringue so the whole thing didn't take too long! However, I didn't pay much attention in the demo so I made one thing incorrectly first that I had to redo. I was so out of it at first!!! Then I continued to work as my usual self. Chef said that it was beautiful. He didn't taste it or anything...but he thought it looked great! It was an easy class.

Then Kaili and I went to dinner at a Thai restaurant that we got the name of from a friend. It was really tasty and nice for a change to have some flavor instead of just salt ;) Then I walked home and am about to study a little for school. STUDY?!?! i know...but i have finals in two weeks and i wanna graduate! Have a good nite folks! Shoot me an email...I'd like to know what's going on in your life! love you.

poids

I have to personal blog sometimes and i haven't done it yet. So this is my first one. If you care to read, be my guest. If you don't, feel free to bypass. I guess I could have somehow blocked it from my readers to read this one, but I have recieved some emails from people being concerned on this matter so I thought I would speak my peace. It's about my weight. Yes...i have gained weight. Not a lot, not a little. But enough to make my jeans tight. My clothes don't fit and things feel uncomfortable. But not me. I'M not uncomfortable. For the first time in my life, if you all know me, i am NOT on a diet. Not any kind. Not taking pills, not looking on the back of a box for the calorie count...not even yogurt! Even though I joined the gym, if one day I don't feel like going I won't go and i DON'T feel guilty. I joined it cause I actually MISSED it from back home (i know!) And you know what...that feels good. It feels like a HUGE weight (no pun intended) has been lifted from me. I don't have to worry about fitting into a costume, or thinking about if the director is going to want me for a role depending on my size. I can actually eat and ENJOY the food. Ok, maybe I am enjoying a bit too much, but it's like I've NEVER done it before so I am splurging. I guess it must be in my genes that the weight comes on quickly or something. And I have finally come to terms with myself that that is OK. It's ok because I am beautiful, and I am smart, and I am talented and I have a lot to offer. I should NEVER be judged by my weight and people shouldn't like me for how much I weigh. I love myself and because of that, others should love me too. It took me a LONG LONG LONG time to get to this point in my life, but I love food. I can't help it. And I don't want ANYONE to take my passion for food away from me. And if it means being 20 lbs heavier than the "average" then SO BE IT. And you know what...I AM NOT FAT! Wake up people in this world! I am normal. I like myself the way I am. I know there will always be a part of me that "feels fat" or wants to lose weight, but don't we all? No matter how thin we are? But your weight doesn't make you who YOU are. I am me...not my weight. So, I'm going to be me..and enjoy me...and wake up every morning and be thankful I'm healthy enough to eat the good food that I can actually make now and eat without guilt! I can't live my life anymore thinking about how fat I am...it's no way to live. To all of you who are concerned with me gaining weight...THANK YOU for the emails and your love...but I am actually enjoying my life because i CAN eat which is something i have ALWAYS loved but could never fully enjoy it til now. I guess i just needed to be out of my normal environment to realize that I could enjoy myself. I have to thank my friends here in France who have listened to me gab about this and cry about this. You have truely been my support through this and you are all right. Thank you and I owe you the world. Feel free to comment on this if you care. If not...thanx for letting me vent ;)

Feb 20, 2007

GREAT DAY! didn't have class til 3:30...so I woke up at 7:45...went to the gym came home, got ready for my day and left at 10:15 to begin my hr trek to this amazing store! However, I got majorly sidetracked. I stopped at an english bookstore and bought Kaili her architectural digest, and then I bought myself a london time out (cause im looking to go there on my break), and a paris guide to the best restaurants! duh! Then I stopped at a famous bakery/restaurant Angelina's to try their macaroons. HORRIBLE! oh well. Then I continued my walk but I kept stopping to look at all these cute shops! Anyway, I got to my store...GREAT store. However I had to contain myself. I spent WAY too much money on the CUTEST shoes EVER, which you will see on friday nite...after i take pictures. I also bought two necklaces :) Then I continued to shop and went to H&M (which I like better in the states) and bought 3 pairs of tights. Then I realized I should head back to school. Well i wasn't gonna make it if I walked...so i took the metro and met katie for tea at our place. I ate some lunch and had some really good caramel tea. Then at 3:30 we had PD. We learned Bostock, which is day old brioche with almond cream...one of my old time favs from old school (FPS) and a pear charlotte which was VERY yummy! Then at 6:30 I had CP. We made the duck. Class went SUPER smoothly. However I was not in a great mood. Don't know why...but it was one of those days. So chef helped me out a little more than usual today. It was nice. Chef complimented me on my plate. He said my turning was good, my meat was cooked perfectly, my veggies were cooked correctly, my jus was good, and my presentation was good. So overall...good.

We got out at 8:10 (normally class ends at 9:30) so we talked over a Coca Light. Then I came home and blogged. Toodles

Feb 19, 2007

This is a weird week...so classes are at odd times for me! 8:30 we had PP and a good one at that! We made brioche! What a fun class ;) It was pretty calm and relaxed. My side of class got to butter the molds, while the other side made the pastry cream...i got pretty lucky! It was rather hard to put the dough in the mold though...my dough heads kept getting hidden! Oh well. Anyway, they came out pretty. My pains aux raisins had a little too much pastry cream, BUT it made it really moist and I think they taste better. Chef said they looked very nice. I was proud of myself. The big loaf was also a lot of fun to make and a LOT more fun to eat. Since there were six balls put into the pan, when you tear it apart, six pieces are there automatically. It's cool!

Then at 11 we had a LONG break, so I went home to drop off my stuff and eat a good lunch for once! Then I walked to Montparnasse to change over some american money which is such a joke! The exchange rate sucks...so i barely got any money back. Then I shopped a little, but didn't buy anything. I did pick up dinner for later cause I knew I had a a long night ahead of me. I went back to school for a 3:30 CD. We learned really bad tasting oysters, roasted duck, and orange souffle. The other two were ok. After class I ate my dinner with just enough time to relax for a few minutes before wine class. It was my second to last week of wine class. We learned a lot of technical stuff. Next week we are taking a test. Boo! Walked home, talked online, and went to bed.

dimanche paresseux

Well, I woke up at 9:30 ready to start my day...did some stuff and about 10:45 i got back in bed cause i felt sick to my stomach! didn't know why...but i layed around/slept til 1ish. Then I decided to eat something, walk around see how I felt. A few friends called but I really didn't feel like going out yet. I sat at my computer for a while. Then at 3 I decided to get in the shower and walk over to Sarah's house (the girl who cooked me dinner last nite), and we went for a nice walk! We just walked around, by a park and stuff. Then sat down for a drink outside since once again it was 60 and sunny :) Then at 7:30 I met Jackson and Lauren at Kaili's house for wine tasting night! We tasted 4 white wines, then ate a home cooked meal by the three of them (not me!) Then I went home and crashed :) Like I said...lazy sunday!

Passy

Today I woke up at 10 and cleaned my room like a MAD woman!!! I need to do laundry though. Anyway...after putzing around on my computer for a few hours...at 1 pm I decided to brave the outdoors. I put on sweats so I could go to the gym when i was done, but the second I walked outside i KNEW i didn't need the gym today! WOAH! felt like 60 degrees and SUNNY! I was wearing a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, sweatpants and my winter coat! i had to take my sweatshirt off...it was so nice out. (sorry to u chi-peeps!) Anyway, I walked to the hairdresser that I wanted to make an appt at. He spoke english so I was VERY excited. So I made an appt. Then instead of the gym I did a city walk, which i brought with JUST incase i decided to do one. It was called Passy :) As I was walking I took these beautiful pictures of the Eiffel Tower, the fake statue of liberty and the Seine River.



Then I walked on my city walk and came to the Musee du Vin. It was great! It was a wine museum.

The best part was that, it originally costs 25 euros to get in, but because I am a student, it was only 7!!!! Bargain. I was walking through, and at the time i happened to be the only one in there, and it was dark (unlike the picture) and i turned to my right to see this man (as you can see in the picture) and i was scared shitless. I almost peed in my pants i was so scared. Then I realized it was fake. But it was so believable!

Then at the end of the tour they give you a free wine tasting! So because I am in wine class, I sat down and did all of my steps to tasting a glass of wine. I wrote it all down so I could bring it to class :) Then I left and continued my walk. I got very emotional cause I walked through this park with old people (which u can see my pictures of). I just thought it was beautiful. It really made me miss home though. So i got sappy :)


I continued to walk and the card said to go to this market and buy a bread called a fougasses. So i bought one with olives in it. Later I realized that it was like focacia bread, but not the exact same. Tasted good though! Then the card said to go to Chez Yannick, one of the best crepes makers in town and have a fermented apple cider. So i did just that! I had a banana and nutella crepe with whipped cream and ice cream and an apple cider. Just delicious.

I truely felt like rachel ray today on under 40 dollars a day! hahaha. Except i'm a better baker than her ;) Then i realized what time it was so I had to go home. I actually took the metro cause i was running late. I came home and realized I didn't have to address or phone number for my friend Sarah's house who was having Kaili and I over for dinner that night. So i texted everyone i knew. Well no one knew what to do. Long story short, i got the number, called her, got her address, and Kaili and i got there at 7:30. We had a GREAT dinner and dessert (thank you sarah!!!) and I went home at around 11:30 very satisfied! Went to bed exhausted!