Plaza pictures!

I keep forgetting to put up pictures of the Plaza Athenee...where I will be starting work on Monday! When I was there last week I took some pictures of the outside! Mind you...this place is VERY fancy. I took only ONE picture of a Maserati...but there were TWO there! And that's not even it...there was EVERY kind of car imaginable there!!! They have a fancy door man and we chatted when I was there! I also saw an adorable chihuahua when I was there. This is the place where I saw Don Johnson when my parents were intown. In anycase...enjoy the pictures that i took!
(if you click on the last picture you can blow it up and see some of the desserts I HOPE I will be making!!!)

just keep swimming...

So i am. Too much going on since i last posted. So my greece trip has changed dates. Not too much. But instead of April 3-11 I am going April 10-18 which means after my stage I have from March 25 to April 10 to pack all my stuff and send it home. Then when I return i have about 4 days to finish packing and leave! Then I finally got the approval from Birthright to go on a trip...so I am planning that for late june or july! However I won't hear officially til march. But like i said...just keep swimming!

I had my interview yesterday with Plaza Athenee. I am in love with Christophe Michalak. If he asked me to move to Paris to be with him...i would! hahaah. He is beautiful but most of all...talented as hell when it comes to Pastries!!! I admire him so much. I didn't get to formally meet him yesterday, but he came out of his office yesterday and did a double take when he saw me :) Good sign, right? But i am SOOOOO excited to start working there...even if it is only for a month. I am going to make the most of my month!

As far as cooking goes at home...I made the most wonderful Salmon dish this past week. It was a thai salmon with vegetables. I found the recipe on epicurious and I've been eating leftovers all week! It was outstanding and it's now in my book for good! I will be making that at home a LOT!! Also, on valentine's day me and Asima threw a mini dinner party with 4 other people, 6 in total. I made a rumpsteak and mashed sweet potatoes and asima made spinach and some amazing appetizer that i don't know the name of plus some other starter things. There was also bread and wine and everyone enjoyed it very much! We had fun! It was a love filled evening :) Asima also made a GREAT lamb dish this week. I don't know how she does it...but she kinda throws things together that taste good. I'm still in the "using a recipe" phase! But either way...we make a good team.

So today will be my 6th day jogging straight. I'm still at it...even though the temperature dropped. But it feels good and it's getting easier. I also fit into another pair of pants which is a good sign! And i went to visit Gerard Mulot (my old job) and they told me i lost weight and looked great. So i think i'll keep up the jogging! Plus I got some pictures sent to me from my HEG program in Nov and WOW have i lost weight. I might post them because it's crazy to see how long ago that way now!

Oh yah...the sales end today...but I bought ANOTHER pair of boots a few days ago when Asima and I went shopping! NO MORE THOUGH! hahaha. These ones were too cute though. Aren't they all! haha.

Anyway...i'm off to go jogging! Then tonite I think is movie night ;) Hope everyone in the states is ANXIOUSLY awaiting my arrival home! I know i'm preparing myself already...

It's Official!!

Well yesterday, for some crazy reason, when I was "waiting for life to begin..." it began!!!! It kinda all just fell into place! I don't know how it happened...but it did! Well...I went jogging again. Day two. My body hurt...but in a good way. I think this is good for me! In anycase...after that I came home and went right back out...to buy shoes (but they didn't have my size- so i didn't buy any!) So i came right back home. And then it all happened. I got the call I've been waiting for...I GOT MY NEXT STAGE! Plaza Athenee. However, it will only be for one month February 25th- March 25th. If you click on the link on the right- Christophe Michalak- he will be my head chef...and he's AMAZING! So i am VERY fortunate and lucky to be able to even go there for one month!!!! So i am pumpped! After that happened, I called to see if I could change my greece/turkey cruise to earlier and they said it was ok! So (for a small fee) I changed that. THEN i had to change the flight...and with a little bit more than a small fee, i changed that flight. So I will be going on that from April 3rd to April 11th. THEN i FINALLY booked a flight home (and now that it's done...i'm kinda sad) which is April 24th. So i will be in Chicago- April 24th, which is a whole month earlier than I expected. But it was something that needed to be done. I am also planning my Birthright Israel trip sometime in June I think which is also very exciting! So as you can see...life is beginning and all coming together. I can't wait to see what's instore next...

productive!!!

Yesterday I found a WHOLE new meaning to that word...i actually was :) hahaha. In anycase, I woke up and I jogged outside. It's a first for me...but since i don't have a gym membership I am trying something new. Asima said she was going to go with me and train me how to do it, but since she was still asleep and i was highly motivated, I went with my gut and just left the house. I jogged for 25 min. Mind you, it was SLOW but I did it :) When I finished, I felt like i ran a marathon...not that I was tired...but proud. I actually wasn't tired at all. The ONLY reason I stopped was because I was bored! Even listening to music I was still bored! Oh well. Atleast i jogged right? Then I came home, got dressed asap and was going to go to starbucks to work on my paper...but i thought to myself "i feel so inspired that I'm gonna stay at home and work" The reason I felt inspired was because someone who took my HEG program before sent me some tips on how to write a thesis and their old paper so I had more of an idea on where I was going with this whole thing. So what I did was made a nice pot of coffee and sat in my living room and just started to write. Well a few hrs later, I got out 7 pages! GO ME! that was amazing for me! Plus i got some extra research in there! I was pleasantly surprised. Eventually i left the house to go get a few groceries and then came home and made a GREAT dinner. I made a white fish just broiled with garlic, lentils, boiled asparagus and HOLLANDAISE sauce :) Yep you read that right. I made it from scratch. It's not that easy, and not that hard. I had to make it twice though. The first time it broke and i KNOW how to save it, so i did. But then it broke again because it sat around too long (not knowing when A was coming home) and i couldn't save it. So i started over again. No biggy! But then dinner was FANTASTIC! Just light and healthy and VERY tasty! Then after that I felt so good, I went and read a few chapters of my new book which is VERY uplifting. I went to bed around 10:30 and just thought to myself...wow....i had a productive day. I was pleased ;)

Tres Jolie!

So the past few days I have been walking EVERYWHERE! My friend Maria was intown so I walked to meet her in Saint Michel and then we walked to Bastille and then I walked back home. Overall that was a 2 plus hr walk for me. Then yesterday Asima and I walked to the Marais and stopped to shop inbetween which was an hr walk (without the stopping). So needless to say I LOVE to walk. Plus the weather here is PERFECT! 50 degrees and sunny! I've been wearing my lightweight coat, throwing on my showtunes on my ipod and strolling! And this is why i LOVE Paris! I took some beautiful pictures as well that I wanted to share with you.



I know I complain about being bored when I am not working...but just walking and taking in the surrounding is really helping me to appreciate where i live and what i do more. So I hope these pictures help YOU capture that too. This is truely a dream to be here.

In other stories...Asima, Manuel and Chris and I went for pizza last nite. I had a wonderful salad with shrimp and avacado! YUMMERS! Then A went home because she saw the movie...but me and the boys went to see Juno! GREAT movie! And I LOVE having Maria in town! She is an AMAZING FRIEND! I am so lucky to have her in my life. After we left each other a couple of nights ago i got really depressed because i realized that when i move back to the states I can't just hop on a plane and say, "i'll be there in 2 hrs". How sad huh? So I really need to appreciate the time i have with her when i do have it! We are going for mexican food right now!!

Small things-did i ever mention i have an elevator again? well i do. It's pretty updated now too. I have a glass door for those of you who actually saw it. And it moves quicker now too! Oh and my gym membership is over. So I think Asima is going to train me how to run! I KNOW I KNOW. But it's super healthy and I wanna get some exercise...so we'll see! And that medicine...it IS making me a bit bloated. One more day of it...and then hopefully i can get back on track. How annoying!! As far as the job...i should find out this week and then I am also planning my birthright trip this week and then my trip home! It's all happening so fast! EEKS! But i'm ready to begin my new journey...ready to join?

oh great...

So my wonderful jean day yesterday had a HUGE unterruption. I looked adorable. As you can see in the pictures ;) (with my cool new boots...and i got tons of compliments on them! Guess they were worth the price!)


Anyway...but i had to go to the dr. Well he gave me more amoxicilline and then prednisone. I knew I heard of it before but I didn't remember. So my mom called and i told her what the deal was. She is like "you are gonna HATE taking that" I was like why? She said...i took it in HS when I had hives to reduce inflammation and it's a pill that makes you GAIN WEIGHT! I was like GREAT!!!! after all this achievement. ARGH! in anycase...i'm only taking them for 5 days and it's only a low dose...so i'll just be very careful on what i eat!

After that I came home and Asima and I went out to run an errand and then I went to LCB again for a visiting chef from the 2 star (3 star for 31 or 32-cant remember- years...lost one recently) restaurant called Taillevent.



The pastry was Arnaud Vodounou and then his asst was Andrea. They made two desserts.

Craquant aux feves de tonka (crunchy shortbread with tonka bean cream)

Fantasie de fruits exotiques (tropical fruit fantasie)

Then I came home for about two seconds and I met up with Maria from Portugal (my very good friend from the HEG program!) and we ate a restaurant in paris that specializes in fruit dishes called Paradis de fruit. It was ok. I had a crab salad. Then after that we quickly grabbed some starbucks and then I went out with Fernando and then introduced him to teddy! I KNEW that was a matchmade in heaven!!! I'm so good ;) Then fernando and I went back to his place to chat and before i knew it, it was 3ish so I walked home. I went to bed around 3:45! CRAZY day for me!!! But atleast I wasn't bored out of my mind!

In other news (so i don't have to write a new blog!) I watched the movie Across the Universe (the beatles one) on my computer...but for some reason the last 9 minutes didn't work! ARGH! So whatever...i'll find a way to watch it. But then a few nights ago Asima and I watched Sicko (FINALLY!!) and 1) the SOS medecin that came to my house last friday was IN the movie...hilarious and 2) I'm moving to canada or cuba :) JK! But seriously...i guess i don't realize how bad it really is! CRAZY!!!

Other news...that's it. I need to be working on my thesis...and i'm NOT!!! But i sure am enjoying living the life in Paris...

jeans!

I woke up this morning and I am about to go to the dr because i STILL can't hear...but i decided to try on one of the two pairs of jeans I've been avoiding. I know i've lost some weight...but i'm still avoiding them because i'm in denial. Anyway...i tried on the one pair...and they FIT! So i had to blog because no one is up yet that I can share my joy with! So i'm blogging about it to get it out of my system. Everything slow...but in time. No rush this time...and not doing it to lose weight...but for some health concerns that I'm having...this is just a bonus! And they look ADORABLE with my new boots. I'll try and take a picture. Maybe next week i'll be brave enough to try on the other pair...