Showing posts with label simple pleasures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label simple pleasures. Show all posts

It's all about the love

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Of Paris.
Of wine.
Of street music.
Of street artists.
Of painters.
Of cute old men.
Of streetside cafes.
Of french baguettes.
Of chocolate fondant.
Of metropole diversity.
Of french cabarets.
Of everything grand, glorious and chic.

It's all about the love... of the bestest of friends.

If anyone would have told me that I was going to be giddy with excitement to make a weekend escape to catch up with T at her new home in Paris, I would have laughed. And yet I was. Giddy like a four year old waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve.It'd been a year since I'd seen the woman, yet you know what they say...
"What destiny brings together, let no distance break apart."
Crutches, miscellaneous infections and sheer exhaustion aside (are we getting old, or what?!), I walked off the plane, and straight back in time. We never missed a beat.

We got hopelessly lost... in the airport.
We 'lost' the car.
We ate Spanish tapas to make up for lost time.
I approved The Boy (as if it were ever up to me).
We drank wine.
We wandered and gawked, posed and took pictures.
We laughed at the 50EUR wedding super streets.
We played flower-on-the-wall in cabarets full of character.
We talked and chatted, gossiped and counseled, conspired and sympathized ...
for two days on end.

We were reminded of the power of friends.

It could be the city, but I'm pretty sure it has more to do with the people inside it.

As seen from the cheap seats

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On my first visit to Vienna I committed a near mortal sin, forgetting that she who visits Vienna shall not leave without attending the opera. Not wanting to commit such a grave error the second time 'round, V. extended every hospitality for a great night out on the town, including a visit to the Wiener Staatsoper to take in Le Nozze Di Figaro like all good locals should.

This was my first opera, mind you, and we had just about zero interest in shelling out the big bucks for tix. Instead, we joined the throngs of those arriving two hours early to hang around the back door in the hopes of snagging cheap seats.

At the front door, all the elegant tux-and-gown, see-and-be-seen opera goers. At the back door, all the bratwurst in hand, holes-in-my-jeans and five-miles-of-scarves-in-my-hand bargain hunters. Not to brag, dear tux and gowners, but your ticket cost more than 200 euros. Ours cost 4. That's right, four.

Four euros for direct center stage tickets on the ground level. Never mind we had to stand and were packed in like sardines--it is part of the adventure. Kinda like comparing first class Titanic passengers to those in the steerage. The cheap seats are where the party's at.

If I would have had my camera, there would have been pictures of legs. Lots of legs. From those much needed sitting (squatting?) breaks when you look up and are only reminded of what the world looked like when you were 4 years old.

There would be pictures of scarves. All the scarves "reserving" people's places hours before the show started. The scarves over which all out brawls started, including yours truly as she battled out our territory with the snotty Spanish woman.

There would be pictures of people on the ground. Where can you ever have a group of people standing squashed together for four hours without at least one person passing out? At least this time it wasn't me.

And there would be a picture of my Coke. My Coke that cost more than my ticket to the show.

And the show? Great. I'd do it again anytime ... but only from the cheap seats.

The treasures of New Year cleanings

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Just when I think that I am the only one who starts things (especially handwritten letters ...), only to leave them unfinished and find them buried in the piles months--if not years--later, good friends are here to remind me that, no, I am not alone.

Case in point, this 2005 unsent postcard-turned-2010-New-Year's-treasure rediscovered by G amidst New Year cleanings.


Oddly enough, it brings just as much--if not MORE--of a smile to my face now as it would have five years ago.

In the spirit of sending smiles, maybe I should follow suit and scan over all of my own 'unfinished business' ...

The one that got away

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So I've been told about ten times in the last two days that I'm slacking in the blog department these days. I got it. I can take a hint. Problem is, we're now going on what, two weeks? where the "next" blog might fall into the category of "the one that got away"...

A few woulda been, coulda been blogs that have run through (and out) of my head over the last couple of weeks ...
  • the total decimation of my prized, grown-from-seed basil plants by some very hungry, very naughty natural predator
  • the joys of unexpectedly receiving a $500 check in the mail for energy you inadvertently saved through the winter months (joys made all that much sweeter when such a check arrives the same day you realise you quite literally have $9 - that's right N-I-N-E measly buckaroos to your name until payday ... still 12 days away)
  • effective and little known strategies for dealing with surprisingly persistent peeping tom voyeurs
  • philosophical ponderings of a book review on the deeply depressing, clearly highly symbolic and entirely over my head Ensayo sobre la ceguera. If anyone can give me a Cliff's Notes explaination of this one I'm ready and waiting.
  • continued strange but true tales of "All in a day's walk". Today's winner? (As I walk by) highly intelligent gawker guy: "Hey woman. You looking for a husband? Oh, wait, you walk with too much confidence to be a real woman, you must be looking for a girlfriend". Um, right. Heaven forbid we ladies should ever "walk with confidence" - we just might deprive our inner feminity.
  • ten reasons why I am now blogging away in complete and utter darkness-save for the glow of my screen-and having conniption fits about the bugs in my bed
But alas, with the recent job change and many a long day now spent designing websites, integrating blogging, Twitter, FB and all the other social networking sites, and writing everything under the sun from official statements and speeches, to press releases, funding appeals, project proposals ..... I think it's safe to say that my creative (and especially writing) needs are now quite satisfied for the moment in ways never before seen. Totally and utterly zapped to be quite honest. But what with vacation just around the corner ... perhaps the next blog will actually stay on the line.


What was I thinking?

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Call it a genetic flaw, but I was, am and probably always will be known for having uncanny champagne taste. Not the kind where you buy expensive things because they're expensive and thus somehow seem enticing, but rather the kind where you have no idea what the price tags are and yet will inevitably, without fail, fall in love with the most expensive one.

(Acutally, come to think of it, the title What was I thinking? could very easily become a weekly feature of this blog in one way or another, but for today's edition ... )

WOman receives sample size bottle (read a full two squirts) of Biotherm Aqua Source Non-Stop Oligo-Thermal Gel Intense Moisturization Gel (whatever all that's supposed to mean ...) months ago as "gift" with her one regular personal hygiene splurge (note, even that one is *only* $30 a bottle), falls in love with the stuff, thinks she'll look into buying some as a little congratulatory bonus come first pay check in July.

WOman and manfriend investigate prices weeks back and are totally, entirely put off of the idea of buying some even as a congratulatory bonus after seeing that the stuff costs $70.

WOman is in store today to buy nothing but A $2 PEN, but thinks, "hmm, maybe I'll just stop by and see how much the stuff costs here" - with absolutely no intention to even consider buying it.

WOman tries to play cool with the saleslady, internally rehearsing the line, "Mmm, very nice. And how much is it. Mmm. I'm running late for an appointment tonight, but I'll be back tomorrow to look some more" (ahem. NOT.)

But then the dang saleslady has to go and say that the price is *only* $50 and suddenly the bells are all ringing in my head .... $50 bucks?!?! THIS IS SUCH A STEAL!!!!

All internal rehearsals blown to the wind, what do I do? Buy the stuff, of course ... only to walk out the door and back into reality three minutes later ... DID I REALLY JUST PAY $50 bucks for some (admittedly amazing) gel stuff to slather all over my face???

Then again, they DID throw in a free (?!) beach towel as a "gift" and, well, heaven knows those things usually cost at least $20. All things considered, maybe I only really paid $30 then ...... right?? Let's just hope this stuff is as great as I think it is a month from now when I'm eating nothing but rice until payday ...


Confessions of a hermit

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By now you must be thinking ... hmmm, she went about two weeks without hardly showing signs of life, and now she's writing about every day. Must be going through a boring streak.

Actually no, it's just that I was thoroughly indulging in my hermit-ness thanks to this dang book series that has me turning down all things humanely social. Thanks to the fantastic digital librarian/bookstore "if you liked X book, you might like Y book" recommendations, I recently stumbled upon the Outlander series, by Diana Gabaldon ... and have been so totally, entirely, embarrassingly sucked into them I hesitate to even mention it publicly.

Impressive considering that, even at 1000+ pages a pop the story is not repetitive in the least, these suckers are the kind of books where you stay up until 3AM reading because you can't put it down and, in my pathetic case, forgo walking to and from work just so you can get that extra 40 minutes of reading time on the bus. Pathetic, I know.

To my credit, though, I have been pacing myself ... self-imposing a minimum two-week wait between books so as to regain some sense of social propriety and get in at least a couple of half-way nutritional meals before delving into the next one in the series. Only problem now is my book "supplier" / co-worker / co-Outlander addict and I have gotten up to book four ... and now have to wait until the next visitor of North American origin comes to import the last three of the seven-book series.
(Any volunteers?)

Ok, enough of the nerdiness already. But really, if you liked
The time traveller's wife and haven't read these, you're missing out ...


You know it's going to be a great summer when ...

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... it's only the middle of May and your last two consecutive weekends have already been fully blessed with...

tent-worthy sunshine...

oodles of food ...

cold beer on tap...

authentic "campside" Irish song and dance...

great company...

... and seven hours of free wine in picturesque countryside.
(OK, this pic is from last year, but I had my hands full of other things this time 'round).


Add in a fab birthday party, delish Nepali food, horrendous allergies, lazy days in the lakeside parks and some Italian-style gelatto and, well, you could just about say summer's already here.

PS Cheers to Charles (or whatever your name is) for all the great pics.


All in a day's walk

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GVA


Considering that walking to work involves 3 miles of idyllic "European old town", tree-lined parks, a riverside and infamous Lake Geneva, complete with spouting fountain, my own two feet are generally the preferred mode of transportation. Next time I'm contemplating whether I'd really not rather sleep an extra half hour and take the tram, however, I'll have to remind myself of all the exciting things that I'd be missing - as per this evening's wander home:

100-odd aspiring runners

dozens of dads out playing with their kids

2 burka-clad bicyclists

4 Lamborghinis

1 tremendously well-dressed man-woman

3 joints worth of second-hand weed

90-odd super cool rollerbladers

4 jugglers

1 remote control airplane crash

3 teams of sparring jousters

And last, but not certainly not least,

1 well-groomed 50-year old man, squatting slightly, holding his pants up in one hand (though still well below the bum), a mini boom box in the other and ... clucking like a chicken.



All play and no work

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Commemorating a once-in-a-blue-moon occasion, we finally got at least a fairly good chunk of the office crew out of the office and doing something together. I seem to remember that sort of thing being termed 'team building' in the States, but it seems to be a bit of a foreign concept around these parts.

With spouses, partners and rambunctious children in tow, we ordered up (and were graciously served!) absolutely incredible weather, powder snow and many a good laugh as poles were broken, bums were bruised, fearful mothers were dragged up to the black runs by their eight-year-olds and steaming mulled wine was happily downed.

Did I mention I work with a great team? Or that I have the most patient partner ever when it comes to his pro ski moves and my, uh, not so pro ones?? Or that it really doesn't get much more beautiful than Switzerland??

Don't believe me? Take a peek at some of the weekend's pictures HERE.

When I grow up

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Oh, the internet. Rumour has it that this was printed in a Baltimore newspaper - an elementary school student's "When I grow up" illustration, together with mom's response to the surely flabbergasted teacher...

homedepotmommy1

Dear Teacher,

I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer. I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole. It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot. From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.

Sincerely,

Mother

For the R-E-C-O-R-D

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I know, I know, you were thinking that Scrabble was just a little cardboard board with a bunch of letters on top, but prepare to be enlightened ... Scrabble in English, Scrabble in French, Scrabble in Spanish, Scrabble in German ... it's not just the box that makes 'em different, it's the freakin' letters.

So next time you're looking for a little weekend entertainment, try shelling out 50 buckaroos for the French version... then play in English. Heaven only knew that consonants hardly exist in French ... try making a word out of four Es, two Is and an A. I bid thee good luck.

Oh, and if you DO succeed in making some sort of sense out of all the thoroughly overrepresented vowels, try seeing how it feels to realise that your incredible word is worth, oh, about ZERO points. Indeed, the linguistic differences cover both the quantity of letters and the freakin' points. Go Scrabble.

So with the voice of my grandmother ringing in my ears as we attempted to slip by with

acronyms, abbreviations and the occassional proper noun ("No, no, no! You can't DO that!!") we finally slipped into multilingual mode ... English, French, German, Spanish ... it all flies so long as you can fully explain the word and its meaning.

En fin, au revoir brainless indulgence, hallo new educational tool ....

Fresh mountain air and that pain of knowing you're alive

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davos-ski-weekend-0581

Yesterday was one of those days when you look all around you with your mouth gaping open at the crystal blue sky, warm sunshine, glittering white snow and towering, majestic mountains and, as you tumble helter skelter down the slopes, return to do it a little more gracefully, lounge at the mountaintop bar and sip your hot toddy, you think - life is beautiful.

TODAY is one of those days when you wake up in the morning and think you must have somehow inadvertently slept through being hit by a truck. You discover muscles you never knew you had - holding a door open without your whole arm shaking to high heaven might just be asking a lot. Then you think, yes, life is beautiful and this is the pain of knowing you're alive.

Next time, though, I think I might pop the painkiller before I even hit the hills.

Simple pleasures of green!

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I remember what springtime meant when I was a wee one ... dreaded trips to the garden nursery to pick out boring plants and flowers. Don't get me wrong, I always enjoyed drawing lines and poking little holes in the dirt with my fingers in preparation for planting the seeds in the big vegetable garden Dad always masterminded when we were growing up. (Yes, masterminded ... he always had it perfectly laid out so that the water would trickle down, the tall plants wouldn't leave the others without sun ...) And I loved harvesting (and eating!) our bounty when the crunchy corn and oh-so-sweet peas, beans, carrots, lettuce, potatoes etc. etc. was finally ready for pickin'. Few would argue, I think, of the extreme superiority of home grown food.

But anything between the actually planting and the harvesting I despised. Weeding? No thank you. More visits to the garden nursery. Pass. Gardening was boring. Years later, I went to work with "the" landscaping crew ... and quite honestly didn't mind it. I got to bask in the sun, play in the mud and use my hands while I daydreamed the day away.

I never would have imagined getting excited to start my own garden though. Gardens are for "old" people, remember? Yesterday, though we got the urge and decided it was time to turn the balcony into a garden. Taking advantage of having a car in town, Marcel and I headed off to the do-it hardware/garden store like two little kids (is that a fair analogy now that I've said kids don't like those kinds of stores??) ... running up and down the aisles trying to decide what to plant in our garden.

By the time we got home, we had four "garden boxes" ... one for the herb garden - full of basil, oregano, rosemary and cilantro, one for "the salads" - full of lettuce and a single stalk of corn (which we've later learned needs a friend to cross-pollinate with), one for the onions and leeks and one for the wild flowers. Then of course there are the hanging baskets, tomato plant and various other small containers planted with leftover seeds of the aforementioned.

It had been forever since either one of us played in dirt, dug holes for seeds and broke up the roots on the little "sapling" plants ... how easy it is to forget what a simple pleasure it is! Betsy, the big basil plant and I have been bonding for the last three months and it's amazing how just the simple stepping-out-onto-the-balcony to pick some fresh basil for dinner can bring such a smile ... not to mention wonderful freshness ...

So now that I'm ready to admit that I love going to flower festivals and having my own garden ... does that mean I'm old???
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