Ready or Not?!?!?

So how do I spend my last day in the US? Packing, of course, and calling to confirm my hotel reservation only to have the guy not speak any English thus forcing me to call my friend Nick who speaks French and ask him to call and talk to my hotel!  Thankfully I had sense to do this as they had me arriving on the wrong day?!

 So, minus that drama and  a few last minute throw ins, I'm packed and ready to go.  While this is the first time I've travelled without making a "packing list", I feel pretty confident that I've got everything I need and if I don't, well....c'est la vie, mon ami! (No better time than the present to start learning French right?)

Regardless, I've got the essentials....underwear, money and my passport! Afterall, I'm a simple girl and could definitely get by with just the above three items :)

As for the rest of my day.... good old quality time with the family and then a bonvoyage dinner!!

As for dinner, all I can say is that I hope the restaurants in Paris are as good as OPA!

YUM-O!

Here's little Miss enjoying her dessert...

(Man, I'm gonna miss this cuteness so much!)

....just as much as Mommy!

Hmph....more tomorrow!

Thursday morning, 2:45am: A co-worker askes, "So when do you leave?" "Sunday.", I reply. "Sunday, as in four days from now? Are you ready?", she asks. "Nope!"

I literally have so much stuff to do its not even funny.  Typically four days before any trip I've got a "packing list" done, clothes already in a suitcase, etc. but not this time.  Things are just too crazy right now and I'm just too burnt-out from it all. 

My week for example has gone like this:
Monday- last final exam for the semester.
Tuesday- tennis lesson, lunch with some girlfriends, Emma's doctor's appointment (that's right, Mommy's getting ready to leave the country and little Miss decides it's time to start not feeling good), a last minute dinner out, work.
Wednesday- an hour and a half nap, tennis lesson and first match, a quick run to the hospital, another quick nap, work again.
Thursday- finally a day to sleep, about an hour of staring at an empty suitcase, a whole bunch of thinking...., numerous phone calls.

Crap! I've got yet one more night of work and another tennis lesson tomorrow.  I've got to get to the grocery store, clean the house, do laundry, spend some quality time with the family, go to the bank to pick up my euros, find someone to take me and pick me up from the airport and pack.  Oh man!  Nothing like waiting til the last minute....

On another note, a couple of my friends are going through some pretty rough times; a premature birth and a home burglary, so please keep them in your thoughts!  Hang in there girls! You're both are tough and will get through this, I promise!!

Where I've Been and Where I'm Going

So you're interested in knowing what things I've already crossed off my list, huh?  Hmmm, I know I just got done posting something about being honest to a fault but I'm going to have to contradict myself and let you know that some things on my list are off limits to the public...sorry!  But, I'll share what I feel comfortable sharing on both past and present "to-do's".

I guess in really no order, the things I've done....(and hey, no making fun! Remember I started this list when I was like 14.)

-Go bungee jumping.
-Watch the sunrise over both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
-Go on a blind date.
-Swim with the dolphins.
-Mend a broken heart.
-See a Broadway play.
-Go rock climbing/repelling.
-Donate blood.
-Be a Mom.
-Publish some type of literary work.
-Miss someone so bad it hurts.
-Go on a cruise.
-Learn how to knit/crochet.
-Comfort a dying person.
-Have a summer romance.
-Volunteer at a soup kitchen.
-Learn sign language.
-Fall in love.
-Write a love letter.


Things still to do.....

-Run a 5K.
-Learn to surf.
-Go skydiving.
-Sing karaoke.
-See the aurora borealis.
-Open a restaurant or bakery.
-Fly first class.
-Live in a foreign country for six months.
-Learn to sail.
-Participate in Operation Smile.
-Deliver a baby.
-Go cliff diving.
-Read the top 100 novels of all time.
-Take a pottery class.
-Visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Alright, so not everything off my list but you get the idea!  What about you guys?  Let's hear some of your "to-do's"!!

"Live as well as you dare." -Sydney Smith

About Me...

To be honest, I'm surprised by the amount of people who have emailed me regarding my blog.  Some of you are close friends, some of you I know from various encounters and some of you I don't know from Adam.  Regardless, I didn't really think any one would take the time to follow this adventure of mine but I kind of like the fact that you are....thanks! (By the way, add me to your list of blogs you are following so others can see you are out there!)

Anyway, I've gotten the typical response from a lot you about how you think I'm crazy for going to Paris alone but others, specifically the people I don't know or at least don't know well, have sent emails full of questions; the most common asking me to tell a little bit more about myself, the second most common asking me to share about the things I've already crossed off my list.

So I thought for fun I'd try and post a little about who I am....

Where to begin?  I guess with some basics....

My birthday is Sept. 26th so I'm a Libra, for whatever that's worth.  I'm honest to a fault and will, for the most part, answer any question that I'm asked (thus explaining why I'm writing this post to begin with).  I love being outdoors and have always gotten along better with men.  I'm passionately in love with learning and love nothing more than to curl up with a good book which I will devour in a mere few hours. I wholeheartedly believe in the saying, "Sticks and stones may break bones, but words can shatter a soul."  I have a small group of close friends who mean the world to me and they probably know me better than I know myself.  I'm independent, stubborn, hot-headed and loving wrapped all in one.  I hate nothing more than those who are nice to your face but then talk about you behind your back. Music is like therapy for me and well, so is a nice bottle of wine. I hate to go shopping unless its for someone else and I can't stand to be the center of attention.  I'm the most comfortable in sweats/jeans and a t-shirt and more often than not you'll find me with my hair pulled up in a pony tail.  I love to cook and bake but don't often eat what I make.  I'm extremely hard on myself and not always as confident as I may seem.  I wear my heart on my sleeve which gets my feelings hurt a lot but I very rarely show it.  I read at least one love story a year.  I love the smell right after it rains and the smell of a dying fire.  My favorite color is blue, my favorite book is Night, and my favorite movie is Braveheart. I'm guilty of eating peanut butter straight from the jar, drinking juice straight from the carton and crying at things like ASPCA commericals and sappy movies like The Notebook.....

Hmph, is that enough?  Feel like you know me?  At least a little? I hope so!

Next post I'll cover the already done items.

The Countdown Begins

Wow!!! In 10 days I will be boarding my flight to Paris.  I'm in shock and so unprepared! I know, me, unprepared? Hard to imagine, but its the truth.  Here's an example of how unprepared... it was only two weeks ago that I finally found a place to stay.  Not to say that I hadn't been looking, I just couldn't for the life of me find a place that could accommodate me the entire length of my stay and I knew I wasn't interested in playing the hotel shuffle game.

So here it is.... my place of residence for 9 nights.  Though I know nothing about this place other than the fact that it's in the location that I wanted, it came recommended by a friend who's travel experience I trust. (Thanks again!)

For those of you who were worried...for roughly 60 euros a night, you can rest easy that I will be sleeping safe and sound in a single room, behind locked doors.  Did I mention that 60 euros however doesn't buy me a shower in my room but rather down the hall? To be honest, I could've paid more money to have this luxury but I'm cheap! Hell, I almost didn't pay to even have a toilet in my room but my logic kicked in when I imagine that my evenings will probably consist of bringing a bottle (or two) of wine back to the hotel with me and well....a toilet might be a good idea :)  Oh, what stories I will have to tell!! Love it!!

Anyway, in other news.... I finally also booked my cooking classes.  Is it just me or does it seem weird that the main reason I'm going to France is for these cooking classes and yet I just made my reservation today?  What's happened to me? Oh wait, I know...I'm a wife, mother, student, nurse tech, cook, maid, etc. who is in dire need of a mental break so I can recharge and get back on my game; my second reason for taking this trip.

Alas, I digress.  Back to the point.  Did you catch the plural? Cooking classes. That's right, my reservations are for not one, but two classes.  Wednesday morning I will be happily strolling around a French market gathering ingredients for a three course meal and then on Saturday I will be spending my afternoon delighting in the art of making French breakfast pastries and breads...ahh, I'm in love and this love will surely end up following me home on my hips ;)

My other plans for while I'm there? I've got a small list of things that I absolutely want to see while there, for example; the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, and the Musee Rodin.  I had also wanted to do a wine tasting or perhaps a daytrip to Champagne and now I'm even checking into spending a night or two in Burgundy after talking with a wine distrubtor from Joseph Drouhin whom I met at The Fresh Market while doing a wine tasting.

So, who knows what will happen.  All I'm sure of right now is that I've got two more classes, a wine tasting, a girls night out, a baby shower, three nights of back to back work, a few doctor's appointments and a whole lot of packing and organizing to do before I board that flight....

Let the countdown begin!!

"In Sciliy, women are more dangerous than shotguns...."

Kind of a weird posting title I know, but let me explain.

#40 on my bucket list: Watch the top 10 American movies of all time.

So, can you guess which movie this quote is from? If you're a guy I'm sure you can (I have this theory that the majority of men can quote movies like they just finished watching it less than a minute ago) but perhaps you need a little more to jog your memory....

"My father is no different than any powerful man, any man with power, like a president or senator. Do you know how naive you sound, Michael? Presidents and senators don't have men killed. Oh. Who's being naive, Kay? "

or how about....

"It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes."

Okay, well if you don't know it yet, the movie I'm quoting is The Godfather.  Yes I know, you're disappointed that it wasn't until a month ago that I saw this movie, but what can I say other than it never really crossed my mind to watch it.  Sure, I'd heard plenty of people quote this movie! Heck, there are even other movies that quote this movie, but for some reason it just never interested me.  Alas, after years of not knowing what the heck people were talking about when they so eloquently quoted this movie, my time had come....

After a long day, Luke and I settled in for what I like to call a movie marathon night. Shoot, any movie that is three hours long is a marathon in itself but when Luke and I watch movies for some reason it always takes us way longer then the posted run-time!!

So what did I think after 3 hours (though it was more like 4)? I'll be honest, after about 2 hours I had had enough. I personally didn't see the big deal with this movie, had a hard time keeping track of who everyone was and was tired of seeing person after person being killed.  Am I being sacrilegious? I don't know.  Regardless, its one movie to cross off of #40!

By the way, if you're wondering which other movies made the list: (according to AFI.com)

-Casablanca
-Gone With the Wind
-Citizen Kane
-Wizard of Oz
-Lawrence of Arbia
-On the Waterfront
-The Graduate
-Schindler's List
-Singin' in the Rain

As I continue to work on completing #40 I'll try and post on each movie.

Up next, Casablanca....

"Play it again, Sam."