short attention span theater

signature pieces

i am a firm believer in signature pieces. i believe that every girl should have one or two pieces in her jewelry collection that she is known for. classic, versatile, yet unique and fun. several months ago, i found a piece that i fell in love with, and have worn it virtually every day since then. you will see it in the large majority of pictures i'm in during that time period. it looks like this:


now don't get me wrong, i still love this piece. but, something came across my bloglines yesterday that has me longing for a change. if you have seen casino royale (arguably the greatest bond movie of all time), you will know that this year's bond girl (arguably the worst bond girl of all time) had her own signature piece.

i remember thinking, i LOVE that necklace, but it's in gold, not silver (and i just don't DO gold). then, lo and behold, i was made aware of this, and fell a little in love. the only problem of course, is that my budget is too tight too allow for this little splurge for the foreseeable future. with paris, and now having to get serious about saving money to move, it will have to remain a little dream for an indefinite period of time. i am posting it here so you all can see it and imagine how great it would look on me, and then we can all just keep pretending it is my new signature piece..k?

*****
oral surgery, part 721

many of you will remember that last year, i underwent some fairly major dental procedures. though i have a healthy mouth and incredible smile (no snickers please), i had (through no fault of my own) two seriously problematic teeth. one of them was repaired with a root canal and crown, but the other was beyond hope and had to be extracted. that meant that i would have to have an implant. implants are expensive. so i waited. i put a ton of money in my flexible spending account this year, and now that i will most likely be leaving, i needed to get on the stick.

so, tomorrow, the first part of the surgery will take place. they will give me a local anesthetic and laughing gas, and then they will screw a very scary looking corkscrew-like screw made of titanium in my gum. once completed, it will have to sit for four months while the gum adheres to the screw, at which point they will put on a crown and voila!

as someone who thinks she can feel what she can hear and see, even if it is not remotely possible, to say that i am freaked out would be an understatement. last year's procedures were painful, and left me more than once a bit (or more than a bit) swollen, and this is the mommy of all those procedures. the only upsides? laughing gas and codeine. god bless the pain killers.

*****

top 10 paris favorites
(in chronological order)

1. the carte orange-a week long unlimited metro pass that makes it really easy to hop on and hop off where needed. for this special pass, passport photos are affixed to a very official looking card, which, as it turns out, is only necessary if you ride the bus.


2. the arc de triomphe. though we were in many places that provided spectacular views of the city, this was a favorite because the platform at the top is completely open. as such, you have 360 degree access to the bird's eye view. hitting this spot on a beautiful sunny day definitely enhanced it's coolness.


3. random parks in random places. this one happens to be off the champs elysees, but it was one of many. i was seriously impressed by how much the french love their parks and gardens. they are clean, well manicured, quiet, and have many places to put up your feet for a spell.


4. les catacombes. the catacombes were one of three things on my 'must do' list for this trip, and they did not disappoint. the underground tunnels filled with human remains stacked in careful and ornate designs were creepily eerie, and well worth the 7 euro entry fee. i must admit that i have a certain fascination with the morbid, and this was one of two stops (the other being pere lachaise cemetary) catering to that odd interest.


5. what the french have that we don't have. in this case, three of my favorites. on the left, bandages that come in one long roll which can be cut to size and is perfect for breaking in those new shoes. in the middle, a device that boils quickly, and made tea time a lot simpler. and, on the right, diet coke with orange. though it sounds strange, it was delicious. here's hoping it makes it's way to the states!


6. the train ride to versailles. in and of itself, this would not have made the list, but during our journey, deb attempted to take a self-portrait of us. you can see the result below. having sympathy, the couple in the quad next to ours offered to take our photo. that offer sparked a conversation that would last the remainder of the trip. the couple was an older one from argentina. celebrating their 30th anniversary, they had been to london, rome, paris, and were on to new york following that. our conversation was both delightful and entertaining.

delightful in that they were a darling couple, and gave deb and i both cause to hope that we can find husbands who will want to travel with us 30 years into marriage. and entertaining in that one of their first questions to us was if we were single. when we responded affirmatively, out come the wallet, and the pictures of their two sons, 25 and 28, who they then proceeded to try and set us up with. truth be told, they were both cute, and deb and i may have to take up their offer to host us in argentina at some time;) i regret that i don't have a photo of the couple--probably the only regret of the trip. but i do have an email address and plan to stay in touch.


7. versailles itself. my expectations of versailles were low. my expectations of anything with high tourist traffic are low. versailles exceeded all my expectations by leaps and bounds. the chateau is a large house and i'm not really a house girl, but the gardens were the most incredible thing i've ever seen. wandering around in them made me absolutely giddy.


8. pere lachaise. the second 'morbid' stop on the trip was another favorite. i was fascinated at the sheer size and layout of the cemetery, as well as the graves themselves. nary a traditional us type grave to be found, each was dramatic and ornate, or barring that, at least large. though we pit-stopped at jim morrison's grave, the highlight was that of abelard and heloise, the oldest residents of the cemetery. we knew virtually nothing about these two, but that they had been involved in a tragic love story. later, we consulted wiki to learn more. sadly, the monument was under renovation and did not allow for any good shots.


9. new french boyfriends. something i love about the french is their ability to express appreciation for beauty. i don't know why in our culture it is just creepy when you walk by a guy and he tells you you're beautiful, but it is. yet in france, and a few other places, it's culturally integrated and thereby not creepy. this happened to us often throughout the trip, but the most notable encounter was when deb was accosted at notre dame. mirdi was there selling keychains, and instantly took a liking to deb--sneaking up to stand beside her in a photo i was taking.

when he asked her if she was single and she said yes, i knew we were in trouble. i knew she was thinking she would have some fun, and then leave, but i also knew that i was going to have to be the one to get rid of the guy. my suspicions were confirmed when later--much later--she looked at me and said 'you're going to have to ditch this guy. i don't know how.' i find it ironic that this street savvy new yorker couldn't take care of it herself, but alas, that's how the chips ultimately fell. beforehand however, deb's new french boyfriend, who knew 'the guy' at notre dame, ensured that we did not have to wait in line, nor pay to ascend to the top. he also volunteered to take a lot of photos, so there are many of deb and i not taken at an arm's (or quikpod's) length.

at the completion of our notre dame excursion, mirdi took us to meet his 'boat guy' friend who offered to take us on one of the seine cruises. asen instantly declared me his future wife, and truth be told, if the circumstances had been different, i might have played with it a little more. but they were what they were, and eventually i got rid of them both. ultimately, the highlight of this experience was being able to tease deb that my new french boyfriend was way cuter than her new french boyfriend!



10. the food, of course! i had been dreaming of croques and crepes and was not disappointed. in fact, at one point deb made the appropriate comment 'i never thought i could be sick of bread and cheese, but i need a break.' the unexpected surprises though came in the forms of gelato and hot chocolate.

during our first day, wandering around our neighborhood, we stumbled upon a gelato place. never one to pass up such a thing we stopped, and realized we had come upon a treasure. it was delicious and there was such a variety of flavors, that we stopped two more times on the trip. not only tasty, but pretty as well--the gelatiers? took great pride in their work, crafting each cone into a lovely flower.

the other unexpected surprise was hot chocolate. at well known les deux magots cafe, the hot chocolate is made from melting a chocolate bar into mile. you can only imagine how divine this must be, and even then, you would fall short. this 'meal' at les deux magots cost us 32 euros, and worth every penny.

*****
season finale time

it's that time of year again, when good tv goes on hiatus. this year also marks the final farewells of some of the faves, so here are my brief thoughts and comments:

1. gilmore girls.
frankly, i've been an avid watcher since the beginning, and this series has seen it's highs and lows. lately though, it's been mostly lows, with just a few glimpses of it's former glory. it was time for this one to end.

2. veronica mars.
like gilmore girls, me, avid watcher, day 1. yet, unlike gg, definitely not time for this to end, and sadly, my vote doesn't count. in my book, this is one of the most witty, clever, and sardonically written shows out there, and i'm a little heartbroken at it's cancellation. especially with the likes of shows like 'pussycat dolls' being renewed on the network. i'll admit to watching my fair share of reality tv, but things are getting out of hand now. vm will be sorely missed, and i may be off the cw for good.

3. grey's anatomy.
i'll admit. i have loved and defended this show, but i think now, i have to be done. it's a shell of it's former self, and the only redeeming moment of this finale ep was sandra oh's final scene, which was powerful to say the least.

4. heroes.
this is one heck of a show. the season finale for the most part was fabulous, barring the last few minutes, which i felt were a complete let down. that's just not how you end a finale. i need the continuity editors to be at the top of their game, and i didn't feel like they were. if someone can explain to me why peter couldn't just fly himself out of the danger zone, rather than nathan having to do it, or why everyone thinks peter will recover from being blown into a million tiny pieces, when he couldn't recover from a piece of glass being stuck in his head, i would be ever so grateful. p.s. i know it's kind of sick, but sylar is dang hot, and this is one bad guy i really don't want to see killed off.

5. lost.
i have had such a love hate relationship with lost. this show is an emotional roller coaster for me, and this was how a finale should be done. we get some answers, we got some new questions, and my heart was seriously racing. there are a couple of things i just don't get, ie why charlie couldn't have shut the door from the OUTSIDE, thereby saving himself from drowning. i guess some might argue that he had just resigned himself to his fate, and he felt like it was the only way to guarantee the fruition of desmond's visions thereby saving the rest of the losties. i might even buy it, but i would have liked it if that scene was structured in such a way as too remove that question. ultimately what have we learned from this finale? sayid is always right. period. i can't believe i have to wait until february of '08 to see what happens next, but if those eps are anything like the last several, it will be well worth it.

*****

alright folks, i've given you plenty to comment on. free for all, anyone?

pics are up!

alright folks..there are A LOT of photos. of the 700+ taken between deb and i, i've posted 550+, so it may take you a little while.

probably the fastest way to get through them is to hit the 'slideshow' button, and set the amount of time to 3 seconds. make sure you click the box next to 'caption', and scroll down to 'file name', as that is the only way you will be able to tell where we are (other than the obvious landmarks, of course).

enjoy!

i'm back

only slightly worse for the wear, i have returned (boo!), but i had a great time (yay!), and thanks to getting myself bumped from my connecting flight from philly on sunday, i also now have a free airline ticket (double yay!).

it will take some time to getting around to blogging the details, and i'm still uploading photos (there are 700 or so--cut me some slack!)

in the meantime, i, thanks to imovie (have i mentioned how much i love macs), have created a video montage. video is a relatively new foray for me, so i'm still learning (if anybody gives me crap about 'so here we are', you will be ignored), and imovie is completely new, so i'm learning that too, but, if you have quicktime and you want a quick summary, check out the 'springtime in paris' movie here. fair warning, it's a large file, so it may take a little while to load (especially with a slow connection). be patient, it is soooo totally worth it;)

if you don't have quicktime, what are you waiting for? it's free, and then you have access to 15 minutes of me! voila! (yes, the french really do say that!)

still here

i know. you all thought i was supposed to be in amsterdam, or at the least, on my way. yet here i sit, in my room, bloging this--and through no fault of my own.

without going into great detail (if i do i will start crying again), it looks as though i will be arriving in amsterdam on sunday morning, just in time to get on a train for paris.

on top of that and some fairly devastating news i received today about an old friend (again, details = tears, therefore no details) i think today has officially been the worst day of my life. i've really been trying to come up with a worse day, for, well, for perspective. i am drawing a blank.

so you're thinking that if this is the worst day i've ever had, i should count myself lucky, and you know, in a week, maybe you can tell me that, and i won't send men in black to your home to make you disappear. for now, don't even think about it.

oui, merci

thank you to the recent commenters--i feel loved again.

*****

what the heck, i'm a yellow?

i retook the color code personality test earlier this week, and despite having been a red my whole life (and having countless people tell me i am 'sooo red'), imagine my shock and delight at finding i have jumped the red bandwagon for a happier, less dominating overbearing color!

Congratulations. You are YELLOW.

YELLOWS are motivated by FUN. They are inviting and embrace life as a party that they're hosting. They love playful interaction and can be extremely sociable. They are highly persuasive and seek instant gratification. YELLOWS need to be adored and praised. While YELLOWS are carefree, they are sensitive and highly alert to others' agendas to control them. YELLOWS typically carry within themselves the gift of a good heart.

YELLOWS need to look good socially, and friendships command a high priority in their lives. YELLOWS are happy, articulate, engaging of others and crave adventure. Easily distracted, they can never sit still for long. They embrace each day in the "present tense" and choose people who, like themselves, enjoy a curious nature. YELLOWS are charismatic, spontaneous, and positive; but can also be irresponsible, obnoxious, and forgetful. When others interact with you, as a YELLOW you respond to them best if they take a positive, upbeat approach and promote light-hearted, creative, and fun interactions with you.

*****

tomorrow at roughly this time, i will be arriving at the airport to board my flight for amsterdam. thanks to the time difference, deb and i arrive in amsterdam on saturday morning, at which point we will brave the 'windy, 90% chance of rain' conditions to spend some time biking along the tulip fields just outside the city. yeah. we'll see how that goes.

sunday, we will hop on a train to paris, where we will spend the following week in our apartment in st. germain.

the apartment is adorable, and theoretically in a great location, which should mean that we will be able to access a lot of the points of interest by foot.

trusty weather.com tells me that it will be overcast and raining for much of our time there, so hopes of retaking pictures in sunshiney flower blooming paris may be for naught. it comes as a slight disappointment since all of our previous paris pictures include cold, wet, and bedraggled us. in fact, i never remember being so cold as i was during our one day in paris. redemption is nigh, though perhaps not in such grand means as i had hoped.

nonetheless, the most important facets of the trip, namely croques, crepes, and onion soup (not 'french onion soup' because that is just silly), are sure to be in abundance.

i've exhausted my french vocabulary in the subject line of this post, which should make things interesting. oh! i forgot, i also know 'bonne annee', but i don't think 'happy new year' will come in very handy this time around.

*****

holy craap. is anyone watching 'lost'? i was disappointed with the first half of the season, and more disappointed at the extended hiatus, but they have more than made up for it in the post-break episodes. holy craap.

weekend update

april 2002.

i had been back from utah for about a month following my work at the olympics, and was deep in the midst of a job search.

i came across a 'temp' position that billed itself as an event planner, and i applied. i was brought in to interview and immediately connected with audrey, the interviewer.

job openings in my field were slim at the time, and though i had to swallow my pride in order to take a temporary position, i wanted to work, and i liked the people.

it wasn't long before i realized that this was not the smartest strategic move i had ever made. the duties of the position were more suited to a recent college grad, or someone trying to work and finish school. basically, someone younger and with a lot less experience.

i continued to look for other positions with no luck, but when the 90 day temp period was over, i knew i did not want to go permanent.

during that time i developed a couple of very good friendships, and it was with some sadness that i told audrey, my boss, that i could not stay. i indicated that i would be happy to stay on and train a replacement, if they would be flexible in allowing me to search for other positions. she agreed.

audrey and i

a month later, my replacement was trained and i still had no job to go to. on my very last day, the department took me to lunch. at the lunch, our vice president told me that one of our recent acquisitions was hiring an event planner. for the next couple of months they were still a seperate company, but come january, they would be one and the same.

the position meant changing office locations and commuting from ashburn to arlington, but i really liked the company and wanted to stay.

when i switched positions i offhandedly mentioned to my boss that at some point, they would realize they would need a corporate event planner, and i hoped i was still around when they did.

at the time, there were many corporate events taking place, but about 100 different people working on them. someone's assistant did this one, someone else's did that, some random person worked on this one...you get the point.

i spent a miserable two years in arlington. the commute took it's toll, and i was planning government meetings. while they afforded me the opportunity to travel, that was the only perk. the budgets were small, the clients were difficult, the expectations were higher than reality could support.

me and koh

there was one particular project that nearly killed me. i have never been so depressed in my life. the client was bi-polar, and often went off her medication, and the project manager was awful. she was my superior, and i actually told her at one point 'you are a bitch.' she replied and said 'you are incompetent.' i said 'then we are agreed in our mutual loathing of one another.' if you know anything about me, you will know that for me to say such a thing is only an indicator that i had been pushed beyond my limits, and not in a good stretching/growth opportunity kind of way.

i don't know why i stayed. mostly i think it was out of loyalty. i had an 'assistant' of sorts working with me on the project, and i knew if i left, she would get the brunt of what i had experienced. i liked her quite a bit, and did not want to put her through it, so i took it.

in the end, it was the best thing i could have done.

little did i know, that from the moment i had left, audrey had begun scheming to develop a corporate event planner position. she planted seeds, and waited for the right opportunity.

it took two years, but that opportunity did arise, and she (and i) pounced on it. it was a bit of a rough transition. my old boss and department in arlington cried foul, and told everyone they could think of that i had been 'stolen' by corporate, and they couldn't lose me and blah blah blah, yet my boss said some very nasty things about me in the review he conducted a short while later. i don't know why they decided to get territorial as i had not exactly felt the love prior to my departure.

let the good times roll

in addition, when i did move back to the corporate offices, i was literally told to stay under the radar, that there was no official approval for the position, but eventually everyone would forget that i hadn't always been there.

that's exactly what happened, and 90% of the last two years here have been productive, fulfilling, and just plain ol' fun!

that is largely due to my on again off again boss, audrey. she trusted me, and allowed me the freedom to work my way. often, months would go by without our speaking of work items. she woud hear feedback from events, it was always good, so she just let me do my thing. along the way, she became not only my boss, but a good friend.

much is changing around here these days, and audrey, like myself, felt that it was time to go. her last day was friday, and we took her to lunch to say goodbye.

it is a bittersweet farewell, as things will not be the same without her. yet, i know she is moving on to a better opportunity, and i hope not to be here much longer anyway! i also know that we will still be in touch, but for the next couple of months, this place is going to feel even more empty that it already has.

my two faves; koh and audrey

friday night, was a more positive experience, as i attended a fireside given by one of our lds general authorities, elder scott--one of the apostles. in some ways, i'll admit that i was disappointed.

when he told us that he would be speaking about 'making correct decisions'i thought i had hit the jackpot. that is certainly a topic i could use some guidance on at the moment! but what he ended up talking about was dating and marriage. i should have expected this as he was speaking to a group of young single adults, but i had hoped to hear a different 'spin.' nonetheless, there were a few new goodies, and it is never a bad thing to be in the presence of an apostle.

the rest of the weekend was quiet. i spent time preparing my sunday school lesson and planning the upcoming trip. deb and i leave for amsterdam on friday! yay!

the much awaited gala video

alright, i have to admit, it's hard for me to post this. i hate hearing my voice and seeing my face on film. seeing this video has really helped motivate me to drop some poundage (i'm down 6 since the event).

that being said, here it is, in all it's glory.

need some male advice

i have a date next week. a date that i need to get out of. one of my friends just went out with the guy and had a pretty miserable time.

i know what you're thinking, i shouldn't blow him off because of that, but trust me, if she had a miserable time, i will have a miserable time. i wasn't really interested in the guy in the first place. we haven't been communicating for all that long, and mostly i thought 'good for him, he's asking a girl out. what the hell?' i wanted to encourage that kind of behavior in general. but this is looking bad. the report was bad--not to mention that some of the 'specifics' my friend cited, are things that particularly grate on my nerves.

if i have to go on a miserable date, i think i may join a convent. so how do i get out of this? i don't want to be dishonest, but i also don't want to say 'my friend went out with you and said you are a terrible date.'

boys, where's the middle ground?

unsent letters

okay kids, maybe you remember my talking about launching a new blog that would house a collection of unsent letters. letters written for catharsis, or problem solving, or whatever, that were never sent.

well, we are off and running. check it out, and feel free to contribute. anonymous submissions will absolutely be respected.