Family’s Day 1 in Paris

Yay, my family finally arrived today after a long 10 hours in the air! This is their first time in Paris…fortunately, the weather is gorgeous here so far, though it’s starting to get a little chilly. My brother is so excited to be here, so I took him around town while everyone else rested and recovered from jetlag. I sort of know my way around town well enough now to navigate the metro and take him to the major tourist spots. Just in one day, we made it to the Place de la Concorde, the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, l’Arc de Triomphe, the pyramids at the entrance of the Musee du Louvre, Notre Dame, the Quartier Latin, and finally Saint Germain des Pres without getting lost. He was completely passed out by 9pm though, but was fully recovered by 730 the next morning.

The big day is already going to be here tomorrow, but I still haven’t had a full night’s sleep in days. Hopefully, we won’t have ugly pictures from lack of sleep!

somebody, pinch me

ahhh, I’ve finally made it to Paris and am no longer a jetlagged zombie. It took me a good 4 days to adjust to being 7 hours ahead of Austin time. The last few days have been completely consumed by wedding planning and wedding planning. I thought that all I had to do was get a dress and show up, but I guess there is a little more to it, like accessorizing, choosing flowers, finalizing menus, ordering rings, getting dresses for the reception and brunch, etc. Thank goodness for the mister’s mum and sister, otherwise clueless me would be completely lost. We’ve been all over Paris picking up this and that and everything is nearly done now.

While wandering around Paris, it finally dawned upon me that I’m going to be living here and this isn’t just a quickie vacation. I can’t believe that this is my life now-is this really real?

And it keeps getting better….the mister’s mum and I ran some errands for the wedding this afternoon in Montemarte and I stumbled upon fabric and crafts heaven! The mister’s mum had already mentioned that the area had tons of fabric stores, but I had no idea that it is fabric GALORE! Each store had at least 5 floors and each floor is chock full of every fabric and supplies imaginable to fulfill every seamstress’s dreams! I can’t wait to go back to the area to pick up some fabrics-watch out project runway!

chocolate gelato

Ice cream maker, where have you been all my life? I had no idea that making ice cream at home was so simple. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even think that homemade ice cream was in the realm of possibility for the home cook. I thought that turning milk and sugar into that creamy goodness required a little magic. Little did I know that with a few simple ingredients and an ice cream maker, deliciousness can be had at home in a few short hours (that is, if overnight refrigeration not required).

my first roast chicken

Texas Independence day was last week, so as a state employee, I had the holiday off. Woohoo, I love these non-Monday or non-Friday holidays! This was a much needed respite for me to get away from the daily doldrums of work, since I feel like I’ve been slowly but surely taking on the persona of a typical, disgruntled government employee these days, finding little satisfaction in what I do all day and being continuously annoyed by co-workers with mental afflictions and personality malfunctions. I generally leave work at work, but these days, my dissatisfaction has been seeping into my personal life and negatively affecting my general disposition.

ladies brunch

My lovely friend and neighbor, Christine, invited several of her lady friends over for a potluck brunch yesterday afternoon at the Love Shack. I feel very fortunate to have become a part of Christine’s social circle, as she has an amazing knack for connecting disparate people from all walks of life. I’ve met so many interesting people and developed some great friendships through her.