fun fact

the french term for window shopping literally translates as 'window licking'.

i think i enjoy window shopping a lot more now that i know this.

who would win?

this evening we went out for dinner to celebrate my bro-in-law's 38th birthday. i like to tease him that he's getting old. happy birthday timmy.

tim is a wonderfully random person, so you never know where the conversation is going to take you. this evening we went on a 'what i heard on kevin and bean' adventure. apparently sometime in the recent past, they were discussing whether indiana jones or han solo would win in a fight. now, i already love to play 'who would win in a fight'. alissa and i once spent nearly 4 hours playing it while driving up the PCH. but never once did i think to pit indiana jones against han solo. it is wonderfully impossible and ironic, and i can't seem to decide who would come out on top.

before i leave you to decide, i must set the ground rules. it is just the two of them. no chewbacca, no obi wan, and no other random sidekicks. weapons are also not a deciding factor. no blasters, no whips, no guns or machetes. one-on-one. mano-a-mano. who would be the ass kicker and who the kickee?

discuss.

how do i look?

i mentioned briefly a few posts ago that my work had a big gala dinner fundraiser the night before i left on my trip. so of course i haven't had the chance yet to say anything about it.
last year i really wasn't looking forward to it, since i had no idea what to expect and then really wasn't prepared with the right dress to wear for the evening. but this year was different. i found the right dress last november and then spent the next few months making sure i had everything i needed to look just right. and i think i did a pretty good job. i may have even heard one or two references to audrey hepburn throughout the evening. i'll take that. she was amazing.
i had a lot of fun getting the right shoes and jewelry to go with my vintage style dress, and i'm glad i had my hair done to give it the final touch. which is an interesting development for me, because not too long ago i would have hated having to dress up like this. then again, losing 20 pounds and actually looking good in a dress will change your perspective somewhat.
it was nice to look nice, but there was still the inescapable fact that i was working. it makes me wish i had a fun reason to get dressed up like this.
or even someone to get dressed up for...

photo time again

i just finished uploading a bunch of my digital and polariod photos from paris to my flickr account. i still have to develop the 35mm and 120 film, so you'll just have to wait for those.

all about paris

now that i'm awake, i thought i would share some of the things i learned while in Paris.

• all food tastes better in France. especially if you can look out your window at the Eiffel Tower while eating it.
• Parisian women won't let anything stop them from looking fabulous. and by that i mean i saw women who were VERY pregnant walking around in high heels.
• you can never have too much nutella. never.
• people in Paris don't know how to drive. and coming 2 inches from getting hit by a bus is not fun.
• when people say that the Louvre is huge, it doesn't even begin to describe the size. you can probably fit Luxembourg inside of it.
• it is possible to eat bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner. not with...for.
• the moulin rouge is the biggest let-down in the world. ever.
• having a microwave in France is kind of like bringing a television to the beach. it's big, annoying, and completely useless.
• everything spoken in French sounds like a question.
• the stereotype of the French being overly rude is completely wrong. i found them to be very friendly and helpful.
• the chateau at Versailles = meh.
• the gardens at Versailles = epic.
• i think the French only know how to build on a gargantuan scale. everything is huge.
• being in a tunnel with the skeletons of hundreds of thousands of people isn't as creepy as you would think.
• you can see pretty much all of Paris in a week. which leaves the second week open for being creative with your time.
• i had a great time, but being in one of the most romantic cities in the world without someone to make out with kind of blows.

home, sweet home

i am sure that it has been quite difficult to go these past two weeks without any blog updates from me, but the wait is now over! i am home!

today's journey was an interesting mix of pain and enjoyment. it started out rather benignly; getting up at 6am, getting ready, checking the apartment one last time, heaving on my backpack and setting out for the corner metro stop. but then things went quickly and horribly wrong. the street cleaners were hosing off the detritus from the previous night's debauchery, and two steps down into the metro my feet decided to slide out from under me. which meant that my backside hit the steps - hard - and the rest of me followed down the staircase. both humiliating and painful. ibuprofen has been a close and abundant friend all day, but from that moment on it has been one long carousel of pain.

which is too bad, because everything else about the journey was actually enjoyable and somewhat amazing. at the paris airport i was checked in, through security and at my gate within 10 minutes. i had the entire row to myself on that flight. there was heavy cloud cover for the entire flight, except for over ireland. i got to peer at it wistfully from above. i was scheduled to have a 7 hour layover in new york, but went on standby and got on the next flight leaving for LA, with only a 2 hour layover. even on standby, i got my preferred window seat and was even in the emergency exit row that has tons of legroom. and most importantly, my single-serving-friend on that flight was a pilot being transported home. i've always wanted to sit next to a pilot. i had so much fun talking with him and asking him questions. and last but not least, my bag made it back with me. i couldn't have requested a more perfect trip. except maybe for that pain in my ass.

but since i'm now going on hour 26 of being awake, the rest of my stories can wait.
time for sleep...

bon voyage

in 24 hours i will be on a plane heading out to begin a vacation that i started planning for almost 2 years ago. it is surreal, to say the least.
to say that i am excited would be an under-statement.
i am leaving in about 20 minutes to spend the rest of today working, so i am all packed and ready to go.
and i wish i could fit all of you in my backpack and take you with me.

adieu.

stimulus

i just checked my bank account, and i have been officially 'economically stimulated' by our federal government.

i find it funny that this money comes just as i am about to go on vacation. in another country.

i wonder if i will be using this money as intended by stimulating France's economy.
then again, since we supposedly live in a 'global economy'...

just an FYI

plastic popsicle molds from IKEA + limeade = frozen deliciousness.

i'm thinking next time around i'm going to try sangria-pops.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

film

i finished my pre-trip shopping today. you know, odds and ends.

but by far and away the item of which i have more than enough is film. i didn't really think i had all that much until i tried to cram it all into a gallon size ziploc bag. i am bringing one 35 mm camera, one medium format camera, and one polariod camera. (not to mention my digital camera. but that's beside the point.) and to accompany those three cameras i have:

9 rolls of color 35 mm film
8 rolls of b&w 35 mm film
1 roll of color slide 35 mm film
1 roll of b&w 120 film
5 rolls of color 120 film
3 packs of polaroid film

now the goal is to come home having used each and every one.

i think i may have just triple-dog-dared myself.

beautiful

is it not completely beautiful outside right now?
these are the rare types of days that make me love Riverside. all i want to do is find a big patch of grass, preferably containing one or more trees, and lay on a blanket reading a book.

but instead i'm in an overly air conditioned room with no windows, staring at a computer screen.

sigh