Scary Monday

Happy Halloween friends!! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, especially when it falls on a weekday. This is because you then get to celebrate more than once (weekend and actual) and you get to celebrate it at work like we're doing today. 


Things that I love about Halloween that make me happy on this Halloweeny Monday:
1. Candy. My teeth are rotting as we speak and I'm going to decrease my intake in general...but maybe not today.
2. Disguise. Since we're ourselves pretty much every day, it's fun to step outside of that role and be something we're not. In this case, Snow White.
3. Black and Orange. Even my phone is festive with these colors right now.
4. Community and Trust. When else can you go door-to-door and expect strangers to give you something that you like and can (sort of) benefit from? (Don't think about the movie Candy Man).
5. Fall. Halloween is SO fall.
6. Pumpkins. Picking, carving, displaying, eating the seeds. 
7. Fright. I'm the biggest scaredy-cat on the planet, but it's fun to do something that spooks you. But I don't intend on watching seventeen scary movies like Jes or Zeb have been doing.

8. Apples. Except for when I'm Snow White.

9. That Festive Feeling. Work is bubbling with excitement and it's nice to have more fun at that place you go to every day.

10. Humor. Where do ghosts go out? [Anywhere they can get sheet-faced].

I hope your day is spooktacular, filled with more tricks than treats (and maybe some puns), and that you have fun!

Oh, and, from the weekend:

Paris, Je T'aime.

Many of you know that I recently spent a week in the City of Light with my sister, Nancy. We've been back for about a week, and every day I still miss little parts of the city. I couldn't decide where to post details of my trip since I have two blogs, so I decided to split it up. Style and music on Treble and Lace, and everything else here...makes sense, no? Anyway, this is how I'm reliving the moments and appreciating what I was able to experience. 

This is what I know is true.

{Pont des Arts}

On café:

The French have a way of enjoying moments, especially when they center around food or drink. All of the cafés we went to had chairs outside (even though it was cold) that faced the street so we could enjoy our café au lait (or café crème, whatever) and watch life go by. We spent time enjoying our mornings (and afternoons and evenings because coffee is appropriate at all of those times) and taking in the sounds and sights of Paris.

On transport:

The one thing I really appreciate about other (usually big) cities is their transportation systems. The Métro is such a vast network underground, I can hardly believe someone came up with the idea and carried out the plans (and so long ago!) to create such an intelligent way to travel. While the scent of urine lurks at every Métro stop, it's still a great way to travel - as long as you can hold your breath! Besides train-ing, we walked EVERYWHERE. We had the sore feet, legs, and backs to prove it. At home, I barely walk to the mailbox. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but still. And like MN, they have a public bike sharing system (Vélib) that we never got around to using. There's always next time.

On le food: 

{Fromage}

{Ladurée macarons}

Yum. I don't remember anything about the food when I was in Paris in 2005, except that I thought I received half a chicken for a meal. (Thinking back, it was probably Poulet Rôti). This time, I made a list of things I had to eat while I was on the trip. I didn't complete the whole list, but that leaves new options when I go back. (On my list was: Pain au Chocolat, Macarons, Crêpes, Crème Brûlée, Beignet, Quiche, Fondue, Salade Niçoise (I've been hooked on these for a while), Soupe de Poissons, Boeuf Bourgignon...

On le shopping:

{I need}

Le Marché aux Puces was one of the coolest shopping trips. Antiques are treasures on their own, but French antiques? Sign me up! I ended up with a vintage hat box, a set of keys, and a mirror for le boyfs maman. If I had a little more euro, (okay, a lot more) I would have walked out with a vintage Hermès scarf, Chanel bag and necklace, and Dior feather jacket. Ah, one can only dream. If we had the means to transport, ma soeur would have walked out with every chair there and I with every piece of luggage and maybe a few haunted pianos. This just means I'll have to do this at home, in MN. (Sans the haunted part).

On les jardins:

French gardens/parks are interesting because what little grass exists there is fenced in, with a sign cautioning visitors not to step on it. Much different than the US, where grass is meant to be picnicked, ran, sat, and stepped on. The dusty, rocky yards actually were pretty though, and served as a good backdrop for Treble and Lace photos! (Coming soon). We visited Tuileries twice and Luxembourg once. Both beautiful!

On l'art:

I've always thought art was beautiful but never really appreciated all of its dimensions. While I still take art mostly at face value, I appreciated the museums we went to. The Louvre was much too intimidating this time around, as weeks are needed to see everything. Since I'm mildly OCD and need to complete things in order and read about each piece of art, it was nice to go to smaller museums: Musée D'Orsay and Musée de L'Orangerie. L'Orangerie was a new one for me and boy was it amazing! Eight installments of Monet's water lilies covering 22 panels, separated into two rooms, was enough to have me in awe.

On l'everything:

I love it. I'm thinking of ways to spend some serious time there. Maybe a future retirement home. Someone join me. (I can see at least three people (N, C, A) raising their hands).

“I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.” – Lillian Smith

Merry Monday

Bonjour mes amis! It's been almost two weeks now, and I am happy to be back and ready to post again. I had a bit of a cold that I contracted from the plane ride home that had me out of commission for a few days. While I have not fully recovered, I finally have enough energy to write again, so here goes.

The weekend was brief, as usual, but much needed rest was had and that's all I could ask for. A trip to the apple orchard to pick pumpkins, Home Run Derby in le boyfran's brother's gigantic yard, a dinner honoring the passing of my grandpa, a night out with good friends (and polka music!), a Dora-themed birthday party, shopping, a stop at a friend's house, and finally pumpkin carving, burgers, and haunted tv shows filled my weekend up. Doesn't sound like I got any rest, eh? Well I did!

Here's what I'm grateful for:

1. Rest! On Friday night, despite the temptations of meeting friends for drinks or playing Yahtzee with another group of friends, I finally decided to stay in. This meant tv shows, unpacking my suitcase (long overdue), and an 11pm bedtime.

2. Family. My grandpa passed away 11 years ago and every year we honor him by coming together as a family for a meal, burning incense, and giving offerings at the shrine in my grandma's house. I also went to my cousin's fourth birthday party, and spent time with boyfran's family on both Saturday and Sunday. 

3. Pumpkins. I picked out a 27-lb. pumpkin while boyfran found a 35er. We, of course, picked them from the furthest patch and had to haul them around a bit. We gutted them. We carved them. We're going to bake those seeds to perfection! I didn't think I really liked the whole pumpkin-carving-mess, but it was fun and gooey. Also, I'm allergic to them (go figure) so I had to wear gloves, but my arms still got itchy. Blech. Anyway, the smell of pumpkin wafting around in the air was a nice touch to Sunday night.

And here is a tiny glimpse of my Paris trip, which I'll post about soonish.

Merry Monday

Today is a very happy Monday and I have little to no reason to feel bad about it being a Monday!

Why am I le happy?

1. Planning for vacation. It's sometimes tough to get all the work back-ups, ideas and packing worked out for vacation, but I must say, it is one of the best "problems" to have. C'mon, I know you've groaned about packing before. 

2. Halloween on the horizon. I'm already missing my boyfran after just three days apart. Since his favorite holiday is Halloween, I went to his apartment and left candies and caramels and cider and spooky things for a surprise. Surprise!

3. Dressing up. Zombie Pub Crawl makeup felt disgusting, but it's fun to dress up as something you are not. It's one of the only times you get to step out of your shoes and be not-yourself.

What's making you smile this Monday? 

PS: I'm going to be on hiatus for at least a week for this:

That is all.

Like Pulling Teeth

I made a horrible, no good, very bad mistake. I neglected going to the dentist for a professional cleaning for more than a year. Yesterday, I paid for it.

After an hour of vandalizing my teeth, my dentist found three small cavities. And this is where I blame my genes and my failure to go to the dentist. I brush at least twice, floss, and use mouthwash daily. Even when I'm camping. Even in other circumstances where it would be easy to skip. And yet, I have cavities. Kind of injust considering what other people consume and how they don't actually take care of their teeth!

But then I got to thinking...instead of blaming my genes, myself, my whatever, I would take it as an opportunity for betterment. This means:

1. Rinse after coffee.

2. Brush after lunch.

3. Visit the dreadful dentist twice a year.

I actually don't think I need to cut back on consumption of anything (for my teeth's sake) (I could always eat fewer french fries or whatever), but instead, up the ante on the cleaning. So that is what I'll do. I'm fortunate to be able to go to the dentist, when some people can't afford it and can't get there. So I'm done crying over the fact that I have cavities. Instead, I'm rejoicing over the fact that I will have a cleaner mouf. (On a side note: it was pretty cool that the dentist used her super special dentist camera to take a picture of my cavities and show them to me on a monitor. Technology!)

Are there any daily routines you could improve?

Merry Monday

This past weekend was chock-full of activity and so I'm hanging on to the moments of the weekend a bit before I move on with the present. Cooking dinner with my boyfriend, hanging out at a going-away party, watching (and biking along) the TC 10k, sticking around for the TC 5k, attending a Rustic Harvest Fest (bluegrass fundraiser for Second Harvest), playing Yahtzee all night with friends, fervently cheering for the TC Marathoners, going for a warm boat ride despite it being the beginning of October, and finally watching Hot Tub Time Machine*, made this weekend a great one.

But alas, it is Monday and the start of a new week of spreadsheets, documents, production lists, and meetings. I have a feeling though, that this week is going to fly by because I have something planned every night of the week, weekend, and then I'm off to vacation. 

This is what I'm looking forward to:

1. Bush and Chevelle concert. I've loved the band Bush for a long, long time and to finally see them live is exciting! I saw Gavin Rossdale before when he fronted Institute, but it wasn't the same. He did sing Glycerine though as the encore. And he did sign a poster for me. And he did take a picture with me. And he did HUG me. And he did hang out with me behind what was then the Quest Club. I'm not bragging. [Yes I am]

2. Massage. I've been sitting crumpled in my work chair for months and months and lifting things at work and aching throughout. Time to fix 'er up!

3. MN Fashion Week events with friends. I pored over the articles and videos about NY Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week, it's time to indulge in style in my own town. Oh, and I wrote about it here.

4. Grouplove concert. I first saw them at Lollapalooza in August and their energy was insane! Hopefully they've got some new songs up their sleeves since they are headlining.

5. Movie. Since my book club ladies aren't going to go see it, I'm going to see The Help with at least one of them. 

6. Boyfran. Boyfran is going up North and coming back the day I leave for a trip. Then he goes on another trip a week after I get back. Fooey! So I'm going to hang out with him as much as I can.

7. Birthday. I think my friend is doing something for her birthday, in which case I will join.

8. Head and Heart with Thao concert. OMG! I can't wait. H&H is one of the only albums I listen to thoroughly and know almost every word of every song, just from listening and not from practicing with lyrics in front of me like I've done in the past.

9. Zombie Pub Crawl. Braiiiins.

10. I don't have a tenth thing, but I can't have a list of nine.

*Hot Tub Time Machine is one of those movies that surprises you by how good it is compared to what it first seemed. (Among the ranks of The Girl Next Door and Easy A).