Wrap-up

Just like last week, this week has dissapeared before my very eyes! I cant believe the weekend is already here! I've been working mainly on editing men's travel pieces like the weekender, the sports bag & luggage. I did more colorizations and am getting better & better each time! I figured out how to wrap the circus toile fabric around the corners of the suitcases to make it look more realistic! I have my running this week in hopes of getting into some kind of shape besides fat! I run to the Bastille, around the pedestrian bridge & back to the monument, which takes about 20 minutes, then walk back along rue Saint Antoine then continue running back home. I am literally exhausted after that petite workout...I don't know how I used to run SO much when I played soccer without dying! On Thursday, I even did five 30-45 second planks & reverse sit ups! I run by really cool shops & clothing stores & cafés! The cafés are always packed when I run by because this is Paris & that's just what people do! They all kinda look at my funny as I huff-and-puff by because people don't really workout here. I got to skype my mom & dad on Wednesday, which I always enjoy! I showed them the picture of "Ken" (aka Chuang, the student living in the other room with my host family) and we DIED laughing! He looks like a tiny cartoon...or according to Eli "the image that you would see if you googled Crasian!" That's definitely the best way to describe it! He leaves on Saturday & I'm not sure when another student will come in. Patricia's house is like a revolving door because right after an exchange student leaves, another one comes within a week of the last student's departure. Her & the girls have been on vacation for the past 3 weeks & I haven't seen them since I left for London!! Her ex-husband has been staying at the house, I guess so that someone can keep their eye on us. We clearly have opposite schedules because since I got home from Scotland & London, I've only seen him twice! I feel like I have the whole apt to myself because I never see him & Ken goes to sleep around 8ish!

Bible study this tuesday was awesome! There were 20 or so people there & lots of new faces! I met 2 missionaries from the Chicago area! The lesson was from Corinthians & how Paul advised the Corinth's to not believe/trust in new-age religion, which we related to cheesy televangelists & people who are peddling the scripture for a quick buck. It went further into how leaders back in the day thought they were SO smart & Paul kind of mocks them & says "even though you all are SO smart & already know EVERYTHING, there is no way to understand or comprehend how great God's love for us is." The verse basically said that God's amazingness is a mystery & a hidden secret and you can only TRY to understand it through the Spirit. We broke into little groups for prayer before it ended & the floor was open to any prayer requests so OFCOURSE I asked for prayers about the while Pepsi situation. The Purpose Driven Connection from today was about praying about everything that worries you or makes you scared, so I keep praying that God will open the doors (whether at Pepsi or for another job opportunity) because I know that He has something SO AMAZING planned just for me! God has a wonderful sense of humor because I got an e-mail from Lisa Frazier from Pepsi telling me that the NY office has received my résumé and I should be hearing from their HR department shortly so I can proceed with the 2nd interview! KEEP ME IN YOUR THOUGHTS & PRAYERS! I really want this to work out!

My peculier eating habits have finally come face to face with the Parisian cook at Camilou. Camilou is a café super close to work & I've been there a few time for lunch...each time hating it, but its where everyone wanted to go, so I just roll with it. The first time I went, I ordered a salad & was expecting lettuce & tomatoes & everything else that comes to mind when ordering a salad. What came out was in fact a plate of boiled vegetables...shredded carrots, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes aka NOT what I was hungry for! The cook or server or whatever he is was like "did you not like this?" I just lied & told him I wasnt hungry. WELL on Tuesday when we went, I was minding my own business just eating a piece of bread when Eric ordered a meat plate as an appetizer. I don't know what it is with frenchies & their cold cut meats, but they are OBSESSED! The packaged meat section takes up the ENTIRE back wall of the grocery store. SICK. But, the meat Eric ordered wasn't regular like you would imagine. It was more like meat spread that had the consistency of crab dip. As he was slathering it all over his bread, I was sitting on the other side of the table trying not to throw up. Then, he asked me if I wanted to try some. One of the things I have noticed about French people is that they like to share...if they have ANYTHING at all & are near you, they always offer you some. I thought he was being nice & politely declined, then he went into a whole schpeel about where the meat was from & that it is delicious & very "French" & that I should try it. If you know me at all, you know that meat is not my favorite subject or on the list of my top 500 favorite foods. Like clockwork, the waiter/cook who already hates me strolled over & insisted that this is their daily special & I should try it. I told him no less that NO in 10 different ways & he put some on bread & said "please...I prepared this. It is the best! Please try it...you will like it!" YEAH RIGHT frog legs! I finally was like "I DONT LIKE MEAT!!!" and he walked away. I ordered a croque monsieur & took off the ham, but basically just ate frites for lunch. When it was time to go pay for lunch, he told me "you owe me nothing because you didn't even eat!" Note to self: never EVER go back to Camilou because the waiter WILL spit in your food! Way to go & make friends, Amanda.

This week has been rainy & sort of cold & thats the same weather forecast for AMSTERDAM this weekend! I dont even care what the weather is because I am so excited about seeing Jessica! We used to sit on her couch in Clemson & talk about meeting up in Europe & ITS FINALLY HAPPENING! Couldn't be more thrilled! I bought my discounted student ticket & leave today at 7:25 from Gare de Nord! Miss Jessica will be waiting for me at the Centraal train station when I arrive at 10:43! I randomly got assigned to carriage # 18 which is my favorite number of all time, so I think that is a good sign for an even better weekend!! I got to borrow some travel swag again! On thursday, I got home & cleaned my room & did all my laundry & stripped all my sheets so that everything would be clean when I got back Sunday night! Jess has all sorts of fun touristy things planned & I cannot wait to get to travel to a place I've never been before! Were thinking about going to the Van Gogh museum, the Ann Frank house, on a canal tour & SO much more! I've googled some places I think would be fun to see too! There is a giant festival in Amsterdam this weekend & I read where it attracts some 500,000 people! EVERY TIME i travel somewhere, it is ALWAYS the same weekend as their big festival...Brussels, Bordeaux, Scotland & now Amsterdam! I get off work at 6, but Im going to try to leave around 5:45 because I have to run home, grab my suitcase, get back on the #5 metro line & take it about 3 stops to the train station! Im crossing my fingers that there won't be complications like there were with the EuroStar!!

I checked the weather for Paris today & it was big rain clouds & a 60-80 percent chance of rain ALL DAY & I'm sitting at my desk right now typing away & looking at the prettiest blue sky! Hopefully the weather man will be wrong about the weather in Amsterdam too!!! BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTT nothing can rain on MY parade this weekend :)

YSL

The forecast said overcast with a 30% chance of rain & the weather man was definitely WRONG! I slept in & headed to the 1:30 church service and a 72 year old man named Charlie Brown preached today! He reminded me of my grandaddy :) After church, we had coffee & I met some new people. The girls were all going to a cafe on Saint Michel & as much as I wanted to join them, I wanted to go to the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit more! This was literally the last day I could go to it before it closed & some of the girls have already been & raved about it. Much to my dismay, there was a long line but I HAD to see this & was willing to wait in the line! There was a mother & daughter from Canada in front of me & they were so annoying. The daughter kept e-mailing her boyfriend & the mom kept nagging her (repeatedly. it got old after like the 6th time!) about being on her iPhone. It was warm, but not too hot & for a while, I didn't think I was going to get in before they quit sellling tickets. I was worried! Luckily I only had to wait for about 40ish minutes & not 2 hours like the sign said. I bought my ticket & lied (whoops) and told the cashier I was a student and she gave me a 50% discount! Score! I had never been inside Petite Palais and it was gorgeous! The ceilings were incredible. There was a monster sized sign signifying the YSL exhibit. I can't even explain how amazing the exhibit was. I didn't know the Yves Saint Laurent just died 2 years ago...on June 1st 2008 in Paris. He was the assitant to Christian Dior & made his splash in the fashion industry at just 20 years old! Besides revolutionizing fashion, he was the first one to introduce men's clothing as fashionable for women, such as smoking jackets, pant suits & jump suits. They had original pieces from his collection on mannequins and I couldnt even begin to think how many mannequins there were. There were ball gowns, an entire wall of black suits, another wall of just his swatches (he was known to mix color) and even dresses from his last collection. I was walking through the display & saw an outfit that was a purple silk top with an orange tweed jacket & thought that it would have been the perfect game day ensemble! All of his models wore hats & some were extremely outlandish, in the best way possible. There was a room of his 14 pictorials taken for Vogue where he is posing in the nude, which are apparently very famous. Adjacent to that was a room covered with newspaper headlines and some pieces from his 1971 collection, which was by far his worst. Critics called his clothes hideous & he was highly scrutinized for his work. There were lots of see-through pieces, which was unheard of at that time. He created clothes that inspired him from his experiences, like bright colors which he saw in Moracco (where he spent an extensive amout of time) & even painters like Van Gogh (there was literally a jacket that was sequined and was an exact replica of van gogh's work)! There was an entire section of Chinese, Russian, Arabic & African pieces. The BEST part was the room set up like a ball room with tiered stairs that were covered with all kinds of old hollywood ball gowns. One had a HUGE pink bow on the back & looked kind of like what Marilyn Monroe wore in "Diamonds are a girls best friend!" I kept thinking "that one is my favorite...oh wait, no, this one is my new favorite!" I couldn't pick just one!! The exhibit ended with an enclosed diamond heart pin that YSL designed & would let the model who was wearing his favorite piece wear. The pin was massive. I had noticed the court yard earlier & wandered out to take a peek. It was like a little oasis! There was a cafe, 2 ponds, palm trees, tall grass & flowers. I didn't feel like we were in the courtyard of a museum! So pretty!

Since I was already in the museum, I looked on the left half at the paintings and sculptures, but only for a while because the museum closed at 6. I walked up Champs Elysees & got an ice cream along the way! When I got to the Arc de Triomphe, I noticed a military thing going on, so I went to check it out and it was a procession honoring all the unknown soldiers who have died. It was really cool since it was right under the Arc. I wanted to go to the top to take pictures, but thought I'd wait to do that until Jess got here! I walked down rue de Marcel and over towards Trocadero to see the Eiffel Tower from the other side. The sun was just about to set & it was neat to see the tower from a higher elevation.

I was really craving chicken lo mein from le Grand Epecerie & hopped on the metro towards Sevres-Babylone just to find out that it was closed :( It's hard to find anything open on Sundays in Paris! I was bummed :(

Just when I think I've seen everything in the city, weekends like this happen & I get to discover all new sites that I never knew were here!!

it's just SUNSHINE & summertime!

Saturday was probably the BEST weather Paris has had since I arrived here! (By "best" I actually mean warmest/most like GA and SC!) I woke up to the prettiest blue sky I have seen! There wasn't a cloud in the sky & the high for the day was going to be 82. I couldn't wait to get out & explore the city. I have been wanting to go to the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit since before I left GA & I had every intention of going that afternoon, but the queue was entirely too long & I didn't want to waste my day waiting in a line when I could be enjoying the perfect weather!

I ended up seeing some cool statues (Georges Pompidou, Wnston Churchill, Clemenceau) around the Petite Palais that I hadn't ever seen before. I stumbled upon a little garden that had some interesting white sculptures in it & followed the sidewalk down to Concorde. I've been to Concorde a million times, but never walked down the street inbetween the 2 big buildings. I am SO glad I did! I passed some ooh-la-la high end fashion stores, beautiful architecture & even a Laduree (which has the best macaroons in the city!) There were some cafe's under the shady trees & at the end of the road was a big church I hadn't ever seen before! There were gorgeous flowers along the steps that lead up to the entrance & I saw people walking in, so I followed! The church is called L'Eglise Madeleine & it was so gorgeous on the inside. There was a service going on when I got there! It had the typical gothic vaulted ceilings, but it was colorful on the inside! I love discovering new places I haven't ever been before! The doors to the church were MASSIVE & decorated with biblical scenes that has been etched in stone! I wouldn't want to get my hands closed inbetween those doors! When I left & came around the corner, I saw yet ANOTHER church I hadn't ever seen or been to! Stylistically and architecturally, it was completely different from l'Eglise Madeleine! It was more ornate on the exterior. I walked in & my jaw fell to the floor. I've been in lots of European churches, but this is by far in my top 2 favorites! Besides the fact that it was HUUUUGGGGEEEE, the inside was unlike anything else I had ever seen! There were thousands of chairs, incredibly high ceilings & the most amazing detail on the vaults & walls. The pulpit was grand & majestic looking & I couldn't even imagine what it would be like to attend a service or get married there! There was a crypt under the pulpit, a huge organ overhead on the 2nd floor or the rotunda & my eyes couldn't focus on just one thing to admire! I kept saying "wow" & "ohhh my goshhh!" My words can't even do this beautiful masterpiece any justice!

Next, I walked down a random tangent street off the church and passed another little park and ended up near l'Opera. I've been to the Opera, so I saw a very tall monument & decided to go check it out. I passed Lancel :), Mont Blanc & Alfred Dunhill, all of which are owned by Richemont. As I kept walking, I noticed that ALL the stores were very high end. Then I got to Place du Vendome, which is where you will find all the major fashion houses like Chanel and Christian Dior. The facade of the Place was very polished & pristine, which fit perfectly with the type of businesses/stores it encompasses. The sun was still shining & I wanted to go chill in a garden for a bit, so I opted to go to Tuilleries. I passed the carnival that they have set up across from rue de Rivoli & found an open bench & tried to soak up some sun! I saw lots of interesting tourists & got to see all the sculptures and fountains I never take the time to look at. The garden was packed & I needed to leave around 7 pm to get to ACP on time for the Young Adults movie night!

I left Tuilleries and decided to walk on the left half since I never do that. I found a little tunnel that takes you to a pedestrian bridge, so I crossed under there & wound up right along the Seine. It was amazing!!! You know how sometimes you aren't expecting something & it catches you completely off guard? That's what happened to me! The sun looked like diamonds on the river! The bridge looked really millenial/new aged & it was so cool to walk across it! I got to the church & headed down to the Catacombs where we usually met & made some tea because it's cold down there! Ginger informed us that this church used to keep DEAD BODIES of WWII soldiers there before they shipped them back to American to their families. uhm SICK! Until recently (like last year!) there was a crank that used to pull the bodies up to ground level so they could get shipped. I was officially freaked out. We watched a movie with Ben Stiller & the girl from Dharma and Greg & Edward Norton and it was really funny!! After the movie was over, a few of us decided it was such a nice night & we should walk to the metro at Concorde. We crossed over Pont Alexandre & the scene of the river & eiffel tower was just stunning. I don't think I will ever get used this all this beautiful city has to offer!

I'm walkin' on SUNSHINE

I've started running again even though my iPod isn't working & the thought of working out without some ghetto tunes seems nearly impossible! On Wednesday I had my watch & apt keys and headed down a street branching off Place de la Republique that I hadn't ever been down before. I ran past some neat little cafes, some cute stores, saw the Saint Jacques memorial in the distance & ran past the church/school where thousands of Jewish French children attended before the Vichy Gov't turned them over to Hitler. I ended up at the infamous Bastille & remembered that there was a little canal down the street that had tons of boats parked there full time. It was that perfect time during the evening when the sun is just about to set & every building just seems to shine. The sunlight was dancing on the water & I walked over the pedrestrian bridge & just looked at the sunset, the Bastille statue, the riverside park/cafe & all the boats dotted along the banks. It looked like a postcard! I feel like I know my way around Paris like the back of my hand, so rather than running back the same way, I chose a different path to take me home. I found my way back home just before dark & finally took the time to write the postcards I bought the first week I got here!

Thursday was gorgeous as well and I was busy from 9:30 (when I got to work) allllllll the way until 6:30! I was doing colorizations & changing the stitching while matching the leather to the samples I had before me and working on the pictograph's for men's travel accessories aka man purses. I feel like I am learning so much & I love it! It was actually hot (for France that is!) so we grabbed take away salad & sat out in the park/garden behind the office. I was trying to get some sun since I have turned into a ghost lately! I finallllly got to talk to Ash on the phone & boy was it so great to hear Lonny scream when she answered the phone :) We talked so long that all the minutes on my phone ran out! Eek! I had to catch her up on everything from London & Scotland and work so we had LOTS to talk about. She informed me that she had already spilled the beans to Lynnard about me getting my nose pierced! I knew she would tell...but I didn't think Alicia would tell Ash when we all know ash cannot keep a secret to save her life! Oh well! maybe it will take some of the shock off when I tell mom (which ended up being later that night!) I KNOW YOU SECRETLY LOVE IT MOM :) I went on another run because it was just too pretty to be inside! I ran by Bastille today & when I came across the street BAM! The single prettiest sunset I have ever seen in Paris...ever. imagine seeing the sun, the back of Notre Dame, the Seine & one of the beautiful Parisian bridges! ahhh so amazing! I had to run over that way to enjoy it while it lasted! When I was running that direction, I heard Congo/tribal music & naturally HAD to go check it out! Paris Plages were along that section of the riverbank & I saw little Tiki stands, places to lay out, & a dance floor. There was a huge crowd of people & a live band & a girl on stage teaching everyone how to do these crazy dance moves! I wish all my friends could have been there with me! It was so cool! Then I walked over towards Ile St Louis and there was a little band with a group of about 40-50 people singing along! They were singing Billy Joel...but in french so I carefully decided not to sing along! I finally got over to Notre Dame & saw a guy balancing on a rope! I did a ropes course 3 weeks ago & I know how hard it is to (try) to balance on a tiny rope! He was working the crowd for sure- turning in circles, catching balls, juggling 5 balls at a time...the works! It was starting to get late & I knew if I ran straight north past Chatelet, it would spit me out on Rue de Temple & take me home. When I was running, I passed a group of guys that were taking up the entire sidewalk so I weaved through them & one of them started running with me! I was like, "hm...this is weird!" They were all in Paris from London working on a movie about Hunley something....which ofcourse i had NO idea what he was talking about. He got tired & stopped & I got home & was SO tired!

Friday already? This week FLEW by! it's amazing how fast a week goes when you're busy!!! I woke up kind of late, threw on clothes & rushed to work! I finished my colorizations & were putting the finishing touches on the man purses, sports bags & cross pouches. It was supposed to be 84 degrees outside today & stay nice throughout the weekend!! There was hardly anyone at work because everyone is STILL on vacation! Eric, Thongsavanh, Alexandra & myself took a late lunch & went to a sushi place & I ordered the wrong thing...ew. Once we got back, my computer kept freezing & I kept having to restart & it was driving me up the wall. I took a break with Heloise and Latifa so my computer could rest for a bit. Latifa is a muslim & I guess they do this thing every year where they don't eat during the daylight for a whole month! Latifa hast to wake up at like 4 to eat since the sun rises at 5 & can't eat or drink ANYTHING (even water!) until 9:30 when the sun sets! She was really tired & I felt bad for her, but Heloise says that she hasn't complained about it once! GO LATIFA! At 5:30 or so, I looked up & myself, Eric & Thongsavanh were the only ones left on the right side of the 6th floor! All my work was done, so I skipped out & walked through some stores at Chatelet to see what the new look for Fall was going to be!

My weekend plans are to go see the Yves Saint Laurent fashion exhibit at Petite Palais! After that, who knows! I'm going to play everything else by ear & see what all I can get into this weekend!

First week post vaca

So getting up Monday morning was not an easy task! I ended up MAJORLY oversleeping, but thankfully didn't get in trouble! I thought I was going to be back in the Supply Chain, but there was some work in the Style Department so I made my way back to the other side of the 6th floor. I was supposed to be working on Colorization, which is adding a Lancel pattern/leather to a Photoshop pictograph of a purse to make it look real for "The Bible" (the equivalent of The Book from the Devil Wears Prada)& other look books. I had never done that before, so Youri taught me everything I needed to know in Photoshop then set me free. It took a while to get the hang of everything & trying to figure out all the layers and where to add highlights and shadows and such, but after a while it got easier & easier! Its always great to learn new things! My brain was on overload, so I went home & felt like a soccer mom because I did laundry, went to the grocery store & cooked that night! I watched Definitely Maybe for the 1st time & thought it was really sweet!

Alexandra, Thongsavanh, Youri & myself went to a cute little creperie for lunch by Denfert Rochouart on Tuesday and it was YUM! I usually always get crepes with nutella, but these were lunch crepes so I got tomatoes, chicken, cheese & onion aka the french version of a chicken quesadilla! It was rainy & SO cold outside...not exactly the welcome you want back after being on vacation! I had bible study that night & we got out of work early, so I just strolled through the streets near Invalides & the Eiffel Tower until 7:30. The sun came out & the evening turned out to be so pleasant! I saw a guy on the metro 1. rocking a 1990's Mighty Ducks Shirt & 2. jamming out to Single Ladies on his iPod. I secretly want to be his friend! Mighty Ducks & Single Ladies? Yes & yes!!! I finally met Ginger, the Young Adult Bible Study leader & it turns out that she had on the same exact James Avery ring as me! There were only a few of us that night, but we had an amazing discussion about what Jesus's purpose was while he was here on earth & what it means when he said that he didn't come to bring peave, but division. We started around 8 o'clock and got so wrapped up in the discussion that we didnt finish until almost 10! It still amazes me to hear everyone else's views/thoughts who come from all over the world. I was sooo tired when I got home!

I woke up this morning & couldnt believe it was already Wednesday! Half way to the weekend! I got to work & finished my colorizations, went to McDonalds (I dont know why, but that place is like crack cocain to french people) with the boys & did some shopping before the hour was up! I found a pair of killerrr black boots exactly like what I've been wanting & ofcourse they were 129 euros! ah! All the new Fall clothes were khaki, camel, cream, hunter green & navy and there was a reoccuring hunting theme. There were tons of wool jackets, coats & blazers that were plaid with patched elbows. I like it! The weather was absolutely perfect & after the week started off yucky, it turned out quite nicely- it was around 70 with a cool breeze & felt like early Spring! I worked on editing Guy's sketches for the men's collection & then my computer froze & I had to keep restarting & it was getting on my last nerve! I just wanted to scream! It was too pretty to be frustrated & I had all this energy, so I decided to go for a walk/run. The streets were alive & the sun was just at that perfect place right before setting & everything just seemed to sparkle. I saw tons of eclectic cafe's I want to go to & ended up near the Seine by Bastille. That was the first time I have ran in I can't even tell you how long! It felt good!!! I dropped by the grocery store & found creamer, coconut Yop (yoplait that you can drink...OMG its the best), profiterols & grinds to make a cappuccino since the coffee over here is too strong (and small) for my liking! Cross your fingers that it tastes good in the AM! I'm going to wrap the night up by writing the postcards that I bought WEEKS ago & getting those mailed off before the weekend! Oh happy day :)

Jolly Ole' England

I was SO excited for the week to be over so I could get out of the city & head to LONDON! I spent the week before my vacation working with Heloise in the Supply Chain because the entire Style Dept (practically) was on vacation & there was no work to do over there. It was cool to see a new aspect of Lancel & get to work with fun new people! I got to sit in a corner office...it was pretty sweet! We actually got off work around 4:30 & had a little celebration on getting a contract extension/going away party/baby shower all in one around 4, which was fun! Then I had to skitaddle & head home to get my luggage & get to the train station! Heloise let me borrow a Lancel suitcase & purse for the trip! Travel swagger? Yes please! I thought I had PLENTY of time to get to Gare du Nord & was definitely cutting it short! I didnt realize there was security for the EuroStar & OFCOURSE my carriage was at the complete other end of the platform & I was RUNNING so that I didn't miss the train- that would have been just the icing on the cupcakes. I got all settled in & the people on the other side of the table in the carriage didn't show, so I had plenty of room, which wouldn't have been the case otherwise because those trains are definitely not fit for tall people! Around 8 o'clock, Trevor called & was like "Have you crossed the tunnel yet?" Uhm not quite. We were sitting on the side of the traintracks at a dead stop....not good. I thought maybe there was a slow train in front of us, but after several dumb messages over the intercom, it turned out that our train had a mechanical problem that couldn't be fixed. We went to the next train station, which wasn't too far away & I thought we would be on a new train in no time. WRONG! There was supposed to be another train coming to save us in 30 minutes & whoever was in charge didn't put 2 and 2 together & had to break the news that the train couldnt pick us up because it was full. Then we got an announcement informing us that it would be another HOUR & A HALF before the "safety train" would come. Oh geez! Everyone bee-lined it to the snack bus! What felt like FOREVER finally came to an end & we marched to platform 4 at the Calais train station to await the train. I met a really cute old couple from Florida :) It was super windy & colddd waiting for the train & everyone cheered when it rolled up. I slept from there until we pulled into St. Pancras International Train Station in London. I was exhausted at this point- what was supposed to be a 2 h 15min train ride turned into a 6 hour ordeal. Ay yi yi! Trevor was there waiting for me & it was SO great to see him! We hopped into the cutest little British taxi cab & talked 1,000,000 miles a minute. Trying to catch up/cram a whole year into a car ride is impossible!! It was late when we got to Netherwood Road, so we stayed up & chatted a bit, then we both were like "We haveee to go to sleep now!" I think I woke up at 1:30 the next day- it felt wonderful to sleep in!!

Mrs. Marty already had theater tickets & managed to find 4 seats (Me, Trevor, Sasha & his gf Erica) next to them to see the musical Enron. It was raining, so we decided to just chill the rest of the afternoon & met up with Sasha and Erica at Nando's for dinner. SO good! The musical was funny and very theatrical, even though it was about the whole Enron crisis. Afterwards, we all hung out in the ritzy parlor of the #1 Hotel Bar in the world. Trevor's Greek friend Kristos was having a get-together at Cuckoo's & we got invited to celebrate at the Member's Only club. Besides the fact that he was a greek heir, everyone else looked like they stepped right out of Gossip Girl! ...and it looked like every guy had walked right off the set of a Ralph Lauren photo shoot! HELLO! :) We danced to techno/euro music!

Sunday we met up with Trevor's former co-workers at Alfreds's to spend the afternoon playing in Hyde Park! The weather was perfect & everyone was SO nice...it shocked me after being around Parisians for so long! We played baseball, kicked the soccer ball & had a huge game of volleyball- it was perfect! We had to leave early to go home & change to make dinner at 7. The Wikstrom's have dear family friends & the husband is a former stunt man from Hollywood! Now he is a stunt/unit producer...I think...and he is a very colorful/creative person with TONS of funny stories! He once stole a dead person's identity!! We got honeycomb icecream for dessert & besides the fact that it was OUT OF THIS WORLD, I think I found my new favorite flavor of icecream! DELISH!

Monday, I made T go sightseeing/do "touristy" things! We saw Buckingham Palace & the Wedding Cake, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminister Abbey, St Johns Park, etc! Trevor loved when I made him take a picture in the iconic London telephone booth! All in good fun :) That night he had to go meet up with his friend, so I got to be the only child & have Mr & Mrs Marty all to myself! Dinner was lovely & got even better when we ate Ben & Jerry's half baked icecream while watching Grey's Anatomy re-runs!

Tuesday was rainy & cold, so we went & visited Mrs Marty at work. Her office is incredible! I finally got to meet her PA's who I have been in touch with via contact & it was great to finally put a face to a name! Ellen is from Alabama & went to school at Furman & you can't even imagine how wonderful it was to FINALLY hear a southern accent after 5 weeks of the french mumble! I had Indian food for the 2nd time in my life & it was much MUCH better than the Indian food I had in Chicago! That night we got to skype Mom & Dad & Alicia and it felt like we were all back together again! It was SO great for us all to catch up! Mrs. Marty was heading off to Seattle the next AM, so the timing was perfect! It made me miss home though :(

Wednesday....OFF TO SCOTLAND! We had Alex book us a train ticket & hotel in Edinburg, which is actually pronounced Edenborough. We grabbed a burger at Alfred's, ran home & packed in 15 minutes then were off to St Pancras. Things seemed to be running so smoothly....then we got to the train station. We didnt have the tickets printed out & the kiosk wouldnt print them because we didnt have the card we purchased them on...and neither would Mable at the ticket desk. We had the reference number & proof of identity & she said it was impossible. She was not very nice & basically told us there was nothing she could do. So thanks to Mabel, we didn't make out 6 pm train. Luckily we got refunded, but had to wait 6 hours...so we went home & hung out & were on the verge of falling asleep when we headed to the train station. We were SO happy when we got movin' on the train!!! SCOTLAND HERE WE COME! Not quite Spain like I had expected, but you're not hearing complaints from me!

(AFTER GETTING HOME FROM SCOTLAND)

After a 4ish hour train ride, we pulled into London around 9:30 & headed home to chill/watch Gossip Girl! We hadn't eaten dinner, so we walked over to good ole' Mickey D's (or MacDo as the French would call it) & ordered take away. What's better than GG reruns & McDonalds fries after a long trip? The next day, Trevor went to go see Chelsea play soccer, or "footie" as the Brits refer to is as, & I went to get my shop on. I walked through TopShop & found some cool clothes then walked across the street & spent the rest of the afternoon getting lost in Harrods, which was fabulous! By far the coolest decorated department store Ive ever been in. Everything was over the top & themed & it was stunning! I couldnt even look at the clothes because I was too busy looking at the decor! There was a memorial for Princess Diana & Dodi & they even had her what would have been her soon-to-be engagement ROCK on display. I dont think ive ever seen so many diamonds one one piece of jewlery in my life! There were also these fantastic food halls...like people go there to eat lunch, ice cream, sushi, go to the chocolate bar, buy tea/poultry/seafood & cheese...so it's not just a dept store! There is also an entire Christmas section & I felt like I was in santa's workshop! I bet it is SO COOL to be in London around Christmas time! I wanted to buy all the cute little ornaments! That night, I met up with Trevor, Christian, Kasha, Kamille & Ivanel for dinner at Chino's Sushi Restaurant, conveniently located right across the Thames from Big Ben! Trevor & Christian know a waitress there so we got to try all kinds of neat sushi & we were about to burst after all the food she brought out! ah!!!

I left London the next afternoon & Trevor flew to Colorado. Luckily there were no mechanical delays on the way "home," except I left sunny London for rainy Paris & that wasn't really welcoming to come back to. Oh well! Back to work in the AM...we'll see about how waking up before 12:30 pm goes!

SUCCESSFUL TRIP! Next stop: going to see Trevor in Geneva!

Ropes Course

I got up bright & early Saturday morning to meet Ceci, Youri & everyone else at the train station at Montparnasse. OFCOURSE I overslept & ended up leaving the apt later than usual & I felt like the Metro couldn't go fast enough! I kept nervously looking at my watch and knew I was running seriously late. Ceci kept calling & saying "where are you now?" I thought once I got to the Montparnasse metro station that I'd find our meeting location...then reality hit in & I didn't even think of taking into account what a MONSTER metro stop that is! I got to Pomme de Pain 2 minutes after the train left, but Ceci said it was OK because there was a train 30 minutes later. I got a muffin & a large coffee while we were waiting. I met Ceci's boyfriend, Edouard, Mimi & Roman. We hopped on the train & read horoscopes from the previous day's news paper & were all so excited for our big adventure! We took the train to Saint Quentin & took a bus to the park. I thought there was only going to be the Ropes Course there. Wrong. There were walking paths, obstacle courses, workout stations, a sailing club, fishing, horse back riding...the works. We found the "you are here" indicator on the map & saw that we had to walk to the other side of the lake. No problem...except we didn't know that this lake was the biggest lake in I'le de Paris! IT TOOK US OVER AN HOUR TO GET TO THE ROPES COURSE! It started sprinkling & its just my luck that i left my umberella at work because I didnt think it would rain. I didn't even have a rain jacket! Luckily it cleared up after 5 minutes! After FINALLY reaching our destination, we signed in, paid then had a picnic by the lake. French people eat the weridest things-Youri had these tiny eggs with I don't even know (or want to know) what stuffed on the inside & Mimi brought straight up fake crab legs. They come individually wrapped & they had been in her backpack for like 2 hours so I'm assuming they were hot...sick. I stuck to my muffin & baguette!

Caroline was our instructor & after we got harnessed up, she went over the rules and how to attach yourself properly to the safety cords in the event that you trip & fall. Once she turned us loose, we soon realized that this is harder than it looks! i thought we were just zip lining, so I wore casual shoes & wished like crazy that I had my Nike's on!!!!! AaH! There are 4 levels, starting with blue and then advancing to green, red and then black. After getting used to walking across wooden planks and tiny wires, we opted to skip the green & go straight to the red. The first part of the red was to climb up a tree, attach yourself to the rope & literally swing from the ledge to a mesh fence like Tarzan...hence the name, Tarzan. It looks easy, then once you get way up high in the tree & look at how far youre going to drop, it's a little nerve wracking. I was like "JUST DO IT AMANDA" & hopped off! Youri couldnt latch onto the fence & I was determined to reach the other side & did! I didnt realize that this type of stuff was as strenuous as it is! We walked across tiny wires, we climbed up rock climbing walls, zip lined from one station to the other then went for the black level. YIKES! By far, the hardest obstacle was where you had to cross these vertical logs that were hung on ropes & those ropes were your support because there was no wire to grasp on to. Holy moly it was quite the ab workout. I was holding on for dear life...i think we werre 60 meters off the ground. The second part of the first obstacle looked like the ring shaped monkey bars & you had to put one foot in a ring at a time. There is a difference between feeling a rush of adrenaline & literally being afraid & I was somewhere in between the 2 of them! It was exciting, but it felt like the end kept getting farther & farther away! I was relieved when I had my feet on a tiny pedistal perched over 100 feet off the ground! I made sure I was securely latched before I did anything! The last part of the course was definitely the most fun because you zip lined from 1 side of the course to another. It was incredible. I felt like I was flying.

We took some pictures & were all so exhausted! We found a little restaurant by the lake & i saw people wind surfing & sailboats. We sat/rested for a bit then went off on a treck in search of a closer train station. We played with Roman's frisbee & nerf ball along our hike to help the time pass. A lady bug landed on the inside of my sunglasses, hopefully some more good luck will be coming my way! I fell asleep on the train, then went to le grand epecerie to get some dinner. i had the most delicious mix of low mein & chow mein with a chicken egg roll! I heard someone speaking english & ended up talking to this sweet family from Chicago! I went to eat in the park next to le Bon Marche & ran into them again!! The weather was perfect & I had such a fun day, but I was EXHAUSTED! I'm definitely going to sleep like a baby tonight!