a funny story from class...

so, a couple of weeks ago i had my 4è (8th grade) class and i'm not sure how we got on the subject but the word 'surnom' came up. what does that word look like? it looks like 'surname', right? especially since 'nom' can be translated as 'name'. well, i wanted to make it clear to them that 'surnom' means 'nickname' and not 'surname' or 'last name'...and then i asked the class if anyone had a nickname. no one really said anything but one rather bold girl who chitchats ALL the time but speaks english quite well said, 'what's your surnom, miss?' and i said, 'my nickname is lolo.' and to my surprise, all the kids in the class burst out laughing. and i'm like, 'what? WHAT?!' so rachel and her friend grab my erasable markers and start writing I <3 LOLOS and drawing pictures of boobs and boobs shaped like hearts all over the board while the class is cracking up. i didn't really get it and when i asked them what 'lolos' meant they said it meant 'boobs' but i thought, oh this has gotta be their own 4è slang, of course 'lolos' doesn't mean 'boobs'. they probably made it up or something. and yes, i let my students take my markers AND laugh at me. i'm going for the 'your teacher is your friend approach' rather than just being a cranky bitch. i know, it's hard. but i think it's working.
ANYWAY. sure enough, last saturday night at the movies, i happened to catch the word 'boobs' translated for the french subtitles as 'lolos'. and if that's not proof enough for you, there's always this:

yah, so i'm 1 boob, i guess. how about that, huh?

the SAG awards: nothing saggy here!

not a fan of hers either but how good is that alexander mcqueen dress?? yah...

and pssssss! sandra, honey. your husband is the french word for 'a shower'. 

A BIG OL' FREAKIN' SHOWER. a whole bag of 'em even.

News - Kelly Osbourne Dyes Her Hair Lavender! - Style & Beauty - UsMagazine.com

don't like kelly osbourne and don't think i could pull it off, but i love this!
News - Kelly Osbourne Dyes Her Hair Lavender! - Style & Beauty - UsMagazine.com

FÉVRIER 2010

i apologize for the lapse between posts here however i hope my last riveting entry on lamb's lettuce kept you satiated until this moment.

so, what have i been doing? WELL I'LL TELL YOU!

the first week of february was filled with anticipation and preparation for my special guest, my boyfriend MAD Jr.!! the day he flew in, i took the train to Charles de Gaulle and after waiting for each other in different parts of the airport, without cellphones, we finally found each other and then the adventure began!

we made our way to our SMALL but cute rented apartment in the 18th arrondissement. unfortunately, we both forgot to take pictures but you can check out the stock photos at the bottom of the page on the rental agency website here. paris was COLD and snowy but fun - old to me but new to my beau (paris, that is). favorites included: the jewish quarter, the top of the arc de triomphe, centre pompidou and the catacombs. see photos (fyi, most of these photos are already on facebook or picasa).

me enjoying a delicious falafel in the jewish quarter. yes, i shared.

on top of the arc de triomphe. MAN was it cold!!

panorama from the top of the arc de triomphe that i made.

next, it was on to brussels. we stayed in a double at a hostel just outside of the city center. brussels was equally as cold and i found the city itself to be a lot different than i imagined but we still made the most of it. we only spent one FULL day there but we liked: the musical instrument museum, the chocolate museum, belgian waffles, thai food for dinner (another cuisine i had missed!) and delirium café/belgian BEERS.

 

thai food! i ate that flower p.s.

mai tai or your tai? MINE! *sluuuurp*

seeing double at the delirium café.

 

don't leave this baby alone with chocolate belgian waffles.

we outgrew brussels rather quickly and made our way to amsterdam. holland - the land of my foremothers! we really enjoyed the 'venice of the north'. they are so many favorites to name: the anne frank house (best museum), dutch pancakes (best sweet treat), the hash, marijuana and hemp museum, the heineken brewery tour, the jewish history museum, etc. etc. take a look!

outside our hotel in Rembrandt Sqaure...

inside our hotel room!

the 'portuguese' synagogue.

  

the weed museum.

 

dutch pancakes = SOOO good! even better when ya got a coupon - HEYOOO!!

the heineken experience.

after amsterdam, we ran into some issues with the train getting back to paris (train crash in brussels) but made it back to rouen just fine. once back in rouen, we agreed it was time to relax a little and savor our remaining time together in this lovely little medieval town. i introduced mike to the main characters in my life's story here and taught him important things like how to drink cider in public at noon:

 

it was a picnic, ok? so that made it acceptable. 

but i had to wine and dine him a little more than that. he's got preeetty high standards. here is a picture of us before going out to the world renowned restuarant, La Couronne.

 it wa$ deliciou$! hehe

all in all, we both agreed that the vacation was a complete success. if i left something out that you'd like to hear about, please leave a comment!

mon dieu! i can't believe it's march already and as if by magic the weather in rouen has changed drastically. even if rainy (hey, it's spring! ...and it's normandy), le temps seems to have done a complete 180°. fingers crossed, that is! that shy little bitch sun has been showing her face more and more around these parts, the days are noticeably longer and with temperatures in the mid 40s-50s° F every day, i can't complain! so far it's been a refreshing change because as much as i love haute-normandie, the relentless cold, wet, grey dreariness was starting to get to me. now it's only sometimes wet, grey and dreary!

ALSO! if i haven't already mentioned how incredibly EXCITED i am about coming home to the prospect of two adorable, little babies - let me tell you again!! i am SO HAPPY for my cousins kimmy and todd and their spouses, ben and kelley, respectively. when i get back the babies will practically already be born (almost) and i will have a new lil' cousin on each side of the family. what's even better: one's a boy and the other will be a girl! the best of both worlds!! WOO WOO congrats grads you guys!

go be fruitful and multiply! jkjk ciao for now.

salad gr33ns

do my posts keep getting dumber and dumber or am i having an alimentary awakening here??

i❦ mâche !

arugula ain't got shit on you, honey!!

colonel mustard, in the billiard room, with the D.O.Y.L.E.

remember

us

?

i'm sure sam does. we drank our milk in reusable welch's jelly glasses like these, probably the only way our parents could get us to drink milk at all! isn't that an ingenious way to recycle? dunno 'bout brother, but the line of dinosaur characters was my favorite. apparently these kinds of cups are collectibles now! i'm always interested and sometimes amazed at what people collect...

a while ago, i was cruising the aisles of the local grocery store and came across the many shelves of MUSTARD. the french seem to use it fairly regularly in salads, with hard boiled eggs, and with other stuff that i'm forgetting right now, etc. i never really cared for mustard before, and i don't eat many things that require a yellow dollop, but the mustard in france is different. although it all seems to taste the same to me, and it's strong, i like it. and ketchup? i have nothing against ketchup. hell - i've been known to eat a hawt dawg bun with just ketchup (warmed up. duhz!) but everyone likes ketchup. who cares?

so at the supermarket i thought to myself: dear french mustard, i may have done you and your american cousins wrong in the past but i'm sorry. why don't you come over to my fridge and we can get to know each other better? i then reached for a container but recoiled. why do all these jars look familiar? after a second it hit me - all of these jars we use as drinking glasses at home in our apt. WHAT'S THAT?! do the french do the SAME THING with MUSTARD CONTAINERS that the americans do with WELCH'S JELLY JARS?!?! why, yes they do! and true to french form, they do it just a liiiiiiitle bit classier than we do. why? well,

1) it's mustard. not jelly. of the two condiments, who's more chic? that's right.
and
2) THE MUSTARD IS PACKAGED IN REUSABLE STEMWARE!!!!! can you believe that?! i mean, c'mon, that's posh as fuck!

see for yourself!!

 

oohhh. doesn't match the napkins, does it? 

the girls from the supper club will never have you back if you make such a faux pas!

sparkling lemonade, anyone?

yah, i consider that last one stemware, too. but see what i mean?! there are a ton of other brands, colors and glass choices, too! WOW.

OK - now that that's out of my system, i really meant to post a word or two about the guest who will be paying me a visit in exactly 9 days from the present. he asked that i not use his real name for fear of defamation, so we'll call him Damien Olivier Yannick LeRoi-Édouard (D.O.Y.L.E.). this D.O.Y.L.E. character (see recent snapshot) will be arriving in Paris on Tuesday next with a suitcase full of hope and a carry-on packed with dreams. you see, he's never been to the City of Lights before and with my twinkling tealight of French and touristic wisdom, i hope to be his guide.
then it's on to Brussels, Belgium for chocolate, beer and frites! all diets aside, folks, this is going to be one gluttonous gastronomic adventure.
afterwards, we'll make our way to a little town called Amsterdam. we will see lots of things there.
and finally, the last stop is my adopted French hometown in Haute-Normandie - Rouen. here we will spend the bulk of our time (5 days), hobnobbing and merrymaking all over this medieval hot spot. it's going to be a gas! i'm looking forward to introducing this little gem of a guy to my friends in Rouen and to France in general. LOOK OUT!!

check back soon for updates with photos. until then...XOXO

Spice Girls Musical "Viva Forever" to Hit Stage - ABC News

OH. MY. GAAWWWD.
Spice Girls Musical "Viva Forever" to Hit Stage - ABC News
this gives me hope that someday i will be whole again...

i promise to post more about MY life pour la prochaine fois but i just haven't had the time or the material.

ok, let's get a group together for the 'spice girls musical outing 2k12/13-ish'!! alright:
1. Lauryn
etc.
who can drive? because chances are in 2-3 years i still won't have a car. true.

who else wants to join up?! c'mon gang, this war ain't gonna fight itself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

get at me!