Today
mon mari turned 26, but yesterday we did the celebrating with a "Born in the USA" themed picnic. We ate red, white, and blue cupcakes, Betsy Ross worthy sugar cookies, and just in case our foreign friends didn't think we were crazy enough, I stuck mini flags in every baked good possible. If the food didn't give everyone America fever, the playlist sure did. We had Kiss's rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner", Springsteen classics, a few Beach Boys tunes, but the icing on the s'mores was "America the Beautiful" by Ray Charles. I welled up with pride every time Ray's voice come over the speakers. I might have even shed a patriotic tear or two. I don't pretend the US doesn't have it's faults, but on this day and many days I am so incredibly thankful for the privileges that being American affords me.
Happy 4th of July to you!
(Special thanks to Cherry Tea Cakes for the awesome Independence Day recipes. They were yummy!)
{Rebecca Plotnick Photography}
When you're living abroad, there is no better cure for a spell of homesickness than hearing from people back home. Some people connect through the staticky images of Skype, many write t.m.i. email updates, and others stay in touch with over-priced, totally worth-it cards from Papyrus or, even better, big, bulky packages suffocated by rounds and rounds of tape. Everyone has their preferred method of communication, but I don't think anyone can deny the yippee feeling of seeing an envelope in their mail slot. I get giddy over a new email, but a real, live letter sends me over the edge. A package slip and I'm nearly peeing my pants with excitement a la Jessie on Saved by the Bell. "I'm so excited, I'm so excited, I'm so, I'm so..." Jessie goes on to say she's scared and needs to wash her hair, but I just stay excited.
{CAPow on Etsy}
My letter euphoria hit a new high this week when I received 5 Valentine's Day cards and 2 care packages. And this, mon amis, is why I love Valentine's Day. It's an opportunity to send someone some love (literally and figuratively). Cupid doesn't have to be aiming in your direction for you to tell someone you love them and February 14 is the perfect not-so-subtle reminder to spread the love around. Maybe it's because I went boyfriend-less for much of my teenage abyss that I adopted a new way of looking at this "holiday" so many choose to mock for its drug-store commercialism. Singing roses, red teddy bears, and expensive dinners may not be your thing, but I don't know anyone who doesn't like that loving feeling. And frankly the heaps and heaps of heart shaped candy and chocolate don't hurt either. It's not even Monday yet and I've already o.d.ed on candy hearts. Instead of saying "BE MINE", my candy hearts said, "EAT ME RIGHT NOW OR ELSE."
The candy from my care package is almost gone, but the super sweet cards I received will be perched on my mantle until at least March. Cards are a year-round decoration :) Thank you La Poste and U.S.P.S. for making my Valentine's Day extra special.
P.S. In the midst of my international mail jackpot, I read this
article in the
New York Times Magazine. The post office was one of my first friends in France and I hate to see the closure of local posts in my new home or back in the States. Start sending more mail!
The Christmas Market on the Champs Elysees is hands down the best thing about Paris in the winter. I despise the cold like the Grinch himself and anything that gets me outside in the clutches of winter's wrath wins a gold star--make that a giant, blinking Star of Bethlehem! Exemplified by the brightly light Champs Elysees, Paris is a ball of holiday happiness from the end of November through the New Year. Spanning from the Concorde to Franklin D. Roosevelt metro stops, the Champs Elysees Christmas Market makes up for all of the grouchiness Paris spews out the remaining ten months of the year. My pathetic iPhone picture doesn't do the Market justice, but it does give justice to my brand spanking new winter hat. There's a giant wool flower on the side. Clearly, I'm not going to be walking down the Chanel runway anytime soon.
As you walk down the street, you pass vendor after vendor selling treats to warm you from head to toe. You've got mouthwatering tartiflette, Peruvian wool socks, nutella covered waffles, and faux fur hats that make you look like you're in Dr. Zhivago. Look how happy M. Frank is to be eating a real sausage sandwich! Agh, there's no way to say that without it sounding bad...
Everything about the Christmas Market screamed holiday season, except one thing. Rock 'n' Roll wood carving. Sounds like it shouldn't be at a Christmas Market? That's because it shouldn't. I can't even find a YouTube video to show you what an insane spectacle we witnessed. Amongst a grove of pine trees covered in fake snow, a man sans shirt was chainsawing a wood sculpture choreographed to heavy metal. He was flying around the "stage" carving what looked to be an angel sitting on a harp. I'm just being nice though. I have no idea what he was crazily carving, swinging chainsaws left and right. Other than the wood carving weirdness, the Christmas Market is the perfect way to spend a day in Paris. If you want to know more about the Paris Christmas Markets, check them out
here.
P.S. I just want to start playing Christmas music all the time!
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