On Our Way to a CPA!

Ben and I both found out last night that we passed the final two parts of the CPA exam!!!! I checked the scores while I was on Skype with Lindsay and Allison so I had someone to celebrate with immediately :)

We are both so excited to never take the tests again and celebrated with a big lunch at a cafe in my neighborhood! Looks like the 4 months of misery and hard work paid off! Now Im off to a sleeper train to Salzburg!

THE HILLS ARE ALIVEEEEE!

This video should get everyone in the mood! (thanks mom!)
Doe-a-deer Flash Mob!

A Parisian Dinner Party!

Tonight I was invited to a Fat Tire Girls Supper Club at one of the girls apartments. The decided, in honor of a friends trip to Sweden that fell through, to theme the party and everyone bring different Swedish dishes. Since I was the new kid I decided to bring drinks so I could check out the caliber of the food so I wouldnt cook too much or too little and never get invited back :). As it turns out Absolut Vodka is Swedish so I fixed Cosmo's for everyone and they were a hit. Finding cranberry juice was a bit of a challenge and I ended up choosing a juice based on the picture. Im pretty sure it was grape-cherry-cranberry juice and it was delish! Heres a couple of the tasty dishes people brought:

Shrimp Salad

 Swedish Meatballs

Crackers with cream cheese, salmon, and lemon juice 

Swedish Potatoes (hot)

Swedish Potatoes (cold, made with creme fraiche and chives)

The whole schmorgesborg (yes I googled that word because I had no idea how to spell it)

Swedish sweet bread with almond crust topping, chocolate cake, and strawberries

The Top 10 of Week 2 in Paris

1. The American Church in Paris-the entire service was in English :)

AC Paris

2. Brittany and Veronica in Town!

3. St Chappelle

4. St Eustache & The Head in the Hand sculpture

5. Ralph Lauren Car Show (no photos allowed...)

Heres a Video though!

6. Reading in the Tuileries

7. My Birthday! This is Bens gift to me! He is very generous

 8. Climbing to the Top of the Sacre Couer...300 steps but worth the view

9. Cordon Bleu Cooking Class!!!!!!!!!!

 The name of the class was A Taste of Provence, so the food is typical of the south of France. The chef was completely Frencha and translated into English. We made a pepper, tomato and basil tart, sea bream, zuchinni flan, pesto, and lavendar creme brulee! It was fantastic. The blog uploader is verrry slow but I put about 60 pictures on facebook that will show all the yummy food we made! I tried the fish....it was okay but the Tart and the Creme Brulee were my favorites by far :)

10. Losing 340 Euro to myself:

I hid money so well that even I could not find it. I live in about 500 square feet and looked in every nook and cranny and had myself, Ben and Bethany in a panic looking in every single book in the bookshelves....Ben found it when, as a last resort, he decided to move furniture and found it hidden under the clock....Sometimes I amaze myself!

Joyeux Anniversaire!

My 23^rd birthday was my best birthday yet! (Sorry Special 7, but unfortunately my 21^st has been bumped to 2^nd J) Even my watch knew it was my birthday!!!

Ben and I started the morning on a train to Versailles with chocolate croissants (a tasty dish I have not yet treated myself to for fear of becoming addicted!) When we reached the town of Versailles we made a pit stop at the market to grab goodies for lunch... We bought baguettes, saussicon (sliced salami/sausage), cheddar cheese (Ben is unadventurous), tzatziki, strawberries, pistachios, almonds, and coke zeroes (I only buy the 3 euro cokes on special occasions! I’m having big time coke withdrawls)

There was a strike going on in Paris that day which affected the entrance to the Chateau so we went to the gardens first and hiked around for a couple hours and then enjoyed our picnic! It was pretty cold and rainy but we found shelter under a tree and ate fast before anything got too soggy.

Then came the Chateau. GOODNESS that thing is huge! It is unreal to think about the people who lived there and the company they entertained while the whole country of Paris was in poverty. Some of my favorite photos:

Bens maybe a little bored with the audio guide I insisted on :)

Versailles was unbelievable! I am sure I will go back. There were some very anthro-esque bowls and plates at the market for SUPER CHEAP so I might need to make the trek back….after I figure out how I am going to get them back to Dallas.

I chose to eat at  a Mexican restaurant for birthday dinner! (Typical!) It was so nice to be able to talk to the waiters in Spanish and understand them and not feel like a stupid American all the time! We ordered fajitas and quesadillas which were delish! And since Ben had the unfortunate mess of getting all his money stolen I treated myself to the birthday dinner. The waiter had a hay-day with that! Telling Ben he should keep me around so I can always pay for things! Ha!

To finish the night off, Paris decided to throw me a birthday party called Fete de la Musique! Basically, it is the one night a year when people can play music outdoors without any sort of permit. http://www.fetedelamusique.culture.fr/

The whole fat tire crew rented bikes and biked all over the city of Paris listening to music and drinking at all different bars! You might think…hmm…biking and drinking…is that safe? Nope. I saw a couple people fall off their bikes into oncoming traffic and one guy broke an elbow! And to top it off at the end of the night Ben and I had to ride about an hour and a half home at 3 in the morning in the freezing rain. Im only telling yall this because we made it home safely thanks to Bens keen sense of direction, but I was very nervous about getting home without getting mugged or getting the bikes stolen from us!!

Overall, it was an incredible birthday thanks to Ben and all my friends here and my sweet friends and family at home who emailed and sent fun presents!

Thanks Aunt Carol and Uncle Mike for the pictures of me as a youngin!

Croque Madam Count:

3.    

Link to Croque Madam Recipe


....

At Long Last, A LAZY Day!!!

So I know I am in Paris and shouldnt EVER have a lazy day but Im only human! I cant go on forever without any sleep whatsoever :)

Today is the first day that there are no visitors in town (very sad), it is not my birthday, and I have absolutely nothing to do. I slept until noon, got up and made a brunch of leftovers from yesterday, then went back to bed until 3! I am currently doing laundry in the sink thanks to Tide "sink packets." Ill spare you and wont include a picture....I am about to go on a run around the city, do some grocery shopping, and then go to a friends house to watch a bootlegged Bacherlorette! Sounds like a normal day right?

I am waiting to grab Bens memory card so I can get pictures from my birthday and do a Happy Birthday post! It was the most amazing 23rd birthday a girl could ask for! Hopefully that post will come tomorrow when I can round up the pictures!

Today We Spent Alot of Money....

After a lazy morning at the apartment, Brittany Veronica and I decided to do some shopping in Paris and live up to the reputation of fashionable Parisians! We browsed our way through Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Longchamp, Zara, H&M, Prada, Chanel, Michael Kors, and Gucci....just to name drop a few :)

Here is the girls on the Champs Elysees

The fruits of our labor -- A little Longchamp, a little Hermes, and a sweet little red leather purse!

A much needed cup of $10 Hot Cocoa and Macaroons from the famous Angelinas

Needless to say, tonight we are cooking at home. I bet you can guess whats on the menu....Tacos! Im dying for some Tex-Mex. Its only been one week too...not a good sign!

Au Revoir for now

Highs and Lows of Week One

Paris Week One has been a success!! Full of highs and lows. Ill start with the highs so you can choose to skip the lows and pretend Im living in a dream world despite the hiccups here and there :)

HIGHS

*Getting a Pass Navigo and feeling like a local! (See corresponding low)

*Great friends always up for a picnic



*Getting a phone!! See the little nugget in my hand. It was very hard to teach myself T9 again...whoah



*Going down into the Catacombs





*Paris Hot Dogs have cheese on them!!!



*Found a Fondue restaurant that serves wine in baby bottles!





*Cooking Class at Le Cordon Bleu! We took a tour through the city market in our arrondismont where the chef taught us how to maneuver our way around, what we were looking at (I saw lamb brains, ew), and how you can come to the market to get inspired! We then headed back to the kitchen to eat a fabulous lunch. We then watched a demonstration by a Cordon Bleu chef. He made a three course meal (which I didnt really eat much of....but I DID try monkfish)







*Getting to see this boy everyday!



*Parc de Buttes Chamount. A little bit of paradise in the middle of the crazy city



*Shakespears Book Store...kind of hard to find a book in all this mess though



*Sitting in the gardens at Musee Rodin (shown: The Thinker by Rodin, the Dome Church)



*Notre Dame



*Pantheon



*Luxembourg Gardens







LOWS

*Getting a Pass Navigo and feeling like a local, but getting surprised by the flash in the photobooth....



*Ben's apartment got broken into. His laptop, backpack, sunglasses and 1500 Euro of rent money got stolen

*The boys getting fined for hopping the metro turn style

*Patricia's bike got stolen off the street near a restaurant we were at

*It has rained 6 out of the 7 days I have been here

*No one brought a blowdryer so my hair is struggling...but I caved and bought hair spray today the help the problem

I struggled coming up with my low list and had to cut myself off on the highs because there would have been about 300 pictures!! I miss everyone, hope yall are having a wonderful summer!