I own a lot of clothes

Closet Clean-up
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

At the start of every season, I always try to go through my closet and get rid of things I haven't worn or are worn out or can't figure out why I bought in the first place. This year I decided to actually count what I own as a little extra mental motivation.

The Grand Tally:
75 shirts
24 skirts
18 sundresses
16 blazers
8 trousers
8 jeans
5 cocktail dresses

Pretty depressing and that's after I got rid a bunch. There were several pieces that I haven't worn in awhile but I just couldn't get rid of because...well you never know.

What I did instead was a tip I heard a long time ago. I turned all the hangers out and then when I wear something I'll turn the hanger right side in. I'm telling myself I will absolutely get rid of anything not turned around by next spring...but well you never know.

Thursday: Cauliflower Cheese Pie w/Potato & Onion Crust

Thursday: Cauliflower Cheese Pie w/Potato & Onion Crust
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Wednesday: Asparagus omelet

Wednesday: Asparagus omelet
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Confused

I don't know how this happened...somehow, over the course of two hours, I managed to eat a Krispy Kreme donut, two slices of Papa Johns pizza, and two Chips Ahoy cookies.

Now, I'm suffering from some eater's remorse. :(

A Complaint Free World

Now, I know this is going to shock many of you but I was watching Oprah yesterday and I thought she had a really good idea. Well, actually, she featured a pastor from Missouri who had a really good idea. He and his church give out purple bracelets with "A Complaint Free World" on them. The little bracelets come with a challenge - go 21 days without complaining. Here are the rules:

1. Begin to wear the bracelet, on either wrist
2. When you catch yourself complaining, gossiping or criticizing move the bracelet to the other arm and begin again.
3. If you hear someone else who is wearing a bracelet complain, you may point out their need to switch the bracelet to the other arm; BUT if you’re going to do this, you must move your bracelet first!
4. Stay with it. It may take many months but when you reach 21 days you will find that your entire life is happier, more loving, more positive and more abundant.

So, I've decided to take Oprah and the good pastor up on the challenge. I don't have the pretty purple bracelet but I have one from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial I'm going to use. I figure what better inspiration to stop complaining.

I suppose this will affect my posts pretty dramatically as there will no longer be lists of rants about celebrities, people's fashion choices, or not being in Paris. ;) I'm also guessing this will affect my marriage because Nicholas thinks the challenge is stupid BUT has decided every time I ask him to do something I'm complaining and he should point that out to me. (Again, he can do this consequence free since he's not wearing a bracelet).

More importantly, I'm hoping this will affect my general disposition. I'm coming up on a pretty big transition in my life. During past transitions, I've had a tendency to get down on myself and slump into a "woe is me" phase. I'm hoping this little bracelet will help me focus instead on the thousands of blessings in my life and remember that, even in periods of uncertainty, I really don't have much to complain about.

Tuesday: Ratatouille

Tuesday: Ratatouille
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Monday: Drunken beans

Monday: Drunken beans
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Holy baby's mama!

So, no big secret I am a huge fan of Battlestar Galactica. Huge. Massive. Love it. Sunday night was the season finale. We actually didn't watch it yesterday because we were busy watching Planet Earth. (Amazing! But that's another post.)

Anyway, we just watched it and can I just say?!? Holy baby's mama!

(Stop reading now if you haven't seen it!)

Starbuck is alive! More Cylons! What does it all mean?!?! Then came the worst part...

"Returns in 2008"

WHAT?!? People it's March! M-A-R-C-H! As in the third month of the year - out of twelve. I'm never going to make it.

I mean I guess I have Dancing with the Stars, The Sopranos, Big Love, Weeds, Spiderman 3, the 7th (and last) Harry Potter book, the fifth Harry Potter movie, and the whole Democratic Party Primary to keep me occupied till then. BUT STILL!

Sunday: Blackbean burgers

Blackbean burgers
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Let's go fly a kite

Let's go fly a kite
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

We went to the Mall yesterday to fly a kite. It was a beautiful spring day and there were several other kite flyers out. The wind would die down every once in awhile or change directions. But, overall, we got it up several times and had a great time.

Then, a police officer came over and told us to bring it down. We couldn't figure out why until we started walking down the Mall and three helicopters zoomed overhead. Apparently, old Dubya was coming home, once again spoiling the fun for everybody. ;)

My Mother the Superhero

It turns out librarian's deserve their action figure status, or at least my mom does. :)

On Friday, she emails me to tell me I'll never guess who's in her library... Steven Jones*! Steven Jones spent most of our time together in high school thinking of new and creative ways to sexually harass me. He said filthy things to me, rubbed against me, and repeatedly made me cry. Well, my mother remembered this harassment vividly and when he came in to HER library, she decided this was her chance to let him know how she felt about him.

"Steven Jones! I just want you to know that you harassed my daughter, Sarah Stewart, in high school. You said nasty, filthy things to her and I did not appreciate it. I only hope one day you have a daughter that some boy says dirty things to, so you know how it feels!"

I believe his response was. "Uh...I don't remember saying things like that. I'm so sorry." Apparently, he was pretty polite overall, which I guess isn't surprising since he's now longer an obnoxious 16-year-old . But still, I think it's pretty awesome that my mom gave him what for! He was so terrible to me, he totally deserved being called out - even if it was several years later.

*Names have been changed to protect the guilty, but sufficiently embarrassed.

Saturday: Salmon en Croute

Salmon en Croute
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Things I brought back from Paris



- An ever-increasing bread addiction. I used to be happy with a slice of whole wheat. Now, I want a baguette with every meal.
- A 10:30 bedtime. Because of the time change, I 've just never pushed myself to stay up later. The plus side is I wake up at like 7 and get a bunch of stuff done. Of course, then I blow off the rest of the day because "I was SO productive this morning."
- A complete and total lack of motivation. Why can't I just walk around and shop and eat all the time?!?
- A growing disdain for American's complete inability to dress themselves. True, French people wear some truly wacky things but at least they are trying!
- A new awareness of architecture and how truly different American architecture is.

God, that was exhausting...anybody got a croissant?

Thursday: The box says it all

Thursday: The box says it all
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Can you tell we haven't been to the grocery since returning from Paris?

Wednesday: Spaghetti

Wednesday: Spaghetti
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Tuesday: Potato Curry

Tuesday: Potato Curry
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Top Ten Things We Learned in Paris


Paris
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

10. Actually, French women do get fat.
9. Anything, especially snails, tastes good when you soak it in butter and garlic.
8. Dora the Explorer is just as creepy in French.
7. The French are having ALOT of sex.
6. Relatedly, all the children they are having from all the sex are universally adorable...and very well-dressed.
5. "You can wear a cheap shirt from H&M with expensive jewelry and you look fabulous. You wear Dior but cheap jewelry and you will look awful." Fabulous Parisian lady who succeeded in selling me expensive jewelry.
4. As far as we could tell, besides waiters and waitresses, Parisians never actually work.
3. Nobody starts dinner till 9:30 at night (perhaps related to the previous item).
2. Gnawing on a huge French baguette is considered lunch.
1. Anything worth doing (for example, bread, wine, cheese) is worth doing well. :)

Paris
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

So, we kind of fell down on the job of blogging the second half of our trip. I was usually just so tired and overwhelmed by the end of the day I was asleep before my head hit the bed.

On Thursday, we started the day with a tour of the Left Bank. We saw the Pantheon and the Sorbonne and did some serious shopping. We ate crepes by St. Sulpice and then wondered further into the Left Bank to Montparnasse Tower. The view is pretty spectacular from the top of the 59 stories and you get to see the Eiffel Tower (as opposed to when you're on top of it). We then made a visit to Tati, the French version of Walmart/Target. We learned an important lesson there - that cheap French crap is WAY better than cheap American crap. ;)

That night we went to Guy Savoy, a three star Michelin restaurant, and had the most amazing meal I've ever had. First, we were caught off guard when the actual, real Guy Savoy came out and greeted us. Then, we had champagne and a little aperitif (my favorite part of fine dining). They let you order half orders of everything. So, for the first course, Nicholas and I each had a half order of "Barely cooked scallops with potato and leek." Then, Nicholas had half an order of a "Marinade of the sea" and I had half an order or this "Artichoke and black truffle soup, layered brioche with mushrooms and truffles spread with truffle butter." It was seriously the best thing I've ever eaten. Round one to Sarah! ;)

For the main course, I had "Sauteed fillets of red mullet, liver sauce, herb dumplings and Maxim's potatoes." I don't know who Maxim is but those potatoes were amazing. Nicholas had "Whole grilled sea bass with sweet spices." Again, don't know what the spices were but it was like nothing else I've ever had. Round two to Nicholas!

Nicholas had a cheese course, which I sampled. And it is really difficult to say whether the French do cheese or bread better.

The dessert course was definitely the most absurd because it seemed like it never ended. We each got half orders. I got "Mille-feuille pastry with vanilla made to order" and the "Chocolate fondant with layered praline and chicory cream." Nicholas got the "Chocolate delight" and this blood orange dessert. They were all phenomenal and would have been enough on their own. However, they also came around with a dessert trolley and gave us samples of chocolate mousse, creme caramel with caramel ice cream, rice pudding with prune sauce, and the most amazing homemade marshmallows with lemon zest.

THEN, they brought out cookies and chocolates with my coffees. THEN, they brought out a little apple tart and chamomile ice cream. I was literally on a food high when we finally left three and a half hours later!

The next day we tried to get over our food hangover and went to explore Le Marais, a really great neighborhood on the Right Bank. Lots and lots of shopping. Almost pushed Nicholas to his brink. We went through the Jewish neighborhood and visited the Picasso Museum. We finished at the Pompidou Center, where we almost collapsed from exhaustion.

We almost lost each other after I dragged Nicholas to one last mall and he insisted on sitting at a cafe while I shopped. The only problem is the mall closed earlier than we thought so we couldn't get to our assigned meeting place. Luckily, I caught him just before he went into the Metro. We then went to dinner at a restaurant recommended by a friend who spent a semester in Paris, called Chez Paul. It was really great and very stereotypically French. We tried to go to a cabaret club afterwards but it was standing room only so stayed for a single song.

On Saturday, we spent the morning at the Flea Market on the outskirts of Paris, where I made some very exciting purchases. (See The Loot picture on Flickr) We ate a quick lunch and went to visit Le Grand Magasins. Turns out going to the biggest department stores in Paris on a Saturday is a really, really bad idea. I put in a good faith effort but officially shopped myself out. We were also French fooded out at this point and went to a delicious Italian restaurant for dinner. We had grand plans to go to a dance club, but we wimped out from sheer exhaustion.

Our last day in Paris, we basically just wandered around. First, to the Marais again, so we could grab brunch. Then, back over to Ile de la Cite to see visit the Rare Bird Market, which was pretty neat. Then we wondered over to Canal St. Martin and had deux cafes. Last, back to Montmartre to purchase cheap souvenirs and art. We spent our last afternoon hanging out with a lively bunch of waiters at the Place de Tertre. Our last meal was at a tiny vegetarian restaurant called Le Grain Folie. We ate next to a lovely British couple and had a wonderful conversation them.

One last loop around the Sacre Couer and we were off to bed. Luckily, we had an early shuttle that had to pick up another passenger all the way across Paris so we got one last tour of the city.

Unluckily, our shuttle was late and when we finally got to the counter they told us we were on standby. So, we rushed through the airport, convinced we weren't going to make it. However, when we finally got to the gate, they said we were never on standby. Frustrated but relieved, we even got to sit together.

A short 9 hours later, we were back in the good U.S. of A! ;)

Wednesday

Today we slept in a bit and hit the Louvre in the late morning. We
took the Rick Steves audio tour, which is a nice breezy over you. Just
enough to figure out people have been ripping off the Greeks over and
over again for hundreds of years.

We ate lunch at an awesome seafood cafe, where they literally pulled
the oysters out of the ice and handed them to us.

We walked the Tuilleries Gardens and had pastries at Laudree (they
provided the pastries for Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette).

Then we walked the Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triomphe and did our
first bit of shopping.

We took a sunset boat tour on the Seine and a great dinner at Chez
Omar, a Morrocan restaurant.

A pretty fantastic day and now that we have all the must sees checked
off our list we can really enjoy the city...and do some major
shopping!

Monday and Tuesday

Our feet are really, really tired. That about sums it up. ;)

Yesterday, we took a walking tour of the Ile de la Cite, which
includes Notre Dame and St. Chapelle. After a great lunch (thanks to
Rachel Ray's recommendations), we took a bus from the Eiffel Tour to
the Pere-Lachaise Cemetary. We toured the cemetary and paid our
respects to Edith Piaf, Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, and of
course Jim Morrison.

We had to head back to the hotel early because we had tickets to the
Opera. We got all dressed up and surprise! There's a strike and the
opera is cancelled. As Nicholas said, "welcome to the French
economy." We got our tickets exchanged and decided to go back and
change. We had a wonderful mealat Le 27 Gourmands and went to a jazz
club on the left bank where we mainly watched some "frenzied" dancing
and even hit the floor a couple times ourselves.

What amazed me the most is that there were a good number of people out
at midnight on a MONDAY night! And it's not just partying because we
left the restaurant at 10:30 and it was crowded. I mean not to be
culturally insensitive but I really think maye they should go to bed
at a more reasonable hour.

Today, we woke up (begrudgingly) and went to the Musee d'Orsay and saw
A LOT of impressionistic paintings. I've been before but had forgotten
the true breadth of the collection.

After lunch, we did a quick tour through the Musee Rodin, but since
his statues were copied and are in every major city (including DC)
it's abit less exciting. After resting in the gardens, we decided to
tackle the Eiffel Tower in a serious way.

Ya'll we took the stairs.

Not all the way to the top, but 668 steps to the second level. It was
hardcore and so was the view.

Afterwards, we shopped along Rue Cler and picnicked in the Tower's shadow.

We then returned to the hotel for Opera part deux. And this time no
strike! It was really fantastic. The building alone is worth
admission.Just picture yourself in the middle of the Phantom of the
Opera and you get the picture. We actually saw a ballet, not opera,
and it was tres interessante. It included a topless ballerina, a
male/male duet, and a Thriller-esque finale. After a stop at a wine
bar, we are now gratefully horizontal.

Tomorrow its off to the Louvre!