Short Travel Kick-Off Video

February 22, 2012 5:59 am

That’s just wrong.

February 18, 2012 6:26 am

The full review:
Bill‘s a cupcake connoisseur and world traveler…  and he pronounced these cupcakes (well, they’re mini-cupcakes, really) from Berko the second best in the world.  (The first best are apparently from the Bi-Rite Creamery in San Francisco.)

He’s trying the salted caramel flavor.

So You Can See How She Came To Be…

5:46 am

Strange and Not Strange Things I Miss About The US

5:19 am

Things I Miss about the US (see also Things I Don’t Miss):

1.  Convenience

There’s really nothing like the States for convenience.  This hits on so many levels. it almost won’t fit on the page, it’s such a pervasive concept.  Nothing is open here after ten pm on weekdays.  Nothing.  Only bars.  Only very few bars.  (And I’m being generous, because in my neighborhood, it’s more like 7/8p.)  But it’s not just the convenience of the local 7-11.  It’s just being able to acquire pretty much anything you want at

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Things I Don’t Miss About The US

5:18 am

Things I Don’t Miss About The US (see The Things I Miss also)

1.  Being Neurotic About Food

The food supply in the US is fucked up.  To get even moderately nutritious food, I had to shop at Whole Food and spend so much money and mental energy on it… to get “special” food, which was really just natural food.  Natural… like the food they generally have in France, because they haven’t let commerce compromise the integrity of their food that much.  (Though they, of course aren’t perfect– there are gassed tomatoes here, and I believe they irradiate certain things, etc.)

The cows eat grass.  It took me a minute to realize

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Paris Snow Day Photos

February 5, 2012 9:58 am

Painting Snow Day

9:45 am

First snow day!  (First one since I’ve been here, anyway.)  And it was Sunday, so the world was shut down anyway.  I had such a delicious day– I went to the market and then I stayed in by myself and painted all afternoon.  It was really significant, because I haven’t painted one girl since I’ve been here (been a little creatively stagnant).  Today, I finished up one that I had started in the states, so she’s truly an international baby.  If you’d like to see how she progressed and who she finally became, click here. Click here to see some photos I took of Paris being its snowy self.

Limoncello Syllabub Recipe

4:37 am

I brought this dessert to a recent party Lauren threw for Gé to celebrate that he quit smoking.  Super easy and everyone loved it.  Here’s the recipe, adapted for all the stumbling blocks France tried to put in my way:

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Everything’s Foreign

January 18, 2012 4:54 am

It’s weird being in a new place.  It’s hard to like, figure out what to eat.  I can’t describe it… just imagine if every single kind of everything at the grocery store was different.  They even cut their cows up differently– none of the cuts mean anything to me.  Deli meat is sold in packages with just two slices inside.  And not only that–

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Chocolat Chaud Vs. Chocolat Viennoise

January 12, 2012 10:03 am

Tonight I learned the very important different between Chocolat Chaud (hot chocolate) and

Chocolat Viennoise…

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