International Summer

This summer, unbeknownst to me, has turned out to be quite the international affair.

In April, I resigned myself to staying in the boiling Arizona heat all summer. Though, I was planning on driving back to California for a friend's wedding, then I figured I'd keep going up north to my parents' house for a week or so.

Well, in came May and I found myself in Puerto Rico with Paul's family, practicing my Spanish and (re)discovering that I love fruity island cocktails.

Then, two days later, moved! And then, a week later, crashed my car and had to turn the title over to the towing company... Now taking public transit and seeing a therapist for my back post-accident (which was very minor, thank God), I quickly realized I'd need to book a flight to the wedding, and my parents' house, and also... Portland for a long weekend. Talk about being a blur, everything has happened so quickly this summer, I've barely had time to breathe. 

And then, a week after my accident, I got a call from my dad that my 103 year-old aunt in France passed away. My parents and aunt were planning on flying out to France the next day! By the end of the afternoon, I, too, suddenly owned a round-trip ticket to France leaving the following morning. I barely have had time to comprehend what has gone on this summer, but it's been a whirlwind.

We were able to attend the funeral in France and served as the only family present at the service. I got to practice my French a bunch, and picked up reading materials to use with my students in the fall. But more importantly, I got to speak (well, read a Psalm) at the Catholic funeral. It was beautiful and moving, as was the burial that followed. I am glad we all had the opportunity to go and be present. Ever since I was little, my family and I would go visit her every two years or so. That continued on until 2008, and unfortunately that was the last time any of us saw her. We waited four years too long to go back.

Another nice part of the trip was the amount of work some family friends put into the final arrangements. That gave us two days to get out and revisit some of our favorite spots in the South of France. My favorite part, however, was organizing all of our aunt's affairs and seeing everything she did in her lifetime. She had some amazing pictures, documents, travel brochures and trinkets.

I picked out two things I wanted to keep to remember. One is a scarf with her name on the back (standard procedure for the retirement home where she lived, and I fully intend on keeping it on the back!). I didn't realize until I unpacked at home that it was a Hermès. The other is a small, beautifully-decorated champagne box. It is smaller than a champagne bottle, but I think it might have been for corks, wine bottle openers or handkerchiefs? Either way, it is cute and serves as a nice paper/note holder on my desk in the French office. Something I can always look at and remember.

Even at 103, life is short. Cherish the time you have with your family. Even if you live on opposite ends of the globe. They're never less than a day away. And if you can, travel with your family! It's important and is something you'll never forget. 27 years later, I remember nearly every single trip I've ever taken with my family. And it's made me the person I am today; the girl who is living on one continent, and constantly dreaming about the next. I have every member of my family to thank for that, since they've shown me a deep appreciation for travel, family history, languages and the ability to move your family for the promise of a better future.

(P.S., I'm seriously learning German and plan on taking courses at ASU in the fall/spring)

Quick trips to Brazil & Sweden

Let’s talk international travel for a minute. I’ve done a bit of it myself and am highly addicted. However, I haven’t had the chance to travel nearly as much as I’d like, but it’s a start. While I am fortunate to speak French and visit family living in France, I’ve only ever been to Europe – France, Germany, Italy, Monaco, Spain and Switzerland to be exact.

 

I’d LOVE to see other continents or continue exploring new European countries one day. Anyone wealthy want to fund my journeys? I’ll let you join me! :)

While I’m out of frequent flier miles and underemployment is keeping my finances stretched thing, my travel these days is limited to culinary journeys and armchair travel. Travel Channel, you are my best friend and also my biggest enemy! At least my mental “to see” list is growing.

This summer, for example, I have been to Sweden, Brazil and the African Sahara.

For J.D.’s birthday, he REALLY wanted to go to Fogo de Chão, a Brazilian steakhouse. So we went and it was wild. Literally, I’ve never stuffed myself with so much meat in my life (that’s what she said).

 

The “salad bar” to start the meal with was exquisite. There were ridiculous aged cheeses, realllly old balsamic vinegars and the first cuts of meat we’d see all day. The veggies were crisp and fresh and I wanted to go back for seconds, but at $45 a person I was saving my appetite for the meat course(s).

Then when you’re ready, you take that little red disc and flip it over to the green side. Then you’re fair game for all the meat servers. They had about 16 different cuts and types of meats, and I felt awkwardly like I was in the middle of some foreign market. People with accents were shouting at us, trying to get us to taste their goods. At times, I felt bad turning one down in anticipation of what was coming right behind him.

But there were steaks, sausages, duck, lamb, chicken, you name it. It was all there. And on our plates. I couldn’t tell you how many times we had them come refill our plates!

And then before we knew it, we were full. I didn’t want to eat meat ever again. I wanted to become a vegetarian.

…But we all remember how I baked bacon cupcakes for his birthday. However, we couldn’t leave before the complimentary birthday dessert. Yeah, it’s not Brazilian, it’s French. But it never fails to please.

It was excessive, and delicious and wonderful. Just how a birthday smörgåsbord should be! Saved for special occasions, no doubt.

And speaking of smörgåsbords, you realize that is a Swedish word, right?! And speaking of Sweden, let’s talk IKEA. Do I really have to be so stereotypical?

Yes, yes I do. Two reasons: we made Swedish cuisine from a cookbook free from IKEA and I recently read and enjoyed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, a book written by a Swede. One of my friends and I joked we’d make a drinking game for every mention of IKEA in the damn book. Clearly, he refers to it often.

On to the food. It didn’t look pretty, but it was delicious! I’ve also decided – and I can say this because J.D.’s family is Swedish – that most Swedish food doesn’t sound or look super appealing, but it’s tasty.

From the top, clockwise: coleslaw with carrots and cucumbers (vitkålssallad med gurka), baked cod (ugnsbakad gädda) and egg and cucumber baked rice. The fish is actually supposed to be stuffed with the rice, but we only had small pieces of cod and not large fillets of pike the recipe called for.

And now about the book. As I’ve already mentioned, I LOVED reading Dragon Tattoo. I’d recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat, with the caveat that it does get graphic. And bear in mind the original Swedish title is “Men Who Hate Women”, so that probably sets the tone for what you should expect when reading. I plowed through it in two days. Seriously.

And then I watched the Swedish movie version. It was horrible. It loosely followed the book and they skipped out on a lot of incredibly important details. But it was fun to watch a Swedish movie with subtitles. I still would like to see the English version which comes to theaters during Christmas. I really hope it follows the book more closely than the original Swedish version did.

While we’re on the subject of literature, I have one final recommendation for you. Read The Alchemist. It’s another book I devoured in two days that is less than 200 pages.

It mostly takes place in southern Spain and northern Africa. I think the reason I was so wrapped up in this story was due to the ongoing travel. Something my heart longs for as well. And it’s full of super cute one-liners and quotes.

The tale was so enchanting and well-written, that I was instantly transported to far away places and felt as if I were seeing many of the same scenes with my own eyes. As a lover of travel, that to me is an amazing book! The story is all about following your heart and dreams, no matter where they take you. I think that is a message anyone can support. And we shall finish full circle since the author, Paulo Coelho, hails from Brazil.

Now you understand how I’m getting my sense of travel and culture these days. Anyone care to join me?

Next time I’ll see you in Cuba, amigos!

…You know I don’t speak Spanish.

French Friday + Week 20

I’ve been struggling with something new to do this week. I was going to cop out and write about the peach festival J.D. and I went to earlier. But I’ve been to festivals before, that didn’t feel right. I literally didn’t know what to do.

Until I watched an old episode of No Reservations on my DVR. I’d started watching one on Haiti a few days ago and finally got around to finishing it this afternoon. I literally cannot tell you what I saw. It’s devastating and immense and beautiful all at the same time. It didn’t feel right watching all of that without doing anything. Seriously, I urge you to watch that episode if you haven’t yet.

Anyways, as a French speaker, I’ve always been drawn to Haiti. The French Caribbean is something I’ve marked as a travel destination for a long time. And the ironic part is that I would have been placed in Haiti if I went through with my Peace Corps application almost two years ago. I would have been there (maybe not Port au Prince, but somewhere on the island) in January 2010. It is inconceivable for me to think about what volunteers were doing there before vs. after the earthquake.

Which is why I can’t just sit back after watching that episode. One of the things I wanted to do in 2011 was make a donation to an organization. I’m pulled in a thousand directions: cancer research, feeding the homeless, donating to Japanese earthquake relief, supporting international efforts, helping out people in my own state… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s overwhelming to think about who all needs help, and all the work still left to do in the world.

But like I said, after watching and hearing about J/PHRO (Haitian Relief Organization) over a year after the earthquake, I knew that was my start. Now I know I’ve griped about money issues a ton, but I live comfortably and have basically everything I want. Some of these people don’t have homes or food on their plates every day. I could scrounge up a little from my pocket to send their way for the time being. One day, when I have more money, I would certainly like to make charitable donations to a few organizations. Until then, this will have to do.

I just don’t know why it’s taken me 26 years to make my first donation. If you’re interested, you could help too. Maybe not to J/PHRO, but a charity near you (check that link for a searchable database of nonprofits or this one for a list of the larger international charities).

I know it’s not much, but it’s a start. Thanks for hearing me out.

Avocado Daiquiris: more good than weird

Before I get into the good stuff (booze), I have to tell you about this show J.D. loves called Drinking Made Easy. It's a pretty neat show and it's based loosely off Zane Lamprey's earlier show, Three Sheets. Three Sheets is actually the show that sparked my desire to one day travel to Belize :)

We all know I'm a sucker for travel, so why not throw in some interesting alcohol facts and recipes, right?! Well, when Drinking Made Easy hit Portland, Ore., the illusive avocado daiquiri caught my eye.

And it was only a matter of time before I put my own spin on it.

Avocado Daiquiri (adapted from Mint/820)

Ingredients:

• 4 oz mango rum (original recipe calls for 4 oz light & gold rum)
• 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
• 2 oz simple syrup
• 1/4 medium-ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
• 1/2 oz heavy cream
• 1/2 oz skim milk
• 1 1/2 c ice

Directions:

Blend all the ingredients together and enjoy!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As weird as it sounds, I really enjoyed this cocktail! It was creamy and fruity and refreshing. I think it would be a lot bolder without the mango rum, and will definitely have to try it again. Although I had to work during the night of Cinco de Mayo (and I'm French, remember?! I shouldn't even have to acknowledge that "holiday") I'd definitely make these again to "catch up". Or for any occasion, really.

Enjoy! Oh and...

To summarize, two posts ago I said I was going on an alcohol detox, didn't I...?! Oops :)

Exploring the Nation's Capital, Part 3

In case you missed it, here are the other two parts: Part 1 | Part 2

Sunday, Jan. 9: I'll spare you all the details, but I woke up on Sunday not feeling good at all. The thought of walking the Mall and going out to eat, etc., was too much for me. Plus, I have tons of pictures of all the D.C. monuments from my last trip when I went with my family in 1997. Instead, Michelle and I watched a bunch of movies and some tv, ordered in and made a good little day of it. I was back to feeling like myself by the end of the day.

Monday, Jan. 10: I'Luckily, my flight didn't leave until 4 p.m. and I was able to print my boarding pass online. That left just enough time to hit one more museum, grab lunch and then send me on my way to the Reagan airport via metro. I'd never been to the Portrait Gallery before, so that was our final stop of my trip!

I'm not a huge art fan, but I heard good things about this gallery. My favorite part was how each portrait had a plaque adjacent to the image, stating who the person of interest was and a brief biographical paragraph explaining the subject. Some of my favorites were the Presidential Hall, the 20th Century Americans and naturally, the sports wing. I'm a big modern history nut, and snapped a few pictures secretly with my phone :) The following is some of what I saw:

Signed Lance Armstrong portrait

The 60s rock concert poster art was seriously one of my favorites!

Reggie Jackson in an OAKLAND A'S jersey (can you tell who my favorite team is?)

Combined Hepburn sister Oscars

The beginning of the sports exhibit & museum's architecture

Remember how I fell in love with the Elvis displays at the Newseum the day before?! Well there was an entire hall of portraits dedicated to Elvis and the photographers who followed him around the year of his 21st birthday. He is a very attractive and interesting figure in Americana. I still want to learn more about Elvis and plan to someday pick up his biography!

Eventually we had to part ways, but I made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. However, there were massive snow storms in Georgia and in the northeastern US states that day. As a result, Delta's hub in Atlanta was shut down for several hours and flights all over the country were affected by that. Luckily, my flight to NYC was only delayed about 45 minutes. However, once the plane was on the runway, we actually sat there for close to 30 minutes. I was nervous I'd miss my connection in NYC.

But when I did land in New York, I found out that flight was also delayed over an hour, leaving me plenty of time to explore and find some dinner. After eating out all weekend, I was not in the mood for any fast food. Instead, I found a cute little French bistro called Croque Madame and ordered up some chicken pesto with a salad and water bottle.

I ordered at the to go cart and decided I had enough time to sit down in the dining area. It was then I realized just how big the "restaurant" actually was. And the BEST part?! Instead of menus and waiters, you order from an iPad and it sends a message directly to the kitchen!!!

(Source)

No joke, this was the most high-tech dining experience I've ever had! The food was amazing and I nestled myself into an individual, one-person dining pod, complete with European/US compatible outlets and of course, the iPad. It did cross my mind to play with the iPad, since each one came stocked with hundreds of apps, but my hygiene-obsessed mind got the best of me. Who knows how many people touch those each day, all of whom end up eating, touching money, food, their faces and possibly mouths. Not the most pleasant realization to have mid-dinner. Instead, I just enjoyed the idea from afar. I'm also not kidding when I say this restaurant literally has hundreds of tables, so imagine how much it must have cost to order that many iPads.

It was a really cool end to a frustrating day of travel! I finally made it home, in bed, sometime after 1 a.m.

I still haven't unpacked my luggage...

Exploring the Nation's Capital, Part 2

In case you missed it, here's the recap from my first two days in D.C.: Part 1

Saturday, Jan. 8: When we came back from the bar on Friday night, Michelle told me it was starting to snow! The forecast predicted snow for about half of my trip and I was ecstatic to wake up to a very small dusting of snow and frost on Saturday morning. However, it didn't last long. In fact, it melted as soon as the sun came out pretty early in the day.

Michelle and I decided to go explore some more museums on Saturday, because we had big group plans for Sarah's birthday night. First up, in what turned out to be my only trip to the Mall the entire weekend, we headed out to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. I had memories of going there with my dad when I was 13, stopping at ever single exhibit, reading every single piece of information and watching movie after movie on aviation history and war aircrafts. Blahhhhh.

We had other plans! Michelle found out that the "guy who killed Pluto" (the planet of my youth, honest what good is the mnemonic "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pies" mean without Pluto?!?!), was going to be talking at the Air & Space Museum that afternoon. Being the astronomy geek that I am, I didn't need to be told twice. Except, to our dismay, he was just signing books for two hours. How lame! And I was not about to spend what little money I had funding the guy who killed the dwarf planet!! We went exploring instead and pretty much stayed in the space portion of the museum.

You can't just cover up my childhood with a big black square!!

Next we were off the Newseum since Michelle picked up two for one admission on Groupon. I'd never been and if you know me, you know that I'm a big news/journalism geek. So onward. (Noticing a theme here?)

The museum was unlike anything I have ever seen. It was super poignant and emotional. We were actually starting at the top, sixth floor, looking at an overwhelming exhibit on Hurricane Katrina in the news and its aftermath, when I received a text about the shooting rampage in my own state... The irony was the exhibit was about how instantly we can access news now with the Internet and cell phones. I definitely teared up right there on the spot.

The entire museum was a mix of fascinating, terrifying, emotional and basically mind-blowing exhibits to me. I loved every second of it and would definitely go back again, or recommend anyone to go see it who hasn't yet!!!

Exhibit honoring Elvis' 75th birthday

Largest intact section of the Berlin Wall

Sports journalism exhibit

The media antenna from the collapsed World Trade Center and a three-story wall of front pages from newspapers around the world

After the surreal and somber experience of the Newseum, we headed back home after it closed -- spending close to three hours there. We got ready for Michelle's roommate's sister's birthday (Sarah, as I've mentioned before) and headed off toward an awesome restaurant in Georgetown called Thunder Burger & Bar. Touted as an edgy, rock & roll restaurant, I literally got the vibe that I was dining in Wonderland. Maybe this'll help shape your opinions on the matter...

(Source)

I tried to get a good shot of the menu, but again, it was dark and edgy. The grass on the walls really made me feel like I was in a completely different world. I even joked to someone that when my beer came out, I half expected it to have a tag that said "Drink Me."

(Source)

To boot, I was insanely excited about every song they played on the speakers. Bush, Killers, 30 Seconds to Mars, and more pretty good tracks I generally listen to every day. When it came time to decide, I made an absolute game-time decision and decided to go for the "Rock the Casbah" burger (House Made Falafel Burger, Topped With Diced Onions, Tomatoes & Herbed Cucumber Yogurt Sauce) over the "Learning to Fly Burger" (Herbed Ground Turkey Burger, Topped With Swiss Cheese, Avocado, & Granny Smith Apples). Neither it, not the seasoned fries, nor the winter citrus beer, disappointed.

I was pleasantly full and enjoying good conversation meeting new people as we went on to our next stop: Mr. Smith's of Georgetown. Another first for me -- I'd never been to a piano bar before! While crazy busy, Mr. Smith's had the beer of the month club for $3. Basically everyone in there was clutching $3 (decent) bottles of beer and singing raucously to the banging of the keys and the Irish-sounding singer. Unhappy with being squeezed into a small area in the back, I took initiative and scribbled down on a Post-It note that we were here with a birthday girl! And thus, the entire bar burst into the Birthday Song to Sarah. It was pretty entertaining. Later, I got him to play one of my fav songs, "Your Love" by the Outfield.

It was a really, really amazing experience (the crappy iPhone video does it zero justice). I'd totally go to a piano bar again, provided I was with a large group of people! And that's saying a lot, seeing as how again I did not have a single drop to drink at the bar. Ok, that's a lie, I tried a sip of the $3. That's how I made my informed opinion that it was decent beer ;) We eventually closed out the night in the back dining area, listening to a group of guys tell joke after joke after joke.

I am totally jealous of all the amazing things to do in D.C.!!! Stay tuned for the final recap in my next post.

Week 2: Visit an old friend from college! (Part 1)

Welcome to my second new thing of 2011! I promise I'll stop saying what number I'm on when I get further into this project :) So on to our second week of the new year. I went to school in Southern California (UC Santa Barbara). Most of my fellow alumni moved either into the LA region or out of state. I've visited a few of my Los Angeles friends on trips that coincided with work trips. If you didn't know, working in sports, I've basically had to work on the road and travel every two weeks since I graduated from college. It left me with plenty of opportunities to see old friends!

However, one of my old roommates, Michelle, moved to D.C. after college. We've been in frequent contact and I've said I wanted to go out there several times! In 2011, it finally happened. I visited my first friend from college on a non work-related trip! So here's a quick recap at my first time back in Washington D.C. in over 14 years (this will come in installments of three, I have waaaay too many pictures!):

Thursday, Jan. 6: After having to wake up at 4 a.m. in Arizona in order to make it to the Phoenix airport before my flight, Thursday wasn't too eventful. I hope you don't blame me for a lack of excitement that day, seeing as how I was way tired and passed out not long after dinner.

Friday, Jan. 7: Michelle worked in the morning and I went with her roommate on a chilllllllly 3.1 mile run past the zoo, etc. After warming up and showering, we grabbed some lunch and kicked off the sightseeing trip! First up, the Smithsonian National History Museum. I saw a lot of amazing things, beginning with the closest to my heart, Julia Child's kitchen!!!!

I also got my cheeseball moment in on the top floor, by Colbert's portrait :) I mean, neutral, ambiguously-aggressive face:

On that floor we also saw American Pop Culture pieces, like Dorothy's ruby red slippers and a Muppets exhibit!! It brought me back to my youth and made me smile :)

Along the way were some other really interesting exhibits on the nation's First Women, including pictures commemorating the Kennedy inauguration, first ladies' dresses and of course, Michelle Obama's stunning dress encased in glass. I wish I were that fabulous ;)

Afterward, we made our way back and got to check out some famous monuments in the sunset and twilight hours:

Since I'm not too ashamed to admit I'm such a giant nerd, we quickly ended our romp around the museum in order to make it to the night's events: wine tasting put on by the French Alliance and dinner for Michelle's roommate's sister's birthday weekend (did you follow?).

The wine tasting, while French, was fairly marginal. Since it was free, I assume they picked cheap wines. Hey, I'm not one to complain about anything free or French ;)

Former roommates at the wine tasting room!

For Sarah's birthday weekend dinner, we basically ran across the street and washed up wine tasting with margarita pitchers... classy ;) I don't want to sound like a brat, but being a California/Arizona girl, I'm mighty spoiled when it comes to Mexican food and margaritas. But these hit the spot and led to a wonderful time.

Half of our dining party of eight :)

Blurry... like my night. Ok, you caught me. I only had one. And I didn't even drink at the bar after!

In all, I had a wonderful trip (for a moment I forgot I was unemployed... ok maybe during the wine tasting and margarita madness, ha)! Michelle has a lot of really awesome friends and I opened up quickly, never once having a shy or awkward moment (another "new first" for Monique, ha!). I got to sample a lot of local D.C. culture (as in the bars and dining establishments enjoyed by other 20-somethings) and for real got my nerd on in all the museums. I loveeee American history/culture. I can't wait to share more with you tomorrow. I also can't believe I'm back in Arizona already... where it is close to 70° ;)

More to come tomorrow! Good night kids.