Versailles

The three of us, plus our Czech classmate and a friend of CB's took a day trip to Versailles.

Being the culture-vultures we are, we spent about 20 minutes inside the palace, and the rest of the time at the various cafes dotting the grounds, enjoying cocktails in the warm sun.

I had been there before, but never seen some of the smaller palaces on the property. It was gorgeous, and we took a few pics for you all to enjoy.

Sayings from a two-year-old

My two-year-old niece is the cutest thing ever and is just starting to say the funniest things here is one to enjoy....

last week she was sitting in the living room playing and abruptly got up and announced to everyone in the room "I am going to check my email" and promptly walked into the computer room and started typing on the keypad. 

How cute is that!!!! She obviously sees/hears everyone doing that! She is the first grandchild in that generation so needless to say she can do anything she wants and she is starting to be such a little diva!!! (aka the picture) Picture caption: "Don't bother me, I'm relaxing"

I will continue to post her funniest/cutest/craziest saying cuz I am sure there will be many many more.

Hawaii I miss you!

Hawaii was so fun. It was great to see all the fam and hang out at the beach. We did nothing but drink and eat and layout. It was so warm and the weather was perfect! There were 17 of us and 2 of the cutest little girls. I miss it already it probably is one of the most relaxing places ever!!! 

Side note for all you celebrity gossip fans:

Brody Jenner was at our hotel with his new gf! In person he is hotter than his pictures but he is a complete tool personality wise. He has a tattoo of his last name coming down the side of his torso. Who tattoos their name on them? Can you not remember it?

the terrible horrible no good very bad day....

Yesterday was that day for me.... it started out by waking up at 5am very jet-lagged. I was wide awake and didn't have to be up until 8am. So I decide to go and take a shower... but while I was in the shower washing my hair the pilot light in the hot water heater went out and the water was completely freezing. After 10 minutes of fighting the water heater, DN and I did not get it to work... I actually think we made it worse... it kinda made a blow up sound and then nothing worked. Thanks to DN's survival mentality we turned off the gas (which I definitely would not have done) so we left to go to school. 

On the way down the stairs I slipped down 8 stairs and fell on my right arm (where a bump and bruise came right away). After scraping myself off the floor we went to school. 

When I got to school I tried to use my new word 2008 for my mac and for the life of me I could not get the citations and bibliography function to work. In the new word for macs it is supposed to have a sophisticated system that allows you to save your sources and have it create a bibliography in any form. (To say the least it will save so much time on my papers and one of the reasons I got the new Word software). 

Then I realized that my french bank account is holding my money and not allowing me to use my credit card because I was (a little) overdrawn from my trip to Cali. Problem with the french bank accounts is that they don't give you monthly statements on time... you get one which seems like every two months and when you get it, its a month old, and you also can't look online at your account for whatever reason) probably just because i cant speak french and don't know what's going on. I will be so pissed if once I learn french and all I had to do was ask for a password to get online. 

then after class I had to race home to meet my landlord who was coming to fix the water heater, but found out that they are just calling the french company (which means that 2 weeks from now someone will come out and tell me it cant be fixed) :( So I am planning on no hot water for a while. Boo. 

And to top it all off last night the Lakers lost the championship!!! Not only did they lose but they lost so bad - 39 pts!!! Come on guys!!!

The only positive thing about yesterday was that my good friend Wiz came to Paris and will be here for a week!! YAY!! Can't wait to show her around and I hope that the rest of the week will be better than yesterday!

Welcome back guys!

Since I took off for the States in April, I haven't gotten to see my good friends...and now CB and DN are coming back- yay! They've missed an unusually beautiful Paris spring, but I'm going to make sure they catch up. I've been spending time on a boat in the Seine with some French friends, and I can't wait to show my fellow Americans the fab views from the deck. See you guys soon!

Snow in Paris?

Apparently it used to snow here once upon a time but it certainly has not this winter......until last night! After ample opportunity throughout this past winter to snow, the Paris snow gods finally wait until well into April to drop some of the white cold stuff, further diminishing any hope we could possibly have for warmth and sun! WTF! Ironically, as I bitch about the snow in Paris I have been overwhelmingly jealous of the record setting snowfall taking place this winter in my long-time locale of Aspen, Colorado. I'm sure my friends in Aspen who are reading this right now thought they would never see the day I would bitch about snow!

Going, going.... back, back.... to Cali, Cali

Its taken me quite a while to realize that both the surfing (hence the pic of my local break, Swami's) and the Mexican food are less then par here in Paris and as such a much needed trip home to California is on the horizon. Myself and CB will be enduring an endless non-stop flight back to the West coast April 17th to see friends and family in the Bay Area, San Diego and Los Angeles for 4 weeks. I don't think we will lose too much sleep over missing Supply Chain Mgt. AW is off to AL and will return a MARRIED woman....so sorry guys; she is off the market :)...congrats! We are all looking forward to some nice weather, English speaking waiters, customer service and driving!!! Returning to Paris in the springtime won't be so bad either!!! We'll all be posting some pics and stories from home during this time. p.s. freak’n psyched!

States-bound!

All three of us will be venturing back to the U.S. in the next two weeks, for a well-deserved break. While CB and DN will be soaking up the California sun, I am going to Alabama and tying the knot. It's a little earlier than I had expected, but circumstance prevails and I am genuinely excited. I'll miss one class, and then DN and CB will miss the next, so classroom hijinks will return in May.

Here's a pic of the lucky fellow. He's a cutie!

Back to Paris from the French Alps

Well...what a great trip the three of us had in La Clusaz. There is nothing more soothing then a week in the mountains to clear the head. We were stuck with some Finance and E-commerce work while we were there but I can't say we dedicated "too much" time to that!

Upon arrival all three of us learned the hard way how difficult it is to negotiate an icy sidewalk and as such quickly became entertainment for all those watching. It should be noted that CB, while laughing at me for eating shit, quickly suffered the wrath of karma. When her ass made contact with the sidewalk her feet where above her head! Ouch!!! AW couldn't quite provide the assistance she was hoping, quickly and unexpectedly joining CB on the pavement.

The week to follow was filled with great snow, awesome views an outdoor swimming pool, Fondue, a 6 liter box of rose, a luke warm Jacuzzi and very, very sore legs. We all learned a lot: AW learned that you can still lay in the sun, even at a ski resort; I learned that French Ski resorts have much better conditions and terrain then I gave them credit for (and I can drink 6 liters of rose in 5 days!) and CB learned, quick and hard you can't ski across a road without snow on it!

La Clusaz

The view from our apartment.

Isn't this adorable?

Why do we always want what we can't have....

when your working you want to be back in school and when your back in school you want to be working... NO MORE 5000 WORD PAPERS!!!! why is the grass always greener from the other side??? one of life's unanswerable questions.... 

At last...

At last... our trip is booked. Myself, AW and CB will bless the ski town of La Clusaz with our presence (how awesome does this look?!?). Although AW is concerned only with fireplaces, books, internet and jacuzzis, CB and I are ready to hit the slopes hard. We leave via train to the southern Alps in 9 days for a full week of skiing, apres skiing, and more eating! The only thing in AWs bag: a bathrobe, bathing suit and Uggs. Will keep u posted. There should be some funny pics from this one!!!

When in Rome.......do as we did!

For those who have not blessed Rome with their presence....you have missed out! In addition to great food, historically significant buildings and monuments, they also have some of the best night life in Europe. After long hard days of sight-seeing in the rain, heavy lunches (even Pizza for breakfast!) we were in desperate need of some evening activity. The last two nights CB, myself and three great friends let loose till 6am. On Thursday night we found ourselves in some sort of multi-level, subtropical club with Buddas and such. How can you go wrong with Buddas in a night club? It was Friday night that we found our way to Babel, one of Rome’s premier kick-ass clubs. Five of us leveraged the dangers of bottle service, finishing three bottles of Vodka and a case of Red Bull - which I will never drink again (OK, not true!) We were the last to leave at 6am and up by 10am to check out of our awesome hotel (complete with Turkish bath we never used). I know we will be back because a coin thrown over my shoulder into the Trevi Fountain says so. M&J and AL - Had a great time, and look forward to next time!!!

p.s. I will post more pics of culturally significant stuff we did soon.

Back From Rome!!

Had an A-MAZ-ING time in Rome. It was so great to see M&J&A!!! I think I got my fix of home for a while! Went to all the big sites and had such a great time but the best of all was the NIGHT LIFE!!! Went to 2 clubs the last two nights until 6am!! I am currently in our Strategic Management class and suffering from no sleep and fighting off a cold, but it was so worth it!!! 

Roman night clubs kick ass!

Rome March 4th to 8th

Rainy day at the Vatican after nursing our hangovers with Red Bull and vodka.

En route to Rome

As mentioned in a previous blog, it is so nice to live here in Paris. CB and I leave for Rome first thing in the morning on Tuesday (and by first thing I mean way before the sun comes up!)........and still get there first thing in the morning on Tuesday. While CB has been just about everywhere in the world, including Rome, some of us have not and as such I am very excited to see what needs to be seen there.....and have an experienced guide (especially one with better navigation skills then me!). I am looking forward to many things; tourists sites, Chianti, Italian Food, meeting those with previous CB experiences, oh...and....more lost cell phones (although hopefully not). I am sure more pictures will be loaded upon our return...minus any dumpster experiences!

A Birthday in Paris

What do you get when you combine great food, a table by a fireplace, Rose Champagne and good friends all in the City of Lights? CBs Birthday! After a one of the better meals I have had in Paris, with fellow American MBA students, we proceeded to "that bar with awesome martinis". Many Chocolatinis and Georgia Peaches later we were proud to close the place down. Since 2am is always way too early to go home we found our way to another fine Parisian watering hole, however at this point we were in no condition to remember the name. I, CB and TP (far left in the pic) finished the evening by sucking down some sort of flaming drink which to me tasted like burning plastic......I think I did not understand the instructions clearly. At 3:30am we stumbled though the streets feeling accomplished in providing CB a well deserved birthday to remember! HAPPY B-DAY CB!

I should also mention that to her credit, CB arrived home at the end of the evening still in possession of her cell phone. For those familiar with "the curse" her odds were not looking good but she prevailed and proved to the cell phone gods that anything is possible (especially if you give your phone to someone else to look after for the evening, specifically for this reason).

Ole!

Everyone can relax. Mexican food was found and enjoyed here in Paris. Mas tequila!

*** bar name update ***

"that bar with awesome martinis" = Le Rhubarb

We can almost taste spring/summer!!!!

It's slowly getting warmer here.... Yesterday, during our 2 hour lunch break from E-Commerce, we sat outside in front of the Tour Eiffel and had a demi carafe de vin rose (just some of the perks of living in Paris!) While drinking wine we (and by we I mean me) was finally warm for the first time since being in Paris! For those of you who know me, know that as a true Cali girl at heart, I need my sun and warm weather. I can't wait to wake up and not have to put on 10 layers of clothes and finally wear all my summer dresses and flip-flops. 

On another note... We decided that since we are living in one of the most amazing restaurant cities in the world, we need to do more exploring. We are going to go around each of the 18 different arrondissements and try out restaurants and bars. We will update our blog with our reviews after each dinner. 

One bar recommended to us by another MBA student is in the 7eme we call it "that bar with the awesome martinis". (actual name to come soon) We played Russian Roulette with an amazingly long martini menu. They make them with fresh fruit and they are delicious!! And probably the downfall of my night last friday was the 1/2 price for girls!!! Thankfully TP and DN were there to take care of me... love you boys!! :) 

Also keep those comments coming we love to hear them!

On behalf of AW........the Maaaalta post

Sadly there comes a time in every bloggers life when one must take one for the team, therefore I am writing our Malta post of behalf of AW who has fallen behind in her posting obligations. Although she does get one free credit for the dumpster extravaganza for which this does not even begin to satisfy.

We departed from Venice with no idea where Malta even was on the map. We had made a very relative (OK minimal) effort to investigate before booking the trip but found no information other than that it was hot, there are palm trees, it's on the water and it's cheap; I mean what else does one really need to know anyway?

We checked into our hotel across the street from the beach and proceeded to the nearest dive bar where we gorged on fried appetizers and beer before succumbing to AW's request to scratch her Rawhide Bar itch a little further down the street. As always, we decided one drink was in order and as always, stayed for 4 hours filling the jukebox with requests for classic American tunes that every other foreigner (foreign to us....they were all locals!) pretended to sing along to.....poorly. After some standard arm wrestling and unidentified shots we stumbled back to the hotel to arise to a sunny warm blue sky day. After a morning run, and racing CB up and down some steps (and losing) and then racing the last 300 yards back to the hotel (and winning), we spent lunch drinking Paps Punch (kinda like Sangria) by the pitcher...... well actually we spent the whole day drinking Paps Punch..love that stuff!... after which we rested on a dock surrounded by crystal clear blue water trying to figure out how to justify the potential of an MBA in Malta. After trying to rationalize staying in Malta for the rest of our trip we proceeded to a wonderful restaurant for some Lobster and seafood. Didn't think CB was going to survive the experience after our all day punch pouring, spilling and more pouring adventure. She came through and finished her meal despite her inability to sit up right and AWs puppet master and voice throwing skills with the Lobster.

The next day we came to terms with the life we live and found our way back to the airport to fly to Florence. Needless to say.....Malta is highly recommended and should be visited....just for a little longer then 2 days. For those of you who can wait AW is figuring out a way to re-locate....for good.

A little bit of home....

It has been the middle of July since I left Cali, I love living in Paris, the only things I miss are my friends and mexican food (bien sur!) Thankfully my friends travel (unfortunately mexican food doesn't)  They are going to Italy for a week the beginning of March and DN and I are going to meet them in Rome, sadly AW will not be making it on this trip! (don't worry I will navigate him back to the hotel, but it just won't be the same without you there and the slap at the end of the walk!) ;) I am SOOOOO excited to see my friends, we are going to have so much fun drinking amazingly cheap wine and eating tons of pasta since we did not get enough on our last trip. This vaca is still at least one ski trip away but I just couldn't help myself... I had to write how happy I am to see them!!! 

pics will be posted after this trip for sure!!! 

And then?.........

So..... stuck in class....again (yes..as I am writing this!) thinking about how we can add more pics from another crazy trip. End result... trying to arrange a ski trip after our oh-so-fabulous E-Commerce course ends this week on Wednesday. Given that this is the first year I will have less than 100 days on skis in more than 10 years I NEED some snow time ASAP!!! La Clusaz in the French Alps should do the trick. Somehow I don't think Ryan Air would be too excited about the massive amount of equipment I will need to take, so we're going to have to snow train it this time. The good news: There is a bar on the train! AW is being dragged along kicking and screaming after promises of fire places, Jacuzzis and maybe even a spa or two.

Looks like Rome may in order after that. Too bad planning cultural drinking adventures is not a required MBA course....We would have a 6.0 GPA!

Anyway, being lured back into streamlining operational efficiencies through the use of information technology...ouch!

More to come...

ENJOY!

 morning bellini
 the crew!
 love malta, how pretty!!!
 paps punch is the best!!
 theme of the entire trip.

Did someone say "dumpster"?

Florence back to Paris......

The coolest part about living in Europe is that when you return home from vacationing in Europe....you are still in Europe! Paris is an awesome city to return home to, it almost feels as though we are on perpetual holiday (minus some classes and a whole bunch of papers).

Last few days in Florence were great! We continued our strict diet of Pasta, Pizza and Chianti. On the last night we decided that we had spent too much time drinking wine in restaurants and not spent enough time in bars drinking hard liquor so......problem solved. This was quite the find. We were mesmerized by the "Beer Pong tournament" sign on the front door which was the deal maker for us, although we never actually played. After pitchers of something pinkish and blue and vodka/rum soaked, we got our groove on till we were the last ones standing, well...most of us were standing.....OK it was me who was not standing. I owe some gratitude to AW and CB who, if not there to guide me home, I would still be laying comfortably on what ever car/wall/curb/lamp post (OK Dumpster!) I was using for support......ty! Some of us left the club a little lighter then when we arrived. Group total - AW: minus one digital camera, CB: minus one brand new Dior wallet, 2 credit cards, a library card, student ID, a tanning card full of unused credit, AND a total surprise finale, another cell phone!! DN: just my pride:-)


On another note I know CB likes to hear so much about; The Score - Florence: 2 CB: 0 Believe me when I tell you that Orange Mobile is glad to have CB as a dedicated, loyal, and contracted locked cellular customer.

One small thought on O'Neill bags....... As a dedicated winter outerwear, board short and wetsuit customer myself, O'Neill Consumer Affairs deserves a letter from CB who seconds after tags were ripped off, was left with a broken bag. Before even leaving the apartment in Paris, over-packing combined with poorly manufactured zippers led to disaster #1. Upon check-in with Ryan Air Disaster #2 - it turned out that the bag we thought would qualify as carry on did not qualify. Upon arrival in Venice and with so many stair littered bridges we each grabbed a handle when...Disaster #3. The handle I was holding was no longer attached to the bag at one end and spent the rest of the trip being dragged through dirt and rain. All that said here is my required disclaimer: "Comments made do not reflect the actual opinions of above mentioned parties, their friends, relatives, affiliates and related brands. Statement not intended for actual commercial use. Winnings will be distributed over 20 equal annual payments"

Venice was lovely, and Carnival was so much fun. I'll post the rest of the pics later today- homework calls!

Phase 3 - Florence

OK.... We are currently in Florence so there may have to be another update after some more crazy/funny/ oh so Italian stuff happens. First and foremost, since we have traveled on Ryan Air more than a few times in the last week I feel obligated to mention a few things. First, while they are on-time they have carry-on baggage Nazis whose sole purpose in life is to keep you from bringing any bag on the plane. CB took one for the team and bore the brunt. After being undressed at security, where by the way they are so tight they actually hand write your boarding passes in Malta, we walked on the runway and were stuffed into non-reclining yellow seats designed for midget, primi babies. At 6' 2" I was not a happy camper! That said, all flights were relatively short and cheap, just not sweet.

One recommendation for traveling to many places in the same trip....save the nicest hotel for last, not the worst one... After staying across the street from a palm tree littered beach we arrived in Florence in a freezing drizzle in the middle of the night after a 70 minute bus ride from the Airport to our palatial Hotel Ferretti, recently upgraded from a half a star to an entire one star hotel. They are so nice here; they even let you pick up your own sheets and towels as you need them....who needs maids anyway? We could not have chosen a more academically stimulating hotel to write an Acquisition proposal for class.....

My sole concern this entire trip was where we were going to watch the Superbowl. I must say that the greatest news upon arrival in Florence was getting lost and accidentally walking by a bar with a sign stating their intention to play the Superbowl, even though kick-off would be at 12:30am. We ate, drank and showed up at 9pm to pre-game. After numerous drinks, shots, beers and verbal diarrhea from other drunk annoying American girls we were Superbowl satisfied.

More to come... (including some f'ing awesome pics!)

Venice

Hi all.... sorry for the lag in posts. We are just in Florence right now after a couple days in Venice and Malta. Venice was amazing!!! The first night we got there we had dinner in front of live techno music, love house music :) We also had a romantic 3 person gondola ride where we were sung to, it fulfilled everything and more AW had ever dreamed of it being. Being carnival, we had to get grotesque masks, but the best part of being in Venice was drinking chianti out of wine glasses the size of our heads. Thank God for our sherpa DN carrying all our bags up and down all the bridges. 

slide show to be posted soon!!!

C'est la vie

This crazy life is full of bar stories, the pursuit of an MBA, foreign visitors hooking up with locals they can't communicate with, getting lost and buying things we know nothing about. more to come....

Cure the January Blues....

Because of our awesome school schedule, we have unjustifiable amounts of free time. Thus, we travel. RyanAir has generously offered the world's cheapest flights, and it would be truly criminal to not buy- so we're going to Venice (Carnevale), Malta (Carnival) and Florence.

Here's the schedule:

January 29- Paris to Venice

January 31- Venice to Malta

February 2- Malta to Florence

February 6- Florence to Paris

Bonjour!

Just wanted to say hi!! You will hear more about our crazy lives soon enough!

Bisous!