Goddess of.. Berlin, Marseille, Milan!

Three months in to the big move to Paris and life is good!

I've been working from home for the same company I was working for before, except that I'm now a freelancer (social media & web marketing consultant). It's been great and has allowed me the flexibility to work from anywhere.

Lolita came to visit, about 2 weeks after I moved, in early September. We went to Berlin together for 4 days and it was SO fun. We hadn't travelled together for a while, so it was really nice to do so.. especially to a city neither of us had visited before. I loved Berlin, the food, the sights and all the freedom (i.e. drinking in the streets ;) was fun).

About a month after we moved, Nick was assigned his first project and it was going to be out of town. In Marseille (south of France) to be exact. I was a little bummed at first, not for him obviously this is great.. but selfishly, I didn't know anybody in Paris yet and he'd be gone Monday-Thursday (or Friday) for the following 9 weeks.

Fast-forward to the end of November, and this week is his last week in Marseille. In retrospect, it was alright! I was mostly bummed in October but I did visit him twice.. once for a week in early October and then, for 2 weeks around his birthday in November. Compared to all the time we spent apart last year, this really wasn't bad.

Plus, the time I spent in Marseille was pretty fun. It was much warmer there and we were staying in a really nice hotel right by the beach. We haven't had a real routine of "life at home" but that'll come soon enough. Until then, we enjoyed the warm days & the sun!

Nick had his first long weekend off in November, and we jumped at the chance to travel a little bit. We set our heart on Milan (with a daytrip to nearby Bergamo), Italy. It really didn't disappoint. We're both food & wine lovers so Italy really feels like home. Plus, the whole "aperitivo" thing in Milan is genius.. it's happy hour but with a large buffet of italian appetizers. It was really fun to see how competitive the bars get about who has the best buffet... we tried several -- All yummy!

We took a tour around Milan one morning before I had to work, to see all the main sights and get the lay of the land. It was incredible, we visited the Scala Opera house, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the incredible Duomo (Cathedral), the Castello Sforzesco (Medival castle), & the painting of The Last Supper by Da Vinci. We also went back to the Duomo another day to climb up to the roof, what an amazing experience!

Our daytrip to Bergamo was equally amazing (except for le rain). We took a 45-minute train ride that brought us to the center of the Citta Bassa (Lower town) of Bergamo. It was easy enough from there to walk to the Funicolare that took us to the Citta Alta (Upper town). It's a really charming, lovely town.. with lots of bakeries, places to eat and beautiful duomos (churches). We also decided to hike it up (ALL the way up) to the San Vigilio castle. The castle itself wasn't the most impressive thing, but the view from the highest point in the city was worth the painful hike in the rain without an umbrella. My bad :/ I forgot the umbrella at the hotel that morning. Don't worry.. I paid for my sins with a nice cough & cold the following week.

And now we're back in beautiful Paris for the last few weeks before heading home for the Holidays. To be honest, I'm also looking forward to being with my mom & friends for almost a month. It'll be nice to catch up on all the things I've missed!

Take care bloggaroos, I'll update you soon!

XOXO,

Goddess of.. In the City of Lights!

Wow. Here we are.

Over a month has gone by since my last post.. and so much has happened since.

We moved out of our (my) apartment in MyCity and moved in with my mom. We lived out of our suitcases for the better part of 3 weeks. We went to dinner/drinks/parties with friends & family, and tried to make the best of what little time we had left. I worked full-time until the day before our departure.

Then, we packed it all up for good. I had a carry-on and a suitcase. My life fit in 30kg's worth of luggage. Scary thought for a materialist such as myself. Although by achieving that (selling all my furniture, giving away most of my clothes & packing what little was left into 30kg), I can hardly consider myself a materialist anymore.

Saturday night, 7:35pm was our scheduled flight time. Obviously, the plane was late. We ended up leaving at 11:50pm. The wait at the airport was kinda unbearable. I was glad to get an extra few hours with my mom and bestfriend who came to the airport... but the goodbyes were prolonged and it was harder that way I guess.

In any case, we managed to board the plane without too much crying on my part. We had horribly tight seats and an overall very uncomfortable flight... but we made it to the City of Lights!

We took a cab and got to our apartment, where our new landlord showed us the ways of the place. We got settled in and unpacked everything in the first few hours. Then, we took a walk around the neighborhood and to Place de la Concorde, where we admired the sunset over the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.

It was glamourous and more! This place is so fabulous and I feel so blessed to be an "insider" now. Well, maybe not quite yet but I can't wait to know this city well.

Goddess of.. Where did November go?

Seriously, where did the past month go?

I wake up suddenly, one crisp-cold morning and, it's December 1st, a Wednesday with yet another newsletter to send out. I read on Facebook about my friends who've just shaved off their Movember mustaches.. and those who've completed NaNoWriMo. The latter being the #1 reason why I didn't blog this past month, I must confess: I failed epically at NaNoWriMo.

I was so determined, but it just did not happen. Projects piled on at work, and that meant extra money.. so I wasn't totally willing to give that up (or the 5 hours of sleep a night, that kept me barely functionning). Also, I didn't have an outline and did not think my "rough idea" of the story I wanted to write would suffice to create a full-on 50,000 word novel. However, I did manage to write well over 36,000 words for my extra projects (SEO optimization texts, for those of you who speak nerd) at work. That's gotta count for something, right? I also managed to hand-in my freelance work on time, every week, despite the extra projects. Go, me!

Now, we're here, on the 4th of December.. the eve of my third bellydance show. I am finishing the freelance work I planned on getting done last night but finally had to postpone due to the arrival of some family friends' first grandson last night: Welcome to the world, baby M!

Did I ever mention that I don't really like newborns? All tiny, fresh-out-of-the-womb, fragile newborns.. don't make me go Awww or Ouhhh.. and I don't think they're cute. Give me a chubby/chunky 2 year old and I'll go nuts.. but those still covered in goo, not so much. Anywowzer, I digress.

My first show, Dec. 2009

Bellydance tomorrow should be fun, got friends coming: Violet, Lolita and Frantz will all be there, along with Mom. 

It's a bit of a big deal for me to invite more than 1 friend.. as Violet and Frantz have never seen me dance in person. But they are both great friends so I don't feel too shy to dance in front of them (and 200-300 strangers). Plus, this semester, I am performing with the most advanced bellydancer group at my dance studio so I nervous, but somewhat proud :)

Talk to you soon, 

Love XOXO

Goddess of .. Twenty-five candles !

On Saturday, May 8th 2010 .. I celebrated my long awaited (and kinda dreaded) 25th birthday.

Well, to be exact, I celebrated my very last day & night being 24 years old because my birthday is May 9th. Seriously, I wasn't going to just slip into my mid-twenties without mourning my early twenties an itsy bit. Except that it wasn't so much a "mourning" as it was a "celebration of life".. but I digress.

I definitely had a wonderful time on saturday and

I hope that my birthday celebrations are a reflection of

how much fun the next year is going to be

because I had a BLAST!

First, there were drinks and appetizers at my place. Lolita, Violet and the whole bunch of my girlfriends from high school were there.. about 10 of us crazies in all.

Mandatory rosé wine or sparkling pink lemonade for everyone.. alongside some delicious appetizers (arancinis, veggies & dip, all kinds of cheese, puff pastry hors d'oeuvres, etc.).

I was showered with gifts from my extremely generous friends (gift cards, beauty products, scarf, purse, chocolates, etc.).

By the way, I'm totally aware that posting pictures with stickers on everyone's face is pretty much pointless but I worry about anonymity.. so here goes. I hope it still gives you a vague notion of how much fun we had :o)

I was super happy that all the girls from the high school bunch made it .. because 3 of them weren't suppose to come until later.. but finally, they were able to make it !!!

It made all the difference in the world, I was so glad to have all of them over at my house because we rarely do this and mostly meet up in restaurants or at the movies.

I also got to spend some really fun times with Lolita & Violet. They hadn't seen each other since .. sometime in February or March.. when we went out to one of our favorite bars and ended up crashing attending a stranger's birthday party around 3-4 am.

It was fun to see them kind of catch up and mingle.

Afterwards, we headed to my favorite thai restaurant around 9pm, for a late dinner. I ordered one of my usuals .. the sweet & sour chicken (tomatoes, onions, red and green bell peppers & pineapple) with sticky rice. Lolita enjoyed my other favorite, the sauteed chicken with peanut sauce & crispy spinach .. so delicious !

I bought a delicious cake (tasted like Ferrero Rocher or Bacci chocolates) that I brought to the restaurant and they served it to us as dessert.

The staff was so nice and funny .. they were really young and friendly to us, they even switched my candles on the cake when they brought it out and it read : Happy 52nd birthday Aritza !!

They put them back in the right order when they served me my piece of cake thought, thank God.

I'm having a hard enough time dealing with being 25 .. there's no way I want to skip to 52 right away.

Once we were done with dinner, I said goodbye to my highschool friends .. who are not at all the type to go out to bars .. and Violet, Lolita & Myself headed to our home (the bar that Violet & I often go to on thursday nights). We've developped a sort of customer-friendship with the bartenders there .. so they were happy we stopped by for my birthday. I was offered a complimentary glass of bubbly from one bartender and another one offered us a celebratory round of shots (Jack Daniels topped with a slice of orange, the usual). All in all, a very good time !

We then met up with Ari and his friends, Frantz and David, at another bar nearby.

Violet, Lolita, Myself, Ari, Frantz and David had a really really fun time and all of them made it a birthday that I'll never forget. I had met Frantz before (super funny and super friendly guy) and I had heard a little bit about David (funny and sarcastic, self-proclaimed asshole) before through Lolita.

At the bar, David proceeded to yell at the barman to get me free shots for my birthday .. it was super rude and I thought he was a real asshole.. but it worked and I think he actually knew the barman or became friends with him afterwards .. so no real harm done there. Dr.Frantz spoon-fed me Jack Daniels & Coke as a cure to aging.. and it was hilarious.

Frantz, David and I talked and joked all night long and it was really cool.

Anywowzer, that's it my lovelies. Oh and Frantz wrote his phone number on a coaster and slipped it in my purse.. lol, I really cracked up when I got home and saw this. I sent him a little text message to thank him for the great evening and I added him on facebook. Such great people, I've really been blessed lately .. I've met such funny people, it's wonderful !

That was my birthday night, bloggies !

It certainly lived up to my standards of fun :o)

and I hope it lived up to your standards of an interesting blog post !!

Goddess of .. A simple math lesson with Aritza !

Lawyers are renowned for being great mathematicians ! Uhmmmmmmmmm.. NOT.

However, one thing we are good at is : Alcohol. This skill was developed through enduring several years of Law School. True Story. Click here for scientific proof.

For example, Lolita (who is also a lawyer) 's dad is a profesionnal wine-taster / specialist (remember his wine cellar?). He will be working at the "Wine & Spirits show" next weekend and asked his beloved daughter to give him a hand. Lolita will be pouring wine samples to strangers from noon to 9pm. And now, this is where it gets interesting, her dad asked her if she would like to be paid "in cash" or "in wine".

Her answer : "In wine, of course !"

Her logic : Rather than getting paid about 100$ in cash, they'll give her 100$ worth of wine at cost price. That could be roughly about 12 bottles. Plus, if she's ever short on cash .. 100$ wouldn't go a long way but wine, on the other hand, would totally help her forget she's short on cash. It's pure genius.

100% pure lawyer math & logic

I began doing some math of my own yesterday. You know, just to keep my brain active during my weeks months of unemployment.

I started off with things I'm familiar with :

Gin + tonic water + slice of lime = Gin & Tonic

Lychee liqueur + vodka + a few lychees = Lychee Martini

This boosted my morale and I figured it was time to try something new :

Sparkling wine (perhaps champagne) + peach purée = Bellini 

Now I've heard about Bellinis through many, many of you bloggies but I have yet to try one. I'm super excited and I've enlisted the help of my dear friend Violet (not a lawyer but she's in law enforcement / immigration so it's all good, lol) to get on this mission as quickly as possible. I will report to you as soon as we do !

Speaking of Violet.. she and I had a movie night last night. We bought lots of veggies, dip, chips and chocolate. Added a nice bottle of red wine. Watched "Brothers" and "Up in the Air".. both really good movies btw ! It was an awesome evening, filled with drinking, eating and drooling over hot men.

I'll leave you with one last math equation :

Red wine + an awesome friend + the hawtness of Jake Gyllenhaal =

 Best. Evening. Ever !

This guy doesn't even have to take off his shirt to be hot ..

.. but I never (ever) protest when he does.

Goddess of.. BIG Birthdays!

In exactly 2 months from today, it'll be my 25th birthday !

Two weeks after that, it'll be Lolita's 25th birthday !

And in June, my adorable grandma will celebrate her 100th birthday !

As you can imagine, I am busy brain-storming for the best ideas on how to make these special days even more memorable. Planning, I like to think, is one of my specialities. I'm organized and, quite frankly, one of the most anal-retentive perfectionnist people around. I'm determined to make a big deal out of these birthdays and to get shitfaced celebrate in style !

The first thing that came to mind

when I thought of a way to make a big deal of this : CAKE.

I'm a fanatic of the tv shows Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes. Either you know what I'm talking about or perhaps, you've seen pictures circulating of those amazing cakes. It's no secret, they're really fabulous but also quite expensive. I found a cake shop, here in the city, who seems to make similar (amazing) cakes.

I'm thinking of perhaps combining Lolita and I's birthday celebration .. and get one cake for both of us. That cuts the cost and gathers more friends & family in the same place. Also, we're bestfriends, turning the same age, within 2 weeks of each other .. it DOES NOT get more perfect than that, right ?

Obviously, for my grandma's cake, I would go with something simple, pastel colors, with some beautiful (real or icing/fondant) flowers on it. Both parties would probably involve around 50 people, so I guess it's good that it wouldn't be as big as a wedding cake. Of course, I need to find a job before spending this kind of money on cake, but that's .. well .. a piece of cake ! Uhmmm .. right.

If the budget doesn't allow for the "cake of my dreams", it could be just adding a special touch to some cupcakes and to the drinks.

via @ The TomKat Studio etsy store

via @ The Pink Cherry Mama etsy store

For some reason, I think these silly little party hats would be awesome to wear. However, I think that's the kind of thing that I would never be able to get Lolita on board with.

via @ The Monsoon Bead etsy store

Perhaps I'm leaning towards an Alice in Wonderland and Mad Hatters themed party ?

But then again, neither of us are big Wonderland fans.

How about an Old Hollywood Glamour theme ?

Audrey Hepburn meets Marilyn Monroe.

Afterall, Lolita is the Audrey to my Marilyn.

Let me know what you think bloggies ?

P.S. You are ALL formally invited to this birthday bash !!

Goddess of .. A fresh start for 2010 !

It's 6:17am.

I pulled an all-nighter but I did it, hehe.

I hope you like the new template for the blog. I originally wanted to make it all pretty by January 1st but the custom header image thingy was difficult a bitch to make (it took me days).. because I am not at all Photoshop-friendly (or Photoshop is not at all Aritza-friendly .. if you will). Anywowzer, I was determined to incorporate that specific image because it. rocks. my. socks. OFF.

...

Here's how the Holidays went down for me

December 23rd : Housewarming party at Lolita's - Major Success, about 15-20 people were there and it was fun. The food that Lolita and I cooked was really good, I was kind of impressed we pulled it off.

{Only halfway done with the clean-up at that point ..}

December 24th : Christmas Eve celebration with Mom and her bestfriend. We had a five-course dinner at a very fancy hotel restaurant .. it was simply delicious. And then, as a gift to all of us, I rented a room in that hotel, where we exchanged gifts and drank some bubbly !

{3 people, 50 presents, sounds about right}

{Make-up station for the Belle of the Bal}

{Have I ever mentionned how much I lurve hotel beds ?}

December 25th : Christmas Night dinner at Lolita's dad's place. It's always a good time when we go there .. espescially because her dad is a wine specialist / expert (the man does that for a living, my hero). So uhmmm, amazing food, amazing wines and a jacuzzi, enough said. I died and went to heaven.

 

{Lolita and her cousin giving me the Bunny Ears}

{One third (!) of Lolita's Dad's wine cellar.. I'll be baaack}

{Fettucini, Linguini, Martini, Bikini}

December 26th : Boxing Day - Shopping bonanza. I bought plenty of work clothes because it was necessary and some pretty pretty boots because I'm worth it, hehe.

{Mama bought some hawt boots}

How 'bout you ? How were your holidays, bloggies ?

 

P.S. It's now 7:53am .. ouch .. no beauty sleep for me. We hip hop and we don't stop.

Goddess of .. The coolest gifts to give this Christmas !

I bought my first christmas present yesterday.

I have a christmas dinner & gift exchange with my group of girlfriends from highschool on saturday night. Every year, we each pick a name out of a hat and buy a present for that person because it's simpler and we just can't afford to give every girl a gift.

Of course, I picked the name of the girl I like the least (sorry, it's true, we all have favorites) and really don't know much about. Anywowzer, I decided to go for a pretty general gift idea : pyjamas ! I found some really cute ones that I really like, I even put similar ones on my own christmas list :o)

Grey henley ruffle long-sleeve top

with white-and-grey polka dot flannel pants

{Pyjama set from LaSenza @ 20$}

Add a little something to it, like a yummy smelling hand cream or candy (who doesn't love candy !?) .. and I'll be done. Christmas gift exchange; Check and check.

Now, I'm brainstorming on some ideas for ALL my other christmas gifts. Urgh, it's a hard-knock life for us.. but I've come up with some pretty cool gift ideas I think. Now I just have to figure out who to give them to.. haha, easy peasy.

Gifts for the Party Hostess

like Lolita for example

who's having a Xmas-housewarming party on December 23rd

{Cool jewels ice cube tray by Fred @ 8$}

{Gin & Titonic ice cube tray by Fred @ 8$}

{Black cocktail shaker @ ~15$}

{Zebra cocktail shaker @ ~30$}

{Red croc cocktail shaker @ ~30$}
Sadly I can't seem to find those in store or have them shipped to Canada .. but my mom called me earlier to say she found a really cool PURPLE one today.


Gifts for the How I Met Your Mother Enthusiast

{Haaave you met Ted? baseball tee @ ~25$}

{MacLaren's bar black t-shirt @ 30$}

{MacLaren's pub mousepad @ 15$}

Gifts for the Music Lover

{Rated R cd by Rihanna @ 13$}

Including the hit *Russian Roulette*

{The Fame Monster deluxe edition cd by Lady Gaga @ 15$}

Including the hits *Paper Gangster* & *Bad Romance*

{Battle Studies cd by John Mayer @ 11$}
Including the hits *Heartbreak warfare* & *Friends, lovers or nothing*


{Echo cd by Leona Lewis @ 12$}
Including the hit *Happy* 

{She Wolf cd by Shakira @ 12$}
Including the hits *She Wolf (La Loba)* & *Give It Up To Me*

 Gifts for the Nerd in all of us

{Gnome key caps by Fred @ 5$}

{Owl hoot-sound alarm clock @ 25$}

{Peanut butter & Jelly bestfriend necklaces @ 30$}

{Custom (RED) Converse Hi-tops @ 62$}

This is my NERDY version of course,

but you're free to design your own.

Alrighty, that's what I've got for now, I'll be back later with more ideas !

Have a great weekend bloggies !!!