Working Backwards from Work Party



Watch out Palo Alto!!!  I'll be coming home soon! 

 Fun Fact:  How many of you learned the French children's song "Alouette" (pronounced: al-oo-etta) in French class in school?  Maybe a few of you.  Did any of you know what the words meant?  I didn't until recently when I was listening to it with Conor.  While singing along, I suddenly realized what a grisly song it is.  Here is a verse or two translated into English:

Alouette, nice bird, I'm going to pluck you

First I'll pluck your head (x 2)

And the head, and the head

Alouette, nice bird, I'm going to pluck you

Next I'll pluck your beak (x2)

You get the picture.  For those of you aware of my bird-phobia, you'll understand that this is now one of my favorite songs :)

I've let a month go by since my last post and lots of stuff has happenned.  Conor turned one, we spent an amazing week in Italy, a few of my friends and I ran a 10K, Saleema and Donovan came to visit, and IRCAD hosted a work party the likes of which one would not see at your average US work party.
Work Party Franco-Brazilian Style: 
This weekend we went to a party hosted by James' work to celebrate the opening of an IRCAD in Brazil.  The theme, naturally, was Carnival and the invitation encouraged everyone to deck themsleves out in feathers, beads, ruffles, and  - judging by the scantily clad women on the invitation - sequined bikinis were totally acceptable.

In lieu of sequined bikinis, James and I wore green and yellow masks and boas that I got at a costume shop just down the street from our apartment.  Here we are with James' co-worker Silvana:

You can't see it in the above picture but the silky jumpsuit I wore was, for me, a bit risky for a work party.  However, the most scantily clad person at the party came in a loin cloth.  Check it out:

This costume assuaged any fears I had about coming in a silky, strapless jumpsuit.  Unlike the work parties I've been to in the US, this party was as rocking as many a wedding I've been to and the DJ and dancing was still going strong when we left at 2 am!

Sallie and Donovan Visit:
Saleema and Donovan came to visit last week but, unfortunately, I have no pictures to share.  It was really really nice to see Saleema since, other than Jordan, I haven't seen any of the UCLA crew since last August.  It was even nicer to get to see her and Conor hanging out.  Sallie was really cute with him :)  Donovan, however, is Conor's new best friend.  The two of them really hit it off.  Conor especially enjoyed challenging Donovan to sword fights with his nerf sword ... en garde!

Course de Strasbourg:
Two weekends ago Strasbourg hosted a half-marathon and 10K race that started at the European Parliment, snaked through the center of town and then ended back at the starting line.  Even though my runs these days barely break the thirty minute mark, I signed up because a couple of my friends were running as well. It was a beautiful day for a run.  Here are the runners pre-race:

Of course Conor came to cheer us on (James would have come too but he was in Boston for the weekend at Geoff and Jamie's wedding):

On a good note, I did the 10K in just under my goal of 1 hour (58 minutes).  On a bad note, I kept running even though I started experiencing rather bad IT band pain at around kilometer 5.  Does anyone know of a good sports physical therapist in Palo Alto ... I'm going to need one!
Italia:
The hands down highlight of the last month was our amazing vacation to Italy. We cannot thank the Curran's enough for generously letting us stay at their gorgeous Italian villa that is nestled on a gorgeous hill above a terraced vineyard, overlooking a view of the meditarranean one one side and a medieval village on the other ... are you jealous yet!!

James and I both accomplished two important goals on this trip.  First, James successfully kept my AA (activity anxiety ... see prior post) in check and we spent nearly the entire week relaxing at the house instead of venturing out to explore neighboring towns, find ruins, sample local food, check out each beach, search out guide-book recommended trailheads and scenic vantage points ... I think you get the picture.  We genuinely chilled out and it was fantastic.  Here's a picture of James and Conor genuinely chilling out:


Here's a picture of Conor and I cruising around Lucca (I said James nearly succeeded in curbing the AA):

Second, I accomplished my life long goal of cooking homemade pizza in a genuine wood-burning, brick oven.  Yes ... the Curran's have a wood-burning, brick oven! Luckily, I had a pizza dough recipe from Christy Moore saved on my computer because we had no access to the internet or my trusty pizza cookbook.  Despite using yeast that was meant for pastries, we whipped up the following specimens that, I dare say, would win any pizza night competition hands-down. 


Listen, proper pizza cooking requires frumpy attire.



Piece de la resistance

I could devote a whole blog post to Italy and how wonderful it was to relax for a week at the Curran's villa.  I think I shared my pictures with most of you who read this blog so, in closing, I'll just say ... MERCI BEAUCOUP et GRAZIE to the Currans!!
Conor Update:

Conor ... One Year Old!
Mr. Man turned one year old on April 21st and we threw him a raging party with all his friends.  His favorite gift, by far, is his new bike that Vivian, Michele and Parag got for him.  He loves to ride it around town and wave at everyone who passes by.  Here's the bike:


I chose to post this picture, specifically, because I think my hair looks good :)

OK ... her's a better picture of Conor's new bike:

Fairwell to Max
Conor learned one of life's hard lessons this week.  That is, good friends can sometimes move away.  His buddy, Max, had to move to Madrid with his parents, Patrick and Teresia.  Here's Conor giving Max a goodbye hug:

 We'll miss you Max (and Teresia and Patrick).




The good 'ole times

Father - Son Madras Shorts Season
Maybe you hadn't heard, but its father-son Madras shorts wearing season.

Firsts

King of the ...er ... basket.

Fun Fact:  Did you know that there are beautiful beaches in County Cork, Ireland?  For example, Inchidonny Beach is only a kilometer or two from Clonakilty in West Cork.  It is beautiful with rolling sand dunes and great views.  It is also a big surf spot.  Here's a picture:

I wanted to write a fun fact about Inchidonny using my most trusted source, Wikipedia, but - to my surprise - there is no Wikipedia entry on Inchidonny.  Somebody from West Cork, get to writing!

There have been a lot of firsts since the last blog entry.  One first that hasn't happenned yet is that Conor turns one on Thursday!  If you're reading this blog, you're probably a close family member or friend.  When I planned his birthday party this afternoon, I got a little sad thinking about not being able to spend his first birthday with all of you.  I know the party will be fun and Conor will have a good time but James, Conor and I definitely wish we could be with all of you.

Ok ... sniff ... this post is about firsts that have already happenned.

James' First Trip To Aix:
First, James got a first-time, first-hand tour of Aix from two pros (Conor and I).  Here's Conor and I showing him one of our favorite outdoor cafes:

For the first and last time, we decided to take an early Saturday morning flight which left Strasbourg at 7am!  This turned out to be a miserable idea since I had trouble sleeping the night before, we had to get up at 5am, and I was completely exhausted the next day. 
Despite the exhaustion, we had a great time strollling around town and hanging out with Anne, Luc and their daughter Chloe. 

I went for a jog Sunday morning and discovered that Anne lives on the same street as a language school that Amy and I used to give English lessons at back on 2000.  It is still there!  Check it out Amy:


Une Autre Langue

Grandma Deb: Second, the Gramster (aka Grammy) made her second trip to Strasbourg.  During this second trip, Conor got his first pair of big boy shoes:

Check out the bad-ass kicks!

Conor didn't quite know what to do with his feet when we put the shoes on.  They're much heavier than the Robeez-type slippers he's used to and he kept lifting up his feet in the stroller to test the weight.  He's used to them now but has mastered the velcro release and likes to take them off every few minutes. 

During the Gramster's visit, James left for the US for a week long work trip.  His flight left from Frankfurt so we decided to drive him there and spend the day touring around the city (check Frankfurt daytrip off the AA list!!).  I would definitely recommend spending a day in Frankfurt.  Especially when that day is sunny and beautiful.  We easily found all-day parking, ate lunch at a baby-friendly yet delicious tapas restaurant and then strolled around to the various sights.  Here's Frankfurt's main square:

During our tour, we saw our first totally naked German walking along the city's beautiful waterfront.  Yes.  You read that correctly.  Totally. Naked. German. Man. Walking. Along. The. Waterfront.  See for yourself:


First sighting of totally naked German man.

You can thank me later for not zooming in further.
We also had our first taste of the city's famed apple wine.  It comes in a huge pint glass which makes sense because this stuff is disgusting and they must be trying to get rid of it as fast as possible:

Consumer Beware - Tastes Terrible!

Overall, Conor, James and I had a great time hanging out with the GD (aka Gramster or Grammy).  Conor especially loved getting spoiled and has lots of new outfits to prance around in.
Barcelona:
While James was working his butt off in the US, Conor and I made our second trip to Barcelona.  However, it was our first time meeting Jordan's handsome and charming new boyfriend, Mauricio. 

It was beautiful in Barcelona and Conor and I tried to make the most of the hot weather.  The day after we arrived, Jordan's friend and co-worker, Sam, threw a rooftop BBQ at her apartment.  Because it was so warm, Conor wore shorts for the first time:


Like father, like son (maybe some of you will get this reference)

Because it was so sunny, I had to be extra diligent to protect Conor's translucently white skin from the sun.  Here's how I rigged the stroller while he slept during walks:


Can you see his shoes peeking out at the bottom?

Cousin Time in Ireland: Yesterday, Conor and I got back from our first trip to Ireland to visit James' family without James (said James still being in the US working his butt off).  We had such a nice time staying and/or hanging out with Brenda, Sinead, Jack, Paddy, Kevin and Tommy.  Conor's cousins Jack and Paddy are a few years older than him and he has developped full blown cousin-obsession.  He could not get enough of his cool, older Irish cousins and was in sheer bliss the entire visit.

Here are some pics of the cousins:

Paddy and Conor

Jack and Conor

Being around his cool, older cousins exposed Mr. Man to lots of  firsts.  For example, he got to have his first ice cream cone:

He also went on the swings for the first time:



Jack helped push

We went to our first Rugby match (sorry ... no good pics). And, last but not least, Tommy and the boys took us to the beautiful Inchidonny beach where Conor got to run his fingers through sand and dip his toes  in the Atlantic.  He also got his first mouthfull of sand but I was too busy calming him down to take a picture.

 Conor Update:
Conor recently confessed that he wished he could talk to more of his family and friends in the US.  Here he is trying to give one of you a call:

Unfortunately, the call didn't go through because he hasn't mastered yet which side of the phone you talk into.

AA

Fun Fact:  We visited a winery this weekend called Cave du Roi Dagobert.  Dagobert was France's king many hundreds of years ago and was probably a perfectly good king.  During the French Revolution, the revolutionairies wrote a song rediculing Louis XIV.  Specifically, the song inferred that Louis XIV was such a lush that he wore his underpants backward.  Not wanting to be hanged for insulting the king, the songwriters substituted King Dagobert's name in the place of Louis XIV's.  According to our hostess at the winery, however, everyone knew who the song was really about.

I've come down with AA ...

James recently diagnosed me with AA (Activity Anxiety).  He's not totally wrong.  I get a little stressed out thinking that we'll be coming home in a few months and there is SO MUCH to do and see here in France. 

To add to my AA, I recently went to a meeting, hosted by the Americans in Alsace Association, where the topic was "Day Trips in Alsace."  Now, I have an anxiety inducing list of museums, hikes, villages, restaurants, monuments, roman ruins, churches, scenic vantage points, winerys, breweries, fromageries, boulangeries, etc., etc. that I want to see/do before we come home.   Luckily, my mom is coming to visit in a few weeks so I can fulfill some of my day trip AA during the week while James is working.

Dabo + Diana's:
The AA was in full swing on Saturday.  I was intent on getting out of the house and checking something off my Alsace day trips list.  Our friends Michele and Francesca Diana wanted to go somewhere as well.  You may remember our Italian friends, the Dianas, from a prior post - they live in Luasanne and are having a little girl in May.  Much to my surprise, Michele suggested driving to a town that was not on my list.  Silently hoping I wasn't sacrificing a "check something off my list" afternoon in vain, I went along with his suggestion.

We ended up going to the lovely village of Dabo in Alsace's neighboring region, Lorraine.  Dabo is at the base of this huge rock that has a church perched on top of it.  Here's what it looks like from about 3 kms away:

Here's what it looks like when your standing on top of said rock:

Congrats to Laura and Ryan:
Can't pass up this blogging opportunity to say CONGRATS!!!! to Laura Passaglia and ... drum roll ... her new fiance Ryan McCarthy.   Laura and Ryan got engaged last week.  Here's a pic from the good 'ole law school days because I'm feeling nostalgic:

Carnaval de Strasbourg
It seems as though every village, hamlet, and creche (see below) hosts their own Carnaval in France.  Today was Strasbourg's big Carnaval and it also happenned to be one of the nicest days so far this year.  My AA-infected self left the house before James and Conor and found us a table at a cafe right along the parade route.  I even got a little sunburn as I waited for the boys, ate my tarte a l'ognion, read the New Yorker and pretended to be in sheer bliss while at the same time trying not to attack and throttle all the chain smokers surrounding me. 

Conor loved the parade and didn't get scared once:

Conor Update:
Lots of good Conor news.  First, he celebrated his first Mardi Gras Carnaval at the creche (daycare) a couple weeks ago.  The party was at 3pm which is when the kids normally have "Le Goute" (i.e. the afternoon snack).  Conor went as a frog in honor of his adopted French nationality. Here's Mr. Grenouille (i.e. frog en francais):


I'm a very serious frog business man.

 You might be wondering what the face paint is all about.  I was wondering this when I showed up for the party and he was covered in black marker.  Apparently, the 9 year old older sister of one of the other kids didn't think he had a costume (which I brought with me when I came to the party) so she decided to give him glasses and turn him into a "business man."  She assured me the marker came off with water.  Which it did.  It also came off very easily onto my clothes. Regardless, he's the cutest business frog ever, wouldn't you agree?  Here's some other pics of the Man with his creche colleagues at the party:




This is about half the kids at the creche.



Apparently, Conor was really hungry the day of the party. At the beginning of the party, he ate about 4-5 crepes that one of the mom's had brought.  Then, I couldn't put him on the ground to crawl around and play because he insisted on eating every little crepe crumb he found on the ground - as if he hadn't already ate a stack of crepes.  That's when the director of the creche started called him "The Vaccuum."

We also celebrated a belated St. Patrick's Day by lounging around the house in some awesome St. Paddy's day gear that Uncle Jeff sent Conor for Christmas:

He looks so angelic in his "No Pinching" t-shirt.  I wish I could add the lines no biting and no pulling off mom's glasses - two of Conor's favorite pasttimes, especially first thing in the morning:

Finally, in developmental news, Conor can stand unassisted by his baby walker!  He did it without much fanfare the other day.  He was holding onto the walker one second and, the next, casually took his hands off and stayed standing for several seconds. 

Mr. Cool saying good-bye for now:



Don't Mess With Me.



Mon Petit Fils

Conor sharing his car with his friend Max.

Fun Fact: La choucroute garnie explained.  "Choucroute" is the French word for "Sauerkraut" or "Surkrut" in Alsacian.  Choucroute is about as ancient as Alsace itself and is the regional, culinary specialty.  First, "le chou (the cabbage)" is grated and preserved in big jars with a bit of salt, gin and cumin. Then, it is cooked and served with a wide assortment of sausages.  There's no escaping this dish if you're planning on living in or visiting Alsace.  For those still planning on coming to visit, here's a picture of what's in store for you:




We're in an in-between phase here in Strasbourg.  It's not very warm yet but the snow is melted and I'm cautiously leaving my gloves and scarf at home when I venture out.  It's lighter earlier in the mornings and darker in the evenings, making waking up at 6:30 am with Conor a lot easier.  I'm excited to start taking Conor to the gorgeous park that is right outside of town, but it's just a bit too chilly still.  You can tell that people are heading outdoors more to enjoy the warmer weather and its making me excited for the Spring and Summer months that are right around the corner!  The main square, Place Kleber, gets sun exposure all afternoon and I'm planning on more than a few days sitting there with a good book.

It's been a relatively mellow few weeks as we've stayed close to home in anticipation of a lot of travel and visitors coming up in April and May.  Here's some of the stuff we've been up to locally ...

Independent Vintners Wine Fair (Salon Des Vins des Vignerons Independents):
A few weeks ago, we went to Strasbourg's annual Independent Vintners Wine Fair.  James and I received a bunch of free tickets (from having made friends with local vintners during all the wine tasting we've done over the last few months) so we recruited a few others to come along as well.  We didn't know what to expect but we were definitely not prepared for the madness that awaited us.  Imagine a convention center with row after row of stalls, each hosting a different vintner, and each giving generous tastings of free, delicious wine.  Also, picture thousands of French wine-lovers frantically tasting and buying as much wine as possible.  In order to accomodate all of their wine purchases, most people were pulling carts with cases of wine stacked on top.  Some carts had wine stacked as high as 8-10 feet high. 

All we had was Conor's stroller (i.e. the Hummer) which we filled to the brim with wine.  Luckily, he prefers to be carried anyway :)

Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany
The day after the wine fair, we tagged along with our friends Vivian and Luc and took Conor to the Porsche museum in Stuttgart.  I'm not usually all that enthused by fancy cars but it was pretty cool to see all the classic Porsches in prinstine condition.  Architectually, the museum is also quite impressive.  It is brand new - just opened in 2009 - and is adjacent to Porsche's company headquarters.  Apparently the Mercedes Benz museum just down the road in Stuttgart is even more impressive.

James was in full dad-mode toting Conor around the museum and having car talk.  We got some fun pictures:

Conor and James discussing their favorite Porsche models.



Conor asking me very sweetly for a convertible.



Conor taking me for a drive.

Colmar:
A couple of weekends ago we took a day trip to Colmar, the second largest city in Alsace.  Conor made a friend on the train on the way there:

Colmar is a beautiful, typical Alsacian village with lots of buildings built with the traditional exposed-beam architecture:

Colmar has a neighborhood that is called "Petite Venice" because of the canals.  It was cold and dreary the day we visited but it looks like a great place to go have lunch on a sunny day.
Tomi Ungerer Museum:
The next day we visited the Tomi Ungerer museum which is right by our house.  Tomi Ungerer was born in Strasbourg and, even though he's still alive, has built himself a museum featuring his paintings and drawings.  His themes are pretty diverse: kids literature and illustrations, political satire (especially satirizing the United States), scenes of Alsace, and erotic drawings.
Here are a few examples that I liked (sorry - in the interest of keeping STRASblog G-rated, I did not include any examples of his erotic drawings but they are easily searchable under Google images for anyone that might be interested):

I especially liked this last drawing because ... our mouse is back!  For weeks, we thought we had this unpleasant problem under control.  No little mouse droppings anywhere, no suspicious scraping sounds in the wall, no sightings.  But, the other night, we had some Italian friends over to watch a soccer game and I made enchiladas.  Maybe it was the delicious smell of Mexican food that lured it back, but right after we finished eating, the univited guest darted through our kitchen in plain sight of all our guests.  As I stood on my chair, James cornered it in the kitchen and watched it escape through a hole in the wall.  We have sinced patched up this hole and, fingers crossed, haven't had any more uninvited guests in over a week. 

By the way - the enchiladas turned out great thanks to an easy enchilada sauce recipe that I got from my Mexican-American friend that lives here.  Mexican ingredients aren't widely available in this part of the world so its an ex-pat enchilada sauce recipe.  I copied it below for your cooking pleasure.

Mon Petit Fils:
All of you are well aware that Conor is my son.  Not my grandson.  However, I recently learned that for most of the time we've been living here, I've frequently been referring to Conor as my grandson and not my son.  Here's why - "mon petit fils" translates, literally, to "my little son."  Since Conor is, in fact, still quite little, I thought this was a good way to refer to him.  However, the phrase actually means grandson, something I learned in our French lesson the other night.

Conor Update:
Here's Conor in his new carrier that my neighbor lent to us:

I wouldn't say he loved it.  In general, he doesn't like anything that has straps or restraints, preferring to have the freedom to jump, lunge, crawl, etc. from everywhere and every height.  He did love that he could reach my poneytail and pull on it as hard as he could while we walked.

Conor's teeth are really coming into their own - here's a peek:
 

Two Front Teeth!!



Ex-Pat Enchilada Sauce Recipe:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup New Mexico or California chili powder ( I just added Paprika to my taste, not 1/4 cup, since at the moment I didn't have any of these chilies)

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water (preferably the water you cook the chicken in)

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion salt
salt to taste

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and chili powder, reduce heat to medium, and cook until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning flour. Gradually stir in tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, and onion salt into the flour and chili powder until smooth, and continue cooking over medium heat approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt.