A Sure Thing

Pasta e Basta - consistently great pizza.

Eine Frage

Do you think there is such a thing as a

jeans-aholic? If you do and you are,

check out shopbop!

Last night I dreamt..

I was at an auto show. It was crowded and I remember G showing me a new model of the Smart Roadster. We both thought it was super cool. The car was gold. We walked around for a while and then we found a spot on the floor to lie down. It was understood that we were all spending the night in the convention center. Everybody looked for their own place and then we all fell asleep. I was very comfortable, despite sleeping on the floor. I remember waking up beside G and watching a blond woman, also on the floor, smoke a cigarette. I was thinking that there was no smoking allowed in the convention center but I didn't say anything. I just continued to watch her smoke. Suddenly, a man rushed from behind a curtain and I realized that he was the head of security and also, Michael Douglas. He yelled at the woman, "I knew someone was smoking out here!" He slammed his foot down into her chest to make her drop the cigarette. Then he reached down and grabbed the woman by her neck, holding her in the air, and shaking her. Somehow, she got away from him and dropped to the floor. She stood up, crying and holding her throat. All of this happened right in front of me and finally, I stood up, and blocked the path of Michael Douglas. He stopped. I pointed at him and in a shaky, frightened voice, said, "How dare you?" I said some other things about hitting women and for some odd reason, he was afraid of me. He actually started backing away. All of a sudden, everyone was awake and staring at us. G was standing behind me but he didn't say a word. The woman said she wanted to call the police and Michael Douglas walked away to make the call. Everyone was silent as I comforted the woman. I told her I would be a witness to the crime for the police and G gave her his business card. But he wrote down another name on the back - Todd. I thought that was strange. Then I started looking around at all of the faces staring at me. I was fuming mad. I was screaming, but only in my head, not out loud, why didn't anyone help this woman? How could they stand there and watch the assault and not say something, or do something? Then I saw 50 Cent in the crowd. He was nodding at me, and he told me, not out loud but in my head, that I did the right thing, that everything was going to be ok. I nodded back. And then I woke up.

The Best Diet Ever

Do you want to lose 4 kg in a week? How about losing the weight without exercise or cutting back on your favorite foods? No weight loss journals, no carb counting, no lemon juice and maple syrup concoction. All you have to do is shake my hand or if you want instant results, let me give you a kiss. It's that easy! I've had this unidentifiable cold/allergy/flu/virus for over two weeks. No matter what or how much medicine I take, it will not go away. Even with G supplying all the things I have to have when I'm sick - gorgonzola cheese pizza, blueberry ice cream, and Super Dickmann's - I am still losing weight and feeling absolutely horrible. And I look like somebody beat me with an ugly stick. We've decided that if I'm not better by Monday, I have to see a doctor. But in the meantime, if you need me or my virus, I'll be here all weekend, sweating, coughing, and eating.

48 Hours in Paris

Watch out Munich. My Mom's coming! It will be her first time in Europe and in two weeks, she will visit four countries - Germany, Italy, France, and Austria. Three days before the wedding, my Mom and I are taking a quick trip to Paris. My Mom is bursting at the seams with excitement. We don't have a lot of time but our "must see" attractions are the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, shopping along the Champs-Élysées, and dinner and a show at the Moulin Rouge. Is there any other place we have to see while we're there?

Look Ma!

Ich kann schwimmen!

The Mallertshofer Weiher Doggie Beach is awesome.

Obama is GQ

US presidential candidate Barack Obama will grace the September 2007 cover of GQ magazine. Obama is the first politician to appear on GQ's cover since Bill Clinton and Al Gore appeared on the cover nearly fifteen years ago.

It's true.

I really miss hanging out with the girls. American girls!
I didn't realize just how much until I met up with Michelle and Wis for lunch on Tuesday. We talked about girl stuff. Like our men, and how they can't match their clothes. And expat stuff. Like how difficult it is trying to learn German, and waiting for that epiphany, when all of the months of repetitive language classes and constantly being corrected, miraculously come together and BOOM~ we are fluent. Right. We talked so much, we forgot to order lunch. And naturally, we talked very, very loud.

Ein deutsches Gespräch

G's Mom: Wie geht's? Bist du krank? (How are you? Are you sick?)
Me: Nicht so gut. Ich habe ein Schlumpf. (Not so good. I have a cold.)

My answer was followed by a lot of laughter. Because I meant to say:

Ich habe einen Schnupfen.







But I actually said:

Ich habe einen Schlumpf.

Spoiled Rotten

I don't have to tell you how much we love Robbie. We are a family of 3. He's our boy, our little monster, and sometimes with affection, the little *mf*. He is always the center of attention and he knows it. I'll admit, we aren't very good with teaching him commands or enforcing rules. My girlfriend told me, "You guys haven't trained Robbie at all but he has you guys very well trained." I'm finally starting to see her point. For example, every weekday morning, we have the same breakfast. G has bread with quark and marmalade. I have hard-boiled eggs. I only eat the egg whites and the yolks are for Robbie. If I could describe Robbie's desire for egg yolks with one word, I'd probably use - Crack. As soon as I start to break the shells, he appears, literally shaking with anticipation. But because I can't give him steaming hot egg yolks, he has to wait. Usually they are cool enough by the time I'm finished eating, which can only be around 5 minutes because he will start going nuts if I don't give him the yolks fast enough. He runs from the kitchen to the living room over and over again and he will bark at me until I give him the yolks. So being the well trained parent that I am, I now wait until his yolks cool, so that we can both sit down and eat our eggs without the hysterics. Another example. Robbie isn't allowed to sleep with us. He's a Puggle, a hybrid cross between a Beagle and a Pug, and if you know anything about Pugs, you know about the farting and snoring. G can't sleep with Robbie in the bedroom. But when G travels, of course, Robbie sleeps in bed with me. Well, every time, and I do mean every time he sleeps with me, in the middle of the night, he wants to get off the bed. So instead of just jumping down, like he does all day long, he whines and barks. If I don't respond, he steps on my chest and face to wake me up. Even when I push him and yell "Aus!" - he won't budge. The only way he will jump off the bed is if I turn on the light. Am I crazy or is he really afraid of the the dark? Oh, and he's extremely picky too. Robbie loves his chew sticks. But I can't just open the bag and give him a stick. He won't take it. If I pull one stick from the package and give it to him, he will sniff it, lick it, and then drop it. He won't touch it again. But if I take a handful of sticks out and put them in front of his face, he will sniff a couple, lick a couple, and then chose the one he wants, and go about chewing it for an hour. But only if he chooses the stick. Isn't that insane! It's also insane that at least once a month, he goes on a hunger strike. He won't eat food from his bowl - for days. He will only eat his food directly from my hand. This is a constant argument between us. G says that Robbie is testing me and that if he's hungry enough, he will eventually eat from the bowl. He says that Robbie will not starve himself to death, with food available. I agree with him but I worry. So I always give in. I can't help it, I'm his Mom. And aren't Moms supposed to spoil their babies...oder?

Hot or Not?

OK guys, here it is, my first Dirndl. I already know what you're thinking - the color is definitely contemporary but at least I chose a blouse that has the traditional puffy sleeves. The embroidered fabric really is lovely and you can't see it on the picture, but it also has pink suede detailing on the front. And my shoes, chocolate T-strap pumps, made with a wood platform heel. I thought pink or gold shoes would be way over the top, so I chose a nude (for my skin) pump.

Crossing the Line

As I've mentioned before, I have an uncontrollable fear of spiders. If I find one, I can't even kill it. Don't you realize it could wait until the precise moment I get close enough and jump off the wall and bite me on the hand, which would definitely hurt and then the venom would quickly start to dissolve my skin and poison my blood because with my luck, it would be some exotic spider from the rainforest, that somehow survived years outside of it's normal habitat and was living in my kitchen, waiting to kill me? G always indulges my fear by coming to the rescue and killing them. Well, to put things in perspective, the average sized spider in Germany seems to be four times the size of the ones in the US and they have no fear whatsoever of humans. So, on Saturday morning, at G's parents' house, I found myself in the bathroom, standing naked in the shower, staring face to fang with a spider about the size of a silver dollar. I immediately screamed for G. No reply. I yell his name again and his Mom comes to the door, telling me that he's upstairs. I couldn't think of the German word for spider (spinne) fast enough to explain the problem, so I just grabbed the closest weapon available, the shower head. I turned on the water and doused the spider and blew it off the ceiling, to the corner, to the floor! I definitely killed it. But I couldn't bring myself to actually pick up the carcass with toilet paper and throw it away. Of course, after all of the drama, G finally comes downstairs. While I'm explaining what happened, his Dad comes into the bathroom. Luckily, I have my pajamas back on but I'm totally sweaty with my hair all over my head and obviously, having a little breakdown. G's Dad listens and as I'm talking, I see him looking at the ceiling and the walls, completely drenched with water. He says, "Meine Güte!" and picks up the carcass and explains, in an irritated voice, the innumerable reasons why I shouldn't be afraid of spiders. At this moment, I realize that I have just crossed that line of being a "guest" in their house. I am officially getting cussed out, politely, but cussed out, all the same. After he leaves, G says, "He's totally pissed." Perfect. So, I take a shower and get dressed, all the while trying not to really freak out about my soon to be Father In Law thinking I'm some skittish, silly American city girl (accurate). Thank goodness, G helped to smooth things over - we went out and bought a package of his Dad's favorite candy, Lakritz, and with a sincere apology and the peace offering, I think everything was okay. I hope!

The one and only...

club you should go to in Frankfurt -

Sansibar

City Girl

We are back in Munich after a relaxing and cake filled weekend with G's parents. G comes from a tiny village of about 700 people, just outside of Frankfurt. Our childhoods couldn't have been more different. He woke up to the sound of a rooster every morning while I woke up to the sounds of morning rush hour traffic. Every time we visit his parents, we take Roby for long walks through the village and in the woods. I know it's such an adventure for Roby - so many new smells, plants, and animals - but it's also sort of an adventure for me. To G's family's amusement, I am still amazed by cows, frogs, and walnut trees. And terrified of flies, bees and spiders (embarrassing spider freak out story to follow). In the meantime, here are some pictures from Saturday's walk.