It's not always rainbows...

I am a communicator. I’ve always been talkative.  I can have conversations with strangers.  I love being able to share a small bit of what I’m thinking with whoever is listening (just ask my mom, FV, or really, anyone who knows me.)  I personally believe communication is critical to life.  That’s why I became an SLP.  Helping others communicate is my passion.   

And I am finally able to feel what it is like to not be able to communicate effectively. 

I’m beginning to understand the frustration that many of the children and adults I work with feel on a daily basis. In 4 weeks of French class, I’ve learned a lot and progressed quite quickly, they tell me; however, not enough to “get by.”   

Today, after 5 hours of classes, constantly being corrected, constantly simplifying my thoughts and phrases in order to use proper grammar, I was trying to talk to another student about the metro.  The other student did not speak English and spoke French with a fairly heavy foreign accent which made things tricky.  I was ATTEMPTING to tell her something, but I just did not have the vocabulary and even with gestures and broken phrases, she could not understand what I was saying.   

“Je ne sais pas” (I don’t know) I groaned in frustration and turned away.   
A teacher encouraged me to try again and feeling exasperated, I said, “I don’t know the words! I can’t do it! Forget it, it’s not important!!” as my eyes welled up quickly.

The number of times I have heard an adult with Aphasia say to me, “Ah forget it, not important, too hard” or the look of frustration that appears on a child’s face when I say, “Almost! You can do it, try again!” never truly sunk in for me.  I mean, I could SEE they were frustrated, I could feel a certain degree of empathy for their situation, but I never knew what it exactly felt like to be so discouraged that it is easier to give up than fight through tears to explain something you don’t even have the words for.

Now, I know a small piece of what the people we work with must go through on a daily basis.  It’s an isolating feeling.

I’m selfishly hoping it goes away soon. 

I do believe though, that this experience is teaching me empathy in a way I’ve never before been able to experience, putting a speck of truth behind the words I so often say, “I can only imagine how difficult and how frustrating this must be for you.”

This new adventure is challenging at times.  It's not always rainbows.  But rainbows would be much harder to spot if there were not any dark clouds in the sky.

That time of year...

This year, I have been infinitely blessed!

I have so much to share in this post! I realize it’s been a few weeks, but they have been busy and oh-so fun!  

My friend was visiting for a week from Philadelphia, and we spent hours walking the streets of Paris, visiting museums, and enjoying the tastes, sounds, and sights of this beautiful city!  It was such a pleasure for me to give a tour to someone who had never visited Paris and who was relying on me to navigate and communicate.  It challenged me to step out of my comfort zone and she gave me the encouragement that I needed! I love that woman! 

We did a Pierre Hermé vs. Ladurée macaron taste test and of course, Pierre Hermé’s Caramel took top honors and was washed down with some celebratory Rosé at the Jardin des Tuileries at sunset!

We also co-hosted Thanksgiving dinner and invited some of FV’s friends for a fairly tasty gluten free feast!  

On the menu:

Salad to start with apples and walnuts

A cute little turkey aka Un Grande Dinde (as I requested in the store, and implies “a fat chick”)

GF mushroom/leek stuffing with GF breadcrumbs and cooked outside the turkey

Roasted Garlic/Dill Mashed potatoes (Jane’s specialty!)

Sweet potato/butternut squash gratin with praline topping

Roasted brussel sprouts

GF Pumpkin Tart with homemade Chantilly cream. 

It was pretty delicious for our first ever Thanksgiving as hostesses/host and were fairly pleased with the result! 

As a special treat, Jane and I created a cocktail that you MUST try!

Pumpkin Pie Shooter:

1 part simple syrup (equal parts sugar/water boiled together)

1 part tequila

2-3 tbsp of pumpkin puree

Dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger-don’t go crazy on the “dashes”

Splash of heavy cream

Stir up this bad boy and serve it pretty little shot glasses with just a touch of Chantilly cream.  YUM.

  Jane also had to try escargot! They were mostly delicious, although I still prefer the snails

                                   prepared by FV's grandfather every year for Christmas!

After Jane returned back to the US, we had FV’s brother and girlfriend for the weekend and enjoyed wandering the streets admiring the Christmas decorations that have taken over Paris. Some are quite impressive! The Christmas market along the Champs Elysées was a bit crowded as it was a Saturday, so we made our way to Printemps Terrace to enjoy the view and sip a chocolat chaud!  We enjoyed our time with them so much!

My belle-mère also came to visit while FV was away on business! I enjoyed our time together as it was the first time we've spent just the two of us walking and talking through the streets of Paris! I am a very lucky woman to have married into such a loving family!

Oh! I've also started my French classes; I take them 3 hours/day, 5 days/week for 4 weeks. I'm learning a lot already and FV and I had our FIRST real, meaningful conversation in French for 30 minutes on Friday! It was amazing and I love being able to communicate in his native language.  As a language nerd, I so appreciate his ability to communicate emotions and thoughts in his second language as easily as he does, but I'm also looking forward to the day when we can have 2 languages for communication!

So it's been busy over here, but I'm feeling so grateful and so happy for the amazing blessings and opportunities in my life!
Also, my favorite time of year has begun! Are you looking forward to Christmas this year?


 

It's in my blood...

I have lived in France now for 3 weeks that have completely flown by. French Vanilla (aka my husband) works hard during the week and while I'm on the job hunt myself, I've taken up redecorating the apartment. I like to think it's in my genes, since my mom is a Kitchen/bath designer, and my grandfather and uncle are carpenters.  Additionally, we've always had DIY home-repair projects in our 100+ year-old house in Western NY where I was typically a painter, bucket-emptier, or the one who stood on the roof and "helped" haul the 10-foot pieces of sheetrock up from the ground.  I've been around the drills and the dust for as long as I can remember.

Although FV has a (mostly) good sense of style,  this space still longs for that feminine touch. Thankfully he doesn't mind his posters being exiled to the cave and/or the WC. Besides, who wouldn't want to see Marilyn on a trip to the toilet?

We have had fun searching thrift stores and thIs funKy swEdish plAce for a few pieces of furniture to complete the home. It's also a great way for me to pass the days while I wait for my French classes to start. The thrift stores here remind me of our antique stores across the pond. Sure, some of the pieces may not be in great shape but the prices are right and you may be lucky enough to find something that suits your taste!

This beauty was easy to transport in two round trips (FV's car is Tiny) and besides  the lovely curtains and the red flowered contact paper shelf liner, it is in pretty good condition.


I'm still searching for the right color to paint the inside; the heather grey skies in Paris have me leaning towards a deep blue or light green.  I'm hoping to find some hardware for this and the dresser in our bedroom at a flea market as soon as FV and I get some time to explore together.

I am also repurposing the burlap table runner from the head table at our wedding into a pillow for the living room. I think I'll be making a few more pillows for the room, mixing different textures to fit our style.

This counter/drawer base came from thIs funKy swEdish plAce and had a shelving unit to match, but why not repurpose the old CD corner unit with some paint and metal shelf holders? Me and my blistered hands are also officially requesting a phillips head drill bit for our drill if I'm going to be the handy-woman of the house.

These little projects keep me occupied and it's a blast to beautify this apartment, making it feel more welcoming and cozy.  It's also nice to make it "ours" instead of "his-that-I-moved-into", if you know what I mean.

Speaking of welcoming, we will be welcoming our first US visitor to our newly updated home on Sunday! My dear friend will be here for 6 days, and I will be giving her the grand tour of Paris and surrounding areas! I'm very much looking forward to having her here, especially for Thanksgiving! We'll be attempting a gluten-free Thanksgiving meal with French flare.  This means there will be a few twists on the traditional gluten-full feast, and we might even do a leek/mushroom stuffing! I'll let you know how it turns out! 

Happy Friday!

So The Story goes like this...

I met a French girl while doing an internship in college. We became dear friends, ate a lot of pistachios, drank some margaritas, danced to some oldies, and talked about life until the early hours of the morning. She moved back to Europe and invited me to visit her and her family in France one summer, so I did. We had a blast! She introduced me to some of her friends, and one in particular caught my eye. It might have been his crazy hair, his intelligent conversation, or the vodka caramel that intrigued me…probably the latter. We talked. A lot.

I went back to the US to finish my last year of grad school and we started exchanging emails. Within a few weeks, I was hooked. He was going to be traveling to the US to do some business, so we talked about meeting up. Suddenly, his trip was cancelled and he was asking if he could book a flight to visit me. Um, sure. Why not? I mean, it’s just for a long weekend.

From the moment I saw him in walking down the escalator in the airport, I knew this one was different. By the end of the weekend, we had already planned his next trip, the one where he would be meeting my family and friends. And like they say, the rest is history.

So, 2 years later, here I am. A newlywed. An expat. The spouse of a French citizen. Another American in Paris (or directly outside the city.)

I’m using this space to record my adventure so that I will have it for years to come and so you, my family and friends, can take a look into my new world.