Another rainy day in Paris….

and all I wanna do is stay inside and read. Luckily I have had plenty of books at my disposal. Since October, I have read:

• a long way gone by ishmael beah
• one hundred years of solitude by gabriel garcia marquez
• the pillars of the earth by ken follet
• the owner’s manual by michael roizen and mehemt oz
• of love & other demons by gabriel garcia marquez
• the measure of a man by sidney poitier

& I have attempted to read the power of now by eckhart tolle. It truly pains me to admit that this is the second time I have attempted to read this book. Obviously, I can read it but the book entrusts you to really listen to it, live it, learn from it and model its ‘teachings’ or ideas & lessons. I look forward to the day that my mind is not as distracted as I admit it is today and will celebrate every day from now until the day I can exchange my distracted mind with one of clarity.

I am currently half way through without remorse by tom clancy. My first read of one of his books and I must admit that I am hooked. Like, edge of my seat (or bed) (or dinner table), exciting goodness. I am loving it and hope to finish the book this week or next.

This past weekend was really fun for David and myself. Thursday night we went out with a few of David’s co-workers to belatedly celebrate the Chinese New Year (which I am SO disappointed I missed….the parade in Chinatown would have been Awesome!). Although I can’t stand anything from a chinese restaurant’s menu, we had a great time and I got to meet a few new people that I hope to soon call friends. After dinner we went to a small bar and had a drink and danced to a few songs before we called it quits, ’some people actually have to get up and go to work before 10a tmrw, Jessica” I kept having to remind myself. ;O

{at dinner}

{out dancing)

{david & nora}{there is an actual old man and dog who look EXACTLY like this in our neighborhood. I died laughing when I saw it}

On Saturday we woke up around noon {ahhh la vie, MA VIE!} and headed out into the snow to challenge the last day of Soldes! I think we won. . . . I came away with a necklace, a candle, a jacket and a bag. Then we ate (pizza) ~fatties, we know~ drank a bottle of wine and watched The Green Mile which had me in tears for at least ten minutes……which brings me to another thought. I have (un)expectedly turned into my mother. As the saying goes, yes! I have! Lol About four weeks ago David and I walked into our 4′x2′ elevator and I glanced into the mirror as I was turning around and, gasp, SAW MY MOTHER! Now I think my mother is beautiful and smart and funny, so unlike many, I laughed and turned to David and said, ‘whao, I look like my mother!’ He just smiled because he loves her too ;). So I called my mom that following Sunday to inform her of the decidedly wonderful news and told her that next time I am missing her or in dire need of her motherly advice I won’t need to find anything but the nearest pocket mirror and look into it……humming my own version of her concerned voice always preceding with, “Sweetie….”. Mom, I love you and am happy to look, laugh, speak, and forget JUST LIKE YOU!

{OH, hiii mom! there you are!}

And to conclude our ever-lovely most recent weekend in Paris we spent the late afternoon and evening in Montmartre, photos of the church, noisette & the menthe at a cafe and a sucre et noix de coco crepe pour moi!

{who doesn’t dispose of used toilet seats in public receptacles?}much love, au’revoir.

xo.j