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How could I forget our awesome comfy bed..

I am so lucky to have such an awesome family... Meeting K and Daddy at the airport and getting a very warm welcome from MoCa made me feel like one very special mommy last night... even with a 16 hour travel day.... We went to sushi on the way home (bummed to have missed Gma S's meal she cooked for our return) and I immediately felt like a mommy again... trying to convince K to eat, ask for her to keep the door closed as we went to the restroom even though she was done and listening to the daily avoidance of bed. It is nice to be home!

Our last day in Paris was warmer which was great. We went to the Luxemburg Gardens, visited a museum in the gardens and had cafe cremes at one of our favorite cafes which is in the garden, had crepes at St Sulpice and went to our favorite shops... And of course packed... always the least pleasant part of a mogi adventure.... luckily most things made it and K loves loves her presents. She is even wearing her very cute poncho that I thought I was going to have to pay her to wear to school today... Looking super beautiful as always!

Loire Valley

The Loire Valley is really pretty... We have been wine tasting, jam tasting and chocolate tasting. All lovely!!! We have stumbled on fields of sunflowers, seen loads of field mice and even a fox on the way back from dinner one night.

We visited beautiful chateaus at Cheverny, Chambord, Ambrose and Chenonceau. Chenonceau also had wonderful gardens. Lots and lots of hot abd cold pink as K would say. Cold pink is light pink. We spent a considerable amount of time in Bloise, which is a really small town with lots of staircases and little alleys. Although I think Ambrose was our favorite as the food was really good and the town had a very quaint feel to it.

We are heading back for one more blast of Paris before returning home to what we hope is warmer weather. We keep running into cold and rain.

Jean Luc

Thanks to a wonderful man at the Hilton near our flat we have a wonderful week planned. We are leaving for chateaus and wine tasting in the Loire Valley this morning. It is my first time driving in France but what a wonderful road trip ahead.

We learned about some outlets outside of Paris. Needless to stay incredible as we hit our favorite French brands. Agnis B, Chantal Thomass, Compton de Cotoniers.

We also went to Opera Garnier one of the most beautiful buildings in Paris.

We fell in love with Poilane and decided to bring home some of their jams and pastries. Always trying to take on challenging return trips with luggage.

And one of the best things a warm night eating at a brasserie and watching the people go by.

Champagne

Today we went to Reims in the Champagne region... And it was awesome. We caught the morning service at the cathderal which was stunning and had the best pastries and breakfast in all of France. And the best part of the day... A tour of champagne caves at Pommery. Freezing, but very cool... Down 30 meters and surrounded by champagne, very unique contemporary art and did I mention cold cold air. We learned about the champagne making process, very cool. The tour ended with some vintage champagne and two very happu mogis.

paris

Ok, so I have lost count of cafe cremes... All yummy! We have done some amazing things in addition to hitting up some of our favorites such as the creperie in St Sulpice, falafels in the Marais, pastries at Laduree and Berthillon ice cream. The grapes are incredible and so sweet, if only I could get them through customs.

But a few of my favorite moments:

Seeing a beautiful Vivaldi concert in St Chapelle which has stunning stained glass windows. Incredible!

Going to La O'rangie a small Impressionist Museum in the Tuilleries and indadvertently saving the best for last... Two circular rooms with every wall in the room covered by 20+ panels of Monet's Water Lilies... Being able to sit in the middle of the room and feel like you are in the middle of a pond of color.

Shopping... More shopping and of course more shopping.

An outstanding cafe in the Tulleries watching the people go by. The only cafe creme so far that served the requisite chocolate pieces making it the perfect drink.

A picnic on the Seine of cheese from Heidard (which I found in Singapore and loved) and eating stolen bread from our lunch table as every boulangerie closes for the August 15th national holiday and believe me we searched. Apparently they bring in palm trees and a bit of sand for a beach in the middle of Paris so there we sat staring at beautiful palms and the Seine. Interesting.

first cafe creme of 08

After 20 hours in Boston complete with lunch in the North End a few shops on Newburry, loads of meetings and a quick seven hour flight to Paris.... the mogis are here and ready for Paris!!! Just had our first cafe cremes and gearing up for a day of walking, museums and exploration. No shopping due to a national holiday. Not to worry we can power through all our museums in one day leaving endless hours for shopping!!

Not one time but five times

We asked K if she liked or loved NYC. She said she loved NYC and wanted to come back at least five times. We spent the last day or so downtown wandering SoHo, West Village and the Meatpacking. I saw the most beautiful kids clothes at the park in West Village, Wow there are some beautifully dressed kids for the park. K tried her first Magnolia cupcake and T and I had a wonderful anniversary celebration with K in the meatpacking. We picniced in the park, wandered and did loads and loads of walking. It was great. Even our babysitter worked out while we were at the bell ceremony went fantastic. We were scared to death as we had tried it once before a couple years ago and it was horrible. I think a return trip is in order.

not the good bye we hoped for

With meetings running late and a lack of available cabs we had a sprint to our hotel and a crazy ride back to the airport with limited cash resources for the tip and very limited time. Luckily I was able to promise large tips and many rides next month when I am back in New York. battling rush hour was jerky and we all ended up rather sick so there we were K and Mommy cuddling in the backseat laying down while K tells Mommy... It's ok, I will cuddle with you, don't be sad. I know the van is too big, it's not a Lexus. You will be fine, don't worry.

The funniest part of this the comforting is taking place after the pee in the cake takeout box. We bought some great looking cake, which we never ate, so out the cake went so that the container could double as a potty. Of course not an exact science and poor Tom took off his shirt to clean the cab floor. The cabbie said nothing did a million illegal maneuvers and I got to my flight which I was late for with 40 minutes to spare. So the goodbye now that I am in Boston and T and K are on a flight home was a quick kiss and a wave as I flew out the door. I am going to miss my travel buddies!!!

Loving it

We hit up Magnolia Bakery, went to the park in West Village, where I saw more beautiful children's clothes than possible while watching K play at the park, dined and shopped in the Meatpacking District, explored the upper West Side and spent time as a family today... It was awseome. We have a great traveler. Some of the mixed experiences is how some of these trendy restaraunts act like K might eat them.... Today they chargd $20 for her plain pasta, I was livid and chatted with them... their response it is the meatpacking... since it is up and coming not sure why we should pay more than some of the other places which have been much much nicer. Crazy, T and I had a beautiful bottle of Italian wine at the restaraunt.... Very excited about all my purchases and time with the family

The funniest thing is how she is napping on this trip. On the airplane she got a eye mask for the red eye flight... her new way of napping which is in the stroller whenever we travel... is to pop on the eye mask and sleep, when she wakes up we get it back. It is quite a sight and you should see the looks we get. I took pics... Our last day tomorrow...

Wow, what a day

Closing the bell at the NYSE was just awesome... we got a wonderful tour, spent time hanging out in the beautiful board room and hung out on the floor, wandered around to specialist booths and of course got to ring the bell... Words can't describe it, but it was a super special moment and I feel so lucky to have been a part of it.

NYC has been great. K is loving the park, the horses, shopping at FAO Schwarz, playing with cousins, window shopping, the long walks, some wonderful dinners, which she has sat through... All of the restaraunts we have been to haven't had kid menus and she has handled it beautifully.... We went to Peasant which we remember fondly from a dinner many years ago where we chatted about kids with S&R. The great thing is we got to take the little one we were dreaming of with us. The restaraunt was less impressed... oh well. I was impressed!

We are thrilled to be a family together again and of course I am loving loving my favorite city...

why does this feel like the gmat

Somehow tonight's final feels like the gmat. Lucky for me we have come up with plans b and c should I not pass:

Plan B: T enrolls in calc next quarter and let's me borrow his answers. We sit next to each other for all exams and tests.

Plan C: T becomes a calc teacher and I enroll in the course and he passes me.

Let's hope plan b and c aren't necesarry and the celebrations begin tonight and continue into NYC tomorrow, Boston later next week with a grand finale of a mogi trip to France at the end of next week.

Closing bell at the NYSE

So we are leaving for NYC on Friday night... which will be awesome.... not only do we see Daddy Pizza again, but we also get a chance to be in one of my favorite cities as a family (one of our best family trips was in Manhattan for about ten days soon after K turned one).... However the ultimate most most awesome awesome thing is we are going out for a work trip.... Outside of a million meetings it is not really a work trip as we get to ring the closing bell for the New York Stock Exchange which is the whole point of being there.

That's right we get to be on the podium while the markets close... I even scored a spot for T!!! Although I technically won't ring the bell I am thrilled to get a chance to be a part of the process. Too bad next year won't be our anniversary as I don't think they are letting us do this for another 10 years... You can imagine the shopping that I wanted to do for this day... definitely thought a new outfit was in order... unfortunately this darn calculus class didn't really allow for shopping... Saturday is a girlie day for me and K in Manhattan so who knows might still get that new awesome outfit!

One of those moments

Tonight K and I went to Il Postale for dinner... and it was a perfect dinner... in fact one of the best dinners I have had lately and I never thought I would be so excited to go to dinner with a three year old... but she was perfect! She loves the restaraunt, loves the Andes mints, the bread with butter and of course their pasta! We had a great dinner, drawing, eating, laughing and chatting... It is so funny to see her sit down and go so Mommy, how was your day?

We had a great weekend despite endless hours of calculus studying.... four days until that final is over... and hopefully with the requisite C.... Forget A's... it is all about a wonderful C ... a passing grade (one that doesn't factor into my GPA... thank goodness... not that I care just need a C!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to my fantastic husband who skype tutored me for seven plus hours..... not an easy task especially in a fun new European city! Praying for a C.... And a huge thanks to Gma S who covered so I could do all that horrible studying! It has been fun to have some girly time with K over the last week or so and get into the groove of being two although three is definitely better! Summer break is almost here.