Wha????

Some of you have heard this one, but I just realized that I never posted it:

I was in a store, purchasing a dress for my cousin's upcoming wedding.  The sales associate was asking me lots of questions about the wedding, which I explained was in Canada.  Her response:

'Oh Canada.  It's such a beautiful country.  Well, not really a country....um...well... you know what I mean."

Unfortunately I was too shocked to say anything.  When I go back to pick up the dress, I think I will have to bring an atlas and a Canadian history textbook.

The Julia Child Obsession Continues...

In Paris over the Christmas holidays, I went on a self-directed walking tour of Julia's Paris.

One of Julia and Paul's favourite restaurants.

The Child's apartment on rue de l'Universite.  This is where the magic in the kitchen began!

Famous restaurant / cooking supply store.  I was a little overwhelmed by the maze of shelves and the lack of published prices.  At one point I was holding a bread basket and the owner yelled 50 euros at me.  For a bread basket?  My dreams of buying copper pots were dashed then and there.



Julia's Kitchen

At the Smithsonian (check out their website - it is really good), they have Julia Child's entire kitchen.  I was so excited I nearly cried. 

Best exhibit ever.

Washington

We spent American Thanksgiving in Washington and really enjoyed the capital.  It was differerent than I expected - much grander and nicer than you hear about in the news.  And there are numerous fantastic museums, which are all free!

Second Dinner Party

It was so much fun, we had to do it again.

Le Menu

Leek and Potato Soup (prepared by my sous-chef, Vincent)

Beef Tenderloin with a Morel Cream Sauce

Salad

Cheese

Tart au Citron Meringue

Dinner Party

We hosted two of Vincent's colleagues for our first dinner party in our new home last night.  Since I'm still not working, I had plenty of time to prepare a feast. 

Le Menu

Salad with Green Beans, Oranges and Pine Nuts

Beef Ribs Braised in Beer, served with fresh Pappardelle

Cheese Plate - Manchego, Bucheron and Camembert

Lemon Mousse with Fresh Blueberries and Seche

Hollywood comes to town

They are shooting a movie in Philly right now, to be called Safe.  Every night Broad Street is closed off to traffic, and they are using a local hotel as a stand-in for the Plaza in New York.  The scene they are shooting involves a gunfight and a stand-off with the police, so they have imported NYPD cars for the filming.  So, if you see Safe next year, remember - that's not New York - it's Philly!

The Frames

Last night we saw The Frames!  They put on an amazing show, the first of their new tour.  The band sounded fantastic, and Glen was as charming as I imagined.

The opening act, Jake Clemons, was excellent as well.  And, you can't really tell from this picture, but this guy is Mark Campbell's doppelganger!

Our apartment

Our apartment is starting to come together - we still need a few things (like a coffee table), but are really happy with our new couch and table.  And the view, of course.

Bring out the candles!

We had a huge storm this week in Philadelphia, and it knocked out all of the power to our building.  They were able to restore some of the building quite quickly, but our tower was without electricity for 36 hours.  Today they used a crane to install a new temporary transformer on the roof and we are back up and running.  Now, we have to eat up a lot of food that was in the freezer....

Mom and Dad came to visit...

We had a lovely time this past weekend with our first visitors, our Canadian parents.  We had some great food, good walks in the sunshine and even heard some blues.  Thanks for visiting!

Get yours today!

Now available for sale downtown Philly, a fabulous t-shirt which reads:

If you smell something that stinks...

it's Philadelphia...

'cause we the shit!

Philly pictures

The LOVE statue in JFK park...

...and the fountain behind it.



Fairmount Park

These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot to post them!

Fairmount is a huge park right in the city, which starts basically at our front door.  It runs on both sides of the Schuylkill River, and is a great place for rowing, walking, running and biking.  On summer weekends they close one of the roads that runs through the park so there is even more room for all of the people who take advantage of the nice weather.

Crazy Phillies Fans

Yesterday all of Philadelphia had Phillies fever.  I talked about the Phils with the guy who installed my cable, at the grocery store and even in a job interview.  There are Phillies flags and banners everywhere, and most businesses have encouraged their staff to wear Phillies shirts to work.

While walking down Market Street, I witnessed a crazy Phillies fan getting arrested.  He had been paddling down the Schuylkill River on a surfboard, wearing a Phillies shirt and joker style face paint.  I hope some of this craziness works tonight, as the Phillies are down 3-1 in the series!