La Petite Chic

Checking in from Germany

We made it here safe and sound, though I'm still rather jet-lagged.  It's almost surreal for me to be in Germany.  When we moved back to the US, after 4 and a half years of living here, I was still a child.  A 12 year old child.  All of the familiar but forgotten sights and smells are bringing me right back to my childhood. It's comforting in a way.  It's almost like I didn't realize I missed it so much.

Our plane ride from DC to London was quite uneventful, but the plane from London to Frankfurt was oh-so-bumpy.  I don't think I released my death grip on the arm rest for the duration of the flight.  We then had a quick 30 minute train ride to Koblenz and an even quicker 10 minute taxi ride to our airport.  Oh, how I love the Autobahn.  We clocked our driver going 190 km...that's almost 120 miles per hour if you're counting.  My lead foot would certainly fit in very nicely here. 

Jonathan had his welcome dinner last night, which I was invited to, so I got to see the MBA school and meet his classmates.  There are 4 other spouses/significant others here.  Not to be anti-social, but I'm very much looking forward to exploring on my own and not tagging along with the other plus ones.  Which is just what I did today.  I ate breakfast with him this morning before he left for a day of company tours in Koln, then I went back to our room to catch some more winks as I did not sleep at all last night.  Remember how I brought The Memory Keeper's Daughter with me?  I'll probably finish that tonight as I've been reading it non-stop since I've had trouble sleeping!  I should have brought another book, but I usually never get the chance to read on vacation. 

After finally getting some sleep, I woke up and walked around town for a bit.  Unfortunately, the town we are staying in is very small so there are only a few shops and restaurants.  There's not even a post office or bank here so I was unable to buy any stamps and get more Euros out, which means I'll probably be eating in the hotel restaurant for dinner tonight.  Yesterday was a national holiday, and most Germans take off today too so I'm not sure if any of the restaurants will be open. Jon won't be back until 9:00 PM tonight, so I've got quite a bit more time on my own.  I took a few pictures today, but I haven't uploaded them to the computer yet.  Anyway, just wanted to say hello and let you all know that we made it here safely!  Have a great weekend all!

One More Before I Go

My BlogHer roomie, Jennie, tagged me for a meme last week and before I forget to play (which usually happens), here are six completely random things that you always (never) wanted to know about me.  Just think, if there was a Le Petit Chic category on Jeopardy, you could totally sweep it!

1. I have a total of seven piercings on my body, three of which I still actively utilize.  Feel free to guess where they all are!
2. I have the weird habit of pinching the sides of my fingers (near the nails) when I'm nervous.  I'll have to take a picture of it sometime because it's so hard to explain.  I often use Jon's fingers to satisfy the urge too.  Being the good hubby that he is, he usually obliges me because he knows it calms me down.  God, I'm weird!
3. I can't stand the taste of milk.  I won't even use it in my cereal.  I used to be able to stomach chocolate milk, but now I can't even drink that.  I also don't like most Alfredo sauces because they taste too milky.  Oddly enough, I do eat ice cream and yogurt and cheese.  And Yoo-Hoos!  Proof that they're nothing but sugar :)
4. As bad as it might sound, I have more compassion for animals than people.  With the exception of children, I feel that they're more helpless and unable to ask for help.
5. Even after four years of college, I still can't take a decent shot.  I usually have to take two goes at it, which renders the whole purpose of taking a shot useless.  That's okay, I really don't like shots anyway!
6. I've changed my engagement ring twice.  The original ring was a beautiful princess cut with 2 smaller princess cut stones and 2 baguettes on either side.  That was hard to match a wedding band to, so I replaced the baguettes with more princess cut stones.  After the wedding, I realized that I preferred round brilliants to princess cuts because although I love the square shape of the princess, it doesn't have the sparkle of a round.  So now I have a beautiful ideal cut diamond set on a band of round pavé diamonds.  And our jeweler upgraded me to platinum since we gave him so much business!  And in case you're wondering, Jon did not care in the least bit since it was me who told him I wanted a princess in the first place.  He's the best :)

I'm not going to tag anyone, but feel free to play if you want!

P.S.  For all of you Typepad users out there, am I the only one who hates the new "Compose" page?  That's why my post from last night looks like crap.  The coding is really screwed up when you post pictures and I wasn't able to fix it.  F%@*&# Typepad!!

The Final Cut for Europe

I swear I really was finished packing my suitcase last night, but I stayed up until midnight to do so.  I was too exhausted (and busy!) to upload my pictures until just now, but here they are.

The Final Cut:

 

In the Bag:

My Goodies:

 

And my special project before:

 

And after:

 

And here's the final packing list:

• 3 jackets (1 jean, 1 khaki and 1 black trench)
• 3 pairs of jeans (1 indigo for heels, 1 indigo for flats and 1 white)
• 1 pair of khaki capris
• 1 pair of sweatpants
• 2 pairs of leggings (1 brown, 1 black)
• 3 peasant skirts (1 brown, 1 white and 1 black)
• 13 tank tops
• 7 long sleeved tops
• 1 dressy top
• 5 dresses (1 cocktail, 2 sundresses and 2 "dress up or down" dresses)
• 1 bikini
• 1 pair of running shorts
• 1 sports bra
• 3 pashminas (1 cream, 1 blue and pink)
• 2 belts (1 black and 1 brown)
• 9 pairs of shoes (2 pairs sneakers, 2 pairs flats (brown and black), 2 pairs heels (brown and black), 1 pair black thong sandals, 1 pair flip flops, 1 pair brown slides)
• lots of underwear, bras and socks
• toiletries
• Febreze, Shout wipes and Tide to Go for sink washing
• snacks (peanut m&ms, peanut butter (no PB in Europe!), beef jerkey, granola bars, goldfish, gum and Crystal Light)
• laptop and accessories
• cameras and accessories (compact and DSLR)
• pillow (I cut up an old sweater and hand-sewed it to make a comfy pillowcase for my free Sleep Number travel pillow)
• puzzle book and novel (The Memory Keeper's Daughter)
• travel Burberry wallet (slings around the neck for safekeeping)
• backpack (which I'm using as my carry-on)
• 2 Dooney & Bourke bags (tote for everyday sightseeing and handbag for barhopping at night)
• new itty-bitty camera bag for the Rebel XTi
• sunglasses
• outlet adapter
• jewelry

And I think that's it!  My bag totals 42 pounds...8 under the weight limit!  Whew!  I'll catch you all on the other side of the Atlantic.

Packing? It's Getting Down to Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moe

First things first, the winner of the 25% off Coach coupon is Jackie!  I wrote all of the commenter's names on bits of paper, shuffled them and picked one.  Jackie was the lucky winner.  Congratulations to her and thank you to everyone who played!  The coupon is on it's way.

Second, the packing commenced last night.  Rather, I guess I should say the pre-packing commenced last night.  The actual packing is going to be a doozy.  I spent much of yesterday afternoon and last night pulling clothes out of my closet, creating "definite no" and "finalist" piles.  As is often the case, the "finalist" pile is much larger than the "definite no" pile I put back in my closet.  I really am trying hard to be a practical packer, but as Jonathan could tell you, practicality is not my strong point.  I tend to anticipate and pack for any possible situation, and while that's not so terrible when we go on a weekend road trip or a vacation involving only one airplane, it's not so good for this trip, which will include several modes of transportation.  So I'm constantly having to reel in my impulses and remind myself that "No Katie, you do not need 4 cocktail dresses for your 12 day vacation!" 

And then there's this little bad habit of mine.  Does anyone else feel the need to buy new things to wear on vacation?  I know I do.  This whole "dressing like a European" thing has kind of consumed me and I spent about $100 last week on new clothes and accessories for the trip.  Whoops!  However, I also sold over a $100 worth of clothes on Ebay, so it all evens out, right?  There is, of course, the nagging little inconvenience of me not being paid for the whole 8 days of work that I'll be missing (one of the few downsides to being a contractor), but I've been trying to put in some extra hours this month in anticipation of me missing a whole pay period.  Oy.  We'll manage though, because believe it or not, we set aside money every month earmarked specifically for vacations.  That's how much we love to travel!  I mean, really, we're young and childless so there's no better time for it. 

Expect my final list and pictures tomorrow.  With the exception of our honeymoon, where I had no choice but to be packed in time for our 6:00 AM flight the morning after our wedding (eek!), I'm usually still throwing things in the suitcase up until the very moment we walk out the door.  I really would love to do without all that stress this time around, so I'm self-imposing a deadline to be packed and ready tonight.  You hear that, self?  T-O-N-I-G-H-T.  Lord help me.  And Jon.  Oh, and case you all were wondering, I will not have guest bloggers this time around.  I'm going to try to check in from time to time while I'm away, maybe post some pictures or at least a little update of what I did that day.  It'll help me to remember it anyway!

For All of You Coach Girls...

For reasons* unbeknownst to me, Jonathan is considered a preferred Coach customer (ooh, fancy!) and was sent a coupon to receive 25% off his total Coach purchase starting May 17th through May 27th.  Last night I wistfully asked him, "Honey, do you plan on buying me a Coach bag before the end of the month?"  His snorted "Ha!" was not quite the reply I was looking for. 

Here's where my misfortune becomes your good fortune.  If you would like this coupon, leave me a comment by noon on Sunday, May 18th and I will randomly pick one of you, my lovely readers, to mail the coupon to.  For fun, tell me your favorite vacation destination.  You know, in case Jon and I win the lottery and can afford to quit our jobs and travel all over the world visiting those places. 

If I had my way, this is the bag I would have bought:

((SWOON))

*Reason being he's only ever bought me one (ONE!) Coach bag in the almost 4 years we've been together.  How does that make him a loyal Coach customer??

One More Week!

Oh my holy heck, it kind of just hit me that we leave for Europe in exactly one week!  This time next Wednesday, I'll probably be sweating through my shirt as I count down the hours until we leave and worry about the impending 9 hour flight to Frankfurt.  Have I ever mentioned that I'm a travel lover who hates to fly?  Well, I am.  I never used to be scared of flying, but the older I get, the more I become aware of all that could possibly go wrong.  Every peculiar sound or slight bump sends me into a white knuckle panic, as I gasp to Jon, "Oh my god, oh my god!"  Thank goodness for the free alcohol on international flights, as I will surely need something to calm my nerves!

In the past few weeks, I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to wear for our trip to give myself plenty of time to find and/or buy whatever it is that I decide to pack.  I've also done some googling to determine exactly what I should and shouldn't wear so that I don't blatantly look like an American tourist.  Sure, once I open my mouth or pull out my big camera, my secret will be spilled, but I really want to just blend in with the locals since I'll be doing a lot of my daytime touring independently.  The verdict?  Skirts.  Lots and lots of skirts.  Especially in France.  I don't mind this at all because a) skirts are super easy to pack and b) I love wearing skirts.  I really like the Ruffle Skirt from Gap, because it's the type of skirt that looks better when it's a little wrinkled, which is just perfect since it will be living in a suitcase for almost 2 weeks. 

I also figure that I can pack several of those skirts (I already own a few similar ones) and plan to re-wear them.  I'll just pack a lot of different shirts and tank tops to mix and match with them.  The weather for both Germany and France looks beautiful, low to mid 70's, so I don't think I'll need to pack many warm clothes.  Of course I'll pack some jeans and a few long sleeved items, but I think I'll be able to successfully pack light, which is really my main objective.  I looked up our hotels online today and I'm fairly certain that each room will have a hairdryer.  The hotel in Nice has one for sure and our hotel in Koblenz just opened last month so I think it's safe to say that it will have modern amenities.

Whew!  So much to think about!  I'll probably post my final packing list, and maybe pictures, once it is done.  Not sure if you all will find it interesting, but I love to see what other people deem as "necessary objects" for their getaways.  It can tell you a lot about a person! 

P.S.  Here's a view from our hotel in Nice:

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How gorgeous is that?!

Exposaroonie Challenge - Bad Habits

The Exposaroonie Challenge this week was to photograph your bad habit.  Initially, I thought this one would be easy.  But when I really got down to thinking about what my bad habits are, it was surprisingly hard to come up with any!  Sure, I don't floss every day and I do enjoy the occasional breakfast at McDonald's, but those things aren't that bad!  For the most part, I exercise regularly, eat healthy and have good hygiene. 

So then I thought a little harder.  Ah-ha!!  My bad habit is so obvious that I'm shocked I didn't think of it earlier. 

Go ahead, take a guess:

Give up? 

My bad habit is SALT!!  Whereas most women tend to be sweetaholics, I adore salt.  Take a gander through my snack drawer at work (yes, I have a whole drawer of snacks!) and you'll find mixed nuts and pretzels and pita chips and Kool-Aid singles. Okay, so the Kool-Aid singles aren't salty, but oh man, do they bring me back to my childhood!  I don't go crazy pouring salt on my food, but that's usually because the food I choose is salty to begin with.  Give me a soft pretzel over a scoop of ice cream any day.

To take this picture, I poured some salt on our granite countertops, very close to the backsplash. Since our granite is Uba-Tuba, it is very dark (almost black) and has great reflective qualities.  You'll be happy to learn that I've stopped using auto settings on my camera (actually, I stopped about a month ago) and I've been venturing into the scary world of manual.  I can't really tell you what the settings were, because I tend to just fool around with them until I get a shot that I like, but nonetheless, it was manual!  And I even made my arms and shoulders hurt from the weird position I was in to get this shot.  (I tend to take about 50 shots of the same thing!)  Hooray!

A Paradox

Should one continue to drink the ginger tea that is supposed to aid in stomach discomfort if the smell of said ginger tea makes you want to vomit because it makes you think of sushi, because really, raw fish is the last thing one wants to think about when feeling ill?

And also, while I'm at it, a letter to God:

Dear God,

     I know you prepared me at an early age to deal with stomach issues (i.e.: the whole gallstones and subsequent gallbladder removal at age six), but is it really necessary to make me feel sick enough to make me throw up at least once a week for no apparent reason?  Perhaps, when my time comes, I'll be blessed with a morning sickness-free pregnancy to make up for all of the nausea I've suffered throughout my life. 

Love, Katie

And to nip any assumptions in the bud:

To my loving parents (since you've been hinting about grandkids ALOT lately):

     No, I am not pregnant.  My stomach is just too sensitive for it's own good.  Don't worry though, after Jonathan, you two and Jonathan's parents will be the first to know!

Love, Katie

And for good measure:

Dear Red Cross,

     Could this have anything to do with the pint of blood I donated yesterday?  Or maybe with the extra large needle that is made for the veins of 200 pound men, not petite women, that was used on my poor arm?

Sincerely, Katie D.

Stuff. Random Stuff.

Why, hello there!  Soooo....what have you all been up to? Jon and I have been busy bees.  On Saturday, we went to my great-uncle's 75th birthday.  He is my grandma's twin brother so while the celebration was mostly a happy one, it was also a little bittersweet that my grandma wasn't there to celebrate with him.  The best thing about the party though?  My great-uncle married a Puerto Rican woman who loves to cook.  Therefore, the food was incredible!  She makes the best chicken and rice I have ever tasted.  She and her daughter also made two types of sangria, red and white, and oh, my goodness both made drinking in the early afternoon so worth it.

We actually started Saturday off by hitting several community yard sales in my parent's town.  Yard saling is probably our favorite thing to do in the summer.  Yes, it means waking up at 7:00 AM to get all of the awesome early bird deals, but you can't beat the bargains.  I've never been a snob when it comes to buying things second-hand.  My mom has had me out yard saling since I was a little girl so I knew at an early age that just because things weren't brand new didn't mean that they didn't have any life left in them. Heck, I furnished my entire post-college place with yard sale finds and you wouldn't have known it unless I told you!  Our best deals this weekend?  Jon bought a brand new snowboard for only $10 and I bought a Pilates Reformer for only $25!  No, we don't have room for them in our condo, but my parents graciously agreed to house them in their garage until we buy a home next year. 

The Reformer looks just like this one:

In other exciting news, we had a Bake Off contest at work today and I won first place!  The prize was an iPod Shuffle!  Even though I already have the Nano, I'm super excited about this one because it will be easier to wear when I workout.  The funny thing about me winning the bake-off is that my entry was a no-bake dessert.  I made Double-Dare Bars and believe it or not, I forgot to take a picture of them!  Before last night, I had never made them, but the recipe sounded delicious and the best part was that they were super easy.  I actually picked up the recipe at Target in the fall.  They had free recipe cards near all of the Halloween candy so I grabbed this one.  Here it is:

Double Dare Squares

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 9 cups of mini marshmallows
• 1/2 cup of creamy or chunky peanut butter
• 1 cup of dry roasted peanuts 

Directions:

• Lightly grease a 13x9" baking pan and set aside
• In a large saucepan, over low heat, melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter together, stirring constantly
• Allow to cool for 5 minutes
• Gently stir in marshmallows and peanuts
• Pour mixture into prepared pan and refrigerate bars for 30 minutes, or until firm
• Using a lightly oiled knife, cut bars into squares

And that's it!!  I modified the recipe a bit by melting some extra chocolate chips and peanut butter to pour over the mixture once it was in the pan.  This allowed the extra stuff to completely cover the mixture in a thin layer.  Then I sprinkled some crumbled peanuts over this layer to finish it off and make it look a little fancier.  Refrigerate and enjoy!!