Oui!

I've recently realized that the 6 years of Spanish I took, means just about nothing to those in Europe.  It's not even that helpful here.  But it's useless in Europe, French is much more popular and useful.  So I've decided to teach myself French.  Thank goodness for technology.  My new favorite and cheap App, is MindSnacks. 

I'm fairly certain it's a kids game and would probably go over like gangbusters in an elementary school classroom, which is why I most likely enjoy it so much.  In a week I've mastered numbers and now I'm learning colors and days of the week.  And there are 49 other lessons ahead of me.  I've read that the only thing I'll be learning is vocab so it may be quite difficult to get around the streets of Paris, but it's a start.  Afterall, all I really need to know is "where's the nearest patisserie for macarons or Pain au chocolat?" : )

My only observations so far are that French is way more difficult than Spanish and my French accent needs some serious work. However, I'm a big fan so far.  France here I come(after the UK of course)!

Friday Five

We all know I like to eat.  I plan trips around what delightful treat a country or state specializes in.  I makes lists upon lists of restaurants I need to try and chefs I need to find.  So it's really no surprise that I'm treating the planning of the England/Scotland trip with the same attention to food-ish detail.  During a wasted day at work today (Word of advice: don't ever go in the day after a holiday - NO one will actually be there so there will be NO work to do!), I started googling fun places to eat at all times of the day in the UK.  The best I found are below.  It's quite a shame we'll be in each city for so short of time.  I'm feeling a pre-trip fast may be in order to allow me to try all on the list...

1. La Favorita in Edinburgh: Oh my goodness!  Before I even saw the pizza, or the calzones or the hundred other things on the menu, I already wanted to go.  They have Burrata Caprese on the menu.  Do you have any idea how much I love Burrata?  Yum!

2. Edinburgh Larder: Looks like the perfect place for breakfast and lunch.  Not to mention, it looks super cute which is also high on my list when choosing places to eat (what can I say?  I'm a little odd...)  Plus they have Cream Tea, which I'm sure will not be in short supply in England, but that doesn't stop me from getting a little too excited to see it on a menu.

3. Pasty Presto Stratford-upon-Avon: I needed only to see that they had Chocolate Banana Pasties on their menu and I was adding it to the itinerary.  The cutesy name is just a bonus.

4.  The Dirty Duck Stratford-upon-Avon: The food looks good, if nothing special.  But I've heard that it's the place to be to see the stars of whatever is playing at the RSC grab a bite before and after shows.  Also, they have Sticky Toffee Pudding.  2 absolutely perfect reasons to go!

5. Box Brownie in Stratford-upon-Avon: Sweets, sweets and more sweets with some tea thrown in for good measure. 

You'll notice of course that there aren't any restaurants in London listed.  It's because googling "restaurants in London", is like googling "restaurants in the United States." 40 million will be returned to you and none of them will be near where you are.  London's a little daunting so I'm saving my London noshing for last : )

Happy Fourth of July!

 

God bless America,

Land that I love.

Stand beside her, and guide her,

Through the night with a light from above.

From the mountains, to the prairies,

To the oceans, white with foam.

God bless America, My home sweet home.

***

Happy Independence Day!

RIP Google Reader

As you may or may not have heard, Google Reader was unfortunately retired on July 1.  For someone who spends a great deal of time reading online, Good Reader was a Godsend.  Everything I wanted to read was in the same place.  I could easily save an article for later and mark things as read with just a scroll of the mouse.  And for 4 years it was a daily visit as soon as I logged on in the morning. 

Even after all the talk of losing my feeds and things, I wasn't too worried.  Afterall, iGoogle was retired in November, and yet, it's still opens as my home screen each day.  I was feeling pretty good too when on July 1, my google reader opened like it always did. But I was cautious too, so I transferred everything over to the one I heard most about: Feedly.  It was a fairly easy transfer that took all of a few seconds.  It looked a little odd when I browsed through it, but I didn't have to worry about it, since they weren't going to take away my access anyway (denial much?)  Well, the worst nightmare happened yesterday when I attempted my morning log on and got the dreaded Google Message "This service is officially retired." : (

So I suppose it was off to Feedly to figure it all out.  I know I'm pretty partial to Google but after a few days, I HATE Feedly!  The darn interface is too white and there are way too many view choices.  When you finally choose a view you like, it changes back again to the old one.  Then there's the subject of read vs. unread.  In google, as soon as you scrolled past an article, it was marked "read".  Now (and this is where I sound really anal) you have to click a button to mark the whole feed as read or each individual article. What a pain!

I pretty much hated google reader at first too, so I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I'm liking Feedly. But really?  Why must tech change so much?  

 RIP Google Reader.  My random data loving brain will miss you terribly...

Camera-gate 2013

When people take gorgeous photographs, I usually assume the shots required a few quick adjustments here and there.  Then of course, the photographer was ready and able to take Pulitzer prize worthy photos of all things beautiful.  Upon further review, I was so very, very, very wrong.  Like I said the camera practice is not going as well and as quickly (what can I say?  I'm impatient!) as I'd hoped it would.  After a full month with the darn thing, I still haven't figured out how to change it to manual. 

Now don't think I haven't tried.  I've read articles. I've browsed Pinterest.  I've been scouring this site daily (which by the way is my new fave!  This woman should be sainted, but I digress...) But knowing what to do when you do go manual and actually figuring out HOW to go manual are 2 different things.  You'd expect the user's guide (I was about to use the word manual but it got a little redundant) to give you some pointers at least.  Alas, no such luck.  It tells you just about everything else, in every language imaginable but not what I want it to tell me. 

I still have quite a bit of time to figure this out.  England's not for another 3 months (and 5 days - not that I'm counting or anything).  However, I have seemingly mastered the visually interesting shots.  For those who may not be in the know, according to the Kristen dictionary, a visually interesting photo is "off-kilter to add personality." (See exhibits A-D below)  Random, I know, but my favorite way to take a picture : ) 

This one isn't visually interesting per se, but it's a really cool "uppy shot" aka a photo taken looking up at something.  (I never pretended to be clever about these names...)

Where'd You Go?

I've been hearing nothing but rave reviews of this book since it came out late last year.  Even those who hadn't heard of the book, knew of it based on the clever (and also quite cute) cover art.  So I just had to read it to see what the fuss was all about.  Well, after just spending the last 3 hours finishing it up to find out where in fact Bernadette went, I have one question: Where did the book go? 

It's not what I would call bad.  It was quite funny at places and the characters were quirky in their own way.  But at some point, it sort of ran off the rails in the wrong direction.  I don't want to spoil anything but it's just not what I was expecting.  In the summer especially, I like light hearted beachy reads.  Who wants to get bogged down by treachery when you're laying in the sun?  Based on the cover and the description, I thought this would fit the bill.  Not so much.  It's not as dark as Othello or Hamlet but it's not a light and airy Jane Green or Jen Lancaster either

But it was a quick read, which I must confess, are always my favorite.  The better to get on to the next book... : )

NYC - What is it about you?

There's just nothing quite like New York.  You can complain about the pace, and the people and traffic and crowded streets.  But quite honestly, I think that's why I like it so much.  You couldn't pay me to drive up there however, the honking and the sirens and the cars all tyring to get everywhere, just sets the stage for this awesome city.  Yes, it's a pain the butt trying to walk through Midtown at pretty much any time of day, but you get to see so many different people.  And if you just listen you can hear dozens of different languages in a city block.  Add that energy and vibrancy to the restaurants, and theatre and shopping and people and you have one of the most chaotic and wonderful cities in the world.

There's just something about life in Manhattan.  I'm quite thankful that I'm close enough to get that shot of adrenaline every few months because without it, life would definitely be a little less exciting...