Paris and Switzerland

I love traveling, but it's always nice to get home to our own house and bed (especially our heavenly bed!!!).

Now for the recap of last month's Swiss/French trip:

Basel, Switzerland

Highlights: Rhine Swimming (Rick did this - I hate being cold, so I watched), sunbathing (with SPF 70, because I'm not a skin cancer fan), National Swiss Day fireworks over the Rhine, and seeing friends!

Lowlight: I was still coughing ALL the time, thanks to the nasty bug that I caught earlier in the week. BOO.

Paris, France

Highlights: Smooching my man over champagne at the top of the Eiffel Tower, seeing the Eiffel light show at night, seeing the Catacombs, walking through Notre Dame (again), climbing the tower at the Sacre Coeur, BEING IN EFFING PARIS with my lovey.

Lowlights: I have found Parisians to be nice people for the most part (just a little smelly), but Rick and I found out on this trip that their homeless population is made up of 90% @ssholes. One homeless guy reeled through the line of tourists at the Catacombs, bumping into people hard, and then went on to spit on and kick a teenage kid who was just sitting and minding his own business. Another homeless guy actually HIT a lady on the arm while she walked by! It was just while we were walking by, too, prompting Rick to comment on the future state of any homeless person who did that to me (rhymes with "head).

Chateau Versailles

Highlights: It's Versailles, so..... EVERYTHING was a highlight, even though I'd just been there a month ago.

Lowlights: I would say that the rain was a lowlight, but we had our umbrellas with us, and it's EFFING VERSAILLES, so there were officially no Lowlights.

Welcome to Europe!

I moved to a small city in The Netherlands for my honey's internship.

While its exciting to be actually living in a different country, it's been a bit rough of a start for me.

I was really excited to move somewhere new, and it's nice that Dutch people can speak English (very) well. But I feel like a total jerk for not knowing their language, and I'm not my usual outgoing, talk-to-everyone self. It would certainly be different if I had a job or school here, but that's not the case.

I realized how truly isolated I have felt when I was on the street one day and, to my shock, a woman asked me a question! Sadly, it was in Dutch. So all I could do was shake my head, and say, "Sorry..."

It's like I have put an invisibility cloak on the people around me here. I automatically assume people aren't talking to me (because usually they aren't), which can be embarrassing when shopkeepers try to greet me and I realize it very late.

Things are getting better since I joined an expat group, and thanks to some of R's nice co-workers.

But I do still miss the dogs. They seem to be having a ball at my parent's house back in Seattle. My mom and I Skype almost every day - 3:30pm my time is 6:30am her time, so we chat over coffee before she gets ready for work. She always holds up the dogs or turns the camera on them so that I can see them.

There's generally a new story of what they rolled in the other day - dead bunnies or dead birds on a boom day. But dead worms or bugs are usually are the dead-thing du jour. If there is a big, dead black beetle in the yard, Paris will find it and roll in it, guaranteed.

I finally got around to posting pictures on facebook - some from our brief time in Seattle, and a lot from the European travels of the past month. This set of pictures cracked me up. I was trying to capture the tender moment of my nephew "helping" my mom, "Gan Gancine," to water her garden. I was lucky (?) enough to also capture this little dog story line as well:

Chewy (on the right) finds a Dead Thing in the yard.

Chewy rolls happily in the Dead Thing. Oh happy day!

Not sure what he's doing here, but I think he is sniffing his New Dead Thing Smell.

Gross.

So very very happy to be home!

After getting home and spending an evening with some of the family (I love getting tackle hugs from Mack), on Thursday morning my dad and I went and bought the most beautiful Christmas tree - perfect shape, and perfect branch-density.

I decorated it all day. I had to start over three times, because I underestimated the amount of lights we needed, so I ended up having to string together four different kinds of lights. And I was trying to mix them up so that our tree didn't have four distinct sections of light.

This is probably our biggest tree ever. And for the first time ever, our tree is downstairs in the rec-room instead of upstairs in the living room. Happily, we need more room for present-opening and family gathering, because our family keeps growing! This tree is, like, 7 feet tall.

The only person that helped me decorate it was Mack, who helped me through encouragement ("You're doing a good job, Aunt Bess," from a 2.5 year-old lifts your spirits like you wouldn't believe), and by telling me which Christmas light colors were his favorite (green and red).

I took a break from the tree when Mack came up to me with one of our tree clippings. "I have my own tree, Aunt Bess." Well, we had to decorate his tree. Then we put it on the mantle with our other Christmas decorations. Beautiful!

Also, my mom (of the storied Boob Cookies) made another Christmas Cookie Memory, she accidentally put two mouse cookies too close together on the baking pan. This is the cookie, post-decorating:

I. Died. So funny.

Favorite things that I have done since being home:

1. Having jump contests with brother Nate, and Mack. Mack always wins.

2. Wrapping Christmas gifts (I love wrapping, and my mom hates it, so I wrap everyone's gifts except the ones for me).

3. Petting Toastie, my parent's cat, and listening to him purr.

4. Laughing at Toastie when he looks disgruntled.

5. Getting tackled by Mack.

6. Watching Mack help Uncle Rick move tree clippings in the yard. He even throws them on the pile just like Uncle Rick, while wearing his little red-checked lumberjack coat and his dad's stocking cap.

7. Shopping with Mom.

8. Practicing knitting, and seeing Paris enjoy my work (as tug-of-war toys).

9. Lighting a fire log in the fireplace.

10. Seeing my family and friends, who I have missed SO MUCH!

Ten hours. UGH.

I am FINALLY home in Seattle, but boy was it a trial getting here.

1. Four pieces of luggage, two dog carriers, two carry-ons, and public transportation. We did surprisingly well, but we were both sore the day after. Stupid heavy bags....

2. 10 hours on an airplane. Honestly, I am really impressed that the pups held it for 11 hours. We had them eat and drink a little that morning, but then didn't really give them stuff on the flight.

3. Eight screaming children on the plane. Is it legal to give kids Xanax? I wish.... and that I'd had some to give the kids. Except this one kid, who I would have liked to give a betch slap so she would stop screaming and throwing tantrums and throwing things into our laps.

Wow, it was a LOOOOONG flight.

How bad?

Well, it was worse than coming back from Puerta Vallarta with E-coli and a little kid SCREAMING in the seat in front of us the ENTIRE TIME.

Heck yes. I'll take E-coli over our most recent flight. At least that can be treated (legally).

Fish Sex

Today we almost flushed Chewyfish down the toilet.

He was chasing The Brain (now known as "Brazen Hussy" - you'll soon find out why) around the fish tank, biting her, pushing her into the plants...

Chewyfish is normally the boss of the tank, but this was extreme and I was afraid The Brain would stress-overload and die. Rick even reached in the tank and slapped Chewyfish and Pinky (who joined in the chase and pushing) a couple times! LOL.

Sidenote: Who SLAPS a fish???? Well, it's better than the fish that he had in college. It ate or bullied all of his other fish, so he took Jerk Fish out, killed and cleaned him, and fried him up and ate him.

Rick offered to do the flushing but I felt bad - maybe he had fish-rabies, or something like that that could be cured... So I consulted Google.

FISH SEX.

THAT's what they were up to.

Here I thought The Brain was this poor, innocent victim. I came to realize that she had been putting out her siren-call of pheromones for a while, getting the guys all horny and signaling their bodies to make fish man-juice.

So we didn't flush Chewyfish or Pinky, and that trollop swam around and popped out her little eggies, the boys following close behind. She knew exactly what she was doing, the hussy. I'm really glad we didn't flush her baby-daddies.

I removed the plants in our tank that had eggs on them (goldies lay sticky eggs) and put them in a big vase of water that I took directly from the aquarium, and now the hubs is at Petco getting baby fish food and a fry net-basket. I took out about half of the plant for not very many eggs, but here's hoping we get a few babies. I'll be a fish-grandma!

My black moor with telescopey eyes is obviously a female (now that I know what to look for), so maybe she'll get in the action soon. I'm going to try and get her to make babies with Pinky, my other mature male.

Black Moor, the Future Trollop

Black Moor's Baby Daddy? To be continued...

Chair Reno

New cushion and cover, leftovers from other projects.

Antique folding chair- $10.

Woo!

Now I Can Start Ignoring New England Sports Teams....

...because I am officially a New Englander.

Why? Because this is now my idea of a "cute" winter coat:

Fall weather here in New England is Seattle winter weather. Yikes. I am really going to appreciate this coat. Waterproof, down on the inside, and a super-warm hood to boot.

Amber Eyes

Okay, I just saw the most beautiful eyes on the subway today. This girl's eyes were the palest gold color. Rick thinks they were contacts, but I am convinced they were real - there weren't even dark edges on her irises! And I was only one person away from her.

Sigh. I wish I had something besides brown eyes. Boo!

Fish Stuff

Wow, it's been a while. Lots of in-town guests lately. Okay, only three, but that is a lot in a house with only one bathroom and in a city which not many of my friends or family have visited.

Well, we got three new fish and many new plants for my aquarium today! I present to you:

The all-white fish, who also looks pink-ish... Rosie?

Okay, I'm not sure what the new fish names are, except for....

Big-Head Keith.

He seems to have a large-ish head. He is a gold-coppery colored fancy.

This is Little Guy, currently. I might change it.

I know that the current names stink, except for Big-Head Keith. That is clearly The Most Awesome of Names. The tank is still in the midst of a snazzy-town renovation. Hopefully I will have the time and energy to get that finished very soon. But for now, here are the before-and-after plants pictures:

Note the lone plant.

Sad. I've been pestering my hubs to let me get more artificial plants. But after looking at the rest of the fake plants, I thought I'd take a chance on live ones.

Plants!!!!

These plants don't require me to water them (since they are immersed in water), so they might live longer than my average house plant. Supposedly, the fish will eat them. They probably will. I might have to start an aqua-nursery tank to let the plants grow a bit without being eaten.

I apologize for the horrible picture quality. I left my camera back in Seattle, and my parents forgot to bring it here to Boston this past week when they visited. Rats!

Alright, I know this is supposed to be about pretty things. Wait until you see my latest fashion finds. :-)

S I M

For those of you who have seen my facebook status, you already know that I quit my part-time job, and you also can interpret the title of this post.

:-( I am sad because the studio and store are a great business but I just didn't feel it was right for me, and I do feel bad about giving short notice of my departure. But I think I am onto things that are more in line with growing my career. Yay!

I am just excited for what the future brings, and I wish my former workplace a lot of success! They certainly have an amazing group of people working there!

Hairicide....or Hair-a Kari? Okay, I'll stop.

Robert at Bowie Salon and Spa in Seattle, if you felt a sharp pain in your shears-hand, it was because I did what I promised I would never do again.

I don't think this is as bad as some of my past escapades, but I certainly am not able to cut layers of any kind.

I cut my own bangs.

I KNOW! I promised after the last fiasco that I would not touch them ever again. But that was before I moved across the country and couldn't afford a decent haircut! And I seriously took off almost four inches. They didn't qualify as "bangs" anymore. It had to be done, because, honestly, I don't look that great without bangs.

I'm sorry, Robert! You will have to fix this on December 15th, when I get home to Seattle (with the pups!).

Playtime!

I think Paris wants to play.

She has been like this for several minutes, her beady little eyes boring holes right through me, toys stacked up at her side.

Such subtlety.

SHOES

I would first like to start out with the most awesome video EVER (strong language)(but hilarious). Click on the picture to go to the youtube video.

By the way, this picture is actually a very accurate portrayal of me window shopping for shoes...

SHOES

Okay, I feel like that has properly set the mood for this post.

The other day the amazing shoe designer, Ruthie Davis, came to my husband's school and talked about her business.

Ruthie Davis and her gorgeous creations.

But on that same day there was a horrible tragedy, because I WAS NOT THERE. Sad Face!

Anyone who knows me knows of my obsession with fashion: Vogue subscription since I was like, twelve; the giant wall in my bedroom of my favorite advertisements or photos from Vogue; my Belltown apartment that was decorated by all of my high heels (bookcases are really made for shoe display, right?); the fact that I still decorate with Stuart Weitzman ads (from their previous campaign, "a little obsessed with shoes"**).

Picture from Korey Kay & Partners

**On a tangental note: these ads remain my favorite campaign of all time. The genius ads let me decorate my house with pictures that aren't overtly girly, but are SECRETLY SHOES. I wrote to Korey Kay & Partners asking them for prints of the ads - they sent me every single one!

Anywhoodle, getting back to the original subject of this post, I was devastated that Rick didn't think to bring me to that class. Why didn't University of Washington business school ever bring in an amazing shoe designer to talk to my class??? (UW Foster School of Business FAIL.)

I missed out on having these in my school classroom:

The Most Awesome Shoe in the WORLD, by Ruthie Davis.

Which, in retrospect, maybe is not bad, since I possibly might have grabbed this shoe and run off with it, overcome with my love for its beauty.

Ruthie, if you are out there reading this, surrounded by your fabulous shoes, I am officially volunteering to be your intern. No, actually, I am not joking.

Okay, Maury.

I just turned on the tv and the information for the current show came on: The Maury Povich Show - "You got one of my friends pregnant - the wedding is off!!!!!"

Really?

Dear White Trash of America,

That SHOULDN'T BE NEWS. I am pretty sure every (sane) woman would call the wedding off.

And stop watching that show.

Love,

Bethany

Employment and judging. And Newsies.

Well, Unemployment, you've given me a nice break and a recovery from corporate america, but it's time for me to get back to work.

I have a part-time job now at Core De Vie in Beacon Hill. It's RAD! Look at the website. Yeah. I work here. I even get to go to the classes (if they aren't full).

I was so sad to leave my awesome friends/coworkers at Boeing (I miss you, Melanie and Amanda!!!!). Now I am happy to say that that I currently have a whole slew of funny, friendly clients and coworkers! I feel like I'm back in college, in a good way! I wear (cute) sweats to work, and I have time to actually enjoy the rest of my life. And this time, "the rest of my life" doesn't even involve school.

In addition to having a relaxing job and earning money, it's SO nice to get out of the house. Also great: I am not sitting at the house eating all the time. I'm already fitting back into my formerly too-tight pants (although there have been other factors at work there too).

In other news, I think that I saw the girl who plays Hermione in the Harry Potter movies the other day. She recently cut her hair super-short and looks like a girly-boy. I didn't realize it until I saw a picture of her on TMZ. I was like, "OMG, Emma Watson is the girly-boy that I saw!"

Sooo...I am sure the fact that she didn't have makeup on didn't help this pic.

(pic from TMZ.com)

So it was kind of cool if that WAS her (although I am not sure what she would be doing in Davis Square, since she attends Brown), but more than anything it just made me really confused. There are of chicks that look like boys/ boys that look like chicks here in Boston. The clothes may or may not be bad, but I can't tell, because good and bad clothes are different for each gender.

The other day I saw a guy who was dressed like an extra on the set of Newsies.

Favorite move EVER.

(Picture: IMDB)

I was thinking, "Um, those clothes went out of style, like, ONE-HUNDRED YEARS AGO!!!!!" And then I though how cool it would be if all the sudden Christian Bale danced into my path and we would sing and dance with all the people on the street and my life would FINALLY be a musical.

So yeah. Good times judging clothing here in Boston. I love people-watching while I work. I can look out onto the sidewalk and judge.

Self-assessment of my outfit today: I look awesome. I'd like to thank yoga, fruits and veggies, and Denise Austin, for all enabling me to fit back into these khakis.

Ooooh, Paris the dog..

She doesn't understand the concept of her new dog potty.

Neither does Chewy, as he has joined her below the potty now. I'd grab a picture, but it's too dark now.

I want a cat

Moo, often featured on his owner's blog, is the kind of cat that makes me want a cat even more!!!!

For more of Moo's antics, check out the "Moo" posts at Color Me Katie

I love kitties. Can someone please convince my husband that we NEED a cat?

Argh...Job Searches Are Poo.

I was bored (aka depressed about the job search) the other day and tried to occupy myself and cheer myself up. So I imagined The Most Far-Fetched Professions for Bethany.

I like pictures, so......

1. How about a welder?

Welder

Image from here and photoshopped by me.

HA! Yeah right. Way too ugly of a work outfit. Plus....it's a welder job so.... yeah.

2. Okay, so this next job I actually would totally want, for real. I want to be the person who makes signs like this:

Image from here.

It would satisfy both my need for a job, and also entertain me, since I am apparently as mature as your average ten year-old.

3. Stacy London. I want her job. Totally. I love makeovers, and clothes, and Clinton Kelly.

Image from here and photoshopped by me.

I may not be able to throw around Yiddish words, but I do speak fluent Valley Girl, and I'm really good at judging people's clothing.

Well, it's late. I guess the rest of my brainstorming will come to fruition in a different post.

Things for your head...

Posting music: Jake Shimabukuro: Live

...actually, this post is about things for MY head. I just ordered them on Nordstrom.com.

I LOVE hats. Sadly, I have a long face, so some hats make me look like my head is a mile long. No bucket hats for me!

But I do love my knit hats, my favorite being a purple beanie with a big rhinestone button, but when I wear it with my favorite purple coat, I feel like it's too matchy-matchy. As I was looking around the website to find something to buy with my gift cards, I stumbled upon this beauty:

Nordstrom Knit Flower Beret

at Nordstrom.com

At first I was not a fan, but then I realized it was because I really didn't like the model. I hate her eye makeup, and she has kind of a creepy look on her face. So through the power of my Mac preview tool and powerpoint, I tried it on. Sure enough, I look totes cute in this hat.

Speaking of cute - that's one of my besties, Heather. We were in the seventh row at the Taylor Swift concert.

That night goes down as one of the most awesome nights of my life. Not joking.

P.S. I miss you, Heather!

Now that we've gone over Part 1 of Things for Bethany's Head, let's move on to Part 2.

As you can probably tell from my last post, I have been nesting. I was very inspired by the muted palette of the garage sale rescue painting, seen below:

Sorry about the reflection. Unfortunately my iPhone camera really does not do this painting justice.

So while browsing Nordy's website I also came across this beauty - on SALE no less!

Corsage Pillow

Nordstrom.com

So pretty, right?

I would like to thank my former coworkers at Boeing, without whom I never would have had the Nordstrom gift cards.

P.S. Is that the right way to use "whom?" I get so confused on that one. Please educate me. That means you, Kelsey!

Smile

Inspired by the awesome blog, Color Me Katie, I am making another smile list.

International Accordion Festival Parades

This was in Leavenworth, Washington. I know you are jealous that you weren't there.

Rubiks Cube Parties.

(FYI, I ended up in all-blue)

Flowers from my man.

Bag-Cave Cats.

Babies. This is my nephew, who is now two, and HILARIOUS (see High Fiving Fish post).

Paris Hilton in a helmet-y baby hat, with straight-from-the-early-nineties dayglo colors.

You can tell she is imploring us to take it off of her.

Going to dinners on Boeing's dime with my co-workers (those days are gone now).

And....making finger guns.

Spider-Hunting Bathtub Cats

Invisible Bag Cats.

Peeking Cats.

Cats and dogs playing together. Toastie is in the fort.

He darts out paws, trying to hit Chewy. Chewy gets excited.

Dogs wearing Elf outfits at Christmas time.

(her pointy hat had fallen off)

Boozy Dogs.

Disclaimer: I do not actually give my dogs lots of booze, and I do not approve of doing that either.

Dogs in boots.

Basically, I love dogs, babies, and cats.

And Booze.