where i've been since mid-March

another general update on me:

1) we got a sweet and surprise visit ("check-up") by the French police a la Green Card in our apartment a few weekends ago. they wanted to see if i was really "me" and that i really "lived" with the boy. my resident permit is being renewed as we speak (where is it??) and since we moved departments as of last year, they wanted to "meet" me and see if my personal effects were actually at the apartment. lucky for them, we were dressed and the apt was clean....and that both of us were there (the boy works weekends a lot) on a saturday afternoon. this was the first time that anybody had ever heard of the French police making house calls....now if they can only hustle a bit and send me my new card!!!

2) on the same day, the boy and i took his very French parents out for sushi for their very first time. lets just say that it was an adventure...with his mom for the most part...especially with chopsticks.

3) work work work....quarter-end! wahooo!

4) and to the best of my ability, i've been mourning and feeling the pain for one of my oldest gal pals (who is allll the waayyy back in the U.S.) who has recently gone through several weeks of emotional and painful hell. for a while, i didn't really know what to do or say and nothing right came out of my mouth...i hope you forgive me! mainly i was in an utter state of disbelief and slight shock of how everything just tumbled down.....but as always, she is rising up like a champ. she's going to be alright...i know it!

5) aaannnd.....we booked our tickets...we'll be back in the US in May for my high school reunion and to see my little sis graduate from medical school! yesiree...she's gonna be a real bona fide doc with her own DEA number and she'll be able to write prescriptions in about 6 months. i dont know about you, but i'm floored! she starts her surgical residency (yes she wants to open people up!) at one of the best surgery programs in NYC in July.....(another person who is moving to NYC)...

abercrappy and bitch

great title, huh? i actually first saw it on a t-shirt that a friend had in college during the abercrombie craze back in 1998-99. it was making fun of the over-priced, self-advertised, ratty-looking t-shirts that were everywhere. i, myself, never had the moola in college to buy the $65 low-slung pants or the teeny-tiny t-shirts that looked as if they were about to fall apart...but i do remember that you had to pay 4 whole dollas to get a hold of their catalog with half-naked women (wait, these were girls!) dossing about in suggestive sexual positions. the store was (and still is) worse. my sister and i actually liked abercrombie before they increased their price points and became all tween-y. back in the day, they had really nice, classic, quality sweaters and clothes that didn't make you look like your chest was about to pop out.

soo...the abercrombie thing has came and gone.....or not! here in europe, there is ridiculous cult-following of the brand. the strangest thing is that they dont have any stores here in central europe...yet. from what i heard, they just opened a couple in the UK last year (and i only know this because hollister was one of our clients at my job from hell)...but you see the t-shirts and sweaters EVERYWHERE! some of my french stagiaires (interns) are craaaaazy about it (and have never visited the U.S. before) and apparently, the huge flagship store on 5th Ave in NYC is chock-full of abercrombie-loving europeans stocking up and filling their suitcases. i remember sitting next to a sweet 70-year old french dude on the plane in january and sure enough, he was donning a navy blue rugby top with "ABERCROMBIE" across his chest. one of the managers at work sports a rather less-obvious (but clearly very abercrombie) top on fridays. and its apparently the "in" thing to wear at clubs. who knew??!!!

this is definitely one of those rare times that something so american is so coveted in europe. its usually the other way around (examples...petit bateau tees, longchamp bags...etc. etc.)..in my opinion at least. at least the company should be happy that someone is wearing their clothes religiously. maybe we should stock up the next time we are back and sell it at the open-air markets here...it could work! :) this is a good gift idea for any young europeans!