Somehow, this all became real overnight

So -
We leave for Paris in about a week.  Next Tuesday, in fact.  We're asking friends to babysit our cats and packing all of our non-essential clothes and all the tablecloths in vacuum bags - things that suck out all the air so that suddenly a bag of sweaters lies flat.  We've spent the entire weekend cleaning and making sure things work and packing the china into boxes for the basement.  We're leaving in a week, and now all of this seems real.
It's still hard to believe, though.  I can't imagine another person living in our house, making tea, sleeping in my bed.  I can't imagine running in the early mornings in the Jardins du Luxembourg.  I can't really imagine doing all of my communication in another language - a language that I'm reasonably good at, but is definitely not my own.  All of a sudden, this seems a little scary.  I keep trying to remember if going to Africa was this scary - was it?  I don't know - all of a sudden it became home pretty quickly.  Is our apartment in the 14th going to become home in the same way?
In other equally exciting (and somewhat scary) news, my friend Alexandra asked me to be her travelling companion on her trip around Europe.  It involves getting a Eurail pass for either 15 or 21 days and going as many places as possible.  While this sounds fun and super-exciting (some of our ideas have been Istanbul, Vienna, Florence, Copenhagen, Prague, and Barcelona), I'm pretty sure that it will decimate my entire savings account.  It's worth it, though, right?
Oh, all of this travelling is scary and exciting and makes my head spin!

Wanderlust, Spain edition

Yesterday was my brother's last exam, so we went out to eat at a Tapas place called Taberna de Haro.  First, if you are in the Boston area and need a place to eat, go there.  It's excellent - I especially recommend the Pisto (vegetables and a poached egg), the Alcachufas (artichoke hearts) and the Espinacas (spinach with golden raisins and pinenuts).  Delicious!  Make sure you get the Trufas for dessert - three perfect truffles with toasts, olive oil, cocoa powder, and salt.
Point being, however, that they serve Spanish food.  And every time I go to their little restaurant, I immediately want to travel to Spain.
To go see the Alhambra with its famed carvings and gardens (I wrote my senior thesis on the Islamic art and history of the palace!)....

from here

and here

and here

To visit Barcelona, home of Gaudi's unfinished cathedral and arguably the best club soccer team...

from here

and here.

What about you?  If you had the opportunity to go to Spain, where would you go?  Have a lovely weekend!

The New Yorker

Do any of you get the New Yorker?  I started reading it for Creative Non-Fiction in the fall of junior year, and then my parents got me a subscription for Christmas that year.  I love it.  Firstly, unlike fashion magazines, it's small enough to roll up and put in your pocket and it doesn't have as many ads.  Secondly (or thirdly), I feel like every time I look at an issue, I always find new things.  Little articles on restaurants or CDs, what it's like to live in Tomsk - anything.
This past New Yorker had a Talk of the Town by Hendrik Hertzberg - my favourite! - AND a longer piece by Dr Atul Gawande himself.  Dr. Gawande wrote one of my favourite books, "Complications," a book that I got one of my best friends for Christmas.  I was really really excited (it's hard to explain).  So - do you guys get the New Yorker?  Do you read it on the bus/train or at home or what?  Let me know!

Marrakesh

In a completely unfair turn of events, my brother gets to leave the US a couple days earlier than we're leaving for Paris and end up in Morocco of all places, to just go hang out in Marrakesh and the Atlas Mountains.  Strictly speaking it isn't all that unfair, as he's been raising the money to go and all that, but still.  Unfair.  When I mention that this is, you know, unfair (we are siblings, after all) he brings up (as he always does) the South Africa trip that my mother took me on and not him.
Oh, well, I can dream, can't I?  Does anyone else want to go to Morocco?

Photo from here

So I guess this is New England weather

It looks like we have another blizzard on our hands here.  And by "looks like" I mean that I went out a couple of hours ago and now my footprints are completely filled in.  We've had about six inches in two hours - that's a lot of snow, even for here.  Apparently it will turn to rain later on today, but it doesn't really look like it from my standpoint.  Yesterday my little sister and I went sledding... so I guess snow is good for some things, yeah?  And I know it's only January, but it's already starting to feel like winter is rather long.  Anyone else going stir-crazy in the snow?

The Golden Globes and other things

So, I didn't see the Golden Globes (I was watching Reilly, Ace of Spies with my family - more on that later) but I did see the dresses online, which is really what's important, right?  Also Ricky Gervais making a fool out of himself and everyone around him... anyways, here are my two favourite dresses:

Photo from here

The site I looked at described this as the "best reinforcement in the quality in our nation's youth, with the reminder of "Taylor Momsen, look at what you could have been."  I don't really know about that, but it makes me want to slick my hair back and smile all the time.  She looks lovely, no?

photo from here

And here is the ever-lovely Olivia Wilde in a dress that looks like the night sky.  As far as I can tell, no one liked in enough for her to be best-dressed or anything, but I think she looks lovely.  Do you know that fairytale about the girl who wants a dress that looks like the moon and a dress that looks like the sun?  This could be one of those dresses.... the dress that looks like the stars, perhaps.

Anyways, we didn't watch the ceremony.  We watched Reilly, Ace of Spies, the series that James Bond was based on.  My mother remembered it as dashing and exciting, but this time around Reilly didn't actually seem like that nice of a guy.  Kind of awful, actually.  Has anyone seen Reilly, Ace of Spies?  Did you do anything exciting over your long weekend?  Let me know!

The Punch Brothers

from here

Do you guys know who the Punch Brothers are?  Last night my brother had to study for his English exam (today - good luck, Caleb!) so he gave me his ticket to go see them at the Somerville Theatre.  And oh, my God, people: they are really really good.  Like, fantastic technical and creative musicians.  They play what some would call "Modern Bluegrass" and at one point the mandolin player, Chris Thile, came out and played the last movement of one of Bach's lute suites on the mandolin.  Because holy shit they're that good.
We have their record "Punch" and the record "Antifogmatic" - I highly suggest checking them out.  Growing up in a pretty musical family, technical excellence was really important, but so was creativity.  These guys have both.  They're just super-good, I promise.  Also, anyone who can act like a rock star while playing a mandolin - and then get up and play Bach - deserves to be commended.  Mr. Thile, I just want you to know that you're kind of my hero at the moment.  Thank you.