live your best life;

These are some things I am doing (some of which have just happened by accident) which are allowing me to live a better & (at least slightly) healthier life. I think these are all good things and SO easy that you people should try out! :)

-Spent at least 10 minutes every day doing some sort of exercise. Something more than walking. For me, my host family has a stationary bike.. you can up the resistance, and it counts the calories you burn, distance, speed, pulse.. its really cool. And its great because most every day I have some time with the house to myself wherein I can use it. If you don't have that, you can always do crunches, go for a quick jog, yoga.. whatever you like. :)
-Take care of your skin. In the winter, my skin tends to get dry, so I am taking care of my skin by putting on lotion every day to the areas that get dry- especially my face.
-Drink more tea. Hot tea is great- its healthy, and boosts metabolism! I try to have 2-3 cups per day.
-EAT BREAKFAST. This is something I have honestly never done until very recently, and it really does make a difference. It jump starts your metabolism for the day and gets you going. My favorite thing to have is some dry cereal, bread with jam, and an apple. I either drink cold water or hot tea with that. :)
-Recognize what motivates you to make you treat yourself better and use it. Whether its a daily devotional, a quote stuck to your mirror, or what- make sure to expose yourself to your own motivation daily. For me, Stacy London motivates me, as does watching What not to Wear. Listening to Stacy helps me realize my own value, and that I need to treat myself well.
-Take care of your teeth. Crest White Strips are amazing.. kind of expensive though. The Listerine ones are PRETTY good.. and less expensive. But even without something like that, brushing your teeth more often can really make a difference.. When my teeth feel clean, I feel SO much more at ease. haha.
-Take little risks here and there. A risk doesn't have to be something like.. skydiving or going on Fear Factor. You can take a risk in your personal style, in your hair style, in your vacationing, anything. Dying a pink streak in my hair was a risk (it was against the rules at my job and it could've been ugly as sin) but it was cute, made me feel like a badass, and I managed to hide it at work. Go somewhere & explore. Frankly my entire life right now is a giant ass risk, but its great.
-Take time out for yourself to indulge in something that comforts & relaxes you. Take a bubble bath, read a book, take a short power nap. For me, my ultimate comfort is laying in bed and watching SVU or some other show I love. I like to take that time to escape & unwind. But no matter what, we ALL deserve some time to ourselves.

This was very random of me. But I thought I'd share. :)

who will bring me flowers when its over;

Why hello.
I have been here for basically a month now! Life is good.
The host family is off skiing for this week, so I am here with the dog. I wanted to use this time to go places and be adventurous, but it is SO FLIPPING COLD that being outside is ridiculous. Today I had been outside for about 20 minutes when my fingers were going numb even though I had my gloves on. And of course the only exposed skin on my body was my face, which was just in pain the whole time. haha. The highs are in the teens this week. Luckily, its supposed to be back to normal next week (and throughout February) so at least I know that this is not how it will be for the rest of the time I'm here.
I need to go buy a new carry-on size bag, because the massive rip in mine basically makes it impossible to use... because the top of it is just WIDE OPEN now. Guh. And I was going to buy new boots.. but instead, to lighten my luggage load, I think I'll refrain from that. The 2 pairs of boots that I have here are old and falling apart, so I don't think I'll be bring them home with me either.
No one cares about my boots.
Anyway.
I was mildly productive today in that I made a rough itinerary for London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, and decided how I will be getting to all those places. Tomorrow I am going to buy some transportation tickets.
The Italy portion of the trip is still way up in the air.. here's what happens if I DO go there. It would add approx. $100 to my total trip costs from the flight to Milan, I would be spending extra money whilst there on food (but I mean.. if I go anywhere I have to buy food so maybe that doesn't even matter?)... I guess that's all? I don't know why this seems like such a huge debacle to me. Its definitely cheaper in the long run to do it NOW while I am in the right continent as opposed to postponing it and having to buy more overseas flights later. The flight back to the US from Dublin and from Milan.. literally almost the same price. Even though the Milan flight is like 2 hours longer. I don't know though.. Maybe once I find out whether or not I'll have to pay to stay in Ireland, it will be an easier decision. (I have people to stay with in London & Edinburgh, and a couchsurfing contact for Italy). All I do know is that I am trying to be as thrifty as possible while I am here so that maybe I will be able to afford the Italy thing. And if I do Italy, my desired weekend in Germany will definitely be off the table.. BUT. I'd take Italy over Germany any day.
... Maybe I should just do it. I mean. Goodness. This is my chance, I should just suck it up and take it. ...Eh?

Once all this is squared away, the next step will be to begin searching for a life for myself for when I go back to the US.

at least I once was;

I miss having people to vent to.. Well, to be fair, basically what I mean by that is that I miss living in the same country as 99.9% of the contacts in my phone. I miss being able to call my mom and tell her my daily frustrations and I miss having a support system at work.. Gracie was a good support system. :)
I dunno.
Life is good here. Kids have been pretty good today for the most part and I am fine.
I just need to stop letting people's hurtful words ring in my ears.
I am ready to move on... in many ways.

I am loving Europe, and I cannot wait to see the UK.
But I am also looking forward to hopefully finding a decent job in a big city in the US and being a real grown up.

So, to sum up. Things I miss about America: calling my mom, Gracie, dinners with Samantha

everything & no less;

I am on the bus back from Warsaw now..
It was a realy good time. I like the city a lot.. its much more urban than Gdansk, and has elements of so many different eras & stuff. I love places that are just overflowing with culture & history.
Friday night I got in at like 7 or something so we just basically ate dinner and did nothing. Saturday we got up rather early, went to the Royal Castle which is in Old Town.. walked through that area a bit, then went to some old churches.. and some monuments. Normal touristy stuff basically. Then we went over to this other castle.. don't remember what it is called but it was recently renovated and is really pretty yellow with light blue trim. There are also some gardens (which are currently covered in snow) and a stream there so we walked around there for a bit. Then we parted ways, and Marianna, who I was staying with, went to visit her grandma and I took the bus to Lazienki Park. It is basically the Central Park of Warsaw... lots of monuments are there, a palace, lots of awesome stuff. So I walked through there, saw the ampitheatre, walked along the water.. and then I got to another monument thing and all of a sudden I look over and there are TWO PEACOCKS JUST CHILLIN. What. The. Fuck. I have never seen such a thing. I mean, lots of people were around and they were just hanging out there... there were actually like 5 of them all together, in different places around that area of the park. So then of course I had to have a photoshoot with the peacocks.. haha. Then I walked through the rest of the park, Marianna picked me up, and we went to a restaurant for PIEROGIIIIIIIII!! :D I love that stuff. I had the kind with spinach & mushrooms inside. So good. Then we went on a walk around the area where all the expensive clothing stores are.. gah. Such pretty stuff. So tempting. Then we went back to the Old Town because it is kind of cool there at night... the mermaid statue is all lit up, and there was a band (4 guys) playing right by the Royal Castle. They were really good! haha Then we went to see the University, the president's house, and this thing that I can only describe as the "Mister Rodger's Neighborhood" version of a Nativity Scene.. like, there were flat people and animals on this little track gliding by... it was really elaborate. And they were playing Polish Christmas songs. It was actually super cute and really entrancing.
That was pretty much everything from Saturday.
Then today, we woke up earlyish again, and went to this super old cemetery which was really cool. Then we went to the Warsaw Rising museum. It was super informative and very interesting. There is SO MUCH about eastern European history that I had NO IDEA ABOUT. Goodness. So that was really good to see.
Then we went to 2 really old/cool churches.. BOTH of which were having mass when we got there. So! I went to mass today. Twice. The end of one and the beginning of another. SO cool. I love the reverence with which the Catholic faith is approached. Its refreshing to see that.
Then we went to the "praga" area (am I spelling that right?!?).. Anyway its this neighborhood in Warsaw.. half of it is very poor/unsafe/etc. but the buildings are super old and stuff.. and then the other half is super rich and fancypants. That was fun. After that, I decided we should eat so we went to a Kabob place and had shaved meat with fries, served with carrots, cabbage and some sort of weird beet root thing.. haha.
ANNNNND then I went to the bus place. And as I write, I am on the bus back to Gdansk. It was a great weekend and I am really glad I got to go there! :)

*Pictures of all this will be on facebook within the next 24 hours. haha. The only things I didn't take pictures of were the cemetery and Warsaw Rising museum. Fyi.

just like the clouds, my eyes will do the same;

I am pretty bored right now. I am babysitting the kids this evening, and I just.. buh. I think they have just had way too many au pairs to give anything anyone other than their parents or teachers say any respect at all. So its an uphill battle.
At least the house is clean though.. I mopped and vacuumed today and did laundry and straightened and have kept up with the dishes/dishwasher like its nobody's business. I think that is my cleaning pet peeve- the damn dishwasher. I have been that way ever since I had a dishwasher. Can't deal with people who don't just LOAD IT AS THEY GO GAHHHHHH. So much easier that way.

Ania is sitting on the couch "playing" her dad's guitar and improving a song.. she just stopped to say, "Its in English!" and I was like yeah I can see that! haha.

I stayed up way too late last night.. I was redoing my acting resume for no flipping reason since I have not been in a show in like almost 3 years. But. I think I might like.. just have it and a few headshots ready for when I come back to the US. No idea who is going to take the headshots or when or how or where I will get them printed.. but. Yeah. I also want to create a specific resume for technical theatre... because that might come in handy as well. What kind of ridic person has three resumes? Me. Yay.

People should give me thoughts on the following:
Ok so. We all know that after I leave Poland, I am going to London, Edinburgh, and Dublin. However, I have now come to the idea of PERHAPS going to Italy for about a week AFTER Dublin.
The thing is Italy is too far to just go there for a weekend DURING my Poland life.
Also, there are MANY cities in Italy that I would like to see, and that requires time.
My hesitation in this is not only the legalities, but also the money.. Part of me thinks that I should leave myself the Italy thing to look forward to. That way I can go back to the good old USA, get a real job I hope, and then I can save up to spend some time in Italy...I am not sure what to do. Someone should give me advice.

Warsaw is tomorrow. It kind of exhausts me to think about it.. but I am sure it will be fun.. haha.

Anyway, I am still liking this Poland thing. Host family is still fabulous and I am getting better and better at anticipating the stuff I need to do.

Things I miss about America: Manhattan, EASTERN STANDARD TIME (still), iced coffee.

feel your feet on the ground;

So, today was good.
I slept late, and woke up to about 4 inches of snow on the ground outside! :) Did some chores, ate some cereal, and then when the family got home me and my host mom and the girls went outside and took a walk in the snow- then I stayed outside with the kids for another hour or so and they made a snowman.. I took a few pictures and hung out with them.
We had some soup to warm up.. and idk if this is a Polish thing or just a this family thing, but they make soup, and they make noodles.. and then they add the noodles into the soup when eating it. Like, everyone puts noodles in their bowl, then pours soup over it. Slightly counter-productive, but interesting.
Anyway, then Ania and I went upstairs to play for a little while. That kid is adorable, and so imaginative! Its refreshing to be around that sort of spirit.
My host mom had some event to go to tonight, so I babysat this evening.. I let the girls play computer games for longer than I was supposed to but.. its Saturday, and they really didn't have anything else to do. We did all the things on the agenda so all was well. AND I got them both to bathe without any battle! HUZZAH. Then, I got them OFF the computer without much battle.. HUZZAH AGAIN!! :D And then I let them have a snack.. they both wanted grilled cheese and hot tea (lol- I am amazed that a 6 year old and a 9 year old enjoy hot tea..) SO that is what they had. And somehow we ended up having a sword fight and Ania decided to pretend to be a dog so I ended up brushing her teeth FOR her as she barked. LOL. Cute. But! THEN I managed to get them upstairs with ZERO BATTLE!! YET ANOTHER HUZZAH. I read them a story, and then got them to sleep. So, it was a successful evening. :)

Next weekend I am going to Warsaw, and will be staying with my host mom's cousin. Hopefully that will be fun.

Also, I am pretty excited for when my host family goes out of town in a couple weeks.. I am going to spend all my time eating pierogi and chocolate, making lattes, and watching SVU. That will be looooovely. haha.

Things I miss about America: speaking Spanglish, eating out, eastern standard time.

since we've no place to go;

I think I might create a goal for myself to do something cool/interesting/touristy/adventurous at least once a week. That will allow me to still have time to sleep, do the things I need to do with the kids, continue watching SVU daily (lol I know shut up), AND will make me feel like I am not being a Polish lazy-pants. And its not like there are a MILLION things to see in this area, so it will also allow me to see all the things and not get bored.

Its hard because I never really know what my days are going to be like until the night before.. so its hard to make plans. Plus, by the time I get the kids to school, eat breakfast, do all the chores I need to do, eat lunch.. then I never really have time to go anywhere.. The kids get done with school so early! (Not to mention the fact that they go into school at a different time every day AND get out of school at a different time every day. Its all very odd to me.) SO. With 2 days off a week, one will be a day of chill time and/or doing whatever the family is doing, and the other will be adventure day.

On Wednesday, I had the day off because the mom wants me to work tomorrow (Saturday), so I went into the center of Sopot.. walked around a bit.. considered buying some super expensive shoes but didn't, and then went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie which was SO GOOD!! And the movie theater was super fancy!

I think I might go into the center of Gdynia this weekend.. AND I just looked at the forecast and it's supposed to snow all weekend! Sunday its supposed to be sunny with scattered snow showers. So that might work out well.
We shall see.

Things I miss about America: 'going out for coffee,' my Panera family.

the village I come from seems so far away;

I really need to make myself be more adventurous.

I mean.. I guess being here is an adventure in itself, but I need to use this time to like.. see things.
Places I want to go:
Cologne, Germany
Prague, Czech Republic
Amalfi Coast, Italy (also: Milan, Rome, Pisa, etc. But having the TIME to go to all these places is another problem)
Vienna, Austria
I would also like to go to Copenhagen & Amsterdam, but like.. GAH. This is too many places. Especially when my life revolves around these children. They don't plan ahead much so its not like I have a set schedule.. but the host mom is super nice & flexible so I'm sure that if I planned something for a weekend she would be okay with it. She seems to really want me to do things, get to know people, etc. She keeps wanting me to hang out with people and is telling me to email people about hanging out.. haha. I am quite content hanging out with myself & the internet & these children, but I guess its nice to get to know other humans, haha.

Anyway. Poland continues to go well.

Things I miss about America: having a car, JUDGE MARILYN MILIAN, THE PEOPLE'S COURT.

this is pretty pointless;

1: Apart from tumblr, what do you like to do in your spare time?
hang out with the girls, go shopping, eat.. sleep. haha

2: Name a favorite of each: food, drink, color.
burritos, diet dr pepper, purple

3: If you married rich and your spouse gave you $100,000 a week, what would you spend it on?
lol. This amuses me.. its like the old days of giving the wife an allowance. BUT. nevertheless, I would have a kickass wardrobe, I would travel ALL the time, I would do theatre and not work, I would give money to my parents and I would donate to lots of charities

4: Name a favorite of each: book, movie, tv show.
The Lovely Bones, Bridesmaids, SVU

5: If you were given the opportunity to spend 48 hours with absolutely anyone (living or dead), who would you spend it with and what would you do?
omg. My first thought is to say Mariska Hargitay. But Stacy London or Judge Milian are also up there on the list. Can it be like.. Mariska AND Stacy?! Together? That would be fun. I could guest star on SVU and Stacy could be there as my friend/stylist. haha.

6: Name a LEAST favorite of each: food, drink, color.
hmm.. cottage cheese, pepsi, puke green

7: What do you spend most of your money on?
clothes. and lately, plane tickets.

8: What kind of underwear do you prefer wearing?
I guess like.. bikini style.

9: Name a LEAST favorite of each: book, movie, tv show.
All Quiet on the Western Front, Kingdom of Heaven, Maury

10: If you were sat on a plane beside your favorite celebrity, what would you do?
freak out and talk to them and try not to come off as a huge freak

11: What is the strangest thing you have in your room? (You are not allowed to explain why you own it.)
uh.. currently? I don't have much at all because I am in Poland. I literally have no answer for this.

12: What is a weird habit you have, or people have told you have. (Weird, not bad. No nail biting or any of that nonsense.)
uhh.. not sure. Randomly talking in other accents? Talking to myself ALL the time? Laughing to myself? Talking to appliances?

13: What would you consider to be the biggest insult to yourself?
failure.

14: What are five things you absolutely have to have in your dream house?
a reliable computer with FAST INTERNET, a super comfy queen size bed, a kickass coffee/espresso machine, a window that looks out onto a fabulous city, a cat

15: If you could be reincarnated as any animal, which would you chose and why?
probably a cat, tbh. their lives are so easy. haha

16: Which band (current or past) would you want to go on tour* with? (*Travel with, not preform with.)
uhm. a band. can I pick Sara Bareilles even though she is one person?

17: Name a favorite of each: band, album, song.
GUH. I don't listen to "bands" generally. I guess Coldplay? I dont know. and I def don't have a favorite album and refuse to pick a favorite song because there are just too many.

18: Why is your favorite band your favorite?
SHUT UP ABOUT BANDS

19: How many concerts have you attended? Which was your favorite? Least favorite? If none, who do you want to see live the most?
3, fav: Bernadette Peters, least fav: pre-show for Sara Bareilles..not fun

20: What is one of your favorite song lyrics? (Who is it by?)

21: Who do you ship?
OLIVIA BENSON AND HARRY CONNICK JR'S COMING SOON CHARACTER ON SVU, Rachel/Ross, Monica/Chandler, Annie/Jeff (depending on the day, sometimes Britta/Jeff), Leonard/Penny, Lynette/Tom, Bree/Orson, Danny Tanner/Vicki (throwback I know)

22: What band merch do you own? If any, whose is it and when did you get it? If none, whose do you wish you owned?
none

23: How did you learn of the band that is currently your favorite?
gah not again

24: What celebrity do you idolize the most?
currently, Mariska. But Stacy London changed my life and Judge Milian is my queen.

25: Which member from which band would you most want to lather in nutella?
LOL THIS IS SO FUNNY. But I will just pick a normal celebrity please and thank you and that would be John Stamos

every second is a highlight;

Today was pretty great!
This family is so wonderful. I am so lucky to have ended up here. Yes, Verona would have been wonderful for the fact that I would have been there.. but Poland is great- this tri-city is adorable and has elements of so many wonderful things: theatre, mountains, beach, great food, great shopping... its just a good place to be. Plus the kids are SO intelligent, quite self-sufficient, and so much fun!

Anyway, today we went to this like science-y thing.. it ended up being pretty lame but I got to spend a little time with the girls though which was nice. Then Ola (my host mom) suggested I spend some time with this Polish girl in her late 20s who she knows who is trying to improve her English.. so I did that. We met in Sopot and walked down the street to this smaller pier than the one I visited before.. but it was lovely!! Then we went like... up a MOUNTAIN basically (I was kind of afraid of falling and dying not to mention the fact that I did NOT wear clothing that was suitable for mountain climbing) BUT the view of the water was amazing from up there!! So cool.
I love how SWANS just float around in Poland. So cool.

Then we went to this large mall in Gdynia called Klif- I went to H&M and browsed.. saw a lot of awesome crap but I will have to go back so I can try things on and get some stuff. There is also this store which sells only tights, socks, leg warmers & arm warmers.. so that was kind of kickass. Again, bought nothing- but need and want to go back!!

I also really want to go see Sherlock Holmes this week sometime..
Ola has also suggested that I hang out with this other random girl so perhaps that will happen this week too.

Oh. Today. More about today. After my mountain climb, I got back home and we had some Erasmus (European exchange) students over for dinner.. AMAZING food as always.. And they were really nice as well! A guy from Italy (who was so flipping hot may I add) and a girl from the Czech Republic. They stayed for a looong time but it was really cool to talk to them- other cultures are so fascinating.
It always makes me realized how not only media obsessed but media DRIVEN the US is. European cultures are so wrought with tradition and have such rich, deep roots. Its fascinating.

Anyway, after that Marycia and Ania immediately wanted to play with the balloons we brought back from that party thing yesterday. So we did- I love those girls. They are too cute. And now I am watching a movie with the host parents!

Happy weekend, all! :)

if you're a bird, I'm a bird;

Today was a really good Polish day.
It was a holiday (Epiphany) which is apparently a big deal here.. everything is closed, there is no school.. legit. SO I woke up around 8:30 and ate cookie crisp and had a latte (my host parents have the BEST coffee machine ever), then showered, watched a little SVU and got dressed. My host family went to church around noon, during which time I watched Toddlers and Tiaras and ate corn flakes. lol.
But after they got back we set the table (for TEN people) and my host mom made lasagna and broccoli and soup (with HOME-MADE NOODLES).. and this other family came over. A mom, dad, and 3 little girls. The youngest was 2 and SO adorable. We ate with them and for dessert we had MORE LATTES and carrot cake (let me tell you- carrot cake in America is bullshit. THIS carrot cake was flipping amazing and tasted awesome and wow I was so happy about it) and sandwich cookies (white cookie, chocolate frosting shit in the middle- SO good) and these soft gingerbread cookies with like this odd frosting stuff on them which were strange but tasty.
After that I escaped to my room for a while so my host mom could speak in Polish to her friends and not worry about keeping me entertained.
In the evening, we went over to Sopot to my host mom's mom's house.. it was her birthday I think. So there were about 20ish people there- mostly older people. My kids were the only children there, and I was the only other person under about 40. haha. They sang Polish Christmas carols (I just listened) and drank champagne that tasted like Easter egg dye, and then Ania came and fetched me and said HOCH! (which means 'Come!' in Polish) and I was like aight. So I went into the other room and played with balloons with her & Marycia. We were playing basically every balloon-based game ever.. haha. It was a lot of fun though. This is the first time we have spent like REALLY legit/fun quality time together. (This family is always going places and the kids rarely get time without the distraction of the computer to just PLAY.. usually when we're home and they can do whatever they choose the computer, which I totally get, haha.. so that's why our relationship up till now has been lacking in imaginative games) So that was good and I am so happy that it happened.
I went into the kitchen with Ania, and was suddenly being asked by this woman "What would you like to eat- something sweet or.. uh.. like salad?" I was like uhh.. something sweet! And so then she was like "There is this cake.." and headed into the party room and I followed her and was handed a small plate with the honest to God most incredible cake I have ever tasted. It melted in your mouth. I cannot even describe the flavors involved in it.. it was just like. Perfection. GAH. So so good. After consuming that piece of heaven, I went back to play with the girls, but after a few minutes this old man came in there with a page of lyrics to a song called "Alberta"- he asked me if I knew it and I said no. Never even heard of it. But he sang a couple lines of it to me, INSISTED "Its easy!!" and then insisted that I come sing it with him. Good Lord. hahahaha. So then we walk into this room of 20+ Poles and he like makes some announcement that we're going to sing a duet.. GAH. And we sang it. And I was completely improving the notes. So strange.
After that, of course we had to sing Silent Night as well. But my host mom joined in for that one- thank God.
It was so funny.
I escaped after that ordeal as fast as possible and returned to the children.. we danced around and were completely silly and had so much fun. Marysia was cracking me up by putting on all my accessories and saying she was an eskimo (in a snazzy little rhythm) and I was her back up dancer. Good times.

Anyway, it was a really good day.

Side note: I am having the urge to visit Cologne, Germany.. so I am going to try to do that sometime within the next month or so.

Things I miss about America: snack foods, ice cream.

living on the outside;

If there's one thing I have gotten out of being in Europe thus far, its that I do not need to be so introspective all the time. This experience has taught me to go with the flow in ALL situations. And trust that I am grown up and smart enough to handle the difficulties that are thrown my way.
Why would I need to doubt myself over something I have not yet faced?
I don't.
I am prepared for life, and this experience has shown me that.

Living basically alone all through the fall caused me to fold up inside and turn to dark thoughts.. its one of the curses of my personality. But here I am kind of just living moment to moment and I am fine with that.

On another note, things I miss about America thus far: iced coffee, The People's Court, Diet Dr Pepper.

poland;

So Poland is happening right now.
My host family is really chaotic yet really chill. The kids kind of just go with the flow and seem to not mind having new people in the house.. which I guess makes sense. They've had like 7 au pairs. haha. So the night I got here basically we just ate dinner and then I unpacked and chilled out and slept.
The next day this girl Hilary (who is one of the former au pairs, who was visiting here from Scotland) and I walked the kids to school then went into Sopot, which is the next town over.
Gdynia (where I am) is part of a tri-city with Sopot and Gdansk.. so basically they are all connected and the buses and trains run throughout.
So anyway we went to Sopot and walked through the downtown I guess, and then on the pier (which is apparently the longest wooden pier in Europe!) so that was nice.
After that we went on the train over to the old town of Gdansk, where everything is very old-timey and the architecture is really cool. So we walked around there, had coffee and these doughnut things with strawberry jam inside, and went to several souvenir shops, walked along the water, went into a big, gorgeous cathedral.. it was really fun!
Later Ola (the mom) came to pick us up and she took us to get cakes at a little cafe and then to another cathedral and a park.
Then it was time to go home and eat dinner and sleep.
Yesterday and today have been more normal and au pair-ish with running errands, doing housework, and getting the kids to and from school.
The kids are sweet though. Its going well thus far.

like glitter's raining on me;

ITS BEEN TOO LONG SINCE I POSTED LAST.

So I went to Paris.
I spend 4ish days there with Erin. It was fucking awesome.
My plane landed around 6:30am, and I took the metro to the suburb where Erin lives. We ate breakfast with her high energy, precious children- Yanis, Miya & Nil. Then I napped.. then there was lunch.. and then I hit the town. I saw like ALL THE THINGS and took a ton of pictures which can be seen on facebook for those who know me! That went on for many hours. Erin met up with me that evening, and we went over to the Latin Quarter where we ate this gyro-like thing... with SHAVED MEAT which was awesome. With fries and strange sauce which I liked. After that we wandered about more, then got home around midnight and slept.
The next day I slept in and then went to this open air market with Erin & the kids in their neighborhood. Then we had lunch, and then went to this hilarious modern art museum.. it was incredibly random and BORING.. until we got to this amazing thing where you stood on this strip of carpet and your silhouette was in this scrim like thing.. and then an animation happened.. which was interactive.. and like stuff would fall slowly and you could hold and carry them and stuff. It was hilarious. Anyway that was a strange adventure. By the time we got home the mom was back, so me & Erin had some baguette & Nutella with the kids, and then were free. We went to Erin's favorite place, the Palais de Sports, and while the performance of Dracula was happening we ate the most amazing pizza EVER and ended up watching 127 Hours (no sound was on so we had the restaurant's upbeat background music happening) so basically it was the most hilarious thing of all time. After that, we stagedoored at the PDS- so I got to meet several of the people from Dracula.. crappy musical, but the cast is hot and very nice. :)
The next day we slept in and then ate and went out on the town. We went to this zoo thing- which we never expected to be an ACTUAL zoo.. we just knew that somewhere in Paris there are flamingos. So we went to find them. It was a really cool zoo though, and it was just 7 euros! It was in this huge park, so lovely. There was also this "maze" which was not a maze at all, but it led up to this peak where you could see the amazing city and the trees and such below. Then we went to Pimke, Sephora, and several other little souvenir shops and such. For dinner we went to this crepe place and had AMAZINGGGGG paninis and crepes (mine was with Nutella) for only 4e50!! SO SO GOOD.
After that we walked along the Seine, stopping occasionally at little shops, and Erin also showed me places where music videos from MOR were filmed, so that was cool! Then we made our way to the Champs Elysees, which was sooo crowded for NYE. We got to this area where it looked like something exciting was going to happen at midnight- but then this announcement thing happened that was like uhm everyone go away nothing is going to happen. LOL. These 2 girls from Poland were standing near us, so we ended up walking with them over to the Eiffel Tower, which at least was going to glitter at midnight, as it does every hour. SO yeah. There, we were near these British guys who were very nice and friendly (though a little overbearing) who offered us champagne. I enjoyed them but Erin was a bit put off.. haha. SO that was fun. After ringing in the new year, we headed back home, and in the morning I basically had to leave right away.
I missed the bus to the airport, so I had to take a cab with 3 other random people.. AND of course I didn't have enough cash so this dude from Spain paid for me and then I got cash & paid him back.
Checked in at the airport, bought a lemonade, and then got on the plane. It was bigger than I thought and the flight attendants were adorable in their little outfits. haha. The flight was very smooth and the landing was IMPRESSIVELY smooth!! Good flight.
And now I am in Gdynia! More to come later! :)