Bon Voyage!

I leave for France tomorrow!

I'm totally excited. I'll be spending the week in Rennes for a sales and marketing meeting: working in the old office, seeing some old friends and hopefully eating lots and lots of great bread and cheese. mmmmmmm cheeeeeeese.

Have a great week!

The close of financial business in France

I finally closed my French bank account last week. Actually, I was quite surprised at how quickly they closed the account and transfered the remaining money. It only took them one week and I only had to send one email. Incredible really.

It is a bit sad though. I no longer have an "offshore" account! How will I continue to fund my illegal and immoral activities?







Only kidding! Of course I'm not involved in ANY of those kinds of things.

"Les bonnes vieilles traditions Americaines!"

Nico sent me a great newspaper ad for a grocery store in France. Here are two of the four pages of the ad. I just LOVE the "American" products they are offering! Hot dogs in a jar! Onion rings! 1000 island salad dressing! Even the girl looks so American! ;)

Hows this for good news?

I checked my mail tonight when I got home from work and found a letter from the Tresor Public in my mailbox that read: Impot sur les revenus (Income Taxes!).

A lump formed in my throat at the thought of having to pay taxes, again.

However, upon opening the letter, I found that I don't have to pay!

And, when I checked my French bank account I found that the Tresor Public actually put back the money they took earlier in the year that they shouldn't have taken in the first place (sneaky prelevement).

Who would have thought something in French administration could have gone so right?! ;)

Vive la France!

Letting go

I was just sitting around the house watching TV tonight when it really hit me.

Holy Crap.

He LIVES with her.

As I sat on my couch and looked around I realized that I still had a lot of framed pictures of Nico in my apartment and as fabulous as the photos are (he is quite the handsome devil and we took some wonderful photos together) I decided at that moment that it was time to take them down.

It was quite the task but I moved from room to room, took the photos out of their frames and put them into an already half full album of us which I tucked beside my couch with the other albums from my past. The only thing left is the caricature of us that was drawn in St. Malo shortly after we got together in 2003 that hangs in my bathroom. I love this 'picture' and couldn't quite bring myself to take it down. Not today. But soon.

The truth can set you free

It finally happened. Nico called me today and dropped the bomb: Hes moved in with his girlfriend.

Even though we hadn't talked about it, I figured he was probably seeing someone. And while it does come as a bit of a shock that he has moved in with her already I can't say that I am surprised.

When I dropped him off at the airport in January I watched him walk away with a part of my heart that I knew I would never get back again. I said my own goodbye - even though he was already gone when the words left my lips. We never talked about what was to come, what was lost or what was left behind. He went his way and I went mine.

Over the past few months we have kept in touch - but only about once a month and never to discuss anything more serious than the weather, life in Cesson or here in San Francisco. I was careful not to ask any personal questions about girls or dating because I wasn't sure that I really wanted to hear the answers and my own belief that he was probably dating someone was enough.

But even though in my head I had come to terms with the way things are in my heart it was still hard to hear the news today. I think I handled it well though; I kept myself composed and only shed a few tears after we hung up. After all, like Nico said: "C'est la vie".

I am honestly happy for him though. He's moved on with his life, and thats a great thing for him. I'm moving on with mine too, just at a much slower pace, and thats ok because its what feels right for me.

I am glad he called today, it was nice to have a chance to talk, and maybe it was just what I needed to free myself to take those next steps in making a new life with someone else. Not that I have been holding myself back until now on purpose, but maybe now my heart will be more open to meeting someone and starting something new.

Finding that someone has proven to be tricky thus far (I haven't met anyone!) but I guess there are always good things to come in this crazy thing called life. And maybe now I'm ready.

I was there!

Somebody finally posted video from the Patrick Bruel concert in San Francisco!

Its a little shaky, but the song is fabulous!



You can also see some fabulous photos from the show here.

Bruel in USA!

Here is some fun and exciting news:

I'm going to see Patrick Bruel in concert!

He is coming to San Francisco on June 4th.

I can't wait to hear him sing 'J'te l'dis quand meme' and 'Mon amant de Saint-Jean'.

I'll be dancing all over the place (or atleast in my seat!).