I made these madeleines. Aren't I cool? 

Look at how close the In-N-Out Burger was! But did I get to eat there? Noooooo. 

Mom by our hotel room in LA. The interior courtyard looked like Spain (at least to me) and was in complete contrast with the outside appearance of the hotel. 

No Spectators beyond this point! Hear that Mom? Torrey Pines Glider Port, with lots of hang gliders in the background. 

Take-off at Torrey Pines Glider Port. 

Torrey Pines Glider Port 

Gina and Mom do Interstate 5

Well mes amis, here we are back in Tucson again. It's as hot as you would imagine it is, but luckily we all pray to the great air conditioner god here, and he/she makes it as bearable as possible. I've heard that it's incredibly hot in Eugene right now, and things there aren't air conditioned, so I guess I got out just in time. Obviously, Mom and I made it back safely, as did all of my stuff. It was pretty amusing (in a strange way) to have the van stuffed to the brim (literally) with all of my things, minus the boxes of books that we had to send. We drove up to Eugene almost 2 years ago when I initially moved, so this trip was the exact opposite of the first one. Basically, you take Interstate 5 almost the entire way (break off after San Diego). No, really. We took the same highway for days. We had fears that the air conditioner in the van would fink out again, which is no fun when you're driving through the desert (anyone hear those new stories about how so many people died from the heat? yeah, we were driving through there), but we got tres lucky. I'll spare you the boring details of the trip, but there were some really fun moments (best details to follow in a standard-issue photo essay). Night one was Stockton, California where we stayed right by an In n' Out Burger, but got take-out Chinese instead and watched the finale of the very first season of the Amaaaaaaazing Race (I had never seen the first season). The next day we could only go to LA, because Monday morning I had to go to the French Consulate. Our hotel in LA was very near Santa Monica, so we drove down and saw what all the fuss was about. We ate at a great Italian place on Main Street (really!) called La Vecchia Cocina (umm, I think). I wish I had felt better, because I wasn't much up to walking around much. The next day we got my visa (more details about this semi-bizarre experience to follow) and made the very long 2 hour drive to SAN DIEGO. (I hope you've noticed that the only really huge day of driving so far has been day one, which was ove 8 hours) The best part about the San Diego element of the trip was our visit to the Torrey Pines Glider Port, where we not only say trained hang gliders taking off, but regular people doing tandem flights. Two very well-dressed older women both took off while we were there, in their original outfits, looking quite stylish attatched to the other glider. It was great to watch all of the younger, casually dressed people around watch while these two ladies soared through the air. After San Diego it was a straight shot (a six and a half hour straight shot) to Tucson.

Even though it's only been a week, I already miss Eugene. I think it's because it was the first place I ever really called home on my own. The apartment was the first apartment I ever came home to and it only really hits me that I'm not going back when I see all of my things that lived in that apartment scattered around the house here (including, don't worry, the polka-dot chair aka myfavoritethingfromtheapartmentandtheonlyfurnitureididn'tsell). But here I do get to see Sarah almost every day, which is a nice element that was missing from my Eugene life. And the family is here, so I can spend some time with them. But don't worry- I'm keeping busy! Today, besides learning that I could wash various colors of cold-wash together (shuuuuuut up!) I made my first batch of madeleines. Faithful readers of Quel est ton probleme will remember that my brother bought me a madeleine pan a few weeks ago. This afternoon was its maiden voyage, providing dessert for a people-from-Le Buzz (our cafe of choice) potluck I went to with my parents. And oh my, they are pretty! How Proustian of me. What? You don't get that reference? Why haven't you read Proust? Really, why? Go, now! Yes, now. I mean it. How do you expect to talk to me after admitting that? For those of you who understand, let's continue. Madeleines=good, Gina=popular at potluck.

So, after spending a loooong time with my mom (and I'm not at all tired of her, which is a nice feeling), I would like to share with you some of her wisdom.
"Before I left for Eugene I found a baby scorpion in the house. But I won't tell you where." (thanks Mom!)
"I made a cake. It's in the garage." (classic. The cake was really in the garage, too)
I love my mom. She's so smart. Really, she is very smart. But do you see where I get the kookiness? Now, you should meet my dad!

Le nouveau blog should be up and running within a week-ish. Until then, you may see some posts eventually destined for that blog here so that I can get them written up (ie "how to get a Visa with Gina") But fear not- Quel est ton probleme is very excited about the arrival of its baby sister, but the older sibling will never be ignored! This will remain the personal outlet with the other being school-sanctioned. Whoopie. Until the debut of that gem, I give you "Gina and Mom do Interstate 5," a photo-essay a la Gina (which will probably publish itself on top of this entry). Are you tired of these yet? And oh yes, I leave two weeks from Monday.

1-year anniversary!

Celebrating one year of none of you really ever knowing what's going on!

Mom's here and we're finishing packing and cleaning the apartment. It is still hot in Eugene, which makes this whole process just so much more fun. But we did just have a great dinner at the Red Agave and ran into Jeff, my favorite-ist bartender ever, who I haven't seen in ages. I'm actually surprised that he even remembers me. But we had the best.dinner.ever. Really. I've eaten a lot of good things, and the Red Agave is right up there with the best things I've eaten. Plus, instead of a normal dessert, we had a cheese plate with cheeses from Spain and almonds and orange marmalade. Trust me, it's good. We're leaving Eugene on Saturday to drive back to Tucson, which means that I'll probably be scarce for a while (unless I find massive amounts of free wi-fi). Instead of writing more boring things, I'll leave you with pictures.

The best part (besides the Easy Cheese) of the ill-fated night at Indigo District last Saturday- me getting ready to try and throw the tater tot into Emily's mouth.  

Proof that I am in fact crazy- my phone and computer, both with the same backdrop. Note that I didn't take either of these pictures. Nice. 

A for Effort!

I've abandoned all of you since last Thursday! How could I? How could I be so cruel? Could it be the fact that I'm packing so that I can move? Maybe, just maybe...

Ok, so I've forgotten how much stuff I have. Books alone will take up a lot of room. Then there's the issue of the clothes and shoes. Ooooooh dear. But anyway, my mom is on her way up from Tucson. She should get here Wednesday, then we'll finish packing and clean and take off, hopefully Saturday. The trip back to Tucson will include a stop at the French consulate in LA to get my oh-so-necessary Visa and hopefully some time in San Diego (hooray!). It's strange to see the apartment with almost no furniture, but it really does make packing a lot easier. Right now it's hard to pack during the day, since it's been ridiculously hot here. And no, not nearly as hot as Tucson, but apartments here aren't really air conditioned, which makes the heat harder to take.

My final weekend in Eugene did not go as planned, but at least at this point in time, Monday night, I have read the new Harry Potter and seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I loved both, but I can't decide which I liked better. Ask me tomorrow? I did just see the movie this evening, as our original Friday night plan dissolved upon seeing the mass amounts of people at the movie theatre. Yeah, wasn't really in a crowd mood. By Saturday I had regretted my decision not to pre-order the book, as I wanted to read it RIGHT NOW and whined endlessly to anyone who would listen. I did find a copy on Sunday though, and read away happily until I finished it Sunday night. Me? a dork? Never. Never, I tell you! Saturday night was supposed to be a chance for me to see a bunch of friends, but I learned that not everyone really checks their email often over the summer. So my final night at Indigo included seeing an ex and his girlfriend, avoiding them like mad all night, most of the few friends that showed showing up with their significant others, and me not being at all happy to be there for at least an hour and a half. And no, don't even think about complaining to me that you can't be single because everyone else has someone and you can't bear to be around them when you bring your boyfriend to nearly everything we do. Because that? Makes me upset. But Lucia came and brought me Easy Cheese as a momento to take to France and Emily let me try and throw a tater tot into her mouth from the other end of the table. For the record, if you ask Emily if you can do this, she'll say no, because she said I was only allowed because I was leaving. For another record, I missed. But an A for effort. But then Sunday rolled around and I had lunch with Emily's lovely family, in town visiting. So that made things better.

To answer a few questions- yes, those are all in fact my finger puppets, Pony-on-the-FInger needed a break, and the castle is my finger puppet theatre. Yes, really. Hey, what else would you expect from me?

Le quatorze juillet

Today was le quatorze juillet, known to most as Bastille Day, or to the even less-informed, the French National Holiday. Yip! So I thought to myself, self, how can you celebrated this day in your own special way? Self, what if you shared some sort of knowledge about the French with your friends? But where would this knowledge come from? Self, you idiot, you just got a MA in French? Oh yeah. But what to share? The lyrics to the French National anthem, La Marseilleise? Nah, not really. Pictures of France? Not so much. Well, self, you're not much help. Wait, wait- what about important moments in French history? Now that's what everyone wants to know about- historical events! Way to go self, you really came through in the end.

So, mes amis, thanks to self, I now present to you, another low-budget photo essay produced by Gina- "Selected Great Moments in French History in Finger Puppets." Oh, you thought it would be something normal? So learn something people! And yes, sorry, it goes from the bottom up. If you want to go chronologically from the beginning, that is.

(note- selections were based entirely on the whims of Gina, and may or may not accurately represent the most important parts of French history. Some events were eliminated due to their large scale and therefore their inability to be represented within the capacities possessed by Gina)

Pow! 20th century! War! Another war! In between those, Surrealism! Thanks to Surrealism, Gina has a Masters Essay. Thanks Andre Breton et compagnie! 

19th Century! Literature! Visible gag reflex from Gina! (note- Rachilde, Huysmans, this does not include you. Don't feel bad, you're cool). 

Revolution over. Napoleon, favorite of Bill and Ted, arrives on the scene. Crowns himself emperor, does pretty well for a while, has some problems at Waterloo. Whoops. 

Bastille stormed! 

18th Century! Libertinage! Revolution! Storming of the Bastille! Release of at least a few prisoners! Hooray! 

There was this other guy who wrote plays too- his name was Racine. Unlike Moliere, though, he liked to kill off his characters (stupid tragedy). His plays usually ended with at least one person dying (except Berenice! Thanks Emily!). But Phedre did include someone being killed by a sea monster, so he makes it on the 17th century list. 

The 17th century brought some more Louis, Versailles, and some pretty fance play-writing. One of those such writers was Moliere. He decided to go easier on future students and wrote comedies. They usually ended happily with people getting married and bad people being punished. 

Along comes the Renaissance. With the Renaissance comes Joachim du Bellay. He's sent to Italy, hates it, and spends hundreds of pages whining about how he wants to go back to France. These pages will become the bane of Gina's exam existence many years in the future. But really, lots of people went to Italy, France decided (after trying to conquer Italy, getting their king taken hostage, and realizing that this wasn't their best idea ever) it should be like Italy, and people wrote poems.  

France had some problems. So along comes Joan of Arc, the original guided by voices, and decides to save the country. She becomes a cross-dresser (but not in a drag-queen way), becomes a knight, and basically saves France's ass. To thank her, she's burned at the stake. Nice. 

Middle Ages! Kings! Queens! Castles! Knights! Courtly Love! Troubadours! Castles! Battles for Honor! Tournaments! Wild Beasts! Illuminated Manuscripts! Monks! Popes! More Courtly Love! Cupcakes! (all of the above is true with the possible exception of "cupcakes") 

So, there were these things called the Crusades. It was decided that the Holy Land needed to be reclaimed, so lots of people set out on a number of these crusades to take it back. Some were more reputable than others (one was apparently led by a duck...), and lots of people ended up dying along the way. It was cool enough to be the subject of a recent movie starring Orlando Bloom!  

If it's a castle, we must be in the Middle Ages!  

Charlemagne and his long white beard also fought the Saracens (although, honestly, a lot of time they accidentally killed other Christians, just like in the Crusades). One of his best warriors was Roland, whose eventual defeat is chronicled in La Chanson de Roland, known to French majors the world over! 

So, a bit later, along came this guy named Charlemagne. He did some cool stuff (cool enough to have a song about him sung by France Gall- Sacre Charlemagne!), like uniting parts of what would be France, and making all the churches do the same thing. But he also invented school, to become the bane of many a student's existence. 

Barbarians! Barbarians! Flee! Those barbarians, especially the Huns, were doing a pretty dandy number against the "French." Then along came Genevieve, who defended Paris against Attila and his Huns (I'm pretty sure she had help). People were pretty happy about this, so she became a saint later.

In the beginning, there were prehistoric people in what would become France. They thought it would be cool to put up some stones, in what I consider their version of interior decoration. They also used color and lines in an interesting way to create some of the first cave paintings.  

I've got a golden ticket...

Ok, I admit, it's not really golden. And it's not even really a ticket, but rather a receipt for a ticket. But it's from British Airways, and it came in the mail today, and it says that I'm leaving Phoenix August 15th, and that makes me happy. Yipyipyip! (god, I sound like one of those outer-space monsters from Sesame Street). But don't you love my tie-in with Willy Wonka? I made my dad rent that movie over and over and over when I was little (but to be fair- he rented it for me first, then I got addicted). I even have the soundtrack (dork!), because of that time I had to re-write a song for pref party. Hey, anyone else remember unwrapping all those Hershey Bars and re-wrapping them in purple, with the golden tickets inside? Wasn't that tedious? And honestly, new movie? Friday? Johnny Depp? I'll be there. And so will Jen, who informed me today that she actually wants to go and will not have to be dragged along on my whim.

I'm trying to make the most of this last span of time in Eugene. Last night Emily and her friend Jasmine and I made it out to Luckey's to see a French singer, Naim Amor, and his band perform. Funny thing is, he lives in Tucson now, but is from Paris. We have a connection! Mom told me to make sure to talk to him after the show (mooooom! it's not like I'm going to marry him), and for once I delivered and found out that even though I won't be able to see them again while I'm in Tucson, I will catch them in Lyon, strangely enough on a tour that Tucson bands are doing of France. Fits it with the oddness of my life, though. He was very nice, and the show was actually really good. I would have been perfectly ok with just spending some time with the two lovely ladies, but it was wonderful to have good music too. Plus, any music in French tends to make me happy. I think that'll change next year, n'est-ce pas? There was also a guy there who looked like Marc, which confused me the entire night. Emily and Jasmine and I were crazy, as usual, and had a bang-up time. We made fun of other people's outfits (bitchy!), checked out cute guys (flirty!) and drank (lushes!). I still need to see more people, though, so here's the plan. LISTEN UP EVERYONE!!! Especially if you're in Eugene. But, you know, I think that everyone who reads this is from a place other than Eugene. So listen up if you love me a lot and are willing to purchase a plane ticket. I want to get everyone I can together Saturday night, possibly at Indigo for an "Au revoir Eugene" fling. Let's face it, my apartment isn't really big enough to hold many people, so having this at a public place is really the only option. If you really are interested, call or email me. I'm going to send out an email to basically everyone I've ever met in Eugene, so this could be interesting. Or it could be me and Emily and Jen, which would also be cool. You should all come, especially since there's always the possibility that I'll do something ridiculous, which is funny for other people.

I made pad thai tonight, simply because I happened to have a mix for it around. I don't often use mixes for things, but this was ok (just not spicy enough! Thanks a lot Trader Joe's). I've been making myself by small amounts of things at the market so that I have to keep going out (get out of the house Gina!), and when I went tonight, I found out that chicken was on sale. How happy! It's the little things that make you happy. Chicken sale! Cluck cluck! Oh wait, that might not be funny. Sorry everyone.

Oh oh! Emily and I saw Mad Hot Ballrom today at the Bijou. First, any movie seen at the Bijou theatre is made cooler by the simple fact that the Bijou is awesome and used to be a church. Secondly, this little documentary is great. For anyone who lives in a box and doesn't know about it (okok, so maybe it'd have to be a really really big box), it's a film about 5th graders in New York City who have to take ballroom dance and how they prepare for the city-wide competition. Because this is Eugene and everyone seems to be generally happy and love other people, the audience in the movie theatre clapped after performances. How sweet. That's what this movie is, sweet. Definitely not the best I've ever seen, but worth trying. And seriously people, little kids ballroom dancing is cool. I worry that some of them may be better than I would be.

Ta da! I'm done for the night!

And that, mes amis, is the long and short of it. 5 weeks stand between me and the airport. Actually, at this time in 5 weeks, I'll be on the plane to London. Oh fuck, this whole wave of nervousness and being scared just washed over me. AHHHHHHHHHH. Ok, slightly better now. Maybe we should talk about something else?

(there's a tres bizarre song going on through iTunes radio where someone just started naming the emperors of Rome. Why, I don't really know)

If you needed another reason to love my brother, here it is- today he IMd me to let me know that he bought me a madeleine pan. A MADELEINE PAN!!! How special is that? I've wanted one forever, because really, you can't make madeleines without one. Now I can finally try those earl-grey scented madeleines that I've wanted to make forever. It's waiting for me in Tucson. Mike's the best, isn't he?

(The naming of emperors continues, it must be the chorus)

My god, my dishwasher is loud. I mean, unnaturally loud. But at least I remembered to run it tonight, as opposed to my usual problem with forgetting to start it. Well, yeah.

If I'm talking about my dishwasher, it means that I really have nothing else interesting to say. So, good night?

ps- yes, I took the picture myself. After over a year and a half, I discovered that not only does my digie camera have a timer, but it's remarkably easy to use. Way to go, me.

My oh-so-blurry but bonbonbon gateau au yaourt au citron et gingembre. (Ha, bonbonbon just like Pantagruel!) 

Another blurry slice... 

If it's Sunday, I must be blogging

When life gives you stress, make cake. No really, make cake. I'm not completely piled under the stress anymore, due to that little graduation I went through where I wore the funny gown and hood and hat. Remember that? So I only needed a small cake. You may remember my last yogurt cake from May, when it featured raspberries. This time I changed recipes, to one from one of my new favorites, Orangette, and it became a lemon-ginger yogurt cake. Well, not "poof! I'm a lemon-ginger cake!" But you get the picture. It's delicious, and Jen, direct from Chicago (sorry I called you at 2am yesterday!), made me promise to save her some.

Tomorrow the 5 week countdown to France begins. The first trip, Eugene to Tucson, has started to become more tangible. Today I sold large amounts of my furniture (but to a great and IKEA-loving family), so the apartment is starting to slowly empty. I've been ending a lot of my phone conversations with "We should do something this week, because I'm leaving soon." And I am. I'm so excited for the new adventure, but I'm being reminded that with every move I make I'm leaving more friends scattered all over the country. From Michigan to Arizona to Wisconsin to Arizona to Oregon- every time I leave I've made wonderful friends, but they're not always leaving, or going where I am. I guess this gives me more places to visit later. Did you hear that people? I'm cooooooming! But not for a year. Lyon is waiting, mes amis. And l'appartement. Did I tell you that I had an apartment? Because I do. It has a terasse and everything. Except, well, an oven. Apparently I can buy a 'mini-four,' and Emily has assured me that I can bake small amounts in that. I can't imagine a year without baking. I'll live less than 10 minutes away from Lyon 2, and, it seems, very close to across the street from Marc's school for next year (I'm still awaiting details of this). I do need to find a roomate, though, because it's a 2-bedroom and I can't support myself in a 2-bedroom by myself. Who's moving with me? And when are you all coming to visit?

I haven't taught since June. I'm starting to miss it already. Next year I won't be teaching, but more helping with the program and doing what they need done. No games of "quel est ton probleme?" or "est-ce quelque chose?" or "la double-vie d'Eliana." Sad people, sad. But they will return another day in another place.

secret crushes

I have a new secret love for listening to Euro pop (or mainstream dance or what everyone else refers to as "electronic" music) on big headphones. The ones that screen out all other noise. Well, it's not really a secret love anymore. I don't know what about it makes me happy, but it does.

I also love reading food blogs. I have new food experiences through the blogs, since I can't very well go to all the places listed or cook every recipe (especially when I'm cooking just for me). I was just starting to wish that I could cook better, more like the people who keep these blogs when I remembered that when I moved out here, I could barely cook at all. I was competent, but had only ever cooked anything minorly good with help or other people around. I'm nowhere near the world's best cook, but I feel so much more confident now than I ever did before. And that's a good feeling. I now feel ok cooking for my family, something which still feels difficult, even though I do the same thing every day on my own. There's just something about being in the house with your parents, where they cook every night, and having to produce. I'll just stuff their mouths with red velvet cake so they won't be able to comment.

The full awareness that I'm leaving Eugene in a bit over two weeks has started to hit me. It hasn't felt real until very recently, and I'm sure it will just get more and more real as the days pass. I keep thinking of things I've wanted to do here and never have. But really, you can't do everything, and I've had a nice almost-two-years here. Wow, that went fast.

I think I'm still recovering from the fondue overdose last night. It takes a while to fully hit you. But still, so good. Everyone should eat fondue. Well, not all the time. But at least every once in a while.

Went to campus today to get some forms for all the "Reading and Conference" classes that I'll be taking next year. Looked at the "Summer Term Office Hours" listing. By my name it says "By appointment only" and then under "office" it lists "Lyon, France." Yeah, I'm gone.

Fondue tonight. So good, so bad for Gina. But hey, it's mostly French. Then McMinamin's with Jen and Jen's boyfriend Sean. Lots of beer and tater tots (which we could hardly eat, due to the fondue). Lots of fun.

This morning, after actually figuring out what had happened (thanks NBC), I had to go through the process of figuring out why channels were airing "regis and kelly" and "the View" instead of covering actual news that matters. For once. Apparently, re-hashed "hot topics" are more important than learning about what's actually going on in the real world. Way to go, other major networks.

People, my mom still thinks the new blog should be called "An Amish Girl in France." Please try and prove her wrong (Colonel Mustard, in the kitchen, with the candlestick. Can you prove me wrong?)

On cakes and movies and bedrooms

Below, the return of the low-budget photo essay- Making a Red Velvet Cake with Gina. (Note- not all steps required for the making of the cake are included in the photo essay. Do not attempt to bake this cake based soley on the photos. That would be stupid, and no way am I responsible if you try it. If you're seeing this, you have the internet- look up a recipe!) The cake is still here, and was featured in today's cake, ice cream and movie afternoon with Emily and Jen. We saw Alfie, (new version, haven't seen the old) which was better than I expected. I liked it more than the other two, mostly because I am bitter. But it was a good movie. Our first choice, Bride and Prejudice, was out, and Alfie was on all of our "well, I'd like to see it sometime" lists. Definitely worth a watch, especially since you only have to rent it.

And now, because it's my blog and I can, a list of random things found around my bedroom, where I am now sitting at the computer.

*My little pink iPod (last song played? Live copy of "Landslide" by Belle and Sebastian, very rare, performed maybe a few times, never recorded on an album, stolen from Ryan's B & S mix cd, made by some very nice friend I don't know. Don't worry, I gave the cd back)
*My cell (Last call? Barbara at 10:40 telling me to come out to Taylor's and party. Honestly, I was just too lazy to go. This weekend!)
*Extra sequins for the skirt I wore to graduation (It's beeeeeeaaauuuutiful and brown and turquoise with bronze sequins and if I could wear it everysingleday I would)
*The Misadventures of Saint Etienne (love. Japanese import)
*Copy of If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino (finally finished it- loved every page. I want to move on to other Calvino, but have a huge stack of other unread books)
*Copy of A Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth (Which will last forever, as it is ten million pages long. And by ten million I mean over a thousand. No really- I can prove it! Over a hundred pages in and I've barely made a dent)
*Tin of peach lip balm from L'Occitane
*Red ribbon flower pin made by Emily to cheer me up one gloomy exam-prep day
*Stack of clothes that are too big and need to be taken to Buffalo Exchange or the like
*Fairy wings (Child size, worn for Halloween)
*Purple silk hanging (from market in Perros Guirec)
*Toy from inside KinderSurprise (bizarre king-like head)
*Visa photos
*First year French textbook (Themes- blegh)
*Home-made copy of Cent Mille Milliards de Poemes, Raymond Queneau (unfortunately, English version)
*Notebook from classes this year (all in same little red grid book- nice way to look back)

And a lot more, as my room needs to be cleaned. Oh, tired now. And I want to read read read! (Yeahyeahyeah- I may just end up re-reading the last Harry Potter book, as the newest comes out soon. Did you all know that it's APRIL who you have to blame for this Harry Potter addiction??? The lovely April lent me her copies of the first few books which I devoured our freshman year at Ripon, which led to the rest of it all)

The night before, the frosting (you may remember me from the frosting on Emily's birthday cupcakes), the spoon, the carpet, my fingers. 

Well, the picture's blurry, but if you ever mix butter, sugar, eggs, cocoa powder, salt and one bottle of red food coloring this is what you get. Just in case you were wondering. You can also see the only casualty of this process- the spoon, now ir-reversibly dyed partially red. Don't worry spoon- I won't retire you! 

Look! When you put baking soda in vinager it bubbles like this! I'm in second grade! 

Well, the batter is certainly red enough now. No pink velvet for me. 

Before the frosting, the cake couldn't hide its true colors... 

Almost-symmetrical cake design... 

Ohmygod the cake is bigger than most of the apartment! Or the angle is just funny, and the picture was taken that way to showcase the blueberries on the side. 

Friends discover cake is red on inside! What a novel concept! Peasants rejoice! 

"I'm red inside" said the cake

I just can't get over how much better popcorn is made fresh in the pot, with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little pecorino cheese. Wait, did I eat all of that by myself? Whoops.

4th was ok, not great by any definition, but my cake was, to toot my own horn, great. I got a great deal of joy out of simply baking a cake that was bright red in color. (so the answer to the great food coloring question was that yes, one bottle was enough- the cake was less blood red "velvet" in color and more bright cherry-red) And it tasted like chocolate! Mostly because it's very close to a chocolate cake, you just dye it red. Oooooh, and I got the middle-school science joy of dumping baking soda into vinager and watching it fizzle. I took a picture. No really, I took a picture. But the wierdest part? When you first add the coloring to the cocoa powder, then add that to the butter, sugar and egg, it looks incredibly dark red. Like a vampire's food. (ohmygod, random, but this MusicMatch thing just went into DJ Bobo, which is a total blast back to freshman year of high school. But why is he covering 'what a feeling'? This makes no sense to me.) The cream cheese icing did not melt- partially because the conversation I had on the phone with Jen shortly before I went over consisted of "So, umm, Jen, this cake is taking up an entire shelf of my fridge," and Jen responding with "Yeah, I'll clear a shelf in mine." And I decorated it artfully with blueberries. Artfully for me. Come on people, I'm no artist! I'll put pictures up plus tard.

Does anyone know how to make back pain go away? Totally random back pain, too. And no, I don't have enough money to run out and get a massage. Stretching doesn't want to help, either. Did that sentence make sense for anyone besides me?

People, tomorrow night is the finale of Dancing with the Stars. As is typical, I've become overly emotionally involved with this show, populated with stars and dancers that I have no relation to nor will I ever meet, but still somehow feel as though they should be my friends. Oh, and that I should add "International Ballroom Dance Champion" to my list of back-up jobs. It's fun to laugh at the funny costumes and cheesy cover-music, though. Who will win??? Who will lose??? Why do I care this much??? Don't worry- this is nowhere near the level of my Amazing Race addiction, and all addictions of this type will be cut off cold-turkey in August. Have no fear, mes amis, I'll be better soon!

My wonderful mom (who also called me a few hours ago just to say goodnight, which is very sweet) suggested that I call le nouveau blog "An Amish Girl in France." When I called her on the fact that this is absolutely not true, she countered that it would somehow get a lot of hits. Well mom, I'll think about it.

Again, anyone want to buy my furniture? Or pack up my apartment? That would be nice of you!

Doesn't red food coloring cause cancer?

It's late on a Sunday night, and I'm sitting here trying to decide whether or not to plunk 2 entire bottles of red food coloring into a cake. No, not with the bottles still attatched, silly people. Perhaps a better word would be "dump" or the even clearer "pour." As the designated baker for tomorrows shrinking barbeque, I've finally reached a decision on the dessert- a red velvet cake, which as you may recall, I've never made before. No word yet as to the form it'll take (sheet cake, perhaps, to avoid the possibility of icing melting and layers falling and children (Gina) crying), but I've read and re-read the recipe, and it calls for 2 ounces of red food coloring, which amounts to two bottles. I balked at this, decided it was ok, went to the store, decided I couldn't fathom spending six dollars on food coloring alone and left with only one bottle, or half the required amount. Despite the fact that pink velvet cake could be lovely and very Gina, there's still that great chance that I'll run to the store (less than 5 minutes away!) and purchase another bottle to further my chances of self-poisoning via food coloring. But the cake would be red, and along with the icing and blueberries, would make the colors of the French flag. Wait, what's tomorrow?

No matter what happens with this baking, I know what I'll be listening to. Yesterday, my prancing to the mailbox yielded not one but TWO mix cds from the lovely Emily. They've been going non-stop ever since and are definitely going to be the soundtrack to my mad baking. Yours are coming, dear (and everyone elses!) and they're, well, varied and bizarre and hopefully will feel like they came from me.

These cds also were backdrop music while Jen and I got ready to go out last night. She was determined to hit one of the more college of the college bars, that I had never been to at night (gasp! nachos and beer in the afternoon don't count, apparently). It worked, we went, and proceeded to have an, interesting (?), evening that included me running into more people I knew than anyone else (I win! I win!), us meeting some new people, and my first-ever Irish Car Bomb (Mom, don't pay attention to the fact that your daughter drank this). Who knew I could chug that much alcohol in that quick a span of time? The people around me yelling "gogogogo!" and "drink! drink!" certainly helped too. For the record, I was smart and switched to water after this.

I think I may have suburned not all, but parts, of my shoulders, back and legs. Way to go me. How do I manage things like this? And why can't any of you agree on names for le nouveau blog?

Unsweetened means no sugar

Jen and I made brownies tonight. They are very good. Even with my baking obsession, I had never made brownies (on my own) that weren't from a box. We even added espresso powder, which may explain why I have no desire to sleep right now. But kids, don't eat unsweetened chocolate. It's just a bad idea.

I'm thinking of going to the dog park with Jen and her dog Kona tomorrow just so that I might get a tan. Is this bad? I made an effort to do this yesterday, but by the time we made it outside and blew up the kiddie pool, it was cooler and slightly overcast. Plus, we may have been too lazy to finish filling the pool with water. So, in typical fashion, Jen and I sat by the pool, in our bathing suits, on towels, drinking beer while Kona played in the pool. But have no fear- the pool may find a wonderful second job as a beer-cooler on the 4th. No, we're not throwing a huge kegger (if we were throwing a kegger we wouldn't need a pool-cum-cooler, now would we?), it's just that none of us have coolers. We're so prepared for this. Mom did, however, send me a recipe for the Red Velvet cake along with giving me detailed instructions on how to construct a two-layer cake and warnings about the frosting melting in the heat. Now, I'm smart enough to figure all of this out, but since I sometimes lack in the common sense department, this was a good call on her part. I'm still torn, though, about what to make, and since none of you are helping (shame! shame!) I may have to make a decision on my own. Doom!

I've been listening to a bit of the Cure today and it reminded me of my freshman year of college when April lent me a Cure cd (was it a compilation?) and I listened to it all the time. That seems like such a long time ago. Ok, so it was almost 6 years ago, but still. I just looked at my pictures from freshman year again and we were all so little and young! There's a great one of April and Erin after a college dems meeting, at Pick N Save at about midnight, holding cheese in the shape of Wisconsin and a cow, probably for the benefit of my southwestern friends. They look very excited about it too. My question- why did I have my camera with me?

So, people, as part of the deal of me going overseas next year, I need to "give something back" to the school. Usually people who do this job are coming back to Eugene, but since I'm not I tried to figure out something different to do. Inspired by this lovely experience, I've decided to keep a blog tracking my mis-adventures in Lyon and anywhere else I may go. This does not mean the end of Quel est ton problème?, but rather the arrival of a new baby sister! (or brother, you never can tell) I'm trying to think of a name as we speak. I've come up with An American Girl in Lyon (but so cliche and over-done that it might hurt my head after five minutes), I'm taking off for France, she said (from the Sarah Cracknell song, but awfully long), The Misadventures of Gina (cute, but I hope to also have just plain adventures) and Franglais (I'll be speaking French there, but le blog will be in English). This is going to be something that people at the university here might read to learn about study abroad and going to a new country, but that I *hope* my friendsandfamily will still read. I'll keep this baby too, because it's never fair to abandon the older when a new shiny baby arrives. So, people, ideas? Names? Themes? Color schemes? Evil plans to take over the world?

I'm still thinking about the shoes I didn't buy in Seattle. They look like this. Don't try and call me on practicality people, they're cute. I've worn out a lot of my nice black shoes, and/or the styles have gotten outdated. But these fell victim to the possible-first-opinion-ever-by-my-dad-about-a-pair-of-shoes, basically that he wasn't sold on them. What a time for that to happen! Sigh, I want new shoes. And a Kate Spade purse (had the opportunity to buy a knock-off in Seattle, but didn't). And a pony. I don't think either of these last two will ever really happen, at least not until I marry into royalty, which is no time soon. Oh, and a date. I'd like one of those too!

ohmygod, I've been writing forever! And a day! That's it! Time to crawl into bed, and try to watch a movie on the laptop without falling asleep! I tell you, my life is so interesting it hurts.