Skiing in Austria

Ok, so this blog post is way overdue. We did a ski trip in Serfaus, Austria for a week at the beginning of March and it’s now almost June. In the interest of catching up, I’m going to just give a quick overview of the highlights.

• Serfaus, Austria - Same place we went last year. Same friends. Same hotel. Same great experience.
• Nate was happy - he got to ski 5 out of the 6 days we were there. I being pregnant did not ski and instead was super happy relaxing, having a spa day and taking leisurely walks outside.
• Josephine had fun running around in the snow, taking a gondola ride to meet daddy for lunch, sledding, playing in the indoor pool and exploring the kids club at the hotel (Let’s be truthful, this one made all of us happy. While it took Josephine a bit of adjusting to get dropped off here, she did really love their big slide and all the fun things to do and we got to have free time to do the things mentioned above).

And that about sums up our week in Austria. We once again had a fantastic experience at the hotel with all food being included plus daycare. The weather was a bit colder and snowy in the beginning of the week and the sun came out at the end of the week. It truly felt like a restful, relaxing vacation. And those can be hard to come by when you have a toddler with you.

Big Changes Coming Up

It looks like 2016 will be a year filled with a couple of big changes for us. First off, Nate has received a great job opportunity through Nasdaq. However this new position is based in London. That means as of June 1 we will leave Paris and make a new home in London. He’ll get a chance to try out management and see how he likes it.

And on top of this, I am pregnant and due at the end of August. So all the more reason we want to get to London as soon as we can to get settled.

As for London, Nate and I took a quick trip there a couple of weeks ago as we are working with an agency to help us find a new home. We don’t want to (nor do we have time to deal with) a temporary home so we want to find a home and move into it right when we get there. We spent a day with the agency and saw 15-16 different places. Lots of variety which was good. There was one place in particular that we both liked and lucky for us, the landlord accepted our offer. Our new home will be in Parsons Green, in the southwest part of London. We are just finalizing the tenancy agreement now so barring anything unexpected, we should be able to get the keys on June 1. We’re really excited about the neighborhood as it had been recommended by a couple of people. It’s very family friendly, has a few good market streets with shops and restaurants and should make a good new home for us.

Our visas also came through this past week so we are officially allowed to move to London. Things are all moving in the right direction.

As for the new baby. We found out we’re expecting a girl! No big surprise there I suppose as our family seems to definitely favor girls over boys. We’re very excited though and Josephine loves to talk about her “baby sister”.

Now that we have a place to live, that’s created a whole new list of things to do. I’m working on finding a hospital for delivery, a doctor and childcare. It’s definitely a busy time right now trying to get everything organized but I’ll be excited to get to London and get settled there.

I’ll definitely miss Paris and I don’t think it’s quite hit me yet that we’re leaving. I guess I have too much other stuff occupying me for the time being. I know for sure I’ll miss the boulangeries, cheese and cheap but great wine. But I have to admit, I’m also really excited about living in an English speaking country again.

The countdown is on. Only 3 weekends left here in Paris. Hard to believe that we’re moving to yet another country. Let the adventure continue!

New Year, More Visitors

It’s been a few months since we’ve had some visitors and the start of the year started off with a string of them.

It all started with my birthday weekend when my good friend Kristine flew out on my actual birthday to celebrate with me. We had Wilma babysit and spent that Friday night out just adults. Then Kristine and I had some quality time to catch up and did dinner and a Crazy Horse show Saturday night. As for Crazy Horse, think Moulin Rouge but racier. It was recommended so a new experience for us both. We had such a great time together. There’s nothing like being able to spend your birthday with a good friend and your family. The long weekend went way too fast of course.

Then in mid-February we had a quick but fun visit from our friends Ben and Abby. They were only making a one night stop in Paris before they headed to Chamonix for a ski adventure. Once again we had Wilma babysit and went out for dinner and drinks. Sadly we didn’t get any pictures with them but so great to finally have them visit us in Paris!

And then right after their visit we got a special visit from Nicole, Michael and Ava. They spent a few nights in Paris before heading to Berlin and then London. Unfortunately due to our crazy schedules we weren’t able to spend time with them during the day but had a great time spending our evenings together.

Always fun catching up with friends and family here in Paris!!!

And New Year's in Arizona

We don’t like to stay home too long so after getting back to Paris from Annecy, we spent 2 nights at home before we boarded a flight to Arizona. This time it was to visit Nate’s grandma as well as his parents who flew in from Medford to meet us there. It was a quick trip as we only stayed for 5 nights over New Year’s but we hadn’t seen Grandma since Josephine was 3.5 months old so we were way overdue for a visit. It was an extra bonus that Nate’s parents, Bill and Dee, could meet us there as well.

Our travel day was exhausting as we connected in London and Josephine slept perhaps 1-2 hours the entire trip. But we survived.  We arrived in Phoenix around 8pm so had a chance to say hello to everyone, get settled and then finally crash after our long day of travel. We actually all slept fairly well, Josephine being the most important one for this, and woke up before 6am. I always love traveling that direction because you wake up early, not tired and you can get so much more out of your day!

New Year's Brunch

We basically spent the next few days eating all of the foods we had been talking about/craving/looking forward to (Mexican was an immediate first of course), going to Target, doing some shopping and most importantly just getting a chance to visit with family and relax. It was actually a really relaxing trip, minus the bit of jet lag, as we didn’t pile too much on our plates. We had a low key NYE and a lovely New Year’s brunch where Grandma lives.

As with all of our trips, they go by too fast and before we know it, it’s time to pack up and head home. We specifically chose to not go anywhere else in the Bay Area on this trip as we had limited amount of time and needed to get back to work at the beginning of January. Next time, a visit to the Bay Area will certainly be in order though!

And of course we have to support our Ducks

Christmas in Annecy

Nate and I decided that for this past Christmas, we wanted to stay in Europe. We were in the US the Christmas before so it just seemed right to stay here. And lucky for us, my sister and her family, our cousin, my parents, and even my brother-in-law’s family were all able to join us. It made for quite the Christmas celebration, especially for being so far from home!

We decided to head to Annecy here in France not too far from Geneva and the alps. We had never been there before but had seen pictures and it seemed like a quaint French town that was a perfect place to spend Christmas. The town sits on a lake and it gets into the Christmas spirit with Christmas markets, lights and decorations all around town. Being a large group, we rented two apartments not far from each other.


We arrived along with my parents a few days ahead of the rest of the group so we had time to stroll around the town, check out the food market, take a walk by the lake and just relax. It was just what we wanted.

Everyone else arrived the day before Christmas Eve and we had fun catching up with them and preparing for the Christmas festivities. Josephine had a blast with her three cousins as well. The last time she saw them was back in April when we went to Slovenia so now that she’s a bit older, she had even more fun playing with them.

We went to John and Julie’s apartment for Christmas Eve dinner and then church on Christmas morning and back to our apartment for Christmas dinner. It was a typical family Christmas set in a lovely French town.

After Christmas we all had one more day together before we would be parting ways. We spent a leisurely day in the town. They had an area where the kids went for pony rides (Josephine wanted no part in that) and we all could go ice skating.

It was yet another Christmas to remember surrounded by family. We are very blessed!

Merry Christmas!

Bordeaux Birthday!

Synonymous with wine of course, Bordeaux is both a city in France and a region in the south west part of the country.  And not just any region, but the most famous and recognizable wine region in the world.  It's a fairly sizable region too and one that we have been to on two previous visits to the area.  What we had not yet done was spend any time in the actual city and drive the famous "La route des Châteaux" which as a wine enthusiast is a fermented grape juice and yeast Mecca of sorts. 

Wine shop is this way!

With the desire to go, we figured what better occasion than the 2nd birthday of 1 JoJo Bean!  After setting the bar high for her first birthday by celebrating in Bourgogne, we had to find a way to keep with the wine country theme and set up a long weekend in Bordeaux.

Logistically, Bordeaux is pretty easy to get to from Paris.  You simply take the TGV train for about 3 and half hours and there you are, no sweat.  Having learned a tough lesson in September when traveling to Aix, we decided it a better idea this time to travel in the morning and try to get there before nap time.  (hard to say whose nap we're talking about, Bean or Daddy, but that's a different story)  So arriving at our apartment rental by about 13:30 on Thursday we started to settle in for our long weekend.  This day also coincidentally happened to be Thanksgiving in the US, though we find ourselves forgetting that fact sometimes, save for the part where we were able to watch football this first night in town.  So that helped.

The best winemaker's have muddy boots

Friday being our first full day, we rented a car for the day to drive the aforementioned Route D2 winding past many of the 1855 Bordeaux classification Grands Crus Classés wines and appellations such as Margaux, Saint Julien, and Sainte Estephe.  When you think about driving through Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles, even the Rogue Valley, you come across many signs, wine tastings, and opportunities to buy wines from the area.  Being extraordinarily French, the Route D2 is the exact opposite.  Other than seeing vineyards in every direction, there really isn't much else that is inviting you to stop, taste, and leave your money behind.  This is a very normal French experience, and the exact opposite of what you would see in the US.

Mouton Rothschild

What was however very inviting was a little country French Bistro where we stopped for lunch.  I had found the place ahead of time and it turned out to be a very enjoyable lunch with the most friendly French proprietaries running the place.  After lunch we drove along a bit more, with a few stops along the way for pictures.  Unwinding our way back into town, we made it back to our apartment for a quiet evening and of course a glass of wine.

Lunch with a glass of Bordeaux

Saturday was our day to explore the town of Bordeaux which is most definitely a bigger city.  While the city is fairly decent size, the old center of town is very accessible and even has what seemed to be a very new, modern tram system which makes it easy to get around.  On the recommendation of a colleague of mine who lives in Bordeaux, we had another great restaurant recommendation then wandered our way to a large park in the middle of town.  This park not only had a giant grass area for Bean to run around on, but also had some great slides and swings to play on as well.  Once we were able to peel her away from the park we continued to work our way back to our place.  We were very impressed by the city of Bordeaux, lots of shopping, interesting wine shops and wine bars, (one of which we visited twice) and a really fun atmosphere.  Highly recommend the place for a few nights of fun should you every find yourself touring around France.

Love this park!

The last and most important part of the whole weekend was to celebrate Bean's birthday, afterall turning 2 is a very big deal!  Especially when you have fully grasped the concept of opening presents and blowing out candles!  Oh, and I think we also had the realization that when the candles are out - you get to eat cake!

Blow out the candles!

Happy 2nd Birthday to our always entertaining, always fun, and always so very sweet Joséphine Bean!

Saudi Arabia

Before I get into this post I just want to briefly acknowledge the awful attacks that happened here in Paris on November 13. What happened was truly horrifying, scary and sad and occurred roughly a 25 minute walk from our house. It was all too close to home for us. The week following was a strange one and definitely not normal but the Parisians were determined to go back to normal life as soon as possible. I would say that some did but it took more than a week before it started to feel remotely back to normal again. And now, I walk around a little more cautious and aware than before but it's back to life again. And I think that's the best we can do. My heart goes out to all the victims and families of this horrible tragedy.

And now back to my post.....

As you may recall from previous posts, my sister and her family moved to Saudi Arabia a little over a year ago for a great job opportunity for John, my sister’s husband. In that time they have visited us in Paris and we have met them in Slovenia. And now it was my turn to go visit them and see what their world is all about. So in October, that's what I did.

Nate and I decided that I would go on my own as it’s a 6 hour flight from Paris to Jeddah (the nearest airport to where John and Julie live). I was only going for a long weekend and we weren’t all that thrilled about having Josephine on a plane for a total of 12 hours in a span of 4 days.

After working with a French agency in Paris to get the required visa and it coming through in just the knick of time, I was ready to start my Saudi adventure. I left on a Thursday morning and with a one hour time difference landed in Jeddah around 6pm. Let’s back up for a second though. I flew Saudia Airlines which in and of itself was interesting. First of all, it was super nice and hardly full. The bathroom was probably one of the nicer and cleaner airline bathrooms I’ve been in with a bidet and all. They had the normal video screens in the back of the seats and once the pre-flight announcements were finished they had a prayer to Allah before taking off. I then watched a movie on my flight and they censored out “beer”. They also blurred out any cleavage. This proved to be a very Saudi start to my trip.

When landing in Jeddah, John had arranged for someone from government affairs at KAUST to meet me at the airport and walk me through passport control. I was quite grateful for this as the line was not moving all that fast as they were taking fingerprints and pictures of everyone that walked through. The guy walked me right up to the front and in a few minutes, I was done. I grabbed my bag and it then had to go through a screening where Julie explained they look to be sure you’re not bringing in any alcohol or pork products, because well, those aren’t allowed there. John was waiting for me as I exited and we were off.

The KAUST beacon

KAUST is about a 45 minute drive from Jeddah, near the city of Thuwal. After an unexpected little driving tour of the city due to a missed turn, we were on our way.

To enter the KAUST community, which is gated and highly secure, we had to stop at the visitor’s center to pick up my badge, which John had pre-registered. And then finally we were at their home! Julie and I went to dinner on our own while John stayed home with the girls.

KAUST is a fairly large community with a couple of rec centers, a number of restaurants, a beach, schools for the kids, medical center, grocery store, the university of course and all of the basic things you would need on a daily basis. They don’t need to leave for any reason. Within the community, Julie can drive. Outside, she is not allowed.



Friday we had brunch at a restaurant overlooking the Red Sea and I got a driving tour of the entire community. It’s all very nice and very new. You definitely get a small town feel from it. Throughout my time there, John and Julie were constantly running into people they knew. There is also the most beautiful mosque inside the community. Too bad I didn’t get a chance to go inside.

Oh, and I can’t forget to mention that it was HOT and extremely HUMID! I think I’ve only ever felt humidity like that when I was in New Orleans in July. You really can’t stay outside for very long before you are sweating through your clothes. So of course everything inside is highly air conditioned.

The other thing that stood out, and I noticed this even when the plane was landing, is that everything is beige. It all looks dust covered. Which I suppose makes sense as you are in the middle of the desert. But still, it is like there is a blanket of dust over everything.

For Saturday, John and Julie had rented a boat for us to go out on the Red Sea for four hours for some snorkeling and hanging out. This is probably one of the nicest boats I’ve been on. It was fully air conditioned on the inside with a full spread of food and three bedrooms and two bathrooms in the back. You could also head up to the top where you could sit and watch as the boat went along.

The Red Sea is really warm and that aquamarine blue….it’s so pretty. It makes you feel like you are on a tropical vacation. We snorkeled, we just hung out in the water outside of the boat….all in all it was really fun and a big highlight of the trip for sure.

Another must do was to hit up their grocery store, Tamimi. It’s essentially a Safeway and quite a thrill for this girl coming from Paris. There were so many American goods that I got to stock up on! Refried beans of course as well as zip loc bags, ranch dressing, etc.

Dinner in Thuwal

Saturday night we tagged along with a co-worker of John’s and his family who were heading outside of the KAUST walls into Thuwal for dinner. His co-worker speaks Arabic and has been living there for over 3 years so it made it that much easier to venture out. Julie and I donned our abayas because that’s what women have to do if you’re in Saudi Arabia. Looking at the guys who were in their shorts and t-shirts, it all just feels so wrong. Anyways though, we went to the restaurant, which is called the Fish Market, and they reserved the family room. This is a private, air conditioned room and once inside, we didn’t have to wear the abayas. Apparently they got the nicer family room as others I saw had concrete walls on 3 sides with a partial fourth wall. It’s all so bizarre. I learned that in restaurants you have the singles section, which is where the men eat and if they are with women and children, they have to go to the family rooms…which are more secluded.

Anyways, dinner was eaten at a low table where you sit on the floor. Oh and when we got to the room and got settled, the men went out to pick the fish and food. Dinner was delicious though with a variety of fish and rice and flat bread.

Sunday the girls were back in school and John back at work. Their work week goes from Sunday to Thursday. John gave me a tour of the university where he works so I got a good feel for the campus.

After the girls got out of school, we headed to a pool at the rec center where it overlooks the Red Sea. We ate dinner at the restaurant right next to it. Again, it felt like being on a tropical vacation.

My flight left at 1am that night so I took a taxi back to the airport and got to the gate with no problem. At security though I did have to go in the “Female” line which took me to a separate room where a female airport employee screens you with the wand.

Overall it was a super interesting trip and I was so glad I went. I know the feeling of wanting to show people your life and where you live and I was glad I got to see that for John and Julie. It’s a really nice community where they live. The culture is a bit of a shock but inside the community you don’t feel that at all. It was a reminder to me though to be thankful for all of the rights we do have, even ones we think are so basic and a given like wearing what you want to wear and driving.