designRlife: Bonjour, Merci, Mon Chéri

Our first Christmas together, my sweetheart gave me two guide books, one for Paris and one for Venice, and said, "pick one". My first reaction was delight (naturally)! My second was, "how will I ever choose??"

To understand where I was coming from, I need to take you back to a few years. First, to my years as an undergrad, when I switched majors and gleefully discovered that my new major had a language requirement. (Crazy, I know.) But I'd always wanted to learn Italian, and now I had the chance. I threw myself into my language classes (well, as much as one can when carrying a full load and working full-time), and by the time a graduated, I was dreaming in Italian.

Fast forward (a few) years. I'm living on the East Coast, in Philadelphia, working as a buyer for Anthropologie. Europe is closer than it's ever been for this California native, and my life has begun to feel, well, more French. Something about the insanely creative people with whom I work, the architecture of my new city, the water... who knows? But suddenly, I'm daydreaming en français.

I met my sweetheart while deep in my love affair with France, but still with a soft spot for my first love, Italy. Unfortunately, soon after we met, I also started grad school and life, (as it does) got in the way of travelling. Thankfully, my better half was not to be deterred, and last Christmas (four years exactly after his initial guide book gift), he announced, "I'm taking you to Paris for graduation." This time there was no second thoughts. Paris it is! (Yippee!!)

All of this is a very long-winded way of saying that I'm going to Paris. In one week. Yikes! For someone who's been wanting to visit the City of Light for so long, I feel oddly unprepared. I haven't learned French, I still need to loose the few extra pounds gained in grad school and I've only half-read all of the books on French life that I've been collecting over the years...