I love themed parties

For more photos of my amazing weekend, check out the following link:
facebook album

Proud to be from Iowa!

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200904030819/NEWS/90403010

Stephanie's Surprise birthday

Stephanie (the birthday girl) & Sarah

She didn't understand why we wouldn't let her wear pyjamas to go get hamburgers.

It'll be ok, Steph. Elizabeth and I LIKE the volume.

Stephanie with the most entertaining djs ever. "Get on the dancefloor cowboys!"

Clemens and Matteo - caught up in the moment

Matteo, Stephanie & Kaitlyn - Thriller
Elizabeth, Spencer, Marianne & Stephanie

Song of the day

Sticking with the theme of "country" music, my friend Vincent has decided he's found my celebrity look-alike in the following clip. Disregard the hair and watch the face; those are his instructions. I also council you to ignore the hands. Also a bit creepy.



Apparently the film version of my life would go as follows:

Vincent says: (12:17:11 AM)
"this summer"
Vincent says: (12:17:23 AM)
"a sleepwalker is going to find love"
Vincent says: (12:17:28 AM)
(explosions)
Vincent says: (12:18:00 AM)
"from the great minds who brought you twilight and fast and furious"

I don't know that the critics will like it, but it's sure to make a bundle.

Umm, story of my life?

I soooo want to see this movie.

I love velib'

I'm in such a good mood today! Stephanie convinced me to give the velib' (the bike rental system in Paris) another try, and let me tell you, it was WONDERFUL! We whizzed along the Seine from Jardin des Plantes to the Musée d'Orsay. Then we hiked around the 7th and 6th, finally settling in at Jardin du Luxembourg for a picnic. It was a bit chillier than we expected and had to use my blanket (a present/hand-me-down from Judith) to cover up with rather than sit on. It was still fantastic. I took the bike back to my place, only getting confused by one-way streets a handful of times. I just don't seem to notice those when I'm walking.

For those of you interested, here's just another reason why I love Obama:
Obama's garden

Ooooommmmmmmm

I went to my first ever meditation class today. A friend of mine is going to start offering them at a yoga studio in Paris, and he needed guinea pigs. Meditation instructors don't require licensing as yoga instructors do, so he needed to prove to the management he could run a class. It was actually pretty interesting.

I admit, I was a bit skeptical, but it turned out to be a positive experience. To give you an idea of what was running through my head while meditating, here's a brief recap:

Ok, breathe in, breathe out, clear your head. Hmmm, sigh, phrewwww, *honk* is that a truck? I wonder what it would be like to meditate in the countryside. It'd probably be even louder there, birds squaking, tractors rumbling, . . . stop thinking, ok, I can do this. exhale, inhale. . . . . . . . . . . . Ohh, did I just stop thinking? Crap, I ruined it. Ok, try again. Think about a soothing place. I am a monk living on a remote mountain,. . . . . . . . heeheehee, that's too funny, am I even supposed to visualize something? I know I'm supposed to let the thoughts flow through me, to simply observe. . . . my arm really itches. Can I scratch it? Try not to scratch it. Oh. my. god. I really want to scratch now. Maybe I can just take a peek to see if anyone's watching. Oh good, everyone has their eyes closed. *scratch scratch* Wow, I should have moisturized. My skin sounds like sandpaper! And why is my mouth so full of spit! I feel like if I tried to talk I would start drooling. Maybe that means I'm doing it right. My meditation juices are flowing. Look at me! I'm meditating! Woo! Calm down. Relax. Breathe in. . . . .. . . EXHALE EXHALE, what are you doing, you're not underwater. This meditation stuff is way more complicated than I though!