There's no place like home for the Holidays

After my successful OFII appointment on December 23, I was able to go home for the Holidays. The time leading up to the appointment was a tad stressful as I couldn't go back to the states until my passport was stamped. On December 23 at 7:45 (45 minutes prior to my appointment which was the first time slot) I arrived at OFII. I was the second to arrive and was so glad that I arrived early, as we approached the 830 opening the line snaked around the block! While waiting, I met another American in the same position as me, but her flight was that day! At exactly 830 they let us in and the appointment began. One hour and one painless and successful doctor's appointment later I was all set to go!

On the morning of Christmas Eve I got up early and headed to CDG airport for my flight home. The weather channel and air lines were all predicting delays and cancellations from European airports due to bad weather. The rain and wind were picking up right before my flight, but luckily my flight was early enough that we were only delayed 30 minutes! I landed safely in NY a little before 2pm.

Curled up by the fireplace

After driving home and picking up some coffee I quickly got ready for Christmas Eve dinner with my dad's family. I thought I would be exhausted, but I surprisingly wasn't due to the festive Christmas mood. After dinner, Santa joined us for our gift exchange. Since some of my cousins have kids, Santa was a little tamer than usual this year. The kids are at the age where Santa is quite terrifying so there were a few tears and freak outs, but overall it was a success. When gifts and dessert were over, my parents, brother, sister-in-law and I headed back home and I crashed around 10!

Christmas day I was up at 4:30 due to jet lag and felt like a child waiting for it to be an appropriate time to go downstairs. James and Teresa were coming over on the earlier side to open gifts, so luckily I didn't have to wait that long. :) We all enjoyed breakfast together and then sat around the fire handing out gifts. In the afternoon we spent Christmas Day with Teresa's family at her parents' house.

The rest of my time home flew by! However, I was lucky enough to be able to see my home and college friends and spend time with my family. I also spent some quality time bonding with Baloo! He is such a good puppy and James and Teresa have done a great job with him. He is the cutest little thing and such a love bug.

What a cutie

I arrived back in Paris on Sunday and was able to meet up with my cousin Katie and her husband Amit who were in town for a few days! We met up for drinks on Sunday and then again on New Years Eve! New Years Eve we met on the lock bridge behind Notre Dame, so that they could place their lock on the bridge. After, we headed to Bastille for a lovely dinner and to ring in the New Year. The night was filled with good food, fine wine and amazing company! It was so good spending time with them here in my new home and be able to share a little part of my life in Paris with them.

Lock on the bridge

One of the appetizers we ordered was Foie Gras, which I have never had and thought that I never would have. If someone told me I would try it, I would never in a million years believe them. However, as they say, "When in Rome," right!? So, I decided to go for it. I was then handed a piece of toast with some Foie Gras and fig jelly and there was no turning back. I nervously ate it, and guess what? It wasn't bad! It actually didn't have a real distinct taste but maybe the toast and fig helped mute it. I'm not saying that I would order it the next time it's on the menu, but I won't rule out trying it again.

2013 has been an amazing year. I got my masters in Switzerland and moved to France. I have met lifelong friends throughout my journey who have helped me get to where I am today. Most importantly, I wouldn't have been able to accomplish everything without my family's support and cannot thank them enough. Here's to another amazing year! Now, after the holidays, it's back to work, learning French and exploring this beautiful city!

Lock bridge behind Notre Dame