Plain white…sounds so good…

The Plain White Tee’s (the guys that sing “Hey there Delilah”) came to Milwaukee in January and I was lucky enough to get to see them. They were amazing! I love their voices, and they way they tried to make it a personal experience as opposed to a great big concert was really cool. When they sang their famous ode to Delilah, they jumped off the stage, came around the side, grabbed a seat on top of the bar and quietly serenaded the crowd, in what they called a ‘campfire setting’. 

Plain White Tee's

Birthdays…and weekends…

So finally the weekend I have been waiting for arrives. It starts with a girls night out to Casablanca, which is a Middle Eastern cuisine restaurant where they have belly dancers that come to perform, the perfect place a girls night out with my belly dance troupe and a few friends.

Just a few of my amazing friends :)

Next we moved onto Buckheads where I danced the night away, with all my nearest and dearest Milwaukee friends. It was really fun! Plus a girl that I had met on the airplane coming back from Boston (in Jan) was in town so she stopped by and joined us.

All the pretty ladies...

On the day of my actual birthday, my friend Kelly (who is an American girl who works as a nanny for a family down the road from me) arranged a special birthday dinner at Trocadero. She invited Julia and Dorit and they showed up dressed all cute with big smiles on their faces…so imagine my surprise when I opened the door expected to just see Kelly. You girls rock!

Kelly and Julia

Dorit and I

My host family feeling bad that they weren’t around to spend my birthday night with me arranged a special dinner night for the following day as well as sent me a beautiful bouquet of as Amanda described it to the florist “pretty pink flowers”

Pretty flowers

I also received a bunch of birthday balloons (including spongebob) from a friend of mine who was traveling West at the time, so I really wasn’t expecting anything. My doorbell was super busy that day, and the huge grin never left my lips!

Be Happy...

Tamara, my bestie from Germany sent a special Birthday package just for me which was packed with German candy, cute mentos and kind words! I miss you Tamaraski!

Yummy treats!

Smiles and Surprises…

My friend Tyler decided to make my birthday a extra special…which meant a lot to me as it’s really strange being away from your family over holidays and birthday as the traditions are always different from what you expect.

He started 7 days before my birthday by getting my friend Julia to deliver a parcel, complete with wrapping paper, a birthday candle and card, to my house…Each present correlated to the day (so 7 small gifts on day 7, etc)

And it begins...

6...

5...at a restaurant...

On to 4...

Almost there...

And 2...

Annnnnnd....one more sleep!!!

"HAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPY BIIIIRRRRTHDAY!!!!!"

Skiing and a Packers Game…

Skiing is amazing and something that I’m not half bad at. So I have tried to get a bunch of girls together for a while now to make a trip out to Crystal Ridge so we can test our balance ability on the ski hills. Finally we made it happen, so I was super excited! The packers were playing that day so all our guy friends bailed on us…but whatever girls are more fun anyway!

Let's do this thing!

I can’t describe the exhilarating and scary feeling you have as you get to the top of the ski lift, knowing you are about to whiz down the hill, balanced on two slats of wood (or wait is it fiberglass?) with nothing stopping gravity from ‘owning’ you except your balance and hopefully will to survive. Okay, so maybe that’s a little dramatic but as a pretty new skier, I do still wonder every time whether or not I’ll make it down the hill or whether my family will have to hear about my demise through CNN world news. I guess that thought just makes the adrenaline junkie in me a little excited. You they say everything good in life is either illegal, immoral, dangerous or fattening.

Beautiful isn't it?

And while skiing down a hill is definitely not fattening, the food we gorged ourselves on afterwards certainly was. We of course justified it with, ‘well we did a lot of exercise today’ (so it’s okay to have a burger, fries…and maybe something sweet…) We did become honorary Americans when we sat in the ski lodge watching the football game, we became even more American or should I say Wisconsin when we rooted for the Packers (over the Chicago Bears) while wearing Packers gear…this is what they call integrating! The Packers won, so it was a big celebration for all. The funny thing was out of all the people in the ski lodge we were definitely shouting the loudest. Of course we had no idea what was ging on so we were shouting things like “Get the ball for the other dude” and “Score a thing behind the line” and “Run to the line thing and do what you are supposed to do” but generally we stuck with “Go Pack Go!”

Go Pack Go!!!

Yes officer…

The day started with an Au Pair meeting (which we have monthly, each time we do something different) at Red Arrow Ice Skating park. I love ice skating so I was happy to attend this. Some of the other girls had never skated before so it’s always fun to try and teach a new person how to essentially balance on two blades while going around in circles on a slab of frozen water.  Sounds like a great idea, right? The best thing about skating at Red Arrow is the Starbucks right next to it, which has a little fire place, it’s really cute!

At Starbucks...

Later we all headed to Mayfair Mall (in Wauwatosa.) They are pretty strict and have a lot of rules and regulations about who can enter the mall at what time, so when Julia and I walked in they asked us for our ID’s…apparently we look under 18. Once we showed him we were in fact over the legal age they gave us wrist bands so we weren’t get ID-ed again. Not sure if I should feel complimented or insulted?

Julia and I

Packers Party…

The Packers (Green Bay Packers) have made to divisional play offs and were playing against the Atlanta Falcons, this was not only a chance to be remaindered of how little I know about Football, how  much I miss rugby and a general excuse to have a house party. There were about 8 of us that attended the little party at Tyler and Kevin's place. Julia and I were adorned with Packers tees and green and yellow fancy nail art. I’m not sure what happened in the game…but I do know we won which means we now go to the NFC (National Football Confederation) so this is pretty exciting (last year the Packers never did very well…)

Julia and I representing Green Bay!

Wheeeee….or not…just smile!

After starting a new year with my family I was ready to tackle 2011…starting with…

Fun with the girls at Currie Park, WI

I have made some amazing friends during my au pair experience and I have tried some amazing things. Like sledding for instance, I have tried it a few things since I got here, but it’s always a new adventure and tons of fun. A bunch of us girls headed up to Currie Park, which is a golf course used as an open sledding spot come winter. In the beginning we were actually sledding…after a while once we had all gone “wheeee” down the hill and huffed and puffed to get to the top of the hill, we started taking pictures…yes, imagine that foreigners taking pictures! The pics I’m adding to this post of my favourite as we were trying a self-timed group portrait, and with every pic we added another au pair, but it wasn’t even planned!  

One...

Two...

Three...

Four...

Then there were five...