My American Market!

Win a 40–euro gift basket of your favorite American treats!

Are you struggling to satisfy your cravings because you are:

- Embarrassed to ask your family and friends for one more favor?

- Fed up with products that melted or broke during the transatlantic trip?

- Worn out from having to rush around Paris, search for parking spaces and drive in traffic?

- Frustrated from having to wait until your next trip or someone’s visit?

- Tired of bringing back heavy suitcases from your trip to the US?

Then, My American Market has been designed for you: it is a hassle-free online store for your American food and beverage staples.

My American Market’s best features:

Selection

One of the largest assortments of American food and treats

in stock and ready to be shipped.

Convenience

Open 24/7, My American Market is there whenever the cravings get you!

Easy to order

My American Market online store is very user-friendly.

Find and order your favorite products in just a few clicks.

Fast Delivery

Your order will be processed within the next business day.

Your shipment will be securely packaged and sent via La Poste Colissimo.

In France, it will be delivered to your door within 2 business days.

Secure

My American Market uses a 128bit SSL encrypted checkout system.

You can choose to process your payment online, on the phone or by check.

Community-oriented

Get connected with Europe's American community and friends.

Great customer service

The American way, period!

It is time you do something about your cravings!

Visit the online "épicerie américaine" today: www.MyAmericanMarket.com

and enter coupon code “BLOG21” to get a 10% discount on your order (shipping costs not included).

Updates

Yes, I've been really bad with updating the blog. I haven't found anything really interesting to write about and I'm also pretty busy at the moment (except on Sundays). So the weather has turned officially crappy here. Rain almost every day with cloudy skies, so it's not really the most wonderful time of the year. I'm excited for Christmas time because there will be lights, decorations, vin chaud!, chestnuts and Christmas markets! I love Christmas in France but I'm even more excited to be spending Christmas in the US this year with the family and Christophe. The last time I was home for Christmas was 2 years ago and it seems like soo long ago.

We're also moving out of this apartment in 2 weeks and are still technically looking for a new one. I think that we've decided on one that is much farther from centre ville and is a tad smaller than the apartment we have now. But, it's in great condition (it's only a year old) and theres' a balcony and very few neighbors. However, it's across from a lycée (high school) so hopefully by 6pm all will be calm. One thing in life that I can't stand is teenagers. lol and now we might be living across from about 1000 of them. But it's still not definite.

I've been working a lot of hours lately (as I noticed in my last paycheck, I was very happy) and my paycheck should be even better for this month. That means, lots of gifts for everyone at Christmas. And most importantly, a large payment on my student loans for December! lol

After browsing over new phones for months, I finally treated myself to one that day I got paid because hey, it's been 2 years and I'd like a cooler, more high-tech phone. No, I didn't buy an i-Phone but its a touch phone and I feel very professional with it (and maybe a little snobby too).

Thanksgiving is also only about 10 days away but I'll be celebrating it on December 5th at a friend's place. I wish we didn't have to postpone it because it won't feel like a real Thanksgiving. But I'm really happy that I'll be celebrating with friends this year.

Permis de Conduire!

Look who's got a french driver's license!!

Halloween in France!

Last night I had my first Halloween party in France. Yes, even though I'm beginning my 3rd year in France, I've never had nor have been to a Halloween party here. I decided that it was time! Everyone came in a costume (even the french guests!) and everyone said they had an awesome time! Who could ask for more. I didn't have a lot of time to cook unfortunately but I made a quiche lorraine and cut it into small bites and also made some cupcakes (but the icing was terrible!) I can never get it right. Oh well. Since I'm poor at the moment, I couldn't afford to buy a costume or to buy things for a costume so I looked through my closet and found something that resembled a cheerleader ensemble. That with a little zombie makeup and voilà; I'm a zombie cheerleader! Lol ok not very creative but I couldn't think of anything else. Other very interesting costumes included: a mummy, 2 witches, a goddess, légume man (does anyone know who is this?), the ikea fairy, Amy Winehouse and many others! I gave a bottle of Bethanie wine from the Jura to the winner of the best costume: legume man! He deserved it too because he worked on it all week!

In other news, work is going well. I'm getting more and more hours! Which means that I'll be rolling in the money soon. Ok, not really but I'll be making a decent salary. (Much better than the assistantship salary let's just say!) Which makes me happy!

Sluggish!

Ca y est!
Summer is officially over. The morning are at freezing temperatures and our apartment doesn't heat enough to keep up with the sudden cold temperatures. It literally went from one week to temperatures in the 70s, to a drop into the 40s and 50s! I don't think that I'm really looking forward to winter as I never am. By January/February I tend to get really depressed. It's almost systematic. But this year, I should be working a lot of hours and seeing a lot of people and getting out of the apartment a lot. This wasn't so much the case last year. Christophe is almost always busy planning his classes so it can get a little lonely. Last year it was the same with his concours. However, my job right now is really slow. Maximum, I have worked 15 hours during the week. Then most weeks I work around 10 hours. This wouldn't be so bad if I had a fixed monthly salary. Unfortunately, I get paid by the hour. I'm anxious to start making a real salary and to be busy. I enjoy my job but so far my classes don't start until 4pm or 5pm which is a little late. The rest of the day I don't have much to do. For example, today I woke up at almost 11:30am! Just like back in college. I hate sleeping that late, but I guess that's what happens when you're day is empty. However, I'm very proud of myself because this year I've been consistently going to salsa dancing classes and also to the pool. At least I'm doing something regularly.

Halloween is also in 10 days so I'm really excited about that! We're having a party here on Halloween night and it's mandatory costumes! I'm going to bake a lot of traditional sweets and try to make a punch. My mom sent me a package with some decorations inside so that will be cool as well. I'm so excited! It's been so long since I've celebrated Halloween. I think it was senior year in college. :( I'll be sure to post a bunch of pictures.

And lastly, Christophe and I are going home for Christmas!! I'm so excited! I didn't get to go home last year because I couldn't afford it but this year is a totally different story! I'll miss New Year's eve though because I'll be on a plane. It was 200€ cheaper to fly back on the 31st than on the 1st. Oh well, we'll have a celebration on the plane!

Meet my car

Isn't she cute?

The stalling queen

My new car arrived yesterday! We bought it this weekend (well Christophe's mom technically paid for it) and I had to go to the Prefecture on Monday to get the Carte Grise and to buy insurance in order to drive it back to Besançon. The car is in really good shape. It's almost like the other car I was going to buy. It's a blue Peugeot 106 from 1997 and it only have 50,000km! It was owned by an older man who can no longer drive it because he has cancer in one of his legs. Excited as I was, I decided to test drive it last night when I got home from work.
Lately, I've been driving Christophe's car to work so that I can get used to driving alone. However, Christophe has a much nicer car with assisted steering and it's easy to shift. My car, is not easy to drive for a beginner. The pedals are very sensitive and there is no assisted steering so when backing out of a parking space, I need to turn the wheel with all my might!
We also tried to do a lesson on how to start up on hills...and I couldn't do it. I must have tried 10 times and each time I stalled so of course my natural reaction: I started crying.
It's very frustrating when you think that you've finally learned how to drive a manuel and then reality smacks you in the face. I've still got a lot of practice ahead of me.
With Christophe's car I hardly stall anymore but this new car is completely different. I couldn't afford to buy a fancier car so I guess I'm stuck with learning to drive this one.
Anyways, I'm just really disapointed in myself. I thought that I had (almost) mastered standard driving.

To talk about other things, I've been at my job for a couple weeks now and I really like it. My co-workers are all great and the clients are cool. I'm still waiting to get more hours but that will be when they assign me outside of Besançon and that means I'll have to drive!! This weekend will be used to practice on hills.

Oh and one last thing, my cavemen neighbors that I wrote about a couple weeks ago, they moved out!! We are so happy. It's soo quiet now; there's no more grunting or swearing or yelping. Too bad we are moving in 2 months...just kidding. I'm excited to move to a better apartment.