I got some sweet knee-high boots to go with my midi length suede skirt and I'm gonna go for a Shelley Duval kind of look next week. I'm looking forward to it.

Mmmm, winter down so cozy…

I WISH I could have seen the White Stripes in their prime. I was excited when I found out that Jack White was touring through New England; he seemed to be avoiding Boston or anywhere north of NY like the plague for a while.

I really am a pathetic American for not knowing that ;)

Yeah, drying it out as much as possible seems like the way to go.

HA! The Mad Libs idea is brilliant.

Will my Yosemite Sam t-shirt with the sleeves cut off convey the right message?

Perfect, thank you!

That's what I've been told, I just want to be polite as a visitor.

I'm doing that right now as a matter of fact!

I have to agree with you on that. Plenty of tone-deaf pedants (I say that as one myself), but few successful trolls.

I can guarantee you my husband won't be the one asking for directions if we need them for that very reason. I'm also pretty (not to brag, I'm no Jennifer Lawrence or anything, I'm just mildly nice to look at), so I'm hoping a smile and lots of "Bonjour" and "Merci!" will go a long way there.

Would it just help to say I speak English and not elaborate on where I'm from and hope they think I'm Canadian or something?

I vow to always try French first!

Relentlessly pleasant? You must have missed poor idiotking's existential crisis over in the Savage Love threads.

Oh, will do! This not-particularly outdoorsy kind of girl thanks you.

The best time of the year by far. It was 48 degrees (F) the other morning and I briskly walked to work without a care in the world. I played a teeny, tiny little violin for my co-workers complaining about the cold because I was in HEAVEN.

Good News:
- My wedding anniversary was Sunday, and my birthday was yesterday! I went to an absolutely spectacular sushi restaurant last night for my birthday, and husband and I made a romantic dinner at home for our anniversary.

How do I learn to say something to the effect of, "Please excuse me, my French is not very good" while staying in Paris next month? Will the French people accept my pathetic apology and speak to me in English out of mercy, or will they insult me under their breath for the duration of my stay?

In the same vein, "Halfway to Hell" is great, too.