The 8th Anniversary of My 21st Birthday

Yep, I turned 29 this month. As in, one year until the big 3-0. People asked if I feel older, which of course the answer is not really, but I do feel richer. Why? Because I hit bank at the casino!!! I mean, how can you throw a goodbye to my 20’s birthday party that doesn’t include gambling and prostitution? (Sidenote: prostitution is legal in Switzerland and is a highly regulated, safe profession! And we didn’t actually use their services but they helped to set the atmosphere).

I gathered about 20 or so of my friends and wrangled them down to the new casino that just opened in Zürich last month. Unsure what to expect, the first part of the night was mostly farming folks in flannel and asian tourists. I admit, I got nervous about the crowd when we first arrived. Not exactly the posh/swanky atmosphere I had imagined. But then, gradually over time, the crowd magically transformed into 18 year olds and prostitutes and my group of 20- and 30-somethings dressed to the nines.

The girls started with Roulette but I was losing money fast so I gave up and joined Blackjack. AMAZING! I was winning!!! I even learned how to double down when I had 11 to start and it worked!! I was basically a professional by the time we left. And by the time Florian joined me at the table, warmed by some alcoholic drinks, we were both winning big! By the end we had about fr.400 in our pockets. Woot woot!!

And then on my actual birthday, it didn’t actually hurt that I won my Fantasy Football league!! Against all the men in my league who wake up at 3am to watch the games and know all about who’s on the DL list, what college the players were drafted from, etc. I barely even know the names of the players on my team and definitely don’t even know what real teams they play for. And yet… I schooled them all! I think they hung their heads in shame for a few days after that. Actually, I know they did because they told me on FB. And I won an additional fr. 400.

And later to celebrate Florian made me a fantastic birthday cake…. my absolute favorite – chocolate lava cake!! (too bad I had secretly eaten all of the rest of the ice cream we had in the freezer a few days before so we didn’t have any to eat with the cake. My bad!). He is so sweet 🙂 I love watching him try to bake and that was almost better than the cake! Almost, I said, don’t get crazy. Chocolate is still obviously numero uno on my list.

Rolling in the dough this birthday! Does that mean the rest of my year will make me rich?? I should start playing the lotto.

Saying Goodbye To Katie

I have to make this known – I think saying goodbye is the worst. Ok, now onto the positive stuff!

This weekend I had to drop off my friend Katie at the airport so she could MOVE TO SINGAPORE! What? I know! What a crazy lucky girl. Seriously, I’m so excited and jealous of all of the amazing adventures she’s going to have. So much fun and such a beautiful place. Who wouldn’t want to go there?

Katie was such an important person to so many of us here in Zurich. She was the upbeat and positive person who was always there to listen and help and have an amazing recipe on hand. She always went way above and beyond for the simple things (like making individual mini-sandwiches and wrapping each one with pretty twine for a picnic was normal for her). She always knew about the coolest restaurants or bars to visit and the trips out of town worth taking. She planned baby showers meal deliveries to new mommies and did everything dressed like a supermodel. Seriously, she is someone we all aspire to be a little more like.

So of course we all spent the whole last week celebrating her new exciting life by going out to dinner on the lake, meeting for drinks, meeting for more drinks, and watching a movie while eating Goldfish and Gummy Worms. The weather was perfect and I just don’t think there’s any better way to say goodbye to Zurich than how Katie did it (ok, minus the story about how late we actually got to the airport). 

One of the toughest parts about being an expat in a foreign country is knowing that most of the friends you make won’t be around permanently. One of the best parts about being an expat is you get super close to the other expats and you make the kind of friends that will be lifelong friends, regardless of where in the world they live.

Katie, we already miss you and love you, but we’re so happy for you! Here’s to wishing you all the best!!! Cheers!

Mozel Tov Bitches (A Surprise To Remember)

The Jewish version of a “Congratulations” sign…

When your 8 and 1/2-months-pregnant sister asks you to come over to clean her kitchen, what other answer can you give but a begrudging (oops, I mean enthusiastic!) “fine”? After all, I did promise my services as a rentable housewife to all my friends and family in NY.  But I have a secret to tell all men: real life is not like the movies and women don’t look pretty when they’re getting ready to clean. What do you think I’m going to shower before scrubbing a kitchen? Or put on makeup? Or wear even semi-decent clothes? Nope! Maybe June Cleaver did, but not this modern housewife. A dirty fleece and dirty jeans were totally the way to go.

So imagine when I walked in the door at my sister’s house and, SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like 40 of my closest friends and family gathered to have a surprise Bridal Shower/Housewife Party for me. Hold on, take a break here and watch the video because I had NOT A FREAKIN’ CLUE this party was going to happen and my face is hilarious that I’m so shocked.

http://www.youtube.com/get_player

The greatest part about the surprise is, I was really surprised. I don’t mean surprised like, I know it’s my birthday and someone threw a party for my birthday so I’m only a little bit surprised. No, I thought all of this wedding hullabaloo was over and it never crossed my mind that we’d be having a surprise party. Therefore, I wasn’t suspicious in the least, I certainly wasn’t snooping for clues and I definitely wasn’t just knowing a party was going to happen but not knowing the date. Nope, I had NO idea. BTW, good job to everyone for keeping the secret, I’m impressed nobody spilled!

Actually, I need to revise my statement from above. The greatest part about the surprise was being surrounded by amazing friends and family. I can’t tell you enough how much it meant to me that I have so many caring and wonderful people in my life. Get this: I even had a friend fly all the way out from San Diego just for the weekend to come and be at my party! How did I get so lucky?!

Jeremy visited all the way from San Diego!

You have to know, moving abroad is not easy when you leave great friends and family behind. Sometimes, at my worst moments, I get this slightly-paranoid feeling like everyone has slowly forgotten about me (you know, out of sight, out of mind). But this party helped me to realize that no matter how far I move, true friends and family will always be a part of my life. That can be really comforting when I’m having my little lonely moments abroad, so thank you to everyone who is so wonderful and doesn’t forget I exist!!

Mozel Tov Bitches (A Surprise To Remember)

The Jewish version of a “Congratulations” sign…

When your 8 and 1/2-months-pregnant sister asks you to come over to clean her kitchen, what other answer can you give but a begrudging (oops, I mean enthusiastic!) “fine”? After all, I did promise my services as a rentable housewife to all my friends and family in NY.  But I have a secret to tell all men: real life is not like the movies and women don’t look pretty when they’re getting ready to clean. What do you think I’m going to shower before scrubbing a kitchen? Or put on makeup? Or wear even semi-decent clothes? Nope! Maybe June Cleaver did, but not this modern housewife. A dirty fleece and dirty jeans were totally the way to go.

So imagine when I walked in the door at my sister’s house and, SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like 40 of my closest friends and family gathered to have a surprise Bridal Shower/Housewife Party for me. Hold on, take a break here and watch the video because I had NOT A FREAKIN’ CLUE this party was going to happen and my face is hilarious that I’m so shocked.

The greatest part about the surprise is, I was really surprised. I don’t mean surprised like, I know it’s my birthday and someone threw a party for my birthday so I’m only a little bit surprised. No, I thought all of this wedding hullabaloo was over and it never crossed my mind that we’d be having a surprise party. Therefore, I wasn’t suspicious in the least, I certainly wasn’t snooping for clues and I definitely wasn’t just knowing a party was going to happen but not knowing the date. Nope, I had NO idea. BTW, good job to everyone for keeping the secret, I’m impressed nobody spilled!

Actually, I need to revise my statement from above. The greatest part about the surprise was being surrounded by amazing friends and family. I can’t tell you enough how much it meant to me that I have so many caring and wonderful people in my life. Get this: I even had a friend fly all the way out from San Diego just for the weekend to come and be at my party! How did I get so lucky?!

Jeremy visited all the way from San Diego!

You have to know, moving abroad is not easy when you leave great friends and family behind. Sometimes, at my worst moments, I get this slightly-paranoid feeling like everyone has slowly forgotten about me (you know, out of sight, out of mind). But this party helped me to realize that no matter how far I move, true friends and family will always be a part of my life. That can be really comforting when I’m having my little lonely moments abroad, so thank you to everyone who is so wonderful and doesn’t forget I exist!!

Christmas and Cookies Make Me Happy

Let’s all agree upfront that I’m a hypocrite so we can move on. Yes, I’m Jewish, and yes, I love, love, love Christmas!!! Not for the whole Jesus-the-Savior-was-born aspect, but more for the decorating-pretty-trees-and-buying-presents-and-eating-sweets-and-spending-time-with-family stuff.

So, what better way to secularly welcome Christmas cheer than by baking cookies!!! My friends Talley and Laura came with me to my mother-in-law’s house and we all baked totally-legit Swiss Christmas cookies. Obviously (since I only pretend I’m good at cooking and baking), while everyone else slaved over the hundreds of cookies we baked, I used the time to practice taking pictures with my new camera (as per my new birthday’s resolution that I mentioned in my last post). What, the cookies were done AND we have beautiful pictures. Both are equally important, right? Sort of? Anyway, I would say contributing as both the photographer AND the taste-tester more than accounts for my share of the work. They tasted as good as they look below… yummy!

My favorites are the Brunsli. Half brownie, half cookie, all deliciousness. In case you crazy kids out there want to try baking some of these cookies yourselves, I’m including the recipe. This is a new thing I’ll try to do more since a lot of you have asked me to share more specifics as I tackle my Hausfrau duties. I think it would actually be awesome if anyone was brave enough to try making this and then would send me pics of how it turned out!

Brunsli Recipe
Serves ~50 cookies (go big or go home!)

Ingredients:
• 150 g (5 ounces) sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 250 g (9 ounces) ground almonds
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 pinch of powdered cloves
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 2 fresh eggwhites (about 70 g or 2.5 ounces)
• 100 g (3.5 ounces) bitter chocolate
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons of Kirsch

Directions:
1. Mix sugar, salt, almonds, cinnamon, powdered cloves, cocoa powder and flour in a bowl.
2. Add eggwhites and stir until ingredients are evenly distributed.
3. Cut chocolate in really small pieces, pour hot water over the chocolate, then let rest for about 5 minutes. Pour off all water except about half a tablespoon, stir until even. Now immediately proceed with the next step.
4. Add melted chocolate from the previous step and the kirsch, knead to a soft dough.
5. Roll out dough on a flat surface (it may be slightly covered with sugar), approximately 10 mm (0.4 inches) thick. Put out different shapes and put them on a baking sheet covered with baking paper.
6. Let them rest overnight in a dry place. (the Swiss are darn serious about their cookies being utterly delicious, what can I say?).
7. Bake for about 4 to 6 minutes in the center of the pre-heated oven at 250 °C (480 °F).
8. Let cool completely before serving.

—-

Still on the Christmas theme, Florian and I had kicked off the Christmas season a few weeks ago when we woke up early with excitement and bought our very first Christmas tree together!! You could tell it was our first time planning because, for no reason whatsoever, we went and bought a fake tree. Then when we got home, we realized that neither of actually wanted a crappy plastic one and we both wanted a real one! Oh well, crappy plastic will have to do this year because we were too lazy to go back out and buy a new one (BTW, I’ve realized laziness is a critical aspect of a happy marriage. Some call it compromise, I call it laziness to argue). Here’s our beautiful tree with the beautiful ladies of the household. Don’t judge, it was morning and I was in pajamas with no make-up on.

If you’re not in the Christmas mood by now, or I’ve bored you to death with my long blog, I’m positive watching this video clip will make you feel better and smile.

Christmas and Cookies Make Me Happy

Let’s all agree upfront that I’m a hypocrite so we can move on. Yes, I’m Jewish, and yes, I love, love, love Christmas!!! Not for the whole Jesus-the-Savior-was-born aspect, but more for the decorating-pretty-trees-and-buying-presents-and-eating-sweets-and-spending-time-with-family stuff.

So, what better way to secularly welcome Christmas cheer than by baking cookies!!! My friends Talley and Laura came with me to my mother-in-law’s house and we all baked totally-legit Swiss Christmas cookies. Obviously (since I only pretend I’m good at cooking and baking), while everyone else slaved over the hundreds of cookies we baked, I used the time to practice taking pictures with my new camera (as per my new birthday’s resolution that I mentioned in my last post). What, the cookies were done AND we have beautiful pictures. Both are equally important, right? Sort of? Anyway, I would say contributing as both the photographer AND the taste-tester more than accounts for my share of the work. They tasted as good as they look below… yummy!

My favorites are the Brunsli. Half brownie, half cookie, all deliciousness. In case you crazy kids out there want to try baking some of these cookies yourselves, I’m including the recipe. This is a new thing I’ll try to do more since a lot of you have asked me to share more specifics as I tackle my Hausfrau duties. I think it would actually be awesome if anyone was brave enough to try making this and then would send me pics of how it turned out!

Brunsli Recipe
Serves ~50 cookies (go big or go home!)

Ingredients:
• 150 g (5 ounces) sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 250 g (9 ounces) ground almonds
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 pinch of powdered cloves
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 2 fresh eggwhites (about 70 g or 2.5 ounces)
• 100 g (3.5 ounces) bitter chocolate
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons of Kirsch

Directions:
1. Mix sugar, salt, almonds, cinnamon, powdered cloves, cocoa powder and flour in a bowl.
2. Add eggwhites and stir until ingredients are evenly distributed.
3. Cut chocolate in really small pieces, pour hot water over the chocolate, then let rest for about 5 minutes. Pour off all water except about half a tablespoon, stir until even. Now immediately proceed with the next step.
4. Add melted chocolate from the previous step and the kirsch, knead to a soft dough.
5. Roll out dough on a flat surface (it may be slightly covered with sugar), approximately 10 mm (0.4 inches) thick. Put out different shapes and put them on a baking sheet covered with baking paper.
6. Let them rest overnight in a dry place. (the Swiss are darn serious about their cookies being utterly delicious, what can I say?).
7. Bake for about 4 to 6 minutes in the center of the pre-heated oven at 250 °C (480 °F).
8. Let cool completely before serving.

—-

Still on the Christmas theme, Florian and I had kicked off the Christmas season a few weeks ago when we woke up early with excitement and bought our very first Christmas tree together!! You could tell it was our first time planning because, for no reason whatsoever, we went and bought a fake tree. Then when we got home, we realized that neither of actually wanted a crappy plastic one and we both wanted a real one! Oh well, crappy plastic will have to do this year because we were too lazy to go back out and buy a new one (BTW, I’ve realized laziness is a critical aspect of a happy marriage. Some call it compromise, I call it laziness to argue). Here’s our beautiful tree with the beautiful ladies of the household. Don’t judge, it was morning and I was in pajamas with no make-up on.

If you’re not in the Christmas mood by now, or I’ve bored you to death with my long blog, I’m positive watching this video clip will make you feel better and smile.

Turns Out, You Have To Choose and Re-Choose Your Decisions

4 days after I moved to Switzerland, I got word that my dad was back in the emergency room with more heart surgery complications. The news was disjointed but he had fainted and hit his head, had an irregular heart beat, and finally his lungs were filled with fluids. He’d be in the hospital for almost the same amount of time as he was for the surgery. Just 4 days and I was already being reminded how hard it is to be away….

So, I did spent the morning crying and moping. I was a bad daughter for not being there with my family when they needed me! Who did I think I was traipsing around having fun times in Europe while the rest of the family had to bear the responsibilities I was shirking? Then I realized I was throwing myself a pity party and cut it off. My dad and I had had many long conversations about my move, the family growing older, and what we all want out of life. My dad insisted that he did not want to hold his children back in life, that he had worked hard to help us build our own lives and happiness. He explicitly stated that while he loved seeing us and having us closeby, he would be unhappy if we left our lives unfulfilled in order to care for an aging parent. So instead of feeling helpless across the globe, I asked myself what I could do from here to make him happy.

The answer was simple: to make this journey worthwhile. To settle in here, be happy here, and make it so that my life was fulfilled and, therefore, his was too. I decided to venture into Zurich by myself for the first time that morning (which consisted of a slightly-confusing bus ride plus a train ride with a transfer!). I found my way to the offices of the American Women’s Club of Zurich (AWCZ) and stopped in with no real plan other than to introduce myself and see what would happen.  Turned out, the women were so fabulous at the AWCZ that I stayed for hours and attended an afternoon meeting about how to join the philanthropy work they do. By the time I left, I’d already gotten phone numbers, emails, hiking invitations and a happy hour the next day.

I thought my dad would appreciate the action far more than my inaction that morning. I realized it was easy to worry if I’d made the right decision being away from family, if this was a sign… a test… and constantly live in a state of regret and doubt. That’s when I remembered, I have to re-chose living here in Switzerland and start my new life. No more living in between. And day 4 turned out to be a great step forward for my life here that I won’t forget. So, Dad, thanks for the tacit push towards happiness here. I hope this helped to push you towards happiness, too 🙂

Turns Out, You Have To Choose and Re-Choose Your Decisions

4 days after I moved to Switzerland, I got word that my dad was back in the emergency room with more heart surgery complications. The news was disjointed but he had fainted and hit his head, had an irregular heart beat, and finally his lungs were filled with fluids. He’d be in the hospital for almost the same amount of time as he was for the surgery. Just 4 days and I was already being reminded how hard it is to be away….

So, I did spent the morning crying and moping. I was a bad daughter for not being there with my family when they needed me! Who did I think I was traipsing around having fun times in Europe while the rest of the family had to bear the responsibilities I was shirking? Then I realized I was throwing myself a pity party and cut it off. My dad and I had had many long conversations about my move, the family growing older, and what we all want out of life. My dad insisted that he did not want to hold his children back in life, that he had worked hard to help us build our own lives and happiness. He explicitly stated that while he loved seeing us and having us closeby, he would be unhappy if we left our lives unfulfilled in order to care for an aging parent. So instead of feeling helpless across the globe, I asked myself what I could do from here to make him happy.

The answer was simple: to make this journey worthwhile. To settle in here, be happy here, and make it so that my life was fulfilled and, therefore, his was too. I decided to venture into Zurich by myself for the first time that morning (which consisted of a slightly-confusing bus ride plus a train ride with a transfer!). I found my way to the offices of the American Women’s Club of Zurich (AWCZ) and stopped in with no real plan other than to introduce myself and see what would happen.  Turned out, the women were so fabulous at the AWCZ that I stayed for hours and attended an afternoon meeting about how to join the philanthropy work they do. By the time I left, I’d already gotten phone numbers, emails, hiking invitations and a happy hour the next day.

I thought my dad would appreciate the action far more than my inaction that morning. I realized it was easy to worry if I’d made the right decision being away from family, if this was a sign… a test… and constantly live in a state of regret and doubt. That’s when I remembered, I have to re-chose living here in Switzerland and start my new life. No more living in between. And day 4 turned out to be a great step forward for my life here that I won’t forget. So, Dad, thanks for the tacit push towards happiness here. I hope this helped to push you towards happiness, too 🙂

Turns Out, You Have To Choose and Re-Choose Your Decisions

4 days after I moved to Switzerland, I got word that my dad was back in the emergency room with more heart surgery complications. The news was disjointed but he had fainted and hit his head, had an irregular heart beat, and finally his lungs were filled with fluids. He’d be in the hospital for almost the same amount of time as he was for the surgery. Just 4 days and I was already being reminded how hard it is to be away….

So, I did spent the morning crying and moping. I was a bad daughter for not being there with my family when they needed me! Who did I think I was traipsing around having fun times in Europe while the rest of the family had to bear the responsibilities I was shirking? Then I realized I was throwing myself a pity party and cut it off. My dad and I had had many long conversations about my move, the family growing older, and what we all want out of life. My dad insisted that he did not want to hold his children back in life, that he had worked hard to help us build our own lives and happiness. He explicitly stated that while he loved seeing us and having us closeby, he would be unhappy if we left our lives unfulfilled in order to care for an aging parent. So instead of feeling helpless across the globe, I asked myself what I could do from here to make him happy.

The answer was simple: to make this journey worthwhile. To settle in here, be happy here, and make it so that my life was fulfilled and, therefore, his was too. I decided to venture into Zurich by myself for the first time that morning (which consisted of a slightly-confusing bus ride plus a train ride with a transfer!). I found my way to the offices of the American Women’s Club of Zurich (AWCZ) and stopped in with no real plan other than to introduce myself and see what would happen.  Turned out, the women were so fabulous at the AWCZ that I stayed for hours and attended an afternoon meeting about how to join the philanthropy work they do. By the time I left, I’d already gotten phone numbers, emails, hiking invitations and a happy hour the next day.

I thought my dad would appreciate the action far more than my inaction that morning. I realized it was easy to worry if I’d made the right decision being away from family, if this was a sign… a test… and constantly live in a state of regret and doubt. That’s when I remembered, I have to re-chose living here in Switzerland and start my new life. No more living in between. And day 4 turned out to be a great step forward for my life here that I won’t forget. So, Dad, thanks for the tacit push towards happiness here. I hope this helped to push you towards happiness, too 🙂

I already knew my friends are amazingly great…

All of the selfless care, support, and understanding you’ve all provided for me during these last rough few weeks… I just don’t know how to express the gratitude I feel that I have you in my life! (Wow, you have left me speechless and it is hard to silence an Epstein!). In case you haven’t heard, Florian and I had to make the tough decision to postpone our wedding. I’ve also cancelled my summer trip to Asia so that I can spend some quality time with my family at home in NY. Sidenote: Dad is recovering well from the emergency surgery but the process is a bit arduous and will take some time.  Those two major changes make for a laundry list of following uncertainties, including when I will leave my job, when I will move to Switzerland, how I can stay in Switzerland without yet being married to a Swiss citizen, and so on. It’s a lot that we have to figure out together, but Florian has shown the patience of a saint as we go through these tough times together!

I also want to say that Florian and I are keenly aware that all the changes we’ve had to improvise have impacted all of you too L It becomes difficult for you to make and keep plans around us or rely on us because of the uncertainty and we know it’s not easy. In the midst of tragedy, here is where I am left speechless; I have never been more genuinely inspired by the care and commitment each of you has selflessly shown us. You continuously give us your unconditional support and flexibility even when you are negatively impacted and inconvenienced.  You give us space, you call to see how we are, you offer to be a sounding board, and most of all – you just smile and let us know that you love us no matter what. And you really mean all that you offer.

I now know what it’s like to feel unconditionally loved and it inspires me to want to give back to all of you… and to everyone in the world! So THANK YOU for making the difference in my life at a time when I needed you the most. I will never forget it and I will be sure to pay it forward.