Reboot, Refreshed.

Bonjour blogsphere!

Ah. Change is in the air for this chickie. :-) I've just come back from a fabulous visit to the northeast of the US, and feel refreshed and ready for a reboot! Today marks a turning point for me- I have a new job (within the same tech company, but with an entirely new team) which has the benefits of being A) European (meaning no more conference calls at 11 pm and crazy working hours), B) Strategy/Consulting related (meaning no more battling with various data systems or working with massive amounts of data), and C) Part of Sales/Business Development (an area which my company is expanding and investing in, which gives me much more job security). Possibly the best part of my new job is that with normal working hours, I can get myself onto a regular schedule and start on a work-out routine which will enable me to shed all of this excess weight I've gained over the past 8 years. It's also a relief to be going back to the kind of work I've previously enjoyed in my first position within my company (as opposed to the data-driven reporting I've been doing the last year and a half thanks to a company reorg). Part of this reboot will hopefully see me blogging more regularly as well, as I also want to develop a better work-life balance, and that means disconnecting from my job and doing other things!

Lapin a la Mode Tip du Jour

Summer Scrubbers by Lapin a la Mode on Polyvore.com

With the sun's rays beaming down on us and regardless of the unending skin cancer warnings, most of us girls will probably work on achieving a healthy bronze glow. A little known fact- just like when self-tanning, you will develop color more quickly and evenly when you have exfoliated before sunbathing. My personal favorite body exfoliators are the Sephora line of Gommage Corps (Coconut is my summer choice as it is absolutely delicious in smell) or Clinique's Sparkle Skin. I also like the Fat Girl Scrub from Bliss, because it helps to promote circulation in the massage process, which helps to reduce the appearance of the dreaded cellulite. After exfoliating, don't forget your sunblock- the worst sun damage to our skin is a result of sunburns and new skin is more susceptible to burning!

Click of French Culture

For those of you who know me well, you know that I do not drink "flat" water. I just have never liked it, unless it has a plethora of ice cubes and from the town I grew up in. (It is also a fact that the water from my hometown is apparently some of the best tasting water in the US. Maybe this has mentally blocked my ability to drink tap water from anywhere else?) My beverage of choice, however, is sparkling water, which most Europeans adore! (They even had free sparkling water on tap in the German offices of my company) France's most iconic sparkling water is of course Perrier. The water itself is naturally carbonated and comes from a spring in Vergeze. The spring has been used as a spa since Roman times (legend has it that Hannibal and his army found the drinking water to be quite refreshing), but it was an Englishman who bought the spring around 1900. In order to get a return on his investment, he first started selling the sparkling water to the British army in India. Once the British Colonies became big patrons, he then went on to conquer the English market at a time when anything French was considered super chic. So, ironically, it was the English who first became addicted to the bubbly beverage in the pretty green bottles. Today, Perrier is now owned by Nestle and has a few different varieties. The normal Perrier still contains the same level of carbonation of the original water in Vergeze, while Eau de Perrier is lighter with less carbonation. For more on the story of Perrier (and some of the other flavors), click here.

All right, it is the birthday of my lovely husband (and most devoted reader), so I must run! Enjoy the sunshine!

A bientot!

Liz Anne