Jardin des plantes

30 January 2013

( Zara Édition Limitée T-Shirt, MOA heeled boots, Black Poppy... )

I'm learning to love Wednesdays. The only reason being that it's the "short day" of school here in France, and I finish my classes at 11am each week. Today was absolutely gorgeous: mid-60's, sunny, a little breeze, and such a great break from the cold and rain that hasn't seemed to let up since November. So when I woke up this morning, I felt like it was a perfect day to bring my camera with me and wear the sunshine-y yellow boots I bought a while back. Eating lunch with friends, walking through the beautiful "Jardin des Plantes" garden, and finishing the day off with a cup of chai tea has put me in an am-aaaa-zing mood!

Il Neige

29 January 2013

(Zara Trafaluc Pants in Crimson, Pimkie Felt Coat, H&M...)

It's January--finally. The new year is here! Actually, the new year has been here for a while, and it's now nearing the start of February. Yesterday marked my 5th month in France, and I still can't wrap my head around the concept of how quickly the time is going by. It's running past me and I can't do a thing about it. The only reason I could possibly be excited for the new month to roll around? That would be because of the fact the I get my monthly exchange allowance on the 1st, which means 70 more euros I can drop in the the sad and empty pit that is my shopping fund.
My last purchase was the pair of pantalons above, that I snagged at Zara-France (which is a lot different than the regular Zara, I might add) during the early morning New-Year's sales. I'd been itching for some legwear in a winter-y deep red ever since the start of autumn, when they would have went perfectly with some sheer blouses that are much too sheer to wear now, in the unforgiving winter wind.  But of course, I couldn't find the perfect pair anywhere during that time of year, as every store seemed to still be stuck on shorts and springtime looking patterns. They were just perfect for this trip, though, and happened to look great against the bright white snow. There is even enough of a stretch in the legs-which I love-to be able to roll them up and over pair of heeled boots, like I did here. And knowing now how icy snow actually is, I would have picked a flatter pair of shoes. 

This past weekend of the 26 and 27, I spent in the beautiful town of Luchon. This little area is ski-oriented, and most of the town and citizens live next to or not far from the mini ski resort in the center of the city. I didn't do any actual skiing, but how exhausted I looked after running around like a kid in the snow all day might have said otherwise. I did get the opportunity for some beautiful photos of the landscape, which was so airbrushed and flawless I could have sworn it had been swiped out of a movie. This was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable weekends I've had in a month or two. It was such a treat to sleep late and wake up to the sun in the window, and smell the clean air and fresh coffee in the kitchen.
At first I wasn't too thrilled when I was told I'd be going away for the weekend--my Rotary counsellor sprung that surprise on me only two days before we were supposed to leave. I'd spent a week or so with him over Christmas break when I was stuck house-hopping with no host family, and it wasn't exactly the highlight of my winter vacation. I was less than excited when I heard that I'd be in a tiny town trapped with him again, even if it was just for a weekend. Luckily, one of my good friends who is here from Mexico got to come with me, and it turned out to be much more of a good time than I expected.
Saturday began with a late morning and opening my bedroom window to a field full of snow. Needless to say, I began the weekend with a smile on my face. It felt so nice to be able to take a long shower, cuddle up in warm clothes, and then sit down to breakfast with a friend. I still haven't got over the typical breakfast here in France; there are always several types of sweet breads to choose from, homemade jam, honey, rich teas, and any type of fruit you could ask for. (Not to mention the fresh crepes with sweet berries and Nutella...) After breakfast, my Mexican friend took our time getting dressed, and then headed out for a walk up to the mountains while the others went skiing. Now, I thought that the snow that reached up to my ankles was mind blowing. When I saw the amount of snow that covered the top of the mountain, I was in pure shock. It was exactly like all of the Christmas movies I'd seen, with snow everywhere I turned. It even started snowing for an hour or two, and that's when the inner-ten-year-old in me came out, and I spent the rest of my late morning and afternoon coming creepily-close to frostbite and playing in the snow.  

Blanche

24 Novembre 2012

With winter ready to spring out from around the corner, it has really put me in the holiday spirit! I'm ready for cozy sweaters, warm cats, and hot tea while curled up with a good book. But winter weather also means it's the time of year where I'm continue to tease myself with pretty things that are pretty out of my price range. (Those things include, but definitely aren't limited to: Chloé wedges, Zoe & Morgan rings, Free People dresses...)

There's just something so special about dressing up in pastel pinks and whites and going for a walk while the air is cold, blue, and crisp at the end of the year. I'm even more excited for the snow that (hopefully!) will fall by Christmas time, going by what friends here have told me. The thought of having a real "White Christmas" brings the biggest smile to my face, because I can't help imagining fresh footprints on the silky snow while I run around in a trench coat and knit hat like a little girl! But in reality, that trench coat might be replaced by several messily layered sweaters, and that knit hat might just be knitted by me, given that I'm still on the budget of a broke exchange student when the new year comes around. But how can you not spend money in France? Now that I think about it, it might just be people like me who have this problem, people who, no matter how many soft and fuzzy sweaters they buy, still see something in the window display that they talk themselves into buying. I guess that's just the "magic" of the winter time! On a different note, the only thing I want for Christmas is a Pumpkin-Spice latte from Starbucks. I think I'm living proof that there's such a thing as "Starbucks-withdrawl-syndrome."

Thank(gosh I didn't burn the house down)sgiving

24 Novembre 2012

Thanksgiving was exactly two days ago, and in an attempt to save myself a day of homesickness, I decided to show a little part of Thanksgiving to my host family! Since I definitely don't know how to make (nor would I touch one) turkey, I went for the next-best thing--pumpkin pie! 

Little did I know what I thought would take an hour and a half max turned into 3 hours in the kitchen figuring out how to purée a pumpkin. Funny thing about France: they don't have much in cans. I searched just about everywhere before I realized that it was impossible to find a can of American-style canned pumpkin, preservatives and all. I finally realized on my third-or-so trip down the baking isle that I was going to have to do it the old fashioned way, with an actual pumpkin. So I made my way to the checkout with my pumpkin and pizza-dough in hand. Why pizza-dough, you ask? Because pre-made pie shells seems to be non-existent here, too. 

I ended up chopping up the ridiculously huge pumpkin into ridiculously small pieces and throwing them into the food processor. Hoping that it would improve the taste a little, I rolled the pizza dough in cinnamon and sugar. It didn't help. At all. After I finally mixed everything together, I set the disgusting looking thing in the oven. When it was all finished baking, it looked a lot better than I'd hoped! Emphasis on looked, because how it tasted was a whole different thing on it's own.  

The river

Kira "Flock" dress - (...)

4 Novembre 2012

It's strange to go from never blogging/writing about what I'm up to, to having done just that the past three days. But a lot has been happening, and it feels pretty darn good to be able to put the good things out there---but I can't forget about the crappy things, either.

I've been one of the lucky exchange students who's wound up with an awful host family. It's hard to see how great things are going for your friends with their host moms, dads, brothers or sisters, just because they had the luck of the draw. At the beginning (and I mean beginning as in the first week with them), things were alright. I got the vibe that they were a little different, but I didn't let that get in the way of me making an effort to try and get to know and communicate with them. Let's fast-forward two months later, where things have now gotten so bad that I'm changing host families two months early. Let me just make a little check-list of some of the reasons why I'm changing: 

• They told me that it was "a stupid idea" for me to come to France not knowing French (learning a language is the whole point of this exchange program)
• They refuse to take me anywhere (I'm talking a five minute drive to the post office to pick up a 50lbs box, when they both weren't preoccupied)
• The dad has picked up the fun little habit of yelling at me (for stupid reasons, like me asking his wife a question instead of him)
• They act like it's such a hassle to talk slowly/explain to me in French, but they act like it's my fault when I have no clue what they're saying
• They told me to my face that it was a mistake for me to come to France, and that I'm failing as an exchange student

Sometimes I cant figure out how I was able to spend 2 months with these people before politely insisting that I needed to change families ASAP. It took a little while, but I'm moving to my new family's house next week. 

Now more of a less-heavy subject; there's so much to do in this city (and so much to buy...)! The river that runs through Toulouse is easily now one of my favorite places, not only because it's beautiful, but because it's a great atmosphere to be in to take a minute and enjoy everything around me. It's a usual thing now to dress up and go around town with one of my exchange friends just to take pictures. We both appreciate things that look lovely, and maybe that's why we get along so well. A down-side of me changing families is that I'm moving clear across town, so it won't be as easy to call each other up and meet wherever, whenever, when we feel like it. 

It's been raining since 9 in the morning, and now at about 6 in the evening, I don't think it's going to be letting up anytime soon. But I have tea to drink, a book to read, music to listen to... and a few suitcases I need to re-pack to swap families--uhg.