January Adventures

I've been a bad blogger lately. I wasn't sure why I've been so tired this last week, until Saturday night when I started feeling feverish. I spent Sunday sleeping on my futon, alternating between putting more layers on and taking them off as the chills and the fevers took turns with my poor little body. But I feel a better today after some tea and toast and broth.

I've been enjoying all the status updates and photos about the blizzard the United States have been battling the past week.  It's easier to enjoy a blizzard when it's 50 degrees here and grass is growing in the cracks in the sidewalk. (I'm not sure I'll ever be able to live in the Midwest during the winter again.)

While you're buried under layers of snow and ice, let me catch you up on some of my recent adventures.

I got a new washing machine. FOR FREE. I'm so excited; hand washing or carrying my laundry for blocks has been getting quite tiring.

My friend Alain joked that my new friend was a Laden. "Osama bin Laden?" he said, laughing. "Non, non, non," I said, shaking my head at him.

But later that night...I heard a strange hissing noise from my kitchen and discovered my pipes were leaking. It was just a little leak, and it was late at night, so I decided to leave it until the morning.  Maybe not the best plan, as I found a large puddle on my kitchen floor the next day.
After I moved most of the contents of my kitchen into my living/dining/bedroom,

  and gave my washing machine a look

my friend Sylviane's neighbor came and fixed my pipes. Yay!  Now I can do laundry, my kitchen floor is clean, and my cupboards are reorganized. And on top of all that, I learned that I have a creepy basement under my apartment and how to turn my water off.  Sarcasm warning: It was just fabulous. 

Also, I got my hair cut! I've been needing a cut for a while, but they're really expensive in France. Then I discovered a salon/school around the corner from my apartment that offers free haircuts. I looked up all the haircutting words, like layers and bangs and "I'm trying to grow my hair out, please don't cut it too short." I like it, but I really can't wait until my hair gets longer. This in-between stage is annoying. Grow little hairs, grow!

You can't really tell here, but I have bangs now.

This post is getting really long, so it will be continued tomorrow. Hope you're having a great day!

Music Monday

I wish you were all here with me. Then when I find interesting photos, songs and other randomness on the interwebz, I could shout, "Come look at this!" and just show you. And then we could go to the patisserie and buy eclairs and eat them walking along the Seine. And after that we could sit in a little cafe with tiny cups of coffee and enjoy my favorite sport: people watching.

Don't you want to come over and play?  I wish you would. I'd even make you crêpes with Nutella and take you to see the Eiffel Tower.

Until then, I'm going to share my fun finds here. Like a lovely new group I discovered on YouTube the other day: Elizabeth & the Catapult. Their music is a little folksy, a little jazzy, and little pop. If you like Ingrid Michaelson or Kate Nash or Matt Nathanson, you'll probably like this band too. 

These are two of my favorite new songs. Try them, you'll like them!

Have you discovered any new music/artists lately? Or do you have a recommendation for an-oldie-but-goodie? Shout it out in the comments.

Fun French Friday: Les Soldes

It's dangerous times in France right now. 

Well, for my bank account at least.

And also for these poor sweaters:

Alas, that's Les Soldes.

France has official, government regulated sales twice a year: in June/July and January/February.

This gives the stores a chance to move out old merchandise and show off the new spring collections currently appearing in stores.

And me? Well, I want lots of pretty things. Unfortunately, most of France's sale prices are still a little too pricey for my budget. I'm waiting until the very end, when things get down to 70% off.  The racks will probably look a little like Charlotte Russe's clearance racks then...cheap, but mostly a little strange.  I'm working on the idea of investing in my closet and buying more expensive, quality pieces that I'll wear again and again, but I still have a relatively cheap price point for most items.

Also, I don't think I'm really a fan of this system of sales. Although French stores can have promotions at other times, the reductions aren't as steep.  I like the freedom of knowing that any time I walk into a Kohl's in the United States, they will have a clearance rack for me to browse through. It's a lot of pressure to know that if I don't buy things on sale right now, I'll have to wait for June to get really good prices again. But it is nice to know there is a lot less "pricing clothes higher, just to put them on sale" like I see so often with certain retailers at home.  I know other countries, like Britain, have a similar sales system.

What do you think? Good idea or no?

I'm here.

This is not Brie. But it is giant cheese.
This quarter of it was bigger than my head.

Things that have ended up on my laptop this week:  Brie and Nutella.

I'm so in France.

Sometimes I just remember it, and it makes me smile.

Girl with Too Much Free Time

{In case you were wondering how I amuse myself

 so far away from family and friends.}

Sometimes I open up Photo Booth and notice that the yellow scarf and the pearl earring that I have on makes me feel a little...Dutch, maybe?

So I spend the rest of the evening trying to recreate Girl with a Pearl Earring.

{This painting belongs to Jan Vermeer, not me.}

Unfortunately, my apartment and my mac don't have Vermeer-quality lighting.

But it still amused me for quite some time.

Then I wondered what the painting would have looked like if that mystery model had a twin:

{A conjoined twin, perhaps?}

Or if she had run into another artist, rather than Vermeer:

{Say Picasso...}

{...or Andy W.}

Or, if she went a different direction with the scarf:

{Vogue Hands}

Or if watching too many hours of America's Next Top Model had convinced her that a long neck and emotional eyes make her a model:

Don't you wish you were here, so you could hang out with me and my awesome scarf?

P.S. Major props go out to Erin, my fabulous cousin and the purchaser/gifter of this scarf. Bet she thought it was just going to keep me warm and fashionable.  Little did she realize its entertainment value...guys? Anybody still here?  Oh, it's just me who is really entertained by all this ridiculousness?

Good Days

Lately, my Good Days are made of:

• Discovering the ridiculous videos my siblings recorded on my computer before I left home,
• People telling me my French has improved (two in the last three days!),
• Chocolate Mousse for school dessert,
• All my dishes on the clean side of the sink (okay, not yet, but I'm about to wash them...really I am),
• Learning how to edit clips in iMovie (now I want a camcorder!),
• Making plans to hang out with friends, and
• My students learning AND having fun.

What's making your days good lately?

Back in France

Sorry for the radio silence. I've been enjoying two wonderful weeks home with my family and friends. And since those are most of the people who read this blog, I didn't feel too bad about just savoring my time at home.

It was wonderful: Christmas cookies, tree decorating, snuggling on the couch, Just Dance 2 marathons, Lego Rock band, carols, dishes, all the clothes I've been missing, shopping and so many other great moments.

But yesterday I had to make the long trek back to France. A friend of mine in college used to do happies and crappies on her blog, and all day I kept thinking of my own. Traveling is always a little stressful, but there are always good things too:

Happy: Spending two weeks with my family and friends.
Crappy: Spending only two weeks with my family and friends.

Happy: Being in the first group of people sent to a new security line in the Chicago airport. Hello, no wait!!

Crappy: Lugging my broken suitcase through the Chicago airport and the Paris metro. I wanted wheels.

Happy: The mom next to me in the Chicago airport reading "Anne of Green Gables" to her kids.

Crappy: The French man who sat in my seat on the airplane, then acted like it was all my fault.  Also, United's Economy Plus seating. I'm pretty sure they just squished the other seats together to give more leg room to the people willing to pay $97 extra. My legs did not appreciate it.

Happy: Two New Years! I celebrated Paris' midnight in Chicago with my family and another one over the Atlantic ocean!

Happy: Free transportation in the Ile-de-France for New Year's Day! No 10 plus euros to get from the airport to the train station in Paris.

Crappy: I was careful not to fly in on a Sunday, because the busses don't run on Sundays in my small town...however, they also don't run on holidays...like New Years Day. Stranded at the train station in the spitting rain? Not so much fun.

Happy: The women who gave me a ride home. Nice to know there are still nice strangers in the world.

Crappy: Returning to my really cold apartment.

Happy: Sliding my feet into my brand new Muk-Luk slippers to keep them warm.

I miss you all already!