skypey with billy

Quote of the night, in recounting the good and delicious at my family's Thanksgiving feast this year:

"The turkey was good, but it's not about the turkey! It's just the symbol of the Pilgrims."

AMERICA!

i think i ate your chocolate squirrel.

Sorry to disappoint, Liza–this post title isn't to say that we saw any chocolate squirrels–we weren't that lucky–although Lena and I did pass enough chocolate to feed a hungry gaggle of mammoths – and – we did see squirrel memorabilia. Good times, good times.

Here's the photo evidence of the awesome weekend in France's attic. I've decided Brussels is top 2 of my favorite cities visited while here in Europe–I think I'd still place Prague as #1–but I HIGHLY recommend study-abroaders and Eurotripers alike to visit!!

Lenny & I shortly after being reunited!

In front of ... well, this is the way to the Christmas market!

Genuis. This shop had some of the most beautiful (& creative) chocolates I've seen.

In front of a governmental building, waffle in hand.

The goat cheese-apple-honey sandwich I can't stop raving about!


My yellow scarf & gloves combo from Faye blends in with the 'camion' ... in case you can't tell, that's a big thumbs up for the Belgium waffle!

Beautiful...the roofline, of course..

Free samples in every corner of the store??? Len & I 'profited' and tried em all here!

Merry Christmas! Without any 'sanksgeeveeng over here, everyone's been ready for the most wonderful time of the year since they brought out their winter parkas with the first sign of cold. Brussels was no exception, Christmas lights & spirit were a plenty! Pictured with my new hat =)

culturalisms

I love French culture. I JUST discovered this, you ask? Well, no. I've known it secretly all my life. The more and more I wander these zig-zagged streets of Aix-en-Provence I continually realize how glad I am to have had this experience here. As corny as it sounds, I hope this is only my beginning with French culture...who knows, hopefully I'll be lucky enough to come back and travel more in the land I currently call home :) Even on a day like today, cold to the bone–apparently that exists in the south of France, be warned, future AUCPers–I find myself smiling at my life. And this weekend–where I was lucky enough to have some quality time with my lovely roomie Lena–in Brussels, the annex of France, where I could not help but just eat it all up! Literally–it was hysterical. Down to my favorite cookie store in Aix–La Cure Gourmande–Brussels is exactly the same as France. No, it's really not (haha minimization, for those of my fellow classmates who've paid attention the past 2 Mondays in FCP...), but it was simply funny seeing all the similarities with it's southern neighbor. With every corner we turned as we wandered around Saturday–and happened to stumble upon every major governmental building, Christmas market, and chocolate plaza magically with each corner–there were more and more copies of stores & products as what I see in France. It was great!! Things I have not found in France, that obviously Brussels dominates: 1) Lena. it was so great to be reunited with my Copenhagen-obsessed roomie. And thank goodness I chose the south of France over northern Europe, she went home to a foot of snow! 2) Belgium Waffles. Much like the crêpe stands and trucks on every other corner in Aix, there was a plethora of waffle trucks. We tried one & were pleased to say the least. 3) a goat cheese, apple, honey, thyme sandwich. although i only had half along with a cup of carrot soup for lunch Saturday, I can guarantee you that it was the best sandwich I've tasted in Europe. Momma–we are definitely adding this to the repertoire upon my return! A good jar of honey, some goat cheese, and apple slices, and we're good to go. YUM.

Magically, there's less than 3 weeks left. 20 days until I leave France. 20 days until I'm home. 20 days until study abroad is over. 20 days until I kick in Kanye's Workout Plan. 20 days until I say goodbye to my cooler-than-cool host family....It's a lot to think about! I said this to my parents today–I'm beyond homesick now. I've got too much to worry about with school to get wrapped up in missing home, because before I know it, I'm there. Thanksgiving was really tough, I wanted to jump into my computer through skype just to be there. But now, I know that I don't have many more 'mistral' winds to endure on the walk to school and that soon enough it'll be the lake effect wind hitting my face. It's really a time of mixed feelings, but I'm too excited to see my family and be at home to get caught up in being too sentimental about leaving France. I'll always have France, the lovely city of Aix, and my host family loves to travel so hopefully they'll come over to my side of the pond soon. There's so much goodness in the future, I can't but help but feel thankful for all that I've been blessed with continually throughout my life. The little things..those don't matter when you have a great family & a place that you're itching to return to–from France, one of the most fantastic places in the world. Yep, I've got it good.

Happy almost December!!
xoxox, c

classic MM

"so the FCC won't let me be
let me be me, so let me see
they try to shut me down on MTV
but it feels so empty without me"

"under your skin like a splinter
the center of attention, back for the winter"

"no i'm not the first king of controversy
i am the worst thing since elvis presley"

8 mile's on my list of 'movies to rewatch' once i get home, it's powerful!

dobby

I've always known I liked the little elf. Well, tonight, my memory's been refreshed on why he's my favorite Harry Potter character.

Tonight was the premier of Harry Potter in the French land, so naturally, being literally surrounded by Harry Potter fanatics most of the time, I myself was getting really excited to see the latest installment, even though I haven't read the books (gasp!) Anyway, I absolutely loved seeing the movie tonight, from the 'rigolo' translations in the French subtitles below the screen, to the appearances of my other favorite character, Snape, and to knowing that my bestest friend was in the land of Harry Potter at the very same moment that I was seeing it all take place.

Despite the fact that I saw the movie in English, surrounding by equally-eager 20-something American fans, somehow seeing a movie in 'Renoir' here in France always seems more sophisticated than any movies I've seen back home. I guess that's the French effect, right? Depending, I might get really brave and go see the movie in French, get the real French effect. How could they possibly translate the uniqueness of Dobby's voice though?! We shall see.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I hope you all have the best celebration. Count your blessings and smile for all the lovely people by which you're surrounded, that's what I'll be doing. : )

XOXO, c

PS--how cute was it when he said "Dobby is a free elf ... Dobby came to save Harry Potter and his friends" !!

fight the feeling

Besides the post title coming from a song (Ides of March, anyone?), it's actually something I'm going through right now. Not to sound too melodramatic, but I'd have to say the biggest challenge I've had to deal with is homesickness.

I'm coming off a great, great weekend in charming, Christmas-fied Aix-en-Provence with one of the most beautiful people in the world, my Momma. I couldn't have had more fun walking around the French city I call my home-away-from-home. Being with her for four happy days made me see Aix like I was seeing it for the first time: together, we'd sit in cafés and boulangeries, noticing all the small things that I typically overlook on my fast-paced walks back and forth between home and school. When the weather was pouty and the jet-lag kicked in, we'd retreat to our clean and cozy hotel room, where we slept in twin beds 'a côté de' each other and attempt to watch 30 Rock, Glee, and Parenthood on Megavideo and Itunes. We'd go out to restaurants I usually would overlook and discover why the two Georges–Castanza and Steinbrenner on Seinfeld– loved calzones so much. Seeing the joy reflecting in her eyes as she discovered Aix gave me inspiration and more joy than I could adequately put into words.

Now that she's safe and sound back at home, probably tucked in getting ready to watch "Parenthood" tonight, I have to get back to the real world of final papers, interviews, and the like. It was a dream to get to show off my beloved Aix-en-Provence this weekend, but now I'm trying to snap myself out of the homesick feeling that started to rise about 24 hours ago as I went to bed before my mom left before the sunrise this morning. It's tough knowing that my family's going to have their first Thanksgiving celebration, "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" and all, just like normal while I'm away.

I'm so fortunate to have had the opportunity to grow and explore abroad. I've learned so many things here, love so many things here, and will miss them, too, but nonetheless, I can't wait to go home. I'm living in the moment for now (which is very French, in case you didn't know!), but my American spirit can't help but imagine the joyous scene O'Hare will be in 4 short weeks–who knew I'd ever be excited to go to ORD?!

Happy Thanksgiving friends, make sure to put extra gravy on your rice potatoes for me:)

xoxo, c

What's up Prague, what's up?

Sir Mix-a-Lot reference, in case you're obsessed like my Pop and I–you're welcome.

I loved Prague. I didn't really know what to expect in going, other than knowing it's one of the worst places for pickpockets and that none of my parents had ever been. Besides that, I confusedly knew of their different currency used in the Czech Republic, which would completely mess with our brains all weekend as we tried to calculate conversion rates for this supposed "cheap" place–which was seemingly contradictory to the large numbers of bills, ect–a sandwhich is around 75 crowns, for example. The last thing that I knew is that I'm 25% Czech, which, for a girl who's more of a mutt than most dogs at the pound, is saying something. This was a close as I was going to get to Ali's "trip to the homeland" in going to her family's origins in Italia. I was pumped.

We stayed in Old Town in a lovely, penny-cheap, apartment with high ceilings and an Annie-like bedroom, where we each had comfy twin beds all in a row. We made dinner for ourselves on Saturday night–wait, that was me who cooked! Even if it was chicken noodle soup and a simple baguette & cheese "apéritif," it was pretty good, if I do say so myself.

We were in walking distance to virtually everything all weekend, including the 5 story night club, "the biggest dance club in Central Europe," where Sage and I explored the...interesting...choices in dance halls. We had the most fun observing the chillhouse on the top floor, which vaguely resembled the Bandersnatch (AH! I miss Denison!), where girls wearing flannel and baggy jeans–big contrast to the regular skanky-Saturday-night-dress code in the rest of the club–were doing this sort of freestyle meets hip hop meets interpretive dance-off; it was a great way for us to wind down after 4 other floors of bass pumping.

Besides that, the girls took down the city during both days we were there by doing lots of sightseeing, and "en fait," no shopping! Prague isn't known for their shopping, but it's quite impressed that we walked away from the city without stumbling upon the shopping district! It's fair to say that I fell in love with Old Town Market in Prague; I could have stayed their all day, just watching and learning about the history just in that little part of town. It was the first sight we saw–the tower, the Harry Potter look-alike other tower, and of course, my fascination, the little stands in the middle of the square, each boasting its own delicious scent. I could have sat there forever just taking in all that's going around me–I've never seen so many tourist groups in one place–all the while, observing the stunning architecture all around me. And manging, un peu ;)

Here's a collection of shots from the weekend. I highly recommend to anyone who studies abroad to make the effort to go there; coming from a Frenchie, it was great to get out and see Eastern Europe and how it, too, is a fairy tale land in the name!

On top of the tower (sorry! I was an ignorant tourist and don't know the name of it) overlooking the castle (again, I was only there for the weekend!), which is the largest castle in the world!

Trdelnik, or otherwise known as "that thing!" between Sage and I. We tried this on the way out of town, it's basically doughy on the inside, warm with a crunch on the outside, and dipped & rolled in sugar. Trust me, you've got to try it if you go!

Looking down on Old Town Square; this is where I'd spend afternoons pondering if I was a study-abroader in Praha.

Lunch! The pretzels were too good-looking to resist. Thank goodness Jamie loves food like I do!

The Harry Potter Castle, I could stare at it for hours!

Sage and I, Denison's finest!

A close up on the castle. With the afternoon sun hitting it just so, it was even more beautiful up-close and personal.


Now the clock's just struck midnight (Cinderella bedtime for me!), which means TOMORROW my momma will be with me!!!

peace, love, and croissants,
c

A TAAAABBLE!

Literally every night at home since I've been in France, I've heard this phrase. A Table = Dinner time! So, of course it's a "phrase clé" in my book. Normally, this shout out is given by my humble host mom, as her one moment "à voix forte" per night. Then, when we're all around the table, it's my host sisters who take over with the loud voices and "blagues," or the senseless (funny) banter that goes on throughout and after the whole meal.

Tonight, it seemed like everybody got in their moment of goofiness into the meal. Before, "comme normale," Alix was wrestling with someone, and then she pressed everyone to get to the table so she could get to bed at a decent time. Morgane and Auriane were singing a fair bit and going back and forth (all in good humor), and even my host parents got in on the jokes. Axel and I laughed as we tried to see how well Elisabeth's hearing works when she's upstairs–I didn't quite get every single word he said, and wasn't about to spoil a good laugh for a direct translation, but I'm pretty sure that the idea of "selective hearing" exists in France just the same.

As I near the 30 day mark for the rest of my "séjour" here in beautiful, beautiful France, I've started to reflect more and more about everything around me, including what I'm learning about myself. At the same time as I've been fairly profoud with these thoughts, it's the "dégustation" of Aixoise foods which is most pressing for me right now. With only a month left, it's become a top priority of mine–and Kiely, who is literally my food soul mate through and through–to try nearly every croissant in town, among other bready items. Food here is such a rich, and FUN!, part of life that there's no reason not to enjoy it here, especially when I know I won't be able to eat these favorite foods of mine day by day back in the States.

Cheers to my mommy coming this weekend to see the deliciousness herself! I can't WAIT!

xoxo,
c

guillemets

I have three simple quotes that have struck me tonight, all from different sources. Take them for what you will, I find them to be charming and inspirational!

"I will never abandon printed media whilst recognizing it could abandon me first" -Pop
"I couldn't be any happier" - Billy
"It was a morsel of perfection." -Julia Child

And from that, I will find everything I might ever need in life: passion for print media, happiness, and wonderful, wonderful food.

Smiles and croissants,

c

it's the most wonderful time of the year

That is, here at AUCP!

It seems like with each new day, there's another parent/boyfriend/friend visiting one of my classmates. Luck enough for me, I can say I've already seen my Pops and my Momma will soon be on her way, too! I can't wait to show off AIX, my host family, and my lovely lovely friends here when she comes. It's going to be GREAT!

Here's a list of things I've got to look forward to:
--My Momma will be here in 10 days.
--I'm going to Prague & Brussels within the next 3 weeks.
--My quest to try more and more foods in Aix is going well. Today I tried a quiche from the tighest little luncherie that ever exists. In order for us to order, we had to move in and out of the shop multiple times to allow the patrons to pass in and out, who by the way apparently all had reservations to dine in–with hardly a dozen spots in the dining area, we were gonna have to take it to go. Donc, Ali & I ate along the fountain, despite the seemingly-freezing temps. At 2.10 for arguably one of the best légume quiches I've ever had, I'll deal with the tight space inside to taste it again!
--I'm over halfway done with my Translation final paper! I think I made a good choice translating "Confessions of a Shopaholic." Only slightly a reflection of myself, it was a fun book I just finished (on my Nook!), and I'm attempting to convey its fun spirit into the French language!
--Thursday we have off because it's armistice day, so Sage, Elodie & I are planning on going to Marseille to try Bouillabaisse. Knock that off the 'to eat' list!
--Thanksgiving & Christmas are SOON! So sad I won't be at home for the annual viewing of "Planes, Trains, & Automobiles" on turkey day, nor to be missing that special, special holiday with my fam, buttttt at least I will be home for the holidays in the greatest city ever–CHICAGO! So many things to look forward to & to be thankful for, don't you agree? :)


<3s and smiles,
c

food for thought

Since Jean Michel, the head professor, who we all seem to idolize and day dream about at the same time, loves to interject "food for thought" and other little English phrases into daily class (which seem so much cuter with a French accent, n'est-ce pas?), I thought it'd be a good title for this food post.

Word is spreading among AUCPers that I am a major foodie. It's a constant topic of conversation, and more and more of my fellow classmates agree that it's only appropriate that we continue to taste test and experiment as much as we can in our 6 weeks that rest. When in Rome, right? Waistline worries aside, we're ready to taste test bakeries for breakfast out at the end of the week with Kiely (and Abby is to join us soon!) and check out the previously-ignored petit restaurants, cafés, and "snacks" within walking distance of our American Center bubble. I myself have said I WILL find the best coffee, teas, croissants, crêpes, vegetables, navettes, bagels ect ect around! I have my opinions so far, but there's plenty more out there to try!

Here's a sample of the week's best selections:
An American breakfast prepared by Alix earlier this week, it was a great little bit of nostalgia to have eggs & toast!

My lunchs this week: salad w/ tomatoes, grapes, and baguette & cheese sandwiches. I found a really good, parmesean-like cheese at the market Tuesday morning and it made my tummy smile all week!

A crêpe tree, or something like it. Chelsea and Kayla were lovely company for a Friday afternoon post-exams celebration. Accompaning the hot crêpes were nutella, apple butter, dark chocolate spreads and banana, pear, and warmed apple inserts, and whipped cream to top off our "make your own" experience. "Mix and match-y" definitely came into play here as we experimented for the best combinations! Good choice, girls.

The Mississipp-bound to be one of my favorites!

And dessert afterwards–for weeks I've resisted the divine-looking Americana desserts at Bagel Story, but for an afternoon of studying, I think sharing the NY Original Cheesecake (so they say) with berries on top was a good choice. Two spoons rationalizes any decision, right?


Gros Bisous,
c

it's all about the applesauce.

My running joke with my host family, last name Mott, is that they should be applesauce heirs at this point. Every night after dinner, my host mom kindly lays out a selection of yogurts (vive Activia! haha LIZA) & sauces (we have raspberry and peach varieties), but alas, Mott's doesn't exist over here. Tant pis.

Anyways, to present yall the lovely family with whom I'm lucky to be spending the semester with, I have some pictures from this weekend's 'grande fête,' which rang in my host mom's 50th birthday!

My host mom and I, isn't she pretty here on her big day?!

With my lovely oldest host sister, Morgane, and Etienne, a family friend of my host family.

Alix-the goof of the family! We have a lot of fun together.

Alix showing Auriane, my youngest host sister, some love, how cute.

And finally, my host parents, Axel and Elisabeth, up in the air, literally, as the guests lifted them both up in the air on chairs. French party tradition? Not sure, but it was cute!


I might also add, to prove my host family's awesomeness, I just spent the evening watching the Lion King, in french, with two of my host sisters, and none other than our very own 'Roi Lion,' Simba, one of my host cats. And yes, I did just call him that. Alix reenacted the bapism scene of Simba as it played on the screen, with Auriane and I singing along, in our respective languages, the words to Elton's beautiful tunes. It was quite a snuggle scene, I won't be forgetting it soon.

Hakuna Matata,
c

empowering.

Hi, blog friends!

Coming off a few sun-shiny, stress-free days in Aix, I find it most appropriate to post an uplifting and energetic post. Here's my simple, happy list of things that keep my spirits high while as I continue along in my world of French-ness.

--Running. This goes along with the next thing on my list, but it's been so great having the time–and nice enough weather–that I can get out and pound the pavement. My bro' Billy is, as always, such an inspiration–wishing him & the HC XC team the best of luck at state this week!!
--Less homework. While I understand it's importance, I'm like any other student in that I'd rather have my afternoons free to tea-taste with sweet girls like Chelsea than to have to put myself in a cell to huncker down for hours of 'travail.' Gross!
--French bread. I loved Italy, don't get me wrong, but my croissant and café from Paul this morning lived up to the name–the chain 'boulangerie,' with shops all over France, even at the Louvre, is the Puryicard of bakeries (Jamie, I hope you're reading this!!)
--Translation. Since I haven't had as much work to do, I've been able to get a little ahead with my term project for 'mon cours de traduction,' in which we get to choose a work in English and translate. 10 pages, nonetheless, but I'm trying to get a headstart for now. I'm translating "Confessions of a Shopaholic," which I am about to finish reading anyways, so I'm having a good time with it.
--Watching Lion King, in French, with my host sisters, and most importantly, Le Roi Lion himself, our very own pet cat, Simba, who graced us with his precense as we watched the story of his life. Absolutely hilarious! We had quite some fun singing the songs together, me in English and the girls in French, quite the harmony, I must say!

That's all, folks! (sorry, I know I'm not Porky Pig!)

XOXOXO, c