ba ba balloon

So I wasn't too happy with any of my photos, but it was still a fun afternoon!

music for your Monday

So this is Delta Spirit singing "Trashcan" and my favorite song of theirs- "People C'mon." In San Francisco. On a trolley.

YES.

tomorrow

weather permitting, my friend Sophie and I are going on a photo shoot. Yay! This is us dancing at Versailles last year.



We are survivors of French class with the dreaded Naima. Who hated us.

"Sof-EEEeeee!" she would shriek. "Quelle heure est-il?"

To which Sophie would reply- "uhhh, ummm, ehh... je ne comprends pas."

"Cork-naaaay! (Insert undeterminable French)??"

And I replied- "Je ne sais pas, no parlez francais."

Which really got Naima's blood boiling.

Aaah, to be young and in Paris.

Sophie and I also trekked to London together, dancing in sweaty basement bars, eating bad fish and chips from street vendors, and walking around Hyde park to the Beatles playing on our ipods (cliche, I know, but fun none the less). We went to Morocco and rode camels. We named our stomachs because they clearly had a mind of their own.

We jumped on the metro as the doors were closing to ditch our friends to go make crepes. We attempted to sneak food past the concierge under our jackets. And we giggle like little girls.

Tomorrow is going to be a good day.

baby, it's cold outside

It's been so warm here in California this fall that it's hard to believe it's November.

Except for today. Today I walked outside and turned right back around to grab my jacket. Granted, it was in the sixties, but there was a definite wind chill. Brrr...

So this photo. I love this photo. From the left is my grandma Jean, grandpa Ernest, grandpa's sister-in-law Dorothy, his brother Don, and at the bottom is my grandma's sister, Margaret.

Don't you love everything about my Auntie Margaret in this photo?

First of all, she's beautiful. And then you can just tell she has this zest for life.

As a child, I adored her. I still do. And although she passed away several years ago, I still think of her from time to time. I remember her smile most of all. And her accessories. The way she lifted her pinky finger when she drank tea. She was graceful and the perfect host. Genuine.

Whenever I look at this picture I want to climb inside. Climb inside and get to know her.

Not as a child but as a friend.

Do you ever wonder what your grandparents were like at your age? Sometimes it's hard to imagine them as young, with ambitions and dreams, their whole life still wide open. By the time we've met them, they are wise to the ways of the world, the fears and insecurities have fled and they are free to be themselves. But I also feel like maybe they have lost a small part of themselves.

And that's the part I'll never meet, seen only in old photographs, stories from the past.

wander

Reading Carmella's post just now made me think of this quote by J.R.R. Tolkien. I googled it to make sure I was spelling the name right and when I did I came across the rest of the quote, pretty beautiful, huh?

I wish that all french people came with subtitles.

Last week my boss took me to see the movie Paris.


It was good, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it to those of us who have short attention spans. It was... qu'est que c'est... long.

And sitting there in a dark theater watching the characters make out while my boss was sitting next to me... awkward. I spent most of the time wishing, praying, thinking dear God please don't let there be sex in this movie. My prayers were answered thanks to tactful editing.

Besides all that, I definitely loved it. It made me long for a plane ticket back.

There's just something about that city. I feel like a completely different person there. Maybe more true to myself than I am here at home.

The killer, was seeing my favorite view of the Eiffel Tower. My favorite view down the Seine. If you ever go, hop onto line 14 of the Metro. If you look at the map it's the seafoam green line. In between the Bir Hakiem and Passy stops the metro takes you up over the water of the Seine and you see the most beautiful view of the tower and all around it. Unfortunately I usually didn't have my camera or was to busy taking in the beauty to ever take a picture. Do it, you won't regret it.

Back to the movie. It was beautiful. Another movie I love that is centered around Paris is Paris Je'taime. Have you seen it? I saw it last year while I was living there and I've loved it since. I think you can see most of it on YouTube and it's also on instant NetFlix (how much do you love instant NetFlix?! Sorry Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, your business is toast).

Here's the gist of it-
As you probably know, Paris is divided into twenty neighborhoods, or arrondissements. Short films were shot by different directors using different actors, set in eighteen of the arrondissements, and then put together to make one movie.



It's pretty awesome. You should see it. And I'm not gonna lie- It might even make you blubber a bit. I still can't pick a favorite short. They're all so good.

Well, maybe not the one with Elijah Woods turning into a blood sucking vampire. That one is a little weird.*






*[Side note: What gives with all the vampire fever going around??? I'm SO SICK of hearing and seeing vampires everywhere in the media. Can I get an amen?]

I want scones

oh so badly. Raspberry scones. Mmm.

And on a completely unrelated note, I have had a pretty wonderful week so far.

I dressed up and had some fun for Halloween. Enjoyed a lovely lunch with some friends and their grandparents. Said grandparents tried to booze me up. Ate a scrumdiddlyumptious sandwich and took a lovely stroll through the capital park with my friend Erin. We found a cork tree. It was neat. Picked up my guitar for the first time in months. Went out for margaritas last night with the girls. And today laughed through lunch with my best friend Taylor.

Aah. What a pleasant life I lead.

This evening I've been picking through photos I've taken lately of my brother and I, trying to chose the best ones to give to my mom for Christmas. I think she'd like that. But I've had such a hard time keeping the photos I took of my brother to myself. I want to show her now!

I have a love/hate relationship with surprises/gifts. You see, I just get so gosh darned excited that I want to give my gifts immediately.

Take, for example, the birthday gift I got for my cousin Danny, when I was six. Grape flavored Bubble Tape. I didn't give him his gift immediately, but I definitely told him what it was before he got the chance to open it.

So hopefully I'll make it to Christmas with these photos. Until then, I'll post them here so I don't torture myself.





I also took a few shots of the both of us using the timer on my camera. Took forever, but I don't think we've had nice photos of us together since elementary school. Mom will be happy.





That's right. We're awesome.

And then here's a random shot of me that I took today. I'm taking a digital photography class this semester so that I'll be allowed to take some of the upper portrait classes next year, and one of the assignments is to take a self portrait inside your house. Not fun. Fortunately my parents room gets a lot of natural light (heavens knows I won't use a flash. First off, they're blinding. Secondly, if you don't use them right your photos look terrible, and I'm not ready to go down that road).


So. Did I mention I'm craving raspberry scones?

halloween past

So... obviously I had a thing for pink.


My brother Kyle, cousins Danny, Katie, and Robby, me and my mom. I guess I was a rabbit.


Princess? And Kyle is, again, a cowboy. Original.


I loved that tutu beyond recognition. I wore it as often as I could. And Kyle, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Sweet!

I guess I was hoping to get some Halloween costume inspiration from these old photos. I still haven't decided what to be... we'll see what happens tomorrow!

Happy Halloween!

I

do
not
want
to
be
awake
right
now
.

Being awake before the sun is my idea of torture.
Thank you field trip.
Thank you.

Thank you for ruining my slumbering bliss under those four delightfully cozy blankets.

You suck.

I feel like

tomorrow I should not go anywhere and attempt to conquer the growing heap of who knows what that has viciously taken over what used to be known as my desk.

And the three baskets full of unfolded laundry blocking my closet doors.

And missing MIA flat? I know you're down there. Somewhere. I'll be coming for you soon. Help is on the way.

Hmm... maybe there's a reason the brand name is MIA.

Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.
-William Cullen Bryant

photo shoot with brother

I'll post more later, but I'm sure you can guess how it went.