jack frost nipping at your nose

"as much as i hate the weather, the child in me feels joy when i see the first snowfall & that's what keeps me going through the winter" -Claudia, my crazycool French professor

as a California girl, i canNOT take the cold. i feel like it's a form of torture. i dread going outside & i can't imagine how much colder it will be as winter continues. shiver* (in fear & bc of the cold)

but... today i felt like a child. i absolutely loved today's gentle snowfall--where you can actually see the six hands of a single flat snowflake. it's so delicate and beautttiifffullllll ahhhhhhhh

it just makes you fall in love with paris again

here's to kids from one to ninety-two (:

the macaron

i remember i first came across it a couple years ago--unaware of any pre existing notion that it might have had.  to me, it was just a curious cookie that i carelessly picked. i almost confused it with the macaroon & wondered if it contained any coconut.

i was surprised at the light meringue-based confectionery, & noticed it's delicately domed top, fat feet & fresh insides. hm, crunchy yet chewy--full of almond nuttiness. love!

perhaps i would think differently had i been caught unaware. but now, despite the macaron hype, i still defend my macaron.

hehe.

i'm bringing back boxes to the states.

andddd the strange feeling of missing home/not wanting to leave Paris is upon me... (why do i always use food to illustrate my thoughts?)

let it be

say, twenty years later, i come back to visit paris. i will probably be shocked at all the changes and be nostalgic for the twenty-years-ago Paris i once knew--just as some frenchmen are nostalgic for the Old Paris. many of the local boulangeries and patisseries will probably be replaced by larger commercial chains...the metros will prob be wayy different. even within the past few years, paris has seen a great increase in monoprix's, a dwindling number of real parisians, and a skyrocketing of the use of the internet.

but it will still have a charm of its own, i'm sure.

i don't usually approach change in a friendly manner, & will quickly come to miss the olden days. gawd, i can already imagine myself saying "back when i was young...."

i have to remember that culture (and i'm not just talking about paris) is fleeting. it changes, just as life changes & i can't expect it to stay frozen in a certain time.

& i'm reminded that this world is a vapor in the wind.


anyways, i went to abbey road this past weekend(:

the grand odalisque

by Ingres, in 1814

by Vanity Fair, in 2000

life is like a box of chocolates

...or more like a boulangerie...

so many choices--form tempting pastries, practical baguettes, to even salty croque-monsieurs. should i try something new, or stick to something i already know is delicious? am i in the mood for something sweet or savory? & can i afford this? oh, the questions!

although...i am thoroughly enjoying this momentary ability to compare life with french carbs harhar

all the world's a stage

Les 39 Marches

a brilliant, brilliant comedic play. i can't even explain it but it was so clever and unlike any other play i've seen before. props to this little man--Eric Metayer--for aciting, directing, and making us laugh (:

Ensemble Orchestral de Paris

this just makes me soul happy...& it reminds me of what my madame's brother said: "don't expect to be fluent by the time you leave paris--you've just got to get the music of the language." language is so damn fascinating--just like this orchestra i adored

p.s. the man on the right of this picture looks identical to the ron weasely illustrations from the book

Now I've got to see an opera and a ballet

paris fashion week

i'm so happy i got into a show. this is paul & joe's spring/summer 2011 ready-to-wear collection
&...i saw rihanna!!