Nostalgia or Denial?

What I miss about Paris this very moment- 

1. The bis. I want to give everyone two little kisses when I greet them but instead of getting to little kisses back, all I get is weird looks and awkward moments.

2. The Seine: bike rides down it, bridges over it, picnics near it, sigh. 

3. My friends! Chloe, Christina, Alyssa, Sophie, Rachel. It feels so incredibly wonderfully to share a city like Paris with girls you love.

4. The 5euro pizza from Carrefour that I would [frequently] devour in a solo sitting while drinking a 3euro bottle of delicious Sauvignon from the Loire Valley (good times). 

5. Being able to say I live in Paris 

{whatever, I said it}

Moonrise Kingdom

Time has slowed down, so much time to contemplate the moonrise kingdom.

In My Sky At Twilight 

{Pablo Neruda}

In my sky at twilight you are like a cloud
and your form and colour are the way I love them.
You are mine, mine, woman with sweet lips
and in your life my infinite dreams live.

The lamp of my soul dyes your feet,
the sour wine is sweeter on your lips,
oh reaper of my evening song,
how solitary dreams believe you to be mine!

You are mine, mine, I go shouting it to the afternoon's
wind, and the wind hauls on my widowed voice.
Huntress of the depth of my eyes, your plunder
stills your nocturnal regard as though it were water.

You are taken in the net of my music, my love,
and my nets of music are wide as the sky.
My soul is born on the shore of your eyes of mourning.
In your eyes of mourning the land of dreams begin.

Bubbles & Bye-Byes

As Chloe and I are trying to find joy in our last days of Paris 

(the level of denial is very, very deep)

 blowing bubbles out of our big windows into our blooming courtyard is a good distraction.

I See Something

{at the Maison Victor Hugo}

On My Walk Home

Sometimes, I just can't believe where I live.

And that I've worked so hard to make it as lovely as it right now feels.

But I can believe it, because I don't think I should be anywhere else.

{taken on my walk home from Bastille after my conversational L'anglais pour Elles class}

Maroon & Gold

 University of Minnesota flowers 

{has it really been two years since I graduated?}

It feels like nothing and it feels like forever ago in the same moment. 

Life, love, location, vocation have all changed.

Will I keep up this rate?

Beautiful Dreamer

photo courtesy - the talented yvette inufio

1.
Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;
Sounds of the rude world, heard in the day,
Lull'd by the moonlight have all pass'd away!
Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,
List while I woo thee with soft melody;
Gone are the cares of life's busy throng,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

2.
Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea,
Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelei;
Over the streamlet vapors are borne,
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.
Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,
E'en as the morn on the streamlet and sea;
Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Stephen Foster, 1862

The Charm of Ile Saint Louis

Undoubtedly one of the best (and cheapest!) way to enjoy Paris:

{{Sit along the banks of the Seine with some bubbly}}

\\\\\\\\get serenaded////////

Signs from the Stars

|||You're the zodiac's dreamer, who sees the world through a kaleidoscopic viewfinder. |||

After I made dinner for the girls the other evening, we were having a very girly hangout and happened to start discussing horoscopes. I am not much for them but I am a believer in the God and this incredible universe and therefore can enjoy the predictions in the same way that I have faith in something much deeper and bigger. Reading our 'profiles' on Elle brought laughs and some agreement, until we came to mine. Everyone was nearly quiet in disbelief of its accuracy describing some of my tendencies. Generalizations undoubtedly, but some strangely hit the mark...

A Royal Wedding

The wedding we did this weekend was like whoa.

Abbaye Vaux de Cernay meets Nollywood.

(yeah, Nollywood = African Hollywood)

---Whoa---

Little Thing that I Love #292834

Bringing home fresh flowers is such a joy.

Would you please tell me..

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

"I don’t much care where--" said Alice.

"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat.

"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.

"Oh, you’re sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

Paris is a long walk, but where to walk to next?

If you ought to like to see more beautiful blossoms ---->

Florence + the Machine at Casino de Paris

 {{mini champagne bottles make the perfect aperitif }}

Florence + the Machine Concert

About this I cannot form sentences. 

Excitement, champagne, best friends, celestial, Between Two Lungs, dancing, crazy amounts of estrogen, Cosmic Love, gowns, Florence, drama, not stopping myself from singing along to every word.

[happiness]

For lots of videos ======>

This I Know

//There is a longing inside me big as the ocean, bout to wash me over clean, I see it in my dreams and I know that its coming, but when, oh when, oh when//

20 Somethings

I think about things a lot. Dwell about time, ask lots of questions. 

(((i'm staring at the asphalt wondering, what's buried underneath where i am...)))

Sophie and I were eating cake in the sun on Cardinal Lemoine, talking about how instinctive it is to be looking for something to grab us, to take us in. The always on-point Thought Catalog had a great and thought-provoking(imagine!) article on just that the other day.

Being in your twenties is all about discovering which things hurt you and what makes you feel good. 

This is what your twenties are for — to feel and see as much as you can, to take advantage of not being tied down to anything and anyone and to go balls to the wall with everything that you do. You’re a raw nerve. 

Anything is possible. People are ready for you.  

Make a mark. Make a stain. Make something. 

Industrious

Spring is the time of plans and projects ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina 

Beautiful whites on the corner of Cardinal Lemoine and Rue Monge

I am feeling that a lot truth very strongly right now! I want to cook ambitious meals, make beautiful little things, sew something, make a hardboard, plant a garden, read a million books, explore new areas - everything. I crave being literally productive. Plus, I am very stimulated in this incredible city. Yet, I'm incapable of starting everything it is inspiring me to do - I don't have the means here! It is something I am really excited about upon my return to the states.!

My Lock of Love

weee!

more pictures to come!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Brown paper packages tied up with strings...

Laduree macarons, flower crowns, birthdays .
And a Mr. M by my side.

Flower Crown

Christina knows me so well.

I wore it all birthday weekend.

Happy Birthday to Me!

24!

Oh me, oh my.!