lunch in the dorms

My first-day-of-class lunch break. Pesto and provolone with tomato on wheat bread.

Fraboni's

Winter break is over.

I survived 3 weeks in Stevens Point, WI.

Time to go back to school kiddies.

My dad drove me back down to Madison on Saturday and we stopped at his favorite old college deli, Fraboni's. It's a genuine Italian supermarket and they make incredible sandwiches fitting for a student's budget.

kaffe

Concert-mania-stravaganza

Lollapalooza Lineup 2009 from C3 Presents Video on Vimeo.

The Lollapalooza Lineup for this summer came out today and.....

EPIC

That's the one word I would squeeze all my utter joy and excitement for this August music extravaganza into. I'm so glad I already have the tickets, the room reservations, the person to go with.

Here are my favorites that will be preforming (in order)"

Kings of Leon, The Killers, Vampire Weekend, Arctic Monkeys, MSTRKRFT, Crystal Castles, TV on the Radio, Snoop Dogg, Cold War Kids, The Gaslight Anthem, The Virgins, Peter Bjorn and John.... and that only breaks the surface of the magical music experience that will go down in Grant Park August 7 through the 9th.

ALSO: BIG NEWS! I got my tickets for the Aerosmith/ZZ Top Concert on August 28th in Chicago. They're only a little off-center and about 19 rows from the stage. For those of you who don't know, Aerosmith is my one and only favorite band of all time. I went to on of their concerts when I was a sophomore (3 years ago) and it is definately one of my top 5 favorite nights to date. I'm going with my mom (I def. couldn't afford $225/ticket alone...) and it will be an exciting end to my wonderful summer.

I love music.

hola

Oh, my life has been busy and I feel I have finally caught up with everything: school, work, skating; and now I can begin to be a more frequent publisher to the blog and keep everyone updated when the news is actually fresh.

The pictures above are the conclusion of my post about my spring break this March in Cancun. I have been back for a while but have neglected to post any of my pictures yet so... here they are.

Cancun was delightful. It was hot, sandy, and smelled of Hawaiian Tropic tanning spray everywhere (read- heaven). I got to swim, snorkel, kayak, eat, drink, parasail and even learn a little bit of Spanish, salsa dance, and merigue. My family stayed at the Iberostar Lindo resort. I highly recommend it to families. The food was amazing and there were endless activites and food. Overall, I want to go back! I'm considering a job working at a resort while in college...

Other than travelling south of the boarder, my final skating show is over and now, except for recreational purposes, I'm all done with figure skating. It's a bittersweet ending. Skating is my passion but also my most time-consuming hobby that has been a major part of my time since I was 7. The show went really well and I finished my final solo the best I could.

So now, onto things coming up in the near future- GRADUATION! I have 5 weeks left of school and then it's a summer filled with trips to Hawaii, two of my own graduation/birthday parties, visits and roadtrips with my friend from Denmark, and, unfortunately, work. I am so excited!

Now, for even more near future events- next weekend is my very last high school dance- Prom. I decided to just wear a dress I already bought at a vintage store a few years ago and got some killer heels yesterday in Barabo. I have a date and now dinner/picture arangments just have to be put into place. It should be a wonderful weekend.

Well I hope all of you are having a stellar spring thus far. I will try to keep this thing updated a lot more frequently.

-Parisian fille

Cancun

8 Days.

A week and one day.

3 way-too-long days of class.

4 days of work.

Then I'm off to explore the ruins and the beaches of Cancun! I am so excited. I bought two new swimsuits a month ago (actually only one and a half... a blue one and black bottoms to match my mom's old designer bandeau top), my Venezuelan friend taught me some salsa moves and now I'm just counting down the days until I can actually feel the warmth of the sun. It's been such a long winter and I'm definately ready to get rid of the winter blues.
Hope everybody else is escaping the cold sometime soon.
-Parisian fille

(Photo from flickr here)

rainy days.

Hello lovelys...

My life has been crazy hectic lately and I appologize for not keeping you more tuned-in. I hope to post more regularily but things may just get crazier until April.

Skating season (figure skating) is in full bloom, which means competitions for me on most weekends. I skated at the Badger State Games (big deal in Wisconsin) this past weekend and was pretty proud of my placements.

Other than that, formal was this weekend. It was fun, but quite a lot of drama went down. (uhhghhh hate it)

But anyways, stay tuned about the ever-more exciting details of the life of Parisian Fille.

x

(photos here)

simple little things

1. basket of yarn 2. healthy lunch 3.letter from Denmark 4. sunshine on my art nouveau

just a lil something

just something i drew a long time ago. it's one of my all time favorites that i have ever done. it's a drawing of a photograph taken by mimophoto.

frost on the windows

I have been scrambeling to get the Christmas shopping done and everything in place for the fast approaching holiday. I finally figured out what I wanted for Christmas: the Rosetta Stone Level 1 German learning kit. I figure that a new language would be the gift that keeps on giving. Plus, one of my most concrete goals is to learn 5 languages (at least almost) fluently by the time I am 30. Currently, I know English (duh) and a fair amount of French (which I will go on to study in college). I would like to learn German, Chinese (for business reasons), and either Italian, Danish, or Swedish for my other three. I just love languages and the doors that open up with each additional language. I guess most of it has to do with my passion for travel and living with locals- not just touristy travel. In fact, I all-but-despise travel just for pure tourist pleasure. I plan on moving around a lot while I'm in my twenties; living in Europe and Asia, which will greatly improve my language skills once I have a base built. So.... that is why Rosetta Stone.

I just finished reading Crystal Castles by Jeannette Walls- incredible. I can't believe the life that woman had as a child- the hardships she went through- and how she currently lives a very sucessful life in Manhattan. I definately recommend Crystal Castles.

British Breakfast

English Crumpet recipe

INGREDIENTS
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105 degrees to 115 degrees)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
4 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted, divided
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the milk, 1 tablespoon butter and egg; mix well. Add flour and salt; beat until smooth. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Brush griddle and 3-in. metal rings or open-topped metal cookie cutters with remaining butter. Place rings on griddle; heat over low heat. Pour 3 tablespoons of batter into each ring. Cook for 7 minutes or until bubbles begin to pop and the top appears dry. Remove rings. Turn crumpets; cook 1-2 minutes longer or until the second side is golden brown. Serve warm or let cool on a wire rack and toast before serving.

Perfect with a nice spot of black tea.

baby it's cold outside

The ground is blanketed in snow so, naturally, I am sick and have been out of school for the past two days. However, it is nice to have some time to watch movies, read my books, and spend a little time at home with my little dog, Mischa. I think it's amusing how she is supposed to be so white and, when compared to the snow on our patio, she looks almost tan.

I see many blog posts from others with ideas of how to stay jolly during the dark, frigid days of winter and I thought I would post a few of my own...

1- Put twinkly Christmas lights everywhere! Add some vanilla candles and bask in the glow of the season.

2- Eat soup, hot chocolate with marshmallows, tea, and coffee often

3- Read a good book. I'm currently reading Jane Eyre

4- Learn a new craft such as crocheting, knitting, drawing, calligraphy, etc. I just learned how to crochet (i made the coasters above..) and it is a great way to spend some free time.

5- Write your dear ones letters. Make them beautiful and decorate the envelope. Sending others random gifts will help brighten both their day and yours.

6- Listen to Christmas music.

7- Plan something: a dinner with friends, a movie night, a party- anything. Then you have something to look foreward too and it brings friends together.

So there's my short list. Now I'm going back to bed to try to recover from my sniffles before work tonight.

some lists

I'm loving:
1. V8 Garden Broccoli Soup
2. My new vanilla cookie candle
3. the Toast Christmas 2008 catalogue
4. my crochet skills
5. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss I checked out from the library

I want:
1. a Lamy Safari fountain pen
2. a Swarvoski crystal headband
3. a wax letter seal
4. Roskilde tickets

dreaming of:
1. Gimmelwald & Swiss cows- always
(photo via flickr here)

long weekend

(Photos: 1- downtown 2- my favorite Danish ornaments 3-my breakfast 4-my vintage Mickey Mouse sweater)

This weekend I...
1. Got accepted to college

2. Learned to crochet

3. Completely cleaned my room

4.... Hung Christmas lights

5. Spent time with family

6. Washed my car

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend as well. Now, unfortunately, it's back to waking up before the sun, scurrying to finish procrastinated tasks, and too much coffee. At least Christmas break is right around the bend and it's the time to decorate cookies, make Christmas gifts, and give back to the community a little bit.

Have a wonderful Monday

Love- Parisianfille

accepted!

(photo from flickr here.)

(photo from flickr here.)

I got accepted to the one and only school I have applied to thus far- University of Wisconsin Madison! I actually found out via email, which was quite dissapointing because I havn't yet received my letter in the mail. I guess the holiday probably had something to do with the delay... But I'm fairly certain I will attend UW Madison next fall, so it's quite the relief to have been accepted this early. Now I don't think I even have to worry about applying to any other school.

Wooohooo!

I'm a Badger.

good morning

A little breakfast. Scrambled eggs, cherry tomatoes, green bell pepper and some feta.

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were big things"
Robert Brault

Thanksgiving

As you can probably ascertain from my photographs: Thanksgiving was a success. The food was delicious, the company was entertaining, and I left with a full belly and thanks for a great family and good health. We spent the afternoon at my aunt and uncle's home. They prepared an excellent meal and my mom and I supplied the cranberries: cranberry bread, cranberry sauce, and cranberry-white chocolate-pecan pie (jealous? yum!). My adorable little cousins were there as well, and it's always good to see them as they will grow up so quickly.

The photographs below are the adorable works of my little cousin, Issac. He is basically a genius and, although some of the spelling/punctuation is slightly incorrect, I was quite impressed with his little Nature essay. He also loves Project Runway and decided to design some dresses himself. The funny thing is that I would actually wear any of the ones listed. And the last picture is of the grocery list: part one by my aunt and embellished by Issac in the second part.

Hope everyone enjoyed the season's good tidings and cheer. Sleep well and good luck at the stores tomorrow. I don't know if I'll actually be venturing out as I'm not a huge fan of buying presents vs. making them (and I've heard some nighmare stories about the vicious mom's hunting for the best bargain).

Sleep well. Parisian fille

give thanks. eat pie.

(photo from flickr by pamelaklaffke)

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and best of luck to all of you who are crazy enough to attempt shopping on Friday. I am off to visit some family for a lovely meal and good company. My aunt always prepares the best vegetarian dishes so I'm thoroughly excited. I made a delicious cranberry white chocolate walnut pie tonight so my stomach is just aching to get a slice of that. Pictures posted soon!

Love- Parisian Fille.

Jewelry made from old pocketwatches and old books.

Smell like a fruity drink all day with cocktail-scented soaps from Zirh

Naomi's idea of a great date for cold weather (on Smitten)

Superadorable video of Katie dancing with strangers.

Place your tea bag in its own special "coffin". Genius.

Bergdorfs has, once again, outdone itself in the window display category.

Looking at gift lists on Urban Outfitters.

Eye-popping design from Miles Redd in Domino

This inspiring, photogenic blog

Beautiful caligraphy from Minted

Oh, the joy of popping bubble wrap- on your calendar? Clever.

These coinpurses- so simple yet delightful.

Christmas on Main Street

Walking downtown tonight with all of our sparkely Holiday decorations all aglow inspired me. Yes, I know these are blurry... but I think it adds to the Christmas charm in a way- more personal.

sun and snow

Happy Friday to all.

School was off today and I got to wake up to sun through my blinds. A rare occasion considering the sun doesn't dare come up until 7:30 (when I'm already at school.) It was lovely though and I decided to make myself a nice breakfast to enjoy on my window seat to celebrate. What a relaxing morning. I watched the film, In Bruges which I quite enjoyed, although the only reason I rented it was because my friend that I'm staying with next summer has an apartment in Bruges. I was surprised to find out one of my favorite actresses, Clemence Poesy, was also in the film. I also got a chance to add another page to my never-finished France scrapbook.

Hope everyone is having an equally lovely day. If not, I find that smiling often helps improve your mood. So give it a try.

love- Parisian Fille.