Hip Chalets

I stumbled upon this cite while doing a project for my drawing/painting class- Hip Chalets. It showcases a couple of extremely luxurious stays in my favorite town in the world- Chamonix, France! If only I were filthy rich....

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)

Vagabonding

So I know, it's after Christmas and all, but I know I'm still in the Christmas mood until at least New Years, so I thought I would post this cute little video of two men playing Jingle Bells in Switzerland. I found it when I was researching vegabonding- (a person who doesn't have a permantent home, who moves from place to place). I thought it would be really interesting to just take an entire year off after I'm all done with schooling(4-8 years from now, depending on grad-school). To pack a backpack with my new incredible camera, a couple of changes of clothing, and the basic necessities, and of course a sketch-pad/journal, and just take off. I would work odd jobs for room and board, and possibly write a book about my experiences.

I found a site with a bunch of links to different means of "sleeping for free" here. One of the ones mentioned that really caught my attention was the World Wide Opportunities for Organic Farmers (WWOOF). Currently, I have no knowledge what exactly I would have to know before going, but I'm sure there are plenty of places that would take me and then teach me the job on site.

there's something awesome in the state of Denmark

The Danes have a good life-they're tall, blond, and beautiful in a country surrounded by water (and composed of islands) plus they use more candles than any other country. But what most impresses me about them is that, at least in Copenhagen, everyone bikes everywhere! Rain or snow apparently. I have a good friend from said city and I remember when he first told me his family didn't even own a vehicle, I was shocked. Plus, if you don't even own your own bike (or you're just visiting there) you can use any of the free city bikes as long as you want- just pay a deposit and you get it back when you return it. That's smart.

(Copenhagen Cycle Chic via A CUP OF JOE and Frolic)

Song of the Day: THE CHRISTMAS SONG by The Ravonettes

NYC couple

Cute. Couple.
(photo- smosch via lost)

restaurant with a view

Imagine eating a meal 50 meters in the sky, surrounded by breathtaking views of the world's finest cities. Well, this is actually a possibility through events in the sky- a company specializing in elevating diners to incredible heights and serving the finest breakfasts, lunches, dinners, cocktails, or even poker nights. How amazing...

(found via lejeande blog)

John Kernick

I love well-photographed food.; especially gormet food. The romantic lure of cuisine captured in a simple photo makes me want to learn the delecate process to prepare such palate-satisfying cuisine. I love paging through old cookbooks and international food magazines. I have literally spent hours looking through various bon appetite magazines and drool over the annual Christmas Cookie periodicals.
Check out photographer John Kernick, who has taken breathtaking photos of food, people, and places from around the world.

Song of the Day SHE MOVES IN HER OWN WAY by The Kooks

found on etsy. get mappy.

I really love maps. I love looking at them and figuring out all the places I want to go. Discovering the best route and where I'll pass along the way. But they're also just so beautiful- especially the vintage ones with their fancy fonts and aged colour. Vintage Map Earings

Original Map painting

Map pocket mirror

Recycled map stationery

All found on etsy. Have a mappy day.

Song of the Day: HELLODRAMA by What Made Milwaukee Famous

yum! food from the trip

Creme brulee trio- Pistachio, Vanilla, and Chocolate! Yum

Real french toast- with cheese marscapone instead of butter. Heavenly.

The best sushi in town.
First class lunch to San Francisco
The amazing coffee made in the free espresso machine in the first class Northwestern loungt- Swanky! I wish I could always travel that nice...

I just love taking pictures of food that looks nice- so hopefully you enjoy this as much as I do haha.

La Vie en France

Just feeling a bit nostalgic about my trip to France last summer. These are some photos I took/sketched. The sketched ones were all from this little fairytale city called Loubressac. Our hotel had the best view out our window over a valley lush with castles and little farm houses. Ah la vie.

Song of the Day: ON CALL by Kings of Leon

glorious

A new day begins.

These photographs were taken out of my window in the airplane as we headed back to Wisconsin from San Francisco. Breathtaking.

oh, life

So far, everything in my life occured because I was given permission to do such by my parents. I am required to ask about everything and have gotten used to the fact that the things that I do are, in the words of my father, "privelages not rights". While I can agree with the fact that my parents should have a say in my life while I am living under their roof and eating from their refridgerator, the time is approaching within the next 7 months when I will graduate high school, move out of the nest, and try to start my own life. Only, I don't know if my parents are going to be ready for that.

You see, ever since I was in the seventh grade, I have been working various jobs to save money for a trip to Europe as soon as I graduate from high school. Although I got the chance to travel with the French class at my school to France this summer for three weeks, it didn't quench my thirst for Europe and I still want to go back this summer, stay with old friends, and ride the trains all around with only a pack on my back. However, my problem comes in that my father would definately not support my wanting to spend money that he believes I will need for collage next year on a trip to Europe. In his mind, he cannot fathom how and why I thirst for my own adventure across the pond and, frankly, I am sure he has a difficult time trusting me to handle myself without parental supervision for just one summer.

So, I have been pouring over travel guides for almost 6 years, have the financial means to fulfill my dream adventure, and the only thing holding me back is the invisible chain my father has latched around my neck to stay home and work at my amusing little job as a waitress in an establishment that requires me to don a mustard-coloured cap. Real cute. I am debating whether or not to discuss my plans with him, or just be dramatic and take off on a jet to Copenhagen...

Over the past few weeks I have been batteling with my decisions on this trip and feeling encouraged/discouraged from many people with whom I have spoken on my conundrum. I feel like I deserve to go since I have been saving up and researching to no end and I cannot think of any other way I would like to spend my summer before I transition from my hum-drum little highschool life and small town to bigger and better things at college. Yet, my guilt for disobeying my father is my only set back. I think I need some encouragement and some means of reasoning with him because, in the end, it's my own life- not his.

Sorry this has been an extremely bland post to those of you who probably couldn't care less. Hopefully I come up with my answer soon...

head in the clouds

Good morning readers! I hope you are having a wonderful day. I am headed to lovely San Francisco, CA today and I couldn't be more excited. I will try to post while I'm there but be expecting amazing pics when I return.

love, me

Photos by emilyblakely via simplyolive

real rainbow fields

These photos were taken of tulip fields in Holland. Incredible!

Lovely Tuesday!

Lovely Tuesday everyone!

Here are some things going on with my life this week that I'm really excited for:

-Leaving for San Francisco tomorrow- flying first class and staying at the Hilton :)
-I bought my tickets for the Kings of Leon concert in Milwaukee next Wednesday last night
-It snowed yesterday!
-Christmas is on its way
-....and crew-neck Monday was a sucess (I'll explain later)

Have a wonderful exciting day! and smile every once and a while...

On another note, I found this really cool site that lets you map your itinerary for a vacation, etc. Its absolutely perfect for helping to visualize my backpacking tour through Europe next summer! You can also post pics from your trip and keep a blog of your travels on the site.
Check it out.

Song of the Day: HALFWAY HOME by T.V. on the Radio

homes for today.

The home is where the heart is. This modern home blog steals my heart. I will definately bring this blog up to show my Int. Arch and design class come Monday.