Snapshots from July

Summer 2016 was sweet and lazy by my window. Dinking wine, reading and enjoying a little sunshine by my plants (which are all dead now, a month without watering just did the trick :( )

I had flowers, the most flowers I have ever had. That was nice to see the bees coming and going all summer long.

I upgraded the tiny nook by the window that is now refered as 'the library'. I installed a wooden wine box and put of all my yet-to-read books in it. I also salvaged a cute and vintage little table from my grand parents' which gives a very chic and library feel to my nook (yet I still put my glass on the floor, but hey, the table looks nice).

Before going to Toronto for a month, I pressed the flowers that were blooming and harvested my verbena, so now I have verbena herbal tea for, I hope, a few months.

Books. So many books. I bought so many books this year. The number even got bigger in Toronto. I brought back about twenty books. Greg hates me for this ;p The luggage was so heavy. But if you ask me, it was of course all worth it. I didn't buy much else. A bunch of clothes that I badly needed (3pairs of pants and 4shirts), mine are falling apart. So I went to all the bookstores I could find, preferably, used books, and that was that.

The pigeons were back this year, two floors below from last year. There were two baby pigeons. They made a lot of noise and a big mess in our neighbour's flower pot while they were away for a couple of months.

Little Things

Umm, what a common title...  

Anyway! A week ago I planted a few seeds on our window sill and I've been watching them grow ever since. It's so silly and yet so captivating to me. 

A few days ago.

Today.

In a few weeks now, I will have a bunch of red flowers at the window. How cool is this going to be! Last year I planted basil and my Mom killed it when I let her take care of it while I was away last september. :)

Flowers will be a nice change, especially since I don't cook as much as I used too, I don't need basil anymore.

Last year an online friend gave me this flamingo in exchange for a piece of the jewelry I make. What a good deal!! It had been sitting sadly in the bathroom ever since I got it, it was time it got some fresh air.

My brother gave me a cat brush for my birthday and Hopi has been a lot more affectionate towards me since I started using it. He now climbs on my lap and asks for attention, something he never did to me. To everyone else yes, but not me.

For a few weeks I bought tons of craft supplies off eBay. I needed that so bad to get inspiration. :p My case was empty now it's packed with stuff! And it's not even over! I'm waiting for a lot more stuff.

I bought way too many frogs though... Stupid auctions, so addictive! :)

I won a second contest on Instagram and got these babies! They are body sprays by the brand Payot. I just discovered this brand I didn't know it even existed. 

The pink bottle is a jasmine and white tea fragrance and the green one is green tea. My favorites! Jasmine and green tea! Couldn't be any better!

They smell heavenly of course, I can't wait to really try them! I'll sure bring them along on my trip to Portland in September  ;)

I had lunch with my Mom yesterday and we did a bit of shopping since the sales season started here in France and she bought me this dress. I'm 31 and it's only the second dress I own. I've spent my whole life covering my legs during summertime and wearing jeans.

I use to feel very self conscious about the hair on my legs. I don't shave I use an electric thingy that pulls hair out (don't know the word in english), and it's never neat. I also do it when it's absolutely 'necessary' and my legs look like the yeti's. It's ridiculous really, why should I care for a bunch of hair here and there on my legs? Who's going to look closely enough to notice them?

It's really hot here in Paris, I couldn't possibly wear jeans. :p

That's it for today. :)

It's The Little Things

What a day! Yesterday we walked all over Paris to run some errands. And it was awesome. We did everything that needed to be done!

First I wanted to find a place to get my camera films from New York developped and we found a place not too expensive on Boulevard Beaumarchais. It will take up to 10 days to get back my pictures but I'm so excited! I haven't shot pictures on film for 3 or 4years and I have to admit I'm feeling a little nervous about how they'll turn out. I hope it won't be too embarrassing!

Ha! So many tickets to get my pictures back! 8 rolls!

We walked a lot in the Paris streets and I came accross these that I thought were pretty neat. The black cat above is 200meters from the appartment.

I bought dirt to plant my basil and put it on the window sill.

But the best news and what really made me glow yesterday was that I got my reflex camera back! It was at the repair shop and I didn't get a call from the store I left it at. We went there anyway. It's a second hand store with cds, dvds, appliances, jewelry... I bought my camera for 250€ three months ago and it kept giving me error messages telling that the lens was not connected properly. It wasn't all the time though, I could still use it without being bothered most of the time but since the guarantee expired on june 5 I thought I'd better bring it back to see if they could fix the problem. So yesterday, since we were there we asked if by any chance they had news about my camera and they did! They had called me but I was on voice mail(and didn't get their message). The Canon people couldn't fix my camera because the piece going wrong was worth more than the whole camera. I was on the verge of tears. So they offered that I looked at the other cameras and pick one in exchange. I tried a camera, was not happy. I just fell in love with my canon rebel. And I hated to think that just because it wasn't working right once in a while it would be tossed away or sold to pieces. So I asked the salesperson if I could have it for a lower price(that's how much I wanted to keep a broken camera! My boyfriend doesn't get me on that.). He offered 90€, the price of the different pieces. Of course I said yes and was beyond elated with this! I got 160€ back and my beloved camera! 

It even has my name on it now! :D

 I was extatic all the way back home and all night! I missed it so much! I took a bunch of pictures and had no problem. I'm just thrilled. Yesterday was such a great day.

I'm going back to work on Saturday. I'll be working in Versailles in a mall as a salesperson for the German brand WMF. I'm really happy about that, my manager got that for me and she's the best. So it was nice to have a day as full and fun as yesterday before going back to work.

Shop

Here are a few pictures I wanted to share as well of little things that made me happy this last week. I painted this picture of Edward Scissorhands for my shop. It's hard to do the details with pastels but I'm pretty happy with the result.

In New York I bought nail stickers for the first time and I'm smitten! I never wanted to try them and this time I thought, what the heck! I love everything nail related and these look so cute! They are so easy to use for such a great result. I will buy some more in September in  Chicago!

Here's the brand I bought. 

And finally a couple more pictures of the beetle I saw in Haute Savoie.

That's all for today. I hope I'll be able to sew. I have to leave at 4pm to go to Cergy to meet my good friend Estelle that I haven't seen in a while. Life is good. :)

Little Things I Love About The US

 It's always nice to go to the USA and find all thse things we don't have in France or are way out of my league here but affordable there. I love to try new products or get the ones I know and love again and again. :)

The following are just a few, there are so many little things I love about the US, bigger things as well :p

On my first day in New York I found the biggest blackberries I've ever seen! They were yummy and really cheap too :p It reminded me of when I was a little girl, we would go on walks in the countryside with my Grand Ma, we would pick blackberries and eat them along the way. They're pretty hard to find in France, and they are rather pricy.

I took my shoes off in Central Park, it was just sheer delight! I had to mention it!

When I bought my train fare for the week in Edison, NJ, the machine gave me my change back in $1 coins! I had never seen so many at once! And most of them were different from each other.

My flamingo in Central Park. :) He's hanging from my bag.

I love Vita Coco! Especially the one with peach and mango! I think it's one of my favorite beverage ever! So when I saw an ad for the lemonade one, I had to try it. It wasn't good at all though, well, to my taste. Too sour. But I'm glad I tried it, espacially with all the trouble I had to go through to find it, the stores I checked were always sold out.

I tried this as well, it was delicious! I had never tried anything macrobiotic before. I just loved the packaging :p

My faithful companion when I go to the US! I don't know why, I just love Smart Water. I also love the silly pictures behind the label that you can see through the bottle.

Found this at Forever 21 and thought it was hilarious! Didn't buy though, and it's a good thing! I had 4 mugs to bring back home already.

Haaaa! Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler! Starring in another movie! Can't wait for it to be released in France! Two of my favorite actors!

One of my favorite thing to do when I go to the US is beauty products shopping! Especially anything concerning nails. I scored big this time!

I cannot walk through a park without one of these! ^^ I'm a big Spongebob fan.

I had to try this tea. It was yummy. I saved the cap of course!

I have my habits when I go to the US, they always set me up in vacation mode. There is so much choice as well that I have to try a few new things every time. It's fun. It's part of the American culture and I love to explore it. Even if it's in the littlest things.