Wednesday Wrap-up

Hi there! I don't actually know what I've done with my week. I've been working, of course. Reading, of course. Sending emails, postcards and chatting on Skype, of course. Spending a lot of time with a certain gentleman. Of course.

And planning. A little holiday to Geneva. 2010 in Adelaide. How to compress my life in France into a backpack.



The goodbyes have started; tonight it was to my orchestra, Sunday is my last day at work. I have a farewell dinner Monday and then drinks in a fortnight.

Chez Sequin Cat

What have you been up to this past week? I'm headed to bed with a brain full of red wine. Trying to get as much in while I can (cheese too.)

Postcard sendoff

Friends! The time is approaching for me to wave au revoir to my charmed beret and baguette filled life. I'm leaving France in a very short three weeks! This is your last chance to receive a little something in the post.

So who would like a postcard? I have a little collection amassed during my travels and I'd love to share them with you.

Email me your address at bobmebob [at] hotmail (D.O.T) com should you fancy a little word from France.

Australia Day

Down South it's already January 26 and I bet most of my friends are getting ready for a big day. The barbeques are firing up, the suncream is being slathered on and pre-drinks are being consumed before the ultimate Summer music festival, the Big Day Out.

Unfortunately I won't be doing anything special today, nor celebrating the awesomeness that is my country at Cafe Oz in Paris. Instead I leave you with a Polyvore set of my day last year, where I enjoyed the sun with friends at an amazing rock n' roll pool party. I'm looking forward to more of these parties when I get home in a few short weeks.

A beautiful 30° forecast. Don't forget the SPF!

The many faces of Eva

I was looking through my extensive magazine collection yesterday, and came across two very different covers of Eva Longoria:




Which look do you prefer?





BTW, Citizen K is a ridiculous bargain at 1€. Quality read. Also loving WAD right now.

Wednesday Wrap -up

Hello? Hello? Is there anybody out there? Surely it's still Wednesday somewhere in the world?! Actually no. Another week gone by, another lame excuse for a post.

So I've had a generally great week. After the amazing AIR concert last Tuesday, I've been spending my free hours on dinner dates (three in one week!), reading, playing computer games and napping. Oh, and also updating my resume, applying for a VIJ (very important job), chatting with my parents in Perth, making bookings for Geneva and organising my departure. Phew! No wonder I always fall asleep on the bus to/from work!






Loving life! Sending hugs and kisses across the oceans.

PS. Newsflash: Massive Attack playing in Adelaide this year. Guess who has tickets....

My heart was beating faster, and faster

So... we're pretty happy. Amazing night.

Daily Outfit: Date night

A night spent with lots of pets.





I've been thinking lately about how strange it is going to be, going from a glacial Parisian Winter to a hot Adelaide Summer. Reducing from seven layers on my top half (I kid you not) to one. From wearing boots everyday, to wearing flats. From wearing blush and eyeliner as staples, to just a slick of lip gloss.

One month till departure

Last Saturday marked one month until my departure from France. You have no idea how much the acceleration of time scares me! So much to do in one month; so much to see, so many things to wrap up.

For starters, it's going to be a struggle to get my clothes home. What started as a capsule wardrobe has expanded thanks to generous donations and a little bit of shopping... I'm looking into posting packages home. Dad reminded me to wash my clothes before putting them in the post (thanks Pop!) I'm already donating a fair amount to charity, but am not sure what to do with the rest.

I've just organised a little going away party in the 8th. It'd be wonderful to see all the friends I've made before I leave. Hopefully the allure of 5€ cocktails will be strong enough to entice Parisians out of Winter hibernation.

What to do with my book collection? I've picked up lots of novels here and there for a few euros apiece. It'd be terribly sad to put them in the recycling but I'm just not sure what to do with them. Especially as some of them have been rained on, or have food stains (yes, I read over lunch/dinner/breakfast... and am usually more careful).

I've two weeks left at Disneyland; next stop, Geneva. That leaves me with about a week to accomplish all the touristy things I've neglected to do in Paris. No, I haven't been to Musée du Louvre/ d'Orsay/ de Rodin since I was 13...

Alannah Hill gifts

My mom's made some great choices this year and sent me over some lovely clothes. You can see my new Alannah Hill items (exactly to my taste) here, here and here.

Wednesday Wrap-up

Work, eccentric dinner party (boiled egg with toast soldiers!?), singstar housewarming, missed concert, red wine, snowy present exchange, black cat house party, sleep in, movies, AIR.

Good (busy!) week.

Sorry for lameness in post. There're things brewing....

Two weeks left at Eurodisney!

Thanks grandma...

for keeping me warm all Winter.

WTF France?

I'm thinking of making this into a regular section.

For today though, I'll leave you with this birthday cake. With crêpes as icing. WTF, France?

Hmm.

Daily Outfit: Housewarming party

One of my colleagues hosted a little party on Friday night to welcome everyone to her new abode. We played Singstar.

Merci maman pour la chemisette!

Has anyone told you how cold it's been lately in Ile de France? Seriously? It snowed on Thursday (I think!) and the snow's still sticking around... Monday. Totally bizarre weather.

Daily Outfit: Sleepover and errands

I slept over at my friend's house. She made me dinner and we watched a French film in bed as the heating was broken!

Nice and sunny.

Daily Outfit: Sunday lunch at grandma's house

A lovely day spent dining with a colleague and her grandparents. Later I went to her house in the countryside to meet the cats and family.

Christmas flower!

Daily Outfit: At work

What I wear most days.

Creature Comforts

My Winter den:

So cosy.

Daily Outfit: Lunch date in a fifties diner

Mixing spots and stripes.

Nom nom.

Daily Outfit: Lunch date in the Marais

Lovely lunch with two lovely ladies from Australia.

I'm a dedicated fan.

It's my anniversary

The blog and I have been going steady for a whole year now! It might be love....

As a gift that keeps on giving, I picked out some of my favourite posts in case you missed them:

Pre-Europe

Summer Date Ideas

A Rainbow of Wardrobe Organisation

Adelaide Fringe 2009

Gifts from the Boyfriend's Mother

The Art Show

The Who Live in Concert

My Capsule Wardrobe for Europe


Europe

Cheap Eats in Berlin

Getting Photographed for Vogue in New York

Confessions of a Parisian

A Guide to Living out of your Handbag

List of Lists

A Year in Books

Daily Outfit: Orchestra concert mark 2

Rugged up from the snow outside!





Another successful evening, and a little Christmas party. Happiness.

Daily Outfit: Day off at Disneyland

I work at Disneyland and I play at Disneyland.

It was freezing! I didn't take my coat off once.

Why did I even bother to look nice underneath?!

Daily Outfit: A visit from my dad

Remember when my dad came to Paris for 21 hours?

It's a black and red layer cake (as usual).

Yep, been crying in the cold.

Daily Outfit: Wore to work

Nothing spesh.


Bare thighs?!? What was I thinking?

Wednesday Wrap-up

Bonjour à tous!

What's changed since we last spoke? Well there was that whole Christmas/New Year's week of festive madness. I worked a lot, drank a lot of champagne and had random times with new friends. Great, great, great.

I met up with my cousin and her partner for a Parisian dinner date; we got lost in a Christmas tree forest in the latin quarter. After delicious Nepalese food we retired to their hotel room near the Jardin du Luxembourg and wrote a letter to our grandma. The following day it snowed and he proposed. Love!

Keeping it real at the Pantheon

New Year's Eve was a blur of colour and friendship. As the clock struck twelve I was running down the country lane to my midnight kiss, then danced the night away.

Otherwise I've been patting pets on sunny days, playing board games with little ones, going out to dinner, running errands locally and watching movies (in bed or on the big screen on icy evenings!)



Friends, I've been so happy lately. I hope you are too. Everything is working out just perfectly, and there is so much to look forward to.

2009: A year in books

I've been talking (and thinking!) about it for some time now and decided it was the moment to put pen to paper, then fingers to keyboard to write a little summary of my reading adventures for 2009.

My year started off slowly with full-time work and travel plans to attend to. Attending a monthly book-club inspired me to try different authors. I didn't start racing through the books until I settled down in France and began ploughing through the English language section at my local library. Due to a limited selection, 2009 was all about trying different genres and extending my reading horizons. I faithfully read some classics that I'd been meaning to read, as well as "hype" books that people had been talking about. I read books that had been passed on to me as well as stories found in hostels. Essentially, I read whatever I came across, and am proud to have completed 43 novels in 2009. Perhaps next year the total will be higher!


Loved: The History of Love, Nicole Krauss.

Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous. Its big screen adaptation is set to be released in 2010!

Didn't finish: The Book of Dave, Will Self.


I rarely, rarely give up on books. But I was 200 pages into this one and still not enjoying it one bit, so I put it down with no regrets.

Finally got around to reading: Twilight (to see what the hype was about); Lord of the Flies, William Golding; One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez; Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh.

Not my usual thing, but enjoyed nonetheless: When you are Engulfed in Flames, David Sedaris.


Discovered this "new" author: Zadie Smith. I read White Teeth but enjoyed On Beauty more.

Was indifferent to: Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert; Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts.

....but I would recommend: Hard Boiled/Hard Luck, Banana Yoshimoto; Style, Kate Spade (in fact check out all three Kate Spade's if you haven't already!); The History of Love, Nicole Krauss (now.)


Now, friends! What are you recommending to me for 2010? It's going to be a good year, I can tell.

Daily Outfit: Asian dinner party

Delicious food in the warmth of friends.




I may have over-eaten.

Daily Outfit: Orchestra concert

All black for the concert itself. The church was icy!

Parcel in the Post

Remember how I broke my iPod just before Christmas?

Yesterday I rugged up and headed to the post office to collect some courrier. I held off opening my express post package till I got home and have been laughing out loud since then....

My parents sent me a new iPod. All the way from Australia. Pre-loaded with 3500 songs.



Happy (belated) Christmas to me! Could my family get any more awesome?!

Daily Outfit: Band Practice

I have an abundance of outfit photos lurking on my USB (generally repeats; I'm making the most of my capsule wardrobe), so I'll be posting one daily outfit shot a day in an effort to catch up with my backlog. I should have got around to this sooner!




I believe this was for orchestra rehearsal before the weather turned freezing.

ETA: Being that the whole point of daily outfit posts are to display outfits...daily, I'll now be posting two a day!