Saturday, January 28, 2006

I heart online shopping

They just make it so darned easy for you to get your money into their pockets! Not that I'm complaining - I'm a BIG fan of any system that allows me to do my shopping while sitting on my butt, that does not involve going outside, and that gets me books written in my native language. I bought a book on amazon.com yesterday. It's called "The Artist's Way" and it's written by Julia Cameron. It's supposed to be this super-inspirational, 12 week course that will help you get over your issues and get on with the business of being creative. I've seen so many amazing reviews of it and it was only $10. How could I resist? Who knows when that'll get here - I didn't want to pay extra for the expedited international shipping, so it could get here anytime between 2 and a half weeks from now and mid-March. I'm really not in any rush. My Dover clipart books should be here next week, so that'll give me something to play with until this other book comes.

I actually did venture outside and do some real shopping yesterday. I was badly in need of a bag for my school books and I found one at the La Defense mall for only 18 euro. I might get around to posting pics today or tomorrow. Right now I have a pretty bad headache, so it probably won't be too soon.

On a totally unrelated note, here is a link that you must visit:

http://cuteoverload.com

You HAVE to go to this site! They have pictures of little fuzzy baby animals that are so freakin' cute it'll just make your head explode, and witty commentary to boot. Check it out.

Friday, January 27, 2006

Brr!

Brrrr I'm soooo cold. Outside, it's not too bad - it's like 30 degrees. Inside, however, it doesn't feel too much warmer. The heating in our house is really weird. It's controlled by a thermostat, but the thermostat only moniters the ground floor. I live on the third floor. So, when the first floor reaches the desired temperature, the heat turns off entirely. That means that 95% of the time, the heat is not on in my room. I say again: brr.

Right now I'm wearing a pair of tights underneath my jeans. I really can't remember the last time I did that.

I'm sorry, this is rambling. I don't know why I'm talking about this. I think i'm slightly hyper because I've eaten about half a pount of necco candy hearts this afternoon. Mom and Dad sent me MORE than a pound on Wednesday and the bag is probably 3/4 gone. Ugh, I'm not going to contemplate that any more.

Maybe tomorrow morning I'll get up at a semi-normal time and do some yoga. I did that the other day and discovered just how out of shape I was. My arms and my abs were sore for like 3 days. Now that I feel normal again, I should get back to that. It's hard though because I have a cd that I listen to and practice along with, and I don't want my host parents to hear it ("Breathe into your kidneys." "Quoi?"). My host dad works from home, so he's almost always here in the mornings, and I go out in the evenings. Of course, these are mostly excuses that I've invented so I never actually have to exercise.

I guess I'll just have to live with being round ;)

Sunday, January 22, 2006

I am...glue?







What scrapbooking item are you?




You are GLUE!You are the adhesive that keeps things together. You go through life helping others. You stick to people and try to keep people together. You like it best when you are surrounded by people and able to help them. But Glue Beware - in your efforts to keep everyone together and with you, you sometimes overlook yourself and find it hard to keep yourself together. Don't neglect personal time in your overwhelming need to socialize and help others.
Take this quiz!








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I was sort of hoping for something cooler...like eyelet or self-adhesive acid-free polka-dotted ribbon...but glue is cool too.

Exploring

So I went out with my friend Emily last night. We didn't really have a specific plan in mind, just that we didn't want to pay 14 euro for drinks. We wandered up and down the Champs-Elysée and then a little ways away from it in the hopes of finding something cheaper.

Bingo!

Not even two minutes away from the Champs-Elysée we stumbled across the CUTEST little café/restaurant/bar. Awesome prices. I got a pina colada for 6.50! For those of you playing the home game, you can expect to pay 8 at a regular bar and between 10 and 15 at a place on the Champs-Elysée. They also had a full menu that looked yummy and was also pretty cheap. I think we found a place to frequent. I always wanted to be a regular somewhere, didn't you? Sure beats aimless wandering.
The only problem with this place is that they definitely closed at 10:30 or so. And that was on a Saturday night. So I guess it doesn't count as a real bar, but maybe if we were looking for a place on a weeknight and we didn't want to stay out too late...it would be perfect. We finally decided to leave when they started stacking up the chairs around us.

We got a LOT of catcalls last night, it was pretty bizarre. They all happened after we met up with Sarah ("Your friend! She is so tall!") so that probably had something to do with it. When we were walking on the Champs-Elysée this guy literally jumped right in front of us and started speaking Spanish to us. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty certain he wasn't even Spanish. Weird. Other than that, it was just stuff the people said when we were walking by that I definitely would've been oblivious to a few months ago (chou-chou, jolie jolie, that sort of thing). It really pisses me off that they don't understand the concept of sexual harrassment in France. Actually, pretty much anywhere in Europe. I mean yes, I think we take it a little too far in terms of being PC in America, but I really hated being blatantly stared at and chatted up by weird sketchy drunk guys. It's really a pain.

Let me give you an example of how that scenario usually goes. Let's say I'm waiting for a cab or the nightbus or something like that it's pretty late at night. I am always sober and I am always surrounded by drunk guys that think a cab stand is the perfect place to meet girls. In this scenario, the guy won't leave me alone. Can't ignore him, he keeps talking to me and won't go away, so I decide to lie through my teeth just to stop him from getting pissed off. Keep in mind this whole exchange is happening in French.

Sketchy Drunk Guy (SDG): You're really pretty. *hiccup* What's your name?
Me: Allison
SDG: Allison...(swaying slightly) are you from Russia? [note: I am not making this up. They ALWAYS ask me if I'm Russian]
Me: No. *looking at my watch like my boyfriend will be arriving any minute*
SDG: Where are you from?
Me: Canada.
SDG: Canada? I know somebody in Canada...*furrowing his brow in intense concentration* Are you from...Montreal?
Me: Yeah.
SDG: See, I knew it...Are you sure you're not from Russia...No...Do you have a boyfriend in Canada?
Me: Yes.
SDG: Oh, that's...that's too bad. Why are you in Paris?
Me: Vacation. *cursing under my breath and praying for the stupid bus to hurry the hell up*
SDG: It's a nice city, nice city...Maybe we could go out some time?
Me: No. I have a boyfriend.
SDG: Pssssh I know that.
Me: [silent]
SDG: Is he Russian too?
Me: Yes. [internal monologue: goddamn stupid frickin bus I'm gonna kill this guy I swear to God I WILL kick him in the balls if he gets any closer]

At which point the bus usually shows up and I attach myself to a group of people speaking English.

Ah, the joys of the Parisian nightlife.

Friday, January 20, 2006

Your moment of zen for the day

aka the magical bag of wonderfulness

Do yourself a favor and click on this picture. You have to look at it full size to truly appreciate its magical wonderfulness.



Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Retail therapy...it's good for what ails ya

Today I am in a much better mood, I am glad to say. I think that the bulk of my hysteria yesterday was a direct result of

a) saying goodbye to Will
b) getting up at 5am to catch my flight
c) airport stress

Now that I've slept for almost 11 hours, I feel much better. I still miss everybody, but I think I'll be ok here for the semester. With better weather and a good night's sleep, Paris doesn't seem quite so bad as it did yesterday. Plus, all the stores are having SALES! It's not the same as it is in the states. There, stores have sales all the time. End of season, semi-annual, after every major holiday, etc. In Paris, sales only happen twice a year, and every single store in the city is on sale at those times. And I just happend to come back right in the middle of one of them. It runs til the end of the first week in February, thereabouts, and most stuff is between 30-50% off. Nice. Of course, I can't really justify buying anything, seeing as I dropped $160 at Ann Taylor when I was in Philly. But you know what I do need?

A bag.

Right now I'm using a $14 street vendor bag that I bought the first week I was in Paris last semester. Considering that it's a knockoff, it's held up remarkably well. The thing is, it's light pink. Well, it used to be. Now it's just dirty. It's pretty filthy, actually, and it's pretty much beyond all help. But that's ok, because I can buy a nice, new bag for pretty cheap. Retail therapy does wonders for the soul.

After I go shopping it'll be time to study for my exam. My final exam for a class I took first semester is tomorrow morning at 9. It really makes no sense, and it basically counts for my entire grade for the course. Fortunately, the professor loves us (me and my friend who is also taking the course), and when the exam is over it goes through our director's magical grade converter. I got my grades for all my other classes this morning (A's all around, heck ya), so I can totally bomb this exam and it really won't affect my GPA at all. I don't think I'll bomb it, though, no worries. Anyway, I'm off to hit the shops now. If i find a wonderful Parisian bag I will post a pic tonight.

Later dudes.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Tiger, tiger

So, I went to the zoo with Will yesterday. I didn't that that many pictures because it was SO cold. The afternoon was spent dashing from enclosure to enclosure and praying that my fingers wouldn't fall off while they were out of my gloves. I ended up with about 50 shots, and then deleted all but six. This one of the tiger is my favorite.



Ooh, I have another picture to post. This one clearly was not taken at the zoo. This was my Christmas present from Will! It's a non-engagement ring. Just to be clear. Isn't it pretty? Something shiny...hehe.



Playing with the tiger picture in photoshop has put me in a much better mood than I was in when I posted earlier today. I think I might have been spending too much time on the computer, though. This week I've been spending a LOT more time designing kits and fixing photos than I usually do and I think it's making me headache-y. That's not good, especially since I'll have several hours to kill tonight before I go to Will's hockey game, and I was planning on spending it working on my lastest kit. I'm really happy with the way this one is coming out. I actually got the inspiration from an area rug. I really liked the color scheme, so I borrowed it. I was working on a piece of stripey paper when I realized that the color scheme is almost identical to a Burberry scarf. And the name for the kit was born: London Town. I think it's cute, I guess we'll see how it looks when I post it here!

Frustrated!!

Grrr. That about covers my mood right now. Now why is she in such a bad mood, you might be asking yourself? She's in Europe, living the good life and playing with photoshop! Well, that's part of the problem. I don't have photoshop, I have photoshop ELEMENTS. big difference. As I'm getting more into designing, I'm finding more and more things that would be SO much easier to do with CS2, or that I flat out CAN'T do with elements. Now, you're probably thinking that the reason I can't have PSCS2 is because of the cost. Actually, that's not it, not completely. Yes, it is expensive, but if I saved up I could buy it with a student discount within a couple months, probably. But there's a catch. Even if I bought it, I couldn't use it, because I currently have what I affectionately refer to as "the little laptop that could." I have a G3 ibook...the little baby one. It's a great computer, don't get me wrong, but I've had it for 4 years and it's getting old. On top of that, it just won't support the full version of photoshop. I think my poor little computer would have an e-stroke if I fired up the trial version of CS2 that's been sitting on my desktop for about a week. I think I have to delete it and stop tempting myself. So, bottom line is, CS2 would cost me over $2,000. I've decided that when I buy a new laptop, I'm going big. I currently have my eye on a 17-in refurbished powerbook. *cue drooling* but they're so expensive!! and then the software...ugh. With that said, I would like to announce the creation of the "Buy Alexis a Laptop" fund that is currently open and accepting donations...haha I wish. Just kidding. Unless you really do want to buy me a laptop. lol.

In addition to all this computer stuff, I really don't want to go back to France. I had a fantastic 2 weeks in the states with my family and then went to Germany to spend almost 2 weeks with Will, my boyfriend. On Tuesday I fly back to Paris and he flies to NY to go back to school. He'd like to come and visit me for spring break in March, which would be really awesome, but flights are SO expensive. We'll see, I guess. It would really be great because otherwise I won't see him til June. Even if he can't visit me, I'll still get to see my mom in April, and hopefully my aunt. We're going to have a grand old time eating escargots and drinking wine. That's if I can persuade my mom to even try one. They're really good, I swear! But anyway, I really don't feel like going back to France. First semester was enjoyable but I don't feel the need to extend my stay by another 5 months. France is a nice place to visit but I definitely don't want to live there once my junior year is over. I'm too much of a homebody and I love America too much to ever live anywhere else.

On that note, I must be going. Now that vacation is just about over I should be able to update the blog more often, so keep checking back! God bless the USA! Can't wait to be back there!