Sunday Funday

Sunday I was doing 1 thing & 1 thing only: taking advantage of these free museums!
I met Grace at the metro exit at Rèpublique so we could walk to Hillsong together! I was glad that I had someone to go with this week! This is their last week at this location before the move further south in the city to Bobino. We sang a song called "Love like a fire" that was soooooooo good!!!! Definitely my new favorite!! Steve Penny from Australia was the guest speaker & he preached about new beginnings since Hillsong Paris was moving to a new location. It was so good! After that, Grace & I went to the cute little café that has pink & orange curtains & orange seats, but after we waited & waited & no one came to take our order, we left & went to McDonalds! I was in the mood for some coffee!! Grace went to ACP & I decided not to go that week & headed towards Place de Vosges to go to some museums. I love walking around the Marais, which is this awesome neighborhood really close to my apartment. I dont think I have ever seen the cafés so full! There were people everywhere! I walked down some backstreets & started realizing (again) just how much I am going to miss this place!!! Even though Paris is a big city, this area has a very "homey" quaint feel! I ran into Megan a few weeks ago at the grocery store & was just minding my business walking through the streets when I heard someone say "HEY!" It was Megan! I love running into people in the streets!!! We stayed & chatted & she was coming back from the nail salon & I was headed in the other direction, but we said our goodbye's & made plans for next week. I thought for sure there was going to be a monster line to get into Victor Hugo's house, but to my surprise I just walked right in! The inside felt very much like a 1920's parlor & you had to walk up windy marble stairs to get to his second floor apt. The first room you walk into is like a foyer/greeting hall & it leads into the Grand room that is all res damask with velour red drapes. This apartment was the longest place Hugo every lived...I believe he was there for about 12 years. Apparently he used to move a lot! All the furniture was moved & some of it sold after he died & before the museum was made so it was decorated based on his personal recollection that he wrote, from friends & from his grandchildren, who also donated most of the furniture they had from him. To rent the entire apartment, which was quite spacious with tall ceilings, was only 1500 francs/year! The grand room led to the Oriental Room & you feel like you just walked into a different world! I felt like I was in a Chinese Tea Garden. Everything was very green & there were plates & lanterns hung around the room. The rest of the rooms were the office, parlor & bedroom...ALL which had very floral wallpaper to match the floral carpet and the floral ceilings. That much matching gave me a headache!!! On the way to Carnavelet, I passed a group of guys singing that "abba ba deeba abbbaaaa" (if you heard the song, you would totally know it!) & I felt so euro!! Then I browsed through some of the local shops & walked down really cute streets & was enjoying every single minute of the sunshine!! The interior courtyard at Carnavalet reminds me of something out of a fairytale. There are perfectly manicured bushes & flowers & vines that go up the side of the walls & the museum itself looks like a castle! The museum is about the history of Paris & has art work & relics from all the time periods & each room is decorated in the decor from that time. I didn't like the really old parts from the Roman times, but when it got to Louis the 13th & 14th...OOH LA LA I loved it! The rooms looked like they came straight off the set of Marie Anotinette, so DUH I was in love! so beautiful!! I wanted to get to Invalides before it closed & I wasn't sure if itclosed at 4 or 6 so I hustled there! Walking into Invalides reminded me a little bit of walking into Versailles because of the big gate entrance. The cobblestone was SOOO difficult to walk on & I was even wearing flat shoes!!! I walked in the center area of Invalides, which is a 4-wall enclosure with an open courtyard in the middle & found the hallway that lead past the military/world war/armour museums because I was just going to see Napolean's tomb. After walking what felt like an eternity, I got to the entrance side of where the tomb is & looked up in awe. Ive taken several pictures of Invalides & walked past it zillions of times, but seeing it up that close was amazing! The gold dome sparkled even brighter & was even more detailed & intricate than I could have ever imagined! I walked in & my jaw hit the floor. The height & beautifully architected dome was astonishing. I have always said that I enjoy looking at the art & detail of the ceilings better than whatever is in display at whatever museum or exhibit I'm at & that was totally the case here! Well, until I looked straight ahead & saw an amaaaaaaaaazing gold & ornate alter!!! holy smokes! EVERYTHING in this place was gorgeous!! I walked up the stairs to the alter then down the swirly stairs to the crypts & the atrium where the Emperor Napolean the 1st is buried. His casket/tomb or whatever its called is MASSIVE!!!! you walk around the outer circle which surrounds the tomb & there is sculptures which tell stories from his life & accomplishments: There was also the tomb for Napolean II down there as well! Upstairs, there were little atrium chambers that branched off the central dome area where Joseph Napolean & other famous people who I didn't know were buried. I walked back into the 4-sided open courtyard & up to the 2nd floor to the Alley of Honor & there were memorials & dedications that lined all 4 walls! Thats when Dad called & told me that Clemson lost in OVERTIME to Auburn :( booooooo!!! That put a damper in my day for about 3 minutes. I went into the Charles de Gualle exhibit & it was very high tech & interesting! There were video clips, images, personal belongings & interactive stations throughout the whole exhibit, which was set up chronoligically by year. After that, it was evening time & I wanted to get some good shots of the Statue of Liberty by Bir Hakeim, so I did that & went back to Chatalet to walk through the vintage thrift shops again before they closed! I wanted to walk through H&M again, but it was closed & I didnt feel like taking the metro since it was still gorgeous outside, so I walked by Rambeauteau, Arts & Metiers & down Rue de Temple all the way until it intersected with Rue Béranger!!!

SUCH a fantastic way to end the weekend & I'm so happy that I got to spend my last weekend in Paris (for this European excursion!!!) doing exactly what I wanted to do! ...Now I have to get in the bed & get prepared for my last week of work! FINALLYYYYY!! There is light at the end of the tunnel!!!!!!

Saturday

Soooo technically I was supposed to be in Geneva, Switzerland but I got sick & there was a 60% chance of rain for the weekend & that was the last thing I needed! I was SO LUCKY & my ticket for Geneva got fully refunded, so now I can use that money in ITALY! :) Guy told me that this weekend was Les Journees du Patrimoine, which is apparently held all over Europe the weekend of September 18th & 19th. TONS of museums and buildings that are usually off limits to the public were open & free of charge! Not to shabby! I couldn't have asked for more perfect weather- it was about 68-70 & sunny with a cool breeze! Heaven! I got up & opted to just stroll through the streets since it was too pretty to be inside. I got off the #11 at Rambeteau right next to Centre Pompidou & saw all sorts of street acts & artists busy at work. All the cafe's were packed & everybody seemed so happy! There was a guy who had drawn this monter portrait out of sidewalk chalk & a magician pulling things out of his throat, which made me want to gag so I left! I stumbled upon a really cool vintage/thrift store called Rags & a new church I had never seen before! I wanted to get over to Hotel de Ville to see if it was open & (from what I saw) it wasn't, but there were people playing Polo on bikes & all sorts of biking activities for little kids. Remi had just mentioned Berthillon last week & since I was so close to I'le Saint Louis & that was one of the places I HAD to go before leaving, I thought "why not go now!" I walked along the Seine & passed 3-guys playing music in the middle of the street & a hugeeee bass player just singing like there was no tomorrow. Could this day be any more perfect? I saw a huggeeeee line wrapped around the corner & thought that all those people were insane for waiting in a line that long just to eat at a restaurant & then I realized that the line was for Berthillon...so I joined them! I got raspberry & coconut gelato/sorbet & YUMMMM! It's really fresh & you feel like you're eating a real raspberry & coconut! There were 2 guys singing "Dream a little dream" & "What a wonderful world" & I almost had to pinch myself to see if I was awake. The sun felt great, the music was wonderful & I was going to one of the most famous places in Paris. I feel so blessed :) Thennnnnn I saw an airplane fly by & I sorta got smacked back into reality...the reality being that this is my last weekend in Paris & in less than 2 weeks I will be back home. I'm trying to absorb all things Parisian before I head back across the little pond.

I passed by Pont Sully and crossed the bridge to the Arabe Monde because I saw people standing on a terrace & wanted to go up there! Since it was Les Journees du Patrimoine, it was open! The same architect who built Lancel's offices built this building & what's so cool is that each window has a shade in front of it that opens & closes like a camera! I felt like I was in the matrix when I walked in because everything was glass & super new-age. I got up to the 9th floor & there was a cute little pavillion set up where you could sit under umberellas on pool furniture...then there was the view. OMG! Its right along the Seine & up way high so you could see the top of all the apartments & buildings. There was a perfect view of Notre Dame & the Eiffel Tower! I felt like I was on top of the world! Definitely a view worth seeing! Just across the street is a parc called "Art et Scupltures en pleine air" and its right along the Seine with trees and flowers & abstract art, so I went and checked that out. The art was funky/weird, but the flowers were so pretty that they didnt even look real!!!

I was heading towards the metro when Grace called, so I met her on Rue de Rennes near Saint-Germain-des-Pres & we sat at a cafe for hours & just talked! We were looking at all the fashion passing by us, wondering why some adults ride Raze scooters here, how we would die if we tried riding a bike in the city and what it would be like growing up in Paris. The weather turned frigid and my teeth were legitimately chattering! Really? It's only September & it felt like December!!!! We said our goodbye's & headed home for the night.

t-minus 2 weeks

T-minus 2 weeks

As if the past MONTH hasn't already FLOWNNNN by, I looked at a calendar & thought to myself, "self, you only have 2 more weeks of work & then after Italy, YOU GO HOME!" The people at work have been VERY difficult to work with & be around because they're sooo "parisian." OK, being Parisian is no excuse for being rude. It's OK to say hello back when someone says hi to you!! I promise! uuhhhhhhhhhh theyre so frustrating!! Anyways, on a happier note...

Jonathan's bday was on Monday so we were all meeting up at Place de Monge to celebrate the big 28 with him. I had to come late because of work & got turned around because I exited the metro onto the wrong street, so Lisa & Elena had to come find me! We ate on a tiny street off Rue Moufftard at a café called Café Français...way to be unique. It reminded me of Belgium because all the restaurants were close together & the street was cobblestone. I ordered authentic French Onion Soup, which was exactly what I needed because it was cold outside, steak with french cut green beans and roasted potatoe wedges & topped it off with the best French dessert ever, crème brulee!! Dinner was lovely! The newt day I was really busy at work helping Guy with the work for the Eccentric Spirit presentation. I was busy compiling the photographs Leonello selected into an eccentric layout & althought they looked quite simple once I was done, it was difficult thinking where the best place, size & so forth for each image!! I LOVED BEING BUSY & ACTUALLY GETTING TO HELP!!!! I was beginning to feel useless! We all went out for fondue Tuesday afternoon to celebrate Thongsavanh's last day. Lee & I were unsure what to order at first, so we just went with plain cheese fondue!! It was quite a meal- apparently its what Europeans from the mountains (especially Swiss ppl) eat to stay warm. It was a hearty lunch & I was about to vom afterwards because I was miserably full!! Tuesday night is usually Bible Study, but after the Rentree (the official end of Summer when everybody is back in town ffrom vacation), Tuesday night switches between Bible Study & Pizza night. I missed out on baking the pizzas this time, but saw lots of new faces & even met 2 guys who go to Furman! South Carolina is getting its fair share of representation at ACP!!! We sat at tables, so we couldn't all really mingle & I sat at a table with people I had never met before. We played games to get to know eachother, then there was the individual game where you had to go around & leap frog over someone or make them sing really loud & whoever got through all 10 tasks first won. I didn't win, but I did manage to make myself bald because one of the things was getting a piece of hair from someone & who did everybody ask? ME! JR said it was because I was tall (I was towering over everyone that night because I had on heels!! oops!) & because my hair is blonde, so it just sticks out! YOUCH!! We had mango ice cream afterwards for dessert!! Wednesday, Guy & Youri were at the accessories thing, so I spent most of the day perfecting my color & material squares for the meeting. That night, I met Lisa at Saint Michel & we ate at a little café in the Latin Quarter near Saint Severin. I ate steak frites AGAIN! ahhh! Since it was Lisa's last night in town, we did some major "metro-tourism" aka we hopped on & off the metro to go see the big sights like the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Concorde & ended up at the Eiffel Tower!!! IT WAS FREEZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We just stood in front of the Eiffel Tower in awe for like 20 minutes. No matter how many times I come here or see the Eiffel Tower, it n-e-v-e-r ceases to amaze me! Stunningly beautiful & one of my favorite things in the whole wide world! I cant think of ANYTHING more beautiful!! We were walking back & I started getting sad because I dont know when I'll see Lisa again & she has been such an incredible friend to me since I arrived in Paris! We made some great memories & had lots of fun & I won't ever forget her! On the way back, something in the sidewalk caught my eyes- the cobblestone sidewalk had chipped & there was a cross where the rock & cement chipped away! I sort of felt like everything was going to be alright after that! Ive already started getting sad about leaving Paris & saying bye to Lisa & it was kind of as if God was like "dont worry! everything is going to be fine! youre going to be fine!!" I had been feeling bad all week, probably because the weather did a 360 change from saturday to tuesday & it felt more like winter that late summer, and it hit me like a ton of bricks on Thursday! ah! i was coughing & congested...EW! There was a meeting at 10 with Leonello & I had confirmation that I am not a complete idoit, like the rest of the style team often makes me feel like. Leonello, THE head creative director said he liked my work & said "really great job" & I even got a thumbs up! SUCK IT STYLE TEAM!!!!! I dont care if I dont impress them because Leonello's opinion outweighs theirs by like a bajillion!! Guy & I worked on the words & cover of the book for the box that was getting presented to Mark ("the big boss" as they like to call him) on Friday so we were all running around doing work. It's cool to think that they chose some of the images I researched & will be presenting work I did to MARK!!! sheesh!!!! I just wish I was going to be here for the BIG presentation in December...well, I wouldnt want to work until then...I'd just want to be here to see the final product! The presentation will without a doubt be incredible!!! It was Lee's 24th bday that day, so we had pastries after the meeting & got desserts with our lunch to celebrate! Wish I could have baked cupcakes & made her blown out candles!!!!! I am SO lucky to have her here! She has been a God-send! for real, I couldnt have gotten through these past 3 weeks without her!!! We have had quite the time dealing with the accountant & I think she's just hating on us because were both tall & have blonde hair! It makes me sad that I only get to work with her for less than a month! Ive only known her a short time, but we have so much fun together! I told her to email me if she gets bored after I'm gone!!!

Im supposed to go to Geneva this weekend & after looking at the weather forecast, which is 60 percent chance of rain both days, I thought to myself "hmmmm maybe thats not the best idea!" On top of feeling like death, Trevor was going to Munich for Oktoberfest, Jess was working & no one could get off work to come with me! I feel run down because I never sleep & I opted to not go brave the rain this weekend & will be in Paris for my REAL last weekend!!! This weekend is Les Journéé des Patrimoine in Paris & allll the museums & private/non public buildings are open FOR FREE! Grace is planning a picnic on Saturday & the weather is supposed to be nice; so I'm excited about staying here!! Im thinking of going to Invalides, Musée Carnavalet & Hotel de Ville!!

Today at work, Ive been planning my big excursion to ITALY! Ive looked at hostels & things to do & trains & everything & now I feel like I have it under control! Get to Pisa at 6:20 on the 25th, take the bus to Florence & stay there until the morning/afternoon of the 27th, take a train to Cinque Terre & hike around there for 2 days, then back to Pisa to actually see the leaning tower of Pisa before boarding my plane back home...to Paris, that is :)

Even though I love this place & all the experiences I've had over here, I can't help but start getting excited to see my family!!!!! This time in 2 weeks, Ill be almost home!!!!!!! Ill probably be flying somewhere inbewteen NYC & Washington! AH!!!! then it's off to Clemson the next day for the homecoming game!!!!!!!! What a great way to come back to the US!!!!

last weekend

Saturday was BEAUTIFUL! it was entirely too pretty to tale the metro anywhere, so since this was one of my last weekends in Paris, I decided to walk around the city & soak up as much of it as I can while I can. I walked towards Strasbourg Saint Denis & passes Arts et Metiers and then began to notice exactly where I was when I was walking. We had met on the same street last year before we went to the Comedie Francaise & I remember the Indiana & McDonalds near Christina's house! I was at Bonne Nouvelle!! I saw 2 structures that vagualy resembled a much smaller version of the Arc de Triomphe! SO cool! Bonne Nouvelle runs into Grands Boulevards, which is a really good district to do some serious shopping damage! I found amazing panorama postcards that fold into 3's so OFCOURSE I had to buy them! You coud see a Lancel store in the one displaying the Opèra, which I thought was super neat! There was a really cool store & ofcourse I forgot the name, but they hand made all their clothes! They were all very colorful & looked like patchwork but in a really eclectic vintage way! You could even see the little station where some of the workers were sewing the clothes! Everything was SOOOOO expensive! I love being by the Seine on days like this, so once I got to the Opèra, I hung a left and headed straight for Tuilleries & passed the cute café area where Mrs Marty took me to dinner. I saw a lilac purple doodle bug & several bedazzled skull heads that looked SO Ed Hardy. I got to walk across the really metro/modern bridge that I love so much! For the next 20 minutes, I just sat on the ledge of the river & tried to soak it all in. It was breathtaking. How in the world have I already been here for 3 months? It was getting close to 5:45 & I still had to go home to change before meeting everyone at the Thurbur room for Chris & Lisa's going away party. I got there relatively on time (GO ME! I'm never on time anywhere!) & started helping with the pizza making. Everyone was chopping & slicing & dicing & heating the marinara sauce! I ofcourse couldnt wait to take pictures!!! I immediately put on an apron so I would "look the part." I was in charge of putting the cheese on top of the pizza! Destiny & Jimmy set up the tables & everyone was hustling & bustling around to get everything ready. We all said a prayer for Chris as he heads back to University in Toulousse & Lisa as she heads to school in Wales. The pizza was SO good! I overheard one of the new girls, who I had never seen before, mention that she was an American & I started eaves dropping once she said she was from NC. Naturally, I had to ask her what she was doing here & it turns out she arrived 2 weeks earlier & is an au pair in France for a year. She is from Raleigh, NC & went to PC!! SMALL WORLD!!!! Jimy accidentally froze the Coke, but by the time we ate it had turned into a slurpee & reminded me of 7Eleven! I sat next to Kimmy & Raphaela who was dying to get back home to watch the US Open! She is German & working in Paris as a sports journalist! Did I mention that she speaks 5 languages & English is like her 3rd best & her english is better than mine? Things like that amaze me! I barely speak 2 languages!!! She knows German, Portuguese, Spanish, French & English...amazing! We all had the best time! After, we hopped over to the Eiffel Tower to see the Advertising Exhibition at Champs des Mars & ofcourse we missed it! BUMMER! However, there was HUGE crowd of people gathered around a guy singing so we decided to go check it out. He was singing GREAT songs like, I will survive, Summer of 69, Youre Beautiful by James Blunt (I couldnt help but giggle & think of Ash because that is one of my favorite impersonations she does) & then he sang Hey Jude. Just as we all chimed in "naaaaaaaa na na nananana, nananana, hey jude" the eiffel tower started twinkling! I NEVER WANT TO LEAVE HERE!!!

Sunday I got up early because someone at church told me that Hillsong of Paris is really close to Rèpublique. I googled it & it's not only close, it's literally right across the Place from my apt! I walked there in 5 minutes! It was raining & cold & dreary that morning & all I wanted to do was sleep, but this is the last opportunity I have to go to church there & I wasnt going to miss it! The building they hold service in is very eclectic & funky! There was a very cool chandalier type thing hanging & it was decorated in a shabby chic decor. It used to be a cinèma, so all the seats were red velour & they had big 1950's-esque paintings of Marilyn Monroe & Bob Marley. When the band came on, I felt like I was at a rock concert! They were full of life & energy & jumping up & down & everybody was SO into it! They sing some english songs, some French songs & it was just amazing! I feel so lucky & blessed to get to experience something like that! The preacher is Australian & there is a translator, so every 30 seconds you hear english then french then english then french. It was great! I tried to grab a croissant or pain au chocolate & a café before I went to ACP, but nothing was open! There is Paris on a Sunday for ya...NOTHING IS OPEN!! Not even the grocery store!!! I was so sleepy that I kept nodding off in church! ah! I met up with everyone for coffee & snacks afterwards & had another interesting conversation with the French guy who called me a liar a few months back. Apparently he is crazy, but he was telling me how he has lymphoma & sometimes gets depressed, so I felt bad not talking to him. He wants American pen pals & wanted me to try to find him some, so I had to take his business cards & promised I would give them out...weird! I didnt know how to react!!

We went to EXKI near the bibliothèque where I visited last year & had some yummy tomato honey soup!!! I was sleepy & some of the other girls were going to watch a french film, but HELLO why would I want to watch a movie in french when it was pretty outside? Lisa & I went back to her flat & had coffee & just spent some time together! She is leaving Paris on Thursday :( After the coffee was done, I walked through the streets & passed the Eiffel Tower, the Suisse Village (which was built for the World Fair in 1900) & ended up near Emilé Zola. I spied a patisserie that was open & bee-lined it over there & bought a baguette because I had been craving one! I was in search of a cute little park bench to sit on & ended up back on the Seine near the Eiffel Tower. I was having dèja-vu when I passed a certain mètro stop because it was the first metro stop I used last year! It was right around the corner from Hotel Novotel- which is where we stayed last year before going to Brussels then moving in with our host families!!! I was walking walking walking walking & cross the road when suddenly, I felt like I was dreaming! I looked up & saw where they filmed the part in Inception under the metro tracks when there are the big mirrors! I was like "WHOA" then proceeded to take 21540 pictures! Just before that, I saw the replica of the Statue of Liberty so I was seeing all sorts of cool stuff today! There was a monument from one of the panoramic postcards I had bought that I hadn't ever seen before I what do you know, there it was right across the street from the Inception sight!!! It's in the Bir Hakeim area & it was to commemorate all the Jews in Paris during WWII. There was a beautiful 1/2 moon & a perfect orange sunset! SEE- God is a CLEMSON fan :) It was getting cold, so I had to pry myself away & head back to Rèpublique and get ready for work tomorrow..BOO

PEPSI

This whole Pepsi situation has been rolling around in the back of my mind since the first e-mail I got from Lisa Frazier about the position on June 29th! I immediately e-mailed heronce I got to Paris because jobs like these dont come around all the time!! After speaking with her on the phone, I finally (literally it took me a week) figured out how to formally apply for the job online & made a profile/uploaded my résumé/applied for the Associate Specialist in the Graphics Commercialization Dept! I remember her telling me it takes some time for the résumé & application to get through HR, so I was thinking somewhere around the 3 week range.

I kept waiting...



and waiting...








and waiting...

then I got to thinking, "did I apply correcly? OMG what if I didn't submit it correctly?"So I freaked out & looked through my profile & all the Pepsi Job setting on my account & felt so good when I saw the confirmation again! Right after I did that, I e-mailed Lisa like Mom & Dad told me & she replied by saying that HR had received my résumé & would be contacting me shortly!!! ahhhh!!!!!!!!! The squeaky wheel gets the grease!

FINALLY 5.5-6 WEEKS AFTER THE FIRST INITIAL INTERVIEW I HEARD BACK!!!!!!!!!!! What perfect timing! I had JUST prayed about it in small group after bible study & had just gotten back to Paris from having a wonderful weekend in Paris!! I had to give the lady who e-mailed me my availability for this week & next week & not just for one, but 3 interviews!! I thought for sure the interviews would be early next week, but they were scheduled to take place in 48 hours!!! AH! Now everything is moving so quickly!! Last time I had to call them & even though my phone had €25 worth of minutes, it ran out after talking for only 20 minutes. So, factoring in 3 interviews that were 45 minutes each...BANK BREAKER! I freaked out & emailed Allie & explained to her how costly it is for me to make international phone calls & suggested skype, but she said NO & then informed me that they would be calling me this time! PHEW! I had spent like an hour at work trying to get an online # for skype & then bought skype credit & all that worrying was for nothing!

I spent all day Thursday at work googling Pepsi facts/stats/awards/stock info so I would be super prepared for the biggest interviews of my life. If this goes well, I could be employed! That would be SO nice to not have to go on the job search when I get back home! ...besides, its not like I have any better offers going on right now!! I searched encouraging bible verses & wrote them down & read over them/prayed ALL DAY LONG!!!! I wasn't even worried or nervous about this interview because I know it is in God's hands & if He wants me to have this job, then it will work out & if not, then something better will come along.

I KNOCKED THE INTERVIEW OUT OF THE PARK! I was on the phone from 7:30-10:45 except for about 30 minutes! I talked to Lisa (who interviewed me last time), Marty (her boss who was on vacation in Miami & took the time to interview me) & Kelly from HR. alllll day yesterday I was googling Pepsi news & facts & stuff so I could spat some of that off casually during the interview. They all were SO nice & very easy to talk to & I wasnt nervous or scared at all. The job is DOPE! Working in the Graphics dept & meeting with the Marketing & Art Director almost daily, not to mention LOTS OF TRAVELING!! They go all over, but mainly DC, Baltimore, Perry GA, Shirah SC, Tampa, Colorado & a little place you might have heard of called NAPA VALLEY CALIFORNIA!!! They also do international trips...Lisa is about to go to Belgium & Switzerland & a girl who works under her (which is where I would be working) got to go to the Caribbean!!! HELLO!! Then there are wonderful benefits, relocation compensation & they hook you up with a real estate agent to help you find an apt when you get here! Apparently White Plains, NY is a cool town close by & they suggested living there (IF i get the job ofcourse) because Somers, NY is really la-de-da/fancy/expensive...Martha freaking Stuart lives there for crying out loud! But they have a mentor program where you get matched with someone who is 2 levels above you & helps you prepare for "going to the next level" & there is even a farmers market at the facility on Tuesday! The work environment is fast paced & they said youre NEVER sitting at your desk for long which I like because thats all I do right now & it starts to wear on ya after a while! Salary is going to be discussed at the next interview & I told them that I know the cost of living is high & that I didn't feel comfortable accepting a job if I couldnt fully support myself. They said all that is taken into account when determining the salary.

SO I hear back next week as to whether I get to move on in this process! The next thing would be meeting them at their facility in NY! I asked lisa how many people they were interviewing & she said a few, but not a lot. SO THAT MAKES ME CHANCES BETTER! However, like mom said, I'm not competing with anyone but myself! After talking with Marty the boss, I feel 100 percent totally capable of doing this job & am definitely qualified! It puts my heart at rest that I understood everything he was talking about & the fact that they are the ones who sought me out. And I had really good comments from the experience I have had in the industry to add onto what they were saying :)

And as if it couldnt get any better, there is a guy who played on Dad's football team at Clemson who works there & there is a really strong Clemson Alumni group!!! Pepsi was named one of "the most ethical companies in the world" & one of "the best places to start a career" so im hoping & praying that everything works out!

English

I was told earlier in the week that we were getting a new intern from Italy & Meghan, the girl Mrs Marty had told me about, from Coach! I knew that she was from the States & didn't speak French and I was thrilled! I miss being able to speak English all the time & its SO fun to have someone who you can speak to easily!!

I got to work Wednesday AM & both the Style & Marketing teams assembled in our side of the office to welcome the 3 new interns during the breakfast party with Leonello. Turns out that Remy is french & speaks perfect english & there was another girl from South Africa who speaks English & NO french!!! She looks like a cross between Olivia Newton John as Sandy in Greese & Kylie Monogue. YAY--MORE FUN PEOPLE AT WORK!! I got to meet Meghan & she is so sweet & trendy! I couldn't be happier!!! We ate croissants, OJ & these DELISH coconut cookie things for breakfast & pretty much spent the rest of the day getting to know eachother because there was no work to do. Lee & Remy have lived in Milan for the past 6 months & were studying fashion at a Masters Program. Remy is really good at drawing shoes & material and Lee's focus is jewelery...so the purse world is completely new for them both. Meghan has been working in Surrey, England for the past year & a half & spent 9 years working in NYC. She is from Kansas City & went to Missou! Before I knew she has spent 9 years in NYC, i would have guessed she was about 25 & it turns out she is 31! What is the deal with Lancel employees looking younger than they are??!! I hope I still look young when I'm 31!! That day, Eric, Thongsavanh, Youri, Lee & Remy were going to lunch & I thought we would grab a sandwich but like clockwork, they started walking in the direction of Camilou...the restaurant/café I swore I would NEVER go to again! When they started walking in, I said "uuh Im NOT going here! yall can, but Im not! Im going to eat lunch somewhere else because I hate this place!" So they ate there & I grabbed the yummiest italian sandwich (yummy sesame bread with tomatoes, roasted red peppers, banana pappers, pickles, lettuce & sauteed zucchini) & took it to a shady park then went shopping for the rest of my break.

I am only going to be here for another month, but it is SO NICE to have english speakers who's first language isnt french! I try to understand them at lunch the best I can, but most of the time I just tune them out! Now I dont have to go to lunch with Eric anymore & be bored out of my mind!!! YAY! When Lee got back from Camilou, she was like "now I understand when you said its annoying to go to lunch when everyone is speaking french!!"

I can't wait to hang out with them! They are all SO nice!!

Amsterdam!

I was SO busy alll week doing work on men's travel bags & luggage aka man purses, but all I could think about was getting to see Jessica on Friday!! I did all my laundry, put clean sheets on the bed & straightened my room up so everything would be good to go when I got back home. I actually got to leave work early, so around 5:30 pm I headed home to grab my suitcase then off to Gare de Nord! I had to tell Ken bye before I left because he was leaving in the morning & he was so sweet! I was about to leave then it occured to me that I needed a picture with the tiny "crasian." He got very excited & got his camera as well. It had started to rain as I was leaving :( I must be so used to heading towards Place d'Italie on the #5 because that is how I get to work each morning so I was on the metro & noticed that the next stop was Oberkampf. Panic struck...IM HEADING THE WRONG WAY! I couldnt help but think that I was going to miss my train! I remember reading that there were no formalities with this train, but I always second guess myself when it comes to travel. I got to the train station about 35-40 minutes before the Thalys train left & went hunting for the big sign to tell us the platform #. I waited & waited & waited and looked at my ticket no less than 9 times to make sure I was at the correct station & that the destination, time, train #, etc were matching what I saw on the big sign. FINALLY 15 minutes before the train took off, the board displayed platfor 8 & I saw it immediately out of the corner of my eye. I hadn't eaten dinner & bought BBQ chips & a coke to take on the train with me. Just like the Eurostar, my carriage was at the completely other end of the train & I had to run past 17 other carriages before I got to carriage #18 & nestled into seat #36. I felt the biggest sigh of relief when I sat down!! This was by far the most spacious train I had EVER been on! There was so much leg room that I could stretch my legs out entirely! ...and the seats were hot pink, so that was cool too! I sat next to a girl who was in Paris studying fashion & I thought she was 18 & it turns out she was 25! She was from Brazil. I read nearly the entire way there, then I got soo excited to be reunited with Jess that I could barely sit still! We stopped in Brussels, Antwerp & some other places before stopping at Amsterdam Centraal. Thats when things began to get fun...

Ofcourse I forgot that my little ghetto French phone only works in France & I promised Jessica I would call her when I left & got to the train station so we could find eachother. I had tried dialing her earlier in the day & never reached her, so I just assumed that she was working. When I got to the train station, I wasnt sure where she was then thought "self, youll see her right away!" I got down the platform & started walking towards one of the many exits & had my eyes peeled for brown curly hair. No such luck. The train got in a little early, so I started walking down the length of the station looking at everyone as they passed by. I saw on weather.com that it was supposed to be chilly this weekend, but it was straight up FREEZING! I kept walking & walking & got to a dead end & still no jess. Great. My phone doesnt work, I dont know her address & have no way of getting back in touch with her. I thought it would be smartest to back track & wait where my train stopped just incase she was there waiting. I walked back down the terminal & even past my train stop & still didnt see her. I had bad thoughts pop into my head, like "what if I never find her? What if she didnt come pick me up because she didnt hear from me & doesnt think Im coming anymore?" I decided the best thing to do was get my jacket out of my suitcase before I froze. Right as I leaned over to unzip my suitcase to get my jacket I hear someone yell "AAAAAMMMMANDAA!!!!" I whirled around & there was Crazy Hair Don't Care!!!! AHHH!!! I ran to her & we gave eachother THE BIGGEST hug ever. People were staring! I couldnt believe that we were reunited in Europe! After all those night of sitting on her couch dreaming of how much fun it would be to reunite & it was finally happening!!! Its always so good to see a familiar face!! A friend of a friend had just arrived in Amsterdam from Charleston & her & Jess had been hanging out so somewhere inbetween updating Jess on everything at 500 miles an hour, I introduced myself & we were all giggling about how worried we all were that I wouldnt find them & they wouldnt find me!!!!

We hopped in a cab who's driver was extremely rude & headed to Jessica's new home in the Old South section of Amsterdam. There was construction going on in the streets & sidewalks & everything was blocked off/sandy. The first thing I remember seeing everywhere were bikes....LOTS of bikes & most with strange baskets on the front. When Jess opened the door to her apt I nearly gasped. I am no longer allowed to complain about French steps because the Dutch take the cake on having THE WORLDS WORST STEPS! I dont even know if I would call them steps because slanted ladder is more appropriate. It was one straight flight up 3 stories. I felt like I was climbing a ladder & the steps were so small that only your toes could fit on them! How did people move in? How did old people get up these things? If you fell, you would free fall & break every bone in your body. SCARY! Her apartment was lovely & just the perfect size! I wobbled my suitcase up the stairs & plopped it down by her kitchen table. Her little teeny room was so cute & ofcourse organized to a tee because that's Jess for ya!! I think her room & the room I slept in used to be one & were split into two. They looked like little nook's & I was just happy to sleep in a comfortable bed!

The next morning, we got up & showered & headed off to do a canal tour because the weather was nice! We walked through Vondel Park & everyone was out & about either riding a bike or running. It was amazing to see all the tall (SUPER SUPER tall is more like it!!) blonde people! Now I understand why everyone thinks I am Dutch! All the little children are beautiful & have Barbie blonde hair & ice blue eyes. We passed fountains & parks & picasso pieces & it was all so picturesque! I had NO idea Amsterdam was this beautiful! It took my breath away! We stopped at a little outdoor patio restaurant & I got tomatoe/mozzarella/pesto sandwiches on ciabatta bread with a Pepsi! Next up: CANAL TOUR! We hopped on the boat, which was conveniently right next to the restaurant & took our seats in the very back which was outside so we could see everything. The city of amsterdam is located on the water & is shaped like a rainbow with canals othroughout the entire city! it was incredible! Amsterdam is known for being "the Venise of the North" & now I know why. Each bridge over the water is so quaint & boats & houseboats line both sides of the canal. Amsterdam was actually built on a dam near Amstel, which is where it got its name...Amstel+dam=Amsteldal, which turned into Amsterdam (and according to our book is actually pronounced Umsterdam.) We saw all the cute cookie-cutter buildings & the Anne Frank house & the rest of the beauty the city has to offer. The best part of the tour was when we were weaving through the canals, then we went out into the open water (not quite sure why, there wasnt anything to see) & our crazy boat driver almost ran us into a cruise ship! We looked up & the deck of the Queen Victoria was looming overhead. Slightly frightening!

After that, Amelia headed back to her village & Jess & I went to rent bikes! I got a cute little red bike & we walked over to Rembrantplein (yes, like Rembrant the painter) to pick up Jessica's bike. Jess is a pro biker & was off to the races. I had to pedal with all my might to keep up! We went to Dom Square, saw the shopping district, the art district where Van Gogh lived (apparently the painters used to do alot of drugs & would get cracked out & one night decided to paint everything so its VERY colorful & there are drawings & paintings all over the walls & apt buildings) & then we were thirsty so we biked over to a café called Café de Luxembourg & got cokes! It was getting chilly outside, but I wanted to see more of the city so we rode over to Jordaan, which is comparable to SOHO in NY, & walked through the beautiful streets. We went home to warm up & wanted to grab dinner in the uuber trendy De Pijp (pronounced like "da pipe"), but all the chef's stopped cooking at 10! We went over near Leiszeplein & found a cute little pizzaria called Peppino's & decided we HAD to go there in honor of Pepino's in Clemmy! IT WAS DELISH! I ordered margharita pizza & after a while, we got cold while we were sitting outside so we had to move inside! There was a table of about 10 cougars & apparently it was one of their birthdays, so the waiters started playing the "Happy Birthday to You" song by Stevie Wonder & also the 50 cent Go Shawtyy song...one of the ladies started dancing on the tables! The staff put some decorations up & even brought out sparklers! Jess & I were laughing the entire time! After that, we went to meet up with her 2 au pair friends Laura & Ashley at Luxe...SO COOL!

Sunday was cold & rainy & we had already decided we were going to see the Anne Frank house. There was a big line yesterday & we were crossing our fingers that no one besides us wanted to see her house. We couldnt have been more wrong...the line didnt look long at first, until we walked around the corner & kept walking & walking & walking until we got to the end of the line. The signs said the wait was 2 hours. I went & got us hot chocolates & we made friends with a guy from Philadelphia who was passing out promotional books. 45 minutes flew by & before you knew it, we were in the museum! There were so many original pieces from when the Franks & the other family of 4 lived there...which blew my mind. The space was so small & the windows were blacked out & they could hardly move during the day & then did that for 4 years! It blew my mind. It makes me want to read her diary again so I can visualize what she is talking about. Sadly, Anne died 1 month before they all got released & her dad was the only one to survive. It was hands down one of the neatest experiences I have ever had in Europe! We spent the rest of the afternoon in a museum because the weather was bad & when we got done & looked outside, the weather had gotten WORSE! It was getting time to return my bike & although we waited for the rain to die dow, the guy at the meseum said it was supposed to monsoon like that for 4 more hours! AH! we bit the bullet & ran outside! whats a little rain, right? we tied out scarves over our heads like muslims & that didnt help one little bit. We looked like we had juped in a pool once we got to the bike place. Rather than taking the bus home, we hopped in a cab & I didnt think we were going to make it home alive. The driver must have thought it was the Daytona 500 because he was FLYING through the tiny streets & almost hit 3 people!!! I just closed my eyes! We changes & packed up my things & we headed to Centraal. I hated to go ;( We had THE weekend of all weekends. This time, my carriage was the very first one so I didnt have to run!! I said bye & slept nearly the entire way back home. Jess is going to come visit very soon & I cannot waitttt to be reunited again!!!

Everyone rides bikes there or walks everywhere. AND EVERYBODY IS TALL! I have never been to a place where I feel short. And ALL THE GUYS ARE GIANTS...like, 6'8". I felt like I was in heaven! I could TOTALLY live there! The reputation preceeds the actual vibe of the town & whatever preconceived notions/impressions/stereotypes you have about Amsterdam are mostlikely WRONG! I fell in love with the city & would definitely go back!

Wrap-up

Just like last week, this week has dissapeared before my very eyes! I cant believe the weekend is already here! I've been working mainly on editing men's travel pieces like the weekender, the sports bag & luggage. I did more colorizations and am getting better & better each time! I figured out how to wrap the circus toile fabric around the corners of the suitcases to make it look more realistic! I have my running this week in hopes of getting into some kind of shape besides fat! I run to the Bastille, around the pedestrian bridge & back to the monument, which takes about 20 minutes, then walk back along rue Saint Antoine then continue running back home. I am literally exhausted after that petite workout...I don't know how I used to run SO much when I played soccer without dying! On Thursday, I even did five 30-45 second planks & reverse sit ups! I run by really cool shops & clothing stores & cafés! The cafés are always packed when I run by because this is Paris & that's just what people do! They all kinda look at my funny as I huff-and-puff by because people don't really workout here. I got to skype my mom & dad on Wednesday, which I always enjoy! I showed them the picture of "Ken" (aka Chuang, the student living in the other room with my host family) and we DIED laughing! He looks like a tiny cartoon...or according to Eli "the image that you would see if you googled Crasian!" That's definitely the best way to describe it! He leaves on Saturday & I'm not sure when another student will come in. Patricia's house is like a revolving door because right after an exchange student leaves, another one comes within a week of the last student's departure. Her & the girls have been on vacation for the past 3 weeks & I haven't seen them since I left for London!! Her ex-husband has been staying at the house, I guess so that someone can keep their eye on us. We clearly have opposite schedules because since I got home from Scotland & London, I've only seen him twice! I feel like I have the whole apt to myself because I never see him & Ken goes to sleep around 8ish!

Bible study this tuesday was awesome! There were 20 or so people there & lots of new faces! I met 2 missionaries from the Chicago area! The lesson was from Corinthians & how Paul advised the Corinth's to not believe/trust in new-age religion, which we related to cheesy televangelists & people who are peddling the scripture for a quick buck. It went further into how leaders back in the day thought they were SO smart & Paul kind of mocks them & says "even though you all are SO smart & already know EVERYTHING, there is no way to understand or comprehend how great God's love for us is." The verse basically said that God's amazingness is a mystery & a hidden secret and you can only TRY to understand it through the Spirit. We broke into little groups for prayer before it ended & the floor was open to any prayer requests so OFCOURSE I asked for prayers about the while Pepsi situation. The Purpose Driven Connection from today was about praying about everything that worries you or makes you scared, so I keep praying that God will open the doors (whether at Pepsi or for another job opportunity) because I know that He has something SO AMAZING planned just for me! God has a wonderful sense of humor because I got an e-mail from Lisa Frazier from Pepsi telling me that the NY office has received my résumé and I should be hearing from their HR department shortly so I can proceed with the 2nd interview! KEEP ME IN YOUR THOUGHTS & PRAYERS! I really want this to work out!

My peculier eating habits have finally come face to face with the Parisian cook at Camilou. Camilou is a café super close to work & I've been there a few time for lunch...each time hating it, but its where everyone wanted to go, so I just roll with it. The first time I went, I ordered a salad & was expecting lettuce & tomatoes & everything else that comes to mind when ordering a salad. What came out was in fact a plate of boiled vegetables...shredded carrots, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes aka NOT what I was hungry for! The cook or server or whatever he is was like "did you not like this?" I just lied & told him I wasnt hungry. WELL on Tuesday when we went, I was minding my own business just eating a piece of bread when Eric ordered a meat plate as an appetizer. I don't know what it is with frenchies & their cold cut meats, but they are OBSESSED! The packaged meat section takes up the ENTIRE back wall of the grocery store. SICK. But, the meat Eric ordered wasn't regular like you would imagine. It was more like meat spread that had the consistency of crab dip. As he was slathering it all over his bread, I was sitting on the other side of the table trying not to throw up. Then, he asked me if I wanted to try some. One of the things I have noticed about French people is that they like to share...if they have ANYTHING at all & are near you, they always offer you some. I thought he was being nice & politely declined, then he went into a whole schpeel about where the meat was from & that it is delicious & very "French" & that I should try it. If you know me at all, you know that meat is not my favorite subject or on the list of my top 500 favorite foods. Like clockwork, the waiter/cook who already hates me strolled over & insisted that this is their daily special & I should try it. I told him no less that NO in 10 different ways & he put some on bread & said "please...I prepared this. It is the best! Please try it...you will like it!" YEAH RIGHT frog legs! I finally was like "I DONT LIKE MEAT!!!" and he walked away. I ordered a croque monsieur & took off the ham, but basically just ate frites for lunch. When it was time to go pay for lunch, he told me "you owe me nothing because you didn't even eat!" Note to self: never EVER go back to Camilou because the waiter WILL spit in your food! Way to go & make friends, Amanda.

This week has been rainy & sort of cold & thats the same weather forecast for AMSTERDAM this weekend! I dont even care what the weather is because I am so excited about seeing Jessica! We used to sit on her couch in Clemson & talk about meeting up in Europe & ITS FINALLY HAPPENING! Couldn't be more thrilled! I bought my discounted student ticket & leave today at 7:25 from Gare de Nord! Miss Jessica will be waiting for me at the Centraal train station when I arrive at 10:43! I randomly got assigned to carriage # 18 which is my favorite number of all time, so I think that is a good sign for an even better weekend!! I got to borrow some travel swag again! On thursday, I got home & cleaned my room & did all my laundry & stripped all my sheets so that everything would be clean when I got back Sunday night! Jess has all sorts of fun touristy things planned & I cannot wait to get to travel to a place I've never been before! Were thinking about going to the Van Gogh museum, the Ann Frank house, on a canal tour & SO much more! I've googled some places I think would be fun to see too! There is a giant festival in Amsterdam this weekend & I read where it attracts some 500,000 people! EVERY TIME i travel somewhere, it is ALWAYS the same weekend as their big festival...Brussels, Bordeaux, Scotland & now Amsterdam! I get off work at 6, but Im going to try to leave around 5:45 because I have to run home, grab my suitcase, get back on the #5 metro line & take it about 3 stops to the train station! Im crossing my fingers that there won't be complications like there were with the EuroStar!!

I checked the weather for Paris today & it was big rain clouds & a 60-80 percent chance of rain ALL DAY & I'm sitting at my desk right now typing away & looking at the prettiest blue sky! Hopefully the weather man will be wrong about the weather in Amsterdam too!!! BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTT nothing can rain on MY parade this weekend :)

YSL

The forecast said overcast with a 30% chance of rain & the weather man was definitely WRONG! I slept in & headed to the 1:30 church service and a 72 year old man named Charlie Brown preached today! He reminded me of my grandaddy :) After church, we had coffee & I met some new people. The girls were all going to a cafe on Saint Michel & as much as I wanted to join them, I wanted to go to the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit more! This was literally the last day I could go to it before it closed & some of the girls have already been & raved about it. Much to my dismay, there was a long line but I HAD to see this & was willing to wait in the line! There was a mother & daughter from Canada in front of me & they were so annoying. The daughter kept e-mailing her boyfriend & the mom kept nagging her (repeatedly. it got old after like the 6th time!) about being on her iPhone. It was warm, but not too hot & for a while, I didn't think I was going to get in before they quit sellling tickets. I was worried! Luckily I only had to wait for about 40ish minutes & not 2 hours like the sign said. I bought my ticket & lied (whoops) and told the cashier I was a student and she gave me a 50% discount! Score! I had never been inside Petite Palais and it was gorgeous! The ceilings were incredible. There was a monster sized sign signifying the YSL exhibit. I can't even explain how amazing the exhibit was. I didn't know the Yves Saint Laurent just died 2 years ago...on June 1st 2008 in Paris. He was the assitant to Christian Dior & made his splash in the fashion industry at just 20 years old! Besides revolutionizing fashion, he was the first one to introduce men's clothing as fashionable for women, such as smoking jackets, pant suits & jump suits. They had original pieces from his collection on mannequins and I couldnt even begin to think how many mannequins there were. There were ball gowns, an entire wall of black suits, another wall of just his swatches (he was known to mix color) and even dresses from his last collection. I was walking through the display & saw an outfit that was a purple silk top with an orange tweed jacket & thought that it would have been the perfect game day ensemble! All of his models wore hats & some were extremely outlandish, in the best way possible. There was a room of his 14 pictorials taken for Vogue where he is posing in the nude, which are apparently very famous. Adjacent to that was a room covered with newspaper headlines and some pieces from his 1971 collection, which was by far his worst. Critics called his clothes hideous & he was highly scrutinized for his work. There were lots of see-through pieces, which was unheard of at that time. He created clothes that inspired him from his experiences, like bright colors which he saw in Moracco (where he spent an extensive amout of time) & even painters like Van Gogh (there was literally a jacket that was sequined and was an exact replica of van gogh's work)! There was an entire section of Chinese, Russian, Arabic & African pieces. The BEST part was the room set up like a ball room with tiered stairs that were covered with all kinds of old hollywood ball gowns. One had a HUGE pink bow on the back & looked kind of like what Marilyn Monroe wore in "Diamonds are a girls best friend!" I kept thinking "that one is my favorite...oh wait, no, this one is my new favorite!" I couldn't pick just one!! The exhibit ended with an enclosed diamond heart pin that YSL designed & would let the model who was wearing his favorite piece wear. The pin was massive. I had noticed the court yard earlier & wandered out to take a peek. It was like a little oasis! There was a cafe, 2 ponds, palm trees, tall grass & flowers. I didn't feel like we were in the courtyard of a museum! So pretty!

Since I was already in the museum, I looked on the left half at the paintings and sculptures, but only for a while because the museum closed at 6. I walked up Champs Elysees & got an ice cream along the way! When I got to the Arc de Triomphe, I noticed a military thing going on, so I went to check it out and it was a procession honoring all the unknown soldiers who have died. It was really cool since it was right under the Arc. I wanted to go to the top to take pictures, but thought I'd wait to do that until Jess got here! I walked down rue de Marcel and over towards Trocadero to see the Eiffel Tower from the other side. The sun was just about to set & it was neat to see the tower from a higher elevation.

I was really craving chicken lo mein from le Grand Epecerie & hopped on the metro towards Sevres-Babylone just to find out that it was closed :( It's hard to find anything open on Sundays in Paris! I was bummed :(

Just when I think I've seen everything in the city, weekends like this happen & I get to discover all new sites that I never knew were here!!

it's just SUNSHINE & summertime!

Saturday was probably the BEST weather Paris has had since I arrived here! (By "best" I actually mean warmest/most like GA and SC!) I woke up to the prettiest blue sky I have seen! There wasn't a cloud in the sky & the high for the day was going to be 82. I couldn't wait to get out & explore the city. I have been wanting to go to the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit since before I left GA & I had every intention of going that afternoon, but the queue was entirely too long & I didn't want to waste my day waiting in a line when I could be enjoying the perfect weather!

I ended up seeing some cool statues (Georges Pompidou, Wnston Churchill, Clemenceau) around the Petite Palais that I hadn't ever seen before. I stumbled upon a little garden that had some interesting white sculptures in it & followed the sidewalk down to Concorde. I've been to Concorde a million times, but never walked down the street inbetween the 2 big buildings. I am SO glad I did! I passed some ooh-la-la high end fashion stores, beautiful architecture & even a Laduree (which has the best macaroons in the city!) There were some cafe's under the shady trees & at the end of the road was a big church I hadn't ever seen before! There were gorgeous flowers along the steps that lead up to the entrance & I saw people walking in, so I followed! The church is called L'Eglise Madeleine & it was so gorgeous on the inside. There was a service going on when I got there! It had the typical gothic vaulted ceilings, but it was colorful on the inside! I love discovering new places I haven't ever been before! The doors to the church were MASSIVE & decorated with biblical scenes that has been etched in stone! I wouldn't want to get my hands closed inbetween those doors! When I left & came around the corner, I saw yet ANOTHER church I hadn't ever seen or been to! Stylistically and architecturally, it was completely different from l'Eglise Madeleine! It was more ornate on the exterior. I walked in & my jaw fell to the floor. I've been in lots of European churches, but this is by far in my top 2 favorites! Besides the fact that it was HUUUUGGGGEEEE, the inside was unlike anything else I had ever seen! There were thousands of chairs, incredibly high ceilings & the most amazing detail on the vaults & walls. The pulpit was grand & majestic looking & I couldn't even imagine what it would be like to attend a service or get married there! There was a crypt under the pulpit, a huge organ overhead on the 2nd floor or the rotunda & my eyes couldn't focus on just one thing to admire! I kept saying "wow" & "ohhh my goshhh!" My words can't even do this beautiful masterpiece any justice!

Next, I walked down a random tangent street off the church and passed another little park and ended up near l'Opera. I've been to the Opera, so I saw a very tall monument & decided to go check it out. I passed Lancel :), Mont Blanc & Alfred Dunhill, all of which are owned by Richemont. As I kept walking, I noticed that ALL the stores were very high end. Then I got to Place du Vendome, which is where you will find all the major fashion houses like Chanel and Christian Dior. The facade of the Place was very polished & pristine, which fit perfectly with the type of businesses/stores it encompasses. The sun was still shining & I wanted to go chill in a garden for a bit, so I opted to go to Tuilleries. I passed the carnival that they have set up across from rue de Rivoli & found an open bench & tried to soak up some sun! I saw lots of interesting tourists & got to see all the sculptures and fountains I never take the time to look at. The garden was packed & I needed to leave around 7 pm to get to ACP on time for the Young Adults movie night!

I left Tuilleries and decided to walk on the left half since I never do that. I found a little tunnel that takes you to a pedestrian bridge, so I crossed under there & wound up right along the Seine. It was amazing!!! You know how sometimes you aren't expecting something & it catches you completely off guard? That's what happened to me! The sun looked like diamonds on the river! The bridge looked really millenial/new aged & it was so cool to walk across it! I got to the church & headed down to the Catacombs where we usually met & made some tea because it's cold down there! Ginger informed us that this church used to keep DEAD BODIES of WWII soldiers there before they shipped them back to American to their families. uhm SICK! Until recently (like last year!) there was a crank that used to pull the bodies up to ground level so they could get shipped. I was officially freaked out. We watched a movie with Ben Stiller & the girl from Dharma and Greg & Edward Norton and it was really funny!! After the movie was over, a few of us decided it was such a nice night & we should walk to the metro at Concorde. We crossed over Pont Alexandre & the scene of the river & eiffel tower was just stunning. I don't think I will ever get used this all this beautiful city has to offer!

I'm walkin' on SUNSHINE

I've started running again even though my iPod isn't working & the thought of working out without some ghetto tunes seems nearly impossible! On Wednesday I had my watch & apt keys and headed down a street branching off Place de la Republique that I hadn't ever been down before. I ran past some neat little cafes, some cute stores, saw the Saint Jacques memorial in the distance & ran past the church/school where thousands of Jewish French children attended before the Vichy Gov't turned them over to Hitler. I ended up at the infamous Bastille & remembered that there was a little canal down the street that had tons of boats parked there full time. It was that perfect time during the evening when the sun is just about to set & every building just seems to shine. The sunlight was dancing on the water & I walked over the pedrestrian bridge & just looked at the sunset, the Bastille statue, the riverside park/cafe & all the boats dotted along the banks. It looked like a postcard! I feel like I know my way around Paris like the back of my hand, so rather than running back the same way, I chose a different path to take me home. I found my way back home just before dark & finally took the time to write the postcards I bought the first week I got here!

Thursday was gorgeous as well and I was busy from 9:30 (when I got to work) allllllll the way until 6:30! I was doing colorizations & changing the stitching while matching the leather to the samples I had before me and working on the pictograph's for men's travel accessories aka man purses. I feel like I am learning so much & I love it! It was actually hot (for France that is!) so we grabbed take away salad & sat out in the park/garden behind the office. I was trying to get some sun since I have turned into a ghost lately! I finallllly got to talk to Ash on the phone & boy was it so great to hear Lonny scream when she answered the phone :) We talked so long that all the minutes on my phone ran out! Eek! I had to catch her up on everything from London & Scotland and work so we had LOTS to talk about. She informed me that she had already spilled the beans to Lynnard about me getting my nose pierced! I knew she would tell...but I didn't think Alicia would tell Ash when we all know ash cannot keep a secret to save her life! Oh well! maybe it will take some of the shock off when I tell mom (which ended up being later that night!) I KNOW YOU SECRETLY LOVE IT MOM :) I went on another run because it was just too pretty to be inside! I ran by Bastille today & when I came across the street BAM! The single prettiest sunset I have ever seen in Paris...ever. imagine seeing the sun, the back of Notre Dame, the Seine & one of the beautiful Parisian bridges! ahhh so amazing! I had to run over that way to enjoy it while it lasted! When I was running that direction, I heard Congo/tribal music & naturally HAD to go check it out! Paris Plages were along that section of the riverbank & I saw little Tiki stands, places to lay out, & a dance floor. There was a huge crowd of people & a live band & a girl on stage teaching everyone how to do these crazy dance moves! I wish all my friends could have been there with me! It was so cool! Then I walked over towards Ile St Louis and there was a little band with a group of about 40-50 people singing along! They were singing Billy Joel...but in french so I carefully decided not to sing along! I finally got over to Notre Dame & saw a guy balancing on a rope! I did a ropes course 3 weeks ago & I know how hard it is to (try) to balance on a tiny rope! He was working the crowd for sure- turning in circles, catching balls, juggling 5 balls at a time...the works! It was starting to get late & I knew if I ran straight north past Chatelet, it would spit me out on Rue de Temple & take me home. When I was running, I passed a group of guys that were taking up the entire sidewalk so I weaved through them & one of them started running with me! I was like, "hm...this is weird!" They were all in Paris from London working on a movie about Hunley something....which ofcourse i had NO idea what he was talking about. He got tired & stopped & I got home & was SO tired!

Friday already? This week FLEW by! it's amazing how fast a week goes when you're busy!!! I woke up kind of late, threw on clothes & rushed to work! I finished my colorizations & were putting the finishing touches on the man purses, sports bags & cross pouches. It was supposed to be 84 degrees outside today & stay nice throughout the weekend!! There was hardly anyone at work because everyone is STILL on vacation! Eric, Thongsavanh, Alexandra & myself took a late lunch & went to a sushi place & I ordered the wrong thing...ew. Once we got back, my computer kept freezing & I kept having to restart & it was driving me up the wall. I took a break with Heloise and Latifa so my computer could rest for a bit. Latifa is a muslim & I guess they do this thing every year where they don't eat during the daylight for a whole month! Latifa hast to wake up at like 4 to eat since the sun rises at 5 & can't eat or drink ANYTHING (even water!) until 9:30 when the sun sets! She was really tired & I felt bad for her, but Heloise says that she hasn't complained about it once! GO LATIFA! At 5:30 or so, I looked up & myself, Eric & Thongsavanh were the only ones left on the right side of the 6th floor! All my work was done, so I skipped out & walked through some stores at Chatelet to see what the new look for Fall was going to be!

My weekend plans are to go see the Yves Saint Laurent fashion exhibit at Petite Palais! After that, who knows! I'm going to play everything else by ear & see what all I can get into this weekend!

First week post vaca

So getting up Monday morning was not an easy task! I ended up MAJORLY oversleeping, but thankfully didn't get in trouble! I thought I was going to be back in the Supply Chain, but there was some work in the Style Department so I made my way back to the other side of the 6th floor. I was supposed to be working on Colorization, which is adding a Lancel pattern/leather to a Photoshop pictograph of a purse to make it look real for "The Bible" (the equivalent of The Book from the Devil Wears Prada)& other look books. I had never done that before, so Youri taught me everything I needed to know in Photoshop then set me free. It took a while to get the hang of everything & trying to figure out all the layers and where to add highlights and shadows and such, but after a while it got easier & easier! Its always great to learn new things! My brain was on overload, so I went home & felt like a soccer mom because I did laundry, went to the grocery store & cooked that night! I watched Definitely Maybe for the 1st time & thought it was really sweet!

Alexandra, Thongsavanh, Youri & myself went to a cute little creperie for lunch by Denfert Rochouart on Tuesday and it was YUM! I usually always get crepes with nutella, but these were lunch crepes so I got tomatoes, chicken, cheese & onion aka the french version of a chicken quesadilla! It was rainy & SO cold outside...not exactly the welcome you want back after being on vacation! I had bible study that night & we got out of work early, so I just strolled through the streets near Invalides & the Eiffel Tower until 7:30. The sun came out & the evening turned out to be so pleasant! I saw a guy on the metro 1. rocking a 1990's Mighty Ducks Shirt & 2. jamming out to Single Ladies on his iPod. I secretly want to be his friend! Mighty Ducks & Single Ladies? Yes & yes!!! I finally met Ginger, the Young Adult Bible Study leader & it turns out that she had on the same exact James Avery ring as me! There were only a few of us that night, but we had an amazing discussion about what Jesus's purpose was while he was here on earth & what it means when he said that he didn't come to bring peave, but division. We started around 8 o'clock and got so wrapped up in the discussion that we didnt finish until almost 10! It still amazes me to hear everyone else's views/thoughts who come from all over the world. I was sooo tired when I got home!

I woke up this morning & couldnt believe it was already Wednesday! Half way to the weekend! I got to work & finished my colorizations, went to McDonalds (I dont know why, but that place is like crack cocain to french people) with the boys & did some shopping before the hour was up! I found a pair of killerrr black boots exactly like what I've been wanting & ofcourse they were 129 euros! ah! All the new Fall clothes were khaki, camel, cream, hunter green & navy and there was a reoccuring hunting theme. There were tons of wool jackets, coats & blazers that were plaid with patched elbows. I like it! The weather was absolutely perfect & after the week started off yucky, it turned out quite nicely- it was around 70 with a cool breeze & felt like early Spring! I worked on editing Guy's sketches for the men's collection & then my computer froze & I had to keep restarting & it was getting on my last nerve! I just wanted to scream! It was too pretty to be frustrated & I had all this energy, so I decided to go for a walk/run. The streets were alive & the sun was just at that perfect place right before setting & everything just seemed to sparkle. I saw tons of eclectic cafe's I want to go to & ended up near the Seine by Bastille. That was the first time I have ran in I can't even tell you how long! It felt good!!! I dropped by the grocery store & found creamer, coconut Yop (yoplait that you can drink...OMG its the best), profiterols & grinds to make a cappuccino since the coffee over here is too strong (and small) for my liking! Cross your fingers that it tastes good in the AM! I'm going to wrap the night up by writing the postcards that I bought WEEKS ago & getting those mailed off before the weekend! Oh happy day :)

Jolly Ole' England

I was SO excited for the week to be over so I could get out of the city & head to LONDON! I spent the week before my vacation working with Heloise in the Supply Chain because the entire Style Dept (practically) was on vacation & there was no work to do over there. It was cool to see a new aspect of Lancel & get to work with fun new people! I got to sit in a corner office...it was pretty sweet! We actually got off work around 4:30 & had a little celebration on getting a contract extension/going away party/baby shower all in one around 4, which was fun! Then I had to skitaddle & head home to get my luggage & get to the train station! Heloise let me borrow a Lancel suitcase & purse for the trip! Travel swagger? Yes please! I thought I had PLENTY of time to get to Gare du Nord & was definitely cutting it short! I didnt realize there was security for the EuroStar & OFCOURSE my carriage was at the complete other end of the platform & I was RUNNING so that I didn't miss the train- that would have been just the icing on the cupcakes. I got all settled in & the people on the other side of the table in the carriage didn't show, so I had plenty of room, which wouldn't have been the case otherwise because those trains are definitely not fit for tall people! Around 8 o'clock, Trevor called & was like "Have you crossed the tunnel yet?" Uhm not quite. We were sitting on the side of the traintracks at a dead stop....not good. I thought maybe there was a slow train in front of us, but after several dumb messages over the intercom, it turned out that our train had a mechanical problem that couldn't be fixed. We went to the next train station, which wasn't too far away & I thought we would be on a new train in no time. WRONG! There was supposed to be another train coming to save us in 30 minutes & whoever was in charge didn't put 2 and 2 together & had to break the news that the train couldnt pick us up because it was full. Then we got an announcement informing us that it would be another HOUR & A HALF before the "safety train" would come. Oh geez! Everyone bee-lined it to the snack bus! What felt like FOREVER finally came to an end & we marched to platform 4 at the Calais train station to await the train. I met a really cute old couple from Florida :) It was super windy & colddd waiting for the train & everyone cheered when it rolled up. I slept from there until we pulled into St. Pancras International Train Station in London. I was exhausted at this point- what was supposed to be a 2 h 15min train ride turned into a 6 hour ordeal. Ay yi yi! Trevor was there waiting for me & it was SO great to see him! We hopped into the cutest little British taxi cab & talked 1,000,000 miles a minute. Trying to catch up/cram a whole year into a car ride is impossible!! It was late when we got to Netherwood Road, so we stayed up & chatted a bit, then we both were like "We haveee to go to sleep now!" I think I woke up at 1:30 the next day- it felt wonderful to sleep in!!

Mrs. Marty already had theater tickets & managed to find 4 seats (Me, Trevor, Sasha & his gf Erica) next to them to see the musical Enron. It was raining, so we decided to just chill the rest of the afternoon & met up with Sasha and Erica at Nando's for dinner. SO good! The musical was funny and very theatrical, even though it was about the whole Enron crisis. Afterwards, we all hung out in the ritzy parlor of the #1 Hotel Bar in the world. Trevor's Greek friend Kristos was having a get-together at Cuckoo's & we got invited to celebrate at the Member's Only club. Besides the fact that he was a greek heir, everyone else looked like they stepped right out of Gossip Girl! ...and it looked like every guy had walked right off the set of a Ralph Lauren photo shoot! HELLO! :) We danced to techno/euro music!

Sunday we met up with Trevor's former co-workers at Alfreds's to spend the afternoon playing in Hyde Park! The weather was perfect & everyone was SO nice...it shocked me after being around Parisians for so long! We played baseball, kicked the soccer ball & had a huge game of volleyball- it was perfect! We had to leave early to go home & change to make dinner at 7. The Wikstrom's have dear family friends & the husband is a former stunt man from Hollywood! Now he is a stunt/unit producer...I think...and he is a very colorful/creative person with TONS of funny stories! He once stole a dead person's identity!! We got honeycomb icecream for dessert & besides the fact that it was OUT OF THIS WORLD, I think I found my new favorite flavor of icecream! DELISH!

Monday, I made T go sightseeing/do "touristy" things! We saw Buckingham Palace & the Wedding Cake, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminister Abbey, St Johns Park, etc! Trevor loved when I made him take a picture in the iconic London telephone booth! All in good fun :) That night he had to go meet up with his friend, so I got to be the only child & have Mr & Mrs Marty all to myself! Dinner was lovely & got even better when we ate Ben & Jerry's half baked icecream while watching Grey's Anatomy re-runs!

Tuesday was rainy & cold, so we went & visited Mrs Marty at work. Her office is incredible! I finally got to meet her PA's who I have been in touch with via contact & it was great to finally put a face to a name! Ellen is from Alabama & went to school at Furman & you can't even imagine how wonderful it was to FINALLY hear a southern accent after 5 weeks of the french mumble! I had Indian food for the 2nd time in my life & it was much MUCH better than the Indian food I had in Chicago! That night we got to skype Mom & Dad & Alicia and it felt like we were all back together again! It was SO great for us all to catch up! Mrs. Marty was heading off to Seattle the next AM, so the timing was perfect! It made me miss home though :(

Wednesday....OFF TO SCOTLAND! We had Alex book us a train ticket & hotel in Edinburg, which is actually pronounced Edenborough. We grabbed a burger at Alfred's, ran home & packed in 15 minutes then were off to St Pancras. Things seemed to be running so smoothly....then we got to the train station. We didnt have the tickets printed out & the kiosk wouldnt print them because we didnt have the card we purchased them on...and neither would Mable at the ticket desk. We had the reference number & proof of identity & she said it was impossible. She was not very nice & basically told us there was nothing she could do. So thanks to Mabel, we didn't make out 6 pm train. Luckily we got refunded, but had to wait 6 hours...so we went home & hung out & were on the verge of falling asleep when we headed to the train station. We were SO happy when we got movin' on the train!!! SCOTLAND HERE WE COME! Not quite Spain like I had expected, but you're not hearing complaints from me!

(AFTER GETTING HOME FROM SCOTLAND)

After a 4ish hour train ride, we pulled into London around 9:30 & headed home to chill/watch Gossip Girl! We hadn't eaten dinner, so we walked over to good ole' Mickey D's (or MacDo as the French would call it) & ordered take away. What's better than GG reruns & McDonalds fries after a long trip? The next day, Trevor went to go see Chelsea play soccer, or "footie" as the Brits refer to is as, & I went to get my shop on. I walked through TopShop & found some cool clothes then walked across the street & spent the rest of the afternoon getting lost in Harrods, which was fabulous! By far the coolest decorated department store Ive ever been in. Everything was over the top & themed & it was stunning! I couldnt even look at the clothes because I was too busy looking at the decor! There was a memorial for Princess Diana & Dodi & they even had her what would have been her soon-to-be engagement ROCK on display. I dont think ive ever seen so many diamonds one one piece of jewlery in my life! There were also these fantastic food halls...like people go there to eat lunch, ice cream, sushi, go to the chocolate bar, buy tea/poultry/seafood & cheese...so it's not just a dept store! There is also an entire Christmas section & I felt like I was in santa's workshop! I bet it is SO COOL to be in London around Christmas time! I wanted to buy all the cute little ornaments! That night, I met up with Trevor, Christian, Kasha, Kamille & Ivanel for dinner at Chino's Sushi Restaurant, conveniently located right across the Thames from Big Ben! Trevor & Christian know a waitress there so we got to try all kinds of neat sushi & we were about to burst after all the food she brought out! ah!!!

I left London the next afternoon & Trevor flew to Colorado. Luckily there were no mechanical delays on the way "home," except I left sunny London for rainy Paris & that wasn't really welcoming to come back to. Oh well! Back to work in the AM...we'll see about how waking up before 12:30 pm goes!

SUCCESSFUL TRIP! Next stop: going to see Trevor in Geneva!

Ropes Course

I got up bright & early Saturday morning to meet Ceci, Youri & everyone else at the train station at Montparnasse. OFCOURSE I overslept & ended up leaving the apt later than usual & I felt like the Metro couldn't go fast enough! I kept nervously looking at my watch and knew I was running seriously late. Ceci kept calling & saying "where are you now?" I thought once I got to the Montparnasse metro station that I'd find our meeting location...then reality hit in & I didn't even think of taking into account what a MONSTER metro stop that is! I got to Pomme de Pain 2 minutes after the train left, but Ceci said it was OK because there was a train 30 minutes later. I got a muffin & a large coffee while we were waiting. I met Ceci's boyfriend, Edouard, Mimi & Roman. We hopped on the train & read horoscopes from the previous day's news paper & were all so excited for our big adventure! We took the train to Saint Quentin & took a bus to the park. I thought there was only going to be the Ropes Course there. Wrong. There were walking paths, obstacle courses, workout stations, a sailing club, fishing, horse back riding...the works. We found the "you are here" indicator on the map & saw that we had to walk to the other side of the lake. No problem...except we didn't know that this lake was the biggest lake in I'le de Paris! IT TOOK US OVER AN HOUR TO GET TO THE ROPES COURSE! It started sprinkling & its just my luck that i left my umberella at work because I didnt think it would rain. I didn't even have a rain jacket! Luckily it cleared up after 5 minutes! After FINALLY reaching our destination, we signed in, paid then had a picnic by the lake. French people eat the weridest things-Youri had these tiny eggs with I don't even know (or want to know) what stuffed on the inside & Mimi brought straight up fake crab legs. They come individually wrapped & they had been in her backpack for like 2 hours so I'm assuming they were hot...sick. I stuck to my muffin & baguette!

Caroline was our instructor & after we got harnessed up, she went over the rules and how to attach yourself properly to the safety cords in the event that you trip & fall. Once she turned us loose, we soon realized that this is harder than it looks! i thought we were just zip lining, so I wore casual shoes & wished like crazy that I had my Nike's on!!!!! AaH! There are 4 levels, starting with blue and then advancing to green, red and then black. After getting used to walking across wooden planks and tiny wires, we opted to skip the green & go straight to the red. The first part of the red was to climb up a tree, attach yourself to the rope & literally swing from the ledge to a mesh fence like Tarzan...hence the name, Tarzan. It looks easy, then once you get way up high in the tree & look at how far youre going to drop, it's a little nerve wracking. I was like "JUST DO IT AMANDA" & hopped off! Youri couldnt latch onto the fence & I was determined to reach the other side & did! I didnt realize that this type of stuff was as strenuous as it is! We walked across tiny wires, we climbed up rock climbing walls, zip lined from one station to the other then went for the black level. YIKES! By far, the hardest obstacle was where you had to cross these vertical logs that were hung on ropes & those ropes were your support because there was no wire to grasp on to. Holy moly it was quite the ab workout. I was holding on for dear life...i think we werre 60 meters off the ground. The second part of the first obstacle looked like the ring shaped monkey bars & you had to put one foot in a ring at a time. There is a difference between feeling a rush of adrenaline & literally being afraid & I was somewhere in between the 2 of them! It was exciting, but it felt like the end kept getting farther & farther away! I was relieved when I had my feet on a tiny pedistal perched over 100 feet off the ground! I made sure I was securely latched before I did anything! The last part of the course was definitely the most fun because you zip lined from 1 side of the course to another. It was incredible. I felt like I was flying.

We took some pictures & were all so exhausted! We found a little restaurant by the lake & i saw people wind surfing & sailboats. We sat/rested for a bit then went off on a treck in search of a closer train station. We played with Roman's frisbee & nerf ball along our hike to help the time pass. A lady bug landed on the inside of my sunglasses, hopefully some more good luck will be coming my way! I fell asleep on the train, then went to le grand epecerie to get some dinner. i had the most delicious mix of low mein & chow mein with a chicken egg roll! I heard someone speaking english & ended up talking to this sweet family from Chicago! I went to eat in the park next to le Bon Marche & ran into them again!! The weather was perfect & I had such a fun day, but I was EXHAUSTED! I'm definitely going to sleep like a baby tonight!

TGIF

HAPPY FRIDAY! So excited its the weekend & today was GREAT! It started out a little slow- I overslept! I rolled over & was in disbelief when I saw that it was 9:40! Aahhhh I hustled as quick as I could, given that I had to wait for my little friend from Taiwan to finish primping in the bathroom. Got to work & checked some e-mails then had to go show my passport to Cecil from HR. After I did that, I started researching cool places to go for my VACATION! (I'm loving this whole idea about interns getting vacations!) I was thinking Cinque Terre or Sardinia or Capri. Around 1-ish, Sarah & I left for lunch. She is American/French/Swiss and so wonderful! We couldnt decide on a place to eat & I suggested we flip a coin. We sat outside at a little cafe for a true french lunch and decided to go there instead of the whole-foods type place for a healthier lunch! I pretty much told her how bored I am at work and how I feel COMPLETELY out of the loop on things & she agreed. She has only worked at Lancel for 2 and a 1/2 months & said she felt the same way. She said that we needed to fix this problem because there was definitely a lot of work to be done! Were going to talk to the HR lady soon! That made me feel SO much better!! Sarah saw profiterols on the menu & was like "do you want to split them with me?" YES! and I am so glad I did- they were heavenly!

When we got back to work, I went up to the 7th floor to see where Sarah's desk is & it turns out that she sits next to Kamilla and Pauline! They told me I need to take some breaks & come see them & I will definitely be doing that next week! Phew-now it wont be awkward walking up there! I got back to the 6th floor, the rest of the Style Department was still at lunch, so I talked to Alexandra about my upcoming vacation until they all got back. Right then, Eric was like "I have a job for you!" FINALLY...WORK!!! I had to make these faux color swatches that were going to be applied to the purse design so the Illustrator file looks more real. It's pretty tricky using photoshop in french & I tried changing the settings to english, but no such luck. I had to have Eric walk me through everything because I couldn't completely understand what exactly he wanted done or how they usually do this procedure. I had to scan the velour christal fabric from Sophie then apply that to a document since the rivets were unable to be recreated to exact specifications. I learned a lot & it was fun!

I e-mailed Mr. Nunamaker from Clemson about my evaluation form because most people doing internships were finishing up & I still have 2 more months! I filled it out as if this was a midterm appraisal, but still need to write the 2 page response!

Everybody was buzzing about their vacations. Guy is going to Barcelona, Eric is going to Bali, Thongsavanh is going to southern France, Cecilia is going to Italy & Pauline is going to the west coast of France. There is literally not going to be ANYONE at work next week! I had just gotten a text from Trevor about coming to London next weekend & Alexandra came up to me & was like "Leonello said it is OK if you take a week off!" YESS!!! I immediately texted Trevor & was like, "hope you're not busy in 2 weeks! Pick somewhere warm & lets go on vacation!" He suggested Granada, Spain which is located on the southern tip of Spain right by the Mediterranean Sea. YES PLEASE! We still need to work out travel details, but HELLO SPAIN! HERE I COME! Then, Ceci (the Italian girl) asked me what my plans were for the weekend & I told her that I didn't have anything set in stone. She told me her & her boyfriend were going to climb trees at this place/park thing outside of Paris & she invited me. At first I was confused, then she did a sliding/swinging motion & I was like "OMG ARE YOU GOING ZIP WIRING!?" and she nodded her head & I told her I was in...so I'm going zip wiring tomorrow morning! We have to wear pants, so I'm hoping its not too hot!!! I'm already charging my camera & can hardly wait to take pictures!!!

Work was winding down & everybody was leaving & Sarah came up to my desk & told me there was someone I had to meet. Heloise is the assistant for the Quality Manager & she was SWAMPED with work! Next week, I get to help her make hotel/transportation reservations, contact the companies in China & Taiwan & Vietnam to let them know when Lancel rep's are coming to their site and also enter invoices into a database to make sure the company isn't overbudgeting! I couldn't behappier that there is work for me to do!

I left & was feeling footloose & fancy free. I found a GREAT black dress at H&M, then ventured back down the #4 line to Sevres-Babylone to grab some picnic food at le grand epecerie. The sky was blue & the birds were chirping, so I had my book & baguette and headed over a peaceful picnic in the park! Today could not have been any more perfect. I'm just worried that I'm going to be so excited about going to Spain that I wont be able to sit still at work next week!!!!