29 July 2009

why i am never coming back

dear friends,

i never want to go home. the following are the top 10 reasons why.

1. i can eat whatever i want, when i want, and still lose weight
2. i can pretend that euros are dollars so i think i am getting a good deal even though i am more then likely getting ripped off
3. i finally have a legit excuse for all of my typos (different keyboards)
4. i have always wanted an apartment with high ceilings
5. french people (boys) are better looking
6. when i come home to visit everyone will be way more excited to see me then usual (and they will be more apt..aka obliged...to do whatever i want)
7. another way of avoiding a real life...i need to learn the language before getting a job
8. it is day for like 20 out of the 24 hours so i actually have the chance to do everything i need to do.
9. time is in military time so i can always pretend (who are we kidding here...i dont have a clue) i dont know what time it is
10. laduree.


xoxo

28 July 2009

Almost Done!



I think This is the first time I am ever going to say this (and most definitely the last) but I'm almost sad that my fashion class is almost over. I think it has a lot to do with the company I kept throughout the trip. I expected to walk into a classroom filled with pretentious fashion losers and I ended up with a bunch of people like me. 

xox
night

And yes, that is me in the robins egg blue sweater in the middle. Obviously I picked the point where I would stand out the most. 

27 July 2009

book covers



when i think of book covers i think of the paper ones i used to cover my middle school text books with. as i was blogging a couple of weeks ago i stumbled upon a post written by a woman whose mother buys her book covers for all the trashy novels she reads. i love trashy books. they are the only books i read. no joke. i think i should invest in a few of these covers

i also haven't really blogged about etsy, but i absolutely love it. probably the best  online shopping ever. i love handmade things. 

twilight



hello, my name is alanna and i'm a twilight addict. just kidding (but not really). i may or may not have watched twilight a million times with holly (my friend). for some reason french boys love twilight. i have no clue why but they do*. anyways, i'm currently watching twilight with a bunch of younger american boys that are visiting the family i'm staying with and phillipine. poor kids had no idea that it was a vampire love story, not an action film. i'm dying of laughter.



*side story: the first night i hung out with my new french friends the boy thibault asked me if i liked twilight. typically i didn't want to seem like a totally loser and i said no. obviously he goes oh i love twilight. i was so upset. these were my people. i'm never lying again. oops. i just lied. 

26 July 2009

Au Revoir La Maison Des Mines

Well, I finally did it. I moved out of La Maison (aka my idea of hell). Now don't get me wrong, the rooms where fine - everything else was not fine! (Homeless people, the lack of cleanliness...I'm sure you get the picture.) Well I'm now staying at my friend's apartment. 

A real bed. Pure bliss. 

xox

24 July 2009

another fabulous friday



i would have to say that my favorite day is friday because we only have field trips. that means no homework!!! this friday was my favorite because we went to the yves saint laurent archives, note that i said archives, not just the museum. no one can get into the archives. we had to do a security check and everything but it was totally worth it. i just about died and went to heaven when i saw the first piet mondrian dress ever made. maybe i'm just crazy but it was so cool because not many people get to see it. they had everything there from his original sketches to the most exclusive and rare clothes ever made. (i.e. the smoking jacket). i can't believe that they kept one of everything ever made by him!

i'm officially a fashion loser for getting this excited.

xox

22 July 2009

Note to Self: Get a Shower Buddy ASAP




Maybe I will just stop showering. Seriously. The latest update on The Dungeon was that there was a homeless man spotted on my floor (obviously) in the shower room. This is the type of place I am living in....see I wasn't exaggerating when I said it was miserable! I don't understand why Parson's would ever let student live in a place with almost no security and not even a real bed. Whatever.

xox

Please note that that is an actual image of the shower.

21 July 2009

The Little Bookroom



You know the saying "don't judge a book by it's cover"? well, I definitely DO judge a book by it's cover. Seriously though, I feel like everyone does. Why would a person buying a murder mystery novel pick up a pink book with girly images on it??

Anyways, I was just looking at a website called the little bookroom that sells paris chic and trendy (my go to book for shopping here) and I think that it has some of the cutest guide book covers possible. My fingers are itching to buy them all. It's definitly worth looking at if you are going to be traveling to different places.

20 July 2009

Loving Liberty




Since being in France I have fallen in love with liberty fabric. I especially love the bathing suit and jumper.



I only wish I could wear these flowery frocks all the time. I may or may not be obsessed with this fabric. I wish that I could have someone make me a dress in this!! 

18 July 2009

The Importance of Hand Gestures




Last night I really stepped out of my comfort zone. As I'm sure I've mentioned before I'm an extremely shy person, especially when I only know one person in the whole room. Well, last night I met up with Nick's (my cousin) friend. Keep in mind that I don't know him or his friends and I barely speak French, or as his girlfriend pointed out to everyone I met, I am fluent in Franglish. (him and his friends speak a little bit of english) Well, I have now mastered the art of hand gesturing and how to have a full conversation through arm waving, nodding, and facial expressions. 

To give you an idea of how my night went when one of the guys offered to buy me a drink I said no thank you in French, he asked me why not, I said that it would put me to sleep because I was so tired and drinking would not help me (I said this in both English and French). He had no clue what I was saying so I pointed to the drink said no pointed to myself and then made a motion like I was going to sleep. Weirdly, he understood - they would do the same kind of thing like a motion with a camera and whatnot. 

 I have never had that much fun! seriously. I hope I'll begin to interpret the superfast version of French that I still struggle with so I can have a real conversation!

xox

17 July 2009

this friday's field trip




this friday we went to the louvre to see the Madame Vionett exhibit that they have currently. i was so inspired by it. the whole time i wandered through the exhibit i could only think that i wished that i lived in the 1920's and 30's and could wear the beautiful clothes she created. our tour guide was especially knowledgeable and made me realize how influential and modern she was during her time.

16 July 2009

exquisite summer night

who doesn't love a night with a thunderstorm. as i was preparing to go out on yet another parisian adventure a beautiful thunderstorm hit. these kinds of nights are my favorite nights. staying in and listening to the rain (hail the size of melons in this case) hit the windows and the wind picking up at about 120 mph makes me the happiest girl alive....especially when it breaks the 85 degree weather!

goodnight
xox

my opposite designer



as i said earlier this week i had to design a collection based on a decade of our choice. i chose the 1970's because i love 70's music and it was just fun during said time period. well for this weekend's project we have to create a collection based on the designer opposite of what we would normally wear. i must admit that for a class that knows me for a week they were spot on.

they chose ann demeulemeester. i had no idea who this was until about 4:10 yesterday afternoon. i knew i was in for a challenge when the incredibly talented asian girl next to me muttered good luck. i mean n colors...seriously?! oh sorry i mean a hint of orange, huge difference. 

this is going to be a loooooooonnnnnnnnnngggggggg weekend.

14 July 2009

happy bastille day


Bastille Day
Originally uploaded by Neal1960
bonjour! so while the beginning of my bastille day left much to be desired the ending was fantastic. it started out with me realizing that the french parades are really early, not mid morning/early afternoon like i was lead to believe. after said disappointment i went to hang out by the seine and saw boats drive by rapidly with army men on it. we decided we wanted to go on it. it took about 20 minutes to get there but the ride ended 20 minutes before we got there. awesome. to top it off i found out the andy warhol exhibit i was dying to see ended yesterday. sweet, the one thing i really really really wanted to do in paris was closed.

regardless of all of this we had a picnic in the luxembourg gardens and went to a ferris wheel near la tour eiffel. i guess God felt bad for us because as we got on the ferris wheel the fireworks started so we had a fantastic view of the fireworks. so i guess it wasn't too bad of a bastille day after all!

xox
can't wait to show the pictures

13 July 2009

Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg

for my recent project we had to pick a decade that inspired us. i obviously picked the 70s because i love everything about it...especially jane birkin and serge gainsbourg. they have the best style that still inspires people today.

11 July 2009

Colette: The Holy Grail



Today I finally got to shop at Colette. I have been waiting for days to finally get there. It took about 5 hours for us to finally arrive because we got distracted and lost about a million times, but I think it was worth it because we found a bunch of stores that we want to go back to. While I wish that it was bigger, I found about a million things that I loved and had to have. Obviously. I mean I'm pretty sure that anyone can find something there.



I bought a Karl Who? shirt and Andy Warhol dvd. I also fell in love with all the books and little gadgets they have around. I just wish I didn't have weight restrictions! The waiter that served us at the restaurant made everyone speak French, which I think was awesome. It's people like that who are going to help me get better.

10 July 2009

fieldtrip friday


sooo you should now get used to my field trip friday posts. i think friday is going to be my new favorite day of the working week for a whole new reason. today we had a break from class for the first time ever and we went on a field trip to see sailor chic in paris at musee national de la marine. i may or may not be obsessed with this showing. i absolutely love anything nautical, i am a sailor you know! it was so inspiring to see all of the old uniforms and how the designers have used it as inspiration for their collections. you can see some of the exhibit on the website if you click through the pictures. 


on another note, i went off on my own today for the second time. it was so nice to get away from the people i spend 24/7 with. i went and did some shopping at le bon marche and practiced my french. i loved a lot of the clothes but i'm trying to decide if i want to save my money and buy some awesome fall clothes or if i want to save and buy myself a purse. what do you think??

09 July 2009

map girls


in class today we talked about 1940's paper dolls, but what about map girls? elisabeth lecourt made amazing map dresses and is currently being shown in london, new york, brussels, madrid and more. my personal favorite is the trust fund girl (image shown above and from her website).  i wonder what people would think of these if they were to be sold in stores. 

xox

08 July 2009

we sing. we dance. we steal things.




hopefully all of us both sing and dance, whether it be for fun or as a job, but this is not the topic of this post. (i feel like it was pointless to say hopefully we don't steal things but whatever...i'll say it here. i hope you don't steal things!) this is about jason mraz's cd we sing. we dance. we steal. basically i love it. it's my new obsession to listen to while working. if you need something easy to listen to then do it. my personal favorite is make it mine but i also love butterfly.

i want to be the girl with the most cake




just kidding, i actually want to be the girl with the most macaroons. specifically laduree macaroons. these are for sure my new favorite sweets, especially the chocolate one. while i thought they were tasty in new york, i was more drawn to cake or other traditional american sweets. (which might explain my wardrobe staple "i want to be the girl with the most cake" bracelet). well, these are the most amazing things ever.




not only is their store amazing, but they have little places to grab them while shopping in stores like primtemps. the next time you are in paris be sure to stop by! i promise it will be worth it.

xox

07 July 2009

The Dungeon



I hinted yesterday about my dire living situation. Yes, I did pay to live in this thing they call a room. this morning the electricity went out. not only that, but I share the ethernet cable with my roommate because there is no other way to get access. I fear my posts will suffer.


06 July 2009

another day, another adventure


French Police
Originally uploaded by ludicrousspeed
things happen to me. no matter what something always happens to me. people think i exaggerate but i have the hundreds of stories to prove it. there is the avalanche in the adirondaks that happened while i was driving home, the freak blizzard in denver (my flight to aspen got cancelled), showing up to the airport when my flight was scheduled for the next day at a totally different time (thank you daddy) and the list goes on from there. so when i got to france i prepared for the worst, i mean something has to happen, right? a day goes by nothing, 4 days go by nothing. i started to get suspicious. something HAD to happen...i mean no way could i be this lucky.

well, i hate to inform you that yes, in fact my trip took a turn for the worse yesterday. i checked into my "dorm room" if you want to call it that. i personally refer to it as the dungeon. i took pictures and will post about it later. needless to say that i spent an extra night with my cousin in her cushy hotel room at the five hotel.

anyways, today i went to class. it was the typical awkward first day of class, not much to report. however, when i went to get home is where my day began to become a typical day in alanna world. i got off the metro at the right stop only to realize that i had no idea where to go from there. so i called the people i was staying with and phillipine picked up (a 12 year old girl). she gave me the address because she did not know how to get to the apartment and was conveniently alone. well, i got myself hopelessly lost and saw a policeman on the street. i asked him if he knew where to go (in broken french) and he had no idea where it was. typical. he told me to wait a minute and he went to talk to his friend. i was motioned over and the policeman told me that he had gps and would gladly give me directions. as it turns out phillipine gave me the wrong address and the police walked me to the apartment. so yes, that was my day. hopefully tomorrow will be better.

04 July 2009

The 4th of July


today is the 4th of July and it's so weird not being home. truthfully, i forgot it was the fourth until my friends here pointed it out and asked if i was homesick. my reply: no, not yet maybe in a few days. instead i told them how my day would go. my day would typically go as: meet up the entire family, go on uncle jimmy's boat, bbq, set off fireworks and party. obviously this will never happen in france, maybe the partying part. whatever, i can look at past photos so i can celebrate it in some way. one good thing though...i can go shopping for a much needed computer charger and phone!!!
 

happy 4th from France!

03 July 2009

THIS JUST IN




as we all have figured out by now i am an avid reader and have been my whole life. which is why i immediatly had to post about how sophie kinsella (aka my favorite author) has a new book coming out July 21st. actually, everyone else probably already knew this because i am oblivious half the time, but i still felt the need to point it out. it is called twenties girl and i'm sure it will be just as good as every other book sophie has written. i just reserved my copy due to the fact that i will not be able to go to borders the second it opens. not that i'm complaining...paris is worth it.



in case you have never read one of her books, you should. i am sure that almost everyone can relate to at least one of her characters. i personally relate to all of them, or at least that is what everyone tells me. seriously though, if you have never read a book it is worth to at least try one.

ok back to watching french news (i'm still trying to understand it but i'm getting better...i swear!!!)

Coca Light

Diet Coke is my coffeekeh
Originally uploaded by amp'ed
I have never been a big fan of diet coke, I have always preferred regular coke. However, I find myself drinking diet coke (aka coca light) nonstop in France. The thing to do after going to 3 or 4 stores is to go to a cafe and get a diet coke or something of the like. At least this is what Alex tells me. I find these mini breaks to be so much fun and relaxing. This is one tradition I recommend everyone partake in...I'll be sure to do this from now on.

On another note, everyone chain smokes here. I never really have been a big smoker but watching every single person smoke a cigarette makes me want to smoke too. Never fear though - I will not partake in this. I hate the way my hair smells with all the cigarette smoke in it!

02 July 2009

hold on, let me give you my number

these days i am forever scribbling my name, number and email on scraps of paper. whatever happened to the days when people used calling cards? i mean yes, important people (note: not me) with serious jobs have business cards, but normal everyday people (me) don't have them, until now. i just bought a bunch of cards that i am obssesed with at iomoi. i can't wait to be able to hand them out to people. the following images are just a few of the ones i'm obsessed with. (guess which one i got) iomoi is also perfect for personalized stationary and online stationary. you can try the online stationary for free here.





i also just want to say that i did not put fake information on them like my friend sam's friend did. seriously it is probably one of the funniest things ever .maybe on april foolsday i'll so something like that.

ta ta for now

bonjour




salut! i have arrived in paris. it actually has been 2 days already but this is the first time i have had the chance to actually post. i'm seeing the native side of paris. last night i went to a french bbq at a girl named manon's house. they people are really friendly. my only complaint is that when i try to speak french, they want to speak english because i guess they never really get the chance to speak it. i have to laugh because everyone kisses each other on the cheeks here, which no one does in the US. i feel like i have kissed like 20 different strangers. i tried cow liver for the first time and it wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be. i just want to point out to everyone that i am not adventurous when it comes to food. seriously though, i really am one of the pickiest eaters ever so i give myself credit.  i also got to go to a jason mraz concert, which was awesome! it was kind of funny because i had no idea that the french were such fanatics. i was told that it was a sold out show, and i figured that like 75% of the people would come. no, EVERYONE CAME. that never happens in ny. we also have air conditioned concerts, they do not. regardless of the heat i had so much fun. 

obvioulsy i have gone shopping a lot because i am a shopoholic. i bought the french versions of jack rogers (everyone has these sandals according to alex, my friend here). they are called k. jacques.  they are so cute and comfortable and i am told that they last a lifetime. i'm excited to go to le bon marche today. it is going to be amazing, i just know it. 


i'll give more updates later
xox