Ladurée

Occasionally we all need special treats.  And occasionally we disguise these special treats as gifts for our dearest friends and family.  I'm guilty of doing this on multiple occasions - once I got one of my best friends to come with me to see Julius Caesar at the ART (and the academic dean saw us there with his wife and thought we were dating, but that's a story for another time) and another time I took Ursula to Ladurée and another time (today) I took Caleb to the same place.
For those of you who haven't been, Ladurée is a haven of green-and-gold Parisian opulence on the Champs-Élysées with delicious tea and macarons.  As my darling brother is a bit of a connoisseur about his tea, it's a pretty good place to take him.  And, since we don't hang out just us as often as we should, his birthday present/special occasion/present to me is always a good time to do so.  It was lovely to see my brother make a face of amazed happiness as he bit into an orange-flower macaron and another of mock-outrage when a woman answered her cellphone and proceeded to have a loud conversation (in English) while having tea with someone else.  And it was really nice to walk with him there and back and just talk.  We talked about everything - books we had both read, how we're not ready to go back to America, our first memories of houses and places we'd been.  I highly, highly recommend Ladurée as a place to "take someone out" to talk and drink good tea and eat delicious pastries in a Belle Époque setting.
Thank you so much, Caleb!  We should go again soon...
(photo from here)

Masks with Ursula

Yesterday my darling sister and I went to BHV to buy some cardboard masks and glitter and the like...
And this was the result!

Ursula made this beautiful colourblock one with sequins....

And I make this papier-mâché one with some white paint and a coat of glittery glue.

They're beautiful, right?  Such a lovely project for a rainy day and it was so lovely to hang out with my little sister and do something together.  They looked like Russian princesses to me and I know that when I look at my mask I'll remember that lovely afternoon of painting and giggling and trying on our half-finished projects.  

Thank you, Ursula!

Rwanda

On the seventeenth, my darling brother and his friend J are going to Rwanda to film a documentary.
I'm more than a little jealous.
This is the film that Caleb started filming way back in 2008, when he was just thirteen and not yet in high school (good lord he'll be a senior this fall) and is about soccer (or football, depending on where you live) opening a window onto the lives of the people who live in the village. It's a clever idea, and I'm confident that they'll come back with beautiful footage and the loveliest of narratives that will then be shown on NOVA, or something.
There's just one problem.
I would love to go with them.  I suggested this to Caleb a couple of times ("Hey!  Guess what?  I took film in high school - I could be really helpful!") but he chose J (who is a real live filmmaker who knows what he's doing) instead.  Hey, I would love to go if they decided they needed someone to hold the microphone or round up people to interview or to just get them tea every so often.
I loved living in Rwanda.  At fifteen, I think I grew up the most - seeing something so different from Boston, learning a ton about hospitals and people and society and how the world works outside of the US. And I would love to go back, to grow up a bit more, to see more of the world before heading off to college in August.
But J and Caleb are going instead, which is okay.  J has never been to Africa, and I think that he'll love it, and grow up, just as Caleb will grow up, and they'll come back with something they can share with the whole world.
Have you ever wanted to go on a trip that just wasn't meant to be?

Who Would Like Popsicles?

I know that my darling sister is hungry (is she the inspiration for this?  Yes.) and to me, popsicles just seem like summer.  I remember sitting outside with them dripping onto my bare legs and the steps outside our kitchen, or colouring the grass raspberry in the park...
Here is a recipe for blackberry, honey, and yogurt popsicles from Lottie + Doof, and they look delicious.
(Photo by Lottie + Doof)

Moving Day! And Rome

Today is actually moving day!  And yesterday both my mother and my darling sister came home from the United States and Rome, respectively.  My mother came home with her brand-new computer, which I have had lots of fun playing with and setting up (it's her first Mac ever!) and my little sister came home with stories and a snowglobe and presents for the rest of us (I got a scarf.  It's gorgeous.  Thank you, Urs!).
In the meantime, have you been checking out Prêt à Voyager's Tour de France feature?  She finds bloggers who live all over Paris and get them to talk about their arrondissements.  For anyone interested in the city, I HIGHLY suggest checking it out.  I've lived here for five months now and I don't know a fifth of the stuff her writers put in their posts.  It's a way to experience the city through new eyes, and if you're like me and constantly in the mindset for travel, it's perfect.  Today she talked to I Heart Paris about the 18th - Montmartre - go check it out!

Growing Up

Today my darling baby sister got on a plane by herself (by herself!) and flew to Rome.  She returns on Thursday, I think; for now she is having the time of her life with an old babysitter of ours in a beautiful and vibrant city that I must admit I've never been to.
I am so proud of her; proud that she is going on a trip without the family at the age of twelve, proud that she is so resourceful and responsible, proud that she wasn't scared to fly all alone to a country where she doesn't speak the language.  I am proud that my baby sister, who was dark-haired and then practically hairless and then dark-haired again, who has learned to play the piano and the violin and to speak French, who got her ears pierced, is experiencing the world for herself.  But at the same time, under that pride is a hint of sadness.
Maybe more than a hint, really.  Because I am used to sleeping next to my little sister whose bear lies tight in her arms.  I am used to brushing my teeth next to her, smiling at her in the bathroom mirror.  I am used to getting into minor squabbles about who left what lying on the floor, and talking about Harry Potter (and Theodosia) at night, and pouring her the last of the mango-passionfruit juice.  She is growing up, and it's hard for me to look back on her twelve incredible years and see that she's been getting older and older, that she's turning into her own vibrant and intelligent person.  And it's not that I don't want her to be that, that I don't want her to come into her own and experience life, but she is growing up.
Sometimes that's scary.

Welcome Back, Family!

Today my lovely aunt, uncle, and cousin came back from their week in the French countryside and are spending the night with us.  My other uncle and aunt are also staying here, and so is the excellent Edwina - the house is full!  Welcome back, David, Gena, and Bryan!  Hello again, Charlie, Linda, and Edwina!  We hope you are having a wonderful stay with us....

Menagerie

This morning my darling sister and I visited the menagerie at the Jardin des Plantes.  Honestly, it was the first time that I'd been in a zoo since I was little and we went to the Knoxville Zoo almost every time we visited my grandparents.
The menagerie is pretty amazing.  We visited a five-month-old baby monkey named Columba who might have been the most adorable thing I've ever seen, a snow leopard couple, the red pandas, and the kangaroos.
Have you been to the zoo/menagerie lately?  Or, like me, was the last time you went about ten years ago?  What did you think?

Good Morning, Blog Readers!

Now it is officially summer!  Or is it the second half of summer?  I'm always confused if June 21st is the first day of summer or midsummer, because summer is grouped around the longest day in the year.  Oh, well - it's summer!
Yesterday night my family went out after dinner to explore La Fête de la Musique.  Let me just say - French people singing "Sweet Home Alabama" and "The Wind Cries Mary" aren't things I'm likely to forget anytime soon - combine that with the sweet taste of mango-and-passionfruit gelato (try it!) and it was in some ways the perfect Parisian summer night.
How was your shortest night of the year?

Fathers Day, Postponed

Because we don't do things on time (ever), we're postponing our father's day until next Sunday when we've got my father to ourselves and can have quiet brunch with just us five.
In the meantime, Daddy, you mean so much to me.  Thank you for teaching me about music and hiking and being your true self.  I love you.

Backpacking Odyssey

A couple of days ago I got an email from Reed, where I plan to go to college next year, telling me that I had been chosen for a Backpacking Outdoor Odyssey - a kind of a freshman trip the week before Orientation in the Pacific Northwest.  I was ecstatic - this meant that I got to be in an outdoors I didn't know very well, meeting the kids I would be spending the next four years with.  My father loved his freshman trip at Dartmouth, even if he didn't spend that much time with those people he met there afterwards; my mother always regretted not going on one.  The Pacific Northwest is supposed to be beautiful, and I can't wait to go to the Columbia River Gorge and the Cascades.  But my sister wasn't as excited as I was.

"What do you mean, you're leaving us a whole week early?!  You want to go hiking with people you don't even know rather than going on vacation with us, your family?  Do you not love us anymore?"  Paraphrased, but still.  And I understand what she means - I'm leaving my darling family - my family who have been my best friends, my confidants, the people I see and talk to every day, for what?  For a week with other unwashed nervous kids in the mountains, for blistery feet in new hiking boots?  I'm super-excited to go to college and to go on this amazing trip, but I'm also pretty apprehensive about leaving my family.  

Originally I was going to spend half of my gap year at home with my family and half of it away.  But then we ended up going to Paris and one thing led to another and now the longest I've ever been away from my family was this month-long trip with Alexandra, where we were so caught up in a whirlwind of museums and sights and overnight trains that I rarely had time to experience that heartache of missing the people I love.  It helped that I wrote emails to my family every day I could, pulling out our electronic device (Alexandra's father's iPad) in hostels and Starbucks' and cafes with posters in the windows advertising free wifi.  I don't know how college is going to be - I don't know what I will do in the space between classes and studying and sailing and being with my friends when my heart turns over in the absence of the people I love.

This doesn't mean that I don't want to go to school or that I don't want to go backpacking – in fact, I want to go really badly.  But I'm also scared of going off on my own, of missing my family so much that it hurts.  

Back in Paris (Also, Family)

I am in Paris once more!  After a fairytale week in the UK with the ever-lovely Alexandra (more on that later, I promise), I have returned to Paris just hours ahead of my extended family!
My uncle, aunt, and cousin from Tennessee have come to see Paris (it's my cousin's second time out of the country) and we are so happy to have them!  Today we've walked through Paris with them, and it's always exciting to see the city from the eyes of someone new - all the buildings, the shining streets, the curving silver spine of the Seine...
Welcome, family, and Alexandra, I miss you already!

Sunday Supper

Today I am making roast chicken.  It was supposed to happen yesterday, but there was miscommunication and, well, I'm making it today.  It has a paprika spice rub and is served with roasted garlic.
Roast chicken seems like a Sunday supper meal to me.  We didn't really have any tradition around eating together on Sundays specifically, with chicken, but it was something my family did every so often when I was in high school.  I remember sitting with my knees drawn up in front of the kitchen woodstove balancing my history reading or statistics homework on my legs and seeing my father make a meal around me.  Sometimes it was Tuscan chicken with homemade olive bread and lime-curd tart and sometimes it was other chickens or meat served in the old terracotta roasting pan and apple crisp or chess pie and sometimes it was just sautéed green beans when we didn't have much time.  I loved getting asked to set the table on Sundays and making sure that the wood was clean from bread crumbs or the newspaper from earlier that day and making sure that the silverware lined up with the five square plates.  We ate together almost every night - we still do - but there was something special about Sunday suppers, after a day of being together and around the house with the crossword and unfinished schoolwork and books to read, something about Sunday that made that particular meal more serene, full of togetherness.
Do you have any particular times with your family like that?

Earrings and Ursula

Yesterday my sister came home with little garnet studs in her ears.  Part of it made me want to cry.  My baby sister looked so beautiful and grown up, with her hair up and with earrings in her ears.  Things like this make me realize that I can't keep her little forever.
We share a room, and so often I come in late while she's sleeping, curled up and kittenish, and when I get into bed she murmurs a milky "goodnight" and rolls over again.  She seems so young and vulnerable asleep, and still so young when we're awake - a firecracker full of ideas and indignation and energy.  And for some reason piercing her ears seems like such a step towards adulthood and grown-up life.
I don't want her to grow up.  I love her ideas and her optimism and her anger at how the world is turning out.  I love her intolerance for stupidity and her certainty and the way she roller-skates up and down the sidewalk.  And, yes, I love that she wanted earrings so much that we finally gave in now that she's twelve.
Ursula, you look beautiful and grown up and it's so lovely to get to see you figure things out.  I love you.

Mother's Day

Yesterday was mother's day, and so my family went to Buttes Chaumont for a picnic.  It's the closest thing to the Arboretum in the city, with hills of people picnicking, man-made lakes, and a fake Roman temple (no joke).  It's also populated almost entirely by locals - since it's off the tourist track, the only language around us was French.  We took turns reading poetry and eating paté... a pretty great mother's day, all in all.
Happy belated mother's day, Mommy!  I love you!

This Weekend/Holiday

We had a wonderful weekend, kicking things off with Ursula's birthday and then, on Saturday night, a friend of my father's came over for dinner...  And, as usual, plenty of wandering around Paris at length.
We also started actually planning our holiday that - wow, starts next week!  I'll be gone for two weeks in Morocco and Spain with my family, and I'm so excited!  We're going to go hiking in the Atlas mountains and visit the ancient architecture of Cordoba and.... ooh, does anyone have any suggestions?
Have a lovely Monday, everyone!

Happy Birthday, Ursula!

My darling sister turns twelve today!
It's been weird watching her grow up into this precocious wonderful young woman who knows what she wants and who she is.... I'm so proud and astonished.
Happy Birthday, Ursula!  I hope you have a wonderful day.  Thank you for talking to me late at night and hanging out and constantly fascinating me!
Also, welcome to Paris, Jamie!

Sailboats

My brother and I want to get my little sister the same thing for her birthday: a model sailboat that she can sail on the pond in the Jardin du Luxembourg.  I think I'll get to - he has class tomorrow morning, and I don't, but here are the reasons I should:
1) I have it planned out.  How I will modify and perfect the boat, and that is very very important.
2) I actually know how to sail.
3) I like boats better (this one is very true)
4) I'll be at the shop the moment it opens.
I love you, Caleb!

UPDATE:
We may split getting her the sailboat.  Model sailboats in France are expensive!

Rose Cake

Friday is my darling baby sister's twelfth birthday (twelve!  Ursula will be twelve!), so for the rest of the week, this will probably be devoted to 1) Ursula and 2) Birthday plans.  I'm sorry if you don't like either of those things (um, what?), but it's my baby sister who is worried about having her birthday away from all of her friends and in a foreign country where she doesn't speak the language so guess what she gets whatever she wants.
In the past, I have been in charge of the cake.  Not the baking part - I can make decent bread pudding and that's about it - but the decorating part.  In the past we have had a tree cake, a monkey cake, and a cake with lambs on it.  I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to decorating these things - I just kind of approximate a lamb - but I enjoy it, and this year, since she has not specified (even if she has, this is what's going to happen), I get to do what I like.
A little while back, the extremely talented woman behind I Am Baker posted a design for a Rose Cake, and I fell in love.

Ursula wants the inside to be "regular chocolate," and that's fine with me, because I can't do normal layers, let alone vertical layers.  But I think I can do flowers, so that's what's going to happen.  Beautiful, right?  I thought it was so sophisticated and sweet for a very special twelfth birthday for my darling girl.

Sharing A Room

At home I have my own room, but here in Paris (and last summer in Switzerland), my sister and I share a bedroom.  In Switzerland, it got a little cramped - I couldn't stand up in the room, there was only one bed, and Ursula has a tendency to roll and sprawl... it's kind of cute sometimes, actually.  Here, it's much better - there are high ceilings and two beds and enough room so that if we want to be closer it's a decision we can make, not something forced on us.  The only problem is that we're both not the cleanest people.
Our brother makes his bed every morning before school (even here), and I seriously don't know how that happens.  Sometimes I can barely put my clothes away... and neither can Urs, so our room is a bit of a disaster area, but you know.  We're both okay with it this way for now.  My parents keep joking that I will be the worst college roommate ever, but to my future roommate: I promise I'll be better and clean up and make my bed and not leave shoes lying in the middle of the room.  I also won't let the alarm clock ring for hours and wake you up while not getting up myself, like Kuzu's roommate did for a while.... Don't worry!  I'll be good!

(I believe that the photo above is from Design Sponge or Apartment Therapy, but I'm not entirely sure!  I'm sorry!  If anyone knows where the photo came from, any help would be appreciated!)