A Fresh September

I absolutely love the start of a new season. More particularly, the start of a new school year. In my family, Back- to-School-Shopping was a bonafide family outing. We'd pile each of our excited selves into the van and head to the outlets. For whatever reason, I had an odd affection for Timberland-style boots as a child, and the trip culminated for me in the procuration of new pair. I was quite "grunge" in pre-school, it seems. Moreover, the sheer delight we received from buying new pencils (the wooden Ticonderogas with LEGITIMATE erasers) was frankly hilarious. Wielding those things in the depths of the pencil sharpener was utter satisfaction. It's the simple things, people, the simple things.

Right now, I happen to be writing from a little cafe in Windsor, Ontario. I can hardly believe it! No longer in my beloved Montreal. Quite a difficult adieu. Seeing as I had the nerve to graduate from McGill University, get myself married, and move to Southern Ontario in one fell swoop, I am rather to blame, I guess. It is still crazy to consider though, that only 5 months ago, I was most likely sitting at my little desk in Montreal, writing some confounded essay about the history of human existence upon the earth (only a slight exaggeration). For for which I probably obtained a mediocre grade (only a slight exaggeration).

Yet, as I sit here now, a little anxious, a little (LOT) uncertain, a little giddy, a little (LOT) excited, I can't help but smile. It seems to me that this thing called living is filled with a bunch of fresh changes and new changes. It so happens I've experienced several monumental ones in rapid succession, but I do believe I will make it. I am out of familiar territory, but I have a God who leads me and guides me, who works all things together for my good. Praise God, that I even have the chance to live and breath and laugh. I dare say, dessert munching and wine sipping are included in His blessings!

                               " If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
                                 If I settle on the far side of the sea,
                                 Even there your hand will guide me,
                                 Your right hand will hold me fast. "

                                                                       Psalm 139:9-10

                                 Here's to a new season and a new city, my friends. Let's explore together!

Concerts of Colour!

So wintery little February in Montreal, my friend E.J. and I went to a  City and Colour concert. The first thing you must know about this band is that Dallas Green has a silky, soulful voice and, therefore, this is the only justification you need for going. The second thing you need to know is that you do not need to be a die-hard City and Colour fan to go. E.J. has been a fan for a time, mais moi?, uhm, not so much. That whole 'you're a-poser- if-you-don't-know-every-line-of-this-Blink-182-song' condemnation from middle school no longer applies in college/university/life thereafter. That's right girlfriend with le nose ring and pink tipped hair,  anyone is free to get to know a band and simply enjoy!

City and Colour, in particular, has a super relaxed vibe while simultaneously retaining the ability to get you hyped. The concert was the perfect little biddie antidote for the strangle of papers and studying and attempting to convince your departmental office to give you credits from exchange in France.

Also on another note, it is highly advisable to stand in front of amusing people at a concert. Not only does this make for overhearing hilarious/ridiculous conversation but also somehow makes the entire night even more of a comical/unforgettable experience. Mmk, well actually EJ and I cannot go anywhere without making a ruckus of something, but in any case, we are both advocates of humorous circumstances. So stand with some characters :)

Ah yes, that last picture is classic E.J. Also! I forgot to mention that there was some sort of event going on at Place des Spectacles near the theatre. We obviously had to ask some tourists to take pictures of us in front of the paparazzi wall. Mehehe.

hehe! February in Montreal is actually not that bad ;)

Ode to Philadelphia

Philadelphia! You lovely little jem! Who knew you were so fresh, and lively, and inspirational!  Your historic architecture soars high above dining booths and boutique windows, bringing unexpected grandeur and spirit! Your close, intimate streets and the stone walkways which line them, remind me of the the 1940's when women wore pumps and men wore fedoras. Daily. You're unique and unexpecting, Philly je t'aime!

Spring Break Blitz!

Snuck off to the BK with my Montreal roomie during Reading Week this February! Before heading over to Williamsburg, though, we tried the famous grilled Mexican-style corn at Cafe Habana in NoLita. T'WAS AMAZING. Really. We were forewarned off its deliciousness and the cravings that might follow its consumption.. HOWEVER, (or as my own lil Latina grandmother would say, howeber) I did not expect it to be that tasty. I was smitten from the moment I saw the beautiful lil sprinkling of parmesan over its roasted top. Delightful. The corn could have been from Jersey it was so sweet!  (We do make the best corn, by the way.) It wasn't quite as good as summer grilled corn on the cob, but hey, pas mal, mon ami, pas mal. The hipster-licious crowd also probably added to my amused little spirit and general enjoyment. All around, a very enjoyable and NoLita meal!

My lovely fashionista friend Lauren showed us around her neighborhood and introduced us to her three/possibly four? college-age male roommates. Brave woman, indeed. Their place is also home to a sassy bull dog who used to be an illegal dog fighter. He has the scars/lack of ears to prove this.

All my BK pics came out blurry but here is a little peek of a night of red wine, tapas, and laughing chicas at Cadaqués near Bedford & 1st!  

             

T'was a lovely Reading Week :)

zeee bread & butter

Bonjour là! Since it has, infact, been lightyears since I last posted I am actually so excited to get to share some recent adventures!!! I am going to post random pictures so y'all can see and then most likely come back to explain all the different little adventures they are from, another time!

                                       


Right now I am sitting in my comfy, quite spacious thing of a room, in a little, quiet town outside Lyon, France.  My large window is open, the panes stretched wide, like a little baby waiting to give a big hug. The light air of the Beaujolais country is wafting in, out, about and around me as birds sing their little melodies. I can hear the leaves of surrounding trees, l'arbres, ruffle quitely, calmly waiting for the weather to cool. The savory, satisfying taste of lunch is still on the tip of my tongue.

ahhhh la France. Encore..oui, c'est vrais! Yepp, it's true! I am back in France again, this time for study abroad. This little biddie just couldn't get enough the first time and had to come back for seconds ;)

Anyways, like I mentioned, I am in Lyon, France in the South-Eastern region de la France. (On a minor tangent, I never know if you capitalize directional words such as North, West, South, East, South-East ...but well, I think they look quite nice like that...alas they will stay capitalized.) (Goodness gracious, I can't even understand grammer in English...good thing I have La Grammaire Française every Tuesday at 14h00-15h30... yeah, GREAT thing.)

Anyways, today I have a day off from my little studies. But today I am writing to you, chèr ami! 

Usually, each fresh little morning, I pull myself out of bed and into my salle de bain to wash my sleepie face off and get me a fresh one. After I get dressed and try to make myself look somewhat acceptable i.e. as chic as all the other young ladies in this country, I go downstairs to the biddie wooden table in the kitchen. I put three scoops of dark, fragrant coffee grinds into the filter and cut myself of a iece of baguette while the thick Malongo coffee brews, bubbles and makes other assorted strange noises. I sincerely hope those sounds are normal, by the way. I may have already broken this family's microwave (oh, what a morning that was) and I do not need to add anything else to my petit track record. But, alas, back to baguettes and black coffee.

  


If you think baguettes, butter, cheese, wine, and striped shirts are a complete cliché of the french culture, than you are right. The way it is portrayed in North American culture, at least, is very silly and inaccurate! The family does not wear berets whilst pracing around on cobblestone streets eating croissants. However! There is a bit of truth to some clichés. Par example...every morning there is fresh bread sitting pretty in its little paper slip, on the kitchen table. There does indeed sit a little tray of creamy, pale, (delectable) butter right next to that long, crunchy-on-the-outside, airy-soft-on-the-inside baguette, every morning. Rosé, or sometimes red wine, is often casually served alongside Ratatouille for dinner. Cheese or yogurt always follow the main dinner course. And ladies, french women do wear stripes. Lots of stripes.

There are lot's of beautiful things about France, and one of them is that there still remains a sense of simplicity about things. Bread is fresh and good, plain and simple. Butter is creamy, delicious and used in small amounts. Laundry is dried on little racks outside instead of in a machine. Legs are used to walk to other places, dinner is in a room without a TV and conversation about anything and everything accompanies eachmeal, and here at least, there is always a bit of controversy over qui a raison, who is right. This little biddie can't say she loves everything about the french culture...there are somethings that I think I will always be more accustomed to and comfortable doing how I have been raised to do them. And it is not easy living life in a different language! Slowly but steadily I will become fluent, I keep telling myself. SLOWLY, but steadily.

With the support, laughs, love, and understanding of other friends, people, communtiy, students, I am inspired to pray and trust that God will bring me where I need to be going. At all times. Getting to a place of fluency is definitely one place I want to go, but also just getting off at the right bus stop would be nice. hehe.  

so yeah, I'm thinking my little (or not so little) feet are looking swollen in this picture. I promise I have not been eating too too many baguettes or bittie pieces of dark chocolate. I think they are a bit plump on account of walking heheh. Then again, I did just eat 3 (possibly 4) french butter cookies. hehehe little bittie better get to some walkin' again.


à plus mes amis!

La ville de la lumière

...or something like that.

hehe 

Paris.

                     

             

                                                             
                                                             
     

       

        

Paris was amazing :) Seriesusement, mes amis, you should try to get your lil selves there si possible, if possible.  I went to Paris with  a group of students and staff from mon université in Montreal. It was one of the craziest, most challenging, beautiful, SMELLY!, delicious, bond-making, habit-breaking trips of this littlebiddie's life. Oh how I wish I could TAKE YOU. Ah mes amis, mes amis goodness gracious how many times I had to pinch myself as I walked out of my Parisian apartment door, rode the metro (like a pro obviously), ate my lil pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant! UHM OUI.), wore a lil scarf hehe, and attempted to speak la langue française, the utterly delish little language of French. However... despite how quite romantic and lovely it sounds, my month long frolic around the land of baguettes and berets, was in fact,  a very difficult trip! And to be completely bare-boned honest with you, I left the City of Lights with the sinking feeling that some of the people in the City of Lights are, well, not so heureux, happy. But then again, I can feel the same thing in New York. Goodness gracious, I love people and I love places filled with vibrant life, vivid culture, delectable food, mind-blowing art, but sometimes I think the world is. so. focused. on the complete wrong things. What the heck man! When I'm 80 all I will want to know is that I've helped people, ya knowwwww? I just want people to feel loved and happy, and not feel lost a midst crowds, and noise, and subways, and exhaust, and poverty, and pee on the streets, and garbage underneath old benches and...everything else. 

Paris gave me persepctive. Beautiful, loving, grace-filled perspective. I love my Parisian friends! And Paris is indeed beautiful, just as they say. (and the bread ohlalalalala) But! I hope to see, not just in Paris, but everywhere,  more sourires,  more smiles. More truly satisfied, hope-filled people.

I know it is hard for people to take me seriously and all, on account of my resemblance to a curious lil gamin, kid. But all petitee jokes aside, there is reeeeeal hope. This is where this littlebiddie found it a couple of years ago...

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." John 3:16-17

L'espoir. 

...this does not mean, however, that there were not many little biddie adventures in la ville de la lumière though ;) Adventures with God are just that much more fun hehehehehe so much to tell!