so i cut the ties and jump the tracks, for never to return

i'm writing this post with one hand.

the other has a nice cold drink in it.

my professor cancelled class tomorrow, so i'm more than ready to start my weekend,

beginning with an afternoon on the beach and a nice goodbye dinner tonight for the people in my program who only came for the month of june.

i'm glad i'm not one of those people.

i don't wanna stay too long, so here's what's beautiful today:

from here

i honestly don't remember where any of the others are from, so if you know, please tell me .

c'est tout.

bathing suit time!

hope you all have a beautiful day.

-wildchild

i want a thunderstorm

i'm not one to spend a summer day inside.

this is my favorite season, with the sun shining, flowers everywhere, and the ability to just throw on a sundress and go.

but today there were just things i just felt compelled to do.

and i knew my skin wasn't gonna complain, after spending every day out at places like these

 for more than a week straight.

so i got out of class, grabbed some chocolate and coffee gelato on a cone for lunch, and headed home to get some creativity out.

thankfully, i planned ahead.

i knew my both my hands and my soul were gonna be itching for something to do on my few relaxing days at home, so i brought along my trusty colored pencils and markers, glue sticks, and scissors. 

that's all i need to make my kind of beautiful things.

so i made some pictures to mail b and my sister,

but they won't be getting them for a week or two, at least, so you get no details.

and then i made a list.

a list of things i want to do.

no specific time frame, no restrictions- everything went on that list.

b and i are a team, and our job is to support each other and help each other fulfill whatever dreams we may have, so we decided to write everything down and then help cross things off our lists over the years.

i, of course, had to make my list pretty, so i spent all evening doing so.

it's entitled "my lovely life with the love of my life"

[feel free to go throw up now]

too bad i won't let you actually read the list.

[see family, i'm not as bad of a secret keeper as everyone thinks!]

i'm just excited to share it with b.

i've already crossed one major thing off though- i'll give you one clue as to what it is:

in other creative news, i also whipped up a new blog header tonight.

just call me rosie the riveter, doing everything for myself these days.

i've also conquered the german washing machine, figured out exactly how to get around town, and told off a few french men whose jobs seem to be to creep me out.

one thing i still haven't figured out though: the euro/dollar exchange rate.

that's a dangerous thing to not know.

wish me luck, surviving the next 4 weeks on a 2 week, no travel included budget.

-wildchild

oh my heart, oh my stars

sometimes i don't really know how to start posts.

or what to put in them either, actually.

so we'll go with a list tonight.

a list of things i love.

those are the easiest.

1. i've fallen in love with the song "oh my stars" by andrew belle.

i heard it in a playlist by the flowerchild dwelling, who has an excellent taste in music, btw.

  this song is so beautiful and peaceful- go listen.

2. there is so much sunshine here.

i've heard that the french riviera boasts an average of 300 days of sunshine a year.

that is a far, and welcome, cry from good old new york.

sunshine makes me feel so alive.

and so pretty.

3. i found a recipe for no-bake speculoos cookies.

let me give that a second to sink in.

i thought i couldn't love speculoos anymore, but i was so wrong.

the recipe is mostly sugar, butter, cocoa powder and speculoos- how could you go wrong with ingredients like that?

they look like little poops, but they sure are delicious poops.

p.s. technically, it's using Biscoff, the american brand of this stuff that sells for $12 a jar on amazon. whatever

p.p.s. forgive the ugly tablecloth.

we don't chose the decor in these apartments.

4. we adventured over to beaulieu this weekend, which was beautiful.

we just explored a bit and went to the [weird stoney] beach, but it was nice.

i'm so glad i came here.

it's crazy to think that it's almost been a month.

i am homesick a little bit for my mom's cooking and loving attitude, my brother's back cracking, late night heart sharing with my sister/best friend, my dad's hugs, little life chats with my step-mom, and driving my cute little [almost dead] car,

but i'm glad i get to stay another month.

lucky me :)

it's bedtime for me.

sea kayaking is tomorrow!

-wildchild

beaulieu est tres belle

i will make time tomorrow to do a travel post.

i promise.

but for now, here are a few pictures to hold you over:

night world.

and happy birthday brother :)

-wildchild

i've got sunshine on a cloudy day

"even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth 'you owe me'. 

look at what happens with a love like that.

it lights up the sky."

-haftz

top and bottom from here, middle from here

i want to love like that.

-wildchild

the world's not right

so i'm off to the beach.

-wildchild

i'm only yours

it's been a longggg day.

french class, pottery painting, skyping, errand running, dinner making, [speculoos] cookie no-baking, flight booking, homeward bounding, night-time routining, and now blogging. 

even though all i want is sleeping.

im far too tired for witty transitions, so here are some beautiful things that have been weighing on my mind:

from here

from here

from here

from here

that last picture?

it's a snapshot from Blue Valentine, otherwise known as the saddest movie ever.

it was beautifully done, but awful.

i sobbed.

literally sobbed.

don't watch it.

i also have no witty ending.

i'm a little sorry, mostly sleepy.

goodnight friends.

-wildchild

follow the sun

good evening kids.

to start this post off right, here's my favorite ad in all of france.

maybe in the whole wide world:

i'm super sorry for the almost week long blogging hiatus, but i ran away to milan for the weekend (!) and since then been spending my afternoons on the beach and my evenings hanging out with friends.

this morning, i may or may not have skipped class so that i could skype b.

with this dumb time difference, we never get to talk more than 20 minutes because one of us is always running off somewhere or getting in bed or something, but 

finally we had a real conversation. 

here's proof:

please ignore that thing on his face.

that's his deployment mustache...

i forgive him because the rest of him is just so damn cute.

anyways, life has been amazing around here.

as i said, we went to milan this weekend!

it was crazy.

we ate so much pasta and pizza and gelato,

went up to the roof of this amazing cathedral, shopped a lot, and ate some more.

here are some picturas:

i realize we're miniature, but that's cause this thing was a giant.

and somehow they convinced us to pay 5 euros to take the stairs all the way to the top...

yummmmm.

the shopping was also a success:

  a few cute things for me, and a few souvenirs for some pals.

i can't believe i just hopped on a train and took a weekend trip to italy.

partially because i hate trains, partially because umm, it's italy.

it was a good weekend.

but one thing i didn't like about italy?

the men.

disrespectful.

one hundred percent disrespectful.

gross.

today was a little afternoon trip to st. marguerite island.

we stopped in cannes first, took a boat over, explored some, and then laid on the beach.

yet another beautiful view:

also, we tried snorkeling!

it freaked me out actually, but was cool to try.

i still have a moment almost every single day where i think 

"this is really my life?!

 thank you jesus."

coming on this adventure was one of the best decisions i've ever made.

thank you to all of you who supported me in that.

especially my family.

off to have some more fun.

fun in the form of speculoos secretly.

wooo.

byeeee

-wildchild

p.s- the awful angry british couple upstairs recently got a new dog.

a yippie dog.

best neighbors ever.

p.p.s- for those of you who couldn't care less about travel pictures 

[i don't blame you, i'm usually one of you actually], 

i'm planning on posting a normal me post later tonight. 

don't even worry your pretty little heads.

coming home.

we still have 18 weeks left.

but i can't wait for our version of this:

found here, by this super talented guy.

except it'll look more like this:

by b's dad, taken the first time we saw each other after the 8 weeks of boot camp.

8 weeks sounds like a piece of cake now.

i miss you b.

can't wait to be in your arms again.

-wildchild

explain to me why french people don't have dryers...

Current June status.

from here.

pretty Nice beach.

get it?

Current color: Watermelon, the color of my new bathing suit from St. Tropez and also my first tube of lipstick, thanks to Emily's mom :) [it's actually bourjois' "rose sensuel" from Sephora]

Current playlist: whatever crazy lady upstairs is singin along to. currently, it's a michael mix: buble and jackson.

Current read: just finished Catch of the Day by Kristan Higgins. don't judge, it was $5 on my nook. and suprisingly entertaining.

Current drink: plain old water. walking everywhere here has made me super thirsty.

Current food: umm hello, Speculoos. did you even have to ask?

Current favorite show: our British soap opera. tune in all night, every night to see what nasty name she calls him next.

Current wish list: comfier sandals. and a massage. oh goodness, a massage sounds so good.

Current needs: pedicure, most definitely. my feets are lookin rough.
Current triumphs: fitting two whole loads of laundry on one tiny drying rack!

Current bane of my existence: traveling is expensive dude.

Current celebrity crush: i think i've made myself pretty clear.

Current indulgence: oh jeez. lots of bread, lots of gelato, and even more Speculoos.

Current blessing: umm. my life right now.

Current outfit: b's big flannel shirt a la Target and some black Soffe shorts.

Current excitement: tomorrow's perfect schedule: class, cooking class, and beach. 

Current mood: sleepyyyyyyy.

Current link: no way this is real life.

sweet dreams dudes.

-wildchild