I started this little melange as a Christmas wish list, and then it kind
of morphed into something I would throw together as an outfit, so I just ran with it. Basically all of these pieces I would warmly welcome into my closet. This year so
far I haven't asked for much so what I'm getting is pretty much going to
be a toss up. Surprises are always fun.
Here in apartment 212, the countdown has officially begun [20 days]. Starting to get excited for home cooked food,
getting to see the pars, pups, and siblings and being finished with this semester!
Officially going to be
graduating in exactly one year. Halleluiah.
There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Also, a little rumor has begun that the Rogers Roach fam might be getting a new little [canine] edition over christmas. My fingers are crossed!
What a beautiful city. Transport me there now please and thanks.
A few weeks ago I trekked up the east coast for a long weekend in the city. The AWNY
conference was the occasion, but I was mostly excited to explore and
discover a city with so much opportunity. It was a refreshing experience
coming from the bitty town of Boone, but probably not the best for my
motivation. Senioritis anyone? So with yelp as our guide, we took on the
city and made a weekend to remember.
Hello all. After much too long, I have made a spontaneous decision to reenter the blogging world. Again.This time around my blog will probably be little snippets of just about everything. Welcome to the life of a college student. Here goes nothing!
While in the UK, we met up with this pretty lady aka my one and only sister. She was still looking this fabulous even after a 10 hour plane ride... comme d'habitude. I can't wait to get back to the states and spend some Q time with all my North Carolinian's. Until then I'll be romping around Europe with Miss Erika, Lisa and Nay!
Quite a bit has happened
since the last time I posted on this little blog of mine. My last big
travel was with my pars through England and France. To sum it up, we
started in London, flew to southern France where we rented a little
Volkswagen golf and made our way up through Provence, wine country, the
Champagne region, and ended in good ole' Paris (which is beginning to feel
like home). We discovered tucked away vineyards, learned how to drive comme le french, got to be country mice, and braved two of the biggest cities in the world. Pretty successful trip I'd say.
These are a few of my favorite photos from the trip:
In other news
-Turned the big 2-1. A very uneventful birthday in France, but we celebrated like true américaines.
- Got a photography position at HerCampus! Really excited to be a part of the team.
- Saw miss Lex off at the gare. jealous trying not to be.
- Finished up my semester at Angers. No more french classes or exams ptl.
Can't believe this semester has already flown by. Counting down the days where I can sleep on a normal sized bed, sit on a couch, and wash my clothes in a washer that doesn't destroy everything it touches.
Yay France.
Day trip in the Loire Valley number 2. Destination: Saumur, France
I'm thinking that today has been one of my favorite days since I arrived here in the Loire Valley. Samur was a very small town right off the Loire river filled with castles, horses, outdoor markets, and charming touches of authentic French people. I was told by a Frenchmen himself that this is where the most authentic French is spoken in all of France.
I couldn't not imagine my abroad life without these wonderful girls.
Saumur in a nutshell
Be jealous of those curls, I know I am.
So there was my interpretation of Saumur via my nikon. I always feel like little details in towns bring out just as much character as the big ones... but maybe that's just me. à la prochaine! -Haley
I have been trying to get these boys attention on skype since I got over here, and all I have gotten back is a confused glance before their 2 second attention span kicks in and I'm lost to something more interesting..usually a nap. Over here it is totally unacceptable to smile at strangers, let alone ask to pet their dog. So needless to say, I have seriously been missing some canine companionship. Finally this week I was skyping home when I tried their very well recognized whistle...their reaction was pricless. I had their heads turing every which way. The best part about it was that they kept running around the computer to see where the rest of my body was. Gotta love em. Sweet buddies.
[french word of the day] happiness thought you'd ought to know
There are a lot of things that I have to be happy for today...
First of all, I started my day listening to this playlist. It will change your life...go ahead press play. You won't regret it. It started my day off right.
I made french toast for breakfast which is called "pain perdu" in France..literally "lost bread".
Paid attention in class and actually understood the language my professor was speaking...you'd think that would be required but trust me, over here it is a novelty for me...
Soaked in the sunrays, which seemed even warmer in between the hail and rain showers every other hour... il étaittrès bizarre.
Met some new friends.
Celebrated with close friends
Had tea with some old friends.
Oh and I'm going to be in Barcelona in two weeks. The life I live doesn't feel real sometimes.
We took a Sunday stroll today through our deserted windy city today. It felt nice to get out of our miniscule dorm room and have some fresh french air... even if the wind was biting through my jeans. I guess the March lion and lamb make their appearance here too. The lion most definitely took the win today.
Shade of the month?Revlon Orange Flip.
I have gone back and forth with my confidence to wear this bright of a color, but I have concluded that it is simply my favorite. I don't mind being bright this month, after all spring is barreling towards us! Happy March!
Random, I know. I just got on iMovie and started playing around. Got a little tired of it by the end, but not bad for my first go eh? Hopefully more to come! Music by: Vampire Weekend -Oxford Comma
Recently my wardrobe has been growing on the neutral side with a multitude of beiges greys and blacks.... however the trend this season seems to be colors, and bright ones!
Target seems to have gotten it right...
however ironic that it's in french seeing as though there is not one target to be found in this entire country...withdrawal
Seeing
as though I have no tv here in France, a shout out to my mama for
thinking of me and sending me the link to this target commercial, she
knows me too well.
I had a project in mind when I went to Paris to take photos of fashionably dressed people in the city. I quickly learned that taking candid photos of random people on the go is extremely challenging, sometimes awkward, and makes you feel slightly creepy. However I did succeed... somewhat.
The results of my project can be summed up in four words:
Khaki
Plaid
Attractive
Men
I'm sure there were some better dressed people in the city, meaning I'll just have to go back to Paris to create a part II of this post. Luckily, I am only a 2 hour train ride away!
Hopefully my photography skills will have improved by the time I get back...
I've never had such an abrupt contrast of culture than from Paris
to Dublin. I went from the land of keep to yourself, no smiling or
laughing allowed to the land of loud and friendly, lets have a
spontaneous conversation with random Irish man on the street! I almost felt like I was in
the south again, but with friendlier people..didn't know that was
possible. The food, the beer, the people were all so warm and welcoming
that I almost didn't want to leave. However, I knew what I was getting
myself into when I decided to study in France and I just have to remind myself its a
culture thing...
Any hoo... These shots pretty much sum up my experience in Ireland...Green. I have never seen so much moss in my entire life. One of my favorite quotes I heard while I was there was "The sun is always shining in Ireland, it's just shining behind the clouds." Needless to say, there was a lot of rain ...mist really, but also a lot of sunshine too. Overall I couldn't say nicer things about the city of Dublin, but the countryside simply won my heart.
s
Of course went on the Guinness tour and enjoyed our free pint in the High Gravity Bar...aka the best view of Dublin.
And we made a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher...
It wasn't windy at all...
This weeks break was the perfect combination of big city and country, and knocked two things off my life bucket list... Coudn't be more excited for what my future travels has to offer. Next up? Barcelona, maybe Paris again, then London!
So
here they are: My favorite photos from the big trip to Paris... still
doesn't feel real. It took me hours to sift through the thousands..not
kidding..of photos that I took, and not a one does the city any
justice. My time there added up to about five days and were spent mostly
with my own personal tour guides and residents of the city aka my aunt
and uncle. Seriously couldn't have had a better intro to the big city.
A little known view (aka not swarming with tourists) of my now favorite city in the world.
I've never had such an abrupt contrast of culture than from Paris
to Dublin. I went from the land of keep to yourself, no smiling or
laughing allowed to the land of loud and friendly, lets have a
spontaneous conversation with random Irish man on the street! I almost felt like I was in
the south again, but with friendlier people..didn't know that was
possible. The food, the beer, the people were all so warm and welcoming
that I almost didn't want to leave. However, I knew what I was getting
myself into when I decided to study in France and I just have to remind myself its a
culture thing... 
s
