this lady

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!

france in a nutshell.

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. 

Explorations of the Loire

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

Guess who finally recognized me...

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.

Bonheur

[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 était très 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.

Hope your day was as cheerful as mine!

artiste+café

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.

So. Cheesey.

This is the result of a cloudy ugly day.
music? baby rattlesnakes -Darlin'