Holidays are (finally) coming !

Port Aventura, October 2007

After spending my summer working, I am really excited to go on holidays. This year is a bit special as I will go to Spain with my parents, my brother, Granny and Guillaume ! I think it is great to have this new notion of family, to have all the people I love around me for a week full of fun and sun.  

On Saturday morning, we will leave Granny's around 7 and drive down to Spain. We should be near the frontier for lunch time and in Salou (Costa Brava, an hour in the south of Barcelona) in the evening. Then, Guillaume, Corentin and I are going to spend two days in the spooky Port Aventura theme park for Halloween while my parents and Granny would be exploring the area and the vineyards. On Wednesday, we will stop to Andorra on our way home and spend a night there. It's going to be great fun as well as we will spend some time shopping (prices are really interesting there !)

Pyrenees, October 2009

So we will switch the rainy days of autumn in France (even if the weather had been pretty nice lately) for the warm sun of Spain and the snow of Andorre ! Talk to you next week !

The washing machine adventure

The "cube"

Now that I am no longer living at my parents, I have to deal with more responsabilities. Laundry is one of them. That is to say, I have to stop going home every week end with my bag full of dirty clothes and let my mum do it for me. I used to do it, because I only lived  45 minutes away. But now, things are different. I have to do my laundry and Guillaume's. We basically spent the first three weeks cleaning our clothes on the sink. It was long, it hurt and it took days to dry. I thought (and I still do) that using the public laundry was too expensive and a waste of time. I finish class quite late and after class, I don't want to spend two hours waiting with weird people. So on my birthday, I asked for money so I could buy my first washing machine. But, Guillaume's grand parents offered us their old washing machine. Great ! I would save my extra money for later and we would have a decent way to wash our clothes ! 

So at the end of September, Guillaume drove to his grands parents to collect our new washing machine. I was really excited, I knew it was old, but I didn't know it was THAT old. When Guillaume went home, I asked him if he needed help but he said no. He walked through the door with a giant cube of plastic which dated back to the 50s and started to explain me how it worked: you had to put the water in it first (not too hot, not too cold), then you had to put the clothes on and close the door with a piece of steel, then you needed to plug it on. AND the cube needed to be near a sink or a bathroom to throw the water out. Easy peasy ! It took us about 30 minutes to do so and the noise was terrible. For a moment, I thought it was going to break the kitchen worktop, so we decided to move it into the bathroom. Terrible idea ... The pipe went away and the water ran on our kitchen floor. Same thing in the bathroom. It took us about an hour to clean and dry the place.

And its 60 years later version

I was really pissed and annoyed, because I didn't know how to tell Guillaume this wouldn't work. It was too big to fit on our bathroom and way too complicated to use everyday. I mean, I was not going to take two hours everyday doing all these steps to make it work and it was too dangerous (floods + plug = electrocution). On his side, he was upset because he drove a long way for nothing, wasted two hours making it work and cleaning and because he knew I was a bit disappointed. We finally looked at each other and ... honestly, I don't if the situation was that funny or if our nerves just broke down but we burst out laughing. The very same night, I ordered a proper washing machine online. Nothing fancy, but at least it works !

After all this time, I'm still into you ღ 46

Everyday, I keep telling myself "I should write a new post", but everyday is the same. Busy, busy, busy. Going to class, cooking, cleaning our home, worring about class, studying, spending my evenings with Guillaume ... I really feel like updating my blog more often, but I am always running out of time. Promise, I will catch up !

Today is a special day, so I definitely had to write something here. We are October 22nd 2013 and three years ago, I started to date my amazing boyfriend, Guillaume (and I am not writing this because he's sitting next to me at the moment - and obviously reading this as well). So here is a highlight of our story ...

I met Guillaume on my first year of college, in September 2010. He was studying English as well in second year. One evening, I threw a party at my place, and among many unknown guests was Guillaume. When he walked in, he asked who's place it was and we started to talk. We went to several different bars that night, but the thing is, I don't really remember it. All I know is that Guillaume and I were inseparable, chatting about our lives and college experience. The next morning, something had changed. I couldn't stop thinking about him, how nice he was and I saw on his person my prince charming.

Well, things were not that easy. Some people tried to keep us apart, telling lies about our past and our feelings (I think we have always met that kind of damaging "friends") so it took us a few weeks to officially start to date. I really thought that he did not like me ... But on that evening on the 22nd of October 2010, he finally kissed me and said "I thought it was never gonna happen". I went to bed at 5 that morning but felt happy, grateful and confident. Being around him was appeasing and blissful. And I still feel the same way about him. 

These last three years were full of adventures. First, it had been full of love, but also full of travels, laughter and happiness. Guillaume made some of my dreams come true, like going to Disneyland, visiting Ireland together, going to London but more important, he made me respect and love myself. He has always been really supportive about my studies, my jobs, my diets, my insecurities. He is always there for me and I will never thank him enough for this. He makes me become a better person and that is one of the thousand reasons I love him.

I am his, he is mine. For ever and always.

101 in 1001

This is it ! After an entire week of reflexion, I have finally finished my 101 things to do in 1001 days. This idea came from Victoria's blog and originally from Design Darling. I use to make lists all the time. On Sunday afternoon, I start thinking of what I will have to do during the week. Sometimes it is really exciting, sometimes it is more compulsory. But writing this 101 in 1001 list was a real challenge ! I am only 21 (and still surprised by this number !) and so many things can change in 1001 days, so many things are vague and most of the time, I feel unsecure about the future (especially these days while struggling with my studies). So we can say that this is the list of what a college girl in her twenties must accomplish ! Here we go !!! :)

Start Date: Saturday, October 5th 2013

End Date: Saturday, July 2nd 2016

Personal 
1. Find my first real job
2. Write a novel
3. Learn to love myself
4. Be more confident
5. Find faith
6. Get involved in a charity
7. Do a professional photo shoot
8. Spend a week-end with no technology
9. Keep a journal of possibilities and dreams
10. Write myself a letter once a month   1/33
11. Achieve all these goals

Fun & Entertainment
12. Celebrate Thanksgiving for the first time  (see here)
13. Attend Oxygen festival, Dublin
14. See a band I've liked for a long time performing
15. See a rugby game
16. Try 10 new restaurants in our area
17. Watch the Lord of the Ring movies
18. Sing in a pub
19. Have a Disney movies marathon
20. Get up to watch the sunrise

Beauty and Health
21. Let my hair grow
22. Drink 8 glass of water a day for a month
23. Eat five fruits and veggies a day for a week
24. Work out everyday for a week
25. Achieve my target weight
26. Learn 5 new hairstyles
27. Find the perfect lipstick color
28. Go to bed before 11pm for a week

Blog
29. Write 101 goals
30. Inspire someone to write this list
31. Re-design my blog
32. Meet a friend blogger
33. Have 5 blog sponsors
34. Post everyday on the blog for a week
35. Contribute to someone else's blog
36. Leave comments on 5 blog everyday for two weeks
37. Have five friends reading my blog
38. Hit 50 followers on my blog

Travel
39. Visit New York City
40. Move to a foreign country
41. Visit the Châteaux de la Loire
42. Spend a romantic week-end in Paris
43. Go geocatching
44. Visit 5 new cities 1/5 (Belfast)

Friends & Family
45. Adopt a pet

46. Celebrate our third anniversary (see here)
47. Get Engaged
48. Buy our first house

49. Send out Christmas Cards
50. Send ten handwritten notes
51. Throw a surprise party for a friend
52. Be my cousin's sponsor
53. Go on a trip with my friends
54. Compliment someone everyday for a week
55. Tell one friend per week that I am thinking about them
56. Take family pictures every year
57. Reconnect with a childhood friend
58. Buy my parents' a big gift
59. Hang out with my brother for a whole day
60. Take my Granny to the casino
61. Call or Email my family every week
62. Spend a whole week-end at Granny's
63. Go on a day trip with my cousin
64. Support a friend on something important to him/her

Do & Make
65. Own a Christmas Cookie's Yankee Candle
66. Start a collection of Christmas decorations  (see here)
67. Make homemade bread
68. Make homemade ice cream
69. Learn to sew a button
70. Do five DIY projects
71. Have breakfast in bed
72. Take a wine testing class
73. Buy fresh flowers once a month  1/33
74. Plant something and have it grow
75. Try a new recipe each month  3/33
76. Ask for a new passport
77. Acquire a new cookbook every year
78. Put back a rim on my car's wheel
79. Take a baking class
80. Learn how to make pastries
81. Try two recipes from the Bible of Pastry each month  0/33
82. Buy a frame and put a picture of Guillaume and I inside
83. Buy a hard drive and save all my files and pictures
84. Go to a farmer market every month   4/33
85. Go on a day spa with my boyfriend

Organise
86. Turn my Granny's and family recipes into a book
87. Get rid of my old class books
88. Write my favorite recipes on a book
89. Donate my old clothes and shoes
90. Print out our trips pictures and organize it in a book

Education
91. Graduate from college
92. Learn how to play the piano
93. Read 20 new books   6/20
94. Find my two internships  2/2
95. Learn a few German sentences

Investments
96. Own a pair of Repetto flats
97. Find the perfect little black dress
98. Spend an entire month not eating out
99. Find a good financial plan
100. Save a minimum of 30€ each month  1/33
101. Put 5€ into savings for every goal accomplished  30/505

October Goals

Time is definitely flying ! A month ago, Guillaume and I were moving in and I was completely scared of what the future had to offer. September had been quite tough on me ... I was really confused about my studies: should I stay or should I go ? To be honest, I hate half of my courses, and I hate the fact the system wants to make us spend our entire life studying, so much that our well being and our health have to be forgotten. I really hate it. Last Friday, I was so upset that I went home crying and I kept crying in Guillaume's arms for about an hour. I felt lost, I felt lonely and I had no one to turn to. 

My September's Goals

• Save money
• Give my blood 
• Go to the local market once a week
• Use my free spa vaucher
• Host a party in our new flat
• Work out three hours a week
• Buy a mirror for the bedroom
• Prepare our trip to Spain
• Loose weight

Saving money was not easy, as I don't really have any income, but I have saved 30€ (put into a blocked account). We received many friends last month and had our first party at our place. We also went out quite a lot. This month, we need to be more careful about what we buy, especially food (and not waste it !) I didn't have time to go to the local market, but if it is cheaper than supermarket (and probably healthier) I should try to go at least once a month. Oh, and I was so so so desapointed about the spa vaucher... Turned out ot passed the deadline one September 17th ... 

 My October Goals

• Write my 101 in 1001 list
• Work out everyday for one week
• Prepare a surprise dinner to Guillaume
• Plan a special date for our 3rd Anniversary 
• Find some fall decoration

I really hope October will be more peaceful now that we are really settling down. I hope I will have more time to spend with my family, whom I really miss. October must be full of love and great moments as Guillaume and I will be celebrating our 3rd Anniversary on the 22nd, any ideas what we could do ? We are also going on holidays with my family at the end of the month. I need to have my homework done by then so I can really enjoy being away from college ! Anyway, Fall is definitely coming ! We had a lovely and warm weather in the last couple of weeks, but tonight, it is all stormy. I am just going to put my pyjamas on, eat that pie cooking in the oven and stay in Guillaume's arms while watching Game of Thrones ! Night Night !