Confessions from a pastry addict

  I have an addiction.  I have tried to limit myself to 4 times a day but I am afraid of slipping and accidentally finding myself in the corner covered in chocolate glaze having eaten 10 delicious things from the bakery next door or any other of the billions of bakeries in this city. Ah well, I'll deal with all of that another day. Most people ask why eat so many pastries a day to which I reply WHY NOT?! Anyway, school today was good, I felt like it was Tuesday the entire day and had woken up from a disturbing dream this morning so I felt a bit off for a while. I always feel pretty accomplished when I walk away from 5 hours of class in French having understood everything. I have been making friends in my class and really like going to an international school. So far I have made friends with a guy from England, a girl from Colombia, a girl from Australia and then a few girls from the States. I love that we all have the commonality of  loving French and Paris. After school I came home and made some lunch, my roommate Kristen walked in soon after with a pastry and that inspired me to go downstairs and get one too. I have too many enablers around encouraging my pastry habit......but what are ya going to do? It felt like no time at all had passed before I had to get ready to go to the opera! 

This one is dark but I love the inside, I cannot wait to take my loved ones here

The ballet itself was choreographed to Vivaldi and was absolutely beautiful. It had a modern twist on it and at times I felt like I must not be following the story because it went over my head but overall it was one of my most memorable experiences in Paris. Other than tonight I have been keeping up with my exploration of the city. We have a trip to Normandy coming up the first weekend in March and I am eager to go and learn new things outside of Paris. I love being in Paris but I am definitely the type of person that needs a little break from city living every once in a while. Yet, I am so happy that my friends here are adventurous and willing to just walk outside and start exploring. On Sunday we decided to go to the Père Lachaise cemetery where a lot of famous people have been buried. The cemetery is so so so huge, we got lost a few times but made the best of it. It's eerie to think of all of those who are buried there but in an odd way it was a good day. We walked around and saw that a lot of families have gigantic plots there. (People are no longer able to be buried in the city of Paris unless they have an existing plot or are famous).

Edith Piaf-A movie based on her life, La Vie en Rose is on my favorite French movies. 

On a less morbid note, we then went to explore more of the the Murais. I found the most amazing chocolate shop and bought a few things to snack on. They had huge barrels of different kinds of chocolates and treats that you could scoop into plastic bags and pay for them per 500 grams. I told my sister how I felt nostalgic for the days at Basics where you could scoop candies into bags and pay for them the same way. How I miss the days of begging my mom to let me get a 5 pound bag of gummy worms.  

Piano made entirely from chocolate. In the words of Joey Lawrence...."WHHOA!"

The fact that March will be here shortly astonishes me. March means the start of a great and amazing whirlwind of visitors and traveling. Starting the first weekend in March I have something planned or someone coming to visit pretty much every weekend until my brothers birthday on May 14th at which point I will be two weeks away from coming home. I am so excited for these adventures and to have this semester to live my life to the fullest and even though it will be strange to pick up and move home I won't be sad because I have the best people in the world waiting at home for me. For now I will leave you with a list of things I plan to do this summer

1. Go to the pool with Jess and/or Ryan

2. Eat boston creme donuts with Jess

3. Walk the parkway with Jess

4. Get Bob Evans with Jess and Ryan

5. Watch all the HP's with Ryan

6. Then go get cheesecake factory with my mom and Jess

7. Are you sensing a theme?

8. Anything involving food, Jess, Ryan or any other loved one.

9. Turn 21

10. BE 21!!!! Getting drinks in downtown Annapolis on a warm summer night :)

The list goes on and on.........