pretend.

when i was living in france and writing blogposts for people's birthdays, my mom skyped me with a request. feeling sad that i wouldn't be in france for her birthday, she asked that i just pretend and take some pictures and write up a blog post as if i was in france on her special day.

so now you get to pretend that i am back in france.

it is may 28th.

my mom's birthday.

a perfect, spring-y day in paris. 

eiffel tower and all.

bon anniversaire mère!

isn't the eiffel looking good today?

 check that sweet tower shot.

 what, i managed to hit paris and monaco all in the same day?

your birthday must be a special day mom!

hey mom, je t'aime!

p.s. french people like to abreve. happy birthday.

and so do i. (although in english it isn't as great, hap bir?)

em-uh-layyy

yesterday was emily's golden birthday

she turned 22 on may 22nd.

we had a fabulous party.

in honor of her big day, this post is all about her.

we were roommates in france.

everyday was an adventure.

here are some emily facts:

she is a food scientist.

she loves the color green.

she has the best freckles.

she is a brilliant cook.

she is a facilitator.

she loves pandora and listening to music.

she makes gorgeous cakes.

she could probably live off nutella.

she is super down to earth and easy going.

she goes along with my crazy ideas.

she is one of my dearest friends.

i love emily daw.

and now,

pictures of emily and i in france.

our first picture together.

 first day of school

 first walk. so cold.

 our less chubby days.

 notre dame.

 more walks in the cold

 serious shopping adventures

 facilitating my crazy fashion sense

 conjuring up nutella no bakes

 candid.

 metro made valentines

 matching tats. and sweet nails.

 totally awesome rain protection.

i really love this picture.

 la defense,

surprisingly one of our favorite places.

 cemetery adventures.

 girls nights.

 sexy boots.

 antique adventures

 we love eating cookies by the eiffel

 disneyland was grand til em got sick.

the fact that she survived shows just how awesome she is.

 matchy match friendship bracelets

 pastries were also our best friends

our favorite thing. sunning in the parc

 one crazy five euro adventure.

 fierce

 fancy last dinner

 nice beach.

i love emily!!!

happy birthday em.

so glad i got to celebrate with you.

p.s. remember a LONNGG time ago when i bought something crazy from a thrift store and said i would show it off eventually? i finally had a chance to wear it. to emily's shindig. it was fabulous.

check that out.

missing the metro.

well, i am back in the real world.

and in the past three days i have made the drive from provo to salt lake 4 times.

lets just say i am missing the metro.

luckily i got to spend a little bit of time on the subway in NYC. 

it wasn't the metro, but it sure was nice.

and my metro instinct totally kicked in.

and now for a little  comparaison!
nyc

 francypants

heading downtown

 heading into town

with the new york lines

 in paris sunshine.

subway hands

metro legs

new found friends in new york

new found friends in paris

 line five

 line five

new york style

the parisienne way

lets just say i felt very at home on the subway!

facing the cold

it's almost impossible to remember how cold it really was those first few weeks. i am so grateful i went winter semester, because the weather got progressively warmer, not colder! we had one of the nicest springs paris had seen in years, but it was awfully cold when i first arrived!

memories of colder days

 thank heavens for hats and scarves!

 and black coats.

 so cold!

 classy cold protection

 scarves

frosty run?

 our best protection from the cold:

hot chocolate and nutella toast

warm mittens

 and of course, that fire safety blanket.

that kept me warm those cold winter nights.

and was the epitome of design and class.

i'm so glad it got warm!