Trying

Now is the time for me to try new things and go through even more changes. It is a choice I'm making in order to become something more.
I want to push myself to fulfillment, to accomplishment, to satisfaction. I don't want to be the person who stays in their comfort zone, who takes the easy way - wouldn't life be boring if lived this way?
I'm going to let go of fear and hopefully be brave enough to become the best version of me!

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are" - E.E. Cummings

Wish me luck,
xoxo

Footpath to peace

 

"Be glad of life...because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars; to be contented with your possessions, but not satisfied with yourself until you have made the best of them; to despise nothing in the world except falsehood and meanness, and to fear nothing except cowardice; to be governed by your admirations rather than by your disgusts; to covet nothing that is your neighbor's except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manners; to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends; and to spend as much time as you can, with body and with spirit. These are little guideposts on the footpath to peace. "
- Henry von Dyke

xoxo

The Help

"All I'm saying is, kindness don't have no boundaries."

I just finished reading this great book. It really is the kind of book you just can't put down. I literally devoured it and was sad to reach the end....

I highly recommend it.

The story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the 60's and focuses not only on the lives of African-American maids working for white families, but also on the relationship between women. 

It is narrated from the perspective of 3 very different and endearing narrators, that you cheer for until the end.

Read it! :)
xoxo

Printemps

My attempt at translating the lyrics:

It was in 2003, during a show over the Summer, I spotted you under my many coats of mascara
And so many years later, I saw you and I was thinking to go up to you to see if you had some time for me
But you don't know that I would've given you everything the day my eyes met your glasses
And you don't know that I would really like to have you
It's kind of sad, only in this song will you know
The branches fall on the ground and nothing can change
In my preconceived dreams, I let myself imagine things
But my unclear desire remains a secret that is too heavy to bear
The branches remain on the ground and I won't ever say a thing
But you don't know that I would've given you everything the day my eyes met your glasses

And you don't know that I would really like to have you

It's kind of sad, only in this song will you know

The branches remain on the ground, the seasons got married

After days of doubt, I can no longer avoid you

And this internal scream won't stop

The branches remain on the ground and I finally found you.

Coeur de Pirate is a Canadian pop-singer-songwriter. I'm in love with her cute voice and her little "quebecois" accent.
I'm sure many of you can relate to this song. I know I can :)

♥
xoxo

To love is to be vulnerable

"Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love at all is to be vulnerable." -C.S. Lewis

Take chances,

xoxo

Hello Sunshine!

Summer is here!

"If a June night could talk, it would probably boast it invented romance" - Bern Williams

It's time to bask in the sun, wear light and bright clothes, plan trips and simply get to know and enjoy ourselves!

Summer has always been my favorite season.
I grew up in France, and summer there was generally the only time we had great weather for a reasonably long period of time. We would start eating outside, fire up the grill, go to the beach as much as we could, visit our family around the country and finally trade in our big sweaters for summer dresses. I also loved being able to enjoy the sun until 11pm....How dreamy it was :)

A decade and a half later, it is still my favorite season.
Even though I live in a city where we are blessed with great weather all year round, Summer for me now has a sort of romantic connotation and means freedom, creativity, tanned skin, silly books, naps and well-deserved fun...
It also means that we have a good reason to eat ice cream :P

I'm not sure what summer this year holds for me. All I know is that right now, I am thoroughly enjoying this moment on my balcony...

Let's have a great summer...and send me postcards!!
xoxo

Wishes

It's funny how children can be inspiring...

Today, while I was out enjoying a Nutella crepe with two kids I take care of, one of them asked me: if I had one wish, what would I wish for. I was really caught off-guard. I mean....what do you say to that?
Do you go with the cliche "peace in the world" miss America type of answer? or do you go with the selfish "millions of dollars on my bank account" answer?

It tormented me (yes, I really do over think everything!). It is simple to come with an answer, but the real issue is how do you know that it is exactly what you want, desire, hope to see, hope to have...

What do we wish for? Or better yet, what should we wish for?

"The ego wishes comfort, security, satiety; The soul demands meaning, struggle, becoming."

After much thinking, I'm not sure I can ever find an answer to this question...

However, I think we should be careful, and wish for something that defines us, that defines the person we want to be, the person we can picture ourselves being. 

I do think that it is important to wish once in a while, not because I believe in miracles, but because it is important to create within ourselves strong and tingling desires to make things happen.

And in fact, why not say your wish out loud? God knows we all need a little support and lots of motivation to make our wishes come true..!

"Our deepest wishes are whispers of our authentic selves. We must learn to respect them. We must learn to listen." Sarah Ban Breathnach

So, wish upon a dandelion, a shooting star, before blowing your candles or when it's 11:11 on the clock... and see what magical things you will do to make it all happen! ;)

xoxo

Your smile brings happiness to others

"His smile had a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself"- F.S Fitzgerald 

Even if things are not going so well, you should definitely smile because:
* it makes you attractive, oh la la
* it changes your mood, try it now, it works!
* it's contagious, you'll see, everyone around you is going to be smiling too...
* it relieves stress, ahhh
* it releases happy hormones, yay!
* it makes you look younger
* it makes you seem confident and approachable (no one wants to talk to the frowny person)
* it helps you stay positive


One person told me one day that I was always smiling and that it made them happy. From this moment on, I wanted to smile even more. I'll never forget these sweet words...

Obviously, no one can smile all the time (that's just obnoxious and weird!), but it really isn't hard to do it once in a while, so shall we give it a try?


"I want to be remembered as the girl who always smiles even when her heart is broken, and the one that could always brighten up your day even if she couldn't brighten her own"

:D
xoxo

Favorite things

I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things is to get letters in the mail. There's something so special about them.
I remember sending letters when I first moved to the United States, to my friends back home, and waiting eagerly for the mailman to come each day, in the hopes of getting a response. It was like receiving a present.
It's so personal, you feel as if the person is somehow with you...
I miss that.

I keep them all in boxes at my parents' house, and I love going through them once a while. It's magical.

"To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart".- Phyllis Theroux

Write to me? :)
xoxo

Summer!

It's weird to be on break. I have to admit, I was never good at it. A fast-paced life usually prevents me from being one-on-one with myself, and in the end, I get comfortable living like this.
Now that I am actually "free", yes, it feels weird, but I no longer have an excuse to not take real good care of myself and actually get to know myself a bit better. What a luxury!

I want to exercise, bake, go on a trip, write, dance, read, visit museums, shop, dream and laugh!
Hope to make it all happen...


Don't forget to smile,
xoxo

Graduation

"It always seems impossible until it is done" - Nelson Mandela

We were about 4,000 seniors on the field. It truly was amazing.

The sun was shining, the speeches were inspiring, we were all so excited!

I now feel as if anything is possible, and above all, I feel accomplished. I am so proud of myself. Looking back, it was a long and beautiful road.

Let's keep on going and hope for the best!

xoxo

Setting goals

I found this video on Facebook and was truly moved.

Claire is a 13 year-old girl who has been living with cystic fibrosis all her life. She went through countless surgeries and was in a coma for 17 days. Yet she remains beautifully positive and inspiring, and, as you'll see, her disease is really not what defines her.

Just thought I would share this with you.

It made me smile to see how smart, mature and confident she is...



http://clairesplacefoundation.org/

:)
xoxo

Dreams

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.”

“Yesterday is but today's memory, tomorrow is today's dream.”

There are so many things I want to do, so many things I want to accomplish...

Sometimes I feel like these dreams are not likely to happen...but then they reappear in my mind, over and over again. It must be for a reason, right?

:)

What are your dreams?

xoxo

Days like this...

...when everything seems to go absolutely wrong.

I lost my optimism and my motivation today..

Fortunately, it's all slowly coming back with the help of sweet voices.


Life is not perfect, I really should keep that in mind, enjoy the ride and not take every little bump in the road so seriously.

Lesson learned...I hope!

xoxo

Let's do this!!

I'm feeling the pressure, I'm feeling the excitement....

Almost there, almost there!

I'm burying myself in books today! It's going to be me, my laptop, my cup of coffee and later my study buddy.

I want this badly. I want to be so proud of myself, and it's all in my hands. 

Have a productive day, be the greatest :)

xoxo

Letting go

"I was born with an enormous need for affection and a terrible need to give it" - Audrey Hepburn

source

As I mentioned before, it's the end of not only the school year for me, but of school. That is it, i'm graduating!!! It's crazy...
Since this was the last week of class,  it has suddenly hit me that there are some people that I'm never going to see again. Ok, plans and promises will be made, but in the end, we know what will happen...
It made me a bit sad because I really have a hard time letting go of people that have entered my life. Of course I can let go of little acquaintances, but people that have somehow touched me, that I've created any sort of bond with, that I've developed a little bit of affection for...it's so difficult.

What saddens me the most is that, sometimes, as it is the case for me, you realize that there were no goodbyes, no see you...we forgot...

I wish I could detach myself more easily from the people who have been a part of my daily life.

Then I see the beauty of it, people coming and going in and out of our lives, at all times, touching us, affecting us in some way without us realizing....

‎"The are moments that mark your life, moments when you realize nothing will ever be the same. And time is divided into two part, before this and after this." 


xoxo

Wear your passions

Have a productive day ;)

xoxo