A Special Gift

Salut mes amis,

I have some sad news. Mon grand-père, my grandfather, who went in the hospital over Noël, Christmas, has passed away. He never fully recovered after surgery and was in so much pain these past few weeks that I was relieved when he passed on. He is no longer in pain! It's Maman and ma grand-mère, my grandmother, that I feel sorry for right now. They are devastated! Juliette is pretty sad, too, and hasn't been able to do much these past few days. She sits around listlessly, hugging her bear, and crying all the while. She's so bad off that she hasn't even touched her ballet bag! It's all I can do to comfort her. I've even taken an official leave of absence from school because I can't bear to leave her side. It feels bizarre being back in Paris for longer than two weeks, but this is where I must be right now.

Before I left the United States, I'd picked up a belated Christmas present for my sister: an American Girl doll of her own! She'd been admiring my Cécile doll for quite some time, and I always figured that I was going to get her a Marie-Grace. However, when I found out that the new Girl of the Year for 2014 was a ballerina, I knew that she was the one! 

Juliette couldn't believe her eyes when I handed her the big, red bag, "Sophie, you really bought me an American Girl doll?! Aren't they extremely expensive?"

"Well, I know how much you've admired mine, and with two dolls, we can play together! Isabelle is the perfect doll for you; she loves ballet just like you do! I know she can't take the place of our grandfather, but she'll comfort you at least," I put my arm around Juliette, smiling all the while, "Now, go on. Open her up!"

Juliette carefully slid the lid off of the box, gazing at the doll that lay before her. Tilting the box upward so that she could get a good look at Isabelle's pretty hazel eyes, Juliette slowly began to smile. "Elle est très jolie, she is very pretty! And, ooh! She has pink hair streaks, my favorite color! Merci beaucoup, Sophie! I love her so much!"

After lifting her new doll from the confines of the box, Juliette gave her a hug. "I actually do feel a little better now. Thanks again, Sophie! You're the best sister a girl could ask for!"

I just smiled.

Have you ever given a special gift to someone who needed it?

Ton amie,
Sophie 

Sunday Lunch with a Friend

Salut mes amis,

On January 5th, I got to visit the American Girl store in the Washington, DC area! I hadn't been able to visit a store since my August 2012 visit to Natick, so I was pretty excited to see all of the new clothes and accessories that had been released recently. I also met Isabelle Palmer, Girl of the Year 2014. She's a ballet student from Washington, DC, and her story reminded me a lot of my twin sister's. I know she and Juliette would get along!

Isabelle and I chatted for a while, and when I started to get bored with all of the dance talk, I started playing with her cat, Tutu (seriously, who names their cat "Tutu"?!).  Isabelle also showed me all of the fun things in her design studio; I was particularly impressed with her sketchbook full of costume designs.

I said goodbye to Isabelle and wandered around the store for a bit. I decided to pose with the Isabelle photo op:

When the Isabelle area in the store became too crowded for me, I wandered elsewhere. I met Marie-Grace's sweet dog, Argos. He wanted to come home with me!

Finally, it was time to meet up with the real reason I came to the store: Inky! Inky and I have been trying and trying to meet up again since my visit to NYC, but our plans always fell through. I was SO EXCITED that I was able to meet up with her today. We decided to have a late lunch in the café. We had a lot to catch up on! She'd just gotten back from a trip to London, so - of course - I had to ask all about that.

After lunch, we decided to explore Isabelle's design studio together. Inky wanted to check it out for her friend Coral who also dances. When our guardians were out of earshot, we started whispering ways to sneak me back to NYC. Unfortunately, my guardian caught me before I was able to get into Inky's car, but hey, it was worth a shot!

It was SO good to be able to reconnect with Inky, even for such a short time. I wish I could see her more often!

Do you have friends who live faraway? How often do you get to see them?

Ton amie,
Sophie