Christmas Surprises

Salut mes amis!

Joyeux Noël!  Merry Christmas! Hodel and I had a fabulous holiday together. On Christmas Eve, we decided to write letters to Père Noël asking for donations to charities instead of toys. Per usual, Hodel asked for a donation to an animal rescue. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to ask for in my letter, eventually deciding on donations for needy children in France.

When we finished our letters, we cuddled with our Uglydolls underneath the sapin de Noël and looked for a Christmas movie to watch.

We were able to watch the first of many A Christmas Story viewings on TNT - hooray! Somehow it doesn't quite seem like Christmas unless you share it with Ralphie.

Hodel's parents made us go to bed when the movie finished, but shhh! We actually ended up giggling for hours. I don't think we got much sleep at all. We were much too excited about the day ahead of us!

Sleep or no sleep, we still managed to wake up early on Christmas morning. We showered and dressed quickly, anxious to open our presents. Even though we'd asked Santa not to give us presents, Hodel's parents had given us a few things to open.

Don't we look nice? We tried to look pretty and cool, considering it was 60 degrees outside! I think Hodel was smart not to wear stockings.

Since Hodel and I got all of the same presents, we decided to unwrap everything at the same time. What did we get?

We received mystery Playmobil figurines (I got a cute old lady, while Hodel got a smart-looking flight attendant) and Disney squinkies . . .

. . . but our favorite presents by far were the baby dinosaur toys nestled in plastic eggs! We pretended to be world-famous paleontologists for hours! In a few days, we are going to see The Good Dinosaur, which we are both so excited for.

Did you have a nice holiday season? What did you do? Who did you celebrate with? What presents did you receive?

Ton amie,
Sophie 

French, Forensics . . . and FedEx?!

Salut mes amis,

Do you like my costume? Zee name is Sophie, and I am a classic Frenchie stereotype. Oui, comme Grace Thomas, la fille américaine pour cette année 2015. Yes, I am trying to parody (ahem, "emulate") Grace Thomas, the new Girl of the Year doll who visits Paris in her story. Do you recognize the sweater and scarf that I got for Christmas? 

And yet even though I'm dressed so stereotypically, I can't help but think how cute I look. Then again, I've always been fond of berets. And, before you say that "every Parisian loves berets," they don't. My sister Juliette can't stand them, but she also likes to style her hair. I don't. I like being able to put on a hat and calling it a day.

The real reason for this post is that I was sent a package - a HUGE package all the way from America! It was so huge that I had to push it into my room with the help of both of my parents. Lifting it was definitely out of the question.

It was from my best friends, the Valdez Quintuplets! Sora, Violet, Chickadee, Zipporah, and Lorikeet had sent me a whole science lab in a box for Christmas. Well, pretty much! They sent everything from test tubes and beakers to a fire extinguisher! There were file folders, a glass thermometer, a study lamp, dinosaur models to assemble, textbooks, and storage containers to keep everything safe. They had even printed a whole stack of vintage French diagrams (of the human body, plants, the Periodic Table, etc) for my benefit; I absolutely LOVED these! 

I was so touched by such generous gifts, but not really all that surprised - these girls always go to the greatest lengths to impress me when it comes to sending gifts! They know me so well. Merci beaucoup, Violet, Zipporah, Chickadee, Sora, and Lorikeet! Thank you so much! These items will definitely help me as I pursue my lifelong dream of becoming a forensic scientist . . .

Here is a close-up photo of some of the items I was given. There are three plastic storage bins, a vintage science poster, two textbooks, a fire extinguisher (can never be too careful!), a stack of file folders, and a floral scarf . . .

There are six dinosaur models to assemble. Six! I can open my own natural history museum now.

There are two plastic storage drawers, perfect for storing the test tubes, beakers, and test tube stands. There's a wire rack, a study lamp, a glass thermometer, and then you can see some of the vintage French science diagrams . . .

My favorite gift by far was this Frozen wall hanging. I absolutely adore everything about this movie and cannot wait to add this little piece of Anna and Elsa to my room. It reads, "Only an act of true love will thaw a frozen heart," which makes me laugh. If my heart was ever frozen, it's certainly not anymore. This whole Christmas package is quite the "act of true love"! 

What's your favorite school subject? Do you like science as much as me? 

Ton amie,
Sophie