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  
 

Mon quatorzième anniversaire avec mes amies!

Salut mes amies,
 

August 9th was my 14th birthday. Having just returned from New York City, I assumed I wasn't going to do anything special for my birthday this year. It was just going to be another night in front of Netflix . . . right? Wrong.

Juliette showed up. Juliette showed up avec mes parents. Usually Juliette flies to America alone for visits, but this time, my parents decided to accompany her. I guess their daughter can only turn 14 once, right? They all showed up in my dorm room right as I was getting back from breakfast in the mess hall, yelling, "SURPRISE!" with balloons and confetti going everywhere. Well, maybe not the balloons and confetti part. But it was a surprise to see them all standing there - Maman, Papa, and Juliette, my newly turned teenaged sister. They told me to get gussied up because we were going out for a night on the town. Where, they couldn't say, because this little American city is a far cry from Paris, but they were taking this birthday girl out for dinner. Complete with party hats.

Somewhere along the line somebody decided on this cute, but cheesy little Italian place a few blocks from the school. I'm sure it wasn't my parents' first choice just because they so abide by the "classic" French/Italian rivalry. I guess they were trying to win over Chiara, one of my best friends who happens to be from Italy. Never mind that Chiara really has a distaste for Italian American cuisine, but whatever! We were all going out to dinner, and we were going to have a good time.

In addition to inviting Chiara, they'd also invited Nathalie. Both girls were good sports and obligingly wore the party hats my parents had so enthusiastically purchased for the affair.

We decided on a classic Italian dish for dinner: spaghetti and meatballs, salad, and fresh rolls. Yum!

After we'd all finished eating, it was time for party games! My parents had picked up a 'Pin the Flower on the Stem' game for us to play. We felt a little silly spinning around blindfolded in a restaurant, but we all decided that a birthday was as good a time as any to act youthful. Chiara went first . . .

. . . and stuck her flower sticker pretty close, leaving the rest of us feeling a bit daunted! 

Nathalie took a turn next . . .  and proceeded to get a little upset when she didn't place her flower exactly on the right spot. A figure skater at heart, she's the most competitive of all of us. It's okay, Nat. It's only a game! 

Juliette took a turn and placed her sticker in exactly the right spot. We all figured she'd probably cheated, but who knows? We'll give her the benefit of the doubt. 

She was pretty pleased with herself. 

I went last, and as I didn't get anywhere close, we all proclaimed Juliette the winner.

We decided to have our dessert next. Everyone decided to take turns singing 'Happy Birthday' to me in various languages. Nathalie sang the traditional song in English, Juliette sang in French, and Chiara followed up with an Italian rendition. 

When they were done singing, I made a wish and blew out the candle on my birthday bundt cake. I can't tell you what I wished for because then it wouldn't come true! 

In addition to the slices of bundt cake, we had dishes of ice cream and fruit tarts. Un petit plaisir, non? 

Finally, it was time to open presents! Nathalie handed me this fancy gift bag to open first. It was from my good friends Zipporah, Chickadee, Violet, Sora, and Lorikeet Valdez - hooray! I couldn't wait to see what they'd sent me.

Opening the bag, I pulled out a French-themed deck of cards. The illustrations were so pretty to look at that we all took several moments to look through all of the cards. I think Samantha Parkington would've had a set of playing cards like these! 

The quints had also sent two pairs of skinny jeans (one to share with Juliette!) and a bunch of new hair clips. How fun! A girl can never have too many clothes and accessories.

The quints sent along a few belated Christmas presents, too. Inside this festive mailbox, I found a polar bear snow-globe. Isn't it adorable?

Nathalie and I were really intrigued by this 'Snow In A Can'. The quints sure know how much I love la neige, but how can one make snow? Unless Queen Elsa pops out the minute I open the can? Thank you so much, Zipporah, Chickadee, Violet, Lorikeet, and Sora! You girls are always so thoughtful. I miss you five so much!

Nathalie pushed an all-too-familiar looking red bag over to me. "This is from Chiara and me, but don't get too excited. It's not what you think!" 

Drat. No American Girl clothes? Then what is it . . . ? Could it be . . . ? I suspected that whatever was in this bag was purchased at Toy Tokyo, Inky's favorite toy shop in New York, since my guardian was so quick to hide the bag from me. Upon pushing past the tissue paper, my suspicions were confirmed: it was Totoro from the Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro! Isn't he cute?! I knew the Totoro plush was Chiara's contribution since she and her friend Jessa are massive Studio Ghibli fans. If you haven't seen My Neighbor Totoro or any of the other Studio Ghibli films, please do me a favor and check them out. They are really awesome!

Setting my new Totoro down, I pushed my way through the rest of the tissue paper and pulled out another cutie . . . Cheburashka! This adorable monkey is known and loved by many a Soviet/Russian child. My good friend Inky introduced me to the stopmotion animated films about him, and since then, I've been pining for a Cheburashka toy of my own. Nathalie must've talked to Inky for gift suggestions, the little sneak! 

I thanked Nathalie and Chiara for the awesome gifts. They know me so well! Don't Cheburashka and Totoro make a wonderful pair? Totoro is so tiny compared to Chebby, but we'll overlook that minuscule detail . . . 

Somehow amidst all of the excitement, Juliette and my parents had momentarily disappeared. When they returned, they didn't return alone. There was a fourth member of their party, and this fourth member was brown and furry . . . that's right, they'd brought a puppy! A PUPPY! I couldn't believe my eyes and ears! I've always wanted a pet of my own, but Juliette is allergic to pet dander. "A dog of my very own?" I wondered aloud, "How . . . why . . . can I have a dog w-with Juliette's . . . ?"

My parents explained that, as long as I kept the puppy at school, Juliette's allergies wouldn't be affected. I nodded, reaching down to pet my new furry friend. "Il est trop mignon, he is so cute!" Juliette sighed, watching me with my new gift. Then she sneezed! "If only I wasn't allergic!" 

Chiara, Nathalie, and I played happily with the puppy while poor sneezing Juliette could only look on. He kept going from one of us to another and back again, requesting pets and belly rubs and giving us plenty of puppy kisses, too! Isn't he the cutest? No amount of Totoros and Cheburashkas can make up for a live doggy, no sirree! But what should I name him?  Does anyone have any name suggestions for me? Any advice about caring for a puppy?

We ended the party by taking some group photos. From left to right, there's Juliette, me, Nathalie, and Chiara . . . and don't forget the newest addition to the family, that adorable chocolate lab! 

Thanks for letting me share my birthday excitement with you!

What was your birthday like this year? If you haven't had it yet, what do you want it to be like?

Ton amie,

Sophie

What we're wearing:
On me, Sophie (MAG 25): "Military Blues" by Liberty Jane Clothing 
On Juliette (MAG 55): "The Nicole" by American Planet
On Chiara (aka Marisol, GOTY 2005): "The Liz Maxi" by LaPoupeeBijoux
On Nathalie (MAG 37): "Coral and Mint Floral Peplum Blouse" by Janie Jumps; denim shorts by Liberty Jane Clothing

The Post - Christmas Winter Party

Salut mes amis,                                                           

The quints surprised me with yet another gift: a gingerbread house-making kit! Even though the making of gingerbread houses is typically an activity to do around Christmas, I decided to save the kit to do with my friends back at Fair Hollow School for Girls. 

So, last week, I told Jessa, Chiara, and Nathalie to meet me in the school kitchen for our very own 'Post - Christmas Winter Party.' After all, we'd never even gotten to celebrate Christmas together, with me being back in Paris and all! The four of us gathered around the large wooden table where I'd laid out the gingerbread pieces and contemplated how to go about building the houses.

Chiara grabbed the instruction booklet and proceeded to read the step-by-step directions aloud to Jessa, Nathalie, and me. Slowly but surely, the three of us worked together to build two of the four houses included in the kit.


It was really difficult not to lick the icing while we were spreading it onto the edges of the houses, and I'm pretty sure that we all snuck bits of icing into our mouths at some point (I did, I'll admit to it!).

When we'd stuck enough icing on the houses so they'd stay up without falling, it was time for the best part: decorating the exteriors! First, we needed to spread icing on the roofs of the houses. This, I decided, was my job:

Then Nathalie spooned candy onto the roof of the first house. The candy wanted to roll right off of the roof, so she had to be very careful about applying it the right way:

Jessa spooned candy onto the roof of the other house:

Chiara added colorful gummy candy onto the ridge of the rooftops:

We took turns adding jellybeans and conversation hearts to the houses, though you can bet some of those scampered into our mouths in the process!

When we finally decided that we had enough candy on the houses, Nathalie and I added the finishing touch: mint - flavored gummy trees!

Here we are with the finished houses! That's Jessa on the far left, then Chiara, Nathalie, and me! 

Here is a closer look at our finished houses. The one on the left didn't come out as cleanly as we wanted because it fell apart mid-decoration! None of us girls has ever been great at assembling gingerbread houses, but as long as we have fun, perfection doesn't matter . . . right? 

The quintuplets had also baked us a cake roll and a tin full of holiday-themed cookies. So, after we cleaned up a bit, we each pulled up a chair and loaded up a plate full of treats. There were plenty of gingerbread men (and women!), sugar cookies, and slices of strawberry jam-filled cake roll to go around, and we washed it all down with mugs of cold milk (the mugs were also gifts!). 

Here Jessa munches a sugar cookie decorated with red icing while Nathalie sips milk from her adorable new penguin mug:

And here we have Chiara eating a gingerbread (wo)man while I'm sipping milk from my gingerbread (wo)man mug:

These cookies were really too pretty to eat - at least, that's what we thought initially! However, they tasted just as nice, too!

Thank you, Sabina, Violeta, Zipporah, Catalina, and Tatiana! Jessa, Nathalie, Chiara, and I had a great time attempting to build and decorate the gingerbread houses you sent us, and we definitely enjoyed eating the cookies and cake roll you sent, too!

Have you ever made a gingerbread house? What kind of candy did you use to decorate it? 

~Sophie