Ma fête d'anniversaire avec ma famille!

Salut mes amis!

Le 9 août a été mon anniversaire! Je suis 14 ans maintenant. Cette journée, Juliette a eu une surprise pour moi: elle a préparé ma nourriture préférée! Elle a invité ma meilleure amie, Maëlys, à partager cette fête avec nous  . . .

It was my 14th birthday on August 9th! Juliette surprised me with a special feast full of my favorite treats. And, if that wasn't enough of a present, she invited ma meilleure amie, my very best friend, to join us! Now, I know what you're thinking. Doesn't Nathalie Thibodeau have the honor of being my best friend? Sure, she is . . . en Amérique! Nathalie and I have had the pleasure of knowing each other since I first started studying abroad, but there is one girl who has known me my entire life. That is Maëlys Marie Lefèvre!

Like me and Juliette, Maëlys (pronounced "MY-elise") lives right here in Montmartre. She attends our school, Collège Antoine Coysevox, and has been in many of my classes since only the beginning of time. Isn't she gorgeous? Her mother immigrated from Haiti to study in Paris, only to meet and fall in love with a very handsome Frenchman. After opening une boulangerie-pâtisserie, a bakery/pastry shop, together, they had Maëlys and lived happily ever after. Maëlys likes to bake with her parents and produces the best macarons I've ever tasted, sure, but baking is a mere hobby for her. Her real passion is music. She's a devoted cellist and is determined to pursue a professional career in music one day. She's enamored with the idea of attending The Juilliard School in New York City and the idea of visiting America in general. She's like I was several years ago - she's never stepped out of France and has a natural curiosity for the world. I'm sure she will go far in life, but for now, I'm just happy goofing off with her as I celebrate my birthday!

After Maëlys and I greeted each other, we sat down to enjoy the meal that Juliette had worked so hard to prepare. We sampled fresh bread and cheese, candied fruit, fruit tarts, and chocolate-covered strawberries. There was a bottle of sparkling water to wash everything down with - yum! For dessert, Maman had ordered a chocolate truffle cake, which smelled wonderful. I couldn't wait to try a bite.

I felt like a queen sitting at the head of the table. I certainly looked the part! Juliette had dressed me in one of my finest dresses: a blue frilly frock loaded with sequins! Juliette chose a coordinating dress in pink for herself.

Here's a close up of our food. Doesn't everything look delectable?

Maëlys really enjoyed the chocolate-covered strawberries! 

When we'd finished our main course, Maëlys and Juliette sang "Happy Birthday" to me. I made the best wish I could think of and proceeded to blow the candles out. Er, right. I pretended to blow the candles out. In her haste, Juliette had neglected to put candles on the cake, but I turned a blind eye. She'd gone through so much trouble to arrange this little fête that candles didn't really matter at all!

Once our bellies were full from the chocolaty deliciousness, we decided to open presents. Maëlys eagerly pushed hers forward first. It wasn't wrapped, but I didn't care. She had given me a whole box of macarons!

                                                                                  

I couldn't wait! I untied the ribbon and pushed my way through the delicate wrapping paper, trying to pick a flavor to try first. I knew I couldn't go wrong with pistachio, my favorite. I savored each dainty bite, trying to make the macaron last as long as possible. If there's one thing that I dislike about macarons, it's that they aren't big enough! At least I had a whole box to myself . . .

Before I could devour another macaron, Juliette pushed her present towards me. She'd wrapped it in a shiny silver box adorned with a gold bow. What had she given me?

When I took off the lid of the box, I found the contents as shiny as the wrapping. Of course! My sister always outdoes herself when it comes to presents. She'd given me a gorgeous pair of gold and crystal earrings. How elegant! She said that they were swarowski crystals and that the earrings had been custom made just for me. Won't I be the belle of the ball when I wear these? 

She also gave me a matching earring and bracelet set, made with dainty pink and white beads:

The next present was sent all the way from Canada! Nathalie would never forget my birthday, but I think that she and Juliette were in cahoots when it came to selecting my presents. She sent me another pair of earrings! These were silver and in the shape of the Eiffel Tower.  I smiled, remembering how much I'd complained to Nathalie about Grace Thomas' exclusive earring set and how much I wanted them for myself. She is so thoughtful!

There were two more presents left, one from my American host sister and one from my parents. I decided to open the one from my host sister, Maura.  She'd packaged it in a huge gift bag filled with white tissue paper. What could it be? Reaching deep inside the bag, I pulled out a thick booklet of stationary. Cool! Merci beaucoup, Maura! I'll take this as a hint that I need to write a letter to you, right?

Maman, who had been hovering nearby with camera in hand, handed me the present from her and my father. It was wrapped in a familiar-looking burgundy bag, which meant that I had been saving the best present for last. I had dropped several hints about what I wanted throughout the summer. Were they listening?

Yes! My parents bought me Grace's City Outfit from American Girl! Hooray! I have been wanting this red sweater since it debuted in January, and the shorts are really cute, too. I can't wait to wear this outfit to school this year. Merci, Maman et Papa! 

So, here's my entire present haul. I think I made out pretty well this year! I got a new outfit, a stationary set, three pairs of earrings, a bracelet, and a whole box of macarons! 

 We concluded the birthday fête with a few more photos. First, here's one of me with both Juliette and Maëlys:

Then we took individual portraits: 

 Finally, Maëlys and I took a photo together:

 

Thanks for celebrating my birthday with me! Tell me, what was your birthday like this year? What presents did you get? If your birthday hasn't come yet, what do you want to do to celebrate?

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