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 

McKenna movie-viewing party!

Salut, mes amis! 

As I'm sure you all know by now, yesterday marked the television premiere of McKenna Shoots for the Stars (which, coincidentally, fell on Bastille Day, a national holiday in France). McKenna is the second Girl of the Year movie to be released; the last was An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong in 2009. The McKenna movie reveals how difficult it can be for kids to balance school and recreational activities. McKenna has a passion for gymnastics, which often surpasses her desire to do schoolwork. (That sounds familiar, doesn't it, Juliette?!) 

To celebrate the movie premiere, Juliette and I each invited two friends to a movie-viewing party. I invited Chiara and Nathalie, my two best friends, while Juliette invited Jessica and Maura. We all dressed in our coolest pajamas and snacked on pepperoni pizza, fruit, and soda during the duration of the film.                   

 We were all pretty enthralled with McKenna. We are huge fans of Nia Vardalos, so we loved her as McKenna's mother. We also loved Josie, but wished that she'd been the central character as it'd be nice for American Girl to feature a character who is disabled. We also wished that Sierra had been featured more, and we felt that her character development was a little bit lacking.

Our favorite scene was probably Josie fulfilling her dream of riding horses. We love Kerris Dorsey (the actress who plays Josie) anyhow, so that really comes as no surprise! That being said, the scene where Toulane spies on McKenna and Josie in the library was a great one. Jessica, in particular, loved it as Toulane reminded her of a younger version of Nikita Mears (of The CW's Nikita, her favorite television show).

None of us are huge fans of gymnastics, but we were all enthralled with the rhythmic gymnastics sequences. We loved how closely related to dance rhythmic gymnastics seems to be! We all agreed that it would be fun to try. Who knows, maybe Fair Hollow School for Girls will add rhythmic gymnastics to their course list? Do any of you do rhythmic gymnastics?

Did any of you watch the McKenna movie last night? What was your favorite scene? What do you think could've been improved on?

~Sophie

Movie Love Tag!

Hey everyone,

My friend Marsali from Bolton Girls Travel Journal tagged me to do the Movie Love Tag. I have to list my three favorite movies and explain why I like them. Okay, if you know me, you know I love my movies. This tag is perfect for me! I just don't know how I can narrow my favorite movies list down to just three, but I'll do my best.

In no specific order, here are my top three favorites.

1. Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain

[The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain]

If you only watch one French movie in your entire lifetime, please make sure this one is the one you watch! It's truly a classic. Obviously, this is the film that inspired the name of my blog, I love it so much. It's about a shy young woman, Amélie, who wants to perform good deeds in a secretive manner. She loves knowing that she's making their lives just a bit better, just a bit happier, through her acts of generosity. Yet, even as a permanent do-gooder, she doesn't know how to make herself happy, at least not until the end of the film. This is a romantic comedy, but definitely not your typical one. There are lots of sub-plots with truly beautiful film work that will make this film literally pleasing to your eyes! You will have a smile on your face by the time you finish this film. I do every time. Why do I love it? Well, for one, it takes place in my native surroundings, my beautiful Montmartre!

2. Jeux d'Enfants

[Child's Play / Love Me If You Dare]

I had to put this one alongside Amélie because I found the trailer minutes after I was watching the Amélie trailer on YouTube. The trailer for this movie was linked in the YouTube sidebar, and me - curious as I am - decided to click on it. I fell in love with it from the very first time I watched the trailer all the way through, I'm not even kidding. The trailer is done in the same artsy style as the Amélie trailer, and I literally watched the trailer dozens of times before I finally saw the whole film. It's about two kids, Julien and Sophie, who befriend each other over a mutual love of a tin box. They quickly decide to share the box, daring each other to perform practical jokes in order to win possession of the box. The dares continue into Julien and Sophie's adulthood, even after both settle into relationships with other people, and the dares - once innocent - become even more dangerous. It's definitely worth watching. The ending is very sweet, and it reminds me of the ending of another movie - which I won't tell you because I don't want to give it away! Once again, this is a romantic comedy, but definitely not your typical one. French romantic comedies are not as cheesy as American romantic comedies, let me tell you. (In fact, many American movies are based on French movies because Hollywood lacks creativity. The French versions are always better!). Anyway, I love this film mainly because, as I said in my last post, I love watching movies where the main character is named Sophie, but ultimately the trailer sucked me in. The characters in the movie are also reminiscent of the characters in Pushing Daisies, an American TV show from a few years back, which I completely loved (and miss like crazy!).

3. The Da Vinci Code

Well, how can I not put this one on the list? The Da Vinci Code is my all-time favorite book, and I love the movie just as much. The female lead, Sophie Neveu, is played by my all-time favorite actress from Amélie, Audrey Tautou. The name "Sophie Neveu" was even my alias when I first came to the United States, wanting to separate myself from my twin. I love the historical mystery aspect to this movie. Of course, the book ends better, I will admit. After I watch the movie, I ALWAYS have to reread the ending of the book afterwards, but the movie is a good adaptation. I don't want to give too much away, in case any of you haven't read or seen it, but if you like historical mysteries (and movies along the lines of the National Treasure movies, also some of my favorites), please check this one out, too. I haven't actually seen its sequel Angels & Demons, though, because Sophie Neveu is not a character in it!

Now, I will tag these bloggers to do the same:

1. The Greens and the Roses

2. Everything Emily

3. As Told By Susie

~Sophie

More fun with Zipporah, Lyre Chickadee, Lorikeet, Violet, and Sora Valdez!

Salut tout le monde!

As I mentioned in my last post, the Valdez quints' birthday fell during my stay with them, and it just so happens that their special day is also New Year's Eve!

So, on December 31, 2009, Jillian and I sang "Joyeux Anniversaire" ("Happy Birthday") to the five - who each blew out their respective star-shaped candles on a very yummy pumpkin pie. Then I watched the girls open their presents: a Nancy Drew computer game for Zipporah, an AG Molly doll for Lorikeet, and chocolates for all. Sora, Violet, and Lyre Chickadee's presents involved visiting the Mall of America for ear piercing. ;)

Joyeux Anniversaire, Zipporah, Violet, Lyre Chickadee, Sora, and Lorikeet!

On January 3, 2010, the girls and I ventured out into the cold to go to the movie theatre. What did we see? Alvin and the Chipmunks: the SQUEAKquel! I haven't seen the first one, but the sequel was awfully funny.

The next day, we all went to the Mall of America so Violet, Lyre Chickadee, and Sora could get their ears pierced at the Boutique & Bistro. They tried to persuade me to get mine pierced as well, but I chickened out - something I actually kind of regret. My friends look so CUTE with their star earrings that I may have to get my ears pierced one day.

I did meet the new Girl of the Year, though. Her name is Elaine "Lanie" Holland, and she is really nice. She loves gardening and nature in general, and she and her family have a camper to travel around the country with! Now that's what I need! Certainly it'd be more comfortable than the box we traveling dolls are forced into.

After saying goodbye to Lanie, we six - and the grown-ups of course ;) - had Chinese for dinner and then headed off to the local library. While the quints were looking at books on Spain, *I* headed to the section filled with books on France, bien sûr. J'ai lu un livre d'une héroïne qui s'appelle Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc).

On January 24th, I got up before the quints, having had an idea formulating in my mind. I was going to pull a prank on the Valdez quintuplets - a prank that would FORCE them into wearing NON-IDENTICAL clothing (you know, because I have such a difficult time telling them apart anyhow).

I quickly dressed and pushed the box containing all of the girls' matching clothes out-of-sight. When the five sleepyheads woke up and couldn't find their matching outfits, I told them of my plan. Some were skeptical, but Lorikeet, always up for a bit of fun, got the rest of her sisters on board.

Et voilà, the Valdez quintuplets in non-matching clothes! Now while I do love seeing them match, it is nice to see each girl wear something that shows off a bit of her own, individual personality every once in a while. I know that Juliette (ma jumelle - my twin) and I rarely dress alike. We do some, but we have slightly different tastes in fashion, at least we did when we last saw each other. ;)

Tristement, my visit with the Valdez quints is coming to an end - I'll be on my way to another hostess for the month of February. I'm excited to see her again - as I've met her once before - but, at the same time, I'm also really sad. It's so difficile to say "Au Revoir" to really good friends like Zipporah, Lorikeet, Sora, Lyre Chickadee, and Violet. I hope I'll be able to see them again someday...

~Sophie

UGH! Not fair!

So. My pauvre hostess had the flu. :-( I'm sympathetic, I am, but guess what? My teacher - my favorite teacher - is seeing movies *without* MOI! Where was she at 10pm EST last night?! At the bloody cinema seeing *gasp* Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel is the English translation)!

Coco Avant Chanel is the film detailing Gabrielle Chanel's life before she made it big as the fashion goddess simply known as Chanel! And guess who plays the fabulous Gabrielle Chanel?! Pas Juliette Binoche, pas Marion Cotillard, mais Audrey Tautou, mon actrice preférée!!!

That's right: Mlle Laurette went to see Coco Avant Chanel starring Audrey Tautou, and where was I? Sitting on my behind halfway across the country!

Six months with one host is just too long, je suis désolée...

Le 13 février: un jour du film

We had a special day at school on February 13th. It started out like no other...we studied fractions in Math, followed by a book discussion in English, followed by lunch, gym class, and then Science...or so we thought. Just as we were about to open our science books to Chapter 4, the intercom blasted a message, "Will all students please report to the auditorium?"

At that, everyone leapt up excitedly. "What could it mean?" several of us pondered. I glanced at Nathalie quizzically, "Did we do anything wrong?"

Nathalie shrugged her shoulders, unable to guess, but urged me forward, "Let's hurry and get the best seats in the place. The "best" seats were the ones in the back, obviously, where students could get away with talking and not be heard.

Once all of the classes filed into the auditorium and found their seats, a girl stepped up onto the stage in front of the large movie projector that was now paused on a DVD menu. This girl, Anya Romankov, was none other than the unofficial class president, the peppy girl who made sure we all stayed in line. Popular? Not really, but not a nerd either. You know that girl who always seems to be increasingly nice, never ever having a bad day? That's Anya. Figures she's a cheerleader, too.

Anya cleared her throat, trying to get our attention, but it wasn't until another student gave a loud whoop! that any of us settled down to listen.

"Ahem, as you know, I am your class president, and as class president, it's my duty to expose my fellow classmates to certain films that provoke discussion. It has also come to my attention that a certain amount of bullying may be taking place under our school roof, and...," Anya started.

"Bullying?" I scoffed, "Since when?"

Anya didn't hear me, of course, but several students that did snickered.

She continued, "...with the release of "Chrissa Stands Strong," I figured that it wouldn't hurt to watch it. So...after our vice president, Isabel, passes out cookie samples from her mother's bakery, let us get this party started!" Anya gave a fake-sounding cheer, much to our dismay.



"We're watching Chrissa?" Nathalie gasped, "Why?"

"Supposedly we have an onset of bullying," I giggled, but I wasn't looking forward to the movie showing at all. This movie was the LAST movie I wanted to be caught watching, and I most definitely wished to be back in science class--I was one of the rare few who actually LIKED Science. "Hey, Bethany," I poked the girl sitting in front of me in the back, "Definitely pay attention to this movie because YOU'RE the one to blame for us having to watch it."

Bethany turned around, her green eyes flashing with anger, "Yeah, and I suppose the little French girl never gets into trouble..."

"Me? I get into the trouble? Je ne pense pas... [I think not]."

We quieted down as the movie began to play...which I guess wasn't that bad for a direct-to-DVD flick...but I definitely won't be watching it again. The funny thing is that Anya seemed to be ENJOYING it. I swear that girl has issues...or maybe it's just American girls period. Seriously, I have't met a single American here that has been nice to me, though--is France really that bad? Or am I over-exaggerating things?