A Very Punny Galentine's Day

Salut mes amies,

Can you believe it's already March?! Time flies when you're having fun. I am sorry for the lack of updates, but between bad weather and school, Hodel and I haven't had much time for adventures. I am very much looking forward to spring and warmer weather!

Anyway, did you have a good Valentine's Day? Hodel and I spent the holiday (we like to call it Galentine's Day, since neither of us has a sweetheart, haha) making cards for our best friends and sisters.

Hodel came up with some terrific puns for our valentines, although she had to explain most of them to me. Puns don't always translate well across languages. While I learned about why it rains cats and dogs in America, I taught Hodel a few French puns.

Here is one of my favorites:

C’est l’histoire de deux pommes de terre.
Une d’elles se fait écraser et l’autre s’écrie :
– Oh purée !

And its English translation:

Here is the story of two potatoes.
One of them is ran over, and the other says:
– Oh purée! [It’s a pun, meaning both “Oh my goodness!” and “Oh, mashed potatoes!”]

You can find more French jokes and puns at this website, if you're interested. 

 How do you like our Valentine's Day outfits? After making our cards, we spent the rest of the day indulging in leftover chocolate from Hanukkah and talking about cute boys. 

I'm sure you are all curious about whether or not I have a crush, but je suis désolée, I can't tell you that! What I can tell you is that I am thirteen, and most girls at that age have crushes. Haha! 

Hodel's mom asked us to take a goofy picture, but I'm afraid that this is about as goofy as it gets. Maybe we're just too pretty to look goofy? I don't know, but we decided to make the trees our valentines since we had such nice weather on Valentine's Day. 

How did you spend Valentine's Day this year? Did you make or buy your cards?

Ton amie,

Sophie 

Le choix de Juliette

Salut mes amis, 

I have a lot of things to catch you up on. Where to start? Oh, that's right.

It was a cold Saturday morning in February, and I was looking at the valentines I'd received from my friends in the States. I was still on une interruption from school while grieving my beloved grandpère, and - despite the triste circumstances - I was still happy to be back in Paris for a little while. I can't believe how much I've missed my hometown! 

Juliette was prettying up in la salle de bains, the bathroom. Why, I don't know, as we weren't going anywhere, but she was in there just the same and was taking quite a long time.  What was she doing in there?                                            
I'd pretty much decided to open her valentines, too . . . if she didn't hurry up. I was that bored!  Just as I stuck my hand in the gift bag to pull out her jigsaw puzzle from Inky (merci beaucoup, Inky!), Juliette burst into the room.

"Et voilà!" Juliette said, raising her arms in a dramatic pose, "Que penses-tu? What do you think? I decided I'd had enough of being your twin. Je suis désolée, Sophie, but tu sais that my natural hair color isn't black. The dye was seriously needing to be retouched anyway, and I decided that I just didn't want to do it anymore. I like my dark brown hair! I also decided to give my eyes a break and take out the colored contacts. You know how much I adore Maman's green eyes! I'd almost forgotten that my eyes weren't brown. So . . . it was fun pretending to be twins, Sophie, but it's time I resume my own original look."

I'd blinked a few times to be sure that I wasn't seeing things. Nope, I wasn't. Juliette was indeed standing in front of me with her wavy dark brown hair and hazel eyes, the color which always reminded me of Maman's (I, on the other hand, received Papa's chocolatey brown eyes). I'd nearly forgotten how I'd convinced Juliette to dye her hair darker and to put on colored contacts. I'd always feared that my little sister was prettier than me, and she'd somehow decided to go along with my little plan to turn us into twins . . . 

. . . and yes, I did say that she's my little sister. We might as well be twins - we're only ten months apart! We do like to celebrate our summer birthdays together, but technically it's my birthday that falls on the 9th of August. Juliette's birthday falls on the 9th of June, and she'll turn 13 while I'll turn 14 two months later.

I know that this comes as a surprise to many of you. You've come to expect Juliette as my identical twin, and I'll confess that it was fun while it lasted. However, I hope you'll eventually come to love Juliette as she is truly meant to be. We're still close. Nothing has changed otherwise. Juliette is still my shy sister who lives and breathes ballet . . . and I'm still the less pretty older sister, but what can I say?

Ton amie,
Sophie

Joyeuse Saint-Valentin!

Yesterday started out like any other school day. Juliette and I made the extra effort to wear something pink, but that was all we really did for Valentine's Day. We headed off to classes, not really expecting anything in the way of valentines.

So, imagine our surprise when we saw this in our dorm room:

"Sophie, tu as un petit ami?" Juliette asked as she stared at the rather extravagant pile of presents heaped on our bed.

"A boyfriend? AS IF! Valentine's gifts don't have to come from a boy, you know. It's a holiday for friends, too," I replied, surprised that Juliette would even think that I'd have a boyfriend. I wasn't emotionally mature enough for a boyfriend. There would be plenty of time for dating later, when I'm older.

I stared at the pile of presents, muttering to myself, "I wonder...? Yes, I think so!" Turning to my sister, I reminded her of my friendship with the Valdez quintuplets. "...and, so, they had Christmas presents to send me, but unfortunately, the package got lost in the mail. It was returned to them, but they promised to mail it out at a later date. Looks like they kept their promise - and they stuck some Valentine's gifts in here, too! How nice of them!" I finished.

"Sophie, regardes! J'ai reçu les cartes pour le jour de la Saint-Valentin aussi. Tes amies n'ont pas rencontré moi. C'est trop gentilles de leur part!" Juliette exclaimed, looking at valentines addressed to her.

I smiled, "Well, Juliette, they may not have met you, but they are aware of your existence. Sabina, Catalina, Zipporah, Tatiana, and Violeta are some of the sweetest girls ever. Of course, they wouldn't exclude you! Let's sit down and take a closer look at all of this stuff."

After we had settled down on the floor, I pulled the candy over. "Yum, what is Valentine's Day without chocolate?!" I asked, to no one in particular, as I opened a bag of peanut butter M&Ms.

Juliette laughed, pretending to scold me,"Tu et tes bonbons! Ça va te couper l'appétit pour le dîner!"

"It's only 4:30 pm! Having these delectable peanut butter M&Ms will not spoil my appetite for dinner! Aww, come on, you know you want one...or two...or three! I'll even give you the first one," I teased, though - true to my word - I handed her a green M&M.

After I'd had my share of the sweets, I tossed the bag aside and started looking at the valentines I'd received. There was one from my dear friend, Inky, who I'd visited last year in New York City. She'd written a sweet message in her best cursive and had even attached an UglyDoll pin to the card. I had to laugh when I read what was written on the pin: "I ❤ U and also candy." That saying seemed to describe me perfectly!

From the quints, I received a variety of Disney Princess-themed valentines. From Violeta, there was an Aurora valentine. From Tatiana, a Cinderella valentine. From Sabina, a Snow White valentine. From Zipporah, a Jasmine valentine. My favorite was from Catalina - a Belle valentine! Belle is my favorite Disney Princess!

Juliette received her own Disney Princess-themed valentines from each of the quints. Her favorite card came from Tatiana since she loves Cinderella best.

Putting our cards aside, we began to look at our other gifts. We each got teddy bears - Juliette claimed the pink one, while I got the blue one. Hugging our new bears tightly, we wondered what we should name them.

"Mon ours en peluche s'appellera Rose," Juliette declared, turning to me expectantly, "Ton ours en peluche t'appelleras...?"

"Well," I replied, thinking hard, "If your teddy bear's name is Rose, then this one just has to be called Félix! Rose and Félix!

"Rose et Félix? Les caractères dans le film 'Décalage Horaire,' n'est-ce pas?" Juliette laughed.

"Well, yes, if you are going to suggest the name Rose for your bear, then of course I'm going to think of the name Félix. You know how much I love movies, particularly 'Jet Lag' starring the fabulous Jean Reno and Juliette Binoche!" I smiled, explaining why I'd been so quick to choose the name Félix for my bear. Juliette just rolled her eyes, but why I don't know - she loves films (almost) as much as I do!

One of the other presents I found waiting for me was this shiny new microscope! I'm particularly excited about this one because every budding forensic detective / scientist needs a microscope! I'm going to paint this one black so it looks more professional, and then I'll be all set!

Juliette and I received a lot of other neat things, from two shiny black cauldrons (perfect for Harry Potter role-playing) to a set of glass vials (again, perfect for Harry Potter role-playing) to our very own strawberry plant to grow (or to attempt to grow, as the case may be).

Unwrapping my final present, I found something I'd been wanting for quite a while: Molly's Treasure Tote. There are loads of fun things packed into this package, including paper dolls of Molly and Emily and a secret decoder to make!

Here we are with all of our loot! We're feeling a tad spoiled (but mostly very loved!) right now. Thank you so much, Sabina, Violeta, Catalina, Tatiana, and Zipporah, for the belated Christmas presents and Valentine's Day gifts! We love everything! Thank you so much, Inky, for the adorable valentine and pin!

I should add that there was one final present, but it was addressed to neither Juliette nor me, rather to the girls of Fair Hollow as a whole. Since Juliette and I had definitely opened our share of presents, we decided that it'd be unfair to open this one. So, I decided to visit my good friend, Chiara. She never asks for anything at all, so she was pleasantly surprised that she had a gift to open. What did she find inside? A flower press! When spring (although it feels like it has come already, to be honest!) comes, we can learn to press flowers. What a fun activity that will be!

I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with Chiara. I hadn't really talked to her since before I left on my travels. It was really good to be able to spend time with her again!

What did you do for Valentine's Day? Did you spend it with friends and/or family? Did you receive some nice cards and gifts? Did you pig out on candy?

Sophie

Afternoon Mail

One afternoon, while Juliette was in the dance studio, I decided to start getting my valentines ready to mail. Valentine's Day was just around the corner, and I really wanted to get the cards in the mail in time.

Just as I'd decided who would get which card, Juliette strolled through the door, bounding onto my bed. I looked up, smiling at her, "Did you have a good practice? How does FHSG's dance studio measure up to your standards?"

Juliette nodded, "Oui, une salle de danse est une salle de danse, Sophie. C'est bien à danser encore! Mais qu'est-ce que tu fais maintenant?"

"What am I doing right now?" I looked down at the card on my lap, "I'm sorting through my valentine cards, deciding who will get what. I'd really like to mail them today."

"D'accord. Puis-je t'aider?" Juliette asked, beckoning to the cards sprawled on the carpet.

"Oh, thanks, but I'm just about finished. I just want to get these cards in my bag and run to the post office for envelopes and postage," I replied, as I carefully stacked the cards up. Placing them into my bag, I stood up.

"Juliette, ma chérie, I'll be right back," I said, turning to go.

"Sophie, attends un peu!" Juliette cried out, though I was already out the door and heading down the stairwell, "Tu as oublié une carte de la Saint-Valentin!"

She was right - I had left a Valentine's card behind. Oops.

Juliette walked over to the card, stooped to pick it up, and sat down in the same spot I'd been just minutes ago. Turning over the valentine, she read what I'd written, "Juliette, j'adore que tu es ici! Je t'aime, ma soeur!"

Eyes sparkling with tears, Juliette smiled, saying aloud, "Sophie, I love you, too!" And, even though I wasn't in the room at the time, I knew she did. I just knew she did.

Valentine's Day (or the weekend before Valentine's Day) isn't just about spending time with those you are romantically linked to. It's about spending time with those people you love - siblings included - and I for one am very glad to be able to spend the holiday with Juliette!

~Sophie

Le 14 février: Le Jour du Saint-Valentin

Le 14 février AKA Le Jour du Saint-Valentin AKA Valentine's Day:

Valentine's was okay, I guess. We had a little party to pass out cards after the dreaded Chrissa movie, and though we were all a little upset at Anya for showing it, we were able to put aside our feelings for the remainder of the day...though it might be since Megan was taking pictures for the yearbook.

Je suis terrible!

Après seulement deux mois avec cet blog, j'ai oubliée écrire les nouvelles choses. D'accord, je sais que je suis terrible comme les amies Lindsey et Anya...je sais! Je ferai mieux; j'écrirai mieux.

After only two months with this blog, I have forgotten to write new things. Okay, I know that I am as terrible as my friends Lindsey and Anya...I know! I will do better; I will write better.

Le 19 janvier a été l'anniversaire de Laura, la mia professoressa alla scuola.  J'ai fait un gateau chocolat pour elle parce que le chocolat est délicieux. 

January 19th was the birthday of Laura, my professor at school (this is Italian because professor is prettier in Italian than in French, I'd say).  I made a chocolate cake for her because chocolate is delicious. 

La fille s'appelle Samantha a acheté un nouveau lit. C'est le couleur de la neige avec les noeuds roses--c'est très jolie et un lit parfait pour une princesse comme Samantha. 

The girl named Samantha bought a new bed. It's the color of snow with pink bows--it's very pretty and a perfect bed for a princess like Samantha.

Le Jour de La Saint-Valentin est bientot! Mes amies et moi ont fait plus des cartes de la Saint-Valentin. Avez-vous déjà fait vos cartes?

Valentine's Day is soon! My friends and I have made lots of valentines. Have any of you started on yours yet?

~Sophie