The Versatile Blogger Award & Tag!

Tirya and friends over at the Bolton Girls' Travel Journal nominated me for The Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you, girls! I really appreciate you remembering me and my blog. It means so much to my human and me that my blog is followed and read because we've never really consistently updated a blog before. I have really enjoyed sharing my travel adventures here, and I really hope to do that again - just as soon as I can venture out of the house again!

So, seven completely random facts about myself? Let's see:

1. I like to dance. I quit lessons because I felt like I could never keep up with my sister in terms of dancing ability. I think I hurt my mother's feelings when I quit dancing, though she never showed it. I allowed myself to repress the joy I'd experienced while dancing, until very recently. I must blame Inky for taking me to Lincoln Center. That trip really triggered me wanting to dance again!

2. I love everything about science, particularly Biology and Chemistry. I like to solve mysteries, but rather than being the sleuth in the trench coat, I'd rather be the scientist in the lab coat helping out with the forensics involved in the mystery. I want to be a forensic scientist when I grow up.

3. I love when people share my name. Having a common name like Sophie, it's easy to connect with other Sophies! I also love movie characters named Sophie (like Marion Cotillard plays a girl named Sophie in Jeux d'Enfants) and hearing songs written about people named Sophie (like the one by Édith Piaf). It makes me smile to hear my name in the spotlight - even if I'm not the one being referred to!

4. I miss my best friend Nathalie A LOT. She is my bosom friend, and I hate that she left Fair Hollow without saying goodbye. I'm counting the days until she returns. I love that my twin sister is here to keep me company, but I'll be in an even better mood when Nathalie returns.

5. Although I may seem self-confident on the outside, I'm really quite lacking in confidence. I doubt everything, even when it comes to writing. I'm constantly checking and re-checking my grammar (even my French grammar - I was never that great when it came to learning French grammar in school).

6. My biggest wish, besides seeing Nathalie again, is to get a desk of my own! Some girl named Kit called and wanted her desk back, so now I don't have a proper desk in my room. I want one quite badly, one that is really mine.

7. I'd like to tour around Europe one day, returning home to Paris, seeing other regions of France, visiting England, Greece, Ireland, Italy, etc. Of course, that probably shouldn't come as a surprise!

I nominate these four bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award:

1. The Valdez Quintuplets

2. Wendy

3. Anna Lee

4. Rory

Sorry I can't nominate everyone! I wish I could. And, Inky and Piper, you both have AWESOME blogs, but you two are always recognized anyway. I would nominate both of you, but I wanted to give a shout-out to other blogs that don't get as much recognition. ;)

~Sophie

RULES:

1. In a post on your blog, nominate 4 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.

2. In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.

3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.

4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.

5. In the same post, include this set of rules.

6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each

their blogs.

The Lonely: A Music Video

Last week, I was invited to star in Fair Hollow's latest movie, a music video set to the tune of Christina Perri's "The Lonely." Some of you might have seen it already, but since I am the star, I figured that I'd post it here as well:

The video reveals a secret of mine - I do dance! I dance at 2:00 am when no one is looking! But I guess that secret dance isn't so secret anymore, now that it's on YouTube. ;)

Sophie

Isabel's Visit!

This past Sunday, Fair Hollow had a visitor: Isabel Cohen! Some of you might remember Isabel because she used to go to school here. Last summer, she applied and was accepted into another boarding school. She wasn't happy here and figured that she needed a fresh start. (Human Note: Actually, I decided to send her to my 6-year-old cousin for her birthday!).

Anyway, Fair Hollow held their annual post-Valentine's piano recital Sunday, and Isabel - once a piano student herself - decided to surprise everyone with a visit. We were all delighted to see her, especially me since I was still out traveling when she left. She's always felt like the little sister I never had.

After the piano recital, I invited Isabel up to my room. Juliette was off somewhere with some of the other girls, so it was just us. We hugged, excited at the prospect of catching up, but silly Isabel couldn't keep her eyes open. She admitted that she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, so I let her take a brief nap on my bed.

While Isabel was sleeping, I figured I'd take advantage of the spare time and do some homework. After booting up my laptop, I started work on my Reading Response questions. We are reading The Bell Jar in English class, and the teacher assigned us ever so many discussion questions to answer!

When Isabel woke up, I set aside my English assignment and sat up next to her on my bed. We talked about her new school, and she told me about how much she loves her teacher, Miss Maeve. I told her about visiting Inky in New York (Isabel has always admired Inky!) and going on a cruise to Alaska. I told her about how Juliette finally came to the States and how glad I was to see her.

Of course, we tried not to talk about how much we missed each other. Although she is very happy at her new school, Isabel did miss me, Anya, and - most of all - her very best friend, Susanna. Of course, I know how that is. I left many good friends and family members back in Paris! I miss them every day, as much as I love my life here. It's very normal - in fact, it's expected - to miss people, and I reminded Isabel of that. It just means that we have to visit each other more!

Later, Isabel and I decided to dress up and have dinner together in a fancy restaurant, before saying our goodbyes. Although it was a short visit, I really enjoyed seeing her. I hope we can visit again. I know I'd LOVE to visit the American Girl store with her someday.

Have you ever left a friend behind or had a friend leave you? Do you ever visit each other?

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

Vote for us? {The Doll Wardrobe Activity 2 entry}

For once, I am writing an entry that isn't about me, but it is about my friends. We entered Activity 2 of The Doll Wardrobe's ongoing photo contest. As the theme was "Holiday/Celebration," we opted to showcase a birthday - more specifically Maura's birthday, which took place on January 15.

We are:

Photo Number Forty-Four

"We decided to showcase a winter birthday celebration as we get awfully tired of American Girl only recognizing spring birthdays. For her 14th birthday on January 15, Maura decided on a small party in the local ice cream parlor. Her two closest friends sang 'Happy Birthday' as she pondered what exactly to wish for. "What about a new American Girl doll?" she thought, before realizing that that wish had already come true (see her new Ruthie doll in the bottom right corner?). "Oh, wait, I know what to wish for!" Maura thought excitedly. She made her wish and blew out her multi-colored candles one by one. What do you think she wished for? If I tell you, it might not come true! Anyway, a fun time was had by all three girls, and they are now anticipating the next birthday to celebrate."

Maura and I would be much obliged if you voted for us! See all of the entries, including ours, HERE (and, yes, you can vote for multiple entries!). Send an email with your votes to nora.demington@gmail.com by February 19th.

Thanks,

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

An Unexpected Homework Distraction

It was a Tuesday afternoon, and I had finally gotten up the motivation to sit down at my desk, crack open a book, and start working on my Art History report. We had been asked to write a page about the artist of our choosing, and I'd picked Leonardo da Vinci, my very favorite artist. Problem was, I couldn't seem to get started! There were just too many other things that I wanted to be doing, too many distractions. The virtual cheerleading game on InnerStar University was beckoning to me, as if my computer was actually saying, "Oh, come on, Sophie, just one little game won't hurt!" I actually got as far as the Fun for Girls homepage when my conscience kicked in, pulling my attention from the delights of InnerStar U to the task at hand: this written assignment on da Vinci.

After I'd written a few sentences, I heard a knock on my door. Without turning around, I stopped writing and listened as the door squeaked open.

"Um, I'm sorry to disturb, but I'm looking for Sophie Moreau. Have you seen her?" The voice at the door was a little quiet, but unwavering and was in an accent I wasn't used to hearing. The strange thing was that I could've sworn I'd heard it before, but I couldn't place it.

I swiveled around, about to reprimand the obvious stranger from distracting me from my studies.

"Helloooo! Can't you see that I'm busy - " but one look at the girl standing in my doorway was enough to stifle the rest of my sentence. "Ce n'est pas possible," I muttered to myself, hardly daring to breathe, in case who I saw before me was only a figment of my imagination, or perhaps this was only a dream?

I wanted to get up and rush over to her, but for some reason, my body resisted. In an effort to stand up, I ended up sliding lower down the chair, and if

I hadn't caught myself just in time, I would have fallen flat on my butt!

The girl spoke, a little indignantly but not enough to raise her voice, "Eh bien, tu ne me reconnais pas? Je sais que nous n'avons pas vu l'un l'autre pour 5 années, mais sérieusement...? "

"Recognize you? Of course I RECOGNIZE you! I nearly fell off my chair because I recognized you! I mean, I just wasn't expecting you to visit. Quelle surprise!

Frankly, I wasn't sure you WOULD visit because of the way we left things between us when I left home...and, anyway, aren't you a student at the Paris Opera Ballet School? Surely they wouldn't just let you take time off, would they?" I asked, all the while still staring incredulously at the girl in front of me.

At first, I didn't think she heard me, but then I realized that she was crying softly. I could hear her shallow attempts at breathing through her sobs.

At last, she spoke,

"Sophie, ne sois pas idiot! J'adore le ballet, mais Sophie, tu es ma soeur jumelle, mon meilleure amie de la naissance. Je peux être une danseuse ici. J'adore mon école du ballet, mais j'ai besoin ma soeur. Tu m'as manqué terriblement!"

I was really touched by her choice of words, so touched that I was close to crying myself. The very fact that she'd chosen to come all this way just to drop in on me, after we hadn't seen each other in several years, was REALLY touching - let alone the fact that she'd apparently dropped out of ballet school because she missed me! Had she known I had been missing her like crazy over the past year in particular? Maybe we did have that telepathic connection we'd always thought we had?

After dropping her suitcase and purse on my bed, the girl carefully removed her sunglasses, wiping her tear-stained eyes with her sleeve. Still sniffling, she walked over towards me, where I had finally composed myself enough to stand up.

She continued, "J'ai pensé que tu as été fâché avec moi. Cela étant le cas, je n'ai pas écrit les lettres, et je n'ai pas téléphoné. J'ai pensé que tu as été dans une meilleure situation sans moi à limiter toi."

Oh, mon dieu! She HAD read my mind. But how could I tell her that things had changed? That my whole perspective on things between us was different now?

"Exactement. I was mad at you. I was so mad at you that I couldn't see straight, that I had to get away from you as soon as possible. And, even more than that, I was jealous. I was jealous of you because you got into ballet school, and I didn't. You seemed to be the apple of Maman's eye because of your accomplishment, while I was the loser who didn't get in. And, more than that. I just was tired of being a twin, being someone's clone. I didn't want someone to constantly compare me with you - someone so much better at EVERYTHING. I came to America, I took on a new identity ("Sophie Neveu"), and I tried to forget all about having a twin. But, it's different now. I've realized my rash decision was a stupid one, and I wish life gave us do-overs," I finished, wiping a tear from my cheek.

We hugged, and without pulling away, she continued (this time in English!), "But, Sophie, did you ever stop to think for a moment that I might feel the same way as you? That I might wish I didn't have a twin? But, the thing is, Sophie, we've got something that many people can only dream of having - we've got that specialness of being identical twins! Have you ever thought of using that to our advantage? And, sure, we each have our different strengths and weaknesses, but we can help each other, can't we? I can help you with your dancing, if you want, and you can tutor me - you're so smart in school!" she smiled.

Whispering into her ear, I apologize, "Je suis désolée, Juliette." At this point, it was impossible for me to try to hold back tears anymore, and I began to cry. Juliette hugged me tighter, soothing me until I calmed down (She was always good at that!). When we finally separated, we went over to sit down on one of the beds for a nice, long sisterly chat. We have a LOT to catch up on! We're going to call Maman and Papa later to tell them that all in well between us - they'll be glad to hear that!

So, everyone, that would be Juliette Adrienne Moreau, my twin sister. When I first came to America in late 2006, I wouldn't have admitted that I had a twin. In fact, I'd changed my last name to be sure no one would find out. But, since then, I've slowly come to realize how very wrong it was to deny her existence. I love her, I do. She'll always be my first best friend, the one I turn to before anyone else, even though I may have several other best friends scattered around the world. And, sure, we have a lot of issues to work out, no thanks to me denying her existence for about five years, but that's what therapy is for, right?

Is there someone in your life - a parent, a sibling, a twin, a friend - that you don't always get along with, but deep down, you know you would never be the same without her/him?

Thanks for reading this long entry!

Sophie