#thanksgivinginfrance

thanksgiving cause it was thursday.
then i'll do a post on paris another day because i feel i need to do thanksgiving first because i just got off facebook and saw everyones thanksgiving posts.
so yeah.
thanksgiving.
in france.
hahahahahahhahahahahaha.

first of all, corinne is as domestic as a dog. ok that was bad because dogs are domesticated but basically what i'm saying is being a successful stereotypical woman is not one of my strong suits. every year for thanksgiving i hide away from the kitchen until something really cool is happening on the macy's day parade or when my mom calls me down for the dog show and then i'm so wrapped up in the dog show i obviously can't help. i make one pie and it doesn't even involve baking. so, when claire suggested i do thanksgiving for the family...boy were they in for a treat. and boy was i in for a new experience. so i've never cooked thanksgiving before, i've never really watched my mom from start to finish cook thanksgiving before, so how was i going to do this when i couldn't just call up my mom (8 hour time difference sucks) and ask her what to do? and to make matters even better...I'M IN FRANCE. i don't know the language so finding ingredients for things was fun...and the basics that i needed, pumpkin pie filling, corn bread mix, cranberry sauce, well they don't believe in that. so it was definitely interesting. luckily, in paris there's a store literally called "thanksgiving" and it's run by an american woman who's lived in france for 30 years and long story short she opened this american food store so she had my thanksgiving needs. (and my mountain dew needs. no shame.) so i bought canned pumpkin, corn bread, and cranberry jelly. i wanted to get stuffing but bertrand is allergic to onions and they all have onions so it was a no go. booooo. but i got these supplies and figured everything else i can get in a normal grocery store.


SO! it was one of the boys birthday partys on saturday the 22nd and his brother came to visit for the weekend and so they were like oh we should have thanksgiving on sunday! so ok cool fine. i made my chocolate pie on saturday at jillian's house because claire was in the kitchen and i hate being bothered and not having my space when i'm cooking so i just kinda took over jillians kitchen. and made her do the worst part of making the pie, the whipping the cream part. and she only had a whisk. hahaha sorry jillian. i'm such a great friend. anyways, i made that first because it chills in the fridge until it's ready lalala. saturday evening the whole family went to some party so i was home alone so a good time to get cookin. so i turned on some music and facetimed my family and made my pumpkin pie and mashed my sweet potatoes. i got so much done i tell ya. fun fact: i don't think they believe in can openers in france. true story. the cans for the pumpkin and cranberry jelly were normal ones you open with a can opener. they don't have a can opener. so i had to be risky and i had this mini dagger that i poked into the top of the can and hammered it down with scissors. probably could've found something besides scissors but they were there so it's what i used. i still have all my appendages, no stab wounds, so it was fine.

how i opened the can. so safe.

sunday. thanksgiving in france day. oh boyle.
i woke up and claire told me she bought a chicken because they don't do turkey here. ok cool. i've never made a chicken before. so she's telling me it takes a while to cook so we should start at 11. ok fine. so we oil it up, put herbs and salt and pepper on it, i tried not to vomit because raw meat just disgusts me. then put it in the oven. so it was going to take about 2 1/2 hours to cook so i was like ok then i'll just hang out until it's almost done because i have to cook the sweet potatoes and the corn bread still afterwards and it'll be really quick. but claire was like stressing and was like "you can make it now, the boys will be back from church at 1." well normally thanksgiving dinner is at about 2-3. she did not understand that at all. and she kinda rushed me cause it was like "well they'll be so hungry when they get back, the chicken will be ready at about 1:30, how will we keep it warm?" and stuff so i was like ughhhh fineeeee. this is why i like to be alone when i cook. too many chefs in the kitchen! so i made up the corn bread muffins, started doing the mashed potatoes, got the sweet potatoes topping ready and yeah. then the boys came home. CHILDREN STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN WHEN CORINNE ESPECIALLY IS COOKING. i almost blew a casket. i don't know if that's the right phrase. but goodness gracious! they were looking at everything and putting their noses on the stuff like mmmm what is this? and it's like it's thanksgiving now leave please thanks. and claire didn't care. it's like um i'm using the whole kitchen, i have dangerous objects and high temperatures, they should get out because sometimes they don't quite think. but they didn't. whatever. so i was frustrated out of my mind. and my favorite part of thanksgiving didn't turn out right. i didn't boil the potatoes long enough so they were still kinda raw and weren't mashing and there were some super crunchy ones still in the mashed potatoes. i was dissappointed in myself. anyways, i was just about to finish and claire was like "i'm going to buy some bread. what kind of bread do you eat with thanksgiving?" and i was like "well we have the cornbread." and she was like "oh. well we're french so i'll go get some bread." ok whatever floats your boat!

so they set the table all nice using their china and fancy glasses and everything turned out pretty ok, nothing was burnt and no one was injured so it was fine i suppose. they of course had to have their "french wine" and "french bread" because you can't do anything too american in france i guess. itold them since it's an american holiday, we need to speak in english. everyone can speak in english and i'm not going to celebrate an american holiday sitting in the corner not knowing what's going on. so i thought we'd have a nice conversation, what we're thankful for, how thanksgiving is in the states, or something like that. nope. the adults (i still don't fully consider myself an adult) started getting into a heated discussion about immigration and the boys were so bored and H (it was going to be his birthday on tuesday) he was just asking for his presents and when will he open them and blah blah blah. so even though most of it was in english, i was still in the corner. silently thinking to myself what i'm thankful for. so dinner was over, i don't think they understand you're supposed to gorge yourself, and so they pulled out their "french cheese" and claire said "ok now this is french so we'll speak in french." alright. cool. i'll be over here if you need anything. in my english bubble. so i was a bit frustrated, the boys didn't even truly appreciate my dinner and my hardwork but whatever it was fine. then it was pie time! so i made pumpkin pie and my world famous chocolate pie. well somehow my pumpkin pie ended up being H's birthday cake...? they ruined the beauty of it with 9 candles. that he had to blow out and everyone knows how good kids are blowing out candles are without getting spit everywhere...they made him do it twice because they didn't get a picture the first time. -_- and even better, he didn't even like my pumpkin pie. so why it was his birthday pie without even asking me if it was ok, i don't know. i get upset over little things but it was thanksgiving. not his birthday. he celebrated his birthday 3 times. once on saturday for his party with his friends, then on sunday during thanksgiving, then on his real birthday on tuesday. kids and birthdays is so weird here in france. but anyways my chocolate pie was great and everything was fine and good and thanksgiving was over. never doing that again. i facetimed my family yesterday (real thanksgiving) and i'm so sad i wasn't there. i have a friend who was in nyc for the macy's day parade (on my bucket list) and my family had the dog show on and my nephews were there playing and my brother showed me they bought mountain dew and i missed them all and it's weird not being home for thanksgiving. truly makes me appreciate my family and modern technology so i can facetime them and it's like i'm there. but alas, thanksgiving went fine so now i am proper wife material because i've proven i can cook and i can cook thanksgiving in a foreign country. now accepting applications for a husband. k cool bye.

pumpkin pie!

the final product!

the best time.

success.

i see london i see france...

i didn't see anyone's underpants. don't worry.

this post is long overdue, but the thing that matters is that it's here now! i sent off my postcards today...about a month later...so i might as well update my little bloggy blog because i got lots of updating to do.

LONDONNNNNNN :D
london for my 21st birthday. #turndownforwhat
in france they have 2 weeks off for every 6 weeks of school. so fun right? suuuure! well i thought i'd be watching the boys the first week because on the friday i was off to london. but they ended up going to their grandparents house. so i spent a week bored in nantes. but then friday came around and i went to london.
i got there in the evening and met up with rachellll! 5 years later and we're meeting up in london. who would've thought that would ever happen? anyways, i got in late so i got pizza then we went to bed to get a good nights rest before day uno of london.
first day: we did oodles and doodles. obvi. i'll let pictures do the talking.

who would i be if i didn't get a picture like this?!

we walked out of the metro station and saw this and i loved it. so london.

next time i come i'm rowing a boat.

the thing about london is you randomly stumble upon things. like this.

we went and saw once on the west end, which is londons broadway. SUCH AN AMAZING SHOW. i highly recommend it.

and also what's really cool about this stage is before it starts and during intermission you can go up and get drinks in a complimentary cup (or you can get a cup and a complimentary drink, however you want to look at it) but yeah on the stage where they all perform and stuff. so coolio.

so that was day one. we went to the british museum and the london museum and went to hyde park and picadilly circus and it was so fun. so. much. walking. rachel is a race horse and was power walking and i'd stop to take a picture then have to run to catch up!!! she just laughed. but it was a really fun and successful day uno of london. and it only got better from there. 

DAY TWO.

BIRTHDAY 21.

HOLLA AT YO BOY.

 we did a "royal tour of london" and it was so fun. the tour guide was awesome and i learned so much and i saw all the sights and it was so fun diddly dum. :)

haaaaaai big ben!

i found mountain dew. life, complete.

changing of the guards

buckingham palace! the queen wasn't in.

westminster abbey! where the royal wedding was. 

i had to get fish and chips in london.

i got the most delicious liege waffle ever for my birthday cake.

HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE. LONDON, MT. DEW, 21.

Moving on...all my pictures are on facebook but i'm putting up the highlights on here but it's all highlights. the whole trip. anyways, i went to the olympic park...

where all my favorite 2012 olympic events happened. fierce five forever.

the next day i went on a street art tour. it was so cool and i was hoping to see the famous street artist banksy because let's be honest, he's the only one who anyone really knows. but we didn't see any but it's ok because i saw so many other cool ones and the stories were so cool. 

the one on the left:a girl did this all on paper, then glued it to the wall. cray.

bottom left: a guy painted the window white, then scratched out this portrait

middle: guy was actually finishing up his project

huge bird on the right: only took 8 hours. nbd.

this guy stayed in this area since the beginning and he was memorialized on this wall. and he would sit in his car and watch people take pictures of it and with it until he died.

this was my favorite.

this guy did this, and someone complained about it and the cops came over and said it looks really awesome. keep doing what you're doing. 

hehehe

this one was cool, although the shadow isn't. he would put spray paint cans in cold water to make the different shade of lines.

plaster, meet jack hammer.

yeah.

anyways, i did that and then that night...

i met a lion friend! (trafalgar square)

london eyeeeee

OMG! tower bridge!
lol jk of course the one night i go to see it it's foggy. -_-

over the river :)

next daayyyy!

i went to the stables market and camden market, this is my favorite picture even though it doesn't quite show the craziness of the market i was in. just look at that cute face! it was so cool though, they took these old stables and made them into little shops. a lot of "vintage" and leather stores and just a bunch of the same thing really, but it was still cool and i loved it. i got lost so many times. and they had this food area...holy cannoli. they had all different types of food and i got some quality mexican (even though it wasn't made by a mexican) but it was so delish and they had food from just about every country. although i didn't see american food...anyways it was so cool and fun. then i went to the natural history museum, v&a museum (definitely one of my favorites, so cool) and the science museum (a major letdown. not worth it.) all the museums in london are free so it was nice in that aspect. 

i think i have my days all mixed up, but it's ok. i don't remember what i did on each certain day but i do know what i did in london. maybe i should write about my adventures right after i go on them so i can remember better...yeah i think that's a good idea.

anyways, i went to harrods!

one day i will be able to walk in and not cringe at all the prices.

it was so cool and pretty, but so expensive. it was like a museum in and of itself. they have all these different rooms and stuff and so confusing but it's so awesome. they have all the major designers, they have like a mini disney store, they have restaurants, a "harrods" gift section (with westies galore. i loved it.) and all sorts of stuff. it was pretty cool.

another obvious highlight!

FIVE GUYS. i had been craving a quality hamburger for SO LONG. not the crap from mcdonalds (mcdonalds sucks anyways and it's even worse here) but something quality. i saw five guys and i said i don't care i must go. you can take the girl out of america but you can't take america out of the girl...best thing i ate the entire trip. it was funny because the londoners didn't quite understand it all...they didn't understand how big and greasy the burgers are, how to work the fountain drink machine, and i was in my natural element. but it was so delicious and my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

anyways, the main highlight of my trip was...

HARRY POTTER STUDIO TOUR!!!!

currently looking at how to get a job at this wonderful magical amazing place. i almost didn't buy a ticket to go because they're fairly expensive (31 pounds so about 53$) and they didn't have any tours open on any of the days i didn't already have plans. they were sold out the whole entire week i was there. but then, by a stroke of fate/destiny/luck/whatever you want to call it they had tickets for 1:00 on halloween and i bought them and have never made a better purchase online. all the reviews online gave it 5 stars, i'm a huge harry potter fan (midnight releases of the books and movies and dressing up on multiple occassions) and who knows when i'll make it back to london so i had to go. and boy i was not dissappointed. since it was halloween, for two weeks they made it "dark arts"y and there were death eaters creepily roaming around and it was so amazing. and they were so in character and they looked just as the real death eaters look and omg amazing.

she was threatening with her wand to everyone else
but i think she knew that i'm part death eater so she was like we chill.

it was seriously so amazing. i went alone and in the beginning they show little intro films and i'll be honest i was tearing up. i probably looked like a fool, a 21 year old girl who came to harry potter studio tour alone and tearing up at this little intro film. but i have no shame. i was the only hufflepuff in the little group i was a part of. silly humans, every worker i talked to when they asked me my house i told them hufflepuff and how nobody else was and they were like no hufflepuff is the best. it was jk rowling's fave house, it's common room is by the kitchen, and hello cedric diggory was from that house and only by twisted fate did harry from gryffindor get chosen for the triwizard tournament so yeah. hufflepuff for life. the amount of work that was put into these movies was incredible. you don't realize all the small details until you are looking right at them and hearing narrations from the people who made it all possible. so amazing and it was easily the best day of my life. i could seriously go on and on about it. but i'll do some pictures instead.

DIAGON ALLEY

you walk in and your breath is just taken away.
so incredibly amazing.

trying to find a wand. #wizardprobs

best day ever. best purchase ever. best life ever.

it was so amazing and incredible and everyone needs to go and i have so many more pictures but i just chose a couple of these ones but i had butterbeer, saw all the sets, bought a magic t-shirt (no really. it's magic.) saw hogwarts, saw the plans and the paper models for it, saw the actual costumes, walked where all the actors walked, stared at the basilisk in the eyes, walked down the real diagon alley, honestly i just want to go back every day of my life. i spent about 5 hours there and there's still some things i'm thinking dang, i wish i would've stayed longer to look at this, or take pictures of that, or listen to this. i'll just have to go again with my dad. and for christmas they're doing it christmas-y, putting snow on the hogwarts model and showing the christmas feast in the great hall, so maybe a trip for christmas....i wish. i will go back with my dad though. i facetimed him for a couple minutes and it was so exciting but he just needs to come with me. so yeah best day ever.

then the saturday i had to go back to reality. and it was the worst day ever. let's make a list shall we:

• lost my ipod on the tube
• stress out of this world at heathrow cause it's so dang confusing
• got 2 bottles of mountain dew because i thought i'd be able to take one back to nantes. i didn't go through security from paris to london so i thought i wouldn't go through security from london to paris (after of course security at london) lol jokes on corinne. get to paris, have to chug my mountain dew. just to....
• find out my bags (a purse and a small rolling suitcase. what i'm allowed) are too heavy. so i chugged a bottle of mountain dew just to pay 30 euros to check my stinking back from paris to nantes. i could've stashed it away somehow. but nope. didn't find out until after the fact. still so bugged thinking about it. thinking about the chugged mountain dew and the 30 euro checking fee when i was fine the whole time.
• fear of not having any euros to pay for the bus ride back to the city center from the airport. i had something miraculously on my french debit card. miracles.

so it was an eventful time. i love london but boy does it take your money right from under your nose. the pound is about equal to 2 us dollars so everything i saw i was doubling in my head. even in the super cheap stores i'd be like nope. too expensive. i got 2 real meals that weren't from a grocery store or cooked at the apartment i think. five guys and this amazing pizza. but other than that it was mostly food from a grocery store. and mountain dew. of course mountain dew. but it was really fun and i saw everything i wanted to (except the tower bridge. i need to go back for that.) but next time i go i'll have a lot of money. i hope...but one of the best trips of my life because london has been number one on my places to travel list for so long and it didn't dissapoint. I LOVE LONDON. and who can say they celebrated turning 21 in london? not many. but i can. and i went to the harry potter studio tour so my life is complete. ok i think this is exceptionally long but i don't care because it was an awesome first trip since living in france. next post: paris. then thanksgiving. then how my life as an au pair has been as of recently. but i'll do all that luego. but not too much later because then i'll forget. anyways blabbity blah blah have a great day and make good choices and go to the harry potter studio tour.

i get sad when i see dogs that look like me.

that is my latest french blunder. we were learning emotions and we went around saying what makes us happy, sad, angry, etc. and i said i am sad when i see dogs that look like me. i meant to say i am sad when i see dogs that look like mine. -_- my teacher was confused by what i meant and i told her and then she explained what i was saying...oh the joys of learning a new language.

here's a handy dandy list because these are the things that have been on my mind recently.

things i miss in america:
my family
especially my nephews
my doggie wyatt
my best friend kai
my other best friends
usu
mountain dew
24 hour stores, mainly walmart
1$ large drinks at mcdonalds
1$ menu at mcdonalds (it's so expensive here)
driving
a microwave
knowing what's going on

things i like about france:
easy to walk everywhere
the public transportation
people take their dogs everywhere (even if i don't pet them because i don't know how to ask in french)
it's really pretty
crepes
the shopping
leaves everywhere
not worrying about when will the first snow be and hoping it won't snow on my bday
easier and cheaper to travel

friends, dog obsession, and ridiculousness

look at all my friends!

lol.

America, Latvia, Scotland, Spain, Germany, England, Columbia, Ukraine, Ireland, Denmark, Ethiopia, and Phillipines. 

(or is it the phillipines...?)

those are all countries where my friends are from. how crazy. most are from my French class, others are they just heard me and my scottish friend jillian tlaking English and talked to us. insane though. everyone is so nice. i practice my spanish with these two girls from spain in my class and they don't mind that i'm probably messing everything up and not making sense, they just tell me and others that i'm really good at spanish.

i would hope 7 years did something...

but everyone i have met is so nice and welcoming of other cultures and people trying. in school i was always afraid of speaking spanish because i didn't want to look stupid or make mistakes but that's how you learn and i have so much respect for those who aren't as comfortable in english and struggle for words sometimes but they just do it. they don't even ask, oh do you speak german? do you speak spanish? and it may be because they know that no, we all are most comfortable in english, but it's great that they put themselves out there and just do it. so that's what i've been trying to do with my spanish with the girls from spain and same with my french. however the little french i know is trying to sneak into my spanish and i do not like it. like i was telling this girl that i was two boys 9 and 7 in spanish, but i couldn'tremember the number 9 in spanish, but i knew it in french! -_- come on brain.

but holla for international friends!!! :) 

scottish, american, new zealander. :)

in my french class my teacher picked up on my obsession with dogs...we were learning some irregular verbs and one was to hold, and i guess when they talk about someone really important to them they say i hold...(family, boyfriend, etc) so she was asking what we "hold" the most i guess, and i said mon chien...et mes neveux (my dog...and my nephews don't worry family i still love you too unless you don't read this then maybe things have changed.) but they laughed but i was like well it's 100% true...wyatt is my number 1. then we were learning i want, and what did i say i want? a dog. of course. i only speak the truth. and my teacher said "you have an obsession with dogs don't you?" heeheehee. #sorrynotsorry and i asked how to ask can i pet your dog and it sounds like can i caress your dog. weird. i haven't tried it out yet because i feel weird and french people are sometimes mean. i just want to touch the puppy. nothing else. 

i miss my little nugget head.

other than finally finding friends that make france a bit better, life hasn't been too bad. i'll admit it, i had some days where i was like yeah screw this i want to go home, go back to school, and chalk it up as experience. but then i have days where i'm like this is so fun, i'm having such fun opportunities and meeting so many cool people. life isn't all that bad. i just hate getting stuck in a rut that's my thing. i haven't left nantes since i've been here, and it's just the same ol same ol. 

this weekend jillian and i went to find a karaoke bar, so we took the bus to this place called "hangar a bananes" i call it hangar a bananas. it's just easier. it's just this long stretch of clubs and bars but we couldn't find the karaoke place. we asked one of the security guard guys and he didn't know what we were talking about so we showed him the address and he told us it was right around the corner, the second floor of another club. so we went and asked that security guard and he said that you have to call for a reservation and not enough people called to reserve it for friday night. we just busted up laughing like what?! so i guess one day we will make a reservation...we just want the world to know of our talents that's all. so after that we headed back to her apartment and i stay the night at her place on fridays because we get back late so it's best to be safe...even though i know how to fend for myself. i just don't want to have to prove it to everyone. ;) 

on saturday mornings jillian normally teaches english but the kids were out of town this weekend so we were thinking let's go somewhere! only problem: the weather is sucking in france right now. rain on rain on rain. literally. so the only places nearby were the country side, not really any cities with anything fun to do, and the beach. but who goes to the beach in the rain? so we were looking at where to go, and she has a car so somewhere we could just drive to so she suggested we go to this store that's super cheap. oh. my. gosh. it was so great. we weren't too sure about it because it's so cheap the quality could be really bad and there could be nothing cute but geez louise. i found so much i loved. and it was all so cheap. like when i would see something cute and it was 15 euros i was like ok that's way too expensive. i can't even think of a store like it in the states. because it wasn't rejected stuff or extra stuff from other stores like ross or tj maxx, it wasn't used like di/goodwill, and it wasn't crappy like walmart (although i've found a few really great things at walmart) so it was fun to go shopping and i (of course) found some things i liked. and some things i was like yeah i wouldn't buy this the quality is awful then other things i was like really? it's this cheap?! so it was awesome! fun to get out of nantes. then we went on the hunt for food because shopping creates hunger. well we were in this little town, and apparently the french don't believe in having things open on a SATURDAY during the day! we were there at like 2-4 and were looking for food and couldn't find anything. i saw a dominoes that said open 7/7 so we got excited and stopped...nope. it closed from 3-6. -_- we eventually found a bakery and got food thank goodness. jillian has become one of my best friends here. she was the previous au pair for the family so she knows how the boys are and stuff so it's nice having someone who was once in my shoes exactly. she is so sweet and hilarious which brings me to a new section i'm calling...

real life ridiculousness with corinne and jillian.

1. she's telling me how she has all these things for safety like pepper spray, but she's never used it and she leaves it on her dresser so it's pretty much useless. and the one time she had it in her purse it accidentally sprayed and she got some on her hands without her realizing it...and yup she touched her eyes. well fast forward, she's saying how there's a safety cap on it and she wonders if she can spray it through the safety cap so she decides to test it out the window. it works. about a minute later she's freaking out saying she got pepper spray in her mouth and nose because the wind blew it back in hahahahaha. i was dying laughing at her pain. but so was she. so once again, she learned pepper spray works.

2. next safety demonstration....i was in the kitchen pouring myself some juice and she says "corinne, what are you doing?" i say i'm pouring myself a drink. then i hear this piercing sound and flip out. she has a little alarm thing hahahaha once again, she's never used it or brought it with her anywhere. but don't worry, we have all the tools for safety, just not bringing them with us.

3. this last one for right now i'll let the pictures do the talking....

 she got her glasses stuck in her hair. hahahahhahahaha

 i was looking out the window and hear "uhhh..." and turn around and see this hahahahaha

so keep updated to see more real life ridiculousness of corinne and jillian. 

so this is france right now. i'm really starting to live by work hard play hard. keeping up with two boys is not easy all the time. but i'm in france, i'm going to london in two weeks, i'm making friends from all over the world. 

i'm missing my two favorite boys birthdays this week and next week but they're my number ones and they're birthdays are not forgotten to me in france.

 so, 

au revoir, 

adios,

bye, 

toodles,

 happy october, 

it's national pitbull awareness month so be aware that pitbulls are not the monsters everyone thinks they are, that's like stereotyping a group of people or ethnicity. just because some are bad doesn't mean they all are.

also...french aren't festive at all. no halloween decor anywhere. or even fall decor. like come on guys. it's halloween time.

here's some pics from this week.

love

it's so weird, the sky is gray but the clouds in the water...where you come from?!

i wanted to hop on one and row away. but i didn't. they were chained to the dock. so i took a picture instead.

leaves though. 

rainy days in france

gros bisou...
corinne