Dear Nana, I've got bad news...

There are no starbucks here. None. Not one. (Although I did look it up and there are apparently 40 stores in Paris.) And even if you do want a cup of coffee, most likely you have to sit and drink it at the cafe. The concept of "To-Go" doesn't really exist here,

which is unfortunate when you have to decide between really wanting a cup of coffee and wanting to keep shopping/sight seeing (especially when you're on a time schedule).

While we were in Nimes last weekend we stopped at this little cafe for a bite to eat and I wanted a coffee really bad. I ordered a cafe au lait (coffee with steamed milk). I was thrilled when I recieved this cup of coffee. Here's why: Up until this point all the coffees that have been brought out to me have been either in tiny little coffee cups or in a regular sized cup but less than half full (I'm being pessimistic I realize, but its the truth). What I do order is normally very good. Of course, not as good as a white mocha! And probably only "very good" in comparison to the burnt tasting "diner coffee"-as Janelle calls it, that's provided here on campus. I end up finishing it very quickly and it never seems to be enough to satisfy. The cup of coffee that they brought out to me was in a good sized coffee mug and was also totally full. I was SO happy and the coffee was really good! It even came with one of those tasty biscof cookies. yum!

While we were sitting there finishing up our lunch (We sat outside), I noticed these two women walk away from the cafe with these little red to-go cups. I got really excited for a second but didn't want to get my hopes up. I thought surely it HAD to be coffee in those cups. And I wanted one. For all I knew this may have been my only chance for a to-go cup of coffee while in France. I asked the woman in my poor French if they had the cafe creme "to-go" She said "Oui!" and I excitedly told her I would like one of those s'il vous plait! (She probably thought I was crazy. But I didn't care.)

It was an exciting day for coffee. I walked away from that cafe a very happy girl, proud of what I had discovered. But still, there are no Starbucks nonetheless. And even if their were, It probably wouldn't be as good as it is in the States.

St. Remy and Les Olivades

The other day all the fibers girls went on a field trip to Les Olivades and the town of St. Remy. Les Olivades is the last local printing facility left to print traditional provencal fabrics. The experience was amazing. There were beautiful, beautiful fabrics. Lot's of interesting machinery. Ton's of screens. And giant printing tables that seemed to go on and on for eternity. 

Here's what I got to see:

This woman was our tour guide at Les Olivades. 

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This was one of the screens that they use to print the fabrics. It was bigger than me! 

(P.S. Look daddy! I finally got the zipper put into my feedsack skirt and I looooved wearing it so much!)

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This is their giant washing machine. 

And here are those printing tables that never seemed to end. Luckily they were printing some yardage that day and we were able to watch the process. We could have probably stayed and watched them print all day!

Beautiful fabrics everywhere you looked.

Sweet little printed scarves from their showroom. It's funny but these reminded me of my screen printing final...(the image that I used above as the header for my blog was also a screen print I did this summer!)

After Les Olivades we went and wandered around the cute little town of St. Remy. Janelle, Erica, Melissa, and I ate sandwiches at a cute cafe, enjoyed ice cream, and bought chocolates from the most amazing little chocolate store in the world! 

It was a great day. The best day yet.

This is where I live!

This is the view of the town of Lacoste from the valley below. I live somewhere in there!

This is the entrance to our sweet little dorm room/ home away from home. There are eight of us living in the house (two to a room for the most part) and surprisingly enough the two shower bathroom hasn't been a problem at all. It's such a great group of us! We have so much fun together...Lots of movie watching. Lots of chatting. and lots of late night dancing!

This is my bed.  I brought my strip quilt with me that I made in art quilt spring quarter and I am so happy that I did! I love having it here with me and It's also much nicer to look at than the horrible hot pink and purple comforters that were on our beds when we got here. We have our little room decorated all cute and it's slowly feeling like more of a place that I can call my own than a dreary stone walled cave.

This is the Boulangerie (our library) and It's one of my most favorite little spots here on "campus" It's really cozy and very close to my "home" which is just right down that little alley way to the left!

We went on a little nature hike to explore the area with Pam and the following are pictures of what we saw:

Imagine millions of these tiny tiny snails stuck to the plants all over an open field. There were little white dots for miles.

This interesting little plant is called a teasel.

 

I just thought these little flowers were too precious. 

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Thats all for now. Isn't it so beautiful!

Isle Sur La Sourge.

On our third day here we woke bright and early and the wonderful Pamela Wiley took us (the fibers girls!) to the antique market of Isle Sur La Sourge. Lucky for us it happens ever Sunday! I was still feeling kind of weird about where I was (meaning not at home or in Savannah....In fact, very far away from both!) but seeing all of those treasures and beautiful antiques perked me right up! We saw some lovely trims, ribbons, and textiles and lots of other beautiful little trinkets. I could hardly contain my excitement. I'm looking forward to the many, many visits we take to Isle Sur La Sourge! I haven't bought anything YET, but here is some of what I "oooohed" and "aahhhhed" over!

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These two were quite the characters and you couldn't help but love them both. I could tell they wanted to come home with me really bad.

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This was the most content little pup I've ever seen. He was perfectly satisfied just snuggled up in his basket. Too cute. 

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On to the next adventure.

Ugh. I feel like I am skipping so much about London (And it truly was SO wonderful!). But in order to stay on top of things I am going to move straight to Lacoste. Not being able to update the blog while in London has put me a little behind and the internet here is pretty iffy as well. BUT We're here! We got to Marseille just fine and the meet up with the rest of the group was easy. It was pouring down rain when we got here and it even hailed on us once we got to the village. It was all very exciting. After the rain calmed we checked in and were given our room keys. I will be living with a group of incredible fibers girls and we've already been enjoying it so much. Once it stopped raining the sun began to peak through the clouds and we got to see the most gorgeous rainbow over the valley below. 

The view here is absolutely incredible. It almost seems unreal. The past couple of days have consisted of getting settled and adjusted, visiting markets, and exploring the village. There's something new to discover every day!

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exploring the Pont Julien on the way back from the market at Apt(another town close by). 

here's a little glimpse of what I walk through every day. 

another view of the valley below.

I hope that this quick little post gives you somewhat of an idea of where I'm living. Although I can hardly believe it myself sometimes! I will post some images of my room and such later. The food has been surprisingly tasty. Unbelievably better than the SCAD cafe food in Savannah! Classes start  tomorrow but not quite for me...I have both of my classes on Tuesday/ Thursday. One from 9-12 and the other from 1-4. Keep following along with me on this little adventure. Much more to come!

We're here!

Yep. That's right. Mine and Janelle's dream since freshman year has finally come true. We've made it to London! Got 0 hours of sleep on the flight over. literally, zero. It took us nearly 4 hours to get from the airport to the train station where the people we are staying with would be picking us up. We drug our three bags up more stairs and hills than you could possibly imagine but people were being so helpful and a lot of times ended up carrying them up for us. I tried to remain positive and up beat through it all, laughing about our unbelievable situation (even though I couldn't feel my hands and quickly developed several blisters and kept running over my heels with my luggage. I was definitely bleeding by the end of the day). I will give you more details about this little adventure Sarah and I endured later. I have so much to say but am too tired to do so. I will leave you with a video. Did I mention that I'm in FREAKING London!?

Oh, P.S. The home that we are staying in is absolutely spectacular! It's the most precious but modern little flat I've ever seen. The couple (and baby Hugo!) are wonderful as well. Live in London? Yes. Yes, I certainly think I could.

Babies!

I just found out today that two dear, sweet, and wonderful people (which just happen to be great friends of mine!) are expecting a little one. In fact, so many friends seem to be expecting right now!  Precious new life, how wonderful!

This beautiful couple was married back in June and I could not be more excited for them! They will make fantastic parents, I just know it! This is the video they put together to share the news with their parents who live in different states and I think its the most precious thing I've ever seen!

Congratulations Jared and Maria! Love you both so much!

PSL is back!

I have been so ready for fall weather and since I've been home the weather has been fabulous! I can tell that fall is in the air and I love it...I went to Starbucks the other day planning on getting my usual white mocha but then I saw this big sign which read "Pumpkin Spice Latte is Back." My face lit up and my order quickly changed! Oh, pumpkin spice it is so nice to see you again. As I like to say, "It's like Fall in a cup." mmmmm.

Shoe Clips.

I just finished my online orientation for Lacoste. Exciting! It was lovely and we even got a little french lesson from Madame Barbier. So fun! They said things like "pack light" and "This is not a fashion show!"  People have been telling me this ALL my life (like my mom on the first day of kindergarten! hah.) and to them I respond: "Are you kidding me, it's always a fashion show!" My mom has learned over the years to accept this and I'm certainly not going to change now... especially since this is Europe for goodness sake! Last night I made these cute little bow shoe clips which I plan on wearing with my favorite flats(s). you understand.

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a little hot glue goes a long way.

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Tada. and Umm...Yes, Please!

Antiques! and things for France.

Since I've been home I've been DYING to visit some of my favorite antique stores. On Sunday Mom and I went to Flue de Coop (adorable antique store with a great eye for display) and yesterday we visited Big Shanty Antique Mall (Love this one simply because well, it's Humongous!) Here are some of the items I snatched up: 

Cute portable cake stand I've had my eye on for a while. Finally went on Sale: $10! and precious children's book from the 1940's "Let's Take Turns" with adorable illustrations. this booth was on sale too. Hooray!

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The following are the things I found at Big Shanty. My mom told me that she would ship one box of stuff to Lacoste for me and I have decided that it will most likely be random supplies for classes.  Although the idea of having something that I consider to be slightly important for school shipped to Europe kind of terrifies me, I'm warming up to it. And besides Luggage gets lost all the time anyways, right? It's not like having it in my suitcase is any more of a guarantee it will get to Europe with me....yikes. However, I'm praying for no lost luggage!

Old sewing pattern box I plan to fill with fabrics, yarns, ribbon, etc. and cute victorian tin for random things like glue sticks, tape, paint brushes, etc. Adorable painting I found for $5. When the woman was ringing me up she says: "she looks like a little french woman" and I just smiled and felt inspired by my upcoming trip!

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Supplies! They are ready to travel.

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This last set is purchases I made from @home while I was still in Savannah. I am in love with the "Pins and Needles" organizer. 

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Needless to say...I am getting soooo excited for this trip!!! 

Screen Printing

This summer I had the pleasure of taking screen printing with Jeremy Noonan and wonderful classmates. I went into the class not expecting much...to be honest I was pretty much expecting to hate it. But that was not the case. I ended up loving screen printing and had so much  fun working around everyone in my class!  Here are some images of my in-progress workings for my final.  My inspiration came from 1920's textiles and fashions. In particular, lace and vintage hats! I will post images of the completed project once I take them! Enjoy!

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