We were, needless to say, very surprised. Here we are with everything that we received.
We did an outfit trade with our friend Elizabeth, who does historical reenactments. We gave her one of Micki's Sun Queen gowns in exchange for a turn-of-the-century middy dress. I'm glad that we were able to get rid of one of the Sun Queen outfits. Those things are beyond obnoxious, even if they are pretty. It's the way that they are used. That's what makes them irritating. Anyway, here I am with the middy dress. It is so cool, too. It laces up in the back.
I was pleasantly surprised to find the Cozy Sweater outfit. I've wanted it for awhile. I really hate wearing pants and sweaters, so tunic-length sweaters and leggings are definitely more my style. Plus, pink is my favorite color! I got awesome slippers, too. Booties are definitely better than regular slippers. I also appreciate the headband and hair ribbons. I always need that stuff, especially for dance class!
It's hilarious that I talked about Micki and the Sun Queen thing prior to this. I found two forks and spoon. I am assuming that those are, in fact, for the "Sun Queens": Nicki, Vicki, and Micki. They have an inside joke pertaining to forks and spoons, and it stemmed from when Micki lived in Europe and visited Nice. Nicki and Vicki shouldn't be trusted with forks or sharp objects for that matter. The forks are for them, and Micki will probably get stuck with the spoon. Yeah. The least dangerous gets the least dangerous utensil. How does this make sense?! Where is the logic in this? Even though Nicki-Vicki aren't with us, I know them well enough to know that they will love the forks, and they love that others thought of them enough to get them presents.
Aren't these tissues featuring la Tour Eiffel the cutest? I'm a sucker for cute things, which explains why I almost died of excitement when I saw the earrings! There are three pairs: baguettes with bérets and scarves, croissants with bérets, and les drapeaux tricolores! The earrings have an adorable cartoon-esque cuteness. I love them!
I also have to point out the Taylor Swift poster I received from Cate. Taylor is wearing a nautical/stereotypically French outfit. Taylor's outfit is very cute, though. I might wear something similar. Taylor is probably one of my favorite American singers. I might like her more than Sabine's beloved Miley Cyrus (désolée, Sabine!)! I got a cute "Speak Now" pin, too!
Baby-Ruthie were sure to include their campaign posters. I must admit, it sounds like a pretty good campaign. Frog legs are DISGUSTING, anyway. I don't know why anybody would want to eat them to begin with! Then there is the whole "frog might be a prince" thing going on, too...hey, you never know! It's not like most people kissed frogs to find out...
I am holding the "Be Our Guest" restaurant menu. I think mentioning "gray stuff" was a nice touch. Bonus points from me if you know what movie it's from!
We got an awesome hat, too! I'm pretty sure it isn't for us, but we wear it well, right?
I think we do. If only Halloween were celebrated in France. Sabine and I would have a great group costume idea...
There were three gifts left: a friendship bracelet, a USA Olympics tee, and a little American flag. However, these weren't addressed to us. They were addressed to a Marie-Christine Lacaux. I was confused. Marie-Christine lives in Paris...not Lille!
I told Sabine that maybe we're supposed to send it to Marie-Christine. Maybe they just didn't have the Lacaux's address? I think Sabine has it. That would make sense.
We then heard a knock on the door. My dad answered it and told me that I had an unexpected visitor. I secretly hoped it was Julien, but it wasn't. Instead, a girl with light brown hair and the prettiest blue eyes walked in.
"Salut!" She said in an upbeat voice. "Je m'appelle Marie-Christine Lacaux. Je suis la petite sœur de ton amie Christelle."
Marie-Christine laughed. "It's kind-of a long story," she began. "Christelle is being her usual obnoxious, pessimistic self, and since I am free for a day, my mom thought she would take me to see the Royal Ballet of Flanders in Anvers, but of course, the SCNF workers are on strike, so we have to take a bus to Belgium instead. It's not fun. In fact, I'm furious! It takes so much longer to take the bus than the TGV! I convinced my mom to stop in Lille because I wanted to meet you, Sabine. Christelle gave me your address, and I wanted to see if you were as bad as she said you were. Everybody is bad in Christelle's opinion, though."
"Christelle and I have our differences," I sighed. "When I first heard of you, I thought you were going to be terrible, too. However, you really aren't. You haven't complained...well, okay. You complained about the SCNF strike, but that is actually a legit complaint. They put a damper on EVERYBODY'S travel plans."
"Don't take my sister too seriously," Marie-Christine said. "She's always been trouble. My parents like to say that she has 'middle child syndrome'."
I had to laugh. Being the psychology nerd that I am, I knew all about that.
"Oh," I said, handing Marie-Christine the presents. "I think these are yours."
She jumped up and down. "These are from Cate!" She exclaimed. "I was so excited to meet her in December. She was in the Olympics! I'd love to be an Olympic skater and get to wear the pretty, glittery costumes. If I decide to quit ballet, which is starting to become a chore, I definitely want to go skating! These are definitely great souvenirs from my first visit to America."
Marie-Christine told us all about her cultural exchange trip to Ohio. "Everybody was very nice to me and didn't seem to care that my English was terrible," Marie-Christine smiled. Being 12, she was just learning English at school. "I got to meet the infamous Kit-Kat and be apart of Baby-Ruthie's anti-frog-legs campaign. Oh, and I ate at an awesome restaurant. Best croque-monsieur ever...well, after the ones I eat at home in Paris! Still, it was delicious. I was also disturbed to see a girl named Emily. She turned out to be one of the sweetest people you'd ever meet, but she was identical to Christelle. For a second, I thought Christelle came to the US again, which is a silly thought because she plans to never step foot overseas again. I miss everybody I met, actually. It was such a wonderful, eye-opening experience. I want to travel around the US so badly. Maybe I'll even get to meet Cate, Baby-Ruthie, and Kit-Kat again?"
Jokingly, I said that I would meet Cate, Baby-Ruthie, and Kit-Kat before she would meet them again. Marie-Christine suggested that she come with me.
After chatting for awhile, Marie-Christine had to go. She said that it was nice to meet us, and she hopes to stay in touch. She actually said that she might come to the States this summer for the Global Outreach program since she'll be 13 in May. I told her I hope to see here there, and since she is a dancer too, I suggested that maybe we could dance together. She nodded and said, "I'm not really into it like I used to be, though!"
She also asked to take a photo with us, and she hoped that we wouldn't mind being friends with a "kid". Sabine and I just laughed. We're both good friends with Julien's sister, Delphine, who is the same age as Marie-Christine. Maybe they can meet each other someday?
That, tout le monde, was our day! We'd love to thank our friends from The Shoreline Student for all of our lovely gifts. We absolutely love everything!
I might sound extremely sappy, but friendship is still the greatest gift of all. That seems to be a theme for the post today, especially since we befriended Marie-Christine...somebody we never thought we'd befriend!
Have you, dear readers, ever befriended somebody whom you never expected to be friends with? Have you ever received any special gifts from friends? If so, what did you get?
~Sabine et Aurélie~
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