Merci beaucoup pour la nomination!

Coucou! C'est Aurélie et Sabine ! 
Pourquoi sommes-nous heureuses ? Pouquoi vous disons-nous « merci beaucoup » ? 

This blog has been nominated for an AGPT Academy Award in the category of "Best Writing" for the third year in a row!

I am very honored to be nominated alongside another fabulous blog! I am even more honored that people actually read this blog. When I first began writing almost five years ago, I never expected to have any readers, fans, etc. I just wanted to practice my English! Now, things have really taken off, and I even began to share the blog with my twin sister and my friends.

Although I just started writing on the blog later last year, I am glad to be able to write alongside my close friend Sabine. I think it is awesome to be apart of something that was nominated for an award!

Well, what are you waiting for? Are you a member of AGPT? Oui? Then vote! CLICK HERE to let your voice be heard! You don't have to vote for us, of course, but any votes we do get would be greatly appreciated!

Merci beaucoup!

Sabine et Aurélie

Bonne Saint-Valentin en retard!

Salut, tout le monde! C'est Sabine! Bonne Saint-Valentin en retard. Hier, j'ai oublié d'écrire parce que j'ai eu beaucoup de devoirs.

Sandrine received a turquoise skirt and a pair of black and gray houndstooth leggings from our parents. Somebody anonymously sent her pink roses, but she was in rage mode yesterday and broke the vase. I did salvage one flower, and I put it in a small vase on our desk. Still, leave it to Sandrine to ruin any holiday. She was appreciative for her clothes and also the small box of goodies from Meert that our brother bought for us.

To celebrate, I wore my new shirt, which is a pale pink. Dressing up in certain colors for holidays is kind-of too American for me, but my good American friend Lilly's birthday is on Valentine's Day. Pink is one of her favorite colors, so I wore it with her in mind. I'm glad the shade of pink isn't obnoxious. Otherwise, it would clash with my hair...

I couldn't believe how many presents I had received! I mean, it's Valentine's Day! It's not like it was my birthday or Christmas!

The first gift that caught my attention was ridiculously glittery, and I had a feeling that a certain American sent it to me...considering I found a box from Wisconsin in the living room one day. 

It's a stuffed phoque (seal)! Lilly said that she bought herself the exact same one. Of course. She also told me to Skype her since it was her birthday, and her valentine contained many humorous inside jokes that I can't exactly post here.

The next gift I opened was from Aurélie. 

I pulled out a valentine that read, "Sabine, j'adore que tu sois mon amie! Bonne Saint-Valentine!"

Pas de problème, Aurélie! J'adore aussi que tu sois ma bonne amie!

I was completely surprised when I pulled a beautiful cream sweater out of the bag! It was one that I wanted when I first saw it in the window of one of my favorite shops! I couldn't believe that she got it for me! Okay...I maybe could have believed it. It was one sale, je pense. C'est parfait! It's so my style, too.

I next found a cute package from my not-so-secret admirer, Julien.

He bought me all of my favorite American candies! Chouette! He even wrote me a sweet, adorable, and super personal note. This is obviously why we are such close friends. 

He even attached the prettiest charm to the closure! Bonne amie means "good friend", and this charm was the sweetest part of his gift. I thought it was sweeter than the note, actually. I consider him to be un bon ami, too.

My good friend Inky sent Sandrine and me a beautiful valentine. Merci, Inky! Je l'adore!

The next gift was from my parents, though it was still in a shipping envelope...

This gift must have arrived while I was at school and while my parents were at work because my mom in particular would NEVER leave a gift in its shipping envelope. She must have seriously had no time to wrap it.

I screamed (mentally, of course--not aloud!) when I opened it! It was the So Undercover DVD!!! Miley Cyrus made this movie awhile ago, but it was just released on DVD to the general public a few weeks ago! My parents must have gone through a lot of trouble to get the DVD because I don't believe it has been released in France yet. I'm also surprised because my mom is strongly against the "Americanization" of today's youth, so she doesn't like that I am so into American celebrities, movies, and stuff like that. This means so much to me because I am definitely Miley Cyrus's biggest fan, and I HAVE to own all of her movies as well as CDs!

Aurélie sent our amie parisienne Marie-Christine a valentine, and Marie-Christine sent us some photos that she wants me to share:

I hope everybody had a terrific Valentine's Day. While candy and presents are nice, I like to think of the day as being about the people I love most...which would be my family and close friends. I love them so much, and I don't think I would be here without their support.

I hope that you, my readers, had a great day surrounded by loved ones. What did you do for Valentine's Day? Did you receive any special cards or gifts?

~Sabine

Cartes Saint Valentin

Coucou! C'est Aurélie...et sa meilleure amie, moi, Sabine! Aujourd'hui, nous avons fait des cartes Saint- Valentin.

Since it's Valentine's Day, I wanted to cut out some hearts and use those as the basis of my valentines. I found the prettiest sheet of sparkly, gold paper and decided to use that for my first heart.

In order to avoid getting pen on the pretty side, I flipped it over and drew the heart on the blank side.

I then carefully cut it out.

My cards aren't as festive as Aurélie's. I decided to do something original and very, very me: Hannah Montana-themed Valentines! I was able to find Hannah Montana stickers for a great price, and now was the perfect time to use them! The basis of my cards is gray and black striped paper. I wanted something that looked kind-of "rocker" or "pop star". I wrote my name on the gray lines.

I then chose a sticker and placed it on the side:

Looking great, right?

Not quite! In order to spice it up and make it more festive, I cut out a heart and wrote the recipient's name on it and pasted it on the side opposite of Hannah.

I signed my name on a final card made from blue and cream floral paper with a gray floral stripe.

I also remembered that I purchased a gift for a friend, so I wrapped the gift in glittery tissue paper and stuck it in the cutest box which I adorned with a tricolore-inspired ribbon and a sticker of la Tour Eiffel. Before I shut it, I slipped in a valentine from me and a valentine from Sabine. 

Sabine took the perfectly packaged gift from my hands. 

"Ah, c'est la mien, oui?" I asked, partially joking. I knew it wasn't for me. In fact, I had an idea of who would be receiving the gift. I had to ask just to be sure that it wasn't the same person I bought a gift for!

I told Sabine that it was for a completely different person than the person she was thinking of. I then told her what the gift was, and Sabine looked relieved. I asked Sabine if her gift to a friend had arrived yet, and she said it hadn't. She hoped it would arrive in time for Valentine's Day. I had my doubts, but we would just have to wait and see.  

We made a mess...a mess that my mom harassed me about. She kept telling me to clean when I finish, and I think she told me that at least four times. I heard her the first time, and I promised I would. Aurélie knew that my mom was a nag, so she didn't care. 

"Nous devons nettoyer ou Fabienne sera fâchée!" I said, using my mom's first name.

After we cleaned the room, Sabine wrapped me up in ribbon...

...and I tripped as I tried to move!

"You're a dancer! You aren't supposed to fall or trip! You're supposed to have grace. I'm the one who would trip and break a bone or something!" I declared. 

Oh, Sabine...I knew she was joking, but I couldn't help but take some offense. I work so hard when it comes to ballet. Does this mean I'm not good enough? I felt like I was, but would a good dancer have tripped like I did?

My thoughts were stupid and showed insecurity and weakness. I quickly erased them from my mind. Dancers can trip, and they certainly do trip...

With that aside, did you make valentines for friends? What do they look like?

Bisous,

Aurélie et Sabine

Le concert

Coucou! C'est Aurélie et je vais parler de mon concert...

Since I attend a school that allows me to take music and danse classique courses at the Conservatoire de Lille, I get to put on many performances. I recently had a concert in which I played first flute. FIRST FLUTE! I usually try to control my excitement, but I have been playing second flute for the longest of times. I finally achieved my goal of playing first part!

As silly as it may seem, I wouldn't have accepted failure. By that I mean I wouldn't settle for second part forever. There is nothing wrong with being second flute, but I tend to push myself. I don't really like to let myself down. People definitely wouldn't say I'm a competitive person--especially since most people only see the shy, quiet Aurélie who keeps to herself. However, I would call myself competitive, but I'm not competing with others. I'm competing with myself. I always strive for better roles to dance, and I always strive for more challenging music to play. I want to outdo myself.

This leads me to another problem. I have been told by many different people that I could have a "promising" professional career as a flautist or dancer. I'd like that. I just don't know what I would focus on. There are days I want to quit playing flute and focus on only ballet, and there are days I want to stop dancing and focus on my flute. I feel like I need one focus if I want to do something professionally, but I don't know how to choose between two things that I love...two things that have been my life. It just seems unfair. Then again, life isn't fair. At all.

I'm so conflicted. I really don't know what to do. Have you ever been in a similar situation? 

Gros bisous,
Aurélie