A "Sister" More Like Me

Coucou ! C'est Aurélie ! J'écris maintenant ce post en retard. Désolée- je suis trop occupée !

It is my turn to post about my Christmas. I know I'm about a month late, but it's better late than never, right?
This isn't something I publicize, but Julieta and I have had some rough patches. Being an only child, I am always thrilled when my family hosts exchange students. When I first heard about Julieta, I was excited. She sounded like she'd be a fun person to have around. And she was...at first. Then, she started taking flamenco classes at a local studio, and when I asked her about them, she said they weren't as good as what she is used to back home in Spain. She also made comments on how the weather in Lille was nothing like the weather in Spain. Spain this, Spain that. I was upset. I thought she was disappointed. Of course she loves Spain; it's her home. I just thought she didn't appreciate her experience here.
We did have some arguments, but I don't want to get into those here. We talked it out, and things have been great between us. I think it made our friendship stronger, which was great since I had a Christmas gift for her that I was considering returning.

On Christmas Day, I handed her the gift.

"Oh, I love it! Muchas gracias, mon amie! Thanks for thinking of me!" Julieta exclaimed as she held up the Christmas ornament with "Feliz Navidad" written on it.

Julieta surprised me with a gift, too. She pulled it out from behind her back and apologized for not wrapping it. It was the dress I've wanted for awhile! 

"How did you know?!" I asked in disbelief.

Julieta smiled. "I talk to people."

After all of this, it turned out that Julieta is more like me than I thought. She's dedicated, headstrong, and does whatever it takes to reach her dream. We both work hard and persevere through the bad. She has definitely become my good friend, and I am happy to call her my "sister".

Bisous,

Aurélie 

Fashion Files: A Ballet-Inspired Wardrobe

Coucou ! C'est Aurélie, et aujoud'hui, je vais faire quelque chose de différent. 

I love ballet, and I love fashion. In today's post, I thought I would combine two of my passions! I still have a Christmas post to write, but I'll do that this weekend. For now, enjoy what I have planned for today:

Fashion Files #1: A Ballet-Inspired Wardrobe

by Aurélie Faubert

When you think of ballet, what do you think of? Tutus? Leotards? Glitter? Ballet is way more than these things, but those things can inspire everyday outfits. I personally like to stick to a ballet-inspired color scheme when buying items for my own wardrobe (though I do wear other colors). The colors might seem a bit stereotypical, but I enjoy pastels and lighter colors. 

So, how did I go about choosing ballet-inspired outfits? Keep on reading!

This first outfit is appropriate for a party. I would wear boots with this, but I left the boots I would wear at Sabine's house. Zut ! The faux wrap skirt is covered in sequins, which makes it perfect for a party. The style of it is what gives it a ballet flair. Because it's winter, I paired it with a 3/4 length sleeved gray shirt and pink tights (once again, a ballet staple). Like I said, I would have preferred boots, but I made do with flats that almost resemble pointe shoes. Almost.

For another party look, you can switch out the wrap skirt for a skirt that almost looks like a tutu:

This might not seem ballet-inspired, but it is. When I'm at the studio, I see many dancers warm up in sweaters like the one I'm wearing below. The sweater also completes any casual outfit. I paired it with jeans, a tank top, lace-up boots, and legwarmers (which are also inspired by ballet).

This is probably the most obvious ballet-inspired look. I paired a black tank-top with a puffy cream skirt that looks very similar to a tutu.

Of course, a wrap sweater can also complete the look!

My new pajamas are even ballet-inspired! The pants remind me of a wrap skirt while the slippers remind me of ballet slippers.

How about an actual ballet costume? This is what I'm wearing for my piece in the Conservatoire de Lille's student showcase:

I hope you enjoyed that post. If you were inspired to come up with your own ballet-inspired outfit, please let me know so I can see what you came up with! I might even feature you on the blog.

Finally, do you like the idea of Fashion Files? Would you like for me to write other similar posts?

Bisous,

Aurélie

Merry (belated) Birthmas!

Salut! C'est Sabine et Sandrine. Aujourd'hui, nous allons parler de notre anniversaire et notre Noël. 

On Christmas Eve, Sabine and I stopped by Julien's house to exchange presents with him and Aurélie. I really didn't want to go. Julien and Aurélie aren't my favorite people in the world, but Sabine and our parents basically forced me into going. Aurélie had a gift for me, which was weird because we don't even talk to each other. I just give her dirty looks. That's typically the most communication we have. Leave it to her to be super saccharine, though. The thought of her makes me gag.

Sandrine's typical rudeness aside, I was so excited to see my two closest friends. I chose some pretty neat gifts for them (Aurélie received a stuffed swan from me, and I bought Julien some Spanish books), and I couldn't wait to see what they would surprise me with!

I was almost in shock when I saw what was behind Aurélie's back...an Anna doll from the movie, La Reine des Neiges (better known as Frozen)!

Now, I am not a doll person at all. I stopped playing with dolls years ago. However, I am obsessed with Frozen after seeing it three times. Anna is my favorite character, and I have the perfect place for her on the shelf above my bed. Aurélie said that Anna reminds me of me not only in appearance, but in personality. I definitely agree; I'm pretty clumsy. Plus, I can relate to sister problems...

Aurélie gave me an Elsa doll. Like Sabine, I'm obsessed with Frozen, too. There's one thing we agree on. Sabine thinks I'm like Elsa because I shut people out. I mean, I guess I do, but like Elsa, I have my own little secret to hide. I'm not too happy that Little Miss Sneaky Axelle is on the path to finding it out, either. I assumed that Aurélie gave me Elsa for the reasons Sabine thinks. However, Aurélie told me that she thought Elsa was perfect for me since I danced the role of the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker. I guess that's true. Hey, Elsa is prettier, in my opinion. Not complaining. 

Sabine insisted that we take a picture of our dolls since she believes we are the Frozen sisters. Spare me. Oh well. We both looked cute, so why not?

Aurélie gave Julien an Olaf figure! Olaf is nothing like Julien, though! If anybody reminds me of Olaf, it's my favorite American friend, Lilly. 

Julien thanked Aurélie and gave her a hug that was a little too close for comfort. I groaned, but thankfully, nobody heard me.

Julien then handed me a pretty pink bag and told me that he thinks I'll like the gift. Please! I'd like anything that boy gave me! It's the thought that counts. ;)

I pulled out two awesome journals! I couldn't wait to begin filling them out!

It was my turn to give Julien a hug and say "merci". I wonder if it made Aurélie uncomfortable...

After that torturous stop, we returned home to our parents, our brother and his girlfriend, and our maternal grandparents. Later that evening, we enjoyed our delicious, traditional réveillon feast consisting of turkey, oysters, boudin blanc, and the bûche de Noël. At midnight, we opened our presents. Sabine and I had the most presents to open, but that was only because we decided to wait to open our birthday presents on Christmas. Our birthday is actually the 19th, but Christmas isn't too far off.

Our birthday gifts were clothes, which is always appreciated! Our gifts were wrapped in the cutest bags.

I first pulled out a darling white top. It would look great with a scarf that I have!

I then pulled out a floral top. I loved it!

My favorite birthday gift was definitely this cardigan. It would go with so much! Plus, you guys know how much I love sweaters! My favorite Christmas gift, however, was an iPad Air.

My birthday bag looked more Christmas-y than birthday-ish. I was excited to see what kind of clothes I got.

Oh, this skirt is so my style! It's probably my new favorite clothing piece. My favorite Christmas gift, though, was definitely the Degas leotard I got. I've always wanted a Degas, and now, I finally have one!

I also got this new dress for when the weather gets warmer:

I also love the lace tank I got. I like it because it is easy to pair with edgier things to give them a girly flair.

Needless to say, we had a great Christmas/birthday! We hope your holiday season was great, too. If you celebrate Christmas, what did you get?

Bisous,

Sabine et Sandrine