You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

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Cette chanson décris mon humeur.
Salut, tout le monde! La semaine dernière, mon meilleur ami Julien a quittée les États-Unis. J'étais triste. Oui, Lilly est mon amie, mais elle n'est pas ma meilleure amie. Elle ne peux pas remplacer Aurélie ou Julien. Je veux que Julien retourne!!! Ou, je veux que Aurélie vienne ici!


I can sum up the French in one mere English sentence: I miss Julien.
He was only visiting temporarily. I don't go to a co-ed boarding school, so he couldn't have stayed. He has to go to school and he has to babysit his petite sœur.

Last Sunday, we decided to celebrate his departure French style...er, in the style of a good majority of France. We didn't celebrate Ch'ti style, sadly. I think you can only celebrate Ch'ti style if you're in my region. Let's put it this way: wine is not very Ch'ti.

 Before I get ridiculed for this photo, I would like to point out cultural differences. We were allowed to have sips of wine/beer with dinner beginning at an early age. I understand that this is an issue in the States, but in France, it isn't.

Then came the time that Julien had to leave so he wouldn't miss his flight. I gave him a huge hug, and I thanked him for tolerating the Americans. He said that he might visit again in July- when school in France is typically over.

I also told him to keep in touch, and he said, "Sabine, tu dois répondre quand je t'envoie des emails et des textos. Tu dois me parler sur Skype aussi!"
I laughed. I had a bad habit of forgetting to reply to his texts and emails and remembering to call him on Skype. I blame the Skype and text message problems on the time difference. I have no excuse for replying to his e-mails three times a month!
"Je promets," I promised him that I would be better with communicating.
"Ne fais pas de promesse que tu ne tiendras pas," he replied half-jokingly, half-seriously. I said that I will keep that promise this time.

Before he left, Chrissa had to say au revoir et bon voyage, too. She left the dance team's dress rehearsal early, she approached Julien, and she said, "NEVER forget me! NEVER! I will never forget you!"
He laughed and said he wouldn't, and he gave her a hug...which undoubtedly made her day.

After that, he left. I will admit that I cried for a moment. I know my thoughts are irrational, but after he left, I began to feel lonely. I also began to miss my other best French friends- Gérard and Aurélie. Gérard is in the same boat as Julien; he can't permanently come here (I wish he could!), but Aurélie sure can. Aurélie is so indecisive. Part of her wants to come to the States, but the other part of her doesn't. I understand that she is more reserved and might not be ready to take on the Americans. I also understand that she might not want to leave her dance studio (which also happens to be Sandrine's former dance studio) or school.

Still, I want a friend here. I know I have Lilly- and even Ava- but having one of my lillois friends here would make me feel more at home.

Sabine

Une autre coiffure

Bonjour!


Eh, so nothing much has been going on with me. I did, however, receive a beautiful hand-painted parasol for my birthday.


I received a beautiful black and gray patterned shirt for Christmas; however, I haven't even worn it yet! I won't be able to wear until spring because my lovely sister just had to take it with her!

Anyway, my Christmas break was a good one. I wore my favorite dress, and I did my hair in a fantastic new style. I call it "crown braids" since the braids form a crown around your head.

If you guys are interested in a tutorial, I'll be glad to make one. I absolutely adore styling my hair. I have so much fun doing so.

Bisous,
Sandrine <3

Mon habit préféré

¡Hola, todo el mundo!

I just thought I'd shake up my greeting. You guys have probably already realized that "hola, todo el mundo" is the Spanish version of my usual greeting, "salut, tout le monde". I might as well practice my Spanish every once in awhile.

Anyway, I am completely in love with the blazer and pants I received for Christmas and my birthday. I think I have a new favorite outfit. It's so classic and so simple; I can't help but love it! My mom actually got something right for a change. Um, I think my brother probably helped her, though. I told him what I wanted. That's what good older brothers do- help their parents shop for their younger sisters. ;)

So, what's your favorite outfit? I'd love to hear about it! You could also do a blog post about it; I'd love to see photos.

Sabine

My Animated Self

Salut, mes biloutes*!
*What we Ch'tis call our friends (it's like ami(e)s; this word specific to my region)

Thanks to The Doll Wardrobe, I now have an InnerstarU account. I decided to play around with the site and create an animated Sabine.
However, to my dismay, my name wasn't even an option, so I went with the closest thing on AG's list.

Here is a close-up of animated!Sabine:

Glasses and everything...I can't say I'm a fan of the shirt animated!Sabine is wearing. I believe Chrissa wore it before, so that means I would never dare wear it.

I changed animated!Sabine's clothes ASAP:

I went for a replica of my favorite outfit. It's not exact, but it's close enough. I might have to get that navy blazer someday. I am quite obsessed with jackets, blazers, and sweaters, as you have come to know.

Animated!Sabine's room:

They didn't have any rooms that seemed to be overly "classic", so I chose the one with the most blue in it since blue is my favorite color. My mom is an interior designer, and she would never decorate any bedrooms like this. That's one thing I have in common with my disagreeable mother- we like classic bedrooms...nothing too modern.

That's all for right now. My friend Julien left for France today, and I'll share more about that in my next post. I hope you enjoyed animated!Sabine, and feel free to add me as a friend. Unfortunately, I'm Sabina98 because like I said, my name wasn't an option. The games are extremely easy; however, I love dressing my animated self. Lilly laughed and said they were definitely not on par with Angry Birds...*sigh*. That girl sometimes...

Sabine

Un cadeau de Lilly!

Salut, tout le monde!
Lilly finally gave me my birthday/Christmas present...

C'est un cochon d'Angry Birds! It's somewhat of a joke between Lilly and me. She is crazy obsessed with the game; she even told me that it was the "best app ever invented". I don't get the point of it; however, I always thought the pigs were the cutest part of the game.
So there's my present: un cochon vert. I even put on a hat to match it.

Sabine

Bonne Année!

Bonne Année tout le monde! Désolée que je n'ai pas écrit. J'étais assez occupée.

Ah, the New Year. What could be better? It's a fresh start, and it's time to move on from past mistakes. I have therefore decided on a few resolutions:

1. Be nicer to Chrissa.

2. Be nicer to Christelle.

3. Stop hanging up on my mom's lectures...er, phone calls.

4. Be nicer to Lilly.

5. Get new clothes.

6. Give the clothes I don't wear anymore to Julien's sister.

7. Stop wanting to scream at certain people in my Spanish class.

Now that THAT is out of the way, I will talk about my New Year's Eve.

Micki was enthralled to discover that Julien played soccer. Julien is a very good player, and Micki was a soccer star herself back in the day. I say "back in the day" because she was unfortunately suspended from the soccer team for "harassing" Jess. I had to laugh when Micki told me what happened. Um, no. She was not "harassing" Jess. To be honest, Jess loves to rat everybody out for the littlest things. I know. I've been there, done that.

With that aside, I have to admit that I was a tad jealous. Julien has to leave for France soon. I kind-of wanted to spend time with him. Ugh, what am I talking about? We screamed "BONNE ANNEE" together at midnight. I have nothing to be jealous of...je suis quelquefois folle...

Oh, and something strange happened. It involved Micki. She suddenly began to feel sick. Tears were streaming down her face because her stomach and head hurt, so she went to relax in her room.

Lilly became panicked...as usual. Lilly will not let whatever issue she has with Micki die. Lilly is convinced that Micki may have disordered eating patterns, as I've mentioned in previous posts. Lilly told me that Micki didn't eat much for dinner, and that was probably why she wasn't feeling well. I know I certainly feel like I'm going to pass out when I am famished!

Of course, Lilly had to shove her golden curls in Micki's business. She asked, "Are you okay?" Micki looked angry...so angry that she almost looked as if she could kill Lilly. Instead of doing such, Micki simply shouted, "Stay out of my life, Lilly! Mon dieu!"

Fortunately, I was able to get Lilly away from Micki. We spent some time with Lucía, who told us about a Spanish New Year tradition. In Spain, people try to stuff twelve grapes in their mouths in twelve seconds at midnight. It's supposed to bring good luck. After Lilly heard that, she went on a search for some grapes. I'm glad she didn't find any because she would have probably ended up choking.

Sabine

Playing Santa

Salut, tout le monde! J’espère que vous avez eu un bon Noël! Moi, mon Noël était chouette! J’ai reçu mon pantalons gris. J’ai donné aussi des cadeaux à mes amies.

Well, I hope everybody had a great Christmas! I sure did! Although the shirt I'm wearing and my gray pants were technically birthday gifts, I tend to open my gifts on Christmas because it's only a few days after my birthday. Mère and Père said that Sandrine could have the shirt before Christmas Day. Although my sister and I don't really get along, she was nice enough to let me borrow her shirt because I let her borrow my dress.

As for the gray pants...hmm, I wonder what is hiding beneath this tissue paper? ;)

It must be my GRAY PANTS! My parents wanted me to open my pants on Christmas Day because they wanted me to wait and wear them with "something special"; however, that "something special" hasn't arrived in the mail yet. The wait is killing me!

Not only did I receive awesome presents (and I say "presents" because I'm sure whatever is to come in the mail is great), I also gave some special gifts, too. I decided to play Santa, as the Americans call him, and give presents to the two people I should try to treat a little bit better.

First, I gave Chrissa her present. Remember that charm I posted about?

Fortunately, she loved it! I knew she would. She was extremely happy when she saw what the charm was. "C'est la Tour Eiffel!" She gasped. She said that she will be sure to buy the chain part of the necklace with her Christmas money. She said it beats the pointe shoes her parents bought her. Apparently, they didn't buy her the correct brand.

Then, I handed Christelle her present. "Pour moi?" She asked. I don't think she expected me to buy her a gift because we don't really speak to each other.

I'd like to become better acquainted with Christelle, but the truth of the matter is, she isn't always a nice person. I go out of my way to speak to her, but she sometimes is rude about it...

She first pulled the card I made her from underneath the ribbon.



It says:

“Joyeux Noël!

Un petit cadeau de ton amie.

Bisous,

Sabine"

She carefully tore at the wrapping paper...

..and she pulled out a doll that is wearing a shirt with la Tour Eiffel on it!

Close-up of the doll:



She said, "Merci, Sabine", but from her tone of voice, I could tell that she wasn't too thrilled. Actually, that somewhat hurt my feelings. I understand that she doesn't really like dolls; I don't, either. However, when I saw it, I immediately thought of her. I know she misses Paris, and I thought the design on the doll's shirt would make her feel more at home. I had another present for her, too, but I can't find it at the moment. I hope I find it as I'm sure it might make up for any disappointment.

Regardless, my Christmas was wonderful, and I felt great giving those gifts.

Sabine

Joyeux Noël!

Joyeux Noël à mes amis et ma famille! J’espère que vous êtes heureux!

I will do a post on my gifts and such when I have more time. For now, I just wanted to say Merry Christmas and that I hope you guys have a great day!

Sabine

Quatre: Julien et Micki

Salut, tout le monde! C'est la veille de Noël!
Before I begin with the scheduled post, I guess I should talk about Christmas Eve in France.
Although my family isn't very religious, we normally attend La Messe de Minuit- midnight mass. We normally go with my grandparents. Last time I went, which was years ago, my mom texted the whole time when it was her idea to go. I thought it was extremely disrespectful, but that's my mom for you. I even told her she was being rude, and she told me I was being rude for talking to her during the service. Um, double-standards much...?
Anyway, after the mass, we go back home and have le réveillon, which is a huge meal that celebrates the birth of Christ. What is eaten during this dinner varies; it is heavily based on region. The main dessert is normally une bûche de Noël, which is a rolled cake. It resembles a log.

More about Christmas in France/Lille tomorrow...

Anyway, Micki decided to go crazy for Julien, too...

Micki entered the room, and she was curious about what was going on.

Lilly told Micki about Lucía and Julien, and Micki was actually somewhat rude to poor Lucía. She didn't say "hi". Instead, she said, "Come on! Why are we standing here when there's a cute French boy to talk to?!?!?!"
I had to explain to Lucía that Micki was just like that. Micki's my roomate; I know how she is. I'm glad that Lucía didn't seem to offended.

Micki began to tell Julien about Belgium, and for a second, Micki actually seemed sane and down-to-Earth. Her conversation was real- it didn't involve any of her Sun Queen nonsense or how she wants to "start a war" against her cousins. She told him about how Bruxelles was the best city, and having been there, he agreed. She said that the States were pale in comparison to the beauty that she was used to in Europe.

And then, Chrissa had to burst in and ruin Micki's moment of sanity. She was furious with Micki for taking "her man". Promptly, Micki said, "Do you want to fight about it?"



They had an argument over who was the prettiest, and they even took to asking Julien's opinion on said issue! Julien, not wanting to encourage such behavior, ignored the question and croaked out a "um..." after they asked.

I should really start calling myself Saint Sabine the Benevolent because I saved Julien once more! But, of course, when I intervened, Chrissa and Micki went crazy. Micki proceeded to ask me if I wanted to fight about it (it=dating Julien), and I simply told her to leave him alone because she was being too intimidating. Micki then accused me of wanting him to myself, when that isn't the case at all! He isn't used to people being so outspoken and boisterous! Chrissa added that she thought I said he was single; therefore, she can talk to him. I told her there was a difference between talking to somebody and making them feel totally awkward...

It didn't stop there, unfortunately. I have much more to report.

Until then, happy holidays!

Sabine

Notre anniversaire!

Salut, tout le monde! Aujourd'hui est très chouette! Pourquoi?
C'EST L'ANNIVERSAIRE DES MOI ET MA SOEUR!!! :)

I apologize for the excitement; however, today is our (Sandrine and me) birthday!
We didn't do anything fancy as we normally receive most of our birthday gifts on Christmas since our birthday is so close. However, each of us opened one small gift.

I'll start off with Sandrine. Sandrine receieved a beautiful hand-paited parapluie- an umbrella! I love it. I may have to borrow it sometime.

Somebody shoved my present in a bag and didn't even add tissue paper! I avoided the temptation to peak- no worries. I wanted to be surprised.

I literally screamed with delight when I pulled out my present! I received a Hannah Montana cosmetic bag...or at least I think it's a cosmetic bag. It will definitely get a lot of use, especially when I go somewhere and need a bag to put my toiletries in.

That's not all, though...one more birthday present for each of us is on the way...

These pieces are from Cutie Pie and Me (not my photo). The shirt is for Sandrine, though I'll definitely wear it, and it looks like I finally got my coveted gray pants!

So that was our birthday. Instead of having cake, we ate some delicious peppermint ice cream and two pieces of dark chocolate. Lilly told me that she is saving her present to me for Christmas; she claims it is that great.

Sabine