pioggia n stuff

I mentioned this before but it has been insanely drizzly and wet for a while now. More than a week of on and off rain...unfortunately more on than off though. We are all craving sun over here.
I thought I had the solution with this bright flowery dress. I wore it the whole day hoping it would convince the clouds to skidadle. It didn't work, so Nora and I made a night of hair curlers, cookies and movies.
We even pushed the twin beds together to make a luxury sized lounge pad. It was genius, I don't know why we hadn't done it sooner! My roomie lau might just come back some evening to find me doing the same thing, only alone this time taking up as much space as I possibly can.

PS I think Nora and I rock the curlers. It made stuffing our faces with cookies and staying in on a Saturday night feel a million levels more loosery and therefore way waaAAAAYYYYY more enjoyable. If we are going to looser it up we might as well go all out!
Lau and I went on a walk in the light drizzle this morning and found these beautiful poppies that weren't there before(this is not were we found them we picked them and put them on our balcony flower box. V sneaky). I guess there is really something good about everything, even constant rain in May. You just have to look hard enough to find it.

More music obsessions

I am also in love with The Botticellis. They are a good soundtrack to anything or anytime. Maybe not good energetic dancing music, but it could be done.

Song obsession

I can't stop listening to this song. I would put it on replay for days and days if I didn't have anything to do but laze around.
Yesterday was blustery and today is dreary. Both are decidedly disagreeable, I can't wait for the sun to come back. I guess the one good thing about this ucky weather is that I don't have to water Sherlock, my basil plant.

Gourmetscapades!

I didn't even mention the delicious Moroccan birthday feast Nora and Ella made! It was so spicy and flavorful I thought I was going to die from over indulgence. They spent all day preparing it(which included hacking a lamb apart for the main dish), so yesterday I wanted to give them a little break and have them over for dinner. I made garlic shrimp pasta with parsley, which was inspired by one of the most genius websites I have ever stumbled upon. www.whatthefuckshouldimakefordinner.com is now a prominent part of my bookmark bar.
I also found some butternut squash at the supermarket the other day and I was having a really hard time deciding how to cook it until I found this recipe. Who in their right mind would say no to that?? Even my friend JJ who doesn't even like cheese ate it with gusto.

Birthday Festivity

Because of unforeseen volcanic activity my birthday party was not until May 3rd, exactly two weeks after I crossed the line and left teenagerdom behind forever. I think it was well worth the wait. My first surprise was this beautiful art instalment on my wall. Noni, Bianca, and Lau did this the night before I got home from Paris and I can't bare to take it down, so every morning we wake up with a couple more balloons on our beds or the floor. It'll be a very sad day when they all come down.
Gourmetscapade award definitely goes to my roomie Lau! Not only did she make this adorable ladybug cake, but TWO cheesecakes as well! The girl has mad talents. PS I don't have a ladybug fetish, which is a conclusion any unknowing reader might get due to the two ladybug cakes I have received. I do, however, have a ladybug tattoo on my back. My mother and I decided to get a tattoo together, so we chose to get the luckiest bug of all permanently inked on. So far I think it has worked out and lady luck has been pretty generous to us.
I got a ton of really awesome presents including a romper I had been drooling over, Chanel lipstick and nail polish(I have never owned anything designer other than my reading glasses in my whole life. I guess that stuff is only for grownups...which I know am. weird.), a play dough kit(interestingly called pasta per giocare in Italian) a hand painted Tshirt, and a SWEET juicer. They were all fantastic, but my absolute favorite thing was the card pictured above and the book bellow.
I was such a baby about this, I am a super sucker for when people are just too thoughtful or just plain nice. I didn't even get past the first page of the book before starting to sob. Good thing only my favorite people were in the room, I am pretty sure I would have felt embarrassed by my messy weeping if I hadn't been so worked up and emotional.
The book was put together by Nora and Ella, two of the most amazing human beings I know. Three weeks before they had sent out mass emails asking people to write something and choose a picture to put in my birthday book. They even got our friend Joaquin to send something all the way from Argentina. I didn't even mention the fact that they had to plan all of this over the Internet because Ella was stuck in London, once again due to stupid volcanoes! I was really moved by how many people participated and all the great inside jokes and thoughtful things they wrote. The whole thing blows my mind. I look at it around ten times a day, if not more. It is really, truly one of the best birthday gifts I have ever received.
And this is the insanity that ensued. I blame my lucky ladybug for having such stellar amici.
Bacio!

Les Catacombes!

Halt! Here is the empire of the dead.



Thank god Ella was down there with me, I couldn't imagine being down there with out anyone to clutch on to...and to take funny pictures with. Before we went Ella found this cool article which made sneaking around down there even more exciting.

Gay parrriiiisss!

From Aix En Provence to Paris where I met up with two of the very best British slags I know. I had this lovely couple great me with a lady bug bday cake. Party number two!
We wandered around the city all the while gazing in awe at never-ending beauty surrounding us. My camera ran out of batteries and I had forgotten my charger at home so I wasn't able to capture a lot of it digitally, but rest assured that it is permanently stored in the files of my brain.

Voila Jardin du Luxembourg. It is my favorite part of the whole city...except for maybe Musee d'Orsay. We spent hours relaxing on park benches talking and watching the local wonders pass by in super outfits. I must brag about our sighting of a formidable elderly madam decked from head to toe in leopard print. win.

Leave it to the French to make the prettiest bottle of Rose' known to man.
A magical salad created by three girls feeling guilt for eating nothing but pain suisse, fresh baguettes, and cheese for the last three days.
This is for my soul sistah Raha. We spent the best 10 days of my life in Paris the summer after we graduated highschool. Somehow we stumbled upon a mouth-watering Lebanese restaurant where we discovered Dajaj. This magical delight consists of: 1 fresh made wrap, mildly spicy chicken, mint leaves, green olives, and pineapple. I am actually salivating just thinking about it. Sorry guys, I will have to end here so I can go control this slobbery situation.
BACI ; )