KRYN GOES TO COLLEGE: THE UPDATE

I told her I was taking a gap year and her response wasn't quite what I expected.
"Enjoy your last year at home!" she said, "It's so special."

I laughed really hard. And then I cried.

But I cried a lot harder than I laughed.

LIZZY BENNET REPORTING FROM PEMBERLY

(translation: Kryn reporting from Versailles.)

Okay can we talk about the sad fact that life doesn't have a soundtrack? I for one know that my life would be infinitely more impressive it was accompanied by background music. Maybe the dishes wouldn't seem so boring and taking out the trash would be elevated FOR SURE.

All that to say, Versailles has background music. At the entrance of the gardens we were greeted by booming opera music which WAS AMAZING. Normally I'm more of a Nicki Manaj gal but when you're at a palace, opera is a good second choice. Exploring the gardens with classical music in the background made me feel like the main character in a Jane Austen movie....Minus the hot men. And the fancy dresses. And the servants!

But besides that, I was basically Elizabeth Bennet for 3 hours.

Here's the proof!

Dead ringer for Lizzy or no? Please say yes!

HAPPY THROWBACK. I've been back a whole month and haven't even finished Paris posts or began the London ones. At this rate, I'll be back in Paris before I finish.

Moral of the story? If you want to feel like Lizzy Bennet, tour a fancy palace and listen to opera music. Preferably at the same time! If not, you can live vicariously through this post. It's what I'll be doing 20 years from now.

Hotel de Ville

One day I stopped sneezing long enough to walk across the river to Hotel De Ville.

Not much more than a pretty place to take photos but hey, sometimes that's all a girl needs.

(that and like 20 boxes of tissues and 3 bottles of nyquil and an adequate supply of pillows.)

But other than that!

THE FRENCH SUMMER OF MY SOUL

There's a reason bliss and baguette begin with the same letter....

Cheers to summer days in France!

When in Paris....

As a blog connoisseur and Pinterest pro (self-proclaimed, but that's besides the point.) I know my way around a macaroon. Besides the fact that they are incredibly photogenic (exhibit a HERE.), they come in a variety of colors, which obviously is they way to a girls heart. And any good girl knows that the best Macaroons come from Paris and the best macaroons in Paris come from Laduree. So to Laduree we went!

▲▲ For future reference (hopefully this information will be handy to you or I one day!) skip the Champs-Élysées  Laduree (Don't skip Champs-Elysees! Its nice to hear some English while in Paris and that's the place to get your fix) and go to the Rue Royale shop for a bit calmer (and brighter?) macaroon experience!

▲▲ The best part about Paris was all the stupid things I did for photos! Seriously, I didn't even eat a macaroon till we got HOME, in order to make sure I had a "just right" photo. Still cracks me up, but hey! You only get Laduree once. Wink.

Can we all agree that macaroons are the prettiest? Yes? Amen. 

Louvre and Mona Pizza and all that jazz.

 

Our visit to the Louvre probably would have been far more impressive had we not just been to the National Gallery. In there alone you could easily see enough private body parts and demon possessed babies to last a lifetime (a year at least.) On the other hand, the Louvre itself was INCREDIBLY beautiful. Those French sure were doing something right back then...although these days, one may wonder! Anyway, let's Louvre it up, shall we?

▲▲ In which, I saw the Mona Lisa. (The Mona Pizza, if you are feeling fancy.) It was surprisingly small and equally unimpressive. But still, it's a great work of art, and now I've seen it! And that is very satisfactory.

Regardless, it was an amazing experience! Still can't believe I was actually IN Paris, ya know?!? Dreams do come true!

FROM PARIS WITH LOVE.

Ever since coming home, Paris is all I can think about! At my first social event I felt a great urge to share with everyone of my amazing experience in Paris. Person to Person was an option, but I felt like a little presentation (with pictures! everyone loves pictures!) would be more interactive option. You know, and then EVERYONE would know how magical that city is.

But since I hadn't had enough time to prepare some cheesy jokes, I just stuck to my usual plan of bringing every conversation  back to Paris. Talking about snacks "They have the best food there!", commenting on the pretty house we were in  "The houses in Paris were BEAUTIFUL!" It was a good plan! It worked! Though I'm pretty sure everyone was sick of Paris and that is a sad thing indeed.

Anyway, I made a video! It's pretty rough (someone send me a tripod ASAP) but it's perfect in it's own way because its Paris and Paris is perfect so it all works out in the end. Please enjoy a blurry view of the city and get ready for 80 million blog posts to follow, all with an underlying theme of "I WANT TO GO TO PARIS AGAIN."

Not to shout or anything, but really!




Okay, I'm gonna go cry now. Really guys, Paris is incredible, even when blurry and shaky cam are in full swing. Now, does anyone have any tissues handy?

Hi and mini-goodbye

Hi. Hello....Oh wait, BONJOUR.

I guess we bloggers periodically fall off the face of the earth. We're just so outta this world! But I really wanted to pop in and say that I might not be blogging much lately. It has become clear that I need to devote more time and focus to other areas of my life instead of  blogging. Though, I do love it so, so, so much....but then again, less is more? Quality over Quantity? Absence makes the heart grow fonder? I'll try my hand at it.

I would tell you that you could follow me on instagram to keep up with my adventures,
but I don't care for instagram so that one is out of the question. I think we'll just send smoke signals instead.

Effective communication is my thang.*

*read in dorky teenager/teeny-boper / wannabee it girl voice. thanks

61 to go

I am so ready for Christmas. I am ready for Sirius Holiday Music. I am ready for Paul McCartney and the Wings. I am ready for shopping and giving and eating cookies and wrapping gifts and opening gifts and all that wonderful, lovely, once a year jazz. There is just something fantastic about Christmas.

I got my Christmas piano music. I got silver bells!!! Silver Bells is possibly one of the greatest Christmas songs ever written. Why? I have no idea. I love to sing Silver Bells during the year. Dad and I always sing it on road trips. I distinctly remember driving through Nevada on our way to Vegas and singing Silver Bells. And that was in July. So basically we are strange. And I got Rudolph the red nose reindeer, which is immensely cool because I know it in French! I love Christmas. I love French. It doesn't get much better than that.

Un-German.

I UN-German and proud of it. I love all you Germans, but I'm just fine with no German blood in my body. I do love Germany though. They eat the BEST food ever. I seriously wish Americans would be known for something other than greasy hamburgers and french fries.

Today I made a Sweet Genius show with Emily and Andy. It was so hilarious. My accent was perfect and their genius right on. It was truly amazing. The food was less than amazing, but so fun. I loved making my orange cream reduction sauce and my candied apricot strips. I'm not sure Nana enjoyed it as much as we did though. :)

Smile Day:
I am noticing I do weird things when I smile. I kind of tuck up my lip. It makes me look like I have a mustache, and I don't! Its very very bad.

Sincerely,
I am a Sweeeeet Genius....are YOU?

PS:
See what I mean?!?!? Between that and my pointy clavicle, I'm doomed.

Coffee.

I have a very interesting story that relates to Coffee and Pumpkin. This is kind of a multi celebration story.I love this story so very much.

Once Upon a time I was in an airport in Charlotte, NC, when I decided that I really wanted coffee. I'd never had coffee before, but J had been telling me about Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. I was intrigued. I went to Starbucks just before our flight came, and I bought A pumpkin Spice Latte. Basically, that was the biggest mistake of my life. I waited to drink any until we were on our flight. Another huge mistake.

We were flying with our Grandparents, and KJ and I were sitting separately from them. Luck was with me, I sat next to a guy STRAIGHT FROM FRANCE!!!! I was so terribly excited. He was on his way to visit his girlfriend in San Fransisco, which is the most romantic thing ever. Anyway, back to the coffee. I waited until we were in the air to take a drink. I took a drink. I gulped. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted. I wanted to like it so bad, but I couldn't. I nearly spit it out on our new french friend. I had KJ drink it and we both decided it tasted like cedar wood. Of course I've never feasted on cedar, but I'm fairly positive it would taste like a pumpkin spice latte.

Aside from drinking liquefied wood on that flight, it was by far the most enjoyable flight I've had. The french guy was very nice, he let us play with his iPhone. I had the honor of being his translator when the captain of flight attendants spoke. I got him coffee several times, which is another reason why this story relates to today's holiday.

Okay, so This really didn't have much to do with Coffee or pumpkin. But I love this story. Oh so very much.

Sincerely,
Jar Jar Bush

Bombs away!

Today was full of firsts for me. Not my first bomb pop of course, oh no. I have those many times. I do love bomb pops. They are amazingly patriotic. I have a feeling that's why this day is so close to the 4th of July. Anyway, of course, here are some pictures from my celebration!
I went to the store by myself for these nuggets. I generally don't like grocery stores. I like food of course, but I don't like grocery store. The baggers scare me. But I did it all my myself today. Mom was cheering when I got back in the car.

Our Bomb pop day celebration was a debacle of sorts. Mom went to the store while K.J. and I were still sleeping. When she came home, I asked if she'd gotten bomb pops and she said "Where's My cape?" I guess she thought she was some sort of super hero. And apparently she forgot the bomb pops. She was "sure" she got them. She didn't. Good thing I didn't have a cape for her anyway. So that's why I had to go back all by myself. As you can see, I'm really enjoying this holiday.Bomb pops are cool because they make your mouth pink. Red or pink, your call. I prefer pink. The red layer is not the best, its the blue! And can you believe I'm saying blue is the best? The lime is ok. I like the blue best partly because its so drippy.


I look like I'm about to shove my bomb pop into my head. But what else is life for? This might be on my bucket list if I ever make one. I think I need to start my bucket list soon, because I probably will have a lot of things on it.

I love bomb pops. They are so wonderful and summery. Now, I must tell you about the Chalet dwellers. Before they were Chalet dwellers lived in a chalet, we used to eat Popsicles quite often. Not necessarily bomb pops. They like the orange cream the best. Anyway, one time we went to early church with them, and then we went to their house since both our dads were working that day. And we all had Popsicles at 10:30 in the morning. It was most delightful. Since we know the Chalet dwellers love Popsicles, we might run over and share our bomb pops. I also asked Troy if he wanted one because it was National Bomb Pop day. He got a little confused. He didn't know there was a day dedicated to the wonderfulness of bomb pops. He made some lame excuse and changed the subject. Bad celebrating on his part.

And the puppies got shaved today! They look adorable. I also love the bandanna that they have on when they come back. The are quaint. And I mean that in a good way.

At this point the blue raspberry of my bomb pop began to drip all over me. I had to put away the phone. I think Popsicles that drip are extra wonderful. A Popsicle with no drip is hardly a popsicle at all. And that's a fact.

Sincerely,
I keep spelling bomb with a P.

PS: My other first was that I made a merang. Woot. And mom said that if I taught myself French so I could speak it fluently she'd take me to Paris. Here's how far I've gotten:

Bonjour! Comment t'applles-tou?
Je m'epplle Kryn.
Comment allez-vous?
Tres bein, Merci!

Pretty good for a beginner huh?

UPDATE:
Not long after I'd written this post, I noticed a blue streak on my leg. I guess that was from the blue raspberry. I had a very good Popsicle.

E-claire

I have a friend named Claire. I hope she is celebrating because her name is in today's celebration. As I mentioned, G-ma told me where to find good e-claires. I found that place. I now really like that place. And I might just be back in the near future.
This is a good sign.
Glory be ,these are my e-claires. I love them. They are big. Puffy, light and fluffy. Wonderful combination if you ask me. These e-claires are huge. I have never seen a bigger e-claire in all my life. The last e-claire I had was about the size of a twinky. But not here. Oh no. This is Texas sized, and I'm not even in Texas. This was a very good e-claire. I'm not an e-claire expert, But to me, this are pretty wonderful. These delightful little nuggets were a tad expensive. But we splurged. After all, National Eclair day comes only once a year.

I was jazzed about today because it has to do with France. France is where the good stuff is. I am obsessed. I want to go to Paris so bad. I want to go to the top of the Eiffel tower. I want to go see Mona Lisa at the Louvre. I want to drink blueberry tea and eat elcairs and escargot at a french cafe. Lexy and I decided we want to go together for my senior year. Lexy would be a fabulous friend to have with me in Paris. Oh, and I can sing in french too. Another connection to that wonderful country. I know 3 songs. Mom and I love to sing them on our many trips across the country. K.J and dad don't enjoy it quite as much as we do. Of course.

This is my new bag. Its perfect for the beach. Too bad there is no beach around here. I fully inted on bringing this bag back home with me. This thing is to wonderful to get left behind.
As you can see, we've already helped ourselves to the abundance of crackers that I was graced with. And you can also see my feet in my gladiators. I really do have lovely feet. So don't worry. If I did not have lovely feet, I would not post a picture of them with such ease and grace.

I'm still recovering from my bizarre eye incident. And due to my fabulous acting, I've been called back for an encore performance. Maybe this time I'll get a picture of me in halo. Wouldn't that be great? Woot.

Enjoy those e-claires!

Sincerely,
Dites-moi