Easter Weekend

Having a long Easter weekend this weekend but it's already Sunday! I always feel like I don't do anything but time passes so fast omg.

Gonna do a basic summary of my week so that I don't forget what I've been up to!

19/03 Saturday: Can't remember what I did in the morning but think I managed to see K before orch, then kinda lazed around until 1pm then went to Rivetoile to get the Adidas shirt for Anthea. Came back and lazed a bit more before finally dragging my ass to the library LOL but not before making a detour to Simply to buy some gummies first. Texted LJ to ask what she was doing in the evening then she invited me to dinner with her other friend, so I basically spent like less than 3 hours in the library since I only got there at 3pm and had to leave by 5.30pm ... But yeah was rather productive I guess, arrived back punctually to leave at 5.45pm then we went to meet her friend at Observatoire. Took the tram to Homme de Fer and decided to make a reservation at Brasserie Max for 7.30pm, leaving us about an hour to shop! We went to Galeries Lafayette and Stradivarius and Sephora, and LJ and I both bought stuff from Stradivarius lol. I bought another pair of Mom jeans in an indigo shade of denim but now thinking that I might return them cause spring is coming ain't nobody got time for long pants! But seriously the weather is looking so good for the next week like almost 20 deg and I can't wait to wear my skirts and dresses!

We went back to the restaurant pretty early cause most shops were closing at 7pm. Had a really great 3-course dinner - food was amazing - followed by a Monaco and we had so much fun talking about languages and dialects and stuff. Then after dinner we didn't really want to go back yet so we went to another bar called Meme dans les Orties or something. The last time I went there was with the English gang and that was like the week before our very first term break so all the way back in October?!? Crazy how fast time has gone. We sat there for a while and got another round of drinks and left about 12. LJ and I walked her friend back home first then we went back to PA together.

And here's the crazy part LOL. I went back to my room thinking I was gonna shower and quickly sleep then as I was opening my door my neighbour R and his friend M opened his door and they asked me if I wanted to go to Kehl. LOL. I had absolutely no intention of going out again but when did I ever turn down a night out anyway HAHA. So I asked them how much time we've got and they told me 10 min so I quickly got changed and packed my stuff then we went to catch the bus. Felt so weird going to Kehl again cause the last time I went was like December with the English gang again right before everyone left for Christmas break! But I hadn't drank much just 2 Monacos so was very sober. Got into Gold then met all the Brazilians there and we had not a bad time but was so tired I couldn't wait for the 4am bus back LOL. Got the bus back with O and A and this other girl and we all went back to PA tgt and finally I could sleep LOL.

20/03 Sunday: Managed to wake up early at 9am nonetheless (barely slept like 5 hours?!), saw that K was awake so went over then watched videos and stuff. Was so hungover and tired lol but I was supposed to go to I's place for afternoon tea so I eventually left at 5pm. Got there and they were all waiting for me felt so bad! But we had a nice time and had tea and biscuits and also Turkish coffee reading by I which was really cool. The other 2 girls had to leave early after that but I stayed back with I until about 7pm then her friends were coming and I was supposed to meet P and G at this bar called What The Fox for dinner at 8pm. Was rather punctual and we had a nice dinner and finally tried the Printemps drink which was supposed to be pamplemousse but couldn't taste too much of it! But yeh was a nice way to end the week.

21/03 Monday: Woke up feeling sick and tired so missed Syntaxe and was planning to go for the classes in the afternoon. I went for Rhetorique et Stylistique at noon because it was the class class before the exam but felt so awful and dizzy outside thankfully the class was only one hour. Came back and just crashed without even eating lunch omg. Then slept the whole afternoon even though I was meaning to go for Histoire at 5pm but completely overslept until 6pm. Texted LJ then she invited me over for dinner so I went downstairs. She'd made pasta with avocado and even baked a cake which was amazing omg so I offered to do the dishes but her dishcloth was dirty so I went upstairs to get mine. Met one of my neighbours on the stairs who told me someone was looking for me and I guessed it was K lol and I was right but went to bring the dishcloth down first and dos the dishes before coming up again. Managed to talk a bit before leaving for work then I went back to LJ's place again and we had cake for dessert and watched Big Bang Theory! Left around 10pm cause we were both tired and also had 8am class the next day.

22/03 Tuesday: Actually woke up for the 8am class LOL such a struggle every week (even last term I had 8am on Tuesdays!). After class LJ and I went to Simply first cause I hadn't had breakfast so was craving some cakes. Bought some food then came back to PA and neither of us wanted to go to the library for the 3h break so I just stayed in my room and ate breakfast slowly then packed A's adidas shirt for postage. Went for Morpho at noon then had Lexicographie after where we got back our exam scripts. Was happy that I did relatively okay for it. After class Kathrin and I went to get some food then we went to the library together cause she was waiting for a film meet in the evening while I had to study for the Phonologir exam the next day. Stayed in the library until closing time at 7pm then walked tgt and met Henrietta and her friend that I met once at FLE at the crossing. Came back home and showered early and was supposed to study more for Phonologie but I'm so bad with studying at home it just didn't happen ugh. Ended up sleeping early instead and decided to wake up earlier to study.

23/03 Wednesday: Waking up early to study is a myth LOL. Woke up but couldn't absorb anything then went to class but luckily the stuff were similar. Didn't go for lunch but spent the one hour in the library with LJ and YS then we went to take the exam. Was so tired after the exam I came back and just ... Slept the whole afternoon. Was actually intending to head to the library again but was honestly so tired I slept with my shoes on lol and woke up at 5.30pm barely in time for Italian! Went for Italian at 6pm and after class YS and I went for our usual post-Italian dinner but this time wth another Vietnamese girl from our class and LJ said she'll come along too. Ate in the Resto U and had a nice dinner but I left early and managed to catch K before work so we walked over tgt.

24/03 Thursday: Didn't manage to wake up for FLE LOL but had this weird dream where I was messaging my groupmate that I can't make it and didn't actually send the message?! Woke up quite late then ate some stuff for lunch then texted LJ if she wanted to go to the library and she'd in fact just gotten back LOL impeccable timing. We went to the library at Patio but it was too nice weather to study so we both got pretty restless then decided to go to Macs LOL. Went to Macs for an afternoon snack sort of meal but she had work at 6pm so we decided to just go to centre ville. Took the tram to Homme de Fer then went to some shops then she had to leave before 6 while I went to Galeries Lafayette to try on some jeans from Topshop. There wasn't much to do so slowly strolled back and stopped by at Simply to grab some groceries before the long weekend since shops were going to be closed. Ate dinner and didn't do anything else seriously I get so bored in the evenings lol.

25/03 Friday: Good Friday! Video called parents in the morning, I woke up at freaking 7am the only day that I didn't have to wake up early LOL. Then had to meet the English gang for crepes at noon. We went to La Crêpe Gourmande which was not too bad and I had this crêpe that was on fire!! Walked back tgt with P and G and actually wanted to check out a museum but it was closed for the férié. Came home then went to find K a while before he had to go out then saw that I had 2 emails regarding the internship so talked to Gee a bit about it. And had another extremely boring evening again I was so bored that I wanted to go for a morning jog the next morning and catch the sunrise LOL so slept really early at 11pm.

26/03 Saturday: The morning jog never happened LOL. I actually did wake up at 6am and texted LJ but think she wasn't wake so I went back to sleep and only woke up again 5 hours later LOL. So I slept a full 12 hours in fact. Saw that LJ had texted me at 7 saying she overslept too so oh well! Ate some peanut butter sandwiches for lunch then went to find K about 2pm. The bad news was that Zootopia didnt have the English version anymore so we decided to go see Batman vs Superman at 5pm. Turned out to be a good decision cause there weren't that many people so we got the best seats then when it ended there were so many people queueing for the next show! It was not too bad haha though I didn't understand a lot of the film. But it was 3 hours so long I thought it'd be only 2 hours or something! I like Wonder Woman HAHAHA. After the movie we went to Franky's for dinner and saw they had all the new exercise stuff near Rivetoile super cool! We went to spin around on the spinning things I don't even know what they're called LOL. Came back to PA and had a game of billiard!! My first time playing HAHAHA. Also wanted to see Man of Steel afterwards but was too sleepy and too late by then.

27/03 Sunday: Woke up at 10am but didn't realise that the clocks had changed to BST so actually I woke up at 9am hehe :D But fell back asleep again until 1pm LOL. Had brunch and watched Man of Steel with K omg can't wait for the rest of the movies to come out LOL think the next one is coming out in August ... Then K wanted to go prac but couldn't get the room so came back up but had to leave again at 7. Felt so weird now that the sun only sets at like 8pm LOL but hooray for longer days!! And I'm going for a morning jog tmr with LJ but just washed my hair tonight argh HAHA. But tmr is férié again so glad for one more day of holiday and this has been a really nice weekend so far besides me rotting in boredom almost every night I need to find things to do what did I even do last term?! Missing V and O hahaha they were always up for stuff all the time hahaha.

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Had an equally good day today even though once again I failed to present myself at the library but OH WELL. Was v happy cause I actually woke up early like at 8am (I am becoming more light-sensitive but that's a good thing hooray for longer days!) then saw a text from K who then came over so we spent the morning tgt and had a nice breakfast. I fell asleep again in the afternoon and barely woke up just in time for the atelier at 4pm which I'd signed up for! Went for the 2 ateliers then decided to stay for the 3rd one since it was in the same classroom and was glad that I did cause it turned out to be really fun and interesting! Met Sofia in class so we walked back tgt then I went to Simply to buy some fruits and drinks while she went to the bus stop. Came back and ate a (solo) dinner at the resto'u but so convenient now that it's open in the evenings as well since the one at Esplanade is undergoing construction. But all in all it was a really nice day! I haven't decided if I will go for more ateliers tomorrow but gonna need to go to the library realised I have so much work this weekend :( All the classes this week were really hard for some reason omg and first exam starts next Wed sigh what is year abroad???

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Before the day ends I just wanted to pen this down: Had the happiest day in a while today. Incidentally it also happens to be St Patrick's Day today and while I fulfilled neither of my plans to go to the library nor the pub I think it was a very well-spent day.

Thank you, for everything.

Some thoughts

I must be either too free these days or too stressed - like stuff from the past keeps occupying my mind. It's happened before when I was so stressed that I feel like I have nothing to do, which could also be now with exams coming up in 3 weeks and the realisation that this academic year is almost over. One year felt like a really long time at the beginning of the year - back in August last year I was so elated to have the whole year ahead of me, but now we're down to about 5 or 6 more weeks of classes/exams before my year in Strasbourg would be complete, my friends back in UCL are mostly graduating this year, and I have summer to prepare for, then it's gonna be final year. Once again I get the feeling that time is passing by too quickly but I just want to stay in the present really. So much as though I'm denying the fact that time passes, things change and people change. But I liked it better the way they were. 

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In other news I also went to rent a violin today from a luthier in Strasbourg. On Sunday I had this terrible feeling of missing my violin and spent the whole night listening to Bach Violin Concertos and yesterday was busy with classes the whole day so I went today afternoon. Should've probably done this at the beginning of the year and auditioned for orchestra, but honestly speaking the thought of playing in a French orchestra scares me. I'm still really bad with sightreading and just the thought of all the instructions and especially bar numbers in French is enough to make me worry for days. But the luthier today did suggest for me to try the orchestra and he said that they're always looking for players but Idk I'm not sure if I have enough courage to go audition hahaha. And also dk if I should do orch again next year cause final year I really have to study and orch does take up quite a lot of time ... But I'll think again next year.

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I should probably go pack my room now. Sometimes in the middle of the night I can smell the same smell that I did the first night I moved here. I guess smells can trigger specific memories too.

Brandy Melville: 2016 February Italy Trip Shopping!

Spent the afternoon contemplating whether I should go for the Brandy garage sale in Milan next week LOL. It sounds really tempting but transport is going to cost €60 return and accoms I could get it for about €20 so that would be €80 ... Sounds reasonable but considering the purpose to be just shopping, not really. I've already been to Milan like, 6 times so there's really nothing more I absolutely need to see plus weather isn't superb ... I just don't want to have to pay €80 to attend a sale with no expectations of what there's going to be!!

But anyway, in order to convince myself that it's not a worthwhile trip and that I already own way too much Brandy I decided to compile my buys from February's Italy trip! I've not blogged about Venice yet either - should get to it soon before I forget. This time round my trip was from Strasbourg - Milan - Rome - Florence - Venice - Milan - Strasbourg, so I went to the stores in Rome, Florence and Milan again. The same stores that I've already been, so everything was pretty much the same ... except the stuff on the racks of course. Especially the last chance rack omg. And also for Rome and Florence YL was with me so we were Brandy shopping buddies! Woop woop :)

Milano

I only had 5 hours for my transit so after having lunch with Lizzie there wasn't much time. We were at the Duomo so went to the Duomo store first but nothing much there, so I decided to make my way to the Via Statuto store since it was geographically closer to the Lampugnano bus stop (kind of). Didn't find much there either but I got a Reyna top in burgundy and a gold necklace!

Brandy Melville Reyna Top in Burgundy

Roma

In Rome YL and I went to the same 2 stores that I went the last time. The one on Via Del Corso is the biggest store in Rome and it was there that one of the girls told us that Brandy actually originated in Rome!! And there was also at least 2 stores in every zone (I'm supposing the municipals) but the rest were too far ... I only bought a black highneck velvet dress in Rome and a silver crystal stone necklace. The dress is one of the Italy exclusive items so they don't have it online and I don't have a photo of it, but it's quite a nice LBD though I think I already have enough LBDs ...

Firenze

Bought a lot of stuff in Florence. 9 items for €109! They had a sale rack omg the sale rack is absolutely amazing. I bought 2 striped Tori tops (one plain and one with the alien patch), 2 Mason Tops (one striped and one orange with the alien patch), a striped Kaitlyn top, an olive green Nathalie tank, a navy Abi knit sweater, a pale blue Betty sweater and a denim pouch with the alien patch. Super happy with the buys woop woop! Okay pictures are nice so:

Brandy Melville Tori Top in Stripes

Brandy Melville Mason Top in Stripes

Brandy Melville Kaitlyn Top

Brandy Melville Nathalie Knit Tank in Olive Green

Brandy Melville Abi Knit Sweater in Navy

Brandy Melville Betty Sweater in Pale Blue

Venezia

There was no Brandy store in Venice unfortunately :( A bit of a funny story here I actually managed to google an address - I think it must've been a very old address or something - in Mestre, went there, and it turned out to be ......... a hair salon. LOL. But weather in Venice was very nice and I bought some Murano glass pendants :D I think the nearest store to Venice is in Padova but was a bit out of the way to go.

Milano (again)

Milan round 2 was much better. LOL. I was initially supposed to stay 2 days in Milan and take a day trip to Genova on Saturday but decided to come back earlier one day so I cancelled the Genova trip. My bus was then at 4.45pm on Saturday instead of Sunday, so I had Saturday to shop. I had the 24h Urban Transport day pass this time, so taking the metro around was a lot quicker. Went to the store at San Giovanni first since I didn't manage to go the last time, but there wasn't anything new and no more sales so didn't get anything. Then went to the Duomo store, but they closed off the whole basement floor that day cause they were shifting around stuff I think so didn't feel like shopping around much there. But the Via Statuto store was great!! They had a whole bunch of stuff on last chance so I tried on a lot of stuff and bought most of them. Really wanted a nutmeg sweater but it was the last one and there was a massive hole at the front so didn't get it. Also regret passing on the Bite Me Cherry black sweater ah it was so cute but didn't think I would wear it very often. I bought 8 pieces of clothing there and 2 necklaces for €134 total, which was not bad considering I got 2 sweaters. Also I found the button-up corduroy skirts for only €15!!! I was meaning to get those the last time but they didn't have black in the store, and now there's a new navy colour too but both colours were on sale! And they were the last pieces ahaha I think there was another one in black but size M. It fitted more comfortably but was really baggy so I still went for the S. Anyway here are some of the stuff I bought!

Brandy Melville Joanne Tank in Olive Green

Brandy Melville Harriet Turtleneck Top in Black

(This is one of my favourite tops - wore it to the concert last night!)

Brandy Melville Gracie Knit Sweater in Light Blue

Brandy Melville Gracie Knit Sweater in Olive Green

Brandy Melville Klum Corduroy Skirt in Black

Brandy Melville Klum Corduroy Skirt in Navy

Brandy Melville Gwen Sweater in Blush Pink

Brandy Melville Leia Sweater in Burgundy

I had a hard time differentiating if the sweaters that I own are the Leia sweaters or the Ollie sweaters because they look so similar in the pictures, but decided that they were probably Leia's because the Ollie's tend to be of a thinner material. They also tend to snag easier because of the material. I was really tempted by the Ollie sweaters (and still am) especially the blue and pink ones but decided that I probably won't wear them as often for fear of snagging them. But I might still get them if I ever find them at a good price!

So that concludes my shopping for February - wish there would be one for March too LOL but am now thinking it's highly unlikely that I'm going to go cause it's just not worth it spending €80 just to go to the sale when I could probably get like a bunch of stuff with that amount on the usual sale racks. I've also been to Milan so many times, so I can't really use the excuse of "travelling and exploring" since it's unlikely that I'm gonna have time to see anywhere else LOL. And the sale stuff are probably gonna be from the winter collection but I prefer the summer collection so much more! And also it's going to be in the Via Statuto store and I think I've already bought enough stuff there and didn't see anything else that I really really want at the moment ......... Omg just trying to convince myself not to go LOL okay but I will go if by some miracle or other I can find cheaper transport there for like €10 like the last time or something LOL.

In other news I also got featured on Instagram by Brandy Melville Italy yesterday!!! Super happy and honoured, it came as a surprise really cause I got the notification that their account liked my photo and the next thing I knew ......... They tagged me in a photo. OMG. I feel like it was a major #achievementunlocked moment LOL. But still yes I'm super happy woop woop!
The post can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BCktCGVyyNa/

Oh Wonder @ La Laiterie, Strasbourg

Just came back from Oh Wonder's concert and feeling pretty overwhelmed so thought I should post this quickly while I'm still enjoying the aftermath of the concert. This is the third live concert (I think??) that I've seen - first was Jessie J's iTunes Concert, then CHVRCHES in O2 Brixton last year - and also my very first concert in Strasbourg! I'm usually not a live performance person (I think the studio versions generally sound better) but tonight's performance was simply amazing. And I went alone!! Bought my ticket way back in January for €6 with my carte culture but it got sold out really quickly (wasn't expecting it) so no one else I knew managed to get the ticket. But it didn't matter that much I still enjoyed it!

I left about 1930 wanting to catch the 1938 bus to La Laiterie but the bus was late and upon arriving at the bus stop I realised I'd forgotten to bring the printed ticket. Arrived at La Laiterie at 2000h and there was already a queue. They did accept my electronic ticket so wasn't a problem. There was also a vestaire in the club which I didn't use as I only had my denim jacket. The club itself was actually quite small (think normal club size) but was pretty cosy. I've no idea how many people it could fit but probably about maybe 150 max? No wonder they had such limited tickets :(

Anyway, the concert opened with Lewis Watson, a British singer. I've not heard of him before this but his music is quite nice, kind of similar to Oh Wonder but less pop-ish. He ended his performance at 2100h and OW was supposed to appear at 2130h so there was half an hour to wait. I started talking to this girl in front of me who came alone as well. 

At 2130h OW came on stage (very punctual) and they opened with Livewire, which is one of my absolute favourite songs! I think it's my favourite but I like so many others too! Followed by Dazzle, then Lose It. The live versions actually sound even better because the songs are more upbeat and the beat is stronger. And Josephine's voice was really good for live performance too! And she was so cute when introducing "Without You" cause she actually spoke a bit of French then stopped to ask for the title in French to which everyone replied "Sans Toi" hahaha.

This was the playlist for the night (I actually borrowed it from a girl at the bus stop who took this back). I personally preferred the more upbeat songs but the slow ones were really good too. The songs in the middle were okay, I enjoyed Landslide the most out of those but the ones at the end were amazing starting from Body Gold. They actually did like a remix (??) kind of thing at the end with another bridge and it was so good and I wasn't expecting it so didn't manage to video it!!! Omg regrets but gonna try to find it online I swear the live version is amazing I like it even more than the studio one. Then we thought it was the end of the concert cause they thanked us then went backstage but they came out again for "encore" and played Plans and Technicolour Beat, which were both really great. I was half expecting a new song maybe but guess they're too busy touring at the moment but will look forward!! Realised the only song they didn't play was "The Rain" but it's not one of my super favourites so didn't really mind. :D 

All in all it was such a great experience and they're just fantastic live! And it wasn't such a big deal going alone though I was thinking at first that I'm gonna feel socially awkward but when I got there there were others who came alone too and seriously once the concert begins and the lights go off everyone's just enjoying the music by themselves haha. So it wasn't a big deal after all just do it HAHAHA. Also for me personally listening to OW always reminds me of the time when I first moved to Strasbourg in September cause that was when they first released their whole album and when I chanced upon them randomly on Spotify. I remember putting their whole album on repeat one evening after I cooked one of my first meals with my rice cooker and was eating my dinner and drinking teh tarik LOL. Then there were the times when I first began lessons here and I'd put them on repeat the whole night while (attempting to) study(ing). Then it was on 22 Oct the flight of my 2nd trip back to London with Ollie that I got super hooked on Livewire and decided that that would be my favourite song in the album and it got stuck in my mind for the whole weekend. But yeah, all their songs remind me of very ... Specific times, and specific memories. And now that I've actually managed to see them in Strasbourg just makes everything feel sort of complete and I'm really happy and I think I'll always remember tonight (but lest I don't this post shall remind me!).

So it's been an amazing first concert experience in Strasbourg haha and I don't think I'd ever be able to get tickets at such a good price again hahaha. Am super tired and a bit hungry now so gonna get some food then sleep!