The Paris I'd Like to Share. . .

The Paris I'd Like to Share. . .

It seems like only yesterday I was sitting on a 12 hour KLM plane ride to Charles De Gaulle, having my seat kicked in by a 3 year old on a rampage, drifting in and out of consciousness with Black Swan on in the background and thinking to myself "is this really my life?"

Seven days, a Japanese Tsunami, a Parisian adventure and an engagement later, I boarded the Air France jet still feeling strangely detached from the craziest week I have ever experienced. Ever. I thought back over the first sleepless night, waking up to watch the BBC coverage of the Japan disaster and eating pan au chocolate and some random (and not very delicious) hot milk that the bf had managed to conjure up from the only place open at 3:30 am in our part of Paris that also sold milk--Le McDonalds. I pondered the metro, with its surprisingly talented array of performers and constant bustle. Of course I went back and re-enjoyed all the delicious food I ate (except pate, sorry I tried but I don' t love you!) and I thought about how much my life had changed in one week.

When I came back I was immediately thrown into the whirlwind of  "being engaged". Seeing the families, re-telling of stories, being asked the date (um, we've been engaged 3 days people lol) holding my hand out and gazing dreamily at the sparkly new adornment on my normally naked finger.

You would think someone who loves to share so much (the proof of which lies in this blog) would love to go over every detail of the trip and the proposal endlessly. At first its what I thought too, but then not so much. It was kind of like this secret that I wanted to tuck into my back pocket and relish all on my own.

The result was that I have been horrendously slow at posting pictures. Which I figure is ok, because plenty of you have been there, or live there, or blog there! But if not, above is the Paris I'd like to share. The good parts, the ones worth capturing.

In My Dreams, I Drive a Food Truck

In My Dreams, I Drive a Food Truck

Sometimes the food gods shine down on this semi-little beach town, and grant us with a slice of culture not normally found amongst our consistently uniform terra-cotta rooftops.

This weekend was one of those times.
Bored on a Sunday afternoon I did what I always do when I'm bored. I started surfing the net. It's kind of where I find the best things in cyber-life (and real life too, like when I found Hicksville Trailer Palace)

Anywhoo I stumbled upon the fact that Santa Barbara was hosting a Food Truck Festival, at that very moment! A magical place where food meets means of transportation, sprinkled with a dash of alcohol and general gluttony.
Basically heaven. I found my way there as fast as my feet could take me.

And it was just that. Foodie-heaven. Who knew they had fro-yo food trucks? I enjoyed my first banh-mi experience, dined upon some pommes frites with wasabi-mayo dipping sauce and washed it all down with some tasty Kalyra Chardonnay.

I encountered some characters that I dont think fall under the category of "5 people you meet in heaven" (were talking 70's porn-star dude, and a creepy lone cowboy) but in my opinion, they made the event that much more interesting.

Don't mind me, I'm just a cowboy creeping up into your pictures

DIY Succulent Garden

DIY Succulent Garden

Trends are such funny finicky little things. Take for example, succulents. I remember growing up my mom had heinous amounts of them strewn across our patio each with its own terracotta pot painted some awful shade of 70's blah that I would just gag over and tell her how they looked "soooo outdated". Don't forget my well practiced eye roll.

Like many things associated with childhood and parents, I thought succulents were so uncool. Cue my surprise, when in 2011, I started seeing those fleshy little blossoms everywhere. And I kind of liked it. It turns out they are interesting, full of variety, color, shape and size. To my amazement, there's no law of nature stating they have to be planted in ugly pea green pots (heads up Mom! lol) They can be modern terrariums, pretty planters or kind of what I was going for which is a sort of neo-classicism.

Below is the result of my new found love for succulents. I bought this awesome cast iron pedestal planter ( If you are Googling, I think it's actually called an urn, but that sounds so morbid!). All I did was put some stones in the bottom, add the cactus planting soil, and stick those puppies in their new environment. I had a jar of smashed shell bits I got from Michael's like two years ago (any hoarder crafter out there can relate to having such random things in your house you never know how you'll use! ) that were shimmery and pretty so I put them on top of the soil for added sparkle. Succulents are pretty sturdy so it should be no problem and I would definitely recommend adding something decorative atop the soil or else it doesn't look as clean.

The best part of this is that succulents only require watering like every two weeks. So my chances of killing these things just got much, much smaller.

*Side note, this project does adhere to my "takes less than 20 minutes to do* rule of DIY

Paris Je T'Aime

Paris Je T'Aime

The ring was too big for the right finger!

Paris. The City of Love. The City of Lights. The City I got engaged in!
Yep, this little lady is engaged. How exciting right?

I waiver between total euphoria and absolute terror. I'm no fool, I have a great amount of respect for the sanctity of marriage, and as such I know what a huge deal this is!

It's like a crashing wave, a thunderstorm, a bolt of lightning. It's beautiful, it's magical, it's awe-inspiring but you know the force behind it is beyond you, and above you and totally greater than you could ever be.


I am so proud to be marrying the bf. I read this quote the other day (cheesy love quotes time) that said:

"Lovers don't meet somewhere, they're in each other all along"

and I thought it was so fitting for the bf and I. Even all those years ago I knew there was something in him that fit something in me. I didn't know we'd get married, and our love wasn't always easy.As Donkey from Shrek would say, we were like onions, many layers making it hard for us to see each other clearly. But that little seed was there. Little roots spread out between us and intertwined. I knew when one of our first official dates was sitting on his futon watching Ferngully & eating take-out Chinese--this was something special.

And now, many adventures later we are here. He proposed in a quiet courtyard in front of our Paris apartment. He got down on his knee, heart beating wildly ( I know because I felt it when he hugged me) and asked me to marry him so he could love me forever. I said yes, (and what? and omg? and really?) and now we're at this fork in our lives.
And it's so exciting.

Preparing for Flight

Preparing for Flight

Paris is oh-so-quickly approaching.
Despite all my planning, I feel completely ill-prepared.

Operation learn French in one month: fail.
My list of restaurants to visit is far longer than my stomach capacity is wide.
Sadly. **sigh**
And as the primary planner in our household I feel all the pressure of creating a successful trip full of wonderful memories.
The bf's only plan revolves around stuffing his face full of crepes.
Oh, and the daily bottle of wine and block of cheese he's been moo-ing about for weeks now.lol
( if you've never met the guy, he's real skinny, so i'm allowed to be bitter and crap-talk about his eating habits!)

I've been distracted lately with my graphic design class.
We've been learning a lot about the importance of having a strong concept for a project.

It's really had me thinking about this here little blog, and how I really need to focus in on a concept.
As you can tell by my ever changing decor around here, my ideas change with each shift in the wind and turn of my mood.
And Little Girl Shiny World, as cute as I think it sounds, well its a little long. and it might give the idea that I am a little girl, which my dears I am definitely not. I will share with you here that I am 24 years old. I don't play with dolls, and my view of the world can sometimes be quite cynical.. I wouldn't say the world is shiny all the time, some days it's barely a sheen for me.

The point is I've been doing some re-thinking about this blog. I would never abandon it. I love all the interesting blogs I've found and inspiration I encounter daily because of my outlet. But it needs some re-tooling. To be decisively me. Or decisively what I'd like to be, and share. A little cleaner, less scattered. More of me doing things that I love and searching out what those things are.

I think I'm having a kind of "Reality Bites" moment in life, and that extends into this realm as well. 
(if you don't get the reference, Google it. 2 hours of 90's angst perfected).

So I'll be back--Paris beckons after all.
But don't be surprised if I've changed.
Perhaps a little wiser, most unavoidably older.

Or maybe just fatter. From all the damn good food I've eaten.
Stay tuned!

From Pa Design

**oh and I just had to share this. it's a tripod that can mount onto a water bottle. no more cutting each others heads off or long arm shots of you and your honey! if it actually works its genius**