Paris!

christmas in paris, what more could a girl want?

it was beautiful and enchanting and inspiring.

and f***ing freezing.

but, i loved it nonetheless.

my best friend Kristin, my parents and my grandma came out to spend the holidays with me in the lovely Paris, France.

it was a whirlwind week filled with 3 euro shots, sightseeing and pushing cars through snow.

i could spend an entire page documenting every single detail,

or I could just say:

It. Was. Amazing.

and show some pictures.

and be on my merry way.

snowman moulin rouge eiffel tower louvre shots with mom escargo absinthe snow magic <3 style="text-align: center;">

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?!

I have just returned from my first trip to L'Allemange; Deutschland; Germany. And it was a freaking winter wonderland. So amazing, so breathtaking, such a dream come true. I went to visit my friends from California who are also studying abroad, Margaret and Katie. Two of the most awesome, fun, cool, hilarious people I have ever met in my life. It was sooooo nice to see them. My trip started with a flight from France to Amsterdam International Airport, where I had my first layover. This made me realize two things: one, I would like to go to Amsterdam, and two, I'm going to spend an absurd amount of time in the airport because it's badass.

Heineken and Starbucks. It tasted like liberty.

So I got into Amsterdam to find SNOW. Snowing Snowey Snow. I'm such a southern California kid for thinking snow is such an incredible unbelievable thing. But to me, it is. As we descended from the clouds and I got my first sight of the white icy land before me out the window of the plane, I squealed. Legit, squealed. The person next to me gave me a "oh, god. you people." look. But I didn't care because I was in heaven.

I met up with the girls in Stuttgart, Germany, and we went to the Christmas markets.

So Cute. So German. I loved it.

Then we went into Tübingen where the girls live.

I went to a Christmas party with some of their friends, but I'm sorry no pictures can be provided from that blessed event. But I can tell you I woke up with a Snuggie on, 5 band aides on my fingers, and a broken toe. So. Anyways. The next day we slept in late, then went to the Chocolate Festival, where I had a chocolate shot. As in chocolate liqueor in a shot glass made of PURE chocolate. Nothing could have made me more happy. We finished of the night by watching Paranormal Activity 1 & 2 (which were not THAT scary by the way. no nightmares here) and crashed at around 3 am. I had to wake up at 6:45 am (kill me now) to catch my flight back to France.

But I can't complain so much, because this is what I woke up to:

On my flight home, I read the inflight magazine, The Holland Herald. In it was an article about living abroad and trying to find home on the road. I find extremely inspiring and it certainly reminded me of everything I'm feeling right now. Here was my favorite excerpt:

"Home is essentially an idea we carry around with us, redefining at every instant. It has less and less to do with a piece of soil and more and more to do with what might be called a piece of soul. Home, these days, is less a matter of where you sleep, but more of where you stand."

Reading this made me find that sense of wonder again-- it almost made me feel like a kid again, when anything was possible, as cheesy as that may be. It also made me realize that there is so much to be done in this life. It made me realize my ambitions. I've never been a simple person, I've never been a complacent person, and I've certainly never been afraid to get what I want in life and just go for it. I don't know where I'm going next, but I can promise you it won't be boring.

cheerio, love.

I have just returned from my second trip to

London, England.

verdict: its love.

The trip began with a particularly beautiful flight.

I guess these were pretty nice too...

After we got into town, we ate at Pizza Express.

A restaurant that serves dough balls.

As in balls of dough with a cup of butter.

As in, ohmyfreakinggod.

Followed by some words of wisdom from my father.

I'm happy to say the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

So much awesome.

Then, it was the big event.

The reason we were in London in the first place.

The premiere of Harry Potter 7.

Which was, AMAZING. i was, well... spellbound. tehe.

We saw it in IMAX.

And we sat behind a group of American students who put my Harry Potter obsession to shame.

I believe I heard one girl say

"if I have to pee during the movie, I'm just going to be in my pants.

I brought napkins."

(Not to worry though. next movie, I'm bringing a wand. Maybe a cauldron.

Bitches think they can out fan-girl me... pshh.)

Love.of.my.Life.

And we walked around, checking out Big Ben, the London Eye, and Parliament.

Parliament

which was guarded by very intense, machine gun carrying cops.

Parliament, which I decided to throw a starburst at.

A starburst that hit a window and made a sound and made one of the intense machine gun carrying cops come out from his post and stare me down.

With his big machine gun.

I thought I was going to get arrested.

But an innocent smile does wonders and he lowered his weapon and walked away.

**Note to self: Do not throw candy at important buildings. Cops won't be amused.

We ended the evening buy people watching drunkies over hot chocolate before returning back to Victoria Station and back to the airport for our flight back to Aix.

Bloody Good Show Chaps.

lucky november.

it's november.

and november, pour moi, en general, c'est un tres bon mois.

translation: for some reason unknown to me, my novembers' are pretty awesome.

it's just one of those things, ya know?

i'm counting on ole lucky november to get me out of my homesick,

what the heck, france?!

slump.

i'm missing so many things.

1. My family. My friends. My dogs. Obviously. No need to elaborate.

2. The Holiday Cups at Starbucks. Peppermint White Mocha?! Guess not.

3. Big Gulps. Moreover, the concept of a freaking refill. You might think this is silly, but after you find yourself paying 3 euros for un Coca Light, and only getting one glass for the whole meal, you might rethink judging me.

4. The laundry machine in my house. That I don't have to get change to use.

BUT.

i'm in france this year.

and that's a definite something.

AND.

i'm going to London for Harry Potter 7 opening night.

AND AND.

it's my birthday in 28 days.

AND AND AND.

this is my christmas wonderland.

DONC.

i think it's going to be all good.

je peux le faire. je peux le faire. je peux le faire.

PURPLE.

PURPLE.

it's the color of spirit in the LBGT community.

this month, 6 gay boys in their teens committed suicide because of

homophobic bullying.

the parents of these boys have asked that on October 20th, 2010

we all wear some form of purple

to remember these boys and raise awareness against hate crimes and bullying of the

LGBT community

i for one will DEFINITELY be wearing purple.

i'm not gay, or bisexual or transgendered.

but i don't have to be to want equality for all.

no one deserves to be hated for simply being themselves.

please support this effort!!!!

these boys were not the first to take their own lives because of bullying,

but with our effort, they will not have died in vain.

we are all equal. we are all children of GOD. we are all beautiful.

i only have a blog to creep- eh, follow other blogs

because right now, nothing much is happening in the life of

Caitlin Martin.

which makes me sad. because im not living in france or anything.

ok, it's not bad. it's just, you know i had this idea that i would be spending this entire year eating pastries, and riding vespas, and wearing berrets.

that all the buildings would be from the 17th century and nobody would have cell phones

and everything would just be so fabulously french.

and, now i guess i could say im, well,

disenchanted.

because everyone has cell phones.

and no one wears berrets.

the boys all ride skateboards. not vespas.

and all the buildings are new.

and there is mcdonalds.

and big industrial buildings.

and i actually have to study.

and i'm still a poor college kid.

and i get tired.

and have bad hair days.

and everyone can tell i'm american just by looking at me.

and it just sucks that vacation is over and life has begun.

enough whining.

i'm done.

i just need a hobby.

badly.

i'm thinking:

french cooking class.

painting.

skateboarding.

vampire slaying.

scrapbooking.

i've made tons of friends here. some that i know i will have forever. and i have a lot of fun. and i guess the mere fact that i'm in the works of planning my trip to amsterdam in october, paris at christmas, and india/spain/italy over summer makes my life pretty awesome.

not to mention possibly paris fashion week in the spring.

and cannes film festival in the beginning of summer.

oh, wait. actually my life is pretty badass.

Sooooo French.

"So French."

It's this catch phrase I'm trying to get started.

Hoping it will be something like Paris Hilton's "That's Hot."

Is it lame? Ha, well I tried.

Anyways, I'm HERE!

France France France France France.

&& its effing beautiful!

the city.

the food.

the clothes.

the wine.

THE BOYS.

seriously, though. all the beauty has made the 15 hours of travelling I did worth it.

yeah, that's right 15 hours.

10 hours from LAX to Paris. 4 hour layover in Paris. 1 hour flight to Marsailles. 2o mins drive to Aix.

How does that suit ya?

Aix-en Provence is a beautiful place, and the people here are even more beautiful.

Tan, confident, stylish, amazing.

Fingers crossed all that rubs off on me!

So far my top moments have been

A) Finding my apartment! I'm staying with my newest homegirl Alexis in an adorable 17th century apartment building. 17th century! Wow.

B) Getting to buy alcohol without getting carded! The second night here I shared a bottle of wine with 3 other girls. Aix is known for its wine- well all of France is, right? Mmm, words cannot describe how good it was.

C) Watching French people sing along to American songs. I think you can guess its pretty hilarious.

D) THE Woohoo. Part bar, part club and a hotspot for youngsters like me. I think the name alone describes how awesome it is.

E) The other people in the program are amazing. I can see me becoming friends with them all!

actually, the only bad thing is this 9 hour time change. so hard to sleep. but another week here should fix that little hiccup.

I'm so excited!!!!!

viva la france, bitches!

(i will post some pictures here, but for all the pictures from my adventure, check my facebook)