la joie de vivre

travel photo tuesdays: iconic

2009-08-04T09:18:00.006-04:00

This represents a first glance of a much anticipated return. greeting an old friend, though I had made her acquaintance only three years prior. I'd felt I'd known her all my life, and seeing her in the flesh was simultaneously thrilling and comforting. Thrilling, to feel the weight of the adventure which I was about to embark upon. Inexplicably comforting, because I suddenly felt at home, chez moi, in a foreign country.

You know those moments in life where everything just feels right? This was one in my life, listening to the tour guide spout off facts in French, gliding along the Seine, enjoying the company of those who would turn out to be very dear friends to me, and just reveling in the fact that I was finally in France. This represents the point at which my love for France, the language, the people, the way of life, became deeply rooted in my heart.

(I also wanted to post some Eiffel Tower pictures in anticipation of this necklace that I just bought last night. I'm actually not one for wearing jewelry all the time, so it has to be a special piece for me to purchase it. I believe this falls in that category, and I think I will love it for a very long time to come. Promise to post pictures of it on me when it arrives!)

Things I Love Thursdays: afternoon pursuits edition

2009-07-30T14:58:00.004-04:00

These are some of my favorite things to do during an afternoon (and which I get to indulge this summer. oh, the beauty of freelance work

1. Baking Bread (or pizza dough) , 2. Lounging at a café with a French novel, 3. TV episode mini-marathons (currently early Gilmore Girls), 4. Piano-playing in an empty house, 5. Taking a Photo Walk, 6. Enjoying sunshine, 7. Blogging

Travel Photo Tuesdays: Colmar

2009-07-28T15:27:00.005-04:00

Petite Venise: November 2008

I adored the Northeast corner of France, a region that has gone back and forth between France and Germany (it has been French since WWII). Because of the relatively constant switch of cultures, the Alsace region is well-known for its interesting cultural mix. It's especially fun during the Advent season since the Germans know how to do Christmas, huge trees, lots of garlands, the whole thing. Seeing this picture reminds me of this little excursion, where we prowled the town of Colmar, enjoying a crisp winter morning and savoring the anticipation of Christmas and a little vin chaud. Nothing like a Sunday stroll in France.

Things I Love Thursdays

2009-07-23T16:15:00.003-04:00

1. the french 2. going to the movies 3. glamour
4. traveling 5. lavender 6. van gogh's old provence haunts
7. fireworks at disney world 8. coffee 9. cupcakes

travel photo tuesdays: piazza navona

2009-07-21T12:57:00.003-04:00

My best birthday so far was last year. I chose to spend my 21st birthday weekend gallivanting about Rome, and it was an amazing time. One of my favorite places was the Piazza Navona. People-watching, street artists, true artists, cafés, many of my favorite things in one place. I loved the place settings and the charm of the whole area. Can't wait to go back and enjoy some more in the near future.

travel photo tuesdays: le 14 juillet

2009-07-14T08:42:00.006-04:00

This week's edition of travel photo tuesday is a bit supersized in honor of Bastille Day! For those who don't know the history (or need a little refresher), you can read a little more about it here. It is, as you may guess, a complicated story. But on to the pictures!

cézanne's middle school in aix-en-provence

the eiffel tower (la tour eiffel): as quintessentially french as revolutions

le drapeau à Versailles

the extravagance which prompted the French people to revolt/seize the Bastille and declare their rights as citizens and humans

et finalement, l'arc de triomphe

And bonus video: La Marseillaise, which apparently gave Edith Piaf her big break. I get chills every time I listen to it.

All photos © Jillian Nightingale

travel photo tuesdays: le château de vizille

2009-06-02T09:34:00.003-04:00

This small castle hosts the museum of the French revolution. Situated just outside of Grenoble, this castle also offers fairly extensive grounds which include a menagerie. We may or may not have had an experience with some very curious and dirty sheep. They also had a surprising range of more exotic animals. The museum was fairly interesting. I was more entranced with walking around the castle, listening to the floorboards creak and enjoying the grand staircases overlooking les paumes.

At least at this museum, they didn't insult our intelligence by asking us if we knew France had a revolution in 1789. Yes, this really happened somewhere else in France. I mean, I know we're Americans, but we are studying French, and if we retain one thing about French history, it's that they had a revolution in 1789.

reflecting light

2009-05-31T22:15:00.004-04:00

now that i've worn out, i've worn out the world

i'm on my knees in fascination
looking through the night

and the moon's never seen me before

but i'm reflecting light.

Sam Phillips -- Reflecting Light

all photos © me :)

foodie fridays: pesto rolls

2009-05-29T15:00:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite restaurants from when I lived in Idaho was actually the café at our local co-op. My favorite item on the menu? Their pesto rolls, completely legendary for their delicious, carby goodness. My friends and I would often find excuses to go pick some up. So when I moved away, this was something I knew I needed the recipe for. I actually made these several times while in France for cheap lunches paired with pumpkin soup from the local Casino. Without further ado, here is the recipe for you to try on your own!

Pesto Rolls
1 1/4 cups Water
1 cups of 2% Milk
1/2 Tablespoons Yeast
2 tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Canola oil
1 Tbsp. cup Honey
5 1/2 cups Unbleached White Flour
1 1/2 cups pesto
2 cups mozzarella & parmesan cheeses (the mix ratio is up to you!)

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Mix the water - unbleached white flour until the dough forms into a natural ball (the dough should not stick to your hand when it is touched, but do not let it get dry with too much flour). Put the dough onto a floured counter top and roll out into a flat rectangle.

Spread a thick layer of pesto on the dough. Then layer the mozzarella and parmesan cheese on the pesto. Roll dough lengthwise into a log, maintaining even thickness of the dough throughout. Slice into 1-inch sections and place the slices on their side on a baking sheet (much like cinnamon rolls).

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. ENJOY!

new venture: 22 new things before 22

2009-05-28T13:02:00.007-04:00

So I'm jumping on a birthday bandwagon with Sarah Von and doing 22 new things before my 22nd birthday in October. I need to brainstorm ideas though. I think I'll keep her two constraints of must be completable in a day and cost under $50. I'm also happy to take suggestions!

001. Take a trip using the Lonely Planet's Guide to Experimental Travel.
002. Make a successful batch of Parisian Macarons.
003. Get a henna tattoo
004. Join a French Conversation group
005. Write haikus to 22 of my friends.
006. Make this chocolate bread featured on NPR's Kitchen Window series.
007. Take a picture (of n'importe quoi!) every day until my birthday.
008. Buy some gladiator sandals.
009. Drink a dirty martini.
010. Watch an old James Bond movie.
011. Read the unabridged version of the Count of Monte Cristo.
012. Have a CouchSurfing experience. (hopefully positive!)
013. Eat dinner by myself in a decent restaurant.
014. Attempt to make a paint chip wallet.
015. Read 22 tales from 1001 Arabian Nights.
016. Learn something from The Dangerous Book for Boys
017. Finally buy The Daring Book for Girls.
018.
019.
020.
021. Donate $22 on my birthday to a charity.
022. Attend Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT to celebrate my birthday!

travel photo tuesdays: le marché en aix-en-provence

2009-05-26T12:53:00.007-04:00

One of my favorite weekends in France, we spent the last weekend in October exploring Aix-en-Provence and Avignon. In accordance with my travel philosophy (act like the locals as much as you are able), we browsed the saturday morning market. I love the variety of merchandise you could find there, but mostly, I loved going through all the produce stands and seeing all the fresh produce and dreaming of what I could be cooking. This is still one of my all-time favorite photos from that semester.

foodie fridays: crème brûlée à la lavande

2009-05-22T16:29:00.001-04:00

This is one of my favorite recipes for crème brûlée. It's a Williams-Sonoma card recipe that I picked up when I bought a brème brûlée set for my mom for her birthday, complete with kitchen torch. And yes, that is my favorite part of the whole process: the carmelization of the sugar.

2 1/4 cups (680 mL) heavy cream
2 T dried lavender flowers
5 egg yolks
2/3 cup (155g) sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract
turbinado sugar for carmelizing

Preheat the oven to 325F (165C). Line a baking pan that is 2 inches (5cm) deep with a kitchen towel. Have a pot of boiling water ready.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream and lavender flowers and bring just to a simmer. Remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until blended. Slowly add the lavender cream, whisking constantly until blended. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl (preferably with a pouring lip) and divide among 4 large or 6 medium ramekins. Skim bubbles off the surface of the cream in each ramekin. Place the ramekins in the prepared baking pan and add boiling water to fill the pan halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake until the custards are just set, about 40 minutes.

Remove the ramekins from the pan and transfer to a wire rack. Let the custards cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Just before serving, sprinkle 2 tsp of turbinado sugar over the surface of each custard. Carmelize with a kitchen torch or broiler in the oven.

Enjoy.
Repeat.

bon appétit!

TESOL: i'm doing it

2009-05-21T00:28:00.000-04:00

...Today I decided that I want to get my TESOL certificate and diploma. And I'm starting this summer. I'm doing the course online, so I'm not required to have any technical teaching experience to receive this, which is great for convenience's sake. It's something I've tossed around for awhile, and I decided that ultimately, it would probably open up more opportunities for me and make me an even more attractive candidate to grad schools. Right now, I have that little panic flutter in my stomach that you get immediately after finalizing a big decision. I know it's right, but there will be 350 hours of work to be done. But I can do it, and I want to do it. so yay!

real life began a week ago.

2009-05-18T10:17:00.000-04:00

i just graduated from college. i am now an official holder of a Bachelor of Arts. in French. and what now?

i have many dreams and criteria to achieving these dreams:
+ being back in France within the next 5 2 years
+ where i can make good friends with similar (and differing) interests
+ i can continue learning. languages, photography, the history of an obscure island, quoi que ce soit
+ i can eat all kinds of delicious food.
+ i can read the economist in bed if i wish.

i'm hoping that working at Disney World in their College Program will at least meet a few of these criteria. need to make that money to get to grad school!

one of my quirks.

2009-02-01T19:30:00.000-05:00

when i do my spanish homework, it is easier for me to translate what i want to say into french and use the french-spanish dictionary to figure out the correct vocabulary.

any excuse to pull out le français, i guess.

2009-01-07T08:15:00.000-05:00

“tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
— Mary Oliver

me and my younger sister at cape canaveral, watching a shuttle launch, back in the day.

journal envy

2009-01-06T11:40:00.000-05:00

So I took my Moleskine that I had received on the occasion of my high school graduation (and had neglected for a year. literally) to Barnes and Noble yesterday, ready for an afternoon of browsing and gleaning creative ideas. Instead, I found myself in the "Economics" section and spent a couple hours sipping Harney and Sons Holiday Tea and reading The Price of Everything by Russell Roberts. Good thing I had brought my handy little notebook along with me, because it was FULL of quotables and things I wanted to remember later, and I knew that a mental note would not suffice.

Anyways, after reading and spending that enjoyable time jotting down thoughts that I wanted to remember, I suddenly wanted another Moleskine. Granted, I definitely need to finish strong with this one, but it's a task I'm up for.

I also need to finish up my journalling from this semester in France. My mom gave me a Paris CityGuide Moleskine as a "bon voyage" gift, and I fell in love all over again.

thanks to Daniele Rossi credit to johnystadlerka

Now I'm wanting to buy the Washington DC and New York ones, and various other European city ones to make my own guidebook. I think travelogues are one of the most precious things in life, and we should take advantage of resources like this.

For now, I'll just wait :)

photo credit to trumpetvine

2009 resolutions

2009-01-05T12:35:00.000-05:00

2009 resolutions by jillian alice

voila the polyvore set, which is a visual reminder of my 2009 resolutions :)

001. do a better job of writing thank you notes and giving thoughtful hostess gifts
002. take advantage of every traveling opportunity i have
003. watch more foreign and independent films (perhaps renew my netflix subscription)
004. try beige in my wardrobe, and continue to put in effort into my appearance.
005. buy a nice pair of boots!!!
006. continue some french habits i picked up, including the eating fresher, maintaining the fluency i achieved, and staying informed of current events.
007. make sure to record my itunes playlists. they are my best snapshots of my life at any given moment.
008. blog more often! i'm still trying to figure out the best way to make this a "plausible" goal, with achievable specifics. but i'll get there :)

blog spotlight: stuff white people like

2008-03-02T23:40:00.000-05:00

I may be a little behind the times, but Stuff White People Like is one of my new favorites. I enjoy the blunt truth sprinkled with a little sarcasm on occasion, and this is the perfect blend of both. I'm going to let some of my favorite posts and their titles to speak for themselves.

#1 Coffee
#38 Arrested Development
#39 Netflix
#72 Study Abroad
#74 Oscar Parties
#78 Multilingual Children

Such a beautiful thing.

team cotillard

2008-02-27T01:03:00.000-05:00

So school has taken over my life encore. Shocking, I know :) but I wanted to break that silence to exclaim how excited I am that Marion Cotillard won her Oscar!!! I was generally a fan of the bits that I managed to watch of the Academy Awards.

Okay, so I actually haven't seen La Vie En Rose (stupid rural theater in stupid rural town), but I was rooting for Marion because she is one of my favorite French actresses, after Jeux d'Enfants and A Very Long Engagement. But to see a French actress get recognized with such an honor thrilled me beyond belief. i've watched the video an embarrassing amount of times now.

more cotillard goodness

elle chant un peu. si belle!

elle remercie en français.

Other good moments, Javier Bardem thanking su máma en español. It thrills my little language nerd heart when I hear languages I know on TV. I actually wish that Marion had said something in French, but eh, next time right? ;)

And in strictly non language related moments, i LOVED that they asked Kristin to sing "That's How You Know". It had been far too long since I had been able to truly partake in Chenowethy goodness, what with Pushing Daisies not having new episodes and all. And her singing training and ability was beautifully showcased by this song :)

Back to studying for my horrendous tests this week.

daily outfit

2008-01-05T00:37:00.000-05:00

I thought it might be fun to do a daily outfit kind of feature. Unfortunately, the same day that I decided that this would be a great venture was the day that I contracted pink eye (the second day of the new year. I am sincerely hoping that this is in no way significant of how 2008 is about to go for me). Anyways, though currently camera shy, I still wanted to show off my (boring but comfy) outfit because the shirt (new new new) is dying to show itself to the world.

yes, those are my real glasses. I have them in green, and they add a fun pop of color to my face. I also added a cell phone since I was earnestly texting whilst shopping (a feat, in case you were wondering). I also considered buying the unlimited text plan for my phone because I'm becoming addicted. Is there a Texters' Anonymous?

I have one glorious week of break freedom all to myself, and tonight I'll begin to plan what to include in my cram session. Isn't that how it always goes? I do believe a sleepover and fondue night are in the works (seperate events for now) but I'm thinking that I need to finish my Hepburnathon (once America's Next Top Model is done on VH1. I must confess, that has been my occupation since New Year's) and ease back into French. I do not wish any of les madames to smack me upside the head for forgetting how to speak French. And two literature courses at that! An intimidating prospect, but a mountain to conquer. Perhaps I will write a haiku or two. An excellent form of poetry, don't you think?

I enjoy baguettes,
Freshly crackling at the touch
Of gentle handlers.

Blizzards are coming.
More whiteness, and all I wish
Is for summer sun.

so wonderful. any haikus I must hear??

2007-12-29T15:42:00.000-05:00

I have, just today, discovered the joys of Polyvore. I am probably really really late getting on the bandwagon, but I can see that this will provide the rest of my entertainment while I'm at home. Well, that and the rest of my Audrey Hepburn definitive marathon. (I've already watched Sabrina, Roman Holiday, Breakfast At Tiffany's and My Fair Lady. All completely fabulous)

One of my first sets on Polyvore is actually more of a new year's resolution collage...

...representing a few things I wish to accomplish in 2008. Such as being more confident, taking every advantage to play in the rain, and lose the 20 lbs so I can buy myself that adorable j. crew bikini!

What are some of your new year's resolutions?

la première

2007-12-27T14:13:00.000-05:00

Bonjour, blogosphere! One of my new year's resolutions is to keep a blog for the entire year, ideally posting at least 3 times a week, and so I'm trying to get a head start on things. This will hopefully stimulate my creativity and spice up my life even more. 2008 should be a fantastic year to blog, since I already know that I'll be making a cross country move with my family and spending the latter half of my year in Grenoble (hopefully my family will all be spending Christmas in France!!) Plus, I am anticipating a good semester at school this spring. This all adds up for some fun writing time!

Anyways, one of my projects over break for myself is to construct an inspiration board out of all the magazines, etc laying around my room for school.

Currently, I have about 3 photos, 7 colored pictures (crayon by my friends. talent, i know) and this pretty poster. That, though quite gorgeous, does not always inspire the desire to study, etc, that I would like to garner from it.

I also am a scrapbooking/card making junkie, and since I didn't get to bring any of my supplies home with me, a useful and gorgeous form of collaging will definitely satisfy my crafting itch. I'm hoping to make it a blend of what I already hold dear and the resolutions that I'd like to keep this new year!

Until next time, dear internet, keep pursuing the best things in life!