AWESOME NEWS

AWESOME NEWS !! I’ve successfully completed my trial period at work so now I have officially a contract for an unlimited period !! I'm so relieved!! I started working on November 24th, and normally (in France) a trial period lasts at least 3 months, but my manager validated mine 2 weeks earlier. She told me that she was very satisfied with my work, that I'm very professional, I have a good team spirit, I’m always on time, I always smile...I was so happy about her feedback, especially because I suffer from a lack of self-confidence (which inevitably increases my level of stress). And she did tell me that I should be more self-confident because I’m competent. I was quite surprised because usually people say "ok you're great (blablabla) BUT...”, but this time there was no BUT, so now I feel pretty good and I m gonna try to keep doing that way to not get any "BUT" haha ;)
One more time, thank you to all the people who’ve believed in me and have supported me!!! It means a lot to me!

Except that, hmm, nothing much to tell… I caught a cold for the second time in 2 months… sore throat, fever… That’s so weird because usually I’m NEVER sick ^^. But actually it’s pretty cold in my office, and I think you all know that I’m (too) sensitive to the cold. But this winter is pretty harsh so everybody is sick haha.

About entertainment, I attended a great play last Sunday, called La Maison du Lac (Translation: The lake house). It was pretty funny; I really had a good time! (I love going to theater)

I also went to the movies, but only twice since the last time I posted:
- Yes Man: I liked it, I laughed a lot, I don’t laugh at all Jim Carey’s movies, but this one was really funny!
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: I lovedddd it! Unfortunately I didn’t read the book, but the storyline is really original. Benjamin Button’s character is very moving, and you’re really getting attached to him while you watch the movie. And the love between Benjamin (who doesn’t stop getting younger) and his love of his life (who of course is getting older) is really well-described and beautiful!
And I hope I’ll have the opportunity to see these other movies: LOL (French movie), He's Just Not That Into You (yes I love girly movies haha), Bride Wars, Espion(s)(French movie), Slumdog Millionaire, Le Code a Change (French Movie)

Two weeks ago, I was invited by my lovely friend Jaouhara to the concert of Travis. Travis are a Scottish alternative rock band from Glasgow, they have already released six studio albums and they have twice been awarded British album of the year at the annual BRIT Awards. I didn’t know any of their songs before attending their concert, but I really had a blast! I love their style and their music so now I have to buy their albums hehe. Thank you Jaou for the invitation! (Only disadvantage : There was no elevator... so I had to climb like 40 big steps.. but thank you girls for your help!)

Before ending this post, I really want to congratulate Lili who is going to work at Disneyland Paris for a long time (and I know it’s her dream), so congrats Lili !!! You deserve it!

Happy New Year 2009 !

Happy New Year !!!!

I wish you all the best : Health, love, friendship, success and happiness!!

Well, what can I say… I’m super happy!! I still love my job (my trial period should end at the end of March), my manager is great and I learn a lot. For now, it’s a pleasure to work in this company. It’s a bit stressful, but I love to have responsabilities!

I’m also very excited because Monique and I are going in Miami for 6 days in the middle of April!! I miss the states so much!! I’ve already gone to Miami for 3 days in Thanksgiving in 2005 (with Audrey), but we didn’t have the opportunity to visit. So it’s now or never haha. We’re going to plan our visits in advance because we don’t want to waste time when we’ll be over there. Visits, shopping, enjoying the sun… I’m looking forward it!!

I hope you all enjoyed Christmas! Mine was great. This Christmas was special because Olive (a friend from Korea) spent it with my family and me. I met Olive (her real name is Dong sun but she wants us to call her Olive because it’s easier) through Eunhyung (whom I miss badly). So a few months ago, Eunhyung (who also lives in Korea) told me that her best friend had to come to Paris to learn French, and as Olive knew nobody over here, Eunhyung asked me if I could advice her. Olive and I exchanged emails for a couple of months to get to know each other, and I did my best to advice Olive well haha, then she spent Xmas and New Year’s Eve with us. When I met her the first time (for Xmas time), Olive started learning French for 2 months, and I was very impressed because she’s learned very fast (but she also very studious), she’s already had a great level in French!! She understands pretty well when we speak, and it’s very easy to have a conversation with her. She’s curious and friendly, so it was definitely a pleasure to have her at home! And I love the fact that we have to explain her French habits, make her discover the French food (my mom cooked way too much but it was delicious), and try to help her with all the administrative stuff. I’m very happy to help! It’s a wonderful experience! Now she lives in a dorm in Paris but sometimes she stays at home for the week end and we hang out together;

Just after Christmas, I finally started reading the book Twilight (Chacha pressured me to read it because she knew I’d like it –she knows me so well haha- and I also wanted to read the book before watching the movie), and I finished reading it 2 days later. I loved it... the story (the content is so harmless, that's cute), the characters (the relationship between Bella & Edward is so well-described, with so many details), and I like the fact that Bella is the narrator and that she uses the first-person verb to speak of herself, because we (the readers, women at least haha) feel like we really are Bella, so all that happens to her becomes more intense... Before reading it I was expecting to not like it because I thought it’d be a vampire book but it’s not. I was such into it that I read all the sequels in only one month. New Moon (the 2nd book) was as great as Twilight, but the character of Jacob is very present in this book and I don’t really like him, so Twilight is definitely my favorite. I also liked Eclipse (the 3rd one), the fact that Bella has to make a choice, what happens with vampires and werewolves.. but I didn’t really enjoy Breaking Dawn (the last one). Actually I just really enjoyed the first part. In my opinion this last book has nothing to do with the others, and I think that because of the success of the old books, the author wrote it too fast… I won’t tell you why I didn’t like it because I don’t want to put any spoiler here (for those who haven’t read it yet).


I still go to the movies as often as possible, here are the movies that I watched from the beginning of December:

- Agathe Clery: This film is fun but I wasn’t expected this. It’s a musical. It’s entertaining but I’m kinda disappointed because usually Valerie Lemercier (the main actress) plays in better movies.
- The Day The Earth Stood It: OMG I didn’t like it at all. Actually I don’t really like Science Fiction (except Star Wars, Matrix..), but at least I tried haha.
- Four Christmases: Entertaining, funny, I liked it! And I love Xmas movies haha
- Secret Défense: I liked it but some scenes are tough to watch
- The Spirit: I liked it but I expected something better. It’s so obvious that it’s the same film-maker as for Sin City; That’s pretty much the same atmosphere (that I like btw); In my opinion the first scenes aren’t interesting and they were way too long. But the actors are pretty good!
- Twilight: I definitely loved it! I was surprised because I loved the book so much that before watching the movie I thought I wouldn’t like it (because usually I’m disappointed with adaption of books). But the storyline is really the same as the book (at least the main facts), so it’s a great adaptation. The main actors play well (I’m especially impressed by the performance of Robert Pattinson –he’s excellent- who plays Edward, because the character is so perfect in the book, that’s no that easy to play so I thought I wouldn’t like the character in the movie). And the sceneries were beautiful!
Only bad point: The movie had a low budget (and seriously I don’t understand why as the huge success of the book) and unfortunately the special effects are not so good.
- 7 pounds: I liked it, this film’s beautiful but also so sad!! If you want to watch it, don’t forget your box of tissues ^^ Will Smith & Rosario Dawson are amazing!
- Revolutionary Road: I didn’t really like it.. I mean it was ok, but I expected something much better. The story is pretty common, and quite depressive lol. I think the movie is too long. But Leonardio Dicaprio and Kate Winslet are stunning!! And it was nice to see this couple back on screen, 11 years after Titanic.

The beginning of a new life?

Freaking goood news: I GOT A JOB!!!! Damn it, I’m so relieved!! The whole thing about looking for a job was really stressing me out!! The huge financial crisis didn’t help…

I’m going to be a Marketing assistant in a huge international company, and I’ll start working next Monday. I’m so looking forward to finally working!! The job seems really interesting, and the team very nice! Plus, the company is 15 minutes far from my home by walk, it’s perfect for me!! I’m really motivated and excited about starting working, but I’m also kinda nervous, I hope I’ll be capable enough. Wish me luck!!

One month ago, I went to Caen for a week end, to visit some good friends of mine. We really had a blast! I haven’t been there for 11 years… such a long time!! I finally met the husband of my friend who is lovely, we saw the sea (I -and my coat ^^- ate a Nutella waffle, yummy!! But I think I had an overdose of Nutella this we), I rode a horse (Last time I did, I was 6)… We also attended a fancy-dress double birthday party (Happy B-day C&A!!), I dressed as an angel, Rose Marie as Strawberry Charlotte (She also smelt strawberry!!), Carotte as a carot (^_^), Orianne as an angel, Orianne’s husband as Captain Haddock (from Tintin), Anthony as a spider… There were also a Cleopatra, a cocoon, the Adams family, a cow girl…All the costumes were wonderful! I really spent an awesome week end!!

A few weeks ago, I also saw 2 musicals in Paris:

- Edward Scissorhands : I attended the show with Jaouhara and my mom. It’s BEAUTIFUL!! There was no song, only music, it was like a ballet. Edward Scissorhands is my favorite movie, I do love the story, and I also love the OST, so I loved this musical!! It was stunning!

- Grease: It’s a French adaptation of the movie, it was pretty fun, the only bad thing is almost all the songs (except the most famous) were in French, and it’s so weird!! I love the movie, and I know very well all the songs in English, so I was a bit disappointed when I heard the songs in French (I definitely prefer the English lyrics).

In two weeks, I’ll attend with my family the French adaptation of the musical The Lion King. I saw the American version in NYC, and it was awesome!!! I hope the French version is as good as the American one!!

I also met a cousin (that I never saw before), he stayed in our place, and my mom and I made him visit Paris. It was nice to finally meet him!

When we visited the area of Chatelet, we saw several artists that could draw your portrait. So I struck the pose, and here it is:

Personally I think it really looks like me, this artist is very talented! What do you think?

And here are all the movies I saw in movies theater (from the end of July):

- X Files: the movie: I didn’t like it. It was just a thriller, but with Mulder & Scully in. I think the movie

doesn’t have the same mood as the TV show.

- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: I liked it! There was action, it was funny, and the storyline was

great. It’s just weird that another actress played the character of Evelyn O'Connell

- Dorothy: I didn’t really like it. I thought it’d be scary, but not really, it was just very weird, and slow!!

Actually I’m disappointed in the storyline.

- The Dark Knight (twice): I LOVED it!! The storyline is very good, and I especially loved it because I didn’t

expect that end (I never read the comics). And Heath Ledger was amazing as the Joker!

-Le Premier jour du reste de ta vie: I liked it!! I thought the storyline could be slow and a bit boring but

finally it wasn’t at all. It was interesting!

- Babylon A.D: I liked it!! Very entertaining!

- Mamma Mia: I loved it!! That’s not surprising, I love Abba songs, I already saw the musical when I was in

NYC, and I loved it too! This movie was refreshing! Meryl Streep is amazing (she moves well!!).

- Mirrors: I liked it! But when I watched the movie, I was so scared!! I’ve been traumatized by the scene

where the girl was killed in the bath… I’m still having nightmares about it..

- Manipulation: I liked it, but the storyline was a bit slow.

- Jar City: I didn’t really like it. I was expecting something else, something scarier. The storyline isn’t that

good and it’s very slow. It wasn’t original.

- The Life Before Her Eyes: I didn’t like it. Actually the movie was quite good, but it’s also quite slow, and the

end is very disappointing (in my opinion).

-The Accidental Husband: I liked it! It’s a girly movie!! And I like the actors who star in this movie.

- Faubourg 36: I liked it! The storyline was quite simple but I loved the atmosphere, the old Paris… And some

good actors star in it.

- Entre les murs : I liked it. But I don’t really get why this movie won the award in the festival of Cannes.

- Cliente: I liked it

- Go Fast: I liked it! I spent a great time, it’s very entertaining!

- Vinyan: I hated it! Slow, no goal, no action, I was really bored!!

- Righteous kill (twice): I liked it. The storyline is good but I expected something better. But I really do like Al

Pacino and Robert de Niro, they’re very talented!

- Blindness: I liked it. There were some slow parts, but the storyline was great!! If we think about it, it’s kinda

scary, how we would react if it really happened…

- Le Crime Est Notre Affaire: I liked it. It’s an adaptation of the Agatha Christie book. The storyline was

interesting, and it was also pretty funny! Plus, there were some great actors.

- Coluche: I didn’t really like it.

- High School Musical 3: I liked it. It’s not the movie of the year, but I like musical movies, and it’s pretty

cute! And Sharpay is funny haha

- Quantum of Solace: I liked it. Well, I like the James Bond movies. It’s hard to follow the storyline because I

didn’t remember well the last movie. The actors are amazing (Daniel Craig is very charismatic). The storyline

is good, but not as good as the old movies, and it’s disappointing. But the movie is very esthetic.

- Body of Lies: I didn’t really like it. I wanted to see this movie because some good actors star in it, but I don’t

really like war movies. Plus, the storyline is quite slow.

- The Visitor: I liked it. This movie was very moving!

- Vilaine : I liked it. It was hilarious! I spent a really good time!

- La Très Grande Entreprise : I liked it, it was fun!

- Bouquet Final: I liked it. It was hilarious. Seriously I recommend it!

- The Duchess: I liked it. No surprise, I like this kind of movies

- Les Grandes Personnes : I didn’t like it. It’s very slow, there is no goal, and the end is disappointing.

- Two Lovers: I liked it. I was pretty moved by the storyline…

- Musée Haut Musée Bas: I liked it. The storyline is original, many talented actors star in this movie, and it’s

pretty funny!!

- Changeling: I loved it!!This movie was so sad!! And it’s worse when you think that’s based on a true story…

It’s just unbelievable!! Angelina Jolie was very convincing in this role! And John Malkovich is also a very

talented actor! The movie lasts 2h20mins but you don’t feel it. Very touching movie!!

I’m so excited because Christmas is coming!! Ok, I know it’ll be in one month, but whatever, I’m in Christmas mood. My mom already decorated our entire apartment, our balcony too, and of course set the Xmas tree!! It’s beautiful!! I love Christmas… I love Christmas decorations… I love to listen to Christmas songs… I love Christmas trees… I love walking around in Xmas markets… I love buying gifts for people I love… I love the Xmas spirit!! It’s magic!!

Anyway haha, it’ll be Thanksgiving in a few days, so Happy Thanksgiving to all the American people!!

Back to reality

Hey!!!

I’m finally back from my vacation. Actually I got back to Paris 2 weeks ago, and just the day after, one of my cousin, whom I never met before, arrived in Paris and stayed in our home for 2 weeks. My family and I made him visit Paris.
My vacation were AWESOMEEEE ^_^ I really had a blast!!! We visited many beautiful places, and we also took ton of photographs haha.
I’m going to put up some of my pics here, but if you want to see all of them (I took A LOT of pics haha), you can see them on my facebook page, my myspace page, and on my flickr account, enjoy!!

So my parents, my brother and I went on cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line. Basically, this company is best known for its Freestyle Cruising concept, which means that there are no set times or seating arrangements for meals, nor is formal attire required.
The cruise started at Dover, UK, so first we had to go there with all our luggage. We took 2 trains then a ferry to go there. We left very early in the morning on August 11th. Actually it was my dad’s birthday, so just before leaving we offered him our gifts haha. Anyway, I thought it would be a pain in the neck to go to Dover, but it was ok.

But we were relieved to finally arrive to our cabins. The ship was impressive. It’s huge; there were 15 decks, 11 restaurants, 13 bars, 2 swimming pools, a church, an Internet cafe, a gallery, a store, a spa… Our cabins were great; we had a balcony & a TV, and enough room to put all our stuff. We had two cabins, one for my parents and another one for my bro and me.
All the staff (except the people at the reception and at the shore excursion desk) was nice and very helpful! Each time the housekeeping ladies cleaned our cabin, they made us a towel animal, and they all were really well done.
There were many activities on the boat, but most of them were sportive activities, so it wasn’t for me haha. Every night there were a show then a party but neither my parents nor my brother wanted to go… So I never went because that’s not funny to go to a show or party alone, everybody knows that ^_^. That’s the only deceiving point. But we especially enjoyed the restaurants! There were French, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Mexican restaurants… a steakhouse… Our favorites were the French restaurant, the Japanese restaurant (it’s delicious, plus the chef cooked in front of us, and he was pretty funny), and the steakhouse.
The cruise lasted 12 days, and we were 4 days at see + of course every night.

We visited several wonderful cities: Copenhagen, Berlin, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm. We stayed one day in each city, except in St Petersburg where we stayed 2 days. Of course all the excursions were in English, fortunately we all understand English, except my mom (but she’s improved a lot her English skills during this trip), so we had to translate the main facts for her.
Here are more details about what we visited in each city:

Copenhagen, DENMARK: This capital is very cute!! We were lucky because we had a sunny day. The excursion was called Panoramic Copenhagen, it’s a driving tour in the city, the bus took us to the main sights and attractions : We saw the Old Stock Exchange, the Royal Library’s new building, the Black Diamond, the Opera House, the Old Fish Market, the Amalienborg Palace, and of course the famous Little Mermaid Statue. We were surprised because the statue was very small, but of course very beautiful. It’s one of the main attractions of Copenhagen. The true story of the Little Mermaid is quite sad, but I like it, and I also love the Disney movie haha. Anyway ;) The Amalienborg Palace was nice; it is the winter home of the Danish royal family. It consists of four identical classicizing palace façades with rococo interiors around an octagonal courtyard. We had lunch at the Old Fish Market, and it’s my favorite place, it’s colorful and verv lively. We just got one bad feeling; we found that the Danish people were quite cold with tourists (even our guide).

Berlin, GERMANY: It’s the city I like least … but I think it’s because we spent a long time in the train and also because of the guide. Plus, I fell down when I wanted to get in the bus, I hit my head and my thigh and got 2 big bruises, so of course that’s not good memories ^_^. Anyway, our ship arrived in Rostock very early in the morning, and we had to take a train to go to Berlin. The train ride between Rostock & Berlin is approximately 3 hours each way through Mecklenburg countryside. We were in a reserved carriage, and in the morning a light breakfast snack was served, and in the evening a snack was also provided. So it means we spent about 6 hours in the train… We did a tour bus, and it included photo stops at the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichtag, Charlottenburg Palace, the East Side Gallery, and Checkpoint Charlie. We also did a boat ride along the River Spree (but it was a closed boat, and we weren’t near the window, so we didn’t see so many things). We also went to the famous Pergamon Museum. The 60-minutes, self-guided tour showed the Pergamon altar and the fabulous Ishtar Gate of Babylon. It’s interesting, but unfortunately I visited only 3 rooms because there were too many steps to visit the other rooms … I think it’s really weird that a such famous and huge museum is not well handicapped oriented. Anyway, we also had lunch inside an Old Prussian Palais. It’s very good, but I think the food wasn’t typically German. The guide was nice, but she had a strong accent, sometimes it was hard to understand her. Plus she couldn’t stop talking haha, so at the end of the tour we were kinda tired, and most of the facts she told us about Berlin were historical facts, I mean that’s not so interesting because we can read that in books. I prefer to know some anecdotes & legends.

Tallinn, ESTONIA: Tallinn is definitely my favorite destination (with Stockholm). It’s a small medieval town, with lots of gothic treasures. This town is way too cute. And our guide was awesome, she’s really fluent in English so it’s easy to understand her, and she was very friendly and also very funny. She told us many things about Tallinn, and also many legends. We saw the Old Town, offering excellent views of the ancient city wall. We also saw the Kiel in de Kök CannonTower (in the Upper Town), the castle (now the seat of Estonia’s Parliament), the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the Town hall Square (the center of the Lower Town), the Great Guild, the Holy Ghost Church, the 15th –century Apothecary Shop and numerous medieval merchants’ homes. The Town Hall Square is one of the best preserved Gothic Town Halls in Europe and has been at the center of Tallinn’s life for six centuries. Unfortunately, there were two bad points: The weather was horrible, it was raining cats and dogs, and it’s also cold and windy. And almost all the streets are cobble stone streets. I think it makes Tallinn very charming, but it’s horrible when you are in a wheelchair. My dad had huge difficulties to push my wheelchair. Sometimes we have the same problem in Paris, but the cobble stone streets are much bigger in Tallinn. But I definitely loved this tour!!

St. Petersburg, RUSSIA: This city’s gorgeous!! I love its architecture, it’s really beautiful. The first day we visited the Hermitage Museum. I loved it, this Museum is splendid, the architecture is beautiful and there are so many paintings and other beautiful objects to see. Basically, it’s the largest art museum in Russia, and ranks among the most prestigious and fabulous museums in the world (and seriously I understand why). Originally founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 as a private court museum, it evolved into the most remarkable collection, containing nearly three million objects. I didn’t like the guide so much, because at the end of the visit, we were longer to leave the museum, because of course we had to take the elevator, and we had to wait for it for a long time because many lazy people use it ^_^, so all the other people from our group were already in the bus, my bro too, but the guide forgot that my parents and I were still in the museum (that’s weird because she helped us during the visit and I was the only person in a wheelchair in our group), she asked the driver to leave, fortunately my bro came straight to her and told her we were still inside the museum … That’s not really professional. But I definitely like this museum!

The evening, we saw a Russian show and it was awesome. We could hear some Russian songs (of course we didn’t understand anything haha), and there were beautiful costumes. I took many videos with my camera so I’ll put them on my Youtube account (that is tinkerbell92400).

The second day, we did a driving tour to explore the most remarkable sites of St. Petersburg. We enjoyed the magnificent view of the Neva River and the Rostral Columns, the Hermitage Museum, the St. Peter and Paul Fortress…We also saw the beautiful Church on Spilled Blood and the Isaac’s Cathedral. We also went to a souvenir market, and there was another one at the port. I bought so many things over there, because they sell beautiful souvenirs. I bought a real Russian doll, and also a Russian box, I don’t know the right word in English, you know the beautiful boxes that Russian people make by hand. I also bought two books of Russian fairy tales (you all know I love fairy tales ^_^) and also some jewelleries (they make beautiful small eggs as necklaces). And of course I also bought ton of souvenirs for the friends haha. So I think my credit card definitely hates St. Petersburg.
We’re disappointed about only one thing: We wanted to visit Peterhof, the town of palaces, because rumor has it’s stunning! But the woman who was in charge to sell us this excursion refused to sell it to us. First, she told us that it wasn’t handicapped oriented. Then when we told her I could climb the stairs (we’re very motivated), she told us that the wheelchairs weren’t allowed inside the palaces, because they damage the wooden floor. It’s totally unfair, and we’re way too disappointed.

Helsinki, FINLAND: Many people told me they didn’t like this city, because it wasn’t beautiful. I was surprised (in the good way) because we saw some nice places. We did a driving tour to see the main city highlights. We stopped at several places, as the Senate Square (including the Lutheran Cathedral), the Sibelius Park (where we saw a monument constructed of 527 steel pipes honouring the great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius), the Temppeliaukio Rock Church …
After having visited the Temppeliaukio Rock Church, I freaked out because I lost my bag (and I have all my life in), fortunately our guide was lovely , she went back to the church and to the souvenir store to see if she could find it, and guess what, she did!!! It was in the souvenir store, next to the counter, I think I was carrying too many souvenirs in my arms and as my bag is quite heavy, I wanted to put it on the floor for one minute and I forgot it… I really suck sometimes ^_^. A huge thank you to our guide, who was very patient!!

Stockholm, SWEDEN: Stockholm was definitely our favorite destination during this trip. It was our only excursion in French and our guide was nice and very competent. We got lucky because we had a really nice weather. This city is really cute; there are many interesting museums to visit, and also very nice places, as the Old Town. We did a driving tour and we stopped at few places. First of all, we went to the imposing City Hall, renowned for its architecture, murals and as the site of the Nobel Prize Banquet. Completed in 1923, this building is the result of a 12-year effort by artists and craftsmen. We also went to Fjallgatan, offering a splendid panoramic view of Stockholm. We visited the Swedish warship Vasa, once considered one of the worlds largest and the pride of mighty Sweden’s Navy. The present Museum is built around the 17th century warship which sank in Stockholm’s inner harbor on her maiden voyage in 1628. Its discovery in 1956 and subsequent salvage in 1961 is one of the most important events in marine archaeology. We also passed by the Old Town, that is a very nice and colorful area.

Even if there were some organisation issues, I definitely loved this cruise!! A huge thank you to my parents!! I came back with ton of great memories!

My new gadget

I finally got my Iphone 3G !! Damn, it was a tough fight haha.

At the beginning of July, I went to the closest store to get more information about this new Iphone. The seller adviced me to book one now, because many people will buy it the day it’d come out. So I booked one, and he told me that the store opens at 10am, so I had to come at 9:30 to be sure not to wait too long, because he thought there would be many people waiting.
The Iphone 3G came out on July 17^th, so this day I arrived at 9:30 AM and what a surprise, the store was already opened. I told a seller (not the same one) that I was coming to pick up the Iphone I booked, and he told me “sorry, already sold out” **-_-**. I was quite upset. Then I saw the salesman who was supposed to book it for me, and he told me that he was on vacation just before the release, so he wasn’t be able too book it for me, and he wasn’t aware that the store’d opened that early (it opened at 8:am that day). This time he promised me that he’d call me as soon he’ll get one. One week later, he called me to ask if I wanted a white Iphone 16 Go (I wanted the black one) because he’ll get some the day after. I refuse politely because I really wanted to get the black iphone 16Go. One week later, still no news from him, so I decided to call the store and a seller told me that he got 2 black Iphone 16G that day but he already sold them… What the heckkkkkkk. So I explained to him the situation, and apparently this seller (who is also the manager of the store) wasn’t aware of anything, hum ^_^. Anyway he apologized and told me that the next one he’ll get would be definitely for me. And one week later (2 days ago) my Iphone was waiting for me hehe.

**VICTORYYYY** haha. 3 weeks to get a cell phone. I knew that many people wanted this cell phone but not that many ;)

But I understand totally, this phone rocks!! It took me half an hour to put the SIM card haha (I couldn’t find where to put it haha and there was no instructions) but after that it was ok. It’s very easy to use it. And the great thing is we can download many cool applications, useful or not ^_^. I already downloaded few common applications, like Myspace, Facebook, AIM … but also few useless applications, like the famous Magic 8 Ball haha (I love useless things haha). And the design is awesome!! Congrats to Apple! As Anthony said, goodbye social life ;)

I’m going on vacation tomorrow. I’m so excited!! It’ll be my first cruise; I think it’s going to be awesome!! I just hope we’ll have a nice weather and that I won’t be sick on the boat haha (but there is no reason, because it’s a huge boat). The only annoying thing is that tomorrow, we have to wake up at 4:30am, take 2 trains and one ferry to get to the boat (because it’s near London). But it definitely deserves it!

What time is it? Summertime!

Hey !!

I’m back, at least I wanted to update my blog. I got some hard times for few months, that’s why I didn’t really want to give any news here. Indeed, I’ve been looking for a job in marketing since last February and I still haven’t found anything yet. And it’s very tough to see all my friends going to work and being the only one who doesn’t do anything, I feel kinda useless. Of course people work the week days so I cannot hang out with anyone. Fortunately there are nights & week-ends :)

I still feel blue sometimes (not finding any job is pretty stressful), like everyone else, but for a couple of months I feel better, and I really think it’s because we are in summer. It can sound stupid, but it’s true. I love this season, the light, the hotess, the atmosphere, people are more cheerful… Of course I keep looking for a job (I already sent tons of resume and cover letter, and answered many job offers) but we all know it’s much calmer in summer because people go on vacation. There are several reasons I don’t find a job :

- That’s my first real job. Of course I already worked but only one month as a communication assistant, and I did 2 Internships as a marketing assistant. Companies want to hire experienced people, but if nobody give me a chance it’ll be hard to get experienced ^_^
- In my resume, I haven’t done anything concretely since June 2006. That’s because it took me a year to get my driving license (you all know the difficulties I had, but if you’re not aware, feel free to check my older posts), and another year to have my important surgery for my left foot and recover from it. But of course I can’t say that in my resume. And if you look for someone to hide, but that this person haven’t done anything for 2 years, you can think he/she’s lazy or just not motivated to work. I understand that …
- Too many people want to work in marketing
- The handicap. In France, the unemployment rate for handicapped people is twice higher than the common one. Of course when you have a handicap there might be some stuff that you cannot do, but the main problem is that in France many people are pretty close-minded (especially in compared with English speaking countries like the US where people are much more open-minded about that), when they know that someone is disabled, some people think you re stupid or mentally handicapped, or they just think you re too sick or weak to work. Well I already know what I’m capable of and I clearly say it. But I can’t show my capacities if nobody gives me a chance to do it. There are some companies who want to hire few disabled people because they’ll pay less cost, but some of these companies offer them a way too low salary (or position). I’m not going to apologize for having a bachelor degree, yes I have a handicap, yes it’s tough to not find any job, but I’m not desperate, so I won’t accept every situations.
The other problem is that France is also materially very late. I know that’s hard to believe… But too many common places as schools, buildings, stores, or even the streets are not handicapped oriented. I don’t really know why, because France is supposed to be a developed country! Here is an example: I applied to work at the company where I did my last internship, because I really loved it, there was a good atmosphere, and I learned a lot. I got a phone interview with the vice CEO (he’s really nice) and he told me he would be interested in hiring me because I did a great job as an Intern. Then we talked about the place (because the company moved into another building), and here is the problem: There is a big step to get in the building and it’s impossible to climb it with my electrical wheelchair. And nobody could carry it even for only one step because it’s way too heavy … Damn we are in PARIS , the capital of France!! And many buildings are still not handicapped oriented. It must change! It definitely will, but when, nobody knows. I'm still waiting for some news from the vice CEO but because of this problem I'm quite pessimistic.

That’s why sometimes it’s quite tough for me morally; I know why companies would mind hiding me. But I also know why I must be hired : I’m a smart woman (at least I’m not more stupid than anyone else), I have a bachelor degree, did a couple of internships, speak English fluently, I’m a people person, high motivated, well organized , hardworking,… So why the heck wouldn’t I find a job?! I know I’ll find one, because I deserve it, I just have to be patient (what I’m not LOL).

Anyway ^_^ Fortunately I’m surrounded by wonderful friends, so thank you all so much for being so supportive!! A special thank you to Jaouhara :)
Plus, Monique, one of my good university friends moved in the same town, and now she lives 5 minutes far from my home, what is really practical haha because we hang out together more often. And it’s pretty cool!

I still love cinema and go to the movies about 8 times a month. Here are the movies I saw from the end of May 08:
-What Happens In Vegas : Entertaining. It’s typically the kind of girly movies I like ^_^
- Sex & The City: I loved it. I’m a HUGE Sex & The City fan and I waited this movie for a long time. All the characters of the TV show are there, the story is good, the character of Samantha Jones is way too funny, I love the outfits, and it takes place in NYC (feeling nostalgic). Be sure I’ll buy the DVD
- Affaire de Famille: There are some good actors but the story is kinda weird. I don’t really know if I liked it or not…
- JCVD: I didn’t like it at all. It’s way too long and boring, and I don’t really like Jean Claude Van Damme
- The Happening: I loved it! The story is really weird (especially the end), but I was expecting that from this director. I love lot of his movies!
- 21: I liked it! It is a bit long but the story is pretty good!
- Waltz with Bashir: I didn’t like it. I think it’s a great movie, but I don’t really like this kind of movies. It’s a war movie and of course pretty sad.
- Nos 18 ans: I liked it! It was funny & entertaining.
- Street Kings: I loved it! The story is really interesting, there is some action, and the actors are pretty good!! I was really happy to see a new movie with Keanu Reeves, because I think he’s an excellent actor and I didn’t see him in a movie since The Matrix Revolutions. It was also funny too see Hugh Laurie in a movie (his character is weird haha)
- Made of Honor : Fresh & entertaining . A girly movie. It’s always a pleasure to see Patrick Dempsey on big screen ;)
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall: I didn’t like it. I was way too disappointed, because I like a lot the main actress, Kristen Bell (who plays in the TV shows Veronica Mars & Heroes), and I also like the actor from How I Met Your Mother so I really wanted to see this movie. The story is fun but I really don’t like this sort of sense of humor (there are many jokes I didn’t like), I didn’t think it was funny at all, so I was pretty bored.
- Mes amis, mes amours: I liked it. Entertaining, and there are some great actors
- Made In Italy: I hated it. Seriously, it’s so boring, the story sucks, I fell asleep for 20 minutes and I really didn’t miss anything. The actors aren’t even good (in my opinion)
- Wanted: I loved it! I liked the story, there is some action, and the actors are awesome!
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: I loved it too! I already like the first movie but this movie is much better! I like the story, the characters, the atmosphere … I just love this sort of movies!
- Hancock: I didn’t like it. I didn’t really like the story, the movie is supposed to be funny but I never laughed lol. Plus I don’t really like Will Smith…
- Mad Money: I liked it! The story is deja vu, but it’s pretty funny and entertaining. Besides, I like Diane Keaton.

About TV… It’s a hard time …because all the American series ended up in June and we have to wait until September to watch the next season haha, I told you, I’m not patient at all (big flaw I know).

A couple of weeks ago, two close friends of mine, Chacha & Geri, from Lyon, visited me (but not at the same time) because they were in Paris for a few days. And now every time they come, we eat lunch at Breakfast in America, an American diner we found out a few months ago. And it’s delicious, I love American food (Pancakes, bagels, donuts, hmm yummy ^^).
Geri came with two friends plus her boyfriend, so we made them visit the most popular places and monuments in Paris :) It was pretty fun, even if the weather wasn’t that good (it’s Paris lol).
Chacha made me discover the Pinky Street dolls (if you don’t know what it is, check it out : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinky_Street ), I bought one and now I’m definitely addicted (aww my poor credit card haha). They are way too cute!

This is the one I bought:

Here are some shots I took with Chacha & Geri (if you want to see more photographs, check it out : http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonlitfairy/)

A day with Chacha :

A day with Geri:

I went to Disneyland Paris (I have a Year Pass) with Monique! We definitely had a blast! It was very sunny, and I have a pass to cut the line so it's really cool ! We enjoyed many rides! Monique hasn't been there for 15 years so she was really happy to go back!

I also attended two concerts few weeks ago : Mika’s concert & Duffy’s concert. Both of them were way too awesome.
I went to Mika’s concert with Jaouhara, it was a real show (with dancers and acrobats), and very colorful, we just loved it!! Mika has a huge creative mind and he’s definitely a pretty good artist!

I went to Duffy’s concert with Monique, but we got lucky because we weren’t supposed to attend it. Actually I really do love this singer and her album, I wanted to attend her concert but when I tried to buy tickets, it was already sold out. And then, only few hours before the concert, my best friend Bilale called me and told me he had an emergency and that he couldn’t attend this concert (I didn’t even know he was supposed to go there lol), so he had two tickets to offer, and as he knew I like a lot this singer he decided to offer me the tickets, and I asked Monique to come with me. Duffy has an amazing voice and also very good songs so we really enjoyed the concert! Thank you so much for the tickets Lilou, you really made my day!!

I took some videos of the concert (cameras were allowed), I posted them just under this post; Enjoy !

Now I’m lookin’ forward to going on vacation in a couple of weeks!! Usually every year we do a family trip in August. I really wanted to go back to the US, so I suggested my parents to go to California and visit San Diego & Los Angeles (I know that San Francisco is also gorgeous but we cannot visit all the West Coast in 2 weeks). They were very motivated but one week after I talked to them about it, they found out this trip would be too expensive because we took this decision too late. I’m way disappointed, because as you know I really feel home in the US, I miss this country (and of course I also miss NYC), and I really need to go back. But it’s my fault if we waited until the last minute to book our vacation; I wanted to wait until the middle of June before booking a trip, in case that a company would have hired me.
Instead of going to California, we finally decided to book a cruise of 12 days (from the 11^th of August to the 23rd of August). It’ll be our first cruise. Apparently, the boat is huge, there are 3 swimming pools, 13 restaurants, 15 bars, a bowling, a theater … And we’ll stop at several cities. Here are the cities we’re going to visit: Copenhagen (in Denmark), Berlin (in Germany), Tallin (in Estonia), Saint Petersburg (in Russia) – we’ll stay 2 days there, Stockholm (in Sweden) and Helsinki (in Finland). I’m so excited, I’m sure we’ll have a blast J

Before leaving, here are some photographs of Monique, Jaouhara & me visiting Paris (We live in Paris suburb and we still enjoy visiting Paris, besides we wanted to take advantage of the good weather)

And also other random pics (from Disneyland Paris, Celine's farewell party...) :

Well, now I think it’s time to end up this post! Enjoy the summer! We’re finally having a good weather in Paris, so it’s the opportunity to sunbathe!I haven’t gone to Paris Plage but I’m pretty sure it’s crowded, so I prefer sunbathing on my balcony with a magazine, a book or just my ipod haha

and for the lucky ones, enjoy your vacation!!

xoxo