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  1. Tell me what you watch & I’ll tell… | Part 1

    May 21, 2013 by Audrey

    As the TV series are coming to their season finales, I’m giving a good look at what will get booted of my list for next season. Time is limited and it’s impossible to watch it all, especially when new and exciting shows are on the horizon. So what comes and what goes?

    ABC

    OnceOnce Upon A Time

    Verdict: still debating

    The concept of that show was fascinating to me. What a great idea to imagine how fairy tale characters could live in the modern world! Unfortunately, by the end of season two, the modern world is quickly disappearing, opening never-ending portals to Fairyland and other Neverland… And the interest of the show is going down the purple drain with the characters. If it wasn’t for Captain Hook and his smoky eyes, I wouldn’t have made it through season two. Will he be enough to motivate me to start watching season 3? Time will tell…

    RevengeRevenge

    Verdict: still debating

    As Emily/Amanda finally reveals her true identity to her childhood sweetheart in the last second of season two’s finale, I catch myself yawning. So, now what? Characters are dropping like flies and the ones staying have the most uninteresting story lines. There is a fine line in credibility between what makes a show keep you at the edge of your seat and what makes it less believable than the commercial break. Revenge is getting very close to the edge.

    NashvilleNashville

    Verdict: keeper

    I will give Nashville a second season. Turns out, the ups and downs of the country music “stars” are entertaining; plus, I have to say, I have a soft spot for their southern accent. I think season two will be a hit or miss though. How much more crap can Juliette Barnes go through and still keep this little-miss-I-know-it-all tone of hers. This might be my only 2013 guilty pleasure.

    GreysGrey’s Anatomy

    Verdict: still debating

    Meredith Grey falls briefly in love with a bomb technician, but he gets blown up. She falls off a pier and nearly dies, wakes up to discover that her mother is dead. She has a miscarriage, is caught tampering with an Alzheimer’s trial, is fired. Meredith has her adopted baby briefly taken away. Meredith watches her sister, who she now loves, die in a gruesome plane crash and cannot save her. In the season 9 finale, she has a C-section during a black out and just makes it… What more can happen to Meredith Grey (and I’m not even opening the can of warms of the rest of the characters.) It is time to put an end to Grey’s Anatomy, but it’s so hard to resist not to keep watching…

    And this is just for ABC… Stay tuned for my watch-list from other networks.

    Category Best of U.S., Seeing | Tags: , , | No Comments

  2. Fashion Classics | Casio

    May 7, 2013 by Guest

     By Harleen Johal

    The Casio brand has been around for a number of years, with an incredible timeline of products. it is more commonly known today for producing wristwatches, Casio was better known, in its founding days, for electronics and scientific calculators. The Casio calculator watch, a digital classic, first appeared in the 1970’s. This collection had a calculator built into it with buttons on the watch face. One of the most popular of the series was the Casio Databank., which, as well as the calculator function also allowed data storage, such as telephone numbers.

    Casio Databank

    Casio Databank

    How cool is this watch?  These days people use their smartphones to work out pretty much anything, however flying back to the 1970’s, the convenience of having a calculator on your wrist was a fabulous idea.

    Marty from ‘Back to the Future’ in a Casio Databank

    Photo Credit: Stormtroopers.com

    The Casio Databank happened to be spotted in the film Back to the future worn by Marty McFly. Wow! This seems like ages ago, it just comes to show how much style has changed over the years.

    Casio F-91W

    Casio F-91W

    Twenty-something plus years later, in 1991, the Casio F-91W was born. A simple quartz digital watch widely available today from many retailers. The watch features a stopwatch and is powered by a single lithium button cell. Although Casio have never released numbers as to how many of this particular watch they have sold, it continues to be one of their best sellers.

    Time moves on and with time fashion moves on. Along the years, Casio introduced different lines of watches called Casio G-Shock and Casio Baby-G. carried by brand ambassadors such as Rihanna and Ke$ha.

    With the success of Casio’s long line of products, I would like to think that they are only set to become bigger and better. Love time, love class, love Casio.

    Harleen JohalHarleen Johal is the Marketing Assistant at The Watch Hut, in the United Kingdom. She is a watch connoisseur, and very passionate about the blogging world. After completing a four-year Business degree, she decided that the marketing world was where she wanted to step into. Only have worked in the watch retail industry for a short while, she has learnt a lot about the mechanics of watches as well as the large variety of brands. When Harleen isn’t marketing watches she is actually also working of the statistical side of the business. She enjoys socializing as well as having a keen interest in Football.

    Category Fashion | Tags: , | No Comments

  3. Postcard from Philadelphia

    April 27, 2013 by Audrey

    April was, once again, time for my bi-annual trip to the City of Brotherly Love. I left a cold and rainy Lyon at 5:30 am and made my way to Philly, via Zürich.

    IMG_1276

    When I landed in Philadelphia, the weather was summer-like, the trees were in bloom, the terraces were buzzing… I took a good breath of that energizing atmosphere and started a two-weeks round of seeing lots of friends, eating lots of food and drinking lots of wine!

    En images…

    Springtime on Bainbridge Street

    Springtime on Bainbridge Street

    Roaming around the Reading Terminal Market

    Roaming around the Reading Terminal Market

    Testing new restaurants

    Testing new restaurants

    Without forgetting the classics... (grits with everything please!)

    Without forgetting the classics… (grits with everything please!)

    Playing tourist at Independence Hall

    Playing tourist at Independence Hall

    After enjoying two full weeks of Philadelphia freedom, it felt like I was back in my old life. But my new life was awaiting, here in Lyon. Time to pack my bags and come home.

    Next stop: Playing tourist in Paris, this time, with a Philly friend!

    Category Seeing | Tags: , , | No Comments

  4. Priorities… A list…

    April 21, 2013 by Audrey

    IMG_0920A couple of weeks ago, someone shared with me their life priorities. It made me think.

    For about 4 years, I couldn’t really have a plan because I didn’t know where I’d be in 2-years (for the best), then there was last year’s turmoil with the move and the rebuilding a life somewhere new. A year later, I’m settled, I’m happy, I’m living a peaceful one-day-at-a-time life… and someone has to bring up the “life priorities” question…

    Really? Because, now, of course, I need to figure out what mines are.

    And because you have to keep yourself busy during an 8.5-hour flight (Mad Men only killed two of those), I made a list.

    • Priority #7: Write, tell stories
    • Priority #6: Share what I have learned, help others achieve their goals
    • Priority #5: Nest, have a place to drop my luggage, a home
    • Priority #4: Love, find someone who I can be myself and feel good with
    • Priority #3: See, smell and taste the world
    • Priority #2: Maintain and sustain my independence and my freedom
    • Priority #1: Do not miss on opportunities life offers me because of my priorities.

     

    What about you? What would you say your life priorities are?

     

    Category Lifestyle | Tags: , | No Comments

  5. Postcard from Amsterdam

    April 8, 2013 by Audrey

    On a cold Easter weekend, three girls headed to Amsterdam by way of Bruxelles.

    IMG_1194

    The ugliness of their tiny (but very well located) hotel room, encouraged them to walk the city, up and down, only stopping along the way to sample the good things this city has to offer: cafés, museums, shopping and very pretty sightseeing.

    I must confess, I was afraid that the food would not be the highlight of that trip… but this has nothing to envy to some of the best gourmet stores I have been to.

    IMG_1232

    I had to bring back some of that tasty aged cheddar…

    IMG_1239

    The goal was to keep going when everything was pulling us in a different direction: small walkable downtown but lots of things to see!

    IMG_1249

    And it often felt like the most interesting things were behind windows… or behind shutters…

    IMG_1251

    But that didn’t prevent the wheel of life to keep on spinning and us to catch a ride with it.

    IMG_1258

    Just the sound of a wheel in the gravel
    Just the click of a heel in the pavement
    Just a moment like any other moment
    Amsterdam

    ~Joan Baez

    Category Seeing | Tags: , | No Comments

  6. Movie collection

    March 24, 2013 by Audrey

    It all started when I decided to backup my computer and do a little “clean up” because it had been warning me for while that my “start-up disk is almost full”… Turns I (thought I) had my iTunes library twice: once on my system disk and once on my data disk… I decided to remove it from the system disk since it’s the one that needed a little space to run more smoothly…

    Ok, I deleted my entire iTunes library by mistake. I’m an idiot.

    Somehow, most of the music was backed-up but the movies and TV Shows, not so much. So I banged my head on the wall for a little while and then decided to see if there was any solution to my “situation”… And there was. And I started fixing it (i.e. re-downloading everything), which I’m still in the process of doing. All of that to say: what a great moment to clean-up my movie library, on that gloomy Sunday afternoon and to make sure I have the can’t-live-without movies as a priority on my list…

    You’re seeing it coming… what are the can’t-live-without movies?

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    In alphabetical order (I don’t want any of them to be jealous).

    1. A Chorus Line – Hopefuls try out before a demanding director for a part in a new musical.
    To watch when: I need inspiration.

    2. Across The Universe - The music of the Beatles and the Vietnam War form the backdrop for the romance between an upper-class American girl and a poor Liverpudlian artist.
    To watch when: I’m alone so I can sing along out loud, preferably on a big screen with surround sound to better experience the psychedelic fever.

    3. Before Sunset - It’s nine years after Jesse and Celine first met; now, they encounter one another on the French leg of Jesse’s book tour.
    To watch when: I start doubting love.

    4. Casablanca - Set in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II: An American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.
    To watch when: I want to remember what it means to tell a story.

    5. Dirty Dancing - Spending the summer in a holiday camp with her family, Frances “Baby” Houseman falls in love with the camp’s dance instructor Johnny Castle.
    To watch when: I need to feel like I’m 15 again.

    6. Rocky Horror Picture Show - A newly engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must pay a call to the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-N-Furter.
    To watch when: I’m down.

    7. The Right Stuff - The original US Mercury 7 astronauts and their macho, seat-of-the-pants approach to the space program.
    To watch when: I have male company and I still want to immensely enjoy a movie while not passing as “girly”.

    8. The Secretary - A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.
    To watch when: I’m feeling naughty.

    9. The Way We Were - Two desperate people have a wonderful romance, but their political views and convictions drive them apart.
    To watch when: I have something on my mind and I need to cry to get it out.

    10. Valley Of The Dolls - Film version of Jacqueline Susann’s best-selling novel chronicling the rise and fall of three young ladies in show business.
    To watch when: I miss my Philly friends or when I’m tempted to go all claw-crazy on someone.

    What are your can’t-live-without movies?

    Category Culture | Tags: , , | No Comments

  7. Wdbe essentials | The short-sleeved white tee

    March 17, 2013 by Audrey

    Along the years, I developed a style that’s mine. I realized I really enjoyed “dressing for the occasion” and having fun with my wardrobe. And I don’t have a size two frame so, I also had to learn to dress for my body, which wasn’t always a given. But I think, I’m starting to get the hang of it.

    About a year ago, a friend said to me: “I wish you were here when I go out shopping. You always have such good tastes.” I was very nice and it inspired this series. Since I can’t be everywhere, with everyone when they go out shopping, I thought I would share my wardrobe essentials.

    Building a wardrobe with a few classics will allow you space for self-expression while always looking put together.

    After the black tank last week, I’m introducing today…

    The short-sleeved white T-shirt.

    White tees become unwearable quickly, so, my advice: skip the costly designer versions and buy a bunch of good-looking inexpensive ones. Then replace as needed. However, here’s a selection for all budgets…

    Alice-Cut-Out-Top-LBW02680_111_1Lucky Brand Jeans | Alice Cut Out Top

    Give your boho basics an essential refresh this Spring with the slub cotton Alice Eyelet Dolman tee for women, featuring an easy silhouette and eyelet details. Team this laid back favorite with bold, bright denim for a compelling combo.

     

    hmprodH&M | Top

    A short-sleeved, fitted top in soft stretch jersey at a price perfect for stocking up!

     

     

    img-thingClub Monaco | Sunny Tee

    With an easy fit and lightweight knit, the Sunny tee will leave you with a disposition that lives up to its name.

     

     

    71290_WT0022J. Crew | Linen V-neck pocket tee

    Made of 100 percent pure linen—they tightened the weave so it’s less sheer but just as luxe—this exquisitely textured knit boasts a flattering drapey fit.

     

     

    imagesGap | Essential short-sleeve V-neck T

    A classic V-neck cut, a slim silhouette that hits just below the hips, a price that allows us to buy a few to always stay crisp and clean white… It’s another Little Audrey’s favorite from the Gap!

    Category Fashion | Tags: , , | No Comments

  8. Wardrobe essentials | The black tank

    March 10, 2013 by Audrey

    I often hear “you have great style”… Which is a compliment I take wholeheartedly. I’m not a fashionista. I don’t mix things up just to be different. Generally, I probably fall on the more “classic” side. I like the times when women dressed as women. Bring on the dresses, the pencil skirts, the high heel shoes, the costume jewelry…

    Along the years, I developed a style that’s mine. I realized I really enjoyed “dressing for the occasion” and having fun with my wardrobe. And I don’t have a size 2 frame so, I also had to learn to dress for my body, which wasn’t always a given. But I think, I’m starting to get the hang of it.

    About a year ago, a friend said to me: “I wish you were here when I go out shopping. You always have such good tastes.” I was very nice and it inspired this series. Since I can’t be everywhere, with everyone when they go out shopping, I thought I would share my wardrobe essentials.

    Building a wardrobe with a few classics will allow you space for self-expression while always looking put together.

    The black tank

    A black tank is a universal piece. It will take you from day to night, from casual to dressed up (with dark jeans, high heels and fun jewelry). When you find the one you like, buy a few… And don’t be afraid to replace when the color starts fading.

    I personally prefer a larger strap and a little bit of elastic in the fabric; but don’t let them hang too tight if you don’t have the flat stomach that goes with it. It’s not because it’s black that it will mask your flabby parts.

    Here are some option for all silhouettes and all budgets.

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    Ponte Peplum Top

    J. Crew | Ponte Peplum Top
    The perfect mix of sleek and structured, with a chic exposed back-zip detailing that easily dresses it up or down.

     

    Essential rib tank

    Essential rib tank

    The Gap | Essential rib tank
    Perfect length, perfect versatility, holds great even after several washes… LittleAudrey’s favorite!

     

    Women's Perfect Rib-Knit Tanks

    Perfect Rib-Knit Tanks

    Old Navy | Women’s Perfect Rib-Knit Tanks
    Who said fashion needs to be expensive? Those basics for under $10 will perfectly do the trick, whatever your budget is.

     

    Velvet by Graham & Spencer | Stina Top

    Stina Top

    Velvet by Graham & Spencer | Stina Top
    A great neckline that will take this top from casual to perfect under a blazer in the evening. Beware of the thinner fabrics that are much less forgiving though.

     

    H&M top

    H&M top

    H&M | Top
    A fitted tank in a soft stretch jersey with a pretty lace neckline and large straps, under $10… Yes!

    Category Fashion | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

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