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  1. On the 2012 horizon – Update

    March 6, 2012 by Audrey

    I had a lot of things On The 2012 Horizon, back in January… I thought time had come to do quick check on what’s happening and what’s not. A way to put myself back on track as we approach the end of the first quarter.

    The image on the left being a figurative way to communicate that life doesn’t always allow us to go straight to where we’d like to head and we might have to park diagonally for a bit before taking the road again.

    Read more - Ahem… Not a brilliant start here. I certainly loaded my iPad with many books that I’m seriously planning on reading. I just wish there would be a couple more hours in my days. And, I know, it’s not an excuse, I should be able to find the time. Maybe I should put an hour a week, in a coffee shop, on my agenda to make my way through Coco Chanel. Let’s give that a shot…

    Write more - Hey, look at that, March and I’m still (pretty) regular on the blog… Woo Hoo…

    Let go - Back in January, I had a feeling I would have to do plenty of it, and I was right. Right now, I’m working on letting go of old grudges. There’s no bigger power than forgiveness, and believe me, it’s a deeply interesting journey.

    Keep on moving - Guess who ran 5K for the first time in February… Yep! Big achievement… That I haven’t had the courage to reproduce since that, of course… But it felt really good that time. And now I know I can, which is half of the battle. I still feel the need for more workout. Since I stopped teaching ballroom dancing I don’t feel as active as I used to and I miss it very much.

    Keep on going - The to-go places list is growing everyday… but (beside quicks in & out in Houston, TX and Harrisburg, PA) travel plans are postponed until April…

    Call a place home - This is probably the longest journey of all but also the one that takes the biggest part in my daily life. The first step on my road to a “home of mine” is to leave the one I’m in right now. The process is long and not always fun, there’s a lot of let go to do but the boxes are piling up, the movers are booked and the plane ticket is purchased. I will do the next update from my home country, maybe even my home city.

    What was on your 2012 horizon? How do you make it so far?

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  2. To give or not to give

    March 5, 2012 by Audrey

    One of the fun things that comes with moving your life an ocean away is that you get to trim down your belongings to the core essentials. There is a cubic feet limit that I would like not to go over in order to stay in my budget and that requires some serious thinking as I go through 8-years of “stuff”… and more (the company I worked for when I moved here paid for my move so I wasn’t so worried about the total size/weight).

    The trimming functions in piles (the life-size version of my cherished lists):

    The indispensable that will come with me no matter what: wardrobe reduced to the basics, best fit, worn within the last 12 months items; objects that have sentimental value (my grandmother’s glasses and champagne flutes); office & personal files cleaned up to the past 5-years only; quality items that will find their place in my new home (wooden hangers, my old Genevieve Lethu coffee set)…

    The cherished that will find a new home among my friends: giving away furniture sometimes feel like giving away an animal… You want to make sure that they will be treated well. My sofa and coffee-table have found their new home two years ago, and my bedroom will stay with K., so is my nice dinnerware and some of my kitchen small appliances. I’m also lucky to be able to “spoil” two 20-something lads with the less valuable and more fun stuff – I’ve rarely seen someone so excited to get a used blender… Hey – when my former boss moved back to France I picked-up an iron and a blow-dryer that are still in use to this day!

    The good quality but can-live-without that will make its way to the AIDS Thrift Store down the street: books, CD’s (operation copying my entire collection on my computer has kept me busy on weekends…), clothing items and accessories that no longer fit or that I got tired of, home decoration items that might not find their place in my new home… If they can make a few bucks out of it, I’m happy. It’s funny thought, every single time I walk by, I can’t help peeping into the “Free Stuff” bins to see if some of my hands-down have been rejected… So far, so good!

    The why-do-I-still-have-that that makes its way to our sidewalk every Thursday night: I think the waste management people must wonder how two girls can suddenly create so much trash.

    It’s a tiring but rewarding process to go back to the essentials. Ironically, I will be moving in with my grand-mother for a few months to repeat that exact thing with her stuff and we’re not talking about an 8-year run in a one-bedroom there, more like 35 years in a 3-story house… Glad I’ll have the practice!

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  3. Contest – You know you’re from Philly when…

    March 2, 2012 by Audrey

    If you’re a regular reader of this blog you already know that I will be leaving our lovely city of Philadelphia at the end of the month. I wanted to end that huge part of my life on a fun note; and what better way to part than with a bunch of goodies…

    Up for grab is a bountiful assortment of Philadelphia food favorites! An impressive basket of treats from the Pennsylvania General Store that includes Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpets and Chocolate Cupcakes, Asher’s Chocolate Covered Pretzels, Melrose Diner Butter Cookies, Uncle Jerry’s Hard Pretzels, Asher’s Keystone Crunch, a Chocolate Liberty Bell, Society Hill Toffee Nuts, Pretzel Pete’s Honey Mustard, Anastasio Italian Market Reserve Coffee, a Philadelphia Love Mug, a Replica Constitution, Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews and a Replica Liberty Bell!

    Some good stuff right?

    The rules are simple: finish the sentence “You know you’re from Philly when…” in the comment section of the blog (comments left on Facebook & Twitter will not be taken into account). I will pick (random draw) and announce the winner on March 16th.

    Ready. Set. Be creative!

    Category Lifestyle | Tags: , , , | 14 Comments

  4. The Power of Yoga

    March 1, 2012 by Audrey

    I read this morning about some new controversy regarding Yoga… First there was the New York Time article about How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body, back in January, now it’s all about Yoga linked to Tantric Sex… I really enjoyed Mark Morford’s article Please Join My Tantric Sex Yoga Club in the San Francisco Chronicle. People (and media) really have a way to twist the reality to create a good scandal. And, in my opinion, seeing the humor in it is the only way to surf those waters.

    Yoga, if you had asked me about a year ago, I would have said “not for me”. Too slow… Boring… Yawn… are words that would come to my mind when I thought of it. Then I joined a gym who was offering a few yoga classes. In the spirit of trying something before tossing it to the side, I gathered my courage and went to a Tuesday morning class. Guess what… I enjoyed it. And I went back. And back again. I have now been practicing once or twice a week for about a year. Oh I’m no yogi, believe me. But I feel a huge difference in my body and in my spirits. Not so much impact on my sex life, I have to say…

    To me, Yoga is the best form of stretching. Once you get into the workout habit, you realize how key stretching is, especially if you want to stave off next-day soreness. Yoga has made stretching fun and helped get better results from exercise, feel sprightlier, even sleep better. No kidding!

    As for how it might “wreck your body”, I believe it’s quite the opposite. One of the first thing you learn in Yoga is to not look at the person next to you. To stop comparing yourself to your neighbor but to push your body to the limits of its own comfort zone. By being aware of what you can do and what you can’t there shouldn’t be any problem. The next step is to apply that mantra to your daily life… Stop comparing. What a beautiful concept.

    What about you? Do you practice yoga? What are you getting from it?

    Category Lifestyle | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

  5. Moving Away – Moving Back

    February 27, 2012 by Audrey

    Tomorrow will be exactly one month before I board a plane back to France. I have now lived in Philadelphia for 8 years and have been calling this city my home for a while. And here I am, starting everything all over again.

    There are so many emotions linked to a move abroad. Whether it’s a move away or a move back, or both (in my case).

    8 years ago, I was moving away. I was leaving behind me the comfort of a familiar city, a close family and a faithful group of friends. I remember taking the subway, about a week before I left, and running into someone I knew. It became clear to me, at that moment, that it was time to go. I was craving the idea of being incognito and being able to reinvent myself; become the person I knew (thought?) I was. The person that wasn’t tied to family expectations, friends assumptions due to our common history, or even general reputation.

    The week after I arrived in Philly was the week two major TV series season finales were released. In Friends, Rachel accepts a job in Paris and then changes her mind when Ross declares his love to her. And I thought: “What if I missed my opportunity for that one-true-love?” And I cried. In Sex & the City, Carrie moves to Paris to follow Aleksandr and then becomes home sick and misses her friends. And I thought: “What if I lose my friends?” And I cried.

    It only took a few more weeks for me to realize that:
    1. I was already making some great new friends (2 of them I met within the first 48 hours I had moved here)
    2. There was plenty of male eye candy in Philadelphia and I had a lot to learn and experiment about the American culture of dating.

    8 years later, I’m back. But this time, I don’t feel like I’m leaving anything behind. All the great things that I have found here, I’m taking with me: my experiences, my memories, my freedom.  Friends, I have all over the world at this point. And I’m lucky to live in the 21st century where Internet keeps people connected and where everyone only lives a plane-ride away. As for my one-true-love… Who knows? Maybe he was there, all that time, just waiting.

    Had you asked me a few month ago how I felt about the possibility of moving back to France, the answer would not have been pretty. Behind the tears was a terrorizing fear of the unknown. But, somehow, I don’t feel fear anymore. I feel excitement about the unknown. I’m not sad about the days left behind, I’m looking forward to the days to come.

    I want to close that chapter of my life, with words from my favorite poem: If by Rudyard Kipling

    …
    If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
    Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
    …
    Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
    And stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;
    …
    If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
    If all men count with you, but none too much:
    …
    Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

     

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  6. The bucket list

    February 24, 2012 by Audrey

    It’s official. In a little less than 5 weeks, I will be relocating to my good old city of Lyon, France. Many new adventures will certainly ensue but in the meantime, I only have a little over a month left in Philadelphia. Funny how you always think you have time when you don’t know how long you’ll be somewhere for.

    Now that the expiration date has come, it’s time to look at all those things I always said I’d do. And never did.

    Here’s my Philadelphia Bucket List:

    1. Walk around my very special Divine Lorraine – and finally snap a few pictures from up close instead of just flying by in a bus or a car.

    2. Go to the Philadelphia Flower Show – 8 years in Philly. 8 Flower shows that came and went. 8 times the affirmation “This year, I’m going”. Well, in 2012, no excuses. I have to go. Plus, the theme being Hawaii, I really can’t miss it because I’ll be on a photography mission for Ms. Tigger.

    3. See the Japanese House and Garden in Fairmount Park – It shouldn’t be that complicated… How come I did not get around to do it before.

    4. Visit the Mutter Museum – Because I chickened out too many times… and when I found the motivation last june, J. chickened out for both of us. I’m not a chicken… I can do that…

    5. Have dinner at Morimoto – I think I have a little crush on Chef Masaharu Morimoto…

    6. Get my picture taken by the Rocky Statue- Well, just because I’m a dork…If you were moving away soon, what would be on your Philadelphia bucket list? And who’s coming and doing all those things with me?

    Category Lifestyle | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments

  7. Closet classics: The Little Black Dress

    February 23, 2012 by Audrey

    Fact: every woman’s closet needs to have a Little Black Dress. It will always be on style, it will always be chic and it will turn out to be the best default option for any evening-wear moment in life: date night, cocktail with the girls, office dinner party… You can’t go wrong with the LBD.

    The History of the Little Black Dress starts with the 1920’s designs of Coco Chanel. Published in Vogue (1926), “it was an apparently simple yet elegant sheath, in black crêpe de Chine, with long, narrow sleeves, worn with a string of white pearls;…” says Justine Picardine in her Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life. In the 1960’s Audrey Hepburn, as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, wore a dress designed by Hubert de Givenchy and epitomized the standard for wearing little black dresses. Holly’s confidence, charms and chic look were inspiring to women through the 60’s and on. As the fashion industry embraced the LBD it has evolved but the essence of the little black dress has stayed the same.

    I personally not just own one Little Black Dress but three (first signs of addiction maybe). Two of them have a little bit of Mad Men’s Joan Harris to them, the third one is more office/boyfriend parents-friendly; and there’s no better choice in case of a closet nightmare than to fall back on one of those staples.

    If you don’t already own a LBD, go get one. There’s one for every shape and every budget.

    Then comes the accessorizing… Here are a few items to gather that will always work with your Little Black Dress:
    - Slingback (preferably peep-toe) shoes.
    - A little bit of sparkle with costume or precious jewelry (think drop earrings).
    - A cardigan for the times you’ll have to “undress” your dress or cover shoulders and necklines.
    - A small clutch is a lovely, discreet look. Try a dazzling or sparkling color to dress it up for the evening.
    - Finally, for the most daring of us, long black gloves in the evening are guaranteed to be a conversation starter.

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  8. 5 minutes of Internet fame…

    February 21, 2012 by Audrey

    A few days ago, as I was browsing through my Google Reader, I stumbled upon this Mashable article: Trick Out Your Pinterest Boards With This Simple Hack. I had a little time and I was curious so I followed the (very easy) step-by-step tutorial with a Hipstamatic shot I took of City Hall back in August 2010. I called my board “The Philadelphia Story” and I named each of the square with a Philly word. All of this was just for fun. I shared the link with Mashable, because after all, why not? I thought the result was pretty cool…

    Fast forward to this morning. As usual, quick email check on my iPhone as I wake-up… And there is a string of emails from Pinterest with so&so following me… I thought that was weird, and wondered if those people were some sort of spammers… Later on, I turned on my computer, made coffee and started going through my Reader (yep, morning routine…). And there it was…

    My heart skipped a beat…

    My head felt very light…

    Here’s the official Mashable page.

    That’s why I love social media. 5 minutes of Internet fame is a great way to start the day!

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