photos and catching up (a lot)

The last time I properly put photos was March 9.... So this post will be primarily photos! I'm sorry for my lack of posting :( Most of all to Naoni since she takes the prize for consistency despite the circumstances (whatever they may be). I was wondering if I should just go back into posts and add in applicable photos, but instead I think I'll try to organize them here. I'll also maybe make one or two other posts in order to keep things more organized (and to make up for my missed weeks o_o) Hope that's OK for everyone! And if not, I guess that's how I'm doing it anyways mwahahah

March 9-19 – Some random photos and also the photos from H's bday (march 19, pisces territory...) For that, we went back to his family's home in Tours. I went straight after work on Thursday evening so even though the journey isn't necessarily short to get there (maybe 4-5 hours depending), I think we had enough time :) Since my birthday is the 24th, his family was super sweet and also celebrated for me at the same time. They got me a lot of cute little bits and bobs and H's mom cooked a delicious dinner and cake. It was my first time trying a tagine :0 and also I discovered a French kind of cake called a Charlotte that's really yummy.

red velvet cheesecake oreo brownie I made!

In Tours, there had been sand blown over a couple of days previously all the way from the Sahara apparently! You could see it on the cars and grounds.

cool apples at H's school's art library

mini pizza from the boulangerie near my school, I thought it was comedic how large the plate is in comparison.... we won't even talk about the burned part

March 24 – me birthday ! I turned 23 this year :) A weird number if you ask me. 22 has its symmetry and everything and I like 24 because it's the day I was born, so I guess 23 to me feels like it's on the verge of something. And maybe, just maybe it is! Anyways, I had a nice Thursday birthday this year. As you'll see it was a lot of good food, and that's just how I like it! I had work still and I didn't really tell anyone, but I don't mind, like... if you know you know, ya know? In the morning my train though was late so H and I went to my fav Amiens boulangerie and had a cinnamon roll and coffees. At lunch I thankfully had lunch with Smaranda :D at a restaurant that we're surprised is in the area because it's quite chic and our schools are in a more residential place. For dinner, I tried a Japanese place near the train station with H. It made us really full and sleepy though so we took a nap and had midnight cake (a sampling also of Maxime's haha).

Being 22... hmmm... I graduated! That's probably the main thing. I started living in France again :) I got a taste of what it's like to live with someone else (or more like a SO). Despite everything I got to travel a lot. It was a good year I'd say :) Since I've been 23 for a month or so now, I can also say I'm optimistic. I feel content in my life at this point and I feel like the relationships I have are very fulfilling <3 There are still things I want to keep working on, but overall I don't have much to complain about which is a blessing.

The flowers started blooming in March and I was inspired by Naoni to document the moment. And this was one of my classes on that Thursday :) This was the longest "stretch" of us having to work with out a break so at this point I think a lot of assistants were feeling a bit tired. I got into the rhythm of the work and it is good to have continuity.

March 25-27 – Iconic visit of Naoni and Aboni to Amiens <3 This was my first time playing tour guide in Amiens with the girlies and I'm happy that it was such a nice weekend. The weather cooperated and even though we didn't get to see Jules Verne's house, we got a lot done. I'm very happy that we were able to get together (shout out to Aboni for making these long journeys) and spend time together. I feel comfortable and familiar with Amiens now but it's also fun to be able to look at it through a fresh lens.

Moments before April Vacation

April 2 was my 2 year anniversary with H :D We went to a restaurant with the specialties of Amiens and it was a really nice time. Looking at all this food is making me so hungry D:

My school had two guinea pigs for a few weeks. They seem to have gone back home during the april break but they were so adorable. And here we have another comedically large plate

I went over to Compiègne which is a cute town where Smaranda lives. She showed me around more and we saw this beautiful castle in the area. I had pizza at this super cute café/brasserie (look at the stained glass ceiling they had!) and back at her place we baked up a storm, british specialty Rocky Road and once again the red velvet cheesecake oreo brownies. This was also the point of the month where I was getting concerned about my blood sugar.... All is well now and I'm being more careful but H ate most of the sweets I brought back so don't fret.

Erin came for a Wednesday in Paris! It was her first time in Europe so it was fun to hear her observations about the city. We had yummy food (I think this was the best matcha cookie I've had...) and discovered a hidden gem in Paris that is the postal museum. I will surely be going back :D I hadn't seen Erin in ages so it was so nice to catch up.

This pretty much recaps everything and it does indeed seem like March was a busy month!