Thursday, July 11, 2013

things I've learned being sixteen and things I still need to remember

(a by no means comprehensive list)


i. You will find yourself, on occasion, in places you never could have imagined. You may be uncomfortable at first, but go with it. This is what makes life interesting.

ii. Know the power of being sincere, but never take yourself too seriously (as with all things: balance).

iii. Hair grows out. Scars fade. The common denominator is time.

iv. Try not to shy away from what you really want.

v. It doesn't have to be pretty and it doesn't have to be original. It just has to be true. It just has to be what you feel. That's all.

vi. Let yourself grow roots. It will make you finally happy to call this place home.

vii. People can't ever belong to other people. You can't ever control someone else and it is sometimes the most infuriating thing in the world. But you can't get upset at someone for not behaving in the way you expected or the way you wanted. It's just not fair, not to anyone.

viii. No one wants your pity; only your love.

ix. "I get what I want 'cause I ask for it, not because I'm really that deserving of it."

x. Everything around you is changing so quickly. Savor it--everything--while you can. But let it go when the time comes.

xi. There aren't really any bad moods that going outside & doing something can't make better.

xii. Look closer; it happened for a reason. You were supposed to be there. Something good comes out of everything.

xiii. The key to confidence: Fake it 'til you make it. But actually.

xiv. Take everything in stride. This is your becoming.

xv. It hurts to become.

xvi. But in the end, you can't really bring yourself to regret any of it.

adios, sixteen.

tomorrow, I am seventeen.

Monday, July 08, 2013

other french villages, provence

This gon' be a long post, aiight.

The first day in France, I woke up at 5:45 and could not go back to sleep. I don't know about you but seeing as France is seven hours ahead of Texas, I'm pretty sure that's not how it's supposed to work. But I couldn't go back to sleep, so I went running (verdict: way too hilly), showered, and had breakfast before anyone else even woke up. Productivity.

That day we went to a hillside town called Bonnieux for lunch. I didn't bring my camera, thinking we would just be eating, and I missed out on some gorgeous views. However by some design of fate, we ended up there again a different day after getting lost on our way somewhere else.

Escargo from lunch -- not about that life.





Afterwards we also went to Rousillon, where I had lavender ice cream and looked at the famous red cliffs...which you can't see here...whoops.


The next day, we ventured to Saint-Remy-de-Provence to go to the market. It felt just like how I'd imagined France would be and by that I mean there was a man playing an accordion on the corner. It was an exercise for all the other senses, too: tasting macarons, smelling fresh lavender and cheeses, feeling the soft fabric of scarves for sale, seeing...well, everything.










From there we went to Avignon. We had lunch and then went to the Palais des Papes, home of the Avignon papacy, where some popes lived during the 14th century.



It took my sister a while to figure out the focus on my camera.





I think that's quite enough for today.

Saturday, July 06, 2013

lourmarin, provence



I got back from France this past Wednesday and I think I'm finally ready to start sorting through all my pictures and dividing them into blog posts. I'm still a little jet lagged; I woke up at 4:45 this morning and could not go back to sleep. So I've decided to be very productive today.

Anyway, here are some pictures from my time in Provence, in the south of France. We spent about a week in a house near the town of Lourmarin but we traveled to multiple other little villages throughout Provence, too. I think I'll focus on one place at a time, though, and so here's Lourmarin. In a few words: Flower filled balconies, lavender fields, narrow cobblestone streets, castles on the hillside, lots of wind, cafes and restaurants everywhere you look, colorful markets, lots of dogs (I took so many pictures of dogs, y'all don't even know), good food.












More later.