All the Rest

Day 18, July 2

We didn’t have to meet until 2:00 today so I got to sleep until 12. It felt SO GOOD to sleep in. We had planned to go the Pompidou Museum, but it is free on Sundays so we are going to go tomorrow. Since 4 of the girls are interning at Elie Saab, it was just Dr. Ellis, Whitney, Katie, and I venturing out in the city. We went and saw Napoleon’s tomb. It’s crazy to think that someone put that much planning into their final resting place. It is a HUGE complex and it is really pretty. Katie wanted to see the Moulin Rouge so we went there next. Dr. Ellis told us about a Mexican restaurant so we decided to try that for dinner. Britton, Katie, Whitney, Mary Ashlyn, and I left the apartment at 8:45 to go get dinner and didn’t arrive at the restaurant until after 10. We took a bus in the complete opposite direction and then decided to walk only to end up in a taxi. It was quite an adventure, but we laughed about it and learned not to take the 83 bus next time. Our group always promises an adventure and there is certainly never a dull moment around this crowd.  All I can think about is the Brad Paisley song “Find Yourself” and how it seems to be a reoccurring theme on this trip.

“Sometimes when you lose your way, it’s really just as well ‘cause that’s when you find yourself.”

Day 19, July 3

Dr. Ellis, Whitney, Katie, and I went to church at Notre Dame this morning. I didn’t get a whole lot out of the ceremony since I’m not Catholic and I don’t know French, but I really enjoyed it and glad I got to experience it. I think it’s so cool to be able to say that I have been to services at Notre Dame (you might not think it’s cool, but my opinion is the only important one haha). After church we had lunch and then went to the Pompidou Museum. What. A. Drag. I’m SO OVER art museums. If and when I ever make it home, I will not be going to an art museum any time soon (unless I get an invite the MET Gala in NYC). Whitney, Katie, and I ate dinner at nice restaurant. The food was wonderful and they spoke English so it was a win-win for us. When we got home, Katie plugged her convertor in and all the power went out. It was kind of scary there for a sec, but we got it to come back on. Once again, there is never a dull moment around here.

Day 20, July 4

We got to sleep in this morning which was so nice! We went the Alexis Mabille couture show today. We were supposed to be hostesses, but we were mainly just in the way everywhere. I saw a man come in with approximately 10 pairs of Louboutins for the models. I almost fainted, but quickly gathered myself so I wouldn’t cause a scene. We worked his menswear show and it was much more organized. The couture show was in a much smaller space and there was barely enough room for all the important people so needless to say I didn’t see any of the show. I was kind of mad that I didn’t see one gown, but Dr. Ellis videoed so we get to watch it later. Today we saw our first “celebrity” (I use celebrity loosely). Miss Jay from America’s Next Top Model was at the show.

Day 21, July 5

Today we went to 2 fashion shows. We were dressers at the first show which was Alexandre Vauthier and semi-pretended to watch the second one. I loved the clothes at Alexandre Vauthier and the fact that all the models were wearing Louboutins. I was literally surrounded by Louboutins. I was dyingggggg. Right before the show started, I witnessed the most awful act. The bottoms of the Louboutins were too slick for the models to walk in so some Vautheir employees came around and slashed the bottoms of all the shoes. My heart broke into 39485304528402347910234 pieces. The second show was down by the river and was supposed to start at 8, but god forbid anything in the fashion world start on time. The show didn’t start till 8:30 and by that time I was tired and over it. We were standing up in the back and since I’m not 8 feet tall, I saw nothing. Random side note—I ate 4 crepes today and I do not feel bad about it. I know you’re judging, but keep it to yourself.

Day 22, July 6

Today was one fiasco after another. The only good part was that we got 2 hours of down time which include a movie with my roommates and a short nap.

Day 23, July 7

Today’s agenda included Giverny and Versailles. We went to Giverny first and it was about an hour and a half away so I got to sleep on the bus PTL (praise the Lord). Once we got there, the first thing I noticed was all the nature that I was surrounded by. The first thing we saw was a bust of Monet and to get to this lovely piece of art we had to walk on a dirt path through trees and other green plants all along a small body of water. The three things I hate the most—dirt, trees/plants, and water—all at one time. I was over this outing before we had even been there 5 minutes. We walked around the lily ponds and saw Monet’s house. It was an OK place to visit, I probably wouldn’t go back but it was nice (minus all the nature). Our next stop was my other residence, Versailles, and apparently it was Everybody go to Versailles Day because there were 9453458304958304 people there. I was so excited to tour this place because it is all the things I love—extravagance, royalty, and fanciness. We toured the palace and the gardens. Louis number whatever had enough money to build such a place, but not enough to hire someone to pave the property. The walkways were all rocks, dirt, and/or cobblestone (gross!). After we toured the gardens, we stopped at a little restaurant for a drink and a snack. While we were sitting Peter (head person in charge at my school) asked who was up for walking to Hamlet (Marie Antoinette’s house where she would go to get away from the palace) which was a 40 minute walk away. You all know me so you know I was quiet and didn’t immediately volunteer to participate, but the rest of the group wanted to so we decided to go. I joked that we could go see Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo & Juliet as long as we didn’t have to walk, but apparently walking was the only way to get there.  We were running short on time (so we thought) so Peter joked that we might have to jog part of the way. I told him to count me out that I didn’t do anything that made my heart rate rise. He laughed and said he thought love was supposed to make your heart beat faster and I told him I didn’t do that either. He laughed again, but I was being totally serious. We all set out on this hike to see this stupid house (side note: I do not understand what all the fuss was about to see this house, I mean have these people not heard of Google image?), a hike that included dirt, rocks, and trees once again. While touring the gardens of Hamlet, Peter decided to take a short cut across the grass. I found myself surrounded by bugs, plants/greenery, dirt, and now walking through grass like I’m Laura Ingalls or somebody. At this point in the day I was over it. Dr. Ellis was pointing things out to us and talking about how beautiful everything was, but the only thing that would have been beautiful to me was the sight of our bus back to Paris. I have had more than my fill of the great outdoors for one day, but it was a fun outing. Tomorrow is my birthday which I will spend at the Louvre and feeding the homeless, but Saturday my roommates and l leave for London and we will celebrate there.

Day 24, July 8

It’s my birthday! We had to meet at the bus stop at 9 so we had to get up early which was terrible, but other than that I had a pretty good day. We feed 64 homeless people at the American Cathedral. All the people were really nice and it was a good experience. Everyone sang happy birthday to me in French which I thought was really nice. After lunch, we went to an Yves Saint Laurent exhibit. I really loved the exhibit except they wouldn’t let us take pictures. After YSL, we were off to my favorite place—the Louvre. We didn’t stay long because we were all tired and over it. Today just happened to be our last day at the Louvre and I can’t think of a better birthday present. The Louvre might be the most boring place on the planet, I was ecstatic when we walked out. My roommates and I had dinner and drinks at the Hard Rock Café to celebrate my birthday. We ate American food and RANCH dressing (for the first time in weeks) and it was SO DELICIOUS! After dinner we came straight home to get ready to leave for London tomorrow. We have to leave our apartment at 6 so it is going to be a long day, but we are all excited to go. London or bust! And knowing us, bust is definitely an option.

Day 25, July 9

London or bust! We (Britton, Katie, Whitney, and I)  got up at 5 am to catch the train to London for our free weekend. The train ride was about 2 hours and wasn’t bad at all minus the freezing temperatures. Once we got to London we checked into our hotel and then took the tube into the city. Our first stop was my other home, Buckingham Palace. You all know about my obsession with the Royals so I was in heaven. After Buckingham Palace we went to Westminster Abbey (where I may or may not have spent ₤25 on Royal Wedding stuff in the gift shop), the London Eye, and then went and got on a double deck hop on/hop off tourist bus. While on the bus we saw the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral (where Diana and Charles were married), Big Ben, Parliament Square, and then we found our favorite place—Harrods. Harrods is Mecca for a shopping fanatic like me. They literally have everything, including all of my favorites—cupcakes, expensive purses, Christian Louboutins, pianos, and a bookstore. I found a People magazine in the bookstore and almost cried. I felt reconnected with the world and like an American citizen. I fell in love with London. The people there speak English, are super friendly, willing to help with directions (you know we got lost), and their subway system was pretty user friendly.

Day 26, July 10

Our first stop today was Kensington Palace where my bffs Will and Kate will be living. We went to some weird exhibit in there. It was game about princesses or something weird. Kensington Palace had a great gift shop—I bought 2 books (about the Royals of course!). We went to Harrods again and I bought a purse (shocker) and several other things. We went to a London souvenir shop so I could buy more wedding stuff and an I heart London t-shirt. We ate dinner next to a really nice family from Nashville and I really enjoyed hearing a Southern accent.

Day 27, July 11

Today was our last day in London L We went to Westminster Abbey again and went inside this time. They said you couldn’t take pictures, which really made mad, but we broke the rules. I was in the same place where Will and Kate were, how dare someone tell me I couldn’t take pictures. It was really pretty in there and more importantly, I walked/stood where Kate did. I almost died. I was excited and y’all know I don’t get excited over anything. After Westminster we went to Abbey Road. It was crowded and we couldn’t get really good pictures of us crossing the street, but I was glad we went there because I love the Beatles. We went to Harrods again because I had to get a few more things that I missed the two previous days. I can come home with no less than 4 bags from Harrods each day so needless to say I can’t wait to go back. When we got back to Paris, I started packing to come home because I am so over Paris and so ready to be home.

Day 28, July 12

We didn’t have class till 2 so Whitney, Britton, and I decided to get up earlier and go shopping. We didn’t get anything that we had intended to purchase, but we did get some souvenirs to take home. We ended up not having class and just going to the Orsay museum for not even 30 minutes. We had to be ready for the ballet at 6 and we didn’t get into the museum until 4 so that didn’t leave a lot of time for touring (thank the Lord). We got all dressed up and headed to ballet. It was a new experience for me and honestly, I found it kind of boring. After intermission I sat on the bench in our box with my feet propped up and took a quick nap. The ballet was really long and wasn’t over till 10 and we had to meet at the metro station at 6 am the next morning.

Day 29, July 13

I was not thrilled about having to meet at 6 am to catch the train to Belgium. Katie, Mary Ashlyn, and I almost got stuck on the train which was quite an experience. The doors shut super fast and Katie pressed the door open button a million times while Dr. Ellis flagged down someone to open them. I was about to pull the emergency handle because I figured that would get someone’s attention. Belgium was COLD and rainy and I’m pretty sure it could have snowed. The shopping was pretty good and I got some chocolates to bring home.

Day 30, July 14

ONE MORE DAY! We didn’t have anything today until 8:30 tonight when we had to meet for our boat cruise along the Seine. I slept until 3 and then just hung around the apartment because I had already packed to go home. The boat cruise was really fun and the fireworks were AMAZING!

Day 31, July 15

I’M BACK! The airport was a bit traumatic this morning, but I made it home and Institute never looked so good. I plan on staying in the US for a long time before I venture out again. I’ve put up all of my pictures so head to my Facebook page if you want to see them!

Happenings

Day 13, June 27

We went to art class and then we went to Louvre. The Louvre was just as boring as ever, but thankfully we didn’t stay too long. Today was our last “free day” so Britton, Whitney, and I decided to take advantage of that. We walked from the Louvre all the way down the Champs-Elysees and to the Arc de Triopmhe. I’m pretty sure we walked 3209432904 and 25 of those were through the desert aka a park with too much dirt for my taste. It was about 39023 degrees outside, so I’m not sure why we decided this was the day to go walking. My roommates and I ate dinner at this great Italian place down the road from our apartment. It used to be great anyways, apparently they changed management and it took FOREVER to get our food. In case you haven’t met me, patience is not one of my finer qualities so I was over it. We did however get to get on the internet for 30 seconds which made the day a little better. We don’t have internet, TV, or any form of communication with the outside world in our apartment which is quite difficult for a tech junkie like me. I hate not having internet, but I have gotten really close with my roommates in the short time that we have been here because all we have is each other. This trip isn’t what I thought it was, but I would be completely miserable if it wasn’t for my roommates. They are the absolute best and the thought of coming home to my friends at night are what makes some of these long days worth it all.

Day 14, June 28

Today I got up at 8:30 am to go dye scarves. I don’t do mornings and I don’t dye scarves when I go out and buy one. I must admit it was actually kind of fun and our teacher was really cool. After scarf dying, we had art history class FOREVER and went to another museum. I don’t remember the name, but it was some old house full of art. It wasn’t too boring, but museums just aren’t my idea of fun. Britton, Whitney, and I had a nutritious dinner consisting of French fries, a Nutella crepe, and Sprite.

Day 15, June 29

We had class at 8:30 this morning which was terrible. I’m over these early mornings. I make it point not to take anything before 11 at Meredith so I’m not sure why they schedule everything at sunrise over here. We went to a Madame Gres exhibit and saw a lot of beautiful dresses that she had made. Today was my first day interning at Elie Saab. If you don’t know who he is you should Google him because his clothes are beautiful. I worked in the showroom dressing models all day so it wasn’t bad at all.

Day 16, June 30

Today was my second and last day at Elie Saab. I did the same thing, dressed models, again today. The models were super nice and even went and got ice cream with us. My roommate Katie cooked dinner for everyone and it was SO GOOD.

Day 17, July 1

We were supposed to have art class at 9 so we all got ready and started the 50 mile hike to school only to get there and find out that class was cancelled. COOL. I was livid, I got up with the sun for no reason. Sleep is so hard to come by these days so an extra few minutes is greatly appreciated. I was so sleep deprived the other day that I would have chose an hour of sleep over a free pair of Louboutins. It was THAT serious. Since we didn’t have class, we (Whitney, Katie, and I) played on the computer for a little while and then went shopping on St. Michel. I bought pair of shoes (total count of shoes bought on this trip so far—3 pairs) and a cute shirt. After lunch and shopping, we went home and took a nap. I slept for 5 hours and enjoyed every minute of it. Tomorrow we are going to another museum, can’t wait! Sike. Also, my birthday is in one week! I will be spending my birthday feeding the homeless, touring a church, and going to yet another museum. Can’t freaking wait (extreme sarcasm).

Here is a picture of me and my lovely roommates

Katie, Britton, Whitney, and yours truly at the lovely Louvre

Catch Up

Day 4, June 18

We had to gett up at 4:00 am to catch the 5:00 train so we could catch our flight to Rome at 7. I don’t do mornings at all, especially mornings that begin at 4 am. We were running late at the airport and barely made it in time for our flight. Once we got to Italy we spent a cool 2 hours at the airport waiting for our bus driver to pick us up. He was at Terminal 2 and as luck would have we were sitting at Terminal 1, typical. I spent my first 2 hours in Italy at the airport, which isn’t that impressive mind you. We went to our hotel to drop our luggage off and then our hotel was booked up so we had to go to another one. At this point in the day I was sooooo aggravated, but the fun was just getting started. Once we got the hotel stuff straight we headed to Vatican City and St. Peter’s Basilica. We spent 4 HOURS at this place, mind it is large and we still didn’t see a lot, but 4 hours was a bit much for my personal preference. It was SO hot and I had been up since 4 am. I didn’t think we would ever leave. I told my group I would be the only person who would go to the Vatican and lose my religion because I was losing faith that we would ever get out of there. It was pretty and I’m glad I got to see it, but I was fit to be tied by the time we left.  After the Vatican we went to Trevy Fountain which was also really pretty. We ate a DELICIOUS Italian meal and had gelato.

Day 5, June 19

Got up early (again, I’m so over mornings) to take the train to Florence. My friend Britton and I had the pleasure of sitting with 2 funny guys from London. It was a 2 hour train ride and I’m pretty sure we laughed for the whole 2 hours. The guys were super nice and extremely entertaining. Once we got to Florence and checked into the convent (yes you read that right, we stayed in a convent), we went to the street market. The street market allowed me to showcase my true talents—shopping and spending money. I bought a few things and surprisingly enough some gifts for others. After the market, we headed to the Uffizi Museum and saw the statue of David. It was huge and pretty impressive. Although at this point, I feel like I’ve been to a 1000 museums so if I’ve seen one marble statue I’ve seen them all. I have also seen about 87658 paintings of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. I told my friends that I couldn’t wait to get to heaven and see what he actually looks like. We had an Italian style family dinner at the convent and it was SO GOOD. This trip is wearing me out though. Dr. Ellis (my fashion teacher/coordinator of this adventure) said, “If y’all are up to it, I’ll show you around the city some more.” I replied, “I’m barely up to complete the remainder of this trip so no thanks.” My friends started laughing but I was totally serious. I’m exhausted.

Day 6, June 20

We went to some designer outlets in Florence. Most of the things in the store were still about $9865897 so needless to say all I bought was lunch. There is nothing too exciting to report from that outing.

Day 7, June 21

We woke up early to go see the Spanish steps in Rome. I don’t know much about them other than they are really hold and quite massive. If you want more details, google it. We toured the Fendi factory which was really cool. I really enjoyed that tour minus some crazy lady yelling at our group on the sidewalk. I’m pretty sure she forgot to take her medicine that morning, she was quite bizarre. We left Rome (in a rush, almost missing our flight again) that night and flew to Nice. Nice is so beautiful. I don’t care for the beach, but it was pretty to look at it. It was France Music Festival Day or something like that so there were concerts going on all over Nice and all across France. We had a nice dinner and watched some of the street performers and then headed back to the hotel because we were all tired. In case you haven’t caught on, tiredness is a recurring theme in this trip.

Day 8, June 22

Today we had a free day in Nice. I don’t do the beach so I spent my free day shopping and relaxing. We all went out to lunch and then some of the group went to the beach, but Mary Ashlyn and I stayed behind. We went to a few stores and then went back to the hotel to read, have a drink, and relax. At least that’s what I thought we were going to do. I went to turn on my Kindle and my screen had cracked. I was SO MAD. I had left it in my suitcase that I checked because we were in such a rush. It was in a protective case and everything, but it still got messed up. God bless Amazon and their replacement plan. We took a late flight back to Paris and when got to the airport (in Paris), one of the girls in our group passed out. Dr. Ellis had to go with her to the doctor (she had a heat stroke, but she is fine now) so the rest of us had to take the metro back to our apartments at approximately 10:30 at night. Talk about sketchiness. Thankfully we all made it back safely. We are all glad to be back in Paris.

Day 9, June 23

It is law in Paris that stores put almost all of their merchandise on sale in the summer so we got up early to go shopping before our first show. I didn’t buy anything at the department stores, but I did buy the CUTEST black flats (peeptoe) with a red bow on the top so it wasn’t a totally wasted trip. Our first job at our first show was to be hostesses at the Alex Mabille show. It was a little overwhelming at first, but it ended up being really fun. I was my first experience of a real fashion show. My friend Mary Ashlyn had some money stolen, but thankfully not her whole purse. Our group always guarantees an adventure when we go somewhere.

Day 10, June 24

We finally got to sleep in a little before heading to the Walter Van Beirendock show. His collection was interesting, a bit crazy, but very colorful and unique. After the show was over we headed to Sacre Cœur. I climbed all the way to the top, all 83749872384 steps. It is a beautiful basilica and the views of the city from there are AMAZING.  I was so glad that we took the bus all day today because I do not care for the metro. It is nasty, sketchy, hot, sticky, just plain nasty. I am so thankful that La Grange and Raleigh are too small for such means of public transportation. I can’t wait to get home and drive to where I want to go instead of taking a bus, plane, train, or good ole Pat and Charlie.

Day 11, June 25

Dr. Ellis, Whitney, Britton, and I got up early to head to the mall and outlet stores in Paris. What a waste of valuable time that I could have spent sleeping. I did get some nail polish (shocker) and a makeup bag but that was it. After shopping we went and watched the Wooyoungmi fashion show. It was fun too and that collection had more wearable clothes. After the show Whitney, Katie, and I did laundry. It took forever and cost about 15 euros (about 21 dollars), yikes. We had dinner at a place called Quick. The food is great and tastes like home, but the name is a lie. Today was the first day I got reallyyyy homesick. My cousin Anna got married and a lot of my family was there and y’all know I don’t like to be left out and my best friend Hailey (scroll down and read about her) won Miss North Carolina. Obviously, I couldn’t have been at both events anyways, but I sure I wish I could have gone to one of them.  I know Anna looked beautiful and I’m so excited for Hailey.

Day 12, June 26

Today we worked 2 menswear shows, Songzio and Qasimi Homme. We dressed models at both shows. The models I worked with were super nice even in a stressful atmosphere. My friend Whitney and I had the same model for the second show. He walked to up us and said hello and when we said hey back his first comment was, “And where are y’all from.” Obviously our southern accents stick out here, who knew? He was from New York so he at least knew where good ole NC was.  We ate dinner at Quick again tonight, I think we are hooked although the service has yet to live up to its name. 

Day 13, June 27

Semi-horrific day. We went to the Louvre and then walked about 987683728 miles to the Champs-Elysees. I'm pretty sure we walked through the Sahara to get there. I did purchase a few things at the Longchamp store, but other than drinks to stay hydrated, that is all I bought. It is approximately 34902384 degrees here and yall know I do not like to sweat or be outside and I had to do both today ughhh. I will post again when I can, but internet is as hard to come by as a Diet Pepsi in this town. I'm taking the time to edit this post so disregard all the errors.

Day 3, June 17

We all stayed up till 3 am talking and laughing which made getting up at 7:30 extremely difficult. We had art class from 9-10:30 and then we went to the Louvre. The Louvre wasn't so boring, but we are all getting tired towards the end. I was so glad to leave. All the walking and lack of sleep is killing me, but I'm dealing because I'M IN PARIS! We have to be at the metro stop tomorrow at 5 am to leave for Italy so getting up at 4 should be fun. I'm going to go pack and head to bed. I'll be gone for 5 days so I will try and blog when I get back. Thank you to everyone who wrote on my wall and/or checked in with my mom. I really appreciate it! Au revoir :)


P.S. I had 20 notifications when I finally logged into my facebook. I feel so loved!

Day 2, June 16

Today, we got to sleep in which was nice because I was dying! I started my day out by blowing up my straightner and convertor. My convertor started smoking, which was really cool. Leave it to me to make something smoke. Thank the Lord it didn't catch on fire. The NLVFD doesn't respond to calls in Paris. It was our first day of art class and we went to the Cluny Museum. We walked a million more miles and it was boring. Our teacher is really smart and so sweet, but art just bores me. I consider art to be Christian Louboutin shoes and Birkin bags not old, boring paintings. We went to dinner as a group and had a good time. For those of you wondering (Mama and Hailey Best), I have been able to eat here. I've eaten chicken, fries, and tons of sweets. The day ended well (even though I was exhausted) because I found a straightner and PEPSI! I've never been so excited to see a Pepsi in my life. 

Day 1, June 15

Our first day here we took a tour of the city, had dinner at a sidewalk cafe, and walked through the Luxembourg gardens. The Eiffel Tower is HUGE and so beautiful. Our apartment is an 8-10 minute walk from the school, but it is pretty big and we all have plenty of room. We do not have wi-fi which sucks, but we're dealing.  Paris so busy! I decided to track my first day in numbers so here goes.

•  66--pounds that my suitcase weighed
• 90--dollars Daddy had to pay in overages (oops!)
• 1.5--hours from RDU to Boston
• 6--hours from Boston to Paris
• 2--number of times I was woken up by the flight attendant asking if I wanted food
• 2--number of times I declined her
• 2--number of times I wanted to punch her
• 6497698276--number of French words that I don't know
• 6497698276--number of French words I need to know/wish that I knew
• 1--euro for a can of coke zero
• 1--Nutella crepe (delicious)
• 50--times I thought I was going to die while riding in a car touring the city. There are no traffic lanes here and people drive like maniacs. Paris drivers are like New York cab drivers on crack. Someone asked what the speed limit was and I said, "get out of the way." Everyone laughed, but I was totally serious.
• 238457394057--number of miles walked on day 1
• 4--number of Hermes bags that I've seen (2 Birkin, 2 Kelly)
• 1--pair of Louboutins spotted in the airport

P.S. It is taking too long to add pictures so go to my Facebook and see them there! And, I know the dates are off sorry!

Pre-Trip Preparations

This blog definitely won't be as cool as Hailey's or Megan's blogs, but I hope it won't be too lame. It will probably be full of misspelled words and grammatical errors (sorry!) so you will have to deal. When I told my friend Brittany my title she laughed and while it is funny, it is true too. I've never traveled outside of these 50 nifty United States and Institute is the country so it was only fitting. I can't believe June 14 is so close. I've been dreaming of this trip for years and planning for months and now it is real and so close! I think I have finally done everything and bought everything that need. I'm so proud of myself for getting (almost) everything into my suitcase. I usually pack at least 2 big duffel bags for a weekend so packing for a month was quite a hassle. As you can see my suitcases are huge, especially the large one. I'm definitely going to get charged an overage fee, oh well. There isn't room for ANYTHING else in there and if I had to unzip it I'm sure I couldn't close it again. In the past week, I've been trying to see everyone and say bye since I'm going to be gone an ENTIRE month. Today I went to my best friend Hailey's wardrobe showing on Sunday. Hailey is Miss Durham 2011 and will be competing at Miss North Carolina next week. I hate I won't be able to see her compete, but I know she will do great and I will be cheering from across the pond! I'm going to try and update as much as I can, but I'm going to be busyyyyyy while I'm gone. I'm kind of nervous about going but I'm excited (I use excited loosely) too. Afterall, Audrey Hepburn did say, "Paris is always a good idea."