Come along with me on my journey to PARIS the city of lights as I find my niche as a fashion designer!!! Drama, fun, fashion, style tips, fabulousity, culture and much much more!!!
Some of the girls went to Disney Land..I had to stay behind and do work ALLLLLA DAY :( so we made up for it with a night of fun and got home at 6am!!!!! whats all work with NO play anyway????A VERY UNHAPPY PERSON!!!!! HEYY THIS IS my street.... my car...HAHA yea yeaa Only the classiest of women dance on tables...CAYOTE UGLY at Cafe Oz...the Australian Bar we ended up at the other night, hey I always said before I die I want to dance on a table..so there! lol DANITY KANE -2 lol
Premiere Vision...the largest textile expose/trade show in Paris..comes twice a year...it was held in the suburbs of Paris...in a venue that reminded me of te Javitz center in NYC..but better I LOVE this girl...shes so adorable me and Jess leaving Primiere Vision...its so exclusive they dont allow you to take pics inside...but I risked it anyway... Miles and Miles of vendors..couture fabrics..high tech fabrics...etc..they showed a film about the overall goal of the expose..very abstract..didnt make sense..but the beanbag chairs ROCKED and now I want one in my room..I made a lot of good connections..I was even offered a job...in Florence Italy :/ not sooo useful, lol I also met Vendors who sell vintage fabrics to Tracy Reese! Yea..I name dropped...and got a free tote bag cuz of it :) lol it was sooooo FUN! like a playground for fashion designers...we stayed half the day..ate lunch there and even played batche/batchi/i cant spell it ball...
person on earth to join blogger! lol meet my friend and ultimate NAS fan Nick....
im not really certain...but im pretty sure he's going to be bloggin about the "comeup" same hustle just different sides of the spectrum...he's more on the entertainment side of the industry... but read more on his blog...
www.tomorrowsmogul.blogspot.com
check out the vid UNFORGIVABLE on his blog (I was going to wait for you to get your "post game" up but...I think I gave you enough of a THREE WEEK head start) lol anyways...the vid is funny as heck but i cant jeaprodize my "image" by posting it on MY blog...because its very GRAPHIC to say the least..all I can give you is the screen shot.. but who doesnt love crude humor huh huh?? I have a pretty sick sense of humor anyway but maybe its just me :) now GIMME SOME WAFFLE FRIIIIIEEEESS! LOL...gotta watch the whole series to kno where that one came from...
YES Rhonesha...gender is culturally constructed... sex is biological and there are no absolutes in gender its about context..all the way across the world and my cousin and I are studying some of the same topics...lets compare notes N.E.S.H.A :) LOL but first let me explain the "aim" of the class....
RIGHT now I am actually sitting in class (bad girl) blogging and note taking.... not too bad cuz some girl is giving a presentation right now (zzzzzz)...working to my advantage because I can reflect on what was discussed before the presentation...
PARIS WAS A WOMAN...The whole point in the class is very abstract, we are learning not only Gender Roles and how they played a part in the migration of artists during the 1920's and 30's but also about the artists and writers on a whole who came to Paris for intellectual love affairs to better understand our reasoning as young artists and designers for wanting to be here..on the first day of class the instructor went around and asked all of us..WHY PARIS? My answer.... rather than continuing the semester at Parsons NY... i want to grow creatively and have more freedom to express myself outside of paramaters..then she read us a quote I'm not sure if I got it exactly right but it was something like:
"It's not whate Paris gives you, but what it doesnt take away." its from Gertrude Stein's The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, you may have heard of Stein...famous for her play with language and words.. "A rose is a rose is a rose" while many writers believe that they can Master language...Stein proves that language often escapes you and has a life of its own...(have you ever said a word 10 times and suddenly it sounds wierd? or looses its meaning?) There are lots of different meanings of words...and people misunderstand each other because of the different meanings of words....Stein does not feel that she can become the master or creator of language, language creates her, she works with language as sounds, rhymes and rhythms…not just what the words mean..its not always important what the word means to her...sooo the fact that i dont always use proper puncutation on my blog, or capitalization is understandable :) and sometimes more meaningful than careless....you just have to notice (when i use I vs i for instance)
annyyyywayyyy hope you all are still with me im getting a bit immersed into the class :) turns out many of the great writers..and entertainers (Langston Hughes, Josephine Baker, Alice B Toklas etc) had similar reasons for being here....only they were fleeing paramaters based on gender, sexual preference, and race...I am hoping by the end of the course to better understand Paris was a Woman beyond its literary context....
last week we had two additional readings Judith Butler's excerpts from subversive bodily acts and The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir. Both women...writing about the "rights of passage" of femininity and the "lost" femininity:
"Woman, we are told, envies man his penis and wishes to castrate him; but the childish desire for the penis is important in the life of the adult woman only if she feels her femininity as a mutilation; and then it is as a symbol of all the privileges of manhood that she wishes to appropriate the male organ. We may readily agree that her dream of castration has this symbolic significance: she wishes, it is thought, to deprive the male of his transcendence. The battle of the sexes is not implicit in the anatomy of man and woman. The truth is that when one evokes it, one takes for granted that in the timeless realm of Ideas a battle is being waged between those vague essences the Eternal Feminine and the Eternal Masculine; and one neglects the fact that this titanic combat assumes on earth two totally different forms, corresponding with two different moments of history." -Simone de Beauvoir
WOMEN ARE ALWAYS lesser, men and women are NOT like two electrical pulls…there is light and dark..left and right..straight and curved,Man and Woman..unknowingly you categorize the good and bad in each of these pairs...i'll choose one example...right, left..left is most commonly the negative because of the Latin root sinistro or sinistr meaning The inability to perform acts requiring manual skill with either hand; literally, "having two left hands", Clumsy, awkwardness, or being unskillful in the use of both hands. (GO LEFTIES) lol and also in the context of religion (Christianity) the right hand of the father....the only son of God...Jesus Christ...the connotation of RIGHT is positive..and the word right is also applied in the context v.s wrong....in terms of sex...Man and Woman..straight and curved...straight is in one direction not containing any elements of SURPRISE, a woman..curvy or curvier by nature than a man the "superior" being..but what then of androgyny? A woman who is not curvy..a Lesbian, Stein herself was very masculine, had short hair and a fuller figure...outside of her social group people assumed that she was trying to be manly, because she favored women sexually and they also assumed that she preffered to look masculine, because of her own self hatred, and yearning for a male reproductive organ...according to Stein this was not the case at ALL..she and other lesbians in her social circle those percieved as "feminine" and "masculine" alike enjoyed being women so much that they had no desire to function in society with, or AS any other sex (MEN)...thus turning to each other for all of there needs..which threatened societal values...traditional views on gender roles and religious beliefs...interestingly enough...my classmates were just talking about how its illegal to perform certain sexual acts in some states in the US....i think she just said massachussets but..Idk.....THIS is because of the fear of a spread of homosexuality..in order to keep the physical relationship between a man and a woman sacred..according to religion and society..these acts should only be performed between a man and woman who are married to produce children..and for no other reason...which is why in The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir she talks about mutilation..the castration of MEN AND WOMEN to prevent the ability to recieve pleasure from sex.... ok so not to bore you.... I will cut to the meat and potatoes of my peak of interest in this lecture...and that is:
Sex and gender is the first step in our IDENTITY as human beings..for example..when a baby is born what is the first thing people ask?????? Is it a boy or a girl.....
NATURE VS NURTURE..is there an original sex? Butler talks about discreet genders and she says you are either fully male or fully female...and the ability to cross between gender lines as one pleases...then i could be a Gay man..not physically ever but gender is culturally constructed...as I said earlier...by sex (and by choice)...I am AND will always be a heterosexual woman...
also interesting is the specification of gender in language...in the english language we have.......................................... policeMAN....postMAN..fireMAN...AND TEACHER...which profession is most closely associated with a woman? In languages other than english like french there are no official female conjugations for professions like minister and engineer...so they say MADAME and use then use the male version of the word..also in spanish the plural tense of a word, even if you are addressing a room full of women and one little boy... is always the male conjugation...because the "male" conjugation of a word is considered nuetral...MAN able to apply to all...nuetral....so then is it easier for the male to cross between gender lines...or is it more accepted? At one time in history specifically in Greece men preferred each other, and only went to their wives to birth sons...In Gertrude Stein's circle openly gay men were still looked "down" upon for their sexual preference but it was not spoken about...for some reason they were not a threat..but the idea of the lesbian...a woman who does not need a man for anything..not even sexual pleasure..was considered threatning to the livelyhood of the "penis"...and cultural values that go along with it...
AND when regarding the body as a politically "RELIGIOUSLY" and culturally regulated surface..which has "openings" to the outside world....one thinks about the body in terms of borders...and the need to protect these borders (not letting anyone in and out of your borders freely) for the sake of..................................?
to hear this song...I listen to it over and over and over when I am feeling overwhelmed with work or just with whatever...and I remember why I am working so hard in the first place and what I want out of this dream...things may fall in the path of your dreams but as you stay focused and work hard..it will all pay off.hey like Kanye sed to whom much is given much is tested..I've definately been blessed so I guess this is the test....anyway....I think the lyrics are powerful...I just got home from patternmaking class, fustrated, and grrrrrr..and after the night and morning I had (allnighter)...I needed these words...so maybe theres someone else out there..reading this...who needs to hear this song right now too...
sorry I could only find the vid form from you tube for some reason....
oh...Karina Pasian for readers who dont know her.... she's the girl who sings 16 @ war and I really like her voice...shes like a young A Keys...plays the piano and everything...Nesha....I think that girl needs a T shirt! lol
BUT The day wasnt a COMPLETE loss...I mean you have to take the good with the bad....the natual Yin and Yang of life...so I may have walked into class feeling like crap but, it made me work faster....and harder and I walked out with an invitation to a show in Paris Fashion week this Wednsday!!!! So thats 2 shows in a week (im going to a show on Sunday) :) i'll let you all know more after the "jump".....
we girls insisted on paying the bill for the night...equally....honest..but after we went out this was said:
"If you wanna go out with a girl, you gotta have money, if you wanna go out with a lot of girls you gotta have a lot of money, if you dont have money, stay your ass home! I mean if a man goes out with girls..he should pay the tab, if not, then he isn't a man and he should stay his ass home"
-Mil of Switzerland aka Movie Mike aka A-MILLIE Swizzy LOL
NOW...I have not added subtracted divided or multiplied any of that quote..straight from the horses mouth so dont shoot the messenger (me)...especially my male readers! LOL often a topic of debate amoungst my guy friends...so Im pretty sure I have to hear an earful after this post...and in fact I am hoping to start a small battle fo the sexes which is why I even mentioned it, but I really wish I had video of him saying it, because it was hilarious! _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ So we went to the Latin Quarter...and as always we had fun :) at a bar that did not require high heels after a long day of walking at Versailles... next stop...fun fun fun! where we landed... me and Jesse Ece and Esra from Turkey and Kara from London smoke filled...im a sucker for cool decor my milkshake brings all the :) BY THE WAYYY pina colada in france SUCKS the waitor explained the process of making rum here, its like 5 times distilled and very potent...gross...I dont get why they cant just use malibu....so dont be fooled it may look good..but it taste like soap foam with nail polish remover in it! lol ...can't go wrong wit that... when the time comes for me to get married....I know my friends are going to push for a bachelorette party...but really even seeing stuff like this im embarassed...i guess you figured it out by now...a bunch of girls and a bride to be parading around the latin quarter with a larger than LIFE blowup....external organ rained on our innocent parade, lol well...NOTHING about this screams I AM ABOUT TO GET MARRIED! is that really how women celebrate? The march of the penis??? SO take note girls...id much rather a "tea party with cucumber sandwiches with the crust cut off" (from brown sugar my fav movie) no really tho IF YOU MUST get a Will Demps look alike..to back flip out of a cake...fine...but this..was an embarassment to the bridal party...and does that mean her soon to be husband was somewhere in paris parading around with a giant.....nevermind....moving on... NO you guys go ahead...I'll have a shot of EVIAN! lol WHAAAAT! WHY? mil did it...and why? i honestly dont know..but I know it went toooo far...and that WAS my drink before it was...uh absorbed? lol ___________________ NOW...to end this post i have a SPECIAL gift...I dont know what it means..and who started it...but its annoying and i dont get it..soooo to everyone who has ever done this to me....GROW UP! AND.................... I GOT YOU WE GOT YOU YEAH..IM PRETTY SURE WE ALL GOT YOU
HI READERS!!! SOME OF YOU MAY BE EXPERIENCING DIFFICULTY VIEWING THE PICTURES...YES, THEY ARE SIDEWAYS...NO I CAN NOT FIX IT...AND YES I TRIED....LOL so if you care enough...tilt that heavy thing attached to your neck and marvel at La Bella Vita! as usual...check the mood music below...my new fav band..they are big in London according to Kara, my neighbor...The Ting Tings :) SHUT UP AND LET ME GO!and yes Assata it sounds very gossip girls...but I hate that show..
THE HALL OF MIRRORS! duh I take pics of myself every five steps so i loved this room! : ) hahahaha! I bet looked so mature taking this picture...lol Marie Antoinettes Bed :) I wanted to go outside...the tour was getting a bit too long for me :( this is the Garden view from her room... YAYYY finally outside on my way to the garden....lookin like the brooklyn version of Alice in Wonderland :) stunna shades at Versailles!!! lol and I dont get the palm trees...but it was definately hot as Miami out there... I LOOOOVE this photo...thas the desolate area of the garden behind me where the Marie Antoinette apts are...but sadly all can NOT be seen in one day :( so I never got to venture over there...but the depth in this pic (rotate head now) gives you an idea of how huge the garden is! SOMEWHEEEERREE over the rainbow! it was so close I wanted to touch it...but..you cant touch the rainbow, you can only taste it..HAHA skittles..get it! ok..moving on is it just me...or is the sky bluer everywhere OUTSIDE OF New York, lol he was camera shy, and asked me to please NOT photograph his face HI MOM! lol gotta love those free incoming calls...international calling rate...2 euros a minute!!! close friends...get your calling card game up...well thank God for skype!!!! I can talk to ppl for free! but i just had to talk to my mom and tell her how pretty everything was :) ON OUR WAY INTO THE... roman looking circle of fountains...feelin a bit like A KEYS in the KARMA video here...minus the grand piano...Versace jumpsuit..and well the roman colloseum i guess..hey does anyone know where she shot that video? I want to go there next.. THE END :) well...PAUSE cuz I have a feeling while the weather is still nice i will be heading back to Versailles for the garden very soon!
sit back... relax...listen to KANYE and let me tell you about the rest of Versailles while I still have internet connection :)
While at Versailles we took a tour of the private artwork collection....zzzzzzz lol apparently during the 19th century both men and women of high status wore red heels..so naturally Louboutin is a genius for the historical reference...and with my serious interest in historical costume I should have a pair by now (hi mom! hi dad! :) lol
COLLEGE DROPOUT haha Jeff Koon sculpture....you guessed it Mike Jack-O with billy jean...but thats not his lover...its just a monkey :/ I dont know how I feel about his work...and I dont know if it is versailles worthy...but who am I to judge...I think it is amusing but I am not really a fan of Modern art anyway...I mean the best modern sculpture I have seen is Ron Mueck the guy is NUTZ! definately google him..he does really huge and very very tiny sculptures of very realistic looking people...
Louis XIV's bedchamber..it was so overwhelming i had to take the pic in TWO PARTS! his bed occupied the exact center of the chateau from 1701 onward... He considered himself the Sun King so literally he felt the sun should rise and shine out of his...well i'll let you finish the rest! Anyway It was a key setting for events...
Versailles will always have a special place in my heart...because I remember studying for my Art History final second semester of Freshman year..and FOR THE LIFE OF ME I could not remember the name of the chateau..well...Versailles has haunted me ever since..I aced the test and made it to the place I have been reading about since like forever...if you have never heard of it..... Louis XIV had it built..it took 75 years and was enjoyed by the french court were they were too distracted with the latest court fashion to pay any attention to organizing a conspiracy against the king, it was also home of famed beheaded french queen Marie Antoinette... :) it was beautiful but I was most impressed with the gardens...I can NOT imagine living there...we barely covered half of it in one visit! We went at the perfect time...the weather was great and there was a Jeff Koon exhibit going on..so the juxtaposition of classical romantic style with the modern art was amusing...check the photos.. current mood: NOSTALGIC thinkin about: you listening to: this wanting to: sleep VIBE to it...keep readin
eating a MEAN tarte fraise on the train on the way to CHATEAU VERSAILLES!!!! yea...they caught me :/ once we got in the door...beauty eh? ..heaven must be missing an angel...missin one angel darlin cuz im here with you right now :) haha! This is me in the church/chapel IN VERSAILLES where Marie Antoinette was married..then a 14 year old Austrian Princess..back then people didnt marry because they were in love...it was just to make france look good making an alliance with a powerful nation like Austria..yea.micro history lesson ya'll lol! sorry its sideways...my mac is actin all PC ON ME! lol but this is where the king would stand...and watch mass every sunday... MORE OF THE CHURCH! speakin of mass this just reminded me...technically i think im catholic still..sort of...well idk whatever I dont discriminate.... so im goin to Notre Dame to get some CH'UCH! LOL yea im not expecting any screaming and shoutin but..it is a once in a lifetime experience to hear mass in like 7 different languages at once in a historical cathedral...anyyywayyy....
I trecked to Geverny in the countryside of France for an fun filled day at Claude Monets house... I saw the very garden that inspired so many of the impressionist paintings that he is famed for today. Its one thing to study about it for an art history test..its another to be in the Japanese garden amongst the water Lillies...anyways I'm a bit sad so many people don't know who he was check it out..understandable for a non artist who doesn't have to but..anyway we took the metro to somethin like Penn Station where we caught the french version of the LIRR or Path out of Paris..to the suburbs..were we caught ANOTHER TRAIN to our destination where we biked 5 KILOMETERS UP HILL AND BACK! I thought I was going to pass out but the scenery was beautiful...we also went to the American Museum of Paris..which was very very boring..lol this post is prob. goin to be in about 3 or 4 parts..and readers you KNOW that I love you because seriously..I have no time to blog right now:( so sad cuz I just love exposing everything that I do! lol but I heard thru the grapevine that I had the same post up for too long so here ya go! just don't be surprised if part 2 comes tomorrow or the day after that..not to mention internet is very very slow right now!
fresh face ready for the day! Geverny france!
train station.........
me..lauren and kim..and more of the really cool train station
got the comfy cute look goin...and of course the fashion students are FASHIONABLY LATE we missed the train..we took the next one...(it wasnt my fault)
I chomped a croussaint..and NASTY starbucks..it was like 90% milk 10% coffee :(
loove the fanny packs attached to the jackets! lol and the beenie hats!ha!
the bikes!!!! i hope i didn't do "permanent damage" riding those crap things!! cuz i want kids one day!!!! lol it was all fun tho!!
my thighs are tellin me noooo but my taste buds are tellin me yesssss! I take mine with nutella...and the cider is basically like sparkling cider mixed with beer..it was pretty good tho!
The CREPERIE OLD school for real..I thought it would be rood to take a picture of the SOLE 80 year old man who worked there as a server...cashier..and crepe maker...but you get the idea right?
song from the movie really depressing because of the context, you will understand after you watch but..I think the song is beautiful, take a listen : )
two words..DONNIE DARKO we watched it after Jess beat Mike in soccer... have you ever seen a film that just stayed with you? I mean really just made you think about life or even your place in life? Well Donnie Darko is a film with a twist and without giving too much away the outcome is very VERY similar to the fate of Bruce Willis in the Sixth Sense...have you ever thought about what would happen to everyone you have ever hurt, or loved, or both if you were never born? Or if you never met them? Throughout the film we watch Donnie experience true joy, loss of a loved one, falling in love, and his first "sexual encounter" as the world aroud him falls apart, in the end others are saved by his good fortune that we watched the entire movie not being a reality. I will NOT elaborate because I want you guys to go rent it! or NETFLIX or something! seriously readers! its a bit strange but I think after you watch it twice you will really get it and fall in love with it the way I did! Anyway at the risk of sounding full of myself it really made me think about the impact I have on others just by being alive...i try to keep it positive but..you never know how much trouble you could have saved someone if you never met them....or how much joy you bring to a persons world just by being a part of it...DONNIE DARKO PEOPLE :) deep stuff...
Location: Lounge Aim: To get my concepts assignment done with moral support/ distractions Conclusion: interesting night
my "living room"
my setup
MOVIE MIKE he owns the playstation in the lounge so hes the coolest kid in the building..ok his name is MIL but i dont like the way that sounds...so he lets me call him mike : ) hahahaha anyway if it werent for him and kara i wouldnt have seen donnie darko...which I will tell you guys about in the next post!
JESS AND MIKE goin hard for some soccer video game...
my slippies from MONOPRIX :) the french version of target but wayyy wayyy wayyyyy better!!!! soo comfy!
nothing to do with movie night but..look at how they do chinese food here! not just chinese I had italian take out today and it was also reheated and vacum wrapped! i dot get it..its cute but eating out of different containers for one meal makes me feel greedy!
...cuz if i didnt have at least one HATER I would be doin somethin wrong...when you cut the grass, OR I SHOULD SAY WHEN YOUR GRASS GETS CUT, CUZ SOMETIMES YOU dont even cut it..you leave no room for the "snakes" to hide! My bestie sent me this its by Maya Angelou...I dont have time right now to post about allllllll the cool stuff that I am doing...the workload is gettin crazy...its gettin its gettin its gettin kinda hectic..lol anyway I did take the time out to read this Merci Assata!!!!! oh and aside from the long piece I also like this:
LET NOTHING GOOD OR BAD UPSET THE BALANCE OF LIFE
-Maya Angelou
(mood music 4 ya)
A hater is someone who is jealous and envious and spends all their time trying to make you look small so they can look tall.
They are very negative people to say the least. Nothing is ever good enough!
When you make your mark, you will always attract some haters...
That's why you have to be careful with whom you share your blessings and your dreams, because some folk can't handle seeing
you blessed...
It's dangerous to be like somebody else... If God wanted you to be like somebody else, He would have given you what He gave them! Right?
You never know what people have gone through to get what they have...
The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they don't know my story...
If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, you can rest assured that the water bill is higher there too!
We've all got some haters among us!
Some people envy you because you can: a) Have a relationship with God b) Light up a room when you walk in c) Start your own business d) Tell a man / woman to hit the curb
(if he / she isn't about the right thing) e) Raise your children without both parents being
in the home
Haters can't stand to see you happy. Haters will never want to see you succeed.
Most of our haters are people who are supposed to be on our side.
How do you handle your undercover haters?
You can handle these haters by:
1. Knowing who you are & who your true friends are *(VERY IMPORTANT!!)
2. Having a purpose to your life: Purpose does not mean having a job. You can have a job and still be unfulfilled.
A purpose is having a clear sense of what God has called you to be.
Your purpose is not defined by what others think about you.
3. By remembering what you have is by divine
prerogative and not human manipulation.
Fulfill your dreams! You only have one life to live...when its your time to leave this earth, you 'want' to be able to say, 'I've lived my
life and fulfilled 'my' dreams,... Now I'm ready to go HOME!
When God gives you favor, you can tell your haters, 'Don't look at me...Look at Who is in charge of me...'
Jahmir my little buddy took fashion week by storm he's rollin deep with some "hot hottie male models" for the Donna Karan show :) does anyone know these guys? lol
annnnd he is pictured with Donna Karan herself!
He also got to meet Brandy! Look out for my next post about his movie debut! you may also recognize him from the Wheaties box :)
IM ON SKYPE NOW :) if you are too, you can talk to me for free! for all of my friends who already used their 15 minutes on the phone card to hit me up :)gimme a ring... you can also do vid chat and its sooo much clearer than vid chat on aim anyway I am:
just funny..random....quirky wierd... whatever pics! lol basically just sum stuff I wanted to post :) enjoy a good laugh!
(soundtrack...this is my fav song right now... I see sounds too pharell <3 <3 lol)
dig it???
smh..ONLY in the city of love..in case you were wondering one of these specially equipt "vending" machines is in every metro station.. Jess and I thought it would be fun to dress up like Mary Kate Olsen..well actually we were going for gypsy looks but that didnt fly too well :( here in Paris there are lots of gypsy beggars..we were only out for 5 minutes dressed this way lol but hey it WAS fun!
lets play PISS OFF THE ROOMATE! lol no she knows that I am rarely serious and we get along well...although she looks pissed off at my antics in this pic.... which is why I love it!
i think I was trying to hail the metro....lol in these! BAD idea..considering I am not RIHANNA! lol lol!!!!!! if more people just screamed like this when they felt like it...there would be less angry people in the world!!!!! sometimes you just have to blow off steam!
first day of classes and I looove my instructor Shaghig Terzakian, she has been teaching at Parsons Paris for 8 years now and I have heard only good things about her!!!! today I had draping but mostly we just spent time getting to know one another and talking about the semester and what is expected of the students by december...we will be constructing our own designs! Today we went supply shopping...there are only 8 students in my class..3 are Parsons Juniors in Paris and the other 5 are all from NY!!! crazy we out number them on their own turf!!! there are only 6 juniors at Parsons Paris! Its more intimate than NY which is nice and the pace is also different so..I wont be slacking but I also wont be ripping my hair out everyday which is a nice change of pace for me!!!!
I have a pretty full schedule still:
Junior design Monday and Thursday
Knitting and Knotting and French Tuesday
Drawing and Textile Identification on Wed ( and I have a 2 hour gap btw the two)
Surface Treatment Thursday
and good ole concepts FRIDAY!!! I live 15 mins from school so I am very pleased!
some shots of the classroom! a bit "grunge" but what do you want from an art school!
FIGHT FOR THE DRESSFORM! which they call dummies here (i find it offensive to my form) lol I actually named my form this semester...her name is BON BON (good good) in french...its like that old Al Greene song...she has to be good to me..and I will be good to her! lol anyway its soo cozy nobody was fighting for a good form, most of them are brand new as you can see my BON BON is..and they are super light! no wheels or cages like the ones in NY also the school supplies all the machine parts and muslin which is GREAT!
Me and Jess with Nicole in the metro on the way to buy supplies...and me with classmates chatting and laughing it up about idk spending 100 euro on sewing supplies??? lol BY THE WAY! i didnt get a close up but as you can see my hair is BACK TO NORMAL or as close to it as possible!!!THANKS TO SALON MARK CLEMENT!!!! yes thas right! I tried out the salon I posted about previously (the black girl pain post..check the archive) I have to say I cant complain..the problem with trying out a new salon is you compare the experience to the old one..its not bad..not better just different...BUT I MISS SHELLY'S my salon in brooklyn nonetheless :) but mark can hook me up for now!
only thing about bein away is...missing the kiddies grow up...cuz it happens so fast, for example my niece had her first day of school..only happens once but at least I have the pics I was baby stitting Jayani and Jaydin a lot right before I left so I had my time with them and I hope I can get vid chat workin to see what they are up to! The pics are too cute my bro sent em..look at my niece with her shiny first day of school face!!! lol she looks like the kids from the islands or something with the uniform so cute
this post is in response to the previous post black girl pain :) and the saga continues....mood music?
soooo..funny story about how I keep blowing the fuse on my floor...as of today I am a repeat offender..I am so late posting this that I am no longer working this "look" but this is me..after too many volts of electricity passed through my poor blow dryer..yupp SHELLY'S i wrapped it up erykah badu style!!!! i actually got a lot of compliments on the look...especially from the non american students..my neighbor is from greece and she LOVED it..she wants me to do it again..but its one of those "looks" not the norm Raeana..just somethin I tried out :) or as we artists like to say a happy accident :) i must admit i kinda like the natural look tho...it also went over well at some spanish club we went to..
the infamous blue door on orientation day...behind this door..dreams come true! not too crazy about this pic of me..I was tired but..its really about the door!!! lol me..jess and our neighbor Kara from LONDON!!! whowhoo where we plan to go very soon...and sidenote...can the DOLLAR GET A LITTLE MORE RESPECT AROUND THESE PARTS! its even worse in London kara says!
due to difficulty with blogger and the crap wireless connection here I never showed you guys...MY CRIB! LOL dont worry..wont be a long tour..I like to think of it as uh..small but chic :/ lol annyyywayyy I love it:
"THE GREEN DOOR"...not very descriptive but that is all the school told us to look for when they said check in 8 30am..yea and that wasnt even what they told us...Jess and I were told to go across the st from the metro..yea well thats a church :/ anyway this is my beat up lookin front door but you cant judge a book by its cover! behind that is a scary alley!!! lol and in that is my other front door guarded 24 hours by BRINKS (mom thats what you are paying for lol dont worry im safe) and then...
the winding staircase...pretty, YES practical in heels...NO!! lol I LIVE ON THE 3RD FLOOR! they go on forever! cant wait for the elevators to work!
ME!!! in the room beforeeee the extreme home makeover...its brand new..never been slept in before...very IKEAish..
we have the best decorated room...in the building thanks to a few finds at the florist and local thrift shops! the best part!!! looks good at any time of day now we have pink flowers in them so its even cuter! drumrollllllllll for my AUDREY PILLOW!!! I LOVE IT!! cant wait to set her up in my room @ home :)
sooo I am back to letting you readers into my very personal thoughts!!
I was just thinkin of how much I went through to get to where I am standing today..and I think its safe to say that I am earning my letters (N.E.S.H.A) check post archive if you dont know what that is!!!...I am so happy here in Paris....Looking back all of the stressing was for nothing because everything worked out!!!! One month ago I had noooo idea where I was going to live...two weeks ago I didnt have a visa...one week ago I took a flight to france alone and didnt know any french!!! Yet here I am 4am the first night of school...not homeless and learning more and more french everyday!!! so full of creativity and thoughts (and unfinished hw lol) that I cant sleep, so I am here talking to you guys..my readers...sharing my thoughts...and I came across this:
"Today is the tomorrow that you feared yesterday"
so true..random things inspire me...philisophical..biblical...whimsical...comical hey even someones away message (gotta love my friend qiana for that lol)!!! but here I am.. I dreamed of this opportunity since I stepped foot into Parsons struggling with my portfolio late for my interview (I got lost lol)!!!! I am living a dream that I have had my entire life...most of my friends (all actually) know how much this opportunity means to me..when I think back on my days at Fashion High School...only telling everyone about the journey I wanted to take..I had no idea what was in store for me...always knowing that something special would happen for me here in Paris.. Aside from the sightseeing and partying..the frolicking and dressing up the MEAT AND POTATOES of me being here is to grow personally and as a designer...I cherish every experience that I have had thus far and I love Parsons Paris!!! I feel as though I am beginning to fully realize myself as a designer by exposing myself to different people and their ideas...there is so much more that I can say but I want to leave off with this...I really believe that no achievement is impossible if you are willing to work hard for it!!!!
heres a bunch of stuff I should have posted that I have done...but didnt sorry you guys!!!! lol Me in front of the Arc de Triomphe in the Champs-Élysées! Jess and I frolicking in an alley...then we stumbled upon a funny sign that reminds me of some of my friends..save water drink beer! haha! a really great sushi dinner!!!
im OBSESSED with the metro
breakfast...yogurt and honey..Lunch cheese wine and baguette
AND THEN....
dressed for the night out! only in europe could i pull off a mini with a leather jacket! lol well the weather here is soo weird its cold one day and hot the next so i guess I was just prepared for both! lol we went to GIBUS or the CANDY CLUB whatever you want to call it...it was pretty cool..good dj and I met some kids from london they were fun..check the vid its pretty funny when dude starts rapping and saying he is camron:
with the posting but the internet connection here is very bad!!!! Dont worry I have been complaining about it! for what I am paying to live here I should be able to surf the web at the speed of light! anywayyysss im going to try and catch you guys up as best as I can...so there was..the last few days at ODEON (the hotel) a club night at GIBUS/candy club....meeting some cool kids form london...getting lost finding my new home at the ST JOHNS dorm...a "picinic" with my neighbors in front of the eiffel tower at like 1am...a visit to the river..orientation at Parsons Paris..annd jiving around in the room just decorating drawing and planning for OCTOBER FEST...takin random pics RUNNING OUT OF PHONE MINUTES dressing like a gypsy hippie with my roomie and wandering about...planning to go to the BASTILLE burning out my hair dryer, blowing the fuse on my floor and much much more :) voila! but...here we go :) oh yea...ppl have been asking me if im home sick...home sick idk yet but im.people sick ..as in I wish i could speak fluent french and stay here and just bring all my friends and fam here! OOH im enrolled to take french classes and school starts on the 8th!!! sooo exciting because I just came back from the post office where I used sign language to communicate with the nice guy who didnt speak english :( I have to get my language skills up! ill post pics as soon as DERRICK fixes wifi!!!!! BUM im putting DERRICK AND ST JOHNS ON BLAST! OFFICIALLY!
we walked...i love the way the streets are set up in Paris, they are all like little alleys and it feels so exclusive, so cute and you never know what you can find!
LIKE really cool grafitti!
..then crossing the street took forever! so i decided to have a spur of the moment photoshoot!
There are monuments everywhere! this is me trying to figure out what the heck im tanding in front of..i should probably take an official tour at this point...because i say ooohh and aaaahh at soo many things that I have no idea about haha! I will definately take a tour this week! But nonetheless ooohh and aaah whatever it was behind that golden gate..it was so beautiful..
all the cars we think are "hot"...they pay to ride in for like 10 or 15 minutes...yeah thas right...benz cabs..chreysler cabs..smh
TOLD YOU GUYS!!! that I would find GROM!!! and I did! I had no idea that it was so close to where I was living..which could be dangerous...go to the one in the village!!! check the post archive for the story behind this gelato heaven!!
ended the night at the local grocery store...and thas the end of this very long post :) neeexxttttt!!!!!!
..but I took it easy.. started out my day with a nice cup of coffee at the local cafe, like every other Parisian.."implants" like me follow their lead...
oh YEAA and by the way..though im so late posting this I am no longer staying here..but this was the first stop! ODEON hotel in st.Germain..i still live in St.Germain not too far from the hotel tho :)
EVERYONE rides a bike here in Paris..so im going to do it too! and work off some of those croissants! if you buy a monthly "metro" pass you can wave it in front of the bike machine and get a bike too! cool cuz school is only like 10 mins away from where I live and there is a bike station near my school!! yay!
found this cute little vintage shop while I was discovering st. Germain and they had pretty good prices...Assata you would love it in there
I stopped in another cute boutique and tried on some HELLZ BELLZ jeans..actually they were more like a satin/latex glove! very nice but a little too low anyways they made my legs look nice now that im lookin at the pic so i might want to go back for em..
and theeeeennn i stopped and picked up the "whip" I was having it detailed :) yea well...you make what you want of it! lol really you dont see too many large size cars I have been seeing a bunch of cars that Jess and I like to call puppies, or boogars lol and they are by this company..the only thing that makes em cool is the euro plate :/
