Here and There

I have successfully disappeared completely from my own blog! The last few months have been busy (that 9-to-5 life is something, huh!) but mostly in a good way. During that time, I have:
* Bought my first car, a Ford Fiesta ♥
* Been to NYC 3 times to see 3 old friends from different times of my life
* Went to Jones Beach for a weekend of beach fun and Kesha/Pitbull concert
* Been reunited with old addictions: Daft Punk, Arrested Development... and lots more to come this summer!
* Finally started watching Mad Men ;)


I'm going on a little getaway to Vermont this weekend, I can't wait!

Could be you

Snow's disappearing little by little, but there's still enough to the delight of my friend's cute pup!

I'm trying to make traveling plans for this year but too many factors are up in the air and it's frustrating! So meanwhile, I got my mind stuck in the 90's thanks to the British show My Mad Fat Diary & its awesome soundtrack on Spotify. Can't wait for series 2!

February is over which means Spring will come around soon enough, yes!

All I see is snow

It looks like February's going to be full of snow. We're barely done recovering from last week's storm (and stores are still empty!) that more snow is on its way for the weekend! I'm glad I can work from home but this is not helping my intense cabin fever... I should make another Escapism post to distract myself ;)

By the way, this is not a picture of the aftermath of Nemo! I figured I'd use a nicer (and less alarming) view for the post!

See ya, 2012!

My mom's Christmas Rum Balls! I wish I could share the recipe but it stays in the family ;)
2012 was not the best year for me; I actually can’t wait to move on and start 2013!
Ever since I came back from China, I’ve been wondering what I could do with this blog - no more fun little trips to narrate here! My little DIY challenge was a fun idea, but these past few months I’ve had trouble finding the time to research & do crafts... Anyways, I came up with a little plan for the new year to bring some life back into this blog!

As a little roundup, here are my “top” 12 tracks of 2012 - some of my most played songs of the year (although, they were not necessarily released this year)!



++ Almost forgot to share this cool link: The Atlantic's Year in Photos!

Enjoy and Happy New Year, of course!

Moving in the right direction

I'm still waiting for a few more supplies to make my May DIY project... I'm pretty excited about this one!


Meanwhile the weather here finally warmed up and we can now enjoy some delicious drinks and kick-ass tunes. If I tilt my head to the left, I see a little hippo in the picture above.. how 'bout you?

That reminds me, you should Google the word "tilt" and see what happens ;)

A graduation and a new job

Quite a few things happened in the past week. After taking my finals Monday and Wednesday, I received another little red book at our Graduation Ceremony. I then slowly packed my things in boxes, thinking these past 4 months really flew by and somehow I accumulated way too things. Many people at my school are now going back to their home countries and this past week has been filled with farewell dinners/drinks/other activities. I am now completely broke and almost friendless, sigh.

BUT, I started on a new job yesterday morning! I will be working in a 5-star hotel for a month helping around the French swimming team, which is participating in the FINA World Championships. In a 5-star hotel, a it's-so-comfy-and-has-so-much-stuff-that-you-don't-need-to-leave kinda hotel. Very fancy. The experience should be fun, despite the horrid uniforms.

注意安全

As I mentioned in a previous post, a few months ago there was a great fire in a high-rise in Shanghai causing many deaths and injuring many people (I don't remember the numbers exactly, but maybe the Wikipedia entry is accurate). There's been a lot of talk on fire safety around the city ever since, including many new notices on how to prevent fires and how to evacuate in case of emergency.

Well, as part of this initiative, yesterday morning the security people of my building were going from room to room to paste lovely personalized evacuation posters on our walls. Now all I have to do is figure out how to go down 14 flights of stairs quickly enough to survive a fire in this building, siiigh.

Snowy week

It doesn't snow often in Shanghai and when it does it's just "cute" snow - the perfect amount if you ask me!

Bienvenue!

Welcome to my dorm room :)
I'm renting this single room in the International Student Apartment building of my university. It came with furniture, TV, fridge, land phone and AC/heater. I also have my own bathroom but I didn't bother taking pictures of it; just trust that there's a toilet, shower and sink. There's a kitchen at the end of the hallway, along with a laundry room.
It is cheaper than what you'd pay for a single dorm room in Boston but it's still considered expensive for what it is in Shanghai. To be honest, I couldn't take sharing a room with someone anymore. Having to hear people's loud conversations outside my door is enough.

*Here you can spot: my Halloween non-costume (black mask + white feather boa); my Shanghai Expo map; pictures of Paris ♥

Little Office Space

Two weeks ago I started my internship as an English Editor at a Chinese magazine. It's been going well so far. I proofread translations, do research and soon will be writing my own article.
This wonderful picture above shows you where I work four afternoons a week: in an insanely red cubicle, using a non-genuine copy of Windows XP. How Chinese is this?