it's a...thesis!

I knew this day would come...not sleeping at night, easily irritable, craving strange foods, blaming everyone else for my misfortunes, forgetting everything, losing energy and not moving for prolonged periods of time, etc. 

No, I'm not pregnant. Yes, I'm in my late stages of thesis writing. Seems the same to me, though. It keeps me up at odd hours, it's due date is November 7th, it has ruined my social life, gives me mood swings and although I pretty much complain about it nonstop these days, I will love it when it is finished and it's something I'll keep around forever.

To give me a little taste of home and a break from writing at the beginning of September, it was time for a family visit again which was just what I needed after not being home since December. It felt like Christmas with a suitcase full of American goods for Jaime and I, per our requests. My list was basically chunky peanut butter, deodorant that works (NEVER buy French deodorant), regular peanut butter, chunky peanut butter, chocolate chips, regular peanut butter and one bag of Cheetos that Jaime and I tore through immediately. I'm pretty much set for the rest of my time here.

This visit from my mom, Tom and Jaime was different than last year's visit because we had a newbie to Paris all the way from North Dakota...my aunt Dixie! It was great having someone here who was experiencing Paris for the first time because it reminded me of how much I loved it (and still do!) when I first came to visit years ago. We were busy busy busy as you'll see from some of the pictures from their visit...

we spent a lot of time on the balcony of my mom, tom and dixie's rental apartment. the view was an eyesore...not

this is everyone crammed in the apartment enjoying some delicious desserts that my friend adam brought us to enjoy after dinner

we got our daily fill of croissants

we did our fair share of sitting around at cafes

dixie learned how to dominate the metro system

we read up on monet's paintings

and then surrounded ourselves by monet's waterlilies

jaime and I got yelled at for coming too close to an original picasso

we made a visit to oscar wilde's grave in pere lachaise cemetery

it was so hot! trying to find shade in the cemetery

we walked along the river seine

"be free from time to time"

of course we stopped by our favorite parisian landmark

we did some shopping at the outdoor market

and we did some flea market shopping

and while we were shopping the fleas, i found my vintage skeleton key heaven

we also did some fancy shopping at galleries lafayette

we celebrated jaime's birthday

...with the world's best cupcakes

we hung out in the luxembourg gardens

dixie and i hit up the catacombs

where we creeped around under the streets of paris in narrow paths surrounded by bones and skulls

i think it's safe to say by the end, we were all exhausted

on the last night in town, jaime and I played with sparklers and the shutter speed on our cameras...after a few attempts she finally was able to write "paris" legibly. success!

 So if it appears as though I've been in hiding for over a month, it's because I have been. I'll be back in action as soon as my thesis is officially turned in in a couple of weeks.