Back HOME after a great vacation !

I'm back home, in Stockholm. Arrived here last Wednesday, late evening.

I'm saying that I'm back home because this is really the way I feel, that's here that I live, that I have my life, my "everyday life" at least. So after 3 weeks, I was quite happy to be back in this cosy environment. Even though the weather was SO terrible last Thursday (like a November day...), that I was almost ready to take a plane back to France (or to New York lol).

But now I've started my Swedish life again, and I like it :) The least I can say, is that it was not really a soft start !

At work, I've spend my first day reading tons of emails and signing dozens of invoices, and on the second day, I had to start the closing work for July closing !

Then it has been the same training wise. One class everyday since Friday ! And it's not over, as I'm going back tomorrow and Tuesday as well. Tomorrow my friend Julia is holding a street dance class, and I'm really excited to see how it will be :) Even though I'm sure she will rock, as she always does ! ;) Also, I've been out one night, took some fika with Eleonore... and lots of other things ! But this is my second year, and maybe the last one in Stockholm. So I really wanna enjoy every single minute of it ! So, no time to loose !!!

My holidays were all great !

Well, I won't talk more about New York, first because I've already written a long post about it, and also because I think everybody is getting fed up of me talking about it all the time !!

As I also already told you, I've had some quality time with my family, which doesn't happen very often since a few years, as I'm always abroad (what a bad girl I am !), and my cousins are living abroad as well.

Then, I ended with 3 days in Paris, where my lovely friend Veronica joined me. We had a very good time there.

The first evening, we had some diner with my friend Emilie, in a small restaurant, in the Latin Quarter, close to where my grand parents live (and where we were staying).

Then we took Veronica on a small tour, to see Paris by night. I love all those views...

And I think Veronica enjoyed them as well, as every 5 seconds she was saying "oh shit !". Haha.

The second day was very busy ! We started the day with a boat tour on the Seine where we could see many of the famous monuments.

After we had lunch with my great friend Sophie, we headed to the center to do some shopping at Les Halles, and finally headed to Beaubourg, where we sat for a while, just feeling the nice atmosphere. And then we passed the Notre Dame Cathedral.

The day ended with my friends :) First we met David for a short drink, then we took the metro to "Republique" to join my "girl" friends from Bordeaux for some happy hour !

And we finally finished at Mel&Fitsch's place for a nice diner. Nice to see all of them after such a long time !

On the second day, we first went to have some lunch with my grand mother !

I was so happy to see her. Everytime I come back to France, she joins me for a lunch in Paris and we talk about everything and nothing, but most of all we LAUGH ! I think I have the funniest grand mother in the world. She used to take care of me a lot when I was a kid, and I'm the oldest of all her grand children, so we have a very strong a close relationship together.

Later in the afternoon, this is Valerie that we met ! Valerie is one of my really good friends in Stockholm, but she was in Paris at that time.

We went at the Cafe de Flore, a very famous cafe where lots of (famous) artists use(d) to go. However, there is something that I'd like to add here... I do love Paris, I really do. BUT. There is a big BUT. How come the waiters in restaurants and bars are SOOO unpolite and even rude ?? They think that because it's Paris (and especially in this area), and because they will always have customers, they don't need to be polite ?? That makes me so angry. Because it really gives a wrong image of the people in France, and of the Parisians especially. Well...

After this nice drink with rude and unpolite waiters (lol), we headed to the Champ de Mars where I had organized a picnic to meet a maximum of people. This is not always easy for me to meet all the people I would like to meet because usually I'm there for a few days only, and as I've been to many places, I start to have a lot of friends !!! lol. (Poor me ;) )

So basically, everyone was invited. But as we were in the middle of the summer, many people were on vacation.

But Tiphaine and Stan (freshly married !) were there.

Mel&Fitsch as well !

Sophie, and even Insaff on the phone hehe.

Claire, Jennifer, Clementine and Christelle - my friends from Bordeaux.

Max, Guena, Francois and David - my friends from Keolis (where I used to work).

I've had a really good time and I was very happy to see all of them. Thanks for coming. LOVE you all !!

The 3rd day, the weather was very nice and even pretty warm. Perfect for a last day of vacation !!

We first headed to the Louvre. Everytime I go back there, I'm like "Wowww, this is SO beautiful !". Even though I've been passing in front of it everyday during 6 months lol.

After a good lebanese lunch, we walked on the Jardin des Tuileries and simply enjoyed the sun :) This was great ! And we ended by a tour on the "Grand Roue" (Big Wheel ?) to have a view a Paris from the sky. And as Veronica's favorite expression during this journey's expresses it so well : Oh shit ! That was beautiful !

And that's how the journey (and my vacation) ended... After that, I went to take my bags and took the train to the airport.

But I was not sad to leave. First because I know that I'll come back soon (I'll even get to see some of my friends in the beginning of September during a reunion week-end in London) - to celebrate my birthday probably. And also because I was happy to go back to Stockholm, to be in my apartment again, to see my sweet friends, to hang out in this city that I love, to start training again, and also to start working ! I know this year is gonna be full of challenges, and I love that !

Last thing to finish... If u wanna have another point of view of this journey in Paris, I advise you to go and read Veronica's blog. It's in Swedish, but there is a small summary in English at the end. And you can always Google Translate it ! I love it anyway ;)

Quality family time :)

I feel much better since yesterday.

The sun is back, and I feel that my mind is finally landing slowly but surely in France, or in Europe at least.

I'm spending some quality time with my family and especially with my cousins - and my Godson - who are living in Atlanta, and that I see only once a year.

So it's time for some jokes... ;)

"Theo, I told you to put some sun screen on my back, not to DRAW on my back !!!" ;)

And here is my cousin but also Godson, Baptiste (that we call "Babou").

He's so cuuuuute ! (He hates when people say that...)

Also, I'm thinking that I'll soon be in Paris and I'm SOOO happy to see my friends again, and to be the guide for my lovely friend Veronica :) She is arriving from Sweden on Sunday and we will spend 3 days in Paris together.

So good times are coming... And next Wednesday I'll be back in Stockholm. Of course I would like my holidays to last longer, but I'm also happy to see my friends again, to have a lovely reunion with my apartment, to go training again... and also to enjoy what's left of the Swedish summer :)

Wake up !

I got back from New York 2 days ago, but I feel like I'm still there. Not physically, but mentally for sure.

That was not a good, or great, but a wonderful experience I had there. I'll remember it my whole life probably. It was only 10 days, but it was so intense - and at different levels.

Of course the dancing part. I took 22 lessons, which basically means that I danced for 32 hours... This is a lot. But still not enough !! It was quite different from the classes I'm used to take in Sweden, but it was good. Generally, we had a 45 minutes of warm-up, and 45 minutes of choreo. The warm-up mainly consisted in stretching, but also abs, some push-ups and sometimes some technique depending on the class and the level. Most classes were really good. Out of the 22, there were only like 2 or 3 that I did not really like. All the other were just pure happiness and fun ! :) And I'm happy because I really felt that I was doing better at the end than at the beginning of the journey. Maybe it was because I got used to the teachers, the style etc. But still, I wanna believe that I (me, myself !) got better :)

It was quite an intense rhythm. I was taking between 2 and 4 classes a day, everyday. It's a lot when you're not used to it ! But I think my body reacted quite well so it also means that I was well prepared. Of course I had sore muscles like the 3 first days, but then it was ok.

Now the "group" part was quite intense as well. As the group, I of course mean the people who were traveling with me. At the very beginning, I have to admit that I was kind of scared. I was one of the oldest, there were mainly pro dancers, and "about to be pro" dancers, we were having totally different backgrounds... and I was thinking : "OMG, how is this gonna work ? Where is my place gonna be in this group ?".

And finally, I met wonderful people, and I think that there, the only thing that counted is that we were sharing a passion - dancing - and also we were part of the same unique experience. I don't know if we're still gonna be friends in 5 or 10 years, but we will always have this in common - and I don't think any of us will ever forget it. Everything went really fast, maybe that was superficial, but I love them all (well, almost all lol), and I miss them for sure.

Here we are, just before seeing West Side Story :)

When we did the limo tour

Going out the last night

Just for the little story, we went out on Saturday night - and as we were 5 ppl, most cabs didn't wanna take us. So we had to take a bigger cab, but it only had to seats, and then you had to stand up and hang, like in bus, except that we of course could not stand entirely ! So we just danced in the cab on the way back, and people in the cars around us were taking pictures !!

Then the New York part. I would say that living or just staying in New York is something very intense. The crowd everywhere, shops open until... I don't even know what time because there seemed to be always open, people walking fast, all the lights, the buildings... New York definitely deserves its reputation as a city that never sleeps. I don't know how it is when you live there for real, but when you're just staying for a few days, it's kind of magic I think. It's like you have to live with the city. I don't know, maybe I would be too tired after a while... But the only way to know is to try, isn't it ? ;)

So now I'm in France. I'm happy to be with my family, I'm glad I get to see my friends soon. Don't get me wrong about that. But I have to admit that the only place where I wanna be right now is a dance studio in New York. I miss it so much that it almost hurts... The last day we had there, during the whole day, I felt like I was about to cry. I had this lump in my throat... And when the plane took off, I was looking outside, saw New York from the sky, and started to cry like it had not happen to me for a long time.

And now I'm thinking about New York every single minute, trying to see when I could come back, I'm looking at the pictures, looking at Facebook to see if I get news from the girls (who are apparently doing the same lol) and so on...

Maybe I'm a bit extreme in my reaction, but those who know me, know that I'm the kind of person who is very spontaneous, passionate and I don't do "half things". So I don't "half react". And I always need to express all my feelings, whether they are positive or negative. Hopefully, I've mainly been very positive lately haha.

But now the feeling I have is that I should wake up, and start a new day. I need to get over, go forward, and enjoy the present time.

So if somebody could ring the waking alarm for me... that would be really helpful :)

News from heaven

Hello France, hello Sweden, hello World, New York is talking to you !

Just wanted to give you some news from the paradise.
I think I'm dreaming, I don't know how it could not be a dream... This is the best experience ever.

I'm mostly (only ?) taking classes at BDC (Broadway Dance Center) because this is where I feel there are more classes corresponding of my level and also in term of style. Alvin Ailey is the most beautiful school in the world, with entire walls made of glass from where you can see the street. They have very good and technical classes. But it is more about ballet, contemporary and different techniques. And the 3rd school is STEPS but the first time I went there I didn't like the facilities at all - looked a bit too old school for me.
Unfortunately we are not allowed to take pictures in the schools so I cannot show them...
But here are Shanika, Ariana and Carole in front of Alvin Ailey after our first class (Horton) last Friday.


It took me a few days to find the style and the teachers that were best for me, but since Monday it's just pure happiness. The level of the classes is quite high though, but I try to not take too easy classes cuz I'm also here to get better. So I'm mostly taking funk/hip-hop/street jazz classes and some regular jazz classes as well.
So far, I've taken 15 classes, and 2 of them I took them on my own (not with the group I'm here with), as Åsa is here for a few months, and was teaching classes :) So I went to meet her last Monday and took a hip-hop class and a "Tribal House" class, which is her own concept :) As usual, both classes were wonderful, and I was very happy I could see her as she's not gonna come back to Sweden so soon...

The 2 of us after the classes.

Sweaty ? Really ? ;)
Well, that's what happens when u work out ;)
So I still have 7 classes to take. But I might take 1 or 2 extra because I really wanna enjoy it as much as I can until the end and I wanna take as many classes as can fit in the schedule !! We'll see...

Now, talking about the group I'm here with, everybody is very nice and we're having lots of fun ! Yesterday we went to see West Side Story. As you can imagine, it was fabulous.
The girls in Times Square, just getting out of dance classes, ready to see the show :)

We also had some nice "adventures", as Klara starting dancing in the subway while a guy was playing music. Everybody was screaming and clapping their hands. The kind of thing that only happens in movies...

Tomorrow we are planning to rent a limo and do a 1 hour tour in the city, Friday night is quite unsure yet, and we'll of course go out on Saturday night as it is our last night. I'm so sad just by the idea of it. But let's not think about that right now.

To finish, a picture of me and Alberto (the only guy of the group), posing in front of BDC :)

For more pictures, you can check Facebook of course !

Gotta go get some sleep right now (which is not happening very often lately...).
Bisous a tous.

When the dream comes true...

There we are.
Tomorrow is my last day of work before 3 weeks of holidays. Then I'm flying to Paris in the evening, and then to New York the day after. My bag is finally packed. So I'm definitely ready to go.

I really cannot realize what's gonna happen. It's kind of like if I was jumping in some fantasy and live in a totally different world for 10 days.
And at the same time, I've watched so many videos of the classes, pictures of the hotel, looked at the subway map to see how I was going to go from one school to another, studied all the different schedules of every school... that I almost feel like I've been there already !

I'll have my laptop with me so I hope I'll have some access to internet and then be able to post some pictures and some "on the spot" reactions :)

Well... New York, be ready, I'm coming !

COLOURS !

I really feel for wearing colours lately...
So, here are the 2 new items I just acquired today :)


Many many colours, SO perfect for the summer !
But also to enliven rainy and cold days during the winter (I'm talking for the bag, not for the bathing suit of course ;) )

Just wear it !

You all know Nike's slogan : Just do it.
I think one of the other possible slogans they could have, at least here in Sweden, is : Just wear it.
Because I realized today, that even if at the beginning, you are not the kind of person that is really passionate and that cares about brands, you finally finish by wearing it. It's just the way it is. When you train, here in Sweden, and at SATS (the gym chain I'm used to go to), you wear Nike. Period.

Of course this is not everybody that wears it, but most of them. I would say maybe 65-70%. This is a lot I think.

And then you realize how powerful marketing can be. Actually, I am quite afraid to see how well it's working on me. I mean, I've been to a business school, I've had a very good class on brand management, so I should know how it works, I know all the techniques (well, I used to know them at least haha, just before the exam ;) ), so I should really be able to recognize when the marketing is operating on me, and I should be able to say "Stop, I'm gonna think by myself and I'm not gonna do what the marketing is wanting me to do". But I'm not doing it. And I'm buying more and more Nike clothes :) And almost exclusively Nike clothes. LOL.

But this is really a fashion effect. I was not doing this before. But by seeing everyone at the gym wearing Nike clothes (and looking good in them), you start to be kind of envious - especially when you compare it to your crappy pants that you've had for 5 years now and that you sometimes uses as a pyjama lol. Also, the instructors are wearing Nike, and they are your models in a way, you want to look like them... So one more incitation... And to finish, in all SATS, in the entry you have this place where you can buy Nike clothes and accessories. Then the temptation is a its paroxysm.

However, even though I'm almost sure I've been perverted by marketing, I also think that I have some good reasons to like Nike :) Their clothes are really colorful, very good quality, stylish and also confortable.
Here is one of my favourites ! :)