Travel Thursday // Paris!

Hope you all are having a great Thursday! I'm really excited to introduce one of my favorite blog friends today! Katie from Katie's Great Perhaps and I are pretty much the same person in about three hundred different ways so it's no surprise that we both have a pretty extreme case of wanderlust. She went to Paris last spring which I am insanely jealous of (and even more after I read her post!) So, travelers, wanderers, adventurers, (and if none of the above apply to you) blog readers, continue on!

Hello everyone! My name is Katie and I’m a high school student who blogs over at Katie’s Great Perhaps. Because Allison and I both love travel so much, we decided to swap blogs for the day and tell each other’s audience about our travel experiences.

I’ve only been out of the country once so far. I ventured to Paris with my high school’s photography club and a wonderful company called Travel for Teens last March, but that trip gave me such an in depth, intimate look at Paris.

Because Travel for Teens prides themselves on teaching young adults how to be “travellers, not tourists,” I got to experience Paris as a local and do a lot of cool things I wouldn’t have done had I travelled there on my own.

Today I’m going to share with you the top five things you have to do in Paris:

1. Visit a Sunday Market

Each Sunday, a bunch of little markets spring up around town. If you’re in Paris on a Sunday, you have to visit one. You can pick up all the ingredients you need to make an excellent baguette, delicious desserts, fresh fruit and so much more for relatively cheap at the markets. You also catch a glimpse of local life while visiting the markets and interact with some of the kindest Parisians you will meet while in France.

2. Climb the Eiffel Tower

When visit the Eiffel Tower, you’ll have the option of either climbing to the top of the tower or riding an elevator up the majority of it.  I highly recommend climbing it. By climbing it, you’ll get to see all sights of Paris the Eiffel Tour offers and get the bragging rights that you climbed all 1000 plus stairs of the monument.

* Okay, Allison input here . . . Isn't Katie's picture of the Eiffel Tower the absolute coolest? I am determined to someday get a picture as fun as this one! . . . *end input!*

3. Go on a bike tour

My group and I went on a bike tour around Paris with Bike About Tours and it was an excellent way to see the city without having to walk a thousand miles. The tour takes you to both major monuments, like the Louvre and lesser known attractions, like hidden parks in the city. Not to mention, the tour guides are hilarious.

4.  See the catacombs

Seeing the catacombs was the only thing I was uneasy about doing on my trip. I’m very squeamish when it comes to bones and gory things. But as weird as it sounds, standing in the middle of a tunnel full of bones and skulls wasn’t that creepy, it was actually kind of cool. And it’s a great place to figure out how to use the exposure, shutter and other settings on your camera.

5. Eat like a local

Avoid turning to touristy restaurants for your meals while in France and opt for the smaller cafes and restaurants while in Paris. Not only will this save you money and time, but you’ll find that the food at the smaller, lesser known restaurants is amazing. The best baguettes and macaroons I had were at small, hole in the wall cafes.

Her trip sounds so amazing, doesn't it? I love the idea of being a traveller rather than a tourist. That's my kind of adventuring! If you haven't had your wanderlust fill yet, you can head on over to Katie's blog to read all about some of my favorite spots in Athens, Delphi, and Santorini from my Europe trip last summer.

Thanks so much to Katie for taking over my blog today! I've had a lot of fun with this!

Have you ever been to Paris?

Love,

Allison

Reckless & Something Beautiful VLOG!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Today I have something to share with all of you that I'm really excited about: my first Vlog! Adora from Halcyon Bound nominated me for the Liebster Award, which is a lot of fun! Allie from Reckless was also nominated and was the brain behind the brilliant idea to team up and make this into a Vlog! 

So without further ado, I present our Liebster Vlog! 

And yes, we fully realize that we had been pronouncing Liebster completely wrong.  Don't worry, we have amended our ways.  Or at least we think so.



If you want to join the fun, please do! Allie and I have some questions for you, too!

1. Do you have a weird phobia? If so, do share!
2. What's your best blogging tip?
3. Where is your favorite place to be?
4.  List five of your favorites (song, flavor, music, animal . . . whatever you want!)
5.  If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
6.  What's the best job you've ever had?
7.  If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
8.  What is your youngest memory?
9.  How do you like to spend your downtime?
10. If you could visit any time period, past or future, which would you choose?
11. If you could be any age, which would you be and why?




Thanks so much again to Adora! If you're looking for some good reads, her blog would definitely be a good place to find some, so swing on by and say hi to her!



Will you accept our Liebster Award?  We would love to see yours!


Love,

Allison

Reading up . . . on a Tuesday

Four sick days + two snow days = a lot of time to delve deep into the depths of Internet archives. Although Facebook photo albums from 2010 mayyyy have been a part of that, here's some of the things I found that are actually worth sharing.

This isn't just for the parents out there. Grandparents, teachers, encouragers, mentors, people, this is how you talk to your daughter about her body.

Losing a friendship is never easy, but it doesn't have to be bitter or hurtful.

When I found out what Harper Lee is doing, I literally let out a yelp/gasp that probably sounded like I was choking.  So. Excited.

Looking for some comfort soup that doesn't have to have all of the calories? This is the answer.  I made it for dinner last night and it was a hit with everyone & super simple, too!

More food! Salmon lovers, this is the link for you!

Raise your hand if you don't want to spend an amazing, gorgeous, week in Europe.  No one? That's what I thought.  Margo from The Overseas Escape put together 10 one week itineraries that you should definitely take a look at.

People getting you down? I feel ya. But there's an opportunity that comes from even those tough times.

If you need a laugh, I guarantee that this will at least put a smile on your face. Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, and Kevin Hart with a little Yoncé, Queen Elsa, and Katy Perry is a recipe for funny.

Did you find anything that you really liked from this week's finds? Which one?

Love,
Allison

What Snow Days Are For

I always imagine that it must be so nice to live somewhere sunny and 75° for all 365 days of the year.  That would eliminate chapped hands, cracked lips, frozen hands on the steering wheel.  I wouldn't have to deal with awful road conditions or making sure I have an extra pair of gloves packed just in case.  Scraping snow off of the car at 6:30 am would be a thing of the past, and boy, that is one thing that I surely wouldn't miss. 

But what sunny and 75° doesn't come with is snow days. 

Snow days are for hot chocolate and pajamas.  Sledding whenever you feel like it.  Catching up on your current read.  Snuggling in with the covers up to your chin and watching the snow fall.

Finishing the homework that you're still somehow procrastinating on.  Taking a walk and marveling in how still, peaceful, and calm the earth is.  On a snow day, you can build a snowman, try a new recipe  (and it's a hit!), and shovel the driveway for what seems like the 7th time.

Bake cookies. Eat all of the cookies. Throw a snowball and expect to have one sail back at you.

And that's what snow days are for.  Suddenly, overcast and 9° is sounding much, much more appealing.

And I get to do it all over again tomorrow!

Love,
Allison