sophomore year.

It's over. I'm done. I survived sophomore year. And what a year it has been. It started with me going to Australia. And that was quite possibly the best month of my life, it was amazing, it doesn't even feel like it ever happened, I want to go back so bad. Then I started school and my schedule was pretty good this year. Then in November my exchange student came here for a month. Over thanksgiving I went to DC and New York (for the first time!!). Then spring break rolled around and I went to Paris, which was amazing because well, it's Paris. Then May came around which is when a ton of my friends birthdays are (including mine) and so we threw a surprise party for one of my friends and then I had mine (NOTE: the location of my party was not my house lolol I had a lot of people ask me if it was) and this weekend I have two more birthday parties to go to.   I had finals this week and now I'm done. It doesn't seem like I should be done. It seems like tomorrow I'll be back in my same classes with the same teachers and the same people, but I won't. And this year for the first time ever I was happy to get out of school but almost kind of sad too, because I really liked all of my teachers, and my schedule wasn't the best but I liked that too, and some of these teachers I'll never have again and it's sad. Next year I'll be a junior, which I'm told is the hardest year. I'll have to think about colleges, my schedule's going to be insane (chinese anyone?)  even though I'm not taking any AP's. And sometimes I just wish that I didn't have to grow up, I wish that I was 5 again because at age 5 the only thing you have to worry about is whether or not to color inside the lines. 

So in conclusion, one year, 5 cities, 18 hours of exams, endless hours of classes, and lots of zara clothes later, I'm a junior. Just two more years left.

xxx

claire

ALSO: MY NEW CAMERA IS SO HIGH DEF AND EVERYONE HAS BEEN DOING VIDEOS LATELY SO ASK ME (INTERESTING) QUESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS AND I MIGHT MAKE ONE!

film.

Everybody has their thing. Something they're good at. Something that makes them feel valuable. Until this year, I had never found my thing. I'm bad at sports. Too stage fright to do performing arts. Not artistic enough to do 2d or 3d art. Okay at school. Okay at a lot of other things. But there has never been something I've been good at. 

But this year I truly fell in love with photography. I mean, I loved photography before, but now it's something different. This year I realized the true meaning of photography, it's not to just snap everything in sight, it requires thought and sometimes taking 10 good pictures is a lot more rewarding than 200 okay ones. I realized that it's quality over quantity. And shooting film made me love photography even more, when you actually have to think about it because you only have 24 or 36 shots and you can't see them right away, it really does bring the creativity back into photography.

yeah, photography is definitely my thing.  

xxx

claire

a blog post in which i compare my self to hannah montanta

shirt - pimkie (french store)

skirt - j.crew

shoes - steve madden

sometimes i feel as if i live a double life, which in part i do. two instagrams, two twitters, two claires. I don't know why I don't want to tell anyone from school that I have a blog, I just don't. It freaks me out that if people knew, they would have such insights to my thoughts that they would know me better than i feel comfortable with. Sometimes its easier to share your life with complete strangers than people you know, I can't be the only one who feels this way?

It's just that most people at my school don't value things like blogging, and i know that I would be made fun of for it. People at my school just wouldn't understand how much blogging means to me and what a great community this is, they just wouldn't, at my school you're not considered successful unless you play a sport or are good at science, and i feel like blogging would just be looked at as downright weird. Although maybe i am weird... EMBRACE THE WEIRDNESS

xx

claire

when in france.

when in france..

take pictures of the little tv's on the plane showing that you're in france.

take pictures of huge billboards to send to your australian exchange.

take pictures of flowers, because they're not just flowers, they're french flowers. 

go shopping on this street and die of amazement. WARNING: you'll never want to leave (read: TWO ZARA'S PEOPLE, TWO ZARAS)

take as many pictures of this guy, because you'll miss him when you leave. 

take 4762319847623 pictures of locks on bridges over the river seine, because it is just too cute and romantic (read: future husband, we're going to have a lock on there)

take pictures of food in patisseries because you like food and its pretty.

take sketchy photos of of the mona lisa, because there really isn't any other way to do it. 

realize where lady gaga gets her hair inspiration.

go to ladurée (pretty much the equivalent of going to heaven)

take pictures of Zara, because you never know when you'll see one again :'(

go to abercrombie on champs-elysées, and hear the hot french male models speak french and english. oh my iwilljusttakeoneofyouinsteadoftheactualmerchandise ..what?

have 'piqueniques'!

photograph the pain in the butt med kit that you are being forced to carry around so that you can always remember your pain. 

don't go to choco story. unless you have a passion for the history of chocolate going back into the time of the ancient mayans.. then you should go.

take a picture of your bread and chocolate, because you never know the next time you're going to eat bread again. jokes, you're in france, it will probs be in approximately three minutes.

so there is my guide to the lovely city of "pair-eeees" (more commonly known as paris to those who do not spell as they speak). so yeah, you should go 

PSA: PARIS IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE ON EARTH.

bye.

xxx

claire

fishies.

fisheyes just make me feel suh artsy. 

it happens people, it happens.