Life without my iPod

I bought my first iPod in 2004 and I have to say I immediately became addicted to that little pod and the firm with an apple logo whose name I won't mention here. 

Indeed I grew up in prehistorical times when I had to write the songs I liked on a tape to listen to them on my walkman, on my way to high school. When I would get bored of hearing the same songs over and over again, I would write new songs on the old ones and keep the same tape forever. After a while they made the CD walkman - I don't even remember how it was called - but the issue remained the same : what if I suddenly wanted to listen to a song that wasn't on my tape or CD ? I had to wait till I got back home. Thanks firm with an apple logo for bringing to an end this intolerable frustration.

Recently I changed laptops and my iPod refused to cooperate with the new computer. It decided to be entirely full and refuse any new song or modification of my playlists. In a nutshell, my iPod had a 24-hour black-out.

Don't believe people that tells you they rediscovered the sound of birds singing and children laughting the day their iPod died. It's bullshit. When my iPod died, all I could hear outside was the sound of Parisian pigeons in love (not pretty) and the screeking of the subway train on the rails. It was so horrible I could have cried. Life without my iPod had didn't taste the same.

I decided to restore the original parameters - an option iTunes provides when your iPod is in a really bad shape, which sounds, to non-geeks like me, quite terrifying. I thought my baby iPod would never survive the operation. During the process I kept looking anguishly at it and patting it to show I cared.

Miraculously enough, it survived the restoration and started singing my songs again. This story could have made me think of my multimedia dependence and how I can't live without these new technology things. That's bullshit too. Music has always been there for me, highlighting or bringing in thoughts while I walk down the streets. It's a way to tell the story of my day in a soundtrack kind of way. And the fact I'm addicted to my iPod, this little marvel hosting in its body my entire CD collection, has nothing to do with technology. It's a mere credit to the genius of the firm with the apple logo. Thanks, guys !

PS : I don't hold any stock of this firm, and nobody sends free new products to the unfamous blogger I am. Thus this article is no advertisement of any kind to those firm and brand. *sigh*

Brown Sugar... Just like a young girl should

Hello everyone !

Welcome to my new blog. I just moved out from my former blog host and I wanted something brand new. Why ?

* First of all, My blog host wanted to make bloggers pay for their blogs. Well, non-famous bloggers. And I kind of disagree with the idea of making unknown blogs pay for the expenses of well-known blogs. I think it's a bit illogic.

* Also, I didn't like the title of my former blog anymore. Indeed, it was called The Lilac Diaries and I couldn't even remember why I had chosen that name in the first place. I had nothing to do with who I am or what I like, it didn't remind of fashion or rock music, it only reminded of lilacs - which grew in the backyard of my previous studio in the Parisian neighborhood of Montmartre but are nowhere to be seen around my new appartement. I wanted a cooler, funnier name. I found the title of this blog one night The Rolling Stones' Brown Sugar was playing on my i-Pod. There it was, the irreverent, stylish spirit I was looking for.

* I wanted this blog to be read both in French and in English, so that my French and English-speaking friends can read it.

* Finally, I wanted this blog to be a fun, cool place to be, like a piece of daily brown sugar. I wanted to feel like when I'm discussing fashion, style, music, and trips to my favorite cities with my friends, on a sunny afternoon, sitting at a café's terrasse and drinking coffee.

So, I hope you'll enjoy it too ! Feel free to leave comments, questions and expectations on this page, I'll be happy to hear from you !

Découvrez The Rolling Stones!

Lemon pie declaration of love

Yay ! Yeeeha !! SPRING IS BACK !!!

Or so I thought.

Last Friday, in Le Loir Dans La Théière, a coffee shop so typically Marais I would make fun of it if their desserts weren't that amazing.

The weather was clear and warm, I had taken my favorite red coat out of my closet and I was turning back to my old student habits with my friend Alice.

After that I assume spring had just come and say hello that day, and then flew back to warmer countries.

I would like spring to come back very much, tough. This way, my last months as a student will be just like every other school year in my life : like these spring days in high school when me and my friends would just hang out in the sun, smoking and wearing large jeans. That's how a school year is supposed to end : with the trees getting greener, the vacations getting closer and the melancoly of the summer ahead without your friends around.

Student spring is also the time to do every simple thing you will never be able to do when you start this crazy job. Like eating a lemon pie with a friend in a coffee shop, like wearing jewelry that is too extravagant to be worn at work, like writing your thoughts on a tiny japanese notebook. If the weather is nice, then it's so good I feel nostalgic in advance.

So let's fully enjoy these last few days walking in sunny Paris and sitting at cafés drinking coffee. 

Photos taken in Le Loir dans La Théière by Alice

Comfort food for fashion

It's one of these days when you just can't do anything. The day started with a subway train incident and we all had to jump off the train and walk our way out of the dark subway tunnel. This isn't a good way to start the day, I'm telling you. That's why I've been sitting in my couch since then, watching episodes of How I Met Your Mother one after the other - it's like a drug and I just always want more of them.

Hanging out home makes me hungry though. What can you cook for lunch on a day you don't want to do anything at all ? Macaroni and cheese with some sliced ham on it. Yeah. Just like when you were five. And I can tell you it's really good, especially when eaten in front of the TV in the right outfit.

Just as comfort food is there when nobody's around to judge you, we all have our comfort outfits for the moments when nobody's around to notice you're not - at ALL - sexy. These outfits are some of my favorites. Not only because they're comfy, and you feel at home in them. Also because actually, I think they look pretty cool.

Champions USA pants / Les Petites t-shirt / Adam Jones vest

They don't ask for a lot of fashion effort : they're made of t-shirts we won't wear to go out, very old sweat pants, funny socks... and little dressing up time. Everything a true fashionista would disapprove of. 

Alright, but in real life ? In real life, one can be super cute in a comfort outfit. Just like the eponymous food, it's simple, fast and comfy. That's why they're so good !

A touch of girly

This morning, while I was walking in the street, I bumped into her.

Patient, pretty, careless about the rain splashing on her pink outfit, she was waiting next to a bench.

So unexpected at the corner of this grey street, on this rainy pavement, among common cars. I thought she was waving at me, catching my eye and the few rays of sun.

This little motorcycle is today's message people : even when the weather is pretty bad, even when it rains, even for nothing, dressing up pretty is always a good thing.

Good day to you all !

First post

The first time I checked out some chick blogs, I was really amazed. Those women seem to do nothing but fly from one fashion week to another and shop at Sonia Rykiel and Martin Margiela. They form a kind of international fashion elite who evolves in an enchanted world, without any job or financial worries (go check out the price of Martin Margiela jeans and let me know about it). Such a dream world.

Come on, seriously girls. Our fashionoholic lifes are much more exciting right ? They're a restless race for the last André pair of boots in sale when no store in Paris display them anymore. They're a passionate quest for the next Marc Jacobs sale-out from which you'll come back with yet another treasure (one day I'll tell you about my sweet baby Marc Jacobs bag). They're all these afternoons out with your girlfriends and all the advice you exchange while trying on dresses at H&M. Just because we don't work in fashion doesn't mean we can't have style. Because after all, style is about taste, personality, daring and curiosity...not wallet size. And that's what makes it exciting eventually !