Something to do with stars : Relooking Extreme

Après plus de 6 ans de bons et loyaux services, je quitte la plateforme blogger.
Après plusieurs années à me représenter, je quitte, aussi, la petite madame et ses longs cheveux qui faisait l'identité graphique de ce blog.
À l'aube de mes 31 ans, j'assume :
Something to do with stars devient Something to do with stars - by Elise Richard

Et "By Elise Richard" c'est elle, c'est moi, entre le rose et le noir :

La suite se joue donc ici :

www.somethingtodowithstars.com

Et vu qu'on en est à mettre à jour ses liens, je suis aussi sur Facebook // Twitter // Instagram

L'historique restera, dans un premier temps, ici. 6 ans de posts, ça vous ferait presque un roman diraient certains. Un roman bourré de fautes et à la narration parfois approximative cela-dit. 

Les posts de 2015 et certains élus de 2014 ont d'ores et déjà migré !

Alors à très vite,

xxx

Let's face it, it's July already!

It's been a while since my last English entry. Not that I don't think about you, non French speaking fella, but well, lazy me...
Give me a minute to go back for a sec. A few major things happened in the last few months.

First, my sister came over here in May with Jerome (my brother in law), Jean Marc and Sandrine (friends). As they were spending time in New York or Quebec during the 2 weeks they were here, they came back to be with me for the 3 week-ends they had in Canada. This was for me a good opportunity to show my new home to my family, and also go around Ontario for a bit, get out the city!
The first stop was Niagara Falls. A pretty excited experience, even though, I have to admit, Iguazu in Argentina was a little bit more impressive (spoiled girl that I am).
Second week end was a great adventure in Algonquin's park. Hiking, spotting wildlife, canoeing and even tracking... a BEAR! We had a blast, and this was my first real taste of Canada's great nature and scenery, I loved it!
Last but not least, we ended up spending a great Friday night on top of Toronto's world, eating dinner at the CN tower.
It was sad to let them go, but I also knew that I would be seeing them again real soon as I spent a week in France 4 weeks ago.

A week to party, shop, have "after work" drinks, long talks, "small talks", ... Yes, a great week to get back together with my friends and family. And also a nice week to think things over a little.
It's been now more than 6 months since I arrived in Canada. Half of the year is already gone. And what's next? What are my itchy feet telling me? Well... Quite surprisingly, My heart is actually telling me that it may be time for me to give a shot to a life where I stop moving all the time and get to places knowing that I'll move out again in a few months.
So Paris is probably going to be my "new" home at the end of this year. After all, home is where the people you love are! (And this might be THE answer that Canada brought me).

Since then, and actually in the past 2/3 months, work has been crazy. It feels like 24 hours in a day are not enough to do all the things I should be doing. But well, it also gives me the opportunity to go in Montreal from time to time (last time was actually a week ago), and maybe in New York.
If not by my company, it's the plan anyway. I will not leave Toronto without a stop in NY first. Holiday at the Machu Picchu is also a thought in the air (well it's been in the air for a while, but now it's becoming a real project).
So more adventures to come, no worries, even though the idea is that somehow I'll try to settle down a little bit more. There's still to many places to discover in such a short life, and I'm not giving up on making the most of it!

xxx

Spring, Lack, Sunburn, Shopping and Work

It's here, It's here!
Yes I am talking about spring and yes this country changed me in a weather freak! The last snow happened in April. And 3 weeks later, I was dreaming of my swimsuit when walking around the city: 30 degrees. Canada is like that: you never know how it's gonna be in the next few days, and everyone here will tell you "no, April, it's too early to store you winter bouts yet... ya never know hey!" (If I come back saying "hey" at the end of all my sentences, it's because I'm becoming... Canadian hey!).

But now it's May, and I believe we won't see much of the below-10-degrees anymore (I know, I'm a dreamer!). And with Spring, I decided to venture a bit further in the city, discover more unknown territory and go all the way to... THE LAKE!
Because if Toronto is built right next to a big-ass lake, doesn't mean it's a given. You have to look for it. First you have to go all the way through the business district, which is pretty boring on a Sunday afternoon as you can imagine. Then find your way below the big Gardiner Hway, and then you're there: water... I wouldn't swim in there, even if apparently you can, since it's a port, and there's an airport on a small Island right in front of the city. But there's some pretty good walk and parks around that make it like a "window for fresh air" (not that the air is bad in Toronto, it certainly doesn't feel like it). "Fresh" is the word anyway, and this bloody wind that froze me all winter is still here!

Anyway, this long walk to the lake gave me the opportunity to catch my first sunburn. And believe it or not, a sunburn in less that 4 hours walking below a sunny-yet-cloudy-weather is not usual for me, and only means how much I am white and need sunshine (with caution, yes I know...).

Besides this quite extraordinary adventure, my walks around the city give me lots of shopping opportunity. I am actually running out of storage option and starting to wonder how I am ever going to bring everything back.
Does that mean I am thinking of coming back? Well I am certainly thinking that Canada may not be the place for me (but let's see what summer has to bring before jumping to conclusion).

Work-wise (is that "English"?), things are going... slowly. I am definitely learning quite a lot in terms of Canadian and US data or advertising. The experience is great and my English improving. No doubt about that. The north-American working system is... well, quite different than the French one (well I know this is obvious but still worth mentioning). And my company especially can be quite frustrating from time to time. Things may be moving in a rear future (new colleague, new project, ... ) so let's see how it goes!

My dear sister is arriving on Friday with Jerome, Jean Marc and Sandrine. My parents are heading over here in September/October. Fleur in August. I'll be in France in June. And I'd love to plan a trip to New York some time in July. There's still plenty of time for you to drop by and give me a proper kiss! In the meantime I'll keep you posted, and I promise I'll take advantage of my visitors to post some new photos real soon.

Take Care!

xxx

It's been more than 2 months...

Hello you all non French speakers and English friendly fellows.

Yes It's been now more than 2 months and we are currently starting the slow process of "come on winter let it go, it's spring time now". I have to admit, living a crazy winter with
- temperatures getting down to -25 or -30
- snow storms
- leg breaking ice on the sidewalk
- ...
has been fun for 2 weeks.
The French that i am, born right next to the ocean who was hoping for snow to fall every wither and disappointed when it did not, is officially done with it now and wants to be warm again!!!

Life here has been pretty quiet: not many things happened in the winter and the idea of getting out is not something that crossed my mind to much when I was feeling warm and comfy at home. My apartment is great and I am finishing the whole decoration process. Work is going good so far, and my English slowly improving. It's one thing to be able to have a conversation in a pub and understand girly TV shows, another one to actually work in English with people who doesn't speak any other language than English and are expecting to be well served. So yes, I'm getting to the next step where I won't be lying when I'll say "completely fluent" on my resume. not quite there yet though... :-)

Toronto is a big working place. Again, I am looking forward for the weather to warm up a bit and therefore have the opportunity to go around a little bit more. There's some great area where shopping will be lots of fun.

I had the opportunity to make a quick trip to Montreal and Quebec over a month ago for work. I should be heading back there in the next few weeks hopefully. Things look pretty different over there and it's quite funny to discover the differences between French Canadian and English ones. And the French Canadian accent or expressions are just worth it by themselves.

A quick note on the Canadians to conclude. Well after being in Paris for 2 years, they obviously are much more friendly. But in general I can say that everyone has been really sweet with me, helpful also. This is a country where immigrants are coming from all over the world all the time. And you can definitely feel this multicultural environment, especially here in Toronto, perhaps even more than in Australia.

I hope life is sweet and nice for you. Australia it's time for you now to leave a bit of the heat wave to some other country, and Canada would not mind getting a bit warmer! :-)

Take care,

xxx

here I am...

It's been a week... Just enough time to get over the jet lag (at least i'm not falling asleep at 7PM everyday any more), get my immigration and working papers done, get a phone, find my way through the city center, find an appartement, get The Internet and Cable TV, buy a TV... Just enough time to get cold and get shopping for new boots and a new coat.
I have a few new challenges in my life:
- stay warm without looking like a big teddy bear wearing 5 jumpers and 6 coats
- walk around the city on heels and don't fall down in the snow
- walk around in the city and don't fall, whatever the shoes
- keep my fingers alive in the cold...

And now it's back to school, a new one though! One where they speak english all the time. But they're all nice with me over there: they mooved the whole office today to give me some room...

Here I am with my new life! And so far it's going great.

I'm back in a country where the bread fit with the square cheese, itself fitting with the slices of ham, cut in the same size. Skim milk seems to be the reference, regular milk being hidden at the back of the shelves. News on TV and dinner are at 6 PM. Take away food is every where, food in general is everywhere... Burger King is available! Small size is the equivalent of the french medium. "How're you doing" is used 300 times a day, in shops, restaurants, everywhere, wherever you talk to someone...

It's not Australia though, it's way to cold! But hey, I'm living the real winter. Now I can say that I've seen it, I've lived it... I'm living it! And I love it! (I'm not saying I could live like this forever though, just nice to see it for real).

So here it is my friends, I'm here, enjoying it even though missing you all. Photos of the appartement will come as soon as the furnitures arrive. I'm camping right now with nothing else than a thin matress, my computer and a TV ;)
You're obviously all welcome, I should have the room for you somewhere (as soon as I get furnitures)! But in the meantime if you feel like sending me a line, here are my adress and phone number:

Elise Richard
Unit 6
208 Poplar Plains rd
Toronto ON M4V-2N4
CANADA

(1) 416 553 2332

More news coming soon with photos!

xxx

Extract from: - Road notes, Amsterdam 28/12/08 -

Once again, it is while waiting for a connecting flight that I start my thoughts on this new step in my life. Tired, carrying heavy bags, waiting, sad, all elements combined as a ritual. And in 12 months when I'll read those lines again... Where will I be? (...) What will be the music in my Ipod? Will The tellers still be side by side with Missy higgins, The Waifs or Tryo? And who will mark my mind, enough to make me as sad as today? What about all the people who make me sad today? And finally will I be on my way back or planning a new departure?

I have 12 months to answer those questions (or not). Little Life, what do you have to bring me that will makes stars shine a bit more? (...)
To answer those questions the right way, I will definetly have to take into account the small certainty I have today.
(...)

But finally all those people (who I miss) are here with letters or other emails... Job and life confort should also be here. And the moment for me to take some time for myself is also here. So enjoy, sit back and relax...
(...)