Quote of the Day:

"You are a success when you have made friends with your past, are focused on the present, and are optimistic about your future"- from FB friend

Some of My Favorite [Photos]

I always seem to stick some really great photos into a collage, just so they won't fill up the entire page, but today I decided to pick out some of my favorite pictures from Poland, Czech Republic and Paris (of course).  

                          

 Look What God has Done [Prague, Czech Republic]

                                    Paris [up on the rooftop]
                                    Paris-November, 2008
                                               Kneel and pray [Prague, Czech Republic]
                                                    Bag Lady [Prague, Czech Republic]
        Road Trip [Krakow, Poland]
    I too had a Praying Grandmother [Krakow,Poland]
bisous,

Jennifer Pauline

The Conversion: Roll, Snap and Go With the Flow

                                    (Paris, The Marais-November 22,2008)

I must admit that I love taking pictures, never as a job, just as a hobby to keep memories forever.  Well, on an outing with one of my friends here in Paris, he pulled out a "throw away" camera and just kept snapping pictures of me.  The immediate reaction in my mind, "oh my, these pictures are going to be terrible, I can't even look at them before they are developed".  The luxury of snapping and reviewing with the digital camera has become second nature to many, but I think I have been converted.  After seeing these pictures, the vintage-esque quality of the images, I fell in love and quite liberated from the digital camera technology.  So I thought to share this with everyone, maybe I can stop you from making the next big digital camera purchase (at least try it, they're only like 5 dollars).  Don't be embarrassed to pull out that throw away camera, because I know I won't be!

bisous,

Jennifer Pauline

I Have Patrick: From Petit Palais

"I have Patrick!"- the infamous line from The Devil Wears Prada, where I'm quite sure much of the world began to familiarize themselves with Patrick Demarchelier.  A world renowned fashion photographer, Demarchelier exhibited some of his best work at Paris' Petit Palais.  Upon entering the museum I knew that this would be an awesome experience, especially when the woman at the ticket counter said "c'est gratuit" and gave us our tickets.  The first thing that I noticed was his ability to capture someones personality, capturing it and giving it to the public, straight with no chaser (for lack of a better term).  We were given a glimpse of the real, Nicole Kidman, Meg Ryan, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Michelle Phifer and many more.   One photograph that will forever remain in my mind is the following photograph of one of the most amazing women that ever walked the face of this earth.  This is the true essence of who this woman was and will forever be remembered as.   Do you know who she is??  Guess in the comment section and I'll tell you tomorrow.

Another amazing aspect of this photo exhibition was the juxtaposition of old and new, mixing works from early french 19th century painters such as Courbet and Morot with the photography of Demarchelier.  This is a true example of working in your gift, going after your dreams and doing things your own way.  This is what happens when you let nothing stop you from attaining your dreams; your work ends up in one of the most amazing museums in Paris (or you end up in Paris, looking at the amazing talents and dreams manifested by another dream-catcher, like me)

bisous,

Jennifer Pauline

And Then There Was Prague.

Another work of [graffiti] art, professing love for one's city.  I must admit that the feeling was mutual, I too [grew to] love Prague.  After an 8 hour overnight train ride in which we were cautioned to "keep your door locked and put your money under you", I couldn't feel anything but love when we put our feet on solid ground and still had all of our belongings :).  Happily, we didn't encounter any initial shock upon arriving in Prague, our first task was to sleep [train beds are the size of a matchbox and are made of wood, eeks!].  Unfortunately, we were unable to accomplish that task because we couldn't check into our room until 2 pm [we arrived at 730 am].  So, in true zombie-esque form we made our way through the city streets, up to the Charles Bridge [another UNESCO world heritage site] around to a couple vintage stores, sat down to a meal and finally made it to 2 pm.                                                       

                                                      Castle & Charles Bridge

Goulash and Strudel (yummm)

Prague was [hands down] more intriguing than Poland, although they both had special qualities that made them unique, Prague is more my style.  The architecture, amazing, the food, much better than Poland, the people, equally as interesting and the vintage shopping, not too shabby ;). 
Oh yes, the best part about Prague, they don't use Euros, so everything is scary cheap!! I loved it, when you have the time go and visit, it's superb.

bisous,

Jennifer Pauline

Sincerely, Pauline

reflect. assess. plan. strategize. attack. 

steps to following and achieving your dreams.

oh yea, never say never.

Sincerely,

Pauline

A Pause for Paris: For the LV in Me

I know that I need to continue sharing my experiences in Eastern Europe, but since I'm back in Paris, I can't neglect to tell you what's been going on!  Well, first off one of my good friends Jesse left Paris yesterday, c'est triste!  But I know I will see her again on some other continent! Before she left we got to explore some wonderful exhibitions together, Patrick Demarchelier's exhibit at le Petit Palais and l'espace Louis Vuitton at the top of the Louis Vuitton store on the Champs-Elysees.  These were some AMAZING (strong emphasis on amazing) exhibitions, it just made me fall in love with art even more, thus justifying even further, my love for la mode (fashion).

(me, below)

The exhibition at l'espace Louis Vuitton was focused on young Korean artists, entitled "Metamorphoses".  Filled with various art forms such as paintings and sculptures, to a missile with a mini city on top of it and dancing figures of North Korean and South Korean soldiers (they were positioned in a way so that they could never actually link up, representing the current tension between the Northern and Southern part of the country)

                                      (how to become a rock [in Korean])

                                     (A view from the top of Louis Vuitton)

to be continued :)

bisous,

Jennifer Pauline