T-minus cinq....

Well, the week has finally arrived!  I have exactly 5 days left until I leave for Paris.  I have been running around nearly breaking my skull trying to buy last minute assorted items like clothing, medications and other nick-knacks, that I haven't really been giving the actually journey much thought.

Packing is probably one of the biggest annoyances I have ever dealt with.  I really don't want to over-pack because the fees associated with packing over the weight limit is no joke and NOT cheap!  But I'm conflicted because I am a US size 12/14 and with all that I've heard about French women being extremely skinny, I am concerned that I won't find clothes to fit my curvy frame so I want to bring enough that fit me and look très chic.  And then there's the issue of shoes.....ohhh shoes, I love all of my shoes and I wish I could take them all with me, but sadly I can not.  Other teaching assistants have advised me to only take 3 pairs of shoes......yeahhhhh not sure that is feasible for a shoe fiend like me!

(Discalimer: these adorable suitcases are not mine ;-)

As with any major life change/ transition, I have been experiencing a lot of "pre-departure anxiety".  This anxiety has made me very nervous about my journey, but I supposed these are all normal feelings.  Recently I have been waking up in the middle of the night contemplating what awaits for me in Paris.  I'm really excited about seeing Le Tour Eiffel  and all of the museums but, and yes there's a but,  I am not looking forward to being reminded that I've only taken a year and a half of French, when people try to converse with me and I look utterly baffled and confused.  Back in January, I wrote about how badly I needed to practice my French, but nearly 8 months later, I have yet to crack open my French book.  I failed so badly at keeping this promise to myself it's comical.  But it's not completely my fault, I had to work full time and went to school part-time so I was way to preoccupied to practice.  I'm hoping to take a refresher course at L'Alliance Francaise, and like everyone says hopefully the French that I've learned and forgotten will "all come back to me".

But nervousiness, fear and anxiety aside, in just 5 days I'll be here......

...how wonderful is that!

Click, Click, Snap?

...decisions, decisions.  I hate making them and wish someone else would put me out of my misery and decide for me.

With less than 20 days to go before I leave for Paris, I came to an outstanding realization....Mama needs a new camera.

My 5 year old Sony PowerShot 870SD that I purchased my sophomore year of college has run its course and now its time for a much needed upgrade! I love photographs and I admire the process of photography but for once I want to be the person behind the camera taking great pictures instead of the person in front of the register dropping serious dough on some nice pictures.  I figured my fast approaching European excursion would be a great opportunity to upgrade to a DSLR photography as well as truly make photography a hobby of mine.  I have been admiring the image quality and "artsy-ness" of DSLR cameras for a while now.  The problem is I don't know how to properly use them and $600 is wayyyyyy to much money to speed to use the camera's automatic setting.  Plus, I don't know how to use Photoshop, nor do I have l'argent to buy it...so that's out of the question.

I like DSLR cameras because if used properly with a good eye and good composition, you can capture the pure essence of a moment in time.  I love photography, because each story tells a story, for example, this picture was taken by my very talented friend Beth Fortson.  I've seen photos that have ignited a passion in me, made me feel happy, sad, angry...a wide variety of emotions.  For me, I feel like there is a rawness that little point-and-shot cameras can not express.  Sure, you can get pretty and clear shots, but sometimes I crave more than that.


But another issue for me is the size.  Good grief, those things are chunky!  Because of my inexperience, I am not used to holding a heavy camera, so a special camera bag is needed.  Well, me being the research whiz that I am already found an alternative to this issue:

Voila! Ultra feminine and super fabulous camera bags that actually look like women's handbags! These particular bags are from Kelly Moore.

But it gets even more complicated; what do I do when I just want to go out with friends to a bar or a club?  Hauling a big $600 camera would not make because there's nothing artistic about being completely inebriated with your friends in a dimly lit bar plus there's the concern of losing it or breaking it, so a point-and-shoot will do.

grrrrrr....I just don't know what to do! Should I replace my poor PowerShot with another point n' shoot or should I take a bold step into the world of DSLR photography???