pushmepullyou design blog

After a lot of fumbling online, we finally decided that our most cost effective decision was going to be to skip London and go directly to Dublin via Ryanair (cheapo airline here in Europe). We stopped by the Arc de Triomphe on our way to Beauvais Airport’s bus system, so that was a nice farewell to Paris. When we arrived in the dinky little Beauvais airport, we knew that things might be a little rough overnight there. We had planned on staying all night at the airport since our flight was in the morning and as you know, we’re not too picky about sleeping arrangements. We got a rude awakening when we learned at 11 or so that the airport actually CLOSES completely and that we’d have to sleep outside! So, we and some other wretches camped out in the cold French night. Luckily Eoin had his sleeping bag with him this time; we snuggled up and I actually slept pretty well!

Upon our arrival, we met up with our Mum. It was so nice to see her! We needed some major TLC after our crappy day of traveling and night outside, and Mum was willing to treat us to lunch and Starbucks. After a while in Dublin we headed down to Carlow by train to see Grandpa and spent a great evening catching up.

One of our best experiences so far was our time in Chartres hosted by Ayo, our new couch-surfing
friend. I had wanted to visit Chartres Cathedral ever since studying it in Art History class. It’s a beautiful Gothic style Cathedral that has some of the most impressive and oldest spires, carvings, and stained glass, which the cathedral is particularly famous for. The blue found in the glass is actually called “Chartes blue” because as far as I know it’s not found anywhere else.

Ayo met us in the afternoon and set us up in his home. From there we wandered around the town on the lazy Sunday that it was and took a look at life in Chartres. We ate some Kebabs at a local shop and had chocolat viennois (hot choco with whipped cream on top) and macaroons while watching people walk by.

Then came the tour of the Cathedral I was amazed at how beautiful Chartres Cathedral really is; it’s so cool to see and totally worth the trip! The cathedral was apparently built starting in the 12th century and finished in the 16th century. The two spires reflect this since they’re in really different styles.

After the Cathedral we went out with Ayo and his friends to watch the Euro cup final - Spain vs. Germany. It was fun, but I really liked talking with the ex-pats we met more.

We took some time out to see the famous Louvre Museum in Paris on day 2. It was really great and we managed to take notes on every single piece of artwork. JUST KIDDING!! We saw a few of the most famous works, but even that took a long time.

Eoin and I discovered a new love - French Crepes! The ones we like are smothered in Nutella (hazelnut choco spread) and folded up into a very edible triangle. Also delicious: Chocolat Chaud (fancy hot choco) which is more like a melted chocolate bar than the watered down crap that we’re used to. It’s strange that with all the fatty, delicious things here the people aren’t as fat as Americans. I think they probably have secret Gyms that we don’t know about…

We flew via Air India out of Newark airport, so we got off to a pretty crappy start, however, when we arrived in Paris and saw all the charming cafes and were surrounded by that certain je ne sais quoi that the city has, I got pretty excited to be here! Plus, having a sweet treat or two didn’t hurt…
As the day wore on and on (it gets dark here at around 11:30PM!!) and we wandered around further and further, Eoin suggested that we get a bottle of wine and chill out open-container-style under the lit up Eiffel Tower. We did just that and enjoyed ourselves among the crowds of sexy young ladies and gents who were doing the same. We stayed out pretty late and by the time we got to our Metro station it had closed!! We stayed outside the city, so the only way home would have been via very expen$ive taxi, so we decided to do it Grosch style and sleep in some bushes until the Metro opened again at 5:30. Boy, what a night!

Check out West Elm’s sale section for some really lovely summer melamine and other cuties!

My boyfriend dressed as Gandhi for Camp Naked Terror 7 and I went as Mary Lou Retton, obviously! How convincing is Petey??

A few months ago, I received a request for a guinea pig print. I worked something up this weekend. Whaddya think?

I just got my first tattoo this weekend! It’s what I’ve always wanted - an anchor on my upper arm. Being a simple and traditional tattoo, I think it really suits me! Now I just have to wait for it to heal…

My dear friend Dina opened an adorable etsy shop selling cute bird appliques and pretty little tea canisters from Japan with tea and a recipe inside. So good!!