Hello blog, this is me...

 

I forgot how difficult it was to write a blog post, after the pretty decent break I took from blogging. As I said in my previous article, I got started on a blog that didn't exactly represent who I am, and wasn't happy with its content. But my life is about to take a big turn, and with all the change in the air I was hoping to start over again and try to produce regular, quality content on Maddy's Moon.

The past month and a half has been very busy, packed with enriching  experiences and nice people. I've visited a friend (the one from Tours -give it a look-), spent hours exposing my pale bum to the sun in good company (no results tan wise, what did I expect ?). I did a week long work experience in a chocolaterie (This one, precisely) during which I learned a lot, I don't think I'll ever be able to eat « cheap » chocolate ever again in my life ! The chocolatier was so nice and welcoming, I regained a bit of my lost faith in humanity.

I'm writing all of that nonsense whislt on holiday and am being flooded by booming, 14^th of july music. I'm not going to say I actually like the music, but it's the first time I've ever been to a holiday camp were the residents were sweet. Everybody seems to get a lot nicer now that I'm going away... I'm absolutely shattered, after spending the day playing tennis and biking around for 40km (talk about holidays!), but the Marais-Poitevin is beautiful and I'm glad I payed it a visit before going away. But you won't see this post until I come home, I promised myself I would take advantage of the poor internet here and not come close to a social media platform for a week.

I've had plans to leave France for a while now, and it's all coming together. My ticket to England is booked for the 28^th of July. A complete change of scenery, a hoped for breath of fresh air, mabye ? I am excited, but saying I'm not afraid would be a lie : I've spent 13 years of my life in the butt-hole of the world village in which I live, I barely know anything else. I'm sure I'll be staying with my grand-parents for at least a month, and then...then I have no idea. But I'll keep you posted as soon as the bluriness that is my future wears out...

My computer is completly fucking up at th moment, but I'm going to do my best to find a way to keep you posted about my adventures.

Thank you for sticking with me through my come-back rant,

See you soon (promise)

Maddy

In need of a change

I've been lacking inspiration about what to write on this blog lately. Even though there are tons of «100 blogposts ideas » out there on the internet, these preconceived ideas do not feel like me. I realised that whilst telling my mum « Oh crap, I have to blog today! Please give me an idea, anything would suit me! ». The problems are n°1:No, I do not HAVE to blog, I do it as a hobby and because I enjoy it, and n°2 : No, « anything » won't suit! I want my blog to be a place where I can talk about things that genuinely interests me, from products that I really want to share my thoughts about, to sweet places in my countryside, including revues of films/books that might interest you, well photographied original makeup looks, travel experiences (if I ever do travel), people that I find inspiring...

 I don't want to write just to be consistent and keep a schedule. Because what is the point of consisency if you continuously post crap?

 I want to be passionate and satified with the posts I wrap up, I want my pictures to look good, my texts to be nicely written, and most importantly, I want people to enjoy reading every single one of my articles, whether it's because they find them interesting, helpful, or simply pretty. 

So expect to see fewer posts in the future, but I promise I'l do my best to have them as polished and interesting as possible. Thank you for your understanding, and please excuse the typos and grammatical mistakes that might not have caught my tired and useless 11:PM eyes.

See you next time,

Maddy

Picnic with the fairies

Spring must be in the middle of some kind of existential crisis at the moment. He's only in his early days but already likes to believe he's summer. And I'm not here to complain ! The 30 dregrees and bright blue sky allowed me to wear the light dresses and shorts I've filled my wardrobe up with. And what better place to embrace the beautiful weather (and to show the world my dress) than a lake coming right out out a fairytail ? My family and I went for a lovely picnic and badmington game in Busserolles (ho, you don't know the place ? What a looser ! I'm joking, obviously), the lighting and scenery were so nice I couldn't resist taking a few shots. Sorry, my outfit is far from exeptionnal, I'm just wearing an H&M dress from last year (although they have a similar one out every year), an extremely flowy kimono from Sheinside and a pair of white Pimkie ballerinas (when I'm actually wearing shoes...what?!).

I kept my makeup light and basic, exept for the bright blue liner on my bottom lash line (If Lily Pepples can do it, why couldn't I ?). I had on my good old Dreampure BB cream by Maybelline, topped up with powder and concealer, Sleek's blush inrose gold, Kiko'seyeshadow stick in n° 38, and Tanya Burr's lipgloss in Picnic in the park (Pinic in the lake ? No ? Ok.).

I hope you enjoyed this post and its pictures, please tell me in which way you've taken advantage of the sun (or of the rain if you're unlucky).

See you next time,

Maddy

Asian Foodspiration

As you might have seen in my « To do... » post, I am firmly decided to get out of my « foodfort zone » and try new recipes. There had been a time in my life when I would make many « recipe » boards on pinterest, spend all day looking at yummy food that I could mash up and cook something new almost daily. Now, I just seem to stick to the same rice/tofu/veggies staple, and am feeling the urge to wake my taste buds up with some novelty. To do so, I went digging back into my old recipe gathering and came up with five delicious looking Asian-style dishes that I'm going to have a shot at. Asiatic flavors, (chili, ginger, soy sauce...) are by far my favorites, take me to a sushi place and you'll win my heart. Bear in mind I'm a « pescatarian », so no meat-based meals will be found in this list.

Spicy sriracha ramen noodles by « Baker By Nature »

Being a big fan of spicy stuff and noodles, I couldn't not want to try this amazing looking bowl of ramen. The good thing about this bowl too, is that it doesn't contain « typically asian » ingredients which are impossible to find in my local/countryside/horrible supermarket.

Dim-Sum shrimp dumpling by « China Sichuan Food »

This dish definitely requires a bit more shopping and preparation than the first one. But I figured homemade dumplings could only be better than takeway ones. Annnd I love takeway ones.

Tuna Carpaccio-Japanese style by « Jamie Oliver »

When tuna (aka, my favorite fish) season comes, this recipe will be the first to be attempted by my clumsy self. Come on, tell me this sashimi style tartar doesn't look delicious !

Japanese Cabbage salad by « Table for two...or more »

To be honest...the cabbage salad is one of my favorite parts of a japanese meal. Nearly as good as sushi. If this recipe works out, unlimited cabbage salad would be a thing...heaven.

Vegan Baozi by « China Sichuan Food »

If you haven't tried Baozis, go and make yourself some right now, they are amazing ! These tofu-stuffed ones seemed like a perfect upgrade to an allready delicious recipe. Can't wait to try them !

Have a yummy day,

Maddy

5 Shows i've finished/ am up to date with

The one thing you'll learn about me by scrolling through my blog is that I'm a looser. I drop out of things, am late to every single trend (just downloaded instagram and snapchat: maddymoon), hate what everybody seems to loves for no apparent reason... And of course that goes for TV shows too. I've only finished very few series, just because I tend to get bored with them. I hate Pretty Little Liars - running in circles- , can't stand The Walking Dead -too caricatural for me-, didn't enjoy Breaking Bag -boooring-, and lost track on the very shallow Gossip Girl. But here's a quintet of TV series that grabbed my attention, to the point where I watched every existing episode (what commitment). I'm not saying they're all good. Just very,very entertaining. Some of them are even popular (see,see, I'm NORMAL).

1 Malcolm in the Middle :

This show is my childhood. I've watched every single episode. 3 times. The little genious and his surrounding never failed to make my family and I laugh. Don't overlook this series because it's « a kid's show », I honestly think everybody could enjoy it. If you're feeling down and in need of an old school giggle, Malcolm In The Middle is the way to go.

2 The mentalist :

I can't believe this show's over. Even though it got out of breath and the ending was crappy, I know I'll miss chasing criminals whith the slightly psycopathic, extremely good looking Patrick Jane (played by Simon Baker, 'love Simon Baker) and his superiors. The cast from « the mentalist » is really good, the first few season are really the best but once you start watching, you just can't leave  the characters. If you're looking for a better- to my opinion- alternative to Dexter, you should give « The mentalist » a try.

3 American Horror Story :

This one combines good looking characters and entertaining stories. It's not brilliant, and far from being as scary as everybody describes it, but it's light and relatively fun to watch. I only finished AHS because every season has a different story, and -let's be honest- because I wanted to see who was going to be embodied by Evan Peters. To my opinion, the 2nd season is the best, and the 4th one a bit "meh". I'm still planning on watching the 5t^h season though, I heard it has Lady Gaga in it...we'll see how that goes.

4-Kyle XY :

You have no idea how painful it is for me to talk about this abruptly dicontinued show (not overly dramatic here Maddy...). The series got me sucked into it, I had a huuuuge crush on Matt Dallas, the storyline was perfect, I had watched all of the bonus stuff... And it got stopped. It was left hanging on the edge of a cliff. What?! I still highly recomment it though, if you want to have a brilliant time before being left sobbing from disappointment on your bed.

5 Games Of Thrones :

12^th of april. The date is written on every notebook I own. The lauch day of GOT season 5. I cannot express how excited I am for it to come out, I already know that waiting between each episode, anxious to know if my favorite characters are going to make it, will be an absolute torture, but I'm up for it. I really didn't like he first season, but I pushed through it because it was « So Popular » and I'm glad I did. Games of Thrones is far from what I'm used to watching, Dragons, sex scenes, Middle Ages, aren't my thing. At all.So don't be reticent to the idea of spending hours glued to your TV in front of this gem, because it's « So Not You ». You'll regret it.

There you go. These are the five shows I've been loyal too. I hope you've enjoyed this post, don't forget to tell me which are your favorite series', whether you have watched any of those mentioned above and share your thoughts .

Have a lovely day,

Maddy

To do...

To the big procrastinator that I am here are a few thing you are now going to have to do, because you've just commited to them in front of the entire internet.

Find yourself a spanish teacher : Being homeschooled (post about all that right here if you're interested) means I have no other teacher than myself. Which, when you're supposed to learn a language is a bit of a bummer. I'm currently looking for a spanish boy/girl who would teach me his language against babysitting or english/french/violin lessons. Finding one isn't an easy task.

Go snoop around for job experiences : There are a few places in my countryside in which I would love to do some work experience, but either there is an insurance problem, transport problem or I'm just too shy/scared to ask. I decided I would stop being a woos (oh, there's a post on that to, just here) and ask the buisness owners if I can come and bother them for a week or so.

Get back into your school work : Not gonna lie. I've been slacking a bit on my school work lately. It's now time to pick myself up, sit at my desk and again realise how much I like working.

Go and ask about the short story contest : I've heard about a short-story competition in Angoulême, which has for theme « public transport ». Since I love writing, I think I'm going to participate (got' nothing to loose have I?) but beforehand, I need to ask a few questions about the rules. In town. 45 mins away from my home. Happy there's public transport huh ?

Cook something new : I always cook the same things, stick to meals I know I love and never get out of my comfort zone. My « recipe I want to try » list is suuuper long but I never seem to actually try new dishes. Time for a change!

Read a « proper » book : I'm not in a « reading mood » at the moment, all I seem to be able to ingurgitate are mangas and light hearted short story books. But I have to remember that reading the classics is a huuge part of my course for the Bac. Careful, Zola, I'm coming...

Here you go, these are the things you have to do, you egocentric, third-person speaker.

See you next time,

Maddy

A Little Something

A little bubble of Britishness in the middle of Angoulême, that's the best way I've found to describe «A little something ». I cannot go to town without popping into this charming boutique, full of English (and American...and Harry Potter-esq) treats, going from tea cakes to salt and vinegar crisps, passing by cadbury's chocolate, cake mixes and peanut butter cups. If you've ever wondered, my favourites are the mini eggs, jelly popping chocolate and worstershire sauce pop corn (you heard me correctly, it's amazing!), of course I can't forget the chocolate oranges (I found a few limited edition dark ones...in the middle of january!). These mouth-watering sweets only represent about a third of the boutique, which also sells mugs (my weakness), stationnary, adorable bags and wallets, thermos flasks, molds, cards, Yankee Candles... in short about every single cute looking, incredibly tempting item you could possibly think of.

Une petite bulle d'Angleterre au milieu d'Angoulême, c'est pour moi la meilleure façon de décrire « A Little Something ». Une sortie en ville n'en est pas vraiment une sans petit tour de cette charmante boutique, pleine de denrées anglaises (et américaines...et Harry Potter-esques ?), allant des tea cakes aux chips sel-vinaigre, en passant par le chocolat de chez cadbury, les mix pour gâteaux et les « peanut butter cups » de chez Reese's. Personnellement, j'ai un faible pour les mini eggs, le chocolat qui «pop » dans la bouche et le pop corn à la sauce worstershire (vous avez bien entendu, ne me jugez pas sans avoir essayé!) sans oublier les oranges au chocolat (j'ai pu en trouver au chocolat noir - éditions limités de Noël - au milieu du mois de janvier!). Cette délicieuse malbouffe ne représente en réalité qu'un tiers du magasin, qui vends aussi des mugs (j'ai besoin de mugs, toujours plus de mugs!), de la papeterie, des sacs et porte-monnaie originaux, des thermos, des moules, des cartes, des Yankee Candles... à peu près n'importe quel article adorable et tentant auquel vous pourriez penser.

In the back of the shop, next to a music-diffusing TV, are english books you can borrow (you can also drop some for people to pick up, if you have too many, like my book-hoarder of a dad) and a couple of couches on which you can sit down for a cup of tea (oh so british!).

A l'arrière de la boutique, à côté d'une télé diffusant de la musique, sont quelques livres anglais empruntables (vous pouvez aussi en déposer quelques-uns, si vous en avez trop, comme mon grand lecteur de père) et une paire de canapés sur lesquels vous pouvez vous avachir pour prendre un thé (tellement Brit' tout ça!).

The establishment is owned by a very sweet lady, who clames to have tasted every single delicacy she sells (except for the smoked oysters, I wonder why...).

La propriétaire de l'établissement est adorable et dit avoir testé chacun des mets qu'elle vends (hormis les huîtres fumées, on se demande pourquoi...).

To be completely honest with you, if I accidently came to be stuck in any shop overnight, I would choose this one, not only for its cosy atmosphere but for the possibility of having THE biggest chocolate/sweets taste test the world has ever seen. Whenever I drag my family into this bubble, I find my dad's eyes shining whith nostalgia («hey Maddy, I used to have these as a kid, they're absolutely disgusting») and my sister completely overwhelmed by the piles of sweets.

Pour être complètement honnête, si je devais choisir un magasin pour y être accidentellement coincée après sa fermeture (très improbable, je l'admets), je choisirais celui-ci, non-seulement pour son ambiance très « cosy », mais aussi pour le plaisir de m'adonner à la plus grande dégustation de l'histoire de l'humanité. Quand, par un énième jour pluvieux, je traîne ma famille dans la boutique, les yeux de mon père brille de nostalgie («hey Maddy, j'avais ça quand j'étais gosse, c'est immangeable ») et ceux de ma sœur se perdent dans les piles de bonbons.

So, if you find yourself in the not so busy streets of Angoulême, I definitely recommend you get your sweet tooth (or savory tooth?), cute accesory/candle hoarding addiction or simply tea craving, into «A little something », you won't regret it !

Si jamais vous venez à vous trouver dans les rues pas si bondées d'Angoulême, je vous recommande d'aller satisfaire votre gourmandise, envie d'accessoires ou simplement de thé en allant faire un tour dans « A Little Something », vous ne le regretterez pas !

                                                                 A Little Something

35 rue de Genève

16000 Angoulême

0545924224

See you soon,

Maddy

Fear...

This blog post nearly didn't make it past the « publish » button. Because I was afraid, afraid that you might not want to read the story and advice given by an inexperienced fourteen year old, afraid that talking about my little first world problems and fears would offend people that are going through « real » and « more important » tough times.

The writing of this post is one of the many times where fear creeps into my life and keeps me from doing what I want. Like the time I know a violin piece on the tips of my finger but get paralized in front of the judges/an audience and become incapable of playing. Like the times I miss an opportunity to talk to somebody because I'm afraid of what they might think about me. Or like the time I completely freak out in a crowded shop for nor reason at all and suddently want to cry.

Here's a fun fact : I'm not afraid of heights, or speed and I would gladly bungee/parachute jump. What I fear the most is little tings in my day to day life, things that most people wouldn't think of as being scary.

A week back, I went on holiday (see post here) to visit a friend I had only talked to online, never had met. I had to take the train, twice, sleep in her family house, with people I didn't know at all, give up my stupid little granny habbits, my tea before bead, my 45min makeup session every mornings, all of my little Tics and OCD moments... And that terrorised me even though I tried so hard to convinced myself that I could be like any other teens and socialise « normally ». I finally went, and you know what ? It turned out to be an absolutely great week ! The train journey was a piece of cake, everybody in the house was really nice, and I had so much fun I forgot about all of my crippling little habits.

You may think I'm not the most « qualified » to talk about fear, as I don't suffer from an extreme anxiety that keeps me stuck at home. But I do believe that everybody's resticting their possibilities to live the best life possible to a certain extent, and that's all because they're scared.

I decided I would try to work on overcoming my fears, whether it's by doing as many auditions as I can to get better in front of a public, trying to say yes (as Zoella said, just say « Yes ») everytime I get an opportunity to do something, as daunting as it is, daring to ask questions whithout being worried of looking stupid, dressing as I want, going out bare faced, letting myself be unorganised for one day... I'm not talking about getting rid of fear, but about overcoming it, as it is my definition of true courage. I know it'll not be done in a day, that the journey to bravoury is a life-long one, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

Hopefully, it will make my life a lot more enjoyable, less stressfull, and a lot more interesting.

That's the end of my little ramble about fear, now let me ask you, what are you afraid of? Please tell me in the comment below.

Thank you for reading,

Maddy

A tour of Tours

I told you in my previous post that I was going on holiday to Tours, to visit a friend. I had an amazing time, both my friend and her family were exeptionnaly nice.

Fanny, if you stumble apon my post, thank you so much for a lovely week.

 On my first day there we visited the city of Tours (which has many more shops than Angoulême, surprisingly). We popped into a café (typical me), a few shops, a creperie (had an eggy crepe, no pictures, too hungry, sorry...), a shop selling mangas in which I made my little purchase (para-para-paradise) aaaand H&M (and now I'm hattyyyy). Unfortunately, we were too short of time for me to make a mess in sephora, 'still can't decide whether this is a good thing or not.

I'm now on a mission to take my family to Tours, because I feel like I need to taste a bagel from one of the numerous bagel restaurants of the city... plus they have a Sushi Shop !

The region of Touraine is known for its castles, another reason I want to go back with my family. On day two of my trip, my friend and I went to visit « Le clos Lucé », which used to be Leonardo Da Vinci's and Marguerite de Valois's castle. We had a sneeky peek into the genius's beautiful home, in which were exposed miniatures of his many, many inventions. This guy managed to be a painter, sculpter, biologist, inventor, event organizer... in only one life. I couldn't help but being impressed by his ingenuosity and the precocity of his ideas. He was a truly inspiring person, and the inventions reproduced on a bigger scale in the giant (wet) park of the castle, weren't there to prove the contrary.

Day three consisted of visiting the medieval village of Loches, since I didn't want to spend my entire holiday shoving my camera in my hosts' faces,I didn't take any pictures of the place. It was beautiful nonetheless, with its castle and dungeon, its paved streets, its market and its Yves Rocher...wait, what ? Yup' that happened, now my hands smell like a fruit pie.

These were the main « going out » parts of my trip but I spent at least as good a time chatting with a good friend (pianist, which made violin/piano duets possible), discovering the highly intellectual TV show « friends» (come on, I'm just 20 years late to the party!) and listening to her brilliant collection of CD (how can one have such perfect music tastes?).

So that was a little resumé of my vacation, I hope you enjoyed it and if you went on holiday recently and wrote a post about it, feel free to link it in the comments, I promise I'll give it a look.

See you soon,

Maddy