Road to France Pt. VIII - Bon Voyage!

Au Revoir, USA! Bonjour, France!

The next few days will be a whirlwind as Mom and I get ready to fly off to Paris, but I’m bouncing off the walls over the prospect. Last minute shopping, packing, going to the airport!  It's so exciting! And isn't packing for a trip is always more fun than packing to come home? My room is currently a disaster area with luggage and clothing strewn everywhere, so it’ll be nice to get a bit more organized. I’m also looking forward to getting pampered tomorrow. Yay mani-pedis!

Anyway, I do have some posts set up in my queue, so Bringing Up Brittany won’t be completely neglected in my absence. When I get back, you should expect plenty of travel photos and posts! I also plan to give the blog a bit of a face-lift as a belated six month-iversary present.

In the meantime though, check out my Instagram for some lovely on-the-go shots of Paris and Nice!

"A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life."

-Thomas Jefferson

Road to France Pt. VII - Travel Tech

Time for another travel-related post! Don’t hate me.

I don’t know about you, but even on vacation I have a ton of tech with me. I don’t like being completely disconnected, so I tend to bring more equipment with me than I probably should. So here are some of my tech must-haves.

Plug Adapters –

Plugs in the US don’t match those in Europe, so good luck trying to charge any of your gadgets without at least one of these. I bought plug adapters to save myself that frustration, and I get the most bang for my buck by buying these off Amazon. I bought these Type E/F adapters for a steal at 3 for $7.25. These work in Germany, France, and some other European countries, so they’re perfect for my needs.  

Camera Equipment–

My trusty Nikon D3200 will be accompanying me on this trip, and she’ll be my most faithful companion, apart from my mother, obviously. But my DSLR needs a lot of TLC considering how much I’ll be using it. So I make sure to carry two ENEL14a rechargeable batteries and two 16GB SanDisk memory cards. This might seem like overkill, but I can’t think of what would be worse than missing a photo-op because of a dead battery or lack of memory. I’ll also be bringing my two camera lens because…why not?

Kindle Fire HDX –

Except for that time I went to London while writing my senior thesis, I am against bringing my laptop on trips. Laptops are heavy and take up a lot of room, and I don’t want to be tempted to spend my time in my hotel room. With my Kindle though, I still get some connectivity without the temptation of sitting in front of my laptop for hours and hours. Plus, it’s great for reading books and magazines on the plane. This is like the one time when I’d ever promote e-book use.

iPhone –

Because who goes anywhere without their phone nowadays? I always get the global plan added by phone provider so that I can use my iPhone overseas which saves me a few bucks. I tend to rely only on data when I’m abroad though for sending quick messages through WhatsApp, uploading photos to Instagram, updating Facebook and Twitter, and the occasional glance at Google Maps. I really only send text messages in emergencies, and the same goes for calls.

Road to France Pt. VI - Travel Toiletries

With only 6 days until France, the only I can think about is my trip. This time next week, Mom and I will already be wandering the streets of Paris in an attempt to see everything I planned for Day 1. We’ll be exhausted, for sure, but I have a feeling that the excitement factor will fuel us for a bit. When that fails we’ll have to resort to our caffeine sources of choice. There’s so much to see in Paris that we really are hitting the ground running.

I apologize for anyone who’s tired of hearing about my trip, but the posts this week are all travel-related as I count down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until lift off. Today’s post is all about some toiletries that I consider must haves for any trip.

Batiste Dry Shampoo  –

I did a lot of research (aka asked beauty bloggers on Twitter) on dry shampoos before buying this striped beauty. Everyone I spoke to said that Batiste is the best dry shampoo on the market, and I definitely agree. There’s no residue, and it has a light, refreshing scent that gives hair a bit of a boost. You just spray, comb it in, ad bam!  

Purell Hand Sanitizer–

Whether you’re a germaphob or not, it’s always good to have some sanitizer in your bag. While being all touristy, I'll undoubtedly touch things that hundred (or even thousands) of other people have touched before me. Skeevy, right? That’s why I love Purell. It’s small enough to take on the plane, they have some great scents, and you can buy the bottles with these handy key-chains to make the sanitizer easy to carry.

Neutrogena Makeup Remover Wipes –

I swear by these make-up remover wipes, so I was obviously going to bring a pack with me on the trip. I have sensitive skin, so I always have to be careful about what I put on it. I’ve never had any complaints with Neutrogena, and I know that my face is clean and fresh.

Skintimate Shaving Cream –

Summer vacations (especially to the French Rivera) means showing some skin, so my shaving cream will be close at hand. The size of this can is perfect for traveling, and it has a great berry scent.

Coppertone Clearly Sheer Sunscreen –

I burn very easily, so I don’t go on vacation without sunscreen. Painful sunburn can ruin a trip—trust me. Since I know that I’ll be spending more time in the sun than I usually do while exploring Paris and Nice, I won’t be going out without spraying myself down. What I love about Clearly Sheer is that my skin doesn’t feel sticky or heavy after I’ve applied it, even with makeup on.  Clearly Sheer is lightweight and still protective.

Jergens Ultra Healing Moisturizer –

This is pretty self-explanatory, but I love this little bottle of Jergens.  It's the perfect travel size!  Planes always leave my skin feeling dry and chapped, so I like to have lotion handy.  And since my legs will probably be bare for most of the trip, I don't want to be walking around with ashy limbs.  Not cute.

Tide To Go Pen –

For those less than graceful moments when I inevitably drop something on my clothes. Just a little dab of this, and I can usually prevent stains. I also keep one of these in my purse for everyday use and in my desk at work. It's good to be Girl Scout sorts of prepared.

Summertime Faves: Stone Fruit Smoothie

I didn’t actually know that they were called stone fruits until a conversation with a co-worker last week, but apricots, peaches, plums, nectarines, and cherries all fall under the category. Basically, if it has a pit, it’s a stone fruit. Summertime is when these soft and juicy bad boys are in season, but only for like the months of July and August. They are one of the many things that mean summer has arrived, for me anyway. That and fireflies, cookouts, and the errant firework a neighborhood boy might set off in the dead of night.

Anyway, my mother bought a ton of stone fruits last weekend, and they got those creative juices flowing! I couldn't resist the temptation of combining some of them to make a smoothie with my Nutribullet. As a mentioned way back when I started Bringing Up Brittany, my parents got me a Nutribullet for my birthday, and I've been hooked on smoothies ever since. I've used stone fruits in other recipes but never combined them, so I was very interested to see if this would turn out incredibly well or horrifyingly awful. Since it turned out to be delicious though, I thought I'd share the recipe!

Stone Fruit Smoothie

You’ll Need…

1 peach, pitted and roughly chopped 

1 nectarine, pitted and roughly chopped

1 cup of cherries, pitted

1 cup of vanilla yogurt

1 banana, peeled

And the Steps…

Add all ingredients to Nutribullet (or blender) and blend until liquid is the desirable thickness. I usually blend for a little under a minute.

----------

After washing my hands so that I didn't look like I'd murdered somebody (cherry juice looks freakishly like blood...), it was time to try my concoction. It was like drinking a cup of sunshine, I kid you not. I had that sweetness I love from ripe stone fruits but a subtle tartness from the black cherries. This is certainly a recipe I'm going to have to try again before the fruits are out of season!

It was really an easy treat to make and so incredibly refreshing, even at room temperature. But you could probably chill the fruits or add ice on a particular hot day to cool you off.

Massive Sweet Tooth

As much as I try to eat healthfully, I have a massive sweet tooth that can easily derail the best of intentions. Even when I’m on a diet, I know that I have to make allowances for at least one sweet treat a day so that I stick with it. I’ve never been good at the whole cold turkey thing.

My sweet tooth has certainly gotten the best of me of late though, so I thought that I’d share some of my favorite candies (of the moment) with you.

Nips –

I love caramel. Like love, love. The sort of love where if it were a person I’d marry it. So when I discovered Nips a few months back, I had found my candy nirvana. Nips are hard candies but pack the rich, somewhat sticky flavor of caramel that I love. They have a bunch of flavors, but the plain caramel is my favorite.

Sour Patch Kids –

I’ve loved these bad boys since I can remember. I’ve always had a soft spot for gummies (pun intended), but what I love about Sour Patch Kids is that they have the sour sugar on the outside that gives way to the sweet, fruit flavored gummy underneath. I eat these things until my tongue goes raw sometimes.

Sour Patch Kids Gum –

I love the Sour Patch Kids gum for a lot of the same reasons that I love the original gummy candies. Stride has done a great job at packing the same great flavor into a stick of gum. Cherry is by far my favorite. My only complaint is that I finish the pack of gum way too quickly.

Chocolate Covered Cookie Dough Bites –

This is one of my movie theatre candies, and I actually bought this box when I went to see Jurassic World. It reminds me so much of being a kid and eating the cookie dough off the spoons and licking it from bowls, minus the mess.

Haribo Gummy Bears –

Haribo are the only gummy bears I’ll ever eat, and I always have to have a bag with me when I go to see a movie. I honestly don’t know what the real appeal, but I do know that this is my feel good candy. If I’ve had a bad day, Haribo Gold-Bears are what I want.

What are your favorite candies?