Well hello there. I'm sipping on a foaming glass of pink champagne as I write this. Actually it's crémant, I could only spring for the 44€ bottle of the real stuff one time this week, so crémant it is. So here we are, the last few days leading up to the fateful Day 365. I couldn't even imagine today a year ago. I was in such a haze that every second felt like eternity, and thinking about a year in advance would have terrified me as nothing seemed to be working out.
I'm feeling so many emotions right now, I don't even know where to focus my train of thoughts right now, so I'll take this opportunity to answer some frequently asked questions that I have received this year leading up to the big day.
Will you continue the blog now that you've reached a year? Of course I will! I wouldn't be who I am today without it, and have had the opportunity to meet and chat with some incredible people. I am so grateful for this experience that I couldn't abandon it now.
Will it be any different? I think the blog has evolved into stories of my life in France, Los Angeles and New York City, and I will continue recounting these tales, while keeping the focus on Paris. The only difference will be that there won't be a daily count down, so consider this exciting Season 2 of The Tales from the Chambre de Bonne.
I see you are moving, are you looking for another chambre de bonne to live in?
No. I've paid my CDB dues and am looking for a big girl space, maybe something with an actual stove and proper insulation! You gotta think big, right? I'm not going to change the name because growing up in Manhattan, I am used to small spaces and always sought out quaint apartments in my adult life, whether it was a studio in LA, a shared apartment in Brooklyn, and my many nooks that were being passed off as apartments in Paris. I'm a chambre de bonne girl at heart, and I couldn't imagine myself moving into some spacious flat. If I do, I promise I'll change the blog name to Tales from the Amazingly Large Apartment That I Can't Afford in Paris. Deal?
Why is the blog anonymous? The big question. Geez, I wish I had some juicy answer like this whole time the person behind the blog was Lady Gaga or Olympia Dukakis, but I can't, I'm just a normal chick from New York, nothing too fancy. It wasn't intended to be anonymous, I just didn't have any friends to take photos of me during the inception of the blog, but mostly I wanted my stories and words to take center stage, as being the heart and soul of the blog.
Will you ever come out? At some point, yes. But for all of you who have met me, I haven't had a bag over my head over drinks and girl talk, I'm not in hiding, I'm just a little internet shy.
Will you still keep shredding my ex-boyfriends? Absolutely.
It's a year later and are you over MF? Over him? Yes. Over wanting to smash his face in? No. A lot of the turmoil that had happened this year was a residual of the break-up. Restarting your life in another country (in France, no less!) in under three weeks is a lot of pressure, but I did it, no thanks to him. My life had been turned upside down, while he continued his in the same safe place that it has been for his 35 years. This was hard for me to except. This is the guy that told me that I was not an independent, strong woman as I was standing on rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud in Oberkampf with my suitcases. That's just funny to me now.
Why didn't you just go back to New York and be with your family? My family (with the exception of my mother) didn't exactly sympathize with my situation. Not that I was looking to be coddled, but some acknowledgment would have been nice. Saying that, if I have learned anything this year besides taking life one day at a time, is that I can't blame others for not responding they way I would. I was in a situation where I had no choice but to turn every disappointment, no matter how hurtful, into a positive, and took their indifference as a sign that I needed to work through this on my own. Today, I am thankful for that, otherwise this blog would never have been created where I was able to reach out to other strong, talented, and smart women. Plus, Tales from My Mom's House out on Long Island doesn't exactly have the same ring.
Is your name really Ella Coquine? Not at all.
Which GG Girl are you? Golden Girls, Gossip Girl, or Gilmore Girls?
You forgot Golden Globes. While I actually love all these of shows, except for maybe Gilmore Girls because they talk weird, for me it's a no-brainer. Old ladies calling each other slut puppies never gets played out. I love those crazy broads. Hey, I'm cheap.
That's all I could think of! If you have any other questions that I didn't get to, feel free to ask! I think I've covered most of the common questions that I've received, but if I left something out, ask away! I'm an open book...you know that.