Link Love and Lovelies

Crazier weeks have happened, but I daresay this has been a pretty insan-o week for me!  I had my first midterm for my graduate program and.......well, let's just say I'm glad I won't get my grade back until the end of the month!

I am SO excited, though, because I get to hang out with Mumma and Sissyteef soon!  We're planning on brunching and girltime, both of which I am sorely in need of!  It can feel really isolating when you are just plowing ahead with little time for friends or family, so needless to say I am over the moon that I get to spend an entire day with these ladies!

~  Shug and I were in Paris this time last year and we couldn't miss it more!

~ Going to make this!  It's gluten-free AND lemon-y, i.e. perfection!

~ EVERYthing in this collection.

~ This serum has brightened my skin like crazy.  Highly recommend!

~ Adore this chair makeover.

~ This.

~ LOVE her house!

Have a lovely fall weekend!


*Photo of me jaunting through the gardens of Versailles last year.  No big deal.;)

A Movie to See: Midnight in Paris

 

After seeing this movie I basically floated out of the theatre!

Midnight in Paris takes everything that is attractive and lovely about Paris and distills it down to 94 minutes of cinematic magic.  It sounds so cliche, but this movie can only be described as magical.  The casting, the story, and the setting (obvs) make this one of the best movies I've seen in awhile!

I was a little worried about Owen Wilson, being, well, Owen Wilson, but he is the best incarnation of Woody Allen yet!  His nervous existential angst is endearing, not annoying.  And the casting of every other character in the movie (I can't tell you exactly who, or it will spoil it!) is nothing less than perfect.  From the epitome of the "ugly American" to an iconic author, every role was filled exceptionally.

If you are missing Paris *ahem* or just want a snapshot of what the big deal about Paris is, see this movie!  You get to see all of the things that make this city one of the most loved places on earth.  My heart literally ached watching characters walk in the rain or visit a Parisian outdoor market.  Cheesy, but true.

The movie was such a hit with friends, it's now part of our next reading assignment for book club!  So, I'm giving you an assignment, too: go see Midnight in Paris!  As soon as you can!

Paris vs. New York

I have been addicted to Paris vs New York, a tally of two cities, for close to a year now.  The clever comparisons not only make me laugh, but could be hung on any wall.  Here are a few of my faves!

A movie to watch: La Chamade

 

If you know me you know I am enamored with French cinema.

Yesterday I had the treat of catching La Chamade while I was playing hooky from work!

(Shhhh, don't tell!  

I had to work until almost midnight last night, anyway, 

so not really feeling too guilty over here;)!)

I love this scene and it really made me laugh at how anti-AMERICAN

it is!

All the talk about relaxing and enjoying and living!  

In a bar full of people at midday, no less!

I was listening to a radio show on NPR the other day with a yoga specialist and he called

stress the "American disease!"  I couldn't agree more with that!

We work, work, work and stress, stress, stress!

We (the lucky folks) get 2 weeks paid vacay a year and Germany, well, they get 6 weeks!

Most of Latin America still takes a 3 hour siesta each day.

Enjoying a break in France means a leisurely cup of coffee with a friend,

not scarfing an energy bar at your desk.

All I can say is,

WE ARE DOING IT WRONG.

Solutions, anyone?

Paris: Exploring the Sacré-Cœur

Is it summer yet?  The hail/snow/wind/rain dealio we've got going on right now in Utah is a little crazy.  I'm ready for vacation weather!  I'm taking a little vacation back to Paris today, just as a little mid-week pick-me-up!  It's so crazy that I have almost our entire trip in Paris to still blog about!  So I thought I'd start back at the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, a beautiful church nestled atop the highest hill of Montmartre (and of Paris.)

 

When we first arrived in Paris, our plan was to take the Metro from the airport to the center of the Red Light district, where we had found a hostel.  Unfortunately, we had chosen a weekend that the Metro was closed from the airport to the city for construction!  Shug and I speak only the crudest of French, so figuring out the logistics of getting from the airport into town was a bit of a challenge...and it took us hours longer than we had anticipated.  A few buses and Metro trains later we were spit out into the beating heart of the Red Light district, with our huge, annoying backpacks and incredibly lost looks on our faces. 

We actually had pretty amazing directions from the hostel, so after a bit of a walk we found ourselves at the base of the huge hill the Sacré-Cœur was built on.  While our hostel had only the barest of amenities, the view from our rooftop was breathtaking!  We had a full view of the Sacré-Cœur!

 After an amazing meal at a little cafe (next to the brattiest American teenagers on the planet), Shug and I decided to turn in for the night.  The next day we explored the Sacré-Cœur and Montmartre.  We had to sneak pictures of the interior, but it looked like we weren't the only ones with that idea!  I felt that if I didn't use the flash, I could be forgiven for breaking the rules!

A word of advice, if you ever are lucky enough to find yourself in Paris, don't visit the Sacré-Cœur (or Montmartre, for that matter) on a Sunday.  It was literally crawling with people!  I tried to snap a few shots of the chaos, but most of the time I was just trying to enjoy the view while Photoshopping all the people out of my way with my imagination.

Even with all of the people, Shug and I managed to have an amazing first day in Paris!  The Sacré-Cœur was so beautiful and such a great place to visit to start our adventure in this amazing city!

Pretty Sure I Belong in the 60s

Oh, and Europe, too.

GIF amazingness here, you won't be able to look away!

Via A Cup of Joe

Perfect Day

Some weeks are so insanity-filled I like to take little mental health breaks throughout the day to recharge.  I like to imagine my perfect day.  It changes all the time, but I think it changes to meet me where my stresses are greatest.

Some days, I'm on a chairlift, the wheels happily squeaking against the line.  My legs feel comfortingly heavy against the chair because of the weight of my skis.  The sun will be shining through a light cloud and when the rays hit just right they sparkle like glitter suspended in the air.  The snow would muffle the occasional whoop and holler from other skiers below and it would be, just, perfect.

Other days, I'm back in Paris with Shug.  We're sitting in a park enjoying a bottle of deliciously cheap wine and a picnic.  We get to sit in the mid-afternoon sun and watch the tiny dogs run around with the serious purpose of playing.  The dull thunder of traffic is actually cut out here and there by the water splashing in a million-year-old fountain nearby and both of the sounds together are oddly soothing.  Shug will make me laugh so hard my cheeks hurt and we may even take a catnap there on the grass, warmed by our full bellies and the sun low in the sky.

And then there are days where I'm cannon-balling into our family condo's pool.  It's still a liiiiiiitle to cold to be swimming, but I don't care.  I be sure to stay away from the leaves floating here and there like little brown lily pads and wait for my Grandpa to skim them out and away from the clear water.  I know he enjoys this morning ritual, we get to talk and I show him my impressive backflips. 

See!  SO nice to take a little break!  What is your perfect day like today?

In which I find a dupe will do just fine...

Had you asked me when I was 16, what feats I'd be capable of as a 30-year-old, I would have most definitely replied: "Dressed head-to-toe in designer clothing!"  Bless my little 16-year-old heart!

I now know that designer brands don't always mean quality (ahem, Acne) or practicality (I still love you Alexander McQueen, may you rest in peace).  But, I had found a boot while in Paris that fit the above qualifications to a "t."  Isabel Marant's Dicker Boots were the epitome of everything I expected designer clothing to be: chic, endlessly wearable, and lovely.  The only problem was the $800 price tag. 

Now, a 16-year-old me wouldn't have batted an eyelash at that cost, even though I was always dressed in an outfit comprised of items from the local thrift store and/or pinched from my mother's closet, because, y'know, when I'd be in my 30s I'd be making millions of dollars, right?  Alas, $800 dollars for ANYthing is a pretty hefty chunk of change in my neverending-studenthood-world now!

It's been months since I've returned from Paris, but I have not stopped looking for a good substitute, or dupe, if you will, for these lovely bottines.  After months of scouring the interwebs, I found an amazing pair of allllllmost Isabel Marant in the form of H by Hudson!  But, just like Isabel, H by Hudson doesn't ship to the U.S. 

Leave it to Anthropologie to pick up the boot for their fall inventory, but true to Anthro standards, the damn boot was priced at $288!  Gah!  I waited and waited and waited for the boot to go on sale.  And the day it did, it sold out!  Now here's a little secret about getting free shipping from Anthropologie: if you go into the store with the SKU or item number of the piece you want and the store doesn't have it, they or you can call customer service and have them look at the inventory of stores all over the U.S.  If they find your size and it isn't listed online, they will ship it to your house for free! 

I found my H by Hudsons in Chicago...and for $138!  My feet still think they're in France!  And my 16-year-old-self honestly can't tell the difference between the two...hint, the Hudsons are less detailed, but hey, you get what you pay for!

I hope you have a lovely weekend and get to do something that makes you happy!  xo.

*Swoon!*

 

Having some serious wanderlust today!

Where would you go?

In which we find we are not only joined by our hearts...

...but our stomachs!

Shug and I have always enjoyed eating the local cuisine when we travel.  Our heads just about exploded over Irish Breakfasts.  And all we lived on in Costa Rica was gallo pinto, avocados, and cacique.  So you can imagine our excitement when we knew we were headed to Paris!

Since the dollar was so weak against the euro while we were in Europe, Shug and I decided to have one "real" meal a day, bolstered with some café au lait and inexpensive snacks.  Our first sit-down dinner in Paris remains Shug's favorite: steak, pomme frites, and haricots verts with an amazing mustard cream sauce.  We shared a lovely bottle of red wine and I ordered the escargots and cheese plate for my gluten-free fare.

Have you tried escargot?  It sounds like the most vile thing a human could ever want to eat: snails.  That green slimy-looking stuff is actually an amazing mixture of pureed garlic, butter, and herbs that have been slathered all over the little slugs!  They taste like a nutty, chewy mushroom dipped in butter and heavensauce!  Shug was a little skeptical at first, but decided to ignore his reservations about consuming an invertebrate and dove right in!  He was more than pleased with the cuisine risk he took, and escargot were ordered at almost every meal we had thereafter! 

On the walk back to our hotel we passed a sign that made the 11-year-old in us giggle:

I suppose that was lost in translation on us!  I am guessing it means served platter-style as opposed to sandwich or wrap-style, but it didn't stop us from laughing...!  I couldn't find the translation in my French phrasebook, either, so maybe the restaurant owners were playing a big joke on everyone who passes that sign!  Who knows?  If any of you speak French, please explain!

I hope you have a lovely weekend.  Are you ready for spring yet?  I know I am!  xo.

Exploring Notre Dame Cathedral

The day we decided to walk around Paris and see the Notre Dame Cathedral it was raining cats and dogs.  It was a perfect backdrop to the huge cathedral.  I kept expecting Quasimodo to peek out from behind a pillar or doorway!

It wasn't very crowded due to the weather and the scary terrorist threats that had started to leak into the news just two days before Shug and I flew into France.  It was apparent the French were taking these threats seriously, because there were extra armed soldiers and surrounding military vehicles at every entrance to the cathedral.  It was a weird juxtaposition going from this armed exterior to the quiet darkness of a mass in progress.

Once we were inside, we decided to light some candles just to be on the safe side!  Shug and I actually made a point of lighting a candle in every cathedral we visited!

The smell of incense was really overpowering, but it looked so beautiful illuminated by the setting sun shining through the stained glass windows.

Once we were back outside we took some shots of the amazing sculptures and architecture.  The intricacy of just the doorway probably took someone's entire life to complete.

The innovations in physics and architecture it took to complete the Notre Dame Cathedral are truly amazing when you think about how long it took to complete this building: 1163-1345.  I need to remember this when I get frustrated with my inability to finish some challenging projects...!  I hope you all have a nice long weekend!  See you Tuesday! xo.

A Breakdown of French Style

I was so very lucky to get to people-watch while strolling the streets of Paris.  I was so enamored with the recurring chic style of the Parisian women.  I was able to distill a few common factors these lovely women all seemed to possess:

1) Slightly messy or imperfect hair.  French women seemed to have lovely hairstyles, but every style I saw also looked touchable and soft.  There wasn't a tight curl or a lacquered 'do in sight.  The "I-couldn't-care-less" hair just added to the overall beauty these women conveyed.

 2) Glowing skin free of foundation or obvious makeup.  Every French women that caught my eye had amazing skin.  It didn't matter what age they were, their skin all was (what appeared to be) make-up and foundation-free.  There wasn't a garish eyeshadow color or severe "contouring" on  a single, lovely Parisian face.  Parisian women's obsession with great skin is apparent in all of the potions for sale in every pharmacy we passed!

3) Aging isn't a beauty-killer.  It's actually a beauty enhancer!  I could not get over how many wrinkles and faces with expression I passed in the streets!  Coming from Utah where everyone is trying to "keep up with the Jones'" when it comes to Botox and cosmetic procedures, it was refreshing to see, well, expression in women's faces!  If Parisian women are getting cosmetic procedures, they seem to be erring on the side of natural-looking, not younger-looking.

4) Hair-tucking!  Fall was just hitting Paris when we were there and letting locks stay warm in scarves was the look to be imitating.

 5) Confidence.  You really didn't get the idea that any of these chic women were wallflowers.  The way these women carried themselves not only conveyed how they thought of themselves, but how the people around them should think of them, as well!

All You've Ever Wanted in Fast Food: Flunch

After an extremely long week, I had to post something that still makes me laugh from our trip to Paris!

We had the luck to visit Versailles on a cold and rainy day, while this may sound dismal, it was brilliant because the gardens were almost vacant and the surrounding buildings of the palace were left for just Shug and I to explore!  (I'll post more on the actual gardens and palace later, promise.)

It was a long and awesome day, but Shug and I had spent most of our food budget on RER tickets to get out to the palace and wanted to grab an inexpensive bite before heading back to the hotel.  We just happened to be staying right by an establishment called Flunch.  The only way I can describe this is to liken it to the cafeteria in IKEA, because you pass home goods and hardware before entering the restaurant.

While IKEA's food is about as exciting as their furniture assembly instructions, Flunch had a pretty wide array of foods to choose from, even for a gluten-free girl like me.  I had an assorted cheese plate and an avocado salad with some delicious Côtes du Rhône to wash it all down.  But Shug, well let's just say he pretty much died and went to heaven because he found the Double Tennessee!

Have you heard of the Double Down?  Yeah, it's pretty gross.  Well, the French have totally one-upped us on our cuisine yet again!  It's some double-hamburger-and-cheese-and-hashbrown-and-mayonnaise-and-some-more-artery-clogging-stuff that any fast-food loving expat would swoon over.  Shug, being a fast food fan, was in love.

 We laughed about the Double Tennessee for the rest of the trip!  The name is enough to make me crack up!  I can't believe we missed the sign when we walked in!

I hope you have a lovely and restful weekend!  I'll be working, but that's ok!  I need to start squirreling some extra moolah away for present-buying! xo.

Self Portraits

Since Shug and I were traveling by ourselves for the last leg of our trip, we thought it would be fun to change up the typical "subject holds the camera" self portraits.  You know, the pictures where one person holds the camera with an outstretched arm and everyone always looks out of proportion and a little pained? 

We started taking pics of ourselves in all of the mirrors we came across in the museums we were able to visit in Paris.  The first pic in the Louvre proved to be inspirational, since the guy standing next to us did the same thing after we snapped out shot!

It was fun to get pictures of ourselves surrounded by the architecture and art of these amazing museums.  Some of the pics in the Centre Pompidou the mirrors were actually part of the installations!  Despite some of our somber faces, we were having so much fun when we took the pictures!

Mon Dieu!

I'm still reeling from all of the amazing women I was able to peep while in Paris.  The "effortless chic" you hear about was in full effect as autumn made its entrance into the city.

I love that each one of these women look put together but really unfussy.  When I try to look unfussy, I usually look like I just rolled outta bed!

On a side note, I've been itching to get another tattoo...Do you have a tattoo? If so, what did you get and do you still love it?  I got my first tattoo about four years ago and I still really like mine...!  I just really feel the need to get something else.  I'm feeling a little daring today!

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