Conquered: The Eiffel Tower

A couple of nights ago, my friends and I climbed the Eiffel tower.  We took the stairs to the second tier and then took the elevator up.  The climb up wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and once we got to the very top, it was well worth it.  The view was breathtaking.  Going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower has been something that I have been dreaming about.  Satisfaction at its finest.

View from the very top!

What about you?

Have any stories about reaching a goal?  I'd love to hear them!

Paris Update

During the past week, I have experienced some of the most amazing things.  I went to Le Cimetière du Père-Lachaise and it was stunning.  It was a bit morbid at first but walking around and looking at the beautifully made graves that look like stone houses made me think less about the fact it was a cemetery and more about what each grave represents.  Many famous people are buried in Le Cimetière du Père-Lachaise but the two names that I recognized are Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde.

Oscar Wilde's grave

The next day after class we went to Jardin du Luxembourg.  It was fantastic.  We are planning on having a picnic there sometimes this week or next and I'm very excited about it.

We took a field trip to the Pierre Cardin museum.  I was so excited because I had previously done a paper on him so it was really cool to be able to see the garments in person that I had written about.

My next adventure was to The Louvre and I have never be more in awe of something in my whole life.  We didn't even see the whole museum, just one floor so you will see more pictures soon. 

On Saturday we went to Giverny to see Monet's house and gardens.  It was a nice break from being in the city and so beautiful.

Monet's house

Sunday, I went to Versailles and I couldn't believe I was walking around in a palace.  If anyone has the chance to go, I recommend you get there as early as you can because the lines are long and the other people going to see it are a bit rude.  All that aside, I had a fabulous time there and I might go back to see everything I missed--5 hours wasn't enough time. 

My favorite room because I LOVE chandeliers.

Where we ate IN the palace!

Yummy cheese plate

The beautiful gardens

Dinner Party in Paris

On the Eurostar back from London, my classmates and I read an article about a man who hosts dinner parties on Sundays for whoever wants to come.  This man's name is Jim Haynes and all you have to do is email him to get on the guest list and bring about twenty euro for food--all the money not used to pay for food goes to charity.  We decided that it was a fabulous idea so my roommate emailed him and we were told if it was good weather we were more than welcome to come!  


It was casual dress so I wore my white H&M button-up shirt, yellow Zara skirt, and black Target flats.  We got ready and headed to his house, when we got there and it was a lot different than I thought.  What I had imagined was a nice sized flat with a big courtyard in the back.  I should have known that it was going to be a small apartment with a small alleyway/yard on the side of all of the apartments with a few stools, a small table off to the side and a bar across from the house.


We got there, went in to give him our names and money and then got a drink.  A little while later dinner was served.  We ate pasta, muscles, a salad and rolls--all of it was delicious and well worth the twenty euro.  I started mingling with everyone while I finished up my dinner and met a lot of great people.  Most of the people I talked to were from the United States but I also met people from Australia, Scotland, England and Paris.  Everyone was very nice and polite and made great conversation.  


I had the most amazing time while I was there; the food was great and the company was even better.  If you are up for meeting new people and stepping out of your comfort zone for a night, I would recommend everyone try this out if they are in Paris.  I heard that people are hosting these dinner parties in the Chicago and Portland but I still have to do a little more research about those.  I only took a few pictures before and during the party so I have them to share with you.

McQueen, enough said.

Alexander McQueen lives on.  I'm falling in love with everything I have seen in the Resort 2012 collection; the mix of victorian and utilitarian is a perfect combination. 

Fantastic.  For more pictures, go here.








*I do NOT own the copyright to any of these images, all images taken from style.com

School in Paris

So, I'm taking 2 classes while I'm in Paris; fashion styling and trend forecasting.  For my first class, fashion styling, we had a bunch of photo shoots to do and each of them had a certain theme.  The three shoots that I liked the most--and the ones I'm about to show you--are the deconstruction shoot, the food shoot, and the history shoot.


For the deconstruction shoot we had to take a garment, deconstruct it and use it as something else.  I took a button-up shirt and left the buttons, collar, cuffs, and shirt pockets and used the rest of it as a bustle.  I'm not going to put up the pictures of the bustle because I don't think they are as good.

The food shoot was my favorite because I used the Mad Hatter as my inspiration and because my idea started out strong, the result was even stronger.  I used bread to make the hat and for the bow tie, I used lettuce leaves and artichoke leaves.  Laura, my roommate, was my model.

Finally, I had Oscar Wilde as the subject for my history shoot.  I'm really glad I picked him because I didn't know anything about him before I took this class.  Because he was so well known for his writing, I incorporated his quotes into my pictures and did a story of a girl living her life through his quotes.  Luckily, I was able to go to Pere Lachaise Cemetery and actually visit his grave.  It was amazing.

"A man's face is his autobiography. A woman's face is her work of fiction."

"Moderation is a fatal thing.  Nothing succeeds like excess."

"Fashion is an ugliness so intolerable that we have to altar it every six months."

"When good Americans die, they go to Paris."

I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I enjoyed doing them. :)