an american in paris
oh paris i missed you so much!! it had been two years since i was last in the city of lights and words cannot describe how eager i was to get back! for those of you who may not know, paris has a very special place in my heart. i first visited paris with my family when i was in middle school when i barely knew the phrase "je vourdrais un croissant" but that didn't stop me from instantly falling in love with it. i then made a stop here for two weeks with a youth travel group just before my sophomore year of high school and i think we can all guess where i decided to study abroad when i was a junior in college. paris is one of those places where i will always feel at home and this time i was ready to do it right (aka for instagram).
having lived in paris before, i will never "just" go to paris. i try to tack it onto a trip to a location where i haven't been: almost like a warm-up or a cool-down to the vacation. this was evident of the last time i was here where my mom and i went to venice and london during that trip all before ending in paris. this time around i stopped here on my way to vienna where i was going to meet up with my mom for our annual mother/daughter trip. but for paris, i was flying solo (at least for the first few days while i waited for andrea to get there) and boy did it just take me right back to my study abroad days!
one of the main reasons why i wanted to stop back in paris was to "re-do" my photos from my last trip (and lack thereof from my study abroad). my photography is constantly getting better and it is so satisfying to see how far i have come since my last trip two years ago. but because i can't bring lydia with me on every trip, i often resort to having my travel companion assist with the #ootd and sometimes that doesn't always go as planned. and many times, if the person i am traveling with is not an instagrammer, they will not see the benefit of waking up at the crack of dawn just to take photos. this time around i called in local reinforcements to help me bring my vision to life and i could not have asked for a sweeter and more amazing photographer. i had the honor of working with hana lê van of @journeyintolavillelumiere and the photos could not have been more perfect!
so the first post from this trip to paris that i wanted to share was from a location that i have been wanting to visit forever. even when i studied abroad i never made it over to trocadéro: arguably the best view of la tour eiffel. i think i may have stopped here when i was on my high school trip but the camera on my motorola razr wasn't the best: so we will never know. and what better outfit to wear than the gown i wore to this year's dia gala! remember the dress i wore last year?? i cannot wait to continue sharing more from my trip so get ready!
p.s. have you checked out the newest weekly series!?
dress: lela rose (similar here and here)
clutch: kate spade (old, similar here)
shoes: stuart weitzman
earrings: chanel
sunglasses: linda farrow
