Goddess of.. Jetting Off to France!

The day has arrived, I'm leaving tonight on a jet plane! *Cue nervous laughter*

First time flying by myself and I'm going across the pond.. which has left me feeling nervous. Not so much for the flight but for all the possible "unforseens" that go along with travelling to a place you don't really know yet.

I wish my momma was coming with me, she always knows what to do in any given situation. She's my security blanket, you know?

To me, this feels like another step towards become a woman. The kind of woman my mother is.

Free, independent, self-sufficient, well-rounded woman.


It's exciting, it's terrifying and it'll change me -- which is exactly why I'm doing this.

Countdown: Leaving today!

Goddess of.. New Boots, New Dress, New Shoes!

Preparing for an upcoming trip always makes me want to change my whole wardrobe because nothing ever seems good enough for the TRIP OF A LIFETIME!

However, I love to travel and I wanna do it as often as possible.. which is why I can't change everything every time. This time, I've decided to get a few new pieces and I thought I'd share them with you.

First purchase, a pair of Nine West boots for the France portion of my trip.. where it will probably be a little chilly. I wanted comfortable (for walking) booties with heels and since that's hard to find, I opted for wedges which are about halfway between flats and heels in my opinion. Taa-daaaah!

Nine West Peekaboo Wedge Booties

Second purchase, I wanted a dress for the night that Nick & I will be going to Vila Joya, the 2-Michelin-Star restaurant in Portugal. I wanted something that would take me outside my usual comfort zone, preferably very sexy but still classy. I opted for a black Zara dress, open back and lace. It doesn't look like it in the pictures, but it's pretty va-va-voom on me (you know, because mamma's got curves ;) and all). After booking my ticket for the opening night of the ballet in Paris, I decided I will wear the dress for that event as well (with tights and a black blazer). 

Zara Trafaluc Lace dress

I bought these funky tights that have a faux tigh highs with garter belt. They're totally opaque which is great and warm :) for my night on the town in Paris. Couldn't find a better image, sadly.

Sisi black & white garter tights

Last purchase (but not least!), I was hoping to find some sexy heels to go with that dress (and to class up any other dress I might wear to dinner in Portugal). I went in to Steve Madden looking for the UNITYY heels or something similar.. and was surprised to learn that Steve Madden now sells Betsey Johnson shoes! And I decided to go for a pair of peeptoe Betsey Johnsons:

Betsey Johnson Caseyy Peeptoe

Shopping for this trip definitely wasn't cheap (Nine West Booties, $170; Zara Dress, $70; Sisi tights, $10; Betsey Johnson Heels, $115) but I'm glad I got more expensive shoes this time around (as opposed to what I usually spend on shoes). I've been wearing the booties this week and so far, they are extremely comfortable and easy to walk in. And that, ladies, is money well spent in my book.


Countdown: 5 days

Half of my suitcase is already packed.. so exciting!
Nick & I set up our romantic rendez-vous in Paris, after the ballet in front of Opéra Garnier. *sighs*

Ciao bloggies,

Goddess of.. My Parisian Fantasy!

Your dreams? My dreams? Our reality.

Or something to that effect, I think John Lennon actually said : "A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality."

I've been dreaming of Paris for years. As a child, I went to Paris a few times.. I was very lucky to travel a lot with my parents when I was younger. For years, Paris has been my dream city. I have a (un)healthy obsession with the Eiffel tower, striped clothing (marinières à la J-P. Gauthier), macarons and countless other typically-french or Parisian things.

On my upcoming trip, I have 2 days in Paris upon arrival. Mainly to deal with jet-lag and make sure I'll be top shape when I get to Andrea (of @FranceHappened) in Strasbourg, 2 days later!

Simply three things on my to-do list :

• Visit Le Louvre (the only big attraction I haven't visited).
• Eat macarons from La Durée or Fauchon (or both). 
• Attend the opening night of a ballet at Palais Garnier  (w/ costumes by Christian Lacroix).

And then, I was talking to Nick last week:

him: "So you're arriving in Paris on the 22nd?"
me: "Yes, around 9am I think.."
him: "Okay, because I'll meet up with you after your ballet :)"
me: "Oh wow, really? You're not gonna be swamped with school?"
him: "I can take saturday night off. I originally wanted to go to the ballet with you but you said you bought the last ticket before it sold out :("
me: "My god, you're so sweet! I didn't think of inviting you since I know you have 4 exams in the following days.. but that's amazing!"

* And then I blushed like a little girl *

me: "I'm looking forward to seeing you :D"
him: "Me too :D and we can go to that bar you wanted to go to afterwards"
me: "Yay!"

So I guess I'll be seeing him sooner than I thought! Did I mention how excited I am?

Countdown: 10 days


Just to clarify, that's a countdown to my trip.. not to the end of my dry-spell. Although... ;)



P.S. If you like Paris too, reading this will be like porn for you:
http://fathomaway.com/postcards/romance/my-parisian-fantasy/