I've made the jump!

I've made the jump over to wordpress! I'm still at www.erikadoeslife.com but this will just serve as an archival source! Please make sure to check in on me using that url exclusively!

I'm back & Liebster Award!

I'm back y'all! It has been an awful week without internet and I have missed everyone like crazy. I am nearly unpacked - and I have to be done by Friday morning as the junk company is coming to remove all my stuff - but I had to take a break to finally get to my Liebster award post!

For those of you who aren't award, the Liebster Award is an award that is given from a blogger to another blogger, starters who have under 200 followers. Thanks so much to Desire for nominating me! I am so excited to pay this forward. It was so hard choosing only 11 bloggers!

Here are the rules:
-You must link back to the blogger who nominated you.
-You must list 11 facts about yourself.
-You must answer the 11 questions given to you by the blogger who nominated you.
-You must nominate another 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers and give them 11 questions of your choice.
-You must not nominate the blogger who chose you.
-You must let your 11 nominees know that they've been nominated and link them to your post about this award.

So here we go!

11 Facts About Me:
01) I am turning 25 tomorrow. Ack, a quarter of a century!
02) My all-time favorite perfume is Issey Miyake's Pleats Please. I wear it almost every single day, even if I'm not going out.
03) I have the largest pen and stationery collection of anybody that I know. It's kind of sad really but I get pulled in by the allure of well-designed notebooks and notepads. Oops.
04) It was my dream to have a house full of IKEA furniture for the longest time but now that it's happened to me I just want furniture that comes assembled already!
05) I am a Master's student in Art History and I'm going to be applying to do my PhD in the fall. This makes me nervous as it will require a necessary five-year minimum move away from my family unless I want to write a 400-page dissertation in French, which I do not.
06) I have a purse problem. I think I have close to 20 at this point and I literally just ordered another one off of Nasty Gal. To be fair, I got a lot of them off of LBB (R.I.P.). The only designer purse I've paid retail for is my Michael Kors Saffiano Tote. It's my splurge and present to myself for finishing a year of grad school.
07) I recently got back from vacationing in Paris and now I need to figure out what my next 'major' spot is because I assumed I'd never get to France and never bothered to dream beyond that.
08) I can speak four languages (English, French, Portuguese, Spanish).
09) I really enjoy intelligent television (ie: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) and documentaries.
10) My favorite film of all time is L'Année Derniere à Marienbad. I could watch it every single day.
11) I am Canadian, but I spell nearly all words the American way. This is an icky habit and my computer tells me so all the time.

Questions for Me:
01) What is one thing on your bucket list? I want to write my own cookbook, as I really like to be in the kitchen, even though you'd not necessarily think that after the last year.
02) What is your go-to snack/drink at a coffee shop? Usually a tea of some sort. I'm partial to fruity teas or black teas.
03) What is a fashion staple in your wardrobe? Spaghetti-string tops. They are the perfect fashion item to have because they are so versatile. You can dress them up literally any way and they're easy to accessorize. I have one in almost every color.
04) What is your favourite quote? "Don't act like you've arrived when you're just receiving the invitation."  - Sophia Amoruso
05) Would you rather lose your sight or lose your sense of touch? Sense of touch. I'm an Art Historian, my life is my eyes. I could only work on sound art at that point and I don't really want to do that.
06) What is one of your holy grail makeup/skincare products? For makeup, I'd say Forever21 makeup wipes. This sounds stupid, I know - how could Forever21 possibly be my holy grail anything but the makeup wipes are perfect. I use them to get the majority of my makeup off, including my eye makeup and mascara. You don't need to buy a really expensive eye makeup remover, these don't sting and they work wonderfully. As for skincare, I would say my Indie Lee blemish stick. It's helped my breakouts from swelling, which they tend to do and I think it's been helping keep any new ones from popping up - I don't really think you're supposed to use it all over your face but I do, so... whoops.
07) What's your favourite accessory? Purses, definitely. Purses are my weakness and I think that they can just make a whole outfit or break it.
08) Which store do you shop the most at? Probably Zara and H&M because I like pieces that are kind of 'staple' pieces. You know, classy yet not super expensive. I sometimes do casual for school but most of the time I like to keep a business-friendly wardrobe without overdoing it. I probably look like I belong in the Business faculty but whatever. I look too fabulous to care.
09) What landmark or attraction would you recommend a tourist to visit? I am assuming that this means in my city and not in general... I find this really difficult to answer because you're never a tourist in your own city you know? Probably La Ronde or the Botanical Gardens.
10) Condo or townhouse? Condo. But one with a nice view. I find townhouses too scrunched together and I feel like I can tell that I'm surrounded by other people whereas a condo is more private.
11) What's your favourite kind of flower? I'm not a big flower girl, really, but I really like Irises and Lilies!

Questions for You:
01) Why did you start a blog?
02) If you could be BFFs with any famous person, who would you pick and why?
03) How do you keep your beauty products stored (ie: boxes, drawers, etc.)?
04) What kind of phone do you have?
05) What is one of your pet peeves?
06) If you could travel back to any time period, when would you travel to?
07) What are your go-to beauty products if you're in a rush?
08) Describe your ideal first date.
09) You have an unlimited budget to buy a fashion accessory but you can only buy the one. What do you buy?
10) Do you subscribe to any magazines? If so, which ones?
11) Who is your favorite artist?

Nominations:
01) Orly, http://coffeebeansandhighheels.weebly.com
02) Jenna Rue, http://sparklykid.blogspot.ca
03) Taylor, http://tayloryates.wordpress.com
04) Sacha, http://girlinthetrilbyhat.blogspot.ca
05) Liz, http://passportpacked.com
06) Rubi, http://www.whenlifegivesyourubi.com
07) Emily, http://shesgotclassandsass.blogspot.ca
08) Corbin, http://www.classysouthblog.com
09) Esme, http://esmeburr.blogspot.ca
10) Elle, http://notesofpetranella.blogspot.co.uk
11) Sara, http://www.simplysara.co.uk

July Favorites

Woo! A favorites post done on time! The world must be ending or something. I actually haven't spent a lot of time with makeup on my face this month, so it's a small month for favorites, but here we go nonetheless!

First up is this Jo Malone fragrance. I'd been dying to try some of their products and picked this up at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, along with the Peony and Blush Suede Body Creme. The way that you're supposed to use Jo Malone products is to layer the cologne over the body cream/lotion, but I like it just as is. Such a bright and fresh smelling scent. You will fall in love with the nice fruity citrus scent and the slight mix of honey in this I've worn it every day for two weeks now.

Honestly, if you've seen me at all this month, I've probably had this on my lips. It's from L'Oreal Paris' Limited Edition Collection Privée in shade 610, Eva's Nude. I. Love. This. Color. Honestly, I might have to go back to the drugstore and pick up a few more tubes because this has become my new color. It's slightly darker than my natural lip color and it feels so creamy and luscious on the lips.

I might be the last person on earth to come to this realization but a shadow primer makes all the difference. And of course, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion is a quick favorite for me. My eyeshadow used to crease so badly and with this, you can't even tell at the end of the day that I applied my eyeshadow ten hours ago. So worth the money!

This eyeshadow quad from H&M really surprised me. I bought a bunch of makeup from them because we either don't have it here or I literally don't know where to find H&M makeup in my local H&M. This cost me under six Euros and has been a fast favorite for me. I use the light nude shimmer shade (as you can see it basically matches my skin tone once swatched) as a base over my whole eye from root of the lashes up to the eyebrow, and then I layer the gold shimmer on my whole lid. I use the darkest shimmer in the crease and outwards. The matte brown (which looks orange for some reason in the photo) has become my new perfect brow color.

I wasn't sure about this product when I first got it last month, but now that I've been using it for longer I have definitely noticed a difference in my blemishes. It takes a few days for them to heal, but they definitely don't grow once they've popped out and this helps reduce my redness. I use the Indie Lee Blemish Stick twice a day, and I just apply to the spots where I need it. It's also great for back and chest acne.

Sometimes I just don't like to wear lipstick in the summer. Sue me. In that case, I always go to the Benefit Coralista gloss. It's not sticky at all, which is my number one requirement in lip glosses, and it makes your lips feel super smooth. It also has good staying power and doesn't dry out my lips.

My last product is also from H&M, their compact powder in Ivory Mist. Now, this isn't going to work for under your eyes, but if you're looking for a light coverage powder that keeps your foundation locked in place, this is my new go-to and I even prefer it over the Rimmel Stay Matte powder, I think, which has been my favorite literally since I discovered it.

Style Icon: Dianna Agron

I don't have a specific celebrity that I model my wardrobe after or a particular 'look' that I go for in my own wardrobe, but if I had to peg my style down and say who it most closely resembles, I would go with this lovely lady: Miss Dianna Agron. Dianna doesn't always get it right on the carpet - in fact, it would probably be fair to say that she gets it wrong about 50% of the time when she lets stylists near her - but when she gets it right, damn does this girl get it right.

Dianna's style strength, in my opinion, is her fearlessness with patterns and bold colors. Not every celebrity can pull off a bright jeweled skirt or a landscape-print dress, but Dianna can. What works for Dianna is that she leaves the drama to her clothing and not to her face, in general. She keeps her makeup fairly neutral, just occasionally giving a little pop of color, like in the photo on the left where she has that bright pink lip. And that works for her. In general, I think that her team errs when they try to make her makeup overly dramatic and  slick back her hair. Dianna is someone who looks best when you let the clothes shine and keep her makeup and hair simple, as you can see here. 

I blame her faults mostly on her team because when Dianna has a chance to dress herself in her everyday life, she generally makes her style look effortless, and that is ultimately what I think we are all going for. She often wears accessible brands that you could go out and pick up after a day of work if you wanted to and she is very much the 'girl next door' of Hollywood style.

Dianna's style tends to veer mostly towards the girlie dresses that come in at her waist and flare outwards on the hips, giving her a slender figure and accentuating the tiniest part of her, which is always a smart choice. She regularly pairs her dresses with heels that are smart but not ostentatious. The dress is always the star of her outfit, and her makeup is always kept simple. In the winter, she tends to layer a bit more, as you can see on the left, but she has a keen sense of awareness about how pieces go together. Dianna is a big fan of accessories and has an extensive sunglasses and purse collection. Almost every outfit is paired with something different but effortlessly chic. My own fashion sense is definitely pretty similar to Dianna's everyday look. A girlie dress paired with a lovely shoe and a great bag is all you really need. Jazz an outfit up with a few carefully selected accessories and you are truly in business.

A lifestyle check: Beauty isn't so easy

This is supposed to be a beauty, fashion, and lifestyle blog, but I haven't really done many lifestyle posts to date. I guess that's because I know that my lifestyle hasn't exactly been anything to brag about. But I feel like this week, I did something that is worth at least a tiny mention on this blog.

I went to see a nutritionist for the first time in my life.

Seeing a nutritionist really affects every part of this blog: beauty, fashion, and lifestyle. I'm seeing a nutritionist because I've put on a crazy amount of weight since starting grad school. 50 pounds. In a year. Yikes. Clothes that I bought in October no longer fits me now in July and it's clear that I've let myself go, I just didn't realize how much. In combination with grad school stress, I've also been dealing with waiting for knee surgery and I can't really do much physical activity because of it.

I've never been a "small" girl. I've never had a tiny waist, I've always had big hips, and I've never really paid attention to what I eat, but the last year has just been awful. Adjusting to the stress of grad school has done a number on me. I started the year at about 130, and I am now at 181 lbs. Even at my heaviest, I have always been 150-160 lbs and so to see that number on the scale yesterday was a huge wakeup call. I couldn't believe it.

Luckily, my nutritionist is awesome. I'm seeing Vanessa Perrone, whose stuff I've been following for at least a year now. She creates a bunch of great online content and she has a really realistic approach to food, and I am keen to get my health back under control. Yesterday was the first appointment but I feel like I already understand a lot more about my body and my health, and I am hoping that seeing a nutritionist will make me more accountable both to my goals and to myself.

I will be shopping for food more regularly (no more one grocery every six weeks oops) and posting about food on social media, so let me know if you want me to post recipes or dedicate more posts to it.  But the real purpose of this post was to talk about the fact that one aspect of your lifestyle (your food habits) can really affect everything.

One of the questions that I was asked yesterday was how I felt about myself on a scale of 1 to 5. Right now, I feel like a one. I am super confident in some areas, like my academics for example. I know that I am smart and I feel confident in the work that I'm doing. But in every other way I feel horrible. I don't feel pretty, I don't feel like I am being my best self with friends, and I am always self-conscious. The truth is that I have never felt like a five and I want to hit that point.

I think that my inner beauty not being at 5 has started affecting my outer beauty and that is affecting my fashion. I have gotten better at hiding my figure when I need to by being good at accentuating small parts of myself, like my waist, but I don't want to have to feel like I'm constantly hiding something or cheating the system. I have never been able to see my cheekbones, really, for as long as I can remember, and I desperately want to.

The plan is for me to spend time planning my meals for the week on Sunday and go shopping and do prep for what I need on Mondays so that I can have food that is fresh, healthful, and good for me. No more takeout. I'm going to be eating more than I eat now (every three to four hours) and more food than I was used to eating before, but better proportioned food. This means more of things that I already liked (ie: baby spinach, kale, and romaine lettuce) and less of those things that I eat and enjoy but are just plain not good for me (ie: them hamburgers). I think that if I can get excited about food and make food that looks good, I will want to start making more of a change overall.

Everyone says to focus on inner beauty but that is really easy to say in a world where the average woman seems to be a size six and you're a size 14. But I am done feeling sorry for myself. I am going to war with my weight, and I will be the victor this time.

Get Ready for Fall: The Pencil Skirt

The central element of this outfit is the pencil skirt. A classic element to every wardrobe, this would be the perfect outfit to wear to university or to work. The pencil skirt is a real basic for any university girl or working professional, and the particular one in this outfit is really fun because it provides a punch of color and is a great variant on the traditional black or grey pencil skirt that everyone has in their closet.

Why this outfit works:
The emphasis in this outfit is on the pencil skirt and on playing with dimension to give everyone their most flattering shape. The tailored waist and hips on the pencil skirt (I picked this one because it can fit girls with a variety of sizes - up to 2X) are balanced out by the looser fitting top from H&M. What you're doing with this outfit is accentuating the waist and making it the smallest part of your figure by adding more volume up top. What this does is give you the illusion that your waist is very slim and it will give you that perfect pear shape. The jacket keeps the look work and school appropriate while breaking up the dual-tone color palette of skirt and top. The embellishments bring in small elements of the top so that it 'matches' with the outfit while adding some unexpected flare. The great thing about the jacket is that it's versatile enough that it can easily be carried over into another outfit.

The accessories were chosen with care and balance. Personally, I would wear the rings on one hand and the bracelet on the other to give a subtle poise to the outfit and avoid having one side of your body look off-kilter with a bunch of jewelry. I didn't add earrings but I'd probably just do some simple pearls or small gold hoops, which don't take anything away from the outfit or other accessories. The real key here is the pendant color wheel necklace. This should be a staple in every girl's wardrobe because the beauty of the color wheel is that it can match any outfit but it also ties in everything together in a very simple, unobtrusive accessory. It adds a bit of a splash and allows you to be more creative with accessories like shoes and bags. I think that the key to any outfit is balance and if you're going to do a pop on the bottom of color then you need to replicate that on your top half, even with something as subtle as a necklace.

The nailpolish is just a light neutral. Most workplaces don't allow anything too dramatic in terms of nail and hair creativity, unfortunately, and so I tried to keep this a nice, light color, but you can feel free to use any color that you think would go. A dark purple or a deep blue would also be great to add some flare and probably still fit into dress code rules!

Personally, I don't wear heels all that often and I prefer to wear flats for ease in the workplace, but really any black pump would work. I would even pair this outfit with my Nike high-top sneakers to dress it down a little bit. The peach purse is a nice offset from the red and ties back into the color of the bracelet and the gold chain harmonizes all of the other accessories.


Items:
Color Wheel Pendant, Yellow Owl Workshop, $44.00
Raw Diamond Ring, Poketo, $18.00
Cute Bow Enamel Ring, The Red Bow, $18.95
Werrani Bracelet, Aldo, $12.00

Beaded Embellished Jacket, Topshop, $141.50 (UK 2-14)
Red Pencil Skirt, Pin Up Girl Clothing, $48.00 (XS-2X)
Black Crepe Top, H&M, $39.95 (2-14)

Quilted Cross-Body Bag, ASOS, $43.03
Ormelle Shoes, Aldo, $65.00
Nail Polish in Marshmallow, Essie, $8.50

Total cost: $438.93

The jacket is really what makes this outfit expensive. The good thing is that, like I said above, you can easily use it with other outfits, same as the jewelry. I think that the key to building a jewelry collection is making smart decisions and purchasing pieces that have a lot of versatility and can be easily incorporated into several outfits.

1D Makeup Collection Partnership and Giveaway!

I teased on my Twitter account yesterday that I was going to be teaming up with everyone's favorite boy band, One Direction, on a new campaign. Well, I am proud to announce that I am going to be an official previewer & reviewer for their new makeup line, Makeup by ONE DIRECTION. The makeup line looks fantastic. Anyone who is even remotely aware of One Direction's merch situation knows that it can be pitiful at best sometimes, but the packaging for this is honestly awesome. I can't wait for my sample to arrive in the mail. I'll be posting a blog post and some videos with reviews, tutorials on how to use certain products, and help you get the most out of your kit!

I'll be in the front row at the boys' concert next Friday and I'll be bringing you all of the inside scoop - how inaccurately do photos depict Louis' beauty? How many times will Zayn and Liam be fawning over Niall? Will Harry show his #hanana love on stage again? I'll be on instagram and Twitter all night (links in the right bar) giving you front row access to it all! And hopefully I'll be doing it looking fab in my new 1D makeup!

In the meantime, if you'd like to win your very own set of products, you can enter the official Makeup by ONE DIRECTION giveaway. You can enter up to three times a day!

Paris Blog #7: Grand Palais

I can't believe that today was my last day of visiting Paris. I want to live here for the rest of my life, but alas, I have to go back to Montreal. </3

With my last day, I decided to sleep in late and go to the Bill Viola show at Le Grand Palais. It was the final day of the exhibition. I arrived at around 1:45pm and I walked around the entire building just looking at the gorgeous architecture. The science side of the building was closed so I just went to the one exhibition. 

Because I didn't have a ticket, I had to wait in the normal line and it was packed. It took me over an hour and a half just to get into the Grand Palais. My feet were sore just from waiting in line! I was pleasantly surprised to discover, however, that the building had two things that I took for granted before this week: free wifi, and air conditioning! I instagrammed live today and I was even able to post up two videos so thanks Grand Palais!

                    

After having a quick lunch, I went to the exhibition. I'm not sure if it's because it was the last day or if it's always this crazy, but it was packed. Considering that the exhibition was of video art, I was really expecting there to be more seating, because a lot of older people were at the exhibition and they were standing or sitting uncomfortably on the ground in each of the rooms. There were maybe about 20 pieces in the exhibition in all and I enjoyed the vast majority of them.

My favorite piece was the video that I took with the office-like setup. The first time you go in the surprise element is so unexpected. A lot of people screamed if they came in during a semi-scary clip. The television screen on the desk displays someone sleeping and then about once a minute, for a few seconds, the tv cuts out and projections appear on the wall, sometimes of people falling into the water, sometimes of a fire, sometimes of hounds. Presumably it's a few seconds of being in the subconscious of the sleeping people! Scary stuff!

I went through the entire exhibition in about an hour and a half. It was an easy walk-through and the pieces are very cerebral and immersive, so I would have stayed longer if it wasn't for the overcrowded feeling that I had. I was starting to get a little claustrophobic being around so many other people, honestly. 

All in all, it was a perfect way to round out my trip. I'm going to see if I can get some macaroons at the airport tomorrow morning (that should make Karen over on The Red Bow happy), and hopefully I can have some awesome desserts to bring back with me that way! I don't know how I made double the clothing fit into the same suitcase. I ended up shoving more in there today, oops! 

When I get back to the city, I'll be getting ready to move and I'll be at the Just For Laughs festival, so it'll be pretty quiet on the blog, but comment, let me know what kinds of posts you want to see and if you want me to try out any products, just make your wish known!

Paris Blog #6: Brunch & Musée du mode et textile

Note: I took no photos today, they're all courtesy of Dries Van Noten.

Today was a fairly calm day. I began by having brunch with my friend Lucile and her friends from earlier stages of school. It was great! We had a fun time at a lovely little restaurant near Bastille. The food was super good and it only cost 21 Euros - the same price as lunch at museum cafés, but about two times more food. 

I didn't end up going to Notre Dame because I was invited by the people living downstairs from where I'm staying to go and hang out with them and I don't know if I'll get to go tomorrow. It will depend on how early I wake up! Instead, I went to the Musée du Mode et Textile, which is currently home to the Dries Van Noten: Inspirations exhibition. I am so glad that I went because it's been my favorite exhibition by far. I went through it twice!

The exhibition pairs together Van Noten's collections with various artworks and other designer collections that have inspired him. The exhibition opens with a fabulous case containing works by well-known designers, especially ft. Pharrell's well known hat. The exhibition then goes through Van Noten's collections, supplementing the works with videos, photographs, etc.

The exhibition was extremely colorful - the second floor has an ongoing floral motif. The exhibition rooms in the Musée are really dark by nature and I think some people were having difficulties navigating, but this was not an issue for me, personally.

My favorite part of the exhibition was a slow-motion installation work which features models performing various activities in Van Noten's clothing. I got completely lost in watching the artworks and I stayed there for a long while. The section where it's located was framed by two mirrors on either side of the videos, making it seem as if the videos went on forever, making them even more spectacular.

When I got home, I spent most of my evening packing. Somehow, I managed to get twice the clothing into the same bag that I packed - and it was full before. I just have incidentals left. I can't believe that tomorrow is my last real day in Paris. It passed by so quickly. I'm not ready to go home, I want to stay here forever.

Paris Blog #5: Musée du Quai Branly

I can't believe it, I've already been in the city for five days! It feels like no time and like forever, all at once. It's crazy! 

Today, as planned, I went to the Musée du Quai Branly to see the Indiens des Plaines exhibition. And maybe I went a bit crazy because I took pictures of every artwork in the way that they were arranged. I just know that I'm going to end up writing something about this in the future and so it's better to have more photos than less. The exhibition was huge. It took me just under two hours to go through it even though there only four parts. The shoes in today's cover photo are from the exhibition! Bitching, no? There were over 200 art and ethnographic objects from collections around the world.

I have to say that aside from the Musée d'Orsay, today was probably my favorite activity! I was at the museum for six hours - it takes a long time to see. After I went through the Indiens des Plaines exhibition, I took a break and went to the Café Branly. The service was absolutely horrid. It took forever to get a table, my waiter took 15 minutes to come and take my order and almost 20 minutes to bring me my bill. I would recommend eating around the museum rather than at it. It's right next to the Eiffel Tower so there are lots of little cafés around!

After lunch, I visited the permanent collection, which was great. The museum really made use of its nook and cranny spaces in great ways. One of my favorite things is that you can see the museum's storage (or at least some of it - I assume they have more/an offsite somewhere) as you're walking around the exhibition in a dark, circular glass case that goes right up to the top floor. It reminds me of the MET's open storage a little bit. 

Interspersed with the permanent collection, there were three temporary exhibitions. I didn't go visit the Tiki exhibition, but I did go see the Vietnam Women's propaganda exhibition and the tattoo exhibit. I have to say that I was impressed with neither. The Vietnam exhibition was too small to really be effective - there were barely any contextualizing labels, and the labels themselves looked like they were really cheap, which was odd compared to the glossy rest of the museum. 

As for the tattoo exhibition, a year ago I would have been really impressed and I would have learned a lot. But the other Master's student being supervised by my supervisor is writing his thesis about Inuit tattooing and so I've learned a lot from him over the year. As such, I knew most of the information in the exhibition now and the examples of tattoos that they showed were far from spectacular. The only section that I really enjoyed was on the carnival/freak show. The rest was mediocre, but if you know nothing about tattooing, this is probably a good introduction for you and I'm sure you'll feel differently about it than I do!

Since Quai Branly is literally the next door neighbor of the Eiffel Tower, I decided that I had to go see it. I was kind of remiss that I was going to be in Paris and I would see it from afar. I didn't go up the tower because a) so many stairs and how about no after my Arc de Triomphe debacle and b) I was getting nauseous just looking at how high up the observation deck was, so actually going up there was a no-no. But I did get my stereotypical Eiffel Tower shot, so here you go:

I took the bus home for the first time! I had avoided the bus because it scared me (I generally prefer undergrounds in unfamiliar cities when they're available because it's easier/faster to correct a navigational mistake) but my feet were killing me and I didn't want to take a cab all the way back to the 9e arrondissment. It just so happened that there was a "La Halle" about two doors down from the stop. I'd wanted to go to the one near Grands Boulevards but I haven't taken that Metro since the first day I got here and so I wasn't going to go out of my way to go back. I'm so glad that I got to go in today though. I got like six things and it only cost me 38 Euros. I actually asked the girl if she had said that correctly because I was so shocked. I haven't spent under 100 Euros in a shop so far (oops), so this was a total steal, omg!

Tomorrow's going to be a relaxing day! I'm having a girls' brunch with Lucile and her twin sister & friends and if I have time I'm going to Notre Dame, so expect a tame day on the blog, but that's good because it's Stylish Sunday! Check back for this week's shop!