Parisian Street Style

Sometimes, bloggers type in this format.

I don't know how I feel about it. 

But this felt appropriate.

As a sudden faux fashion/travel blogger, I wanted to share some

nontraditional

yet

 cliche

pictures we took.

Betsy and Hannah shopped and Meredith and I played with the camera.

Here are the results.

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Subject: Meredith

Age: 29

Occupation: Yelp sales balla.

Style philosophy: "My style philosophy?  Why buy it full price when you can wait until it's out of season and buy it half off?  I like to think of my style as a time capsule, provoking onlookers to think, 'I remember seeing that on the racks...4 years ago.' Or at a local PTA meeting."

Favorite stores: I work on 5th Avenue off Union Square so all my favorite stores are in walking distance - Anthropologie, Madewell, Gap, Old Navy, Joe Fresh.

Subject: Lauren

Age: 22

Occupation: Real Housewife and world-renowned blogger

City: Dublin

Style philosophy: "I like paring older, cheaper pieces of clothing with other old, cheap pieces of clothing....to look fabulous!  I'm never afraid to experiment with color - namely, the color black."

Favorite stores: Target, H&M, Gap, and Nordstrom and Neiman's when she has gift cards or Northpark Gold

Subject: Betsy (or "B" as her friends call her.)

Age: 25

City: New York

Occupation: Corporate oil and gas balla.

Style philosophy:  "When getting ready, I ask myself: is this more Samantha, or Miranda?"

What her friends say: "She has things we can only dream about owning."

Favorite stores: Calypso, Christian Louboutin, Bergdorf's

(Editor's Note: we regrettably do not have as many pictures of B as we would like due to her absence during the photo shoots.  She was shopping for the fabulous things the other two can only dream of when they were approached by our cameras.)

Lauren's outfit:

Top:  Blouse, H&M

Pants:  Coated jeans, Madewell

Shoes: Boots, Steve Madden

Accessories: Necklace, Madewell; purse, Tori Burch

Coat: Kenneth Cole Reaction, circa 2003.  

("You say old and outdated, I say timeless, classic,  vintage!")

Meredith's outfit~

Top: Bordeaux top, Anthropologie.  Black blazer, White House|Black Market.

Pants: Jeans, Old Navy

Shoes:  Booties, Old Navy

Accessories: Necklace, Madewell.  Purse, Cole Haan.

Coat:  Banana Republic

"You know the phrase, 'If at first you don't succeed, try try again'?  I prefer 'If it actually fits, wear wear again...like literally all the time, down to the thread, with stains and holes and all.'"

B's outfit:

Top:  Silk shirt, Equipment.

Pants:  Leather skirt, Vince.

Shoes: Booties, Isabel Marant.

Accessories: scarf, Epice. 

Coat: Elie Tahari

"I may look put together, but what you don't see in the pics are the shocked Parisian faces for all the times my skirt came up...including one unfortunate incident where it got stuck in my tights as I came out of a dressing room.  #moonlightinparis"

Thanks for visiting our fashion blog.  Check in soon for more fashion updates!  

Ok, I'm kidding.  I can't even say that with a straight face.

Thank you to B, Mere, and Hannah for being willing and gracious subjects, and even better travel partners!

Vday Bday in Paris: Part Deux

More good times in Paris, continued!

Monday was our hipster day - Meredith is weirdly into all things hipster so she chose some up and coming gentrified arrondissements to explore.  Betsy and I are NOT into all things hipster so we smiled and nodded and went along with it, and naturally we are now glad we did.  :)

Our morning started with a train over to Gare de l'Est in the Canal St. Martin area (10th arr.) and a stop at Bob's Juice Bar, a tiny little cafe that serves fresh juices, smoothies, and other light breakfast and lunch options.  We all got healthy green juices and then wandered...a mere two doors down to a cute restaurant, Holybelly, for breakfast/lunch.  Holybelly is a "newcomer to the neighborhood and fan favorite on the foodie blogs, offering market-driven and classic cafe dishes, along with coffee that Americans love - since a good cup of joe is hard to find in Paris."  (Meredith's description, God love her.)

So fresh and so clean.

Watering hole at Holybelly.

Sweet Potato Saag Paneer for my lunch!  

Their staff was very friendly and clearly don't take themselves too seriously, as their Wifi password was "MacauleyCulkin" and they keep a couple of arcade games in the back.  Another fellow patron looked like Jesus of Nazareth himself ("No way!  We were JUST TALKING about you!") so that's when you know it's good.

And look!  Just around the corner from THAT restaurant was a fun patisserie we'd read about: Du Pain et Des Idees!   We hadn't gotten enough to eat with our juice or lunch so we got a light snack here.  How can you not?

My chocolate pistachio "escargot" wheel.  Didn't disappoint.

More wandering and then...look!  Another patisserie we'd read about: Libertine!  If you're really going to thoroughly review the patisserie scene, you've got to get something at eat place and let everyone sample it.  Again, it didn't disappoint.

Perhaps our favorite patisserie find of the trip was this chewy chocolatey loaf of happiness that Betsy got, and we proceeded to eat the rest of the afternoon.  Thanks and sorry, B!  MAN it was good.

It was then shop-til-you-drop time.  We walked and walked and walked, eventually making our way into Le Marais again, popping into cute clothing and jewelry boutiques along the way.

Merci, a fun and popular "everything" store

An afternoon drink break at le Jardin d'Hiver

This picture encapsulates the essence of B.  I love it.

More shopping, and then more wine at Frenchie Wine Bar, another popular hot spot opened by Gregory Marchand - who happened to be at the wine bar that night!  Cool!

And after a long day, we retired and relaxed at Le Comptoir du Relais in St. Germain des Pres for an amazing meal.

Escargots!

Seared tuna steak covered in a colorful veg medley.

Betsy's Beef Cheeks, which actually looks like an amazing macaroni soup.  So good!

We ended the evening at the famous Cafe de Flore, next door to the equally if not more famous Les Deux Magots, for dessert and a lot more wine that we ultimately regretted the next day.  At least I did...when I was doing deep breathing to prevent getting sick on my flight the next day.  Shoot!

Our funny charming waiter

Just 4 Americans being deep thinkers and intellectuals like the patrons of years past, no big deal.

The next day, Betsy and Hannah wandered off to Montmarte while Mere and I sprinted to Poilane for a jumbo bag of sugar cookies (not pictured) before I had to catch the train to the airport.  The rest of them left later that afternoon.  Sad.  

This was such a fun trip - fun because I was with my best pals, fun because the weather was oddly perfect, fun because we got to explore new neighborhoods that Mere scouted out for us, fun because we tried all new places that I probably never would have gone to, fun because everyone on the trip is a hilariously good time, and fun because this trip made us all happy and grateful for the chance to even be able to do this.  So thanks to Mere and B and Hannah for a great weekend in beautiful Paris!  Let's do it again soon!  No, but seriously.

Vday Bday in Paris: Part Une

When your best friend tells you she's coming to Paris for her birthday and would like you to join her, what are you supposed to say, no?  Well I didn't.  So for Valentine's Day/Meredith's birthday weekend, I joined her with my fave former roomie Betsy in Paris for a 4-day weekend!  It's times like these that I'm incredibly thankful to have hard-working successful friends who love and are able to travel, and thankful that I'm super close and European flights are cheap :)

As per usual on my trips, particularly trips with Meredith, this one was allll about the food, drinks, wandering around, being fabulous, and did I mention the food and drinks.  Mere loves planning all kinds of itineraries for any and all trips, so B and I were just along for the ride.  Fine by me!

Side note: this post won't capture the inside jokes, laughter, heart-to-hearts, or funny quotes created throughout the trip.  Many of them are too inappropriate anyway.  But here are some pics!

We all arrived on Saturday afternoon, and despite a wrong train and a mistaken 5-story flight of stairs into a parking garage that I believed was a tube station, I finally made it to our cute hotel in St. Germain  to drink some champagne (sponsored by Molly, thanks girl!) and get ready for an evening out.  We visited the swanky Hotel Costes for a drink, followed by steak frites at Relais de l'Entrecote (one of my favorite places in Paris, even though it's a chain), and then a stop by Prescription Cocktail Club, a dark speak-easy type joint where we made friends with the waitress and received cocktail experiments from the barmen.

Fries on fries on fries!
We also made friends with the New York Jewish/Italian couple next to us - he delivered a couple of memorable quotes about his garment selling business and provided a great deal of information about his children and how well they're doing.  Loves it!

Fancy cocktails!

Photo shoot.

Sunday morning, B and her friend Hannah (who met us there from London) went on a walk around town while Mere and I walked through Rue Cler to pick up some goodies for a morning picnic at the Eiffel Tower!

Shop upon shop carrying fresh food for any occasion!

The fromagerie where we bought TRUFFLE BRIE!  It was the best cheese I've ever eaten and I think the girls agreed.  Worth every expensive euro.

SPOTTED: American girl in a tutu carrying a baguette.

We met B and Hannah at the Tower and set up a picnic with our loot.

Croissants, berries, oranges, crackers...

Sausage, cheese, champagne, orange juice...

Doesn't get much better than that.

We walked off the Truffle Brie along the Seine on our way to l'Orangerie, the beautiful Monet museum in the Tuileries (also featured in Midnight in Paris) that showcases his large water lily paintings in a huge stark gallery. Pretty cool.

Just a pic looking back along the river.

We cabbed it to Le Marais, a happenin' hood in the 3rd and 4th arrondisements that was full of cool shops, fashion houses, and lots of trendy cafes.  Duh.  We ate at the SUPER popular Cafe Charlot, a hot spot that inspired NYC's Pastis!

You do table side guacamole?  We do table side Moet cocktails.  Kir Royale, s'il vous plait!

We wandered around that neighborhood for awhile, popping into stores and getting a lay of the land, and eventually made our way to the top of the Pompidou for drinks on their heated rooftop terrace.

Sunday night dinner was a mix of drinks from various places (La Petit Fer a Cheval, Le Mary Celeste, La Candelaria) and left over picnic snacks from the morning - anti climatic (the dinner part) but incredibly fun and silly and hilarious otherwise!

Alright, more pics from the last day to come.  Bonsoir!