My Dearest Apologies - I've Got Paris on a String

Dear Readers,
I sincerely apologize for my INCREDIBLY long absence. Paris' magic put me under a spell, and I've just come to. This semester has flown by, but brought wonderful and exciting people, places, and events to my life abroad.
I scored a fantastic internship at WWD Paris which has let me experience the real life of a journalist. I have wined and dined with fellow bloggers at a gorgeous apartment in St. Germain des Près while overlooking the sparkling Tour Eiffel. And, my favorite experience of all, I fell into the lap of luck when running late for the Hommage à Jerome Robbins ballet at the famous Opéra Garnier (for those who don't know, this is the opera where Phantom story takes place).

Since I was late, I was going to have to wait to take my seat after the first act was through, until the lighting and sound crew OF THE ACTUAL OPERA HOUSE invited me into the lighting booth to watch the show from there. The crew could not have been nicer or more generous. As the night progressed, one thing led to another and all of a sudden during the entracte I found myself on THE stage where I had just watched professional ballerinas waltz and pirouette. I was absolutely speechless, and couldn't do a thing but smile like a child on Christmas morning. After the final bow, I was offered a full tour of the opera house from the very bottom to the very top, seeing areas that wouldn't usually be seen by those on the public tours.

When the opera house was built, the water table was found to be higher than assumed. So, the building actually sits atop a mini lake, which yes, contains fish. Climbing the 7 flights up to the actual stage, then a few more, I entered the giant practice rooms where we found a little tutu hiding (pictured above). The construction was beautiful, and if you can't see, very intricate. Unfortunately, it was too late to see the costume atelier where every costume is made in-house, but I was promised at my next visit (yes next visit!!) I could. My fingers are crossed for a possible apprenticeship... I hope, I hope.

So my dear readers, this is a little update from my nouvelle vie parisienne.
I really am going to try to keep my promise of updating more (especially because I know I won't hear the end of it from Melissa, of Prête Moi Paris, and M. if I don't)

I hope you haven't lost faith!
Sincerly,
Q.

P.S. Check out my blog for new Paris picture updates coming soon!


[image courtesy of Prete Moi Paris]

Ciao Bella

Hello, hello! Recently the dreary weather in Paris has led me to do some more "therapy shopping". It also doesn't help... my bank account, that there are AMAZING sales all over Paris either, for it is soldes season.  (For those of you who don't know what soldes is, French shops tend not to have a "sale section". Instead, to clear out Winter inventory before Spring/Summer, and to clear out Summer inventory before Fall/Winter, the stores have huge sales - 75% off - mid-January to mid-February and mid-July to mid-August.)

Since soldes is coming to a close, stores are starting to do their final markdowns, which are just too irresistible. So far my purchases, in addition to all of the vintage, have been: a red-orange cable knit tube scarf from Kookaï (a shop, full of beautiful clothing, which seems to exist everywhere but the Americas. Oh poo.), black shorts with detachable suspenders from Zara (this purchase was quite exciting for me because my last pair of suspenders broke awhile ago, and I've been having trouble finding a replacement!), a fun neon pink and orange necklace from H&M (definitely a statement piece), and a dusty rose dress that I've been eyeing at Zara all semester that finally went on sale!

To see how I wore the purchases, follow Quinntessential Style.

In other news...

I wanted to say Arrevederci to you all for I leave for Italia on Saturday. I may have time between cleaning my room and packing my suitcase to squeeze one last post in before I leave, but if not, ciao bellas! I will hopefully come back with some wonderful posts from my whirlwind tour.

xx, Q.

[credit: asos]