Sorry Cinderella, We Need the Shoes Back...

It's been nearly 7 weeks since I came back from Paris. I am home again in good ol' Chicago (the Windy City or Second City as most people know it best). That first morning after sleeping in my own bed after 3 months in the City of Lights felt like that moment when Dorothy woke up from dreaming up the Emerald City. It all felt like a dream. The hardest thing to adjust to was that everything and everyone kept going on with their daily lives while I was away playing intern in Paris. I was eager to be home and jump right back into school (not that I had a choice since I flew in Saturday and went back to school Monday). I was ready though. I was ready to use my Parisian confidence and jump full force into my classes and school work.

Seeing my best friends, Courtney and Jessica, helped ease the transition back to my old life, not that I was gone for years but Paris had definitely left a mark on me that I'll carry with me for the rest of my life. Yet there was one thing missing that impacted me the most, my boyfriend of 3 years was in San Diego doing basic Marine training for 3 months and I had to wait until June to be reunited with him again. It will have been 6 months of not seeing each other by June and I'll only have 3-4 days to spend with him before he goes to North Carolina to do his job training. However much I miss him I know that he is living out his dream just as I had mine in Paris. Luckily we have a solid relationship where we can be apart and still know that we love and care for each other. This has given me the opportunity to focus on my school work and my job at Michael Kors.

I've been home for almost 7 weeks now and my memories of walking along the Seine and looking to the Eiffel Tower as my North Star are becoming less and less active in my mind. But I know in my heart, I'll always have Paris and no one can take that away from me, no matter how hard homework assignments get and how many clients at work nag me. Paris is a part of me.

Since being home, I've began working on an accessories collection as well as a knitwear collection that I credit full to my time in Paris. I believe I've taken with me ideas, color stories, and inspiration I never could have come up with on my own. So thank you Paris. Thank you for your beauty, architecture, history, lights, love, fashion, CHANEL, and for taking me in and allowing me to be apart of your life for 3 months.  I really am grateful for everything that came of Paris and that I am able to bring part of it home (along with an entirely new wardrobe that almost didn't fit into my suitcase but that's a story for another time)!

I know I haven't written as much as I used to but have no fear, I'm still here (rhymes and all)!