Autumn in Paris

If you live in Southern California like me, you might not realize that it’s actually autumn. The trees are barely turning colors and just a couple weeks ago it was 100*F. (rolls eyes).

That’s why I’m extra nostalgic for autumn in Paris, so I’ve thrown together some of my favorite images of Paris covered in leaves.

ALSO, this is a great time to announce that I’ve been officially published in print! A couple months ago I entered an Instagram competition with Lonely Planet Traveller magazine. The theme was Ode to Autumn, so I submitted one of my photos of the autumnal banks of the Seine river, and I was picked! Here’s a peek at the page inside the Postcards section in November issue of the UK version of the magazine. Mine’s the first one at the top left!

lonelyplanetodetoautumn-1

The optimistic part of me hopes that this is just the beginning of my photographic career, and that there are many more moments like this to come, but the pessimistic, critical part of me is saying it’s no big deal, that it means nothing and doesn’t mean I’ll ever “make it” as a photographer. But regardless of my mixed feelings about this 2-by-2-inch square of real estate in a magazine, I gotta admit it’s pretty cool.

Just in case anybody is interested in purchasing this fall image as a print (my grandma has this one framed in her house!), I popped a listing into my Etsy shop, available here.

 

Without further ado, enjoy these fall-tastic photos of Paris that I’ve taken over the years. If there’s a specific photo you’d like to know the location of, just leave me a comment and I’ll reply!

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Visual Diary – Lonely Autumn Days

The past month has given me lots of alone time to reflect. Recently, two of my closest friends moved out of France, and in September, my husband Erik went to the US to await his Green Card, leaving me with just a single friend to hang out with, and lots of quiet evenings alone. It’s been interesting.

Without an extra person next to me when I sleep, or someone waiting for me when I come back from the grocery store, things have been a little bit strange. Yesterday I realized I had barely used my voice for the entire day, and I wondered jokingly if my vocal chords still worked. Even though I had been wandering around Paris for the entire day, surrounded by people on the street, I still felt isolated, simply because most of the people I love weren’t with me.

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The Gardens of Versailles in Autumn

During the two years I’ve lived near the Versailles gardens, can you believe I’ve never seen the fountains when they’re turned on? You see, there are lots of Baroque fountains and groves peppered throughout the massive gardens, but since they’re so old, they can’t be running water constantly. So every weekend (excluding weekends in winter), all the fountains turn on and the entire garden is filled with the sounds of water and Baroque music. It really adds to the ambiance – which is impressive, considering the gardens already have a ton of ambiance to begin with.

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Monochrome + Aluminum Clubmasters

My new favorite color is black. Prior to August 2012, I probably didn’t own a single article of clothing in black. I found it boring, mean, depressing, and stark. Instead, my wardrobe consisted of coral, purple, turquoise, lace, blue jeans, tights, and dresses. I was a girl’s girl, always attracted to the cute-factor of a garment.

Nowadays, however, it’s BLACK all the way, every day, all the time, in every outfit. I love black. It feels as if last year, I dressed as a girl, and now, I identify more as a grown woman. You can go back in time on this blog and see some of my colorful outfit posts! The contrast is quite startling actually.

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Details: Tapestry + Thoughts on Confidence

As Fall approaches (I see fall as happening in the future because it is still warm here in SoCal), I have noticed the resurfacing of autumnal textures: cable knit, tweed, wool, plaid, and tapestry. I bought these tapestry shorts last year, but they’ve been hibernating in the bottom of my pants drawer. They’re one of those items that you love, but can’t seem to muster the confidence to wear on most days.

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Quick Outfit of the Day – New Winter Scarf

First of all, let me apologize for the horrendous quality of these images! Let’s just call them “vintage” and “cool” instead of pixelated and grainy. ;)

You know those days where everything you wear turns out FANTASTIC? But you have nowhere to go and nobody to look good for?? Well, I had one of those moments today. I then thought to myself, “Hey wait! I have a blog!” So I quickly snapped some webcam photos, edited them Instagram-style, et voila!

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