Classy Girls Wear Pearls

Shirt: J. Crew Factory; Skirt: J. Crew; Necklace: Forever 21 (similar); Shoes: Isaac Mizrahi for Target (similar); Shades: Ray-Ban

Happy Friday!  Plans this weekend consist of a birthday dinner at Medium Rare, a soccer game (unfortunately playing, not viewing), and some sort of Bastille Day celebration that needs to include champagne. 

You know how Americans like to piggyback on other countries' holidays and use them as an excuse to get drunk?  I loathe St. Paddy's Day (if you're calling it St. Patty's, you fail) for that very reason and hate going out for it.  I tend to wear red and eat Mexican food instead.  And Cinco de Mayo is not even a thing in Mexico.  Sidenote, when did Coronaritas become the drink of the summer?  Regardless, I've been a Francophile since I was a child and found my mom's photos of her student exchange trip to France when she was 16.  I spent countless nights staring at them, imagining this wonderful land where everyone was well-dressed and went to museums and ate baguettes and spoke this effortlessly beautiful language.  Why not me?!  

When I finally got the chance to go to Paris (spring break 2006 woohoo!), it was even better than I ever dreamed of.  The situation could've been more ideal, but I made due.  Lessons learned: being friends with someone for ten years does not mean you can or should travel together.  One day, while my traveling companions went to EuroDisney (I can't even...), it became a blesssing in disguise as I got to spend an entire day wandering around Paris on my own.  It was literally the most amazing day I've ever had.  I drank at cafes, wandered through the Rodin museum (incredibly amazing) and the Pere Lachaise Cemetary (so much history, plus Jim Morrison), people-watched, ate countless ham sandwiches.  So relaxing, so inspiring, so full of life and love and art.  I love Paris.  

And because of that, I am allowed to celebrate Bastille Day.  Called it!