Paris in the Fall

After a celebratory dinner, my sly new fiancé slid a little red envelope to me from across the table…“Just one more surprise.” I opened it to find a piece of paper, that when unfolded left me dumbstruck. An itinerary for a trip to Paris!

“You’re taking me to Paris? In the fall?”

Having drunk a lot of café crème and clocked many miles on my velvet loafers, we’re finally home from a wonderful whirlwind of a trip. Paris is so enchanting and I’m forever grateful to have spent my time there with my love. =)

This beauty was a lucky find, and the perfect souvenir from Paris! One of the drawbacks about being petite is needing equally petite accessories. In need of a larger black handbag for some time (my only black bag before this was my teeny Chanel flap), I had my heart set on the glossy finish and clean lines of the Givenchy Antigona. Unfortunately, stores in the US refused to carry the smallest size (Bergdorf Goodman finally started stocking some, but no black), and international online stores quickly ran out despite the crazy high import duty fees. In fact, I never even had the opportunity to lay my eyes on the mystical small size until Wendy tracked one down, which sealed my love for it even more.

A couple of weeks ago, a few popped up on Ideeli, including my ideal shiny black one which I happily ordered & excitedly anticipated her arrival. When it arrived, I threw open the box only to find…the wrong bag! That same day, I learned I was going to Paris, so there was still hope that I might find my pretty, shiny bag after all.

And find her I did, when a Givenchy sales associate at Printemps (a Paris department store) pulled her from under a counter, all while telling me, “it’s the only one, just arrived yesterday!” (I’m sure they say that about all their bags! Ha!) So…here she is! My new little French friend.

I took her out a few times in Paris so she could see the beautiful city of her namesake fashion house before being torn away and banished to the streets of California.

If any of you follow Nicole of Gary Pepper Girl on Instagram, you may have seen this location before. She Instagramed it during my flurry of Paris preparation, and I fell in love. In only a slightly obsessive burst of excitement, I searched for it on Google street view, in the hopes it would be a nice secluded spot to take photos. It looks like Nicole did one of her beautiful photoshoots here, in which I’m sure she did a much better job than our exhausted, jet-lagged selves (plus, the lens we brought with us couldn’t quite get everything in the photo…damn!). Can’t wait for her to post it on her blog!

Details – Banana Republic Factory blazer (similar from Gap) • J.Crew sweater • Banana Republic shirt • Rag & Bone jeans • J.Crew belt • Miu Miu shoes (in black – similar here & here) • Givenchy handbag (in the larger “medium” size – similar from Kate Spade & 30% off with code FALL13FF, ends today! – similar from Michael Kors & in smaller size) • Michael Kors watch • Gorjana rings

Altered – Rag & Bone jeans have been hemmed & the ankle slimmed
 
 
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