Kate Spade Surprise Sale!

Kate Spade's Surprise Sale starts today and ends Thursday at midnight! This sale comes around a few times a year and is perfect for bargain hunters and those of us on student budgets who love nice things at a nicer price! Here's a few of the things included in the sale that I'm loving:

Cross body bags are perfect for summer. They're large enough to hold my sunnies, my Clinique chubby stick in hot pink, my phone and a few other necessities. But they're also small enough that they don't get in my way if I'm jumping up to cheer at a baseball game or riding my bike around town. Plus, the royal blue matches nearly my entire summer wardrobe!

Pineapples just scream summer and these cute studs are the perfect pair of earrings to pair with my sundresses for a fun finishing touch.

This bright pink lace top is calling my name. Anyone who knows me knows those are my two favorite fashion choices and the two together is even better. I'd wear this top with dark or white skinnies and my favorite nude Kate Spade strappy wedges to go out for dinner and drinks downtown.

I certainly don't need any more shoes, but I still might have to add this adorable pair to my collection. Combining black and brown, they're the perfect neutral pair to go with everything in my closet. Plus, who can no to a bow?

This colorful travel themed scarf would be great to keep in my purse to throw on when the sun goes down and the temperatures cool off at night. I love anything travel related and all the bright colors would go with everything. I'd keep this in my bag for when I'm downtown on a restaurant's patio and don't want the cooler night temperatures to drive me inside!

 What items from the sale are on your must-order list? I've certainly got my eye on a few things!

Summer Sandals

One of my favorite things about summer is getting to wear sandals. Apart from flip-flops, espadrilles are my favorite go-to style. From flat ones to throw on for Saturday trips to the Farmers Market, to pretty lace ones, to tall ones that help out my measly five foot two inch self, I love them all! Below is a roundup of variety of my favorites available for this summer:

J.Crew’s Factory store offers this canvas, closed-toe pair. They’re nearly four inches, but the wedge is much easier for me to walk in than a four inch heel would be. I love these in the neutral khaki color to throw on with the sundresses I live in during the summer.

Ralph Lauren makes this silk shantung pair. I bought them on sale last year in black and will have to re-invest in another pair this year- I wore them so much, they’re a mess! They’re low enough to run around town in, but high enough to feel a little more special than flip-flops. Plus the peep-toe lets your bright-colored pedicure show!

Tory Burch’s striped, flat espadrille is on my must-order list. The flat sole makes them the perfect casual shoe, but the stripes add an extra cute summery touch.

Coach: like the Tory Burch sandals, this Coach pair is a flat sole. They’re the open, strappier cousins to the closed-toe Tory Burch espadrilles. They would be my ideal flat sandals to throw on with a cute shirtdress to go browse produce at the market downtown on a Saturday morning.

This striped pair from Bass combines two of my favorite styles for summer: blue and stripes. The leather trim makes them look high-quality, but they’re super affordable!

 Which pair is your favorite?

Paris, Je T'aime

Paris has long been one of my favorite cities. When I was in middle school and we were given the choice of studying either French or Spanish, my Daddy promised me that he would take me to Paris if I learned to speak fluent French. He later joked that he meant Paris, Kentucky (not funny!) but nonetheless helped me buy a plane ticket to France to visit my boyfriend who was studying abroad there. He and I took the train up from Marseille to Paris- the best way to travel. I loved Paris. I felt so lucky to have gotten to see a city I thought I would only dream about; I never expected to go back. But exactly three years later, my boyfriend and I got the opportunity to finish our semester abroad in London by visiting my favorite city. Here are some pictures re-capping our trip:

This was the view from our hotel room. We stayed in Montparnasse, which is the 14th arrondisement. Our room had great big windows (big enough for me to sit in!) which I threw open as soon as we dropped our bags.

The Eiffel Tower. I love Paris' landmark so much, my boyfriend bought me the Tiffany's charm of it for Christmas the year we first went. I haven't taken it off since. It is truly a sight to see. My favorite thing to do in Paris is stop by a farmers market and eat a picnic lunch starring up at La Tour Eiffel.

Notre Dame. As beautiful as the outside of the building is, with its sweeping flying buttresses and rose garden, the inside is enough to move you to tears. The rose window is unbelievably gorgeous. The line was too long for us to go inside while we were there this time, but I'll always remember how overwhelming it was to see it the first time. If you walk behind Notre Dame and then across from Ile de la Cite to Ile Saint-Louis there's also a great ice cream shop- Bertillon- get the dark chocolate in a giant cone!

If anything can beat the Eiffel Tower during the day, it's the Eiffel Tower at night. Every hour on the hour, there's a light show that makes it look as if it's glittering. Gorgeous.

What city have you always dreamed of visiting?

There's No Place Like Home

    

     After four plus long months of being away from my home and family, I finally returned to the States late Friday night. When I landed in Atlanta, I turned on my phone to find that my little brother had been texting me updates about how far I was from home- he'd been tracking my flight online. That sweet gesture, combined with the thought of being back on American soil, one step closer to my family made me so happy. Finally landing in my hometown airport a few hours later made me so happy I teared up as we taxied to the jetway - I was just so overwhelmed at the thought of being home.
      It's cliche to say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it's absolutely true. My younger brother and sister and I have not always gotten along. My brother is a typical seventeen-year-old swaggering his way through the remainder of high school, too cool for his big sister to cheer at his games. My sister and I are so close in age- a mere 18 months - we've not always seen eye to eye about things and have had more than one fight over 'borrowing' clothes from my closet. But regardless of those differences, they both made the effort to make sure that I knew what was going on with them, calling and iMessaging me regularly throughout the semester. I got to scream and shout with my sister when she got her assignment to cover the NCAA Tournament and I got to tear up looking at pictures of my brother in his tux going to junior prom. There were times while I was gone that I was devastated to be missing events at home, but I appreciated how thoughtful my siblings were to keep me informed about their lives.
     With my last year of law school approaching a few short months from now, I'm sure that it will be a while before I have any more exciting European adventures. I'm certainly unlikely to make it out of the country between case briefs, papers, and exams. But what being away has reminded me of is all the fun that I can have right here at home, and all of the things that I missed so much while I was gone. These days, I'm grateful just for the little pleasure of getting a good barbecue sandwich and moseying over to my alma mater to watch my brother play baseball.

    What did you/would you miss most about your hometown?

Travel Is The Only Thing You Buy That Makes You Richer

This has long been one of my favorite quotes and has resounded more forcefully with me throughout this semester. One of the best things about living abroad this semester was the ease with which I could travel to any number of countries, even if just for a long weekend. That was made even easier by the fact that school gave us a two-week Spring Break- I was able to spend a week in Italy seeing Florence and relaxing in Cinque Terre, spend the weekend back in London and then do a whirlwind tour of Amsterdam, Brussels, Bruges, and Luxembourg. I even got to take my boyfriend to Dublin as surprise for his birthday and spend a weekend in Deauville, France.

After finals ended on Thursday, my boyfriend and I were able to catch a Eurostar train to Paris for the long weekend. Apart from getting to go to one of my favorite cities, it was so exciting to have the new experience of taking a train through the Chunnel. Even though it was so stressful to plan a trip while I was still taking exams, it was the best possible final trip for the semester. Paris is always beautiful; Paris in the Spring is even better. More so than just that, it’s wonderful to immerse yourself in the language and the culture for a few days. From the farmers markets to the très delicious croissants, and the gorgeous sites, France makes for a great trip. The experience of being able to go to countries with a cultural history stretching back so much earlier than America’s founding is truly an education in itself, and one that everyone should experience!

While this semester has undoubtedly been an expensive experience, I'm so grateful for the worldly education it has provided me. I could easily have stayed home and spent the money on new clothes or shoes or something. The memories I've acquired while I've been here will last much longer than any of those material things. Learning from other people, learning new languages, (poorly, mind you!) trying new foods and seeing new things is a growing experience. Spending time in so many countries has definitely widened my worldview, exposed me to different cultures, and yes, made me richer in the most important ways.