There’s More to Europe Than Great Food, Amazing Fashion, & Pretty Skylines.

Me at the Louvre!

All the things you hear about going to Paris and falling in love are absolutely true.  I know, I speak from first hand experience.

For those of you new here, I spent Easter and the following week in Paris with my sister who is studying abroad there.  We also spent the second weekend I was there in London (60£ round trip bus fare, how could we not?).  Words cannot express how much I loved this trip, especially since we did so much in the little time I was there.  Paris, especially.  It’s the most beautiful city I’ve ever been to, and I’ve had wonderful opportunities to visit other cities in Europe as well.  Paris is by far my favorite.

I gush about Parisian fashion here.  I raved about the food with my coworkers all week.  Now I hope to gush about everything else I saw and learned while I was there:

You can’t take anything “to go”
I was shocked to find that when I got off the plane in Paris. I wanted to grab a coffee (iced, in fact) quick and get back to my sister’s apartment.  She kind of chuckled and told me they don’t do that in France, except for at Starbucks or McDonald’s- both of which are American companies.  At first, I was shocked.  But as the week went on, I saw the appeal of staying put.  Enjoying your coffee with pain au chocolat (sweet bread filled with chocolate. YUM) while enjoying the company of your family or friends allows you to appreciate the simplest things a everything the city has to offer- food and good company.

The metro/subway/underground can be simple
Both Paris and London have incredibly easy public transportation, especially the metros.  By the second or third day in Paris, I was getting the different lines and where to transfer.  London offered a simple underground as well, and Angela and I were pros before we left.  There were very little transfers on both, and the names of the lines were in the direction of where you were going (not A/C/E OR 4/5/6).  Both even tell you when the next train is coming on an electronic board on the platform.  New York City, you should be taking notes.

Tradition is VERY important
In England, you know that the country has a Prime Minister and a royal family.  However, the Prime Minister actually “runs” the country.  My sister and I are still trying to figure out what the royal family does, but even if it’s not much, the tradition is the most important thing.  Since we don’t have that kind of history in the USA, I find the whole thing completely fascinating.  We can (and should) embrace our own traditions, whether it be on a nationwide, regional, local, or family level.  Without them, who are you as a person?

Cities don’t have to be so “angry”
Sometimes when I’m in New York City, it feels, I don’t know, angry. Maybe it’s because I’ve encountered rude people working in the subway, or people aren’t willing to help you if you get lost.  I didn’t experience that at all in Paris or London.  Many people talk about how rude the French are, especially to Americans.  I say FORGET THAT STEREOTYPE.  If you try and embrace the French culture, they will respect you in return.  That is the same for any other country or city in Europe, especially where they don’t speak English.  If you’re thinking about traveling abroad, get a basic language book and read up.  More often than not, you will be respected for your efforts.

Perhaps the biggest lesson I learned is how much I love to travel and see new places.  I can’t wait to go on my next European adventure!

Have you ever traveled abroad?  What are some lessons you learned while away?  How did you incorporate them into your every day life?

Here are a few of my favorite pictures that I took while away. For more pictures of my trip (350+ of them], click here :)

The Eiffel Tower Is Calling My Name. Je vais à PARIS!

[Editor's note: this post serves more as a public service announcement.]

Bonjour mes amies! I wanted to give everyone the heads up, since today would be my scheduled post for the week:

I leave for Paris on THURSDAY!

Dans trois jours! C’est incroyable!!!! (in 3 days! It’s incredible!!)

…wish I remembered more French than I actually do…

In case you haven’t heard, I am going to Paris (and newly added London) to visit my sister who’s studying abroad in France. Very excited for the whole thing: to see my sister, to see Paris and London, to have vacation, and I’ve been tres vocal about my excitement since I booked my trip (apologizes if it was too much excitement haha).

For anyone who stops by here until I return on April 12th, the content will remain the same. This week is crazy busy with packing, running errands after work, etc. and I certainly can’t promise to update while I’m away.  Rest assured, though, that there will be PLENTY to talk about when I return.  Especially marketing, product placement, advertising, social media, basically everything that I love.  Not including food, my traveling adventures, and fashion (which will be saved for my Posterous).  I will be taking plenty of notes (written and mental) with lots of good stuff for when I come back.  Never fear!

Until April 12th! Au revoir!! :) :) :)

“How You Doin’, Resolutions?” March Style

Normally, my “check in on resolutions” post comes the first post of every month.  But last week, I chose to write about my experiences with risk-taking because it was happening at that time.  How would one more week hurt my review of my professional resolutions?  Not too much.

My website design, so far. Gotta keep up with resolution #2!

For those of you just tuning in now, first of all hello!  Second of all, this post serves as a reminder of my professional resolutions for 2010 (click here to read from December) and how I can continue to achieve these goals.  As of February, it was so far, so good. Let’s see how March is measuring up:

1. Budget: It’s ok.  I still have two savings accounts, each with a portion of my monthly income going into each.  I decided that one will be saved for traveling since it’s becoming a passion of mine.  The other is earmarked for the future.  Other than that, seems to be going well.  I don’t eat out too much.  Don’t shop as much.  Go out once in a while.  And another student loan just went into repayment this month- horray (*please note sarcasm here. Thanks*).
2. Relearn Adobe Dreamweaver: I’m really wishing that I didn’t sell back my college book for Dreamweaver now.  Tutorial books are so expensive!  Then I realized that Adobe has tutorial videos on their website for free, which is a lot nicer than $25.  So I think I might invest in a book about CSS and use the tutorials on Adobe’s website.  I have to start building a website for myself and as soon as I have a free weekend, I will do so.
3. Consistently Update This Blog: So far, so good.  I’ve kept this blog updated once a week while managing a Posterous blog about fashion, which is updated 5-7 times a week.  That one is easier to update.  Less pressure, mostly just pictures and a few sentences.  These posts require a bit more thought.
4. Travel: Just made it up to NYC in February.  I should be heading back to NYC this weekend coming up as well.  It’s just so close, how can I stay away for too long?  I’m saving all of my money for Paris on April 1 :) I’m also planning another trip back to Baltimore, a visit to DC, and a weekend getaway to Atlanta where my best friend lives.  All in the works, though.  Nothing concrete yet.
5. Continuing to Freelance: My freelance gig from the beginning of these posts still isn’t finished yet, so this resolution is going well so far.  I also might have another project with a company I used to work for.  Hopefully I’ll be able to build a website for my business (and this blog) soon, which will also be part of freelancing.

So that’s where we are in 2010!  I think I’m doing well so far.  There is clearly room for improvement, but I think writing out these posts is a great way to keep me on track with my goals.

How are your resolutions coming along?  Where are you doing well?  What can you improve on as we start a new month?

How You Doin’, Resolutions?

So, today is February 1st. Today marks one month into the new year, my health insurance from work finally kicking in (!!!) and 2 months until I take a little trip.  In honor of this day, I decided to evaluate the first 31 days of the year to see how I’m living up to my professional resolutions I hope to achieve this year.

1. Budget: Ok, this one I’ve slacked on a bit.  But I haven’t been frivolously spending money I don’t have.  I have a few commitments that were financially straining, like being in a wedding, and aside from those purchases I was pretty good.  I generally don’t spend a lot of money going out with friends, or shopping, or anything else a 20-something girl might do.  Also, I do have money taken out of every pay check and put into two separate savings accounts just in case I need it.
2. Relearn Adobe Dreamweaver: Constantly think about it, but haven’t made any moves as of today. I hope to get out and buy a book about Dreamweaver CS4 this week.
3. 

   Image credit to my sister :)

   Consistently  update this blog: Since the new year, I’ve been updating my posts once a week.  As for upgrading the account, haven’t gotten there yet.  The wedding took up a lot of my spare time (in helping my friend get everything together), but now that it’s over, I will have more time to work on the blog…and relearn Dreamweaver…

4. Travel: I’ve been most successful in keeping this resolution.  In January, I traveled to New York City; West Point, NY; and Baltimore, MD.  And I will continue traveling as the year progresses!  Shortly after the new year started, I booked a trip to visit my sister in Paris leaving April 1. Additionally, a trip to Atlanta is in the works to visit my newly wed friend, who’s living in the area with her husband until the summertime.
5. Continue to freelance: Considering a freelance job I started in November isn’t finished yet, I’d say I’m keeping up with this one very well.  This specific project should be finished by March, though.  I also got another call about a small gig that I need to discuss this week

Writing this out tells me where I am as of February 1, what I’m doing well and where I can improve.  It’s great to see it and this post will serve as a constant reminder of what I want to achieve this year.

How are your resolutions coming along?  Where are you doing well?  What can you improve on as we start a new month?