Collier de la Concorde

Settling into a new home is never easy, but it sure is an adventure. In the past week I have hit almost all the major tourist attractions (Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Montparnasse Tower, Arc de Triomphe, etc.) and they have been everything I imagined and then some! While I will be mixing in pictures of these beauties, I would like to share the less seen and smaller details of Paris that I find stunning like this gorgeous pillar that is a few blocks from the Louvre. 

Top 3 highlights:

1. Attending GlassCamp- a Hackathon in Paris where everyone created projects relating to Google Glass- while I only understood about 50% of what was happening, it was really cool to start to find the startup scene here!

2. Going to the Musee D'Orsay and seeing some of my favorite artists then having a picnic on the Seine after

3. Having an interview for the Google BOLD internship which I am waiting hear back about the results!

Bonjour Paris!

Description: My first sighting of the Eiffel Tower was not your stereotypical view. It was so foggy I couldn't even see the top. I loved it even more because of this! I translated it into a foldover clutch with the tip of the Eiffel Tower as the portion that would be folding. 

I decided to get back up and blogging for my semester abroad in Paris! In the next 4 months I will be taking pictures of inspirational monuments, little hidden gems, or anything I find inspiring and then interpreting it into art of any kind. Translation: I don't have my sewing machine. So I will be blending my sketching and traditional art with a touch of graphic design. Bare with me! 

The transition to Parision life has been full of crêpes, jet lag, and strolls on the Seine. Not too shabby. It has definitely been a culture shock but one I know will be well worth it. I will be taking business and entrepreneurship classes, potentially interning at a startup, and blogging as much as possible. 

The biggest reason I chose to start this type of blog again is because the 55 Purses NYC pushed me to start everyday looking for the beauty in everything. My goal is to inspire you to start your search for beauty in every puddle, step, or journey you take! Allons-y (let's go) 

Alibaba Empowering Women Contest

 

When I found out I was chosen as the winner of the #EmpowerWomen Contest through Alibaba.com, I had no idea that it was going to be a life changing experience! They informed me I was going to be flown to San Francisco and New York to be personally mentored by 5 incredible women. It sounded too good to be true! 

It was true. I just returned back to State College from SF, and had the most incredible week of my life. I was housed in a beautiful hotel, graciously hosted by awesome employees from Alibaba, and was introduced to the most inspiring women I have encountered. When I arrived, I had meetings from the point I woke up everyday until I went to sleep, and found myself smiling uncontrollably all day long. I was so empowered by being surrounded by such inspirational women and felt so blessed to be given this opportunity. Thank you so much to Alibaba, the incredible mentors, and everyone I met while I was in the Valley! 

 Mentored by Jacqueline Linder, CEO of Lunchbots. She helped me tremendously by sharing her experience in product development, building a team, outsourcing, and branding. She had an phenomenal ability to help identify which aspects of my business I need to improve and helped me instantly with awesome feedback. It was incredible to hear her story of success and it was a pleasure to meet her!

 Mentored by the VP of Women 2.0, Sepideh Nasiri. Sepideh was generous enough to share her incredible insight on starting a business as a young entrepreneur, growing quickly, and perspectives on being a women in tech. It was awesome to see their office in a co working space in SF! There was so much energy and passion in the office.

Mentored by Rieva Lesonsky, CEO of GrowBiz Media. Rieva gave me awesome insight into how to pursue your dream. I was inspired by her story of becoming the first female editor of any business magazine (she was the Editor for Entrepreneur Magazine). My favorite quote from Rieva: "There is no such thing as balance: it is just constant calibration." 

 Delicious lunch with the Clark and Eddie, the founders of Fluzzle Tube. They shared their story of success as fellow young entrepreneurs and inspired me tremendously. They were able to design, patent, and get their product into big box stores in one year! Pretty amazing!

 Survey Monkey HQ for Founder Friday by Women 2.0. It was awesome to network with like-minded women who have passions in all different fields!

The lovely illuminated streets of Palo Alto. I fell in love with this town instantly! 

 Google HQ with Candice Huang,  the U.S. PR manager for Alibaba Group.  She was an absolutely incredible host and introduced me to her friend who works for Google who gave us a tour of their beautiful campus. Candice was so generous with her time and she truly wanted to help me succeed. I feel so lucky to have met her!

A dream come true visiting Google HQ!

Google HQ Android Building

The Avatar Hotel in Santa Clara

Santana Row for a beautiful outdoor dinner

ROADTRIP RECAP

So after 42 hours of driving with John (he drove 39 of those hours...), 11 states, and 14 days, our journey is finally winding down! I have compiled a photo graphic of our trip below and hope you enjoy. 

I want to thank everyone who graciously hosted us along the way! It was an absolutely incredible journey and am so fortunate to have been able to take it. We did the whole trip in 7 days and for the past 7 days I have been helping John settle in to his new apartment. I am loving this California weather and can't wait to move out here after I graduate!

I also just updated my website and am holding a Back to School Sale where everything is up to 50% off! So now is the time to get your SmartPurse while it's on sale. John is also helping me write a script for a video, so I will share that with you ASAP! 

I fly home on Wednesday and then move to Penn State on Friday, so once I get back to school I will be able to consistently blog again. Thank you again to everyone who hosted us on our incredible trip!

ROADTRIP

Tomorrow, I embark on a cross country road trip with my boyfriend! Here is the route we will be taking. I look forward to updating you on our journey!

Day 55: BYE BYE NYC

Inspirations: So this is my farewell to New York City...for now. A few short months ago, I was given  a life-changing opportunity to reside in NYC for the summer while working for a fabulous fashion startup called Keaton Row. Even though it was only a little over 55 days, I have learned so much about New York, myself, and my business. I have been able to connect with a myriad of wonderful people, make friends who I am sure will last a lifetime, spot breathtaking sights every day, and experience things that I believed only happened in the movies! 

Reflecting back on this summer, I compiled a collage of all the pictures I took as inspiration for this blog. Every single picture holds with it a cherished memory and something that I may never have captured if I didn't embark on this personal challenge. I truly searched for beauty every single day and was able to observe a new facet of New York even on my routine walk to work.

I also wanted to thank all of you who have read this blog and given me such wonderful support and positive feedback. I appreciate your love and encouragement tremendously and would not be where I am today if it weren't for each of you!

 For the month of August, I will be going on a cross country road-trip with my boyfriend to help him move to LA. I will do my best to post pictures whenever I get Wi-Fi, but we have plans to camp in Kansas...so I am not counting on that! I won't be sewing until I return from the trip, however upon my return I plan to start a new Challenge and am excited to announce what that will be! 

Thank you again, and I hope that this blog can be an inspiration to seek beauty in every situation, everyone, and everything!

Purses.

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