So far, the best five months of my life have been the ones I spent living and studying in Paris. I was fortunate enough to be able to study dance at Le Centre de Danse de Paris Goubé and film at La Sorbonne Nouvelle (when the students weren’t on strike). Since the Métro workers were on strike for a lot of the time I was there, too, I spent most of my time walking. I now know Paris better than any other city I’ve been to, even my native Boston.

Learning how to get absolutely everywhere by foot and having lots of canceled classes and thus time to go to museums and historical landmarks by myself, gave me an appreciation for this perfect city that I never even expected to gain. Paris always seemed like a fantasy, some romanticized old Hollywood movie version of a place, and I always thought the reality could never live up to this dream. It absolutely exceeded it. I was lucky. I lived with an excellent host family, a retired actress and a retired chef… jackpot! I had a gorgeous room with my own balcony of fresh flowers. Did I mention my balcony looked directly out on to the Eiffel Tower?

Yes, I got homesick at times, but it was the only time I felt like I was really on my own without my family or Josh to rely on to get me out of any situations I may get myself into. I felt proud of myself the entire time I was there. Paris, tu me manques. Anyway, today was the launch of Madewell’s collaboration with Parisian designer, Morgane Sézalory of Sezane. They’ve flawlessly blended New York cool with Parisian tomboy elegance, and I need all of it. This ode to Paris is pretty great, too.