what it’s like to live alone in paris...museums, routines, & i’m moving?!

Auto-captioned from the film, lightly cleaned. Elena's words, not edited prose.

Are you kidding me? I feel like this has to be the most peaceful little corners of Paris that I found recently. It's very foresty this time of year and yet this little courtyard is completely empty. Good morning. Hopefully looking slightly less exhausted than I did in the courtyard earlier. Maybe because I finally have having a proper cup of coffee. But I want to take a second to show you guys a brand that I've been absolutely adoring. Typology. Typology is huge in France and Paris. You've seen it everywhere. And I feel like it's finally making the waves it deserves in the US cuz it is such an incredible brand.

It's formulated and it's created here in Paris. And it's basically just really great skin care that you can also use to kind of have a makeup effect. So, I'm going to be getting ready with some of my favorite products. Starting off with the serum. Of course, this has vitamin C and squaline and aloe vera. And I always try to use a vitamin C in the morning. So, if I can do that while also getting like a really nice skin tint without having to put on any makeup after this, it is a win-win for me.

Look at that very nice subtle coverage while I'm doing good things for my skin. As is their concealer, which has caffeine and nioinamide. And then last, but certainly not least, we have the lip oil, which has vitamin E, squaline, and joba oil. So, I like that this has just a very subtle hint of color while mostly providing just like a nice light shine and hydration. I'm also going to add a little bit of her glow drops. And so, I like these glow drops for yes, a bit of highlight. I want to have my collar bones out.

I love rubbing a little bit here. And also with vitamin C and aloe vera. And I also adore their hydrating milk. It's what I washed my face with this morning. The link will be down below, but also you can receive a free hydrating cleansing milk when you spend $40 or more on the Taipei website using my link. So check it out. It is incredible. It's my favorite skincare at the moment. If you're someone who likes a very natural, paired down kind of morning look, this is the brand for you. We love Let me get the rest of my bits together and we're going to head out in a second here.

One thing that's nice about Paris is there's always going to be someone coming to visit from the US, which is really nice to be able to get to see people cuz I'm like, it is one of those destinations where everyone wants to go. Let's get some coffee. I'm excited. coming together. There's nothing better when we're seeing the heart. Sunrises, sunsets. I know every time. The best kind of sugar though in Paris. Yeah. I'm excited for this. I know. That's bold. That's a bold plane. Cheers. Cheers. Okay. All over. Mhm. Oh, look.

So good. Hopefully not for like the layers. No. And be free and a beef. They're like, we want some of that. Oh my god. to high some People know just how it is. And I know I got to stand my ground. Some people say what's on their mind. And I swear I never treated you right. Slowing me down for a while. So many people can places. Regard over. Superintendent Hello. How are we? How are we doing? Oh, let me hide the dogs. Oh my god, I feel like I have so much to chat about.

I feel like this is a very chatty vlog that if you don't enjoy chats, this is maybe not the video for you. It has officially been a year and a half since I moved to Paris, which is crazy. My like original kind of intention was get the year-long visa. I found a sublet for about 8 and 1 half 9 months in 2024. And I kind of thought that was going to be it. Like I would do my almost year-long stint and have like a year abroad working on a language and a different culture.

And obviously it was a huge risk coming alone and not knowing if I was going to make friends, not knowing if I was going to be able to figure out the French systems, if I'd find decent places to stay. It's actually quite kind of like a bigger risk work-wise, which might sound a little bit silly. As a content creator, moving abroad can take like a huge hit on like your brand deals. I don't know if any of you guys noticed, but like I've done a lot less brand deals in 2025, and that is kind of consequence of moving abroad.

But I was like now is the time. I was 27. My lease was up and then when the end of the year rolled around, I was like, you know, I don't really feel like my time here is finished. I wasn't ready to like move back to New York. I still have the stay storage unit I've been paying way too much money for now. So, I kind of had the loose idea of like maybe move back to New York, but not really feeling like that was the right pull. This year has been very interesting kind of limbo year where I've been doing more adventure kind of based trips this year, which I always love.

It brings me so much joy. Going to Usbekistan and Kyrgystan. I'm going to Rwanda and Uganda soon and I'll go to Sikotra by the end of the year. As a little girl, I loved Indiana Jones. I loved Laura Croft as an adult. I've loved Anthony Bourdain. So, there's a small inner child of me that just dreams of being them. I found my own very girly pop version of getting to adventure and hopefully create interesting stories. So, while I have adored my time in Paris, I do feel like this is my final year here.

Like, I feel like I've gotten out of it what I wanted to get out of it. I've met some amazing people. I've grown so much. Like holy crap. Talk about like extreme expedited growth to put yourself in a uncomfortable situation alone. I've found love this year. The most like beautiful gift and experience. So I did not expect that. I have definitely had a lot of like reflection recently about being really ready to kind of put in more root somewhere and build more of a home and have a sense of just like routine and stability.

But as you get older and you've done kind of the opposite of that for several years, you do, I think, kind of finally find that inner desire that sometimes when you're younger, you think you'll never want. I remember 21-year-old me would be like, we're digital and nomading for life. This is the dream. Then me, 28, almost 29, I'm like, I would love a home with a garden and some great friends and dinner parties. Yes, I still want to travel and see the world, but I want to do that coming from a place of like stability with like beautiful practices and routines that make me feel healthy and happy and connected.

So, yeah, that's a bit of yapping. My uh triceps getting a bit tired. I believe. Wow, this is horrible lighting. Welcome to my very unesthetic kitchen. I got this cute shirt, Cafe Shaloo, the other day when I went to Cafe Shaloo, and my friend very kindly just bought us some shirts in there tonight. I'm absolutely over the moon right now because I'm about to have a very cozy night in. We're going to make a yummy salad. I have some chocolate ice cream. I'm going to do a face mask. We're going to watch a movie.

Especially if you live in a city, when you walk around, it just seems like everyone is up to something fun and like constantly hanging out with friends. I'm making a whole video on comparing New York to Paris and there's a whole like section on socializing and making friends because it's just been interesting. So, but I'm reminding myself how much to cherish these sweet evenings of like living alone in a beautiful city, getting to cook myself a meal, watch whatever movie I want to watch, and how like just special and rejuvenating that time is.

Good morning. I woke up feeling tired and a bit anxious. And that's when I don't get good sleep or I unfortunately scroll on my phone before bed. I wake up with a little bit of anxiety. And the best way for me personally to remedy that is to get outside and move my body. So, we're going to go on a little hot girl walk and possibly pop into the gym after and walk towards the sun. I I will say it's been 6 months since I visited the US and I'm like getting to that point where I'm like you know what I do be American.

I don't agree with the politics but I do miss certain things about the US. Everyone I've met in Europe is like what is going on? I don't know. I'm asking the same questions. It's like the longer I'm away, the more I'm aware of my Americanness and I'm able to like redefine that Americanness, I know that's not a word, as something beyond just like what it's kind of become, which is this like toxic patriotism. And of course, the US is absolutely massive and every state feels culturally very distinctive. Anyway, I haven't had my coffee yet.

This is this is not the right order of events. Hello. While journaling as an adult, we need to bring back our bucket list. I used to always do that as a teenager and I'd have so much fun like coming up with different things to learn and try. I want to create like a little bucket list of things to excite me and look forward to while I'm here. Kind of challenge myself to get out of my normal routine. So, I kind of started writing a bit of this bucket list. I've been to like most of the Paris museums, even some of the smaller ones.

So, I kind of want to revisit some of my favorites and just allow myself to kind of roam and see what sticks out to me. Cuz at the end of the day, I'm like, art is about what causes you to feel something. And I'm curious like what causes me to kind of stop in my tracks now and just kind of pay attention to that and observe that while living in one of the greatest capitals in the world for art. I also want to work on like reaching out to people that I want to get to know better.

And it is more work to make friends as an adult. It gets harder the older you get cuz like we'll have more cemented friend groups. It just takes a more like concerted effort. It's a bit cheesy. Bear with me. but also genuinely just trying to lean into the uh whimsy of life, dare I say. I am somebody who like moves fast, likes me on the go, and like it's just this like concentrated effort the older I get to be like slow down, be present, and I think I will try to cross something off on this little Saturday.

Hi. Hello. Having such a cute time hanging out with my friend. It's cute cuz her English is a bit limited and my French is definitely limited. So, we always teach each other a little bit of both, which is nice. had a lovely very fresh tea in the sun and I have a tip deik event tonight which I feel like I should go to but I don't know anyone going and I don't have anyone I can invite right now so I think I'm going to go solo and be brave and conquer my fears of social anxiety.

So let's go.