paris postcard: wish list

love isabel marant....

isabel marant

1 rue jacob, 75006 paris, france

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© anita aguilar

pretty city, paris 2012: sweet stuff on la rue de babylone

how much do i love this couple?

note:

her dress, with cupcakes and tarts

her patterned tights and trimmed shoes

her lipstick (perfect, pink)

his cool kicks and button-fly

best of all: their sweet smiles

june 1, 2012 on rue bablyone, paris.

all photos © anita aguilar

paris postcard: pretty city girls

in the 16th arrondissement

@anita aguilar

paris postcard: pedal pushers

"anita can't ride a bike."

that's one of our big family secrets/jokes. i mean, i can. now. sort of.

we moved to paramus when i was in the second grade. we lived in a new development of two-family houses, on the edge of a cul de sac. we had lived in the bronx before then and play time outside was always a coordinated event after school or at a park, so it was neat to have, with the mere sliding of a glass door, a wide green space for cart-wheeling and a whole block that we could own in the afternoons. all the kids had bikes, and so my sister and i learned to ride, too.

i don't recall needing training wheels for too long--it was the turns got me. i always felt like i'd fall over! i'd breeze along, on my hot pink number, with the hot pink and white striped banana seat and the little vanity plate (which, trust me, took forever to find in paramus in the 1970s) and at the end of the cul de sac, i'd hop off the bike, walk it around the turn, and then get back on.

ridiculous, embarrassing, and no one in the family could figure out how i -- such an athletic little thing-- couldn't navigate a damn turn. it must have taken me a really long time to learn it--or it was just that compelling a picture--because it fed into the "can't ride a bike" reputation that haunts me now. part of me must believe it too, since it doesn't seem like a natural activity for me to pursue.

but paris makes you dreamy about such things. i considered renting a bike a few times during this trip but i remembered a promise to my aunt, that i'd send her a post card. i couldn't possibly risk riding along the streets of paris until i wrote to her...dear tita celia. paris is in full bloom. i love the big sky and the strong coffee. i thought of you as we dined at closerie las lilas. will rent a bike this afternoon...xoxo...

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some cool riders

first bike shot.

ooh la la --lace dress!

in st. germain

riverside--left bank

in st. germain

rue bonaparte...

in st. germain

in st. germain

my favorite guy: in montparnasse

paris postcard: lefty style

a trio of favorites from the left bank:

matchy-matchy is really such a no-no. but somehow these frenchies really pull it off...adorable

outside the bon marche...a girl with a flower in her hair and a brownie in her hand? perfect.

paris postcard: love padlocks, et al., at pont des arts

the view, from right bank to left

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thank you to oscar (l) and his friend for letting me take their photo

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love this mother/daughter moment...

may 27, 2011

all photos © anita aguilar

paris postcard: everyday clothes, st germain style

there were times during this vacation when i just wanted to park myself on one street corner and shoot "style."

fantastic french style would come at me all day long, but i was so often moving in the opposite direction...

this isn't really a lament--i love that there's still so much for me to discover in paris. it just means that what i'm posting here now is only one small sample of how the parisians dress for the spring sun....

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blue-la-la

le bag...

la ring...everything she's got, really

her smile

her belted blue...

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the color purple

i really liked this shot for the coca cola, too. i drink it rarely myself--when i do, it's also "regular," in a can. i just love to see people enjoying coca-cola all over the world...

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cool darks

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and...uh-oh...

"peek-a-boots"

paris postcard: "paris cool"

on a sunday in st germain...

rue de buci

rue grégoire de tours

rue de buci

rue de buci

may 22, 2011

© anita aguilar

paris postcard: roland garros style

shades

i mean, what is more parisian than this pose, with the ciggie and the cafe?

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hats

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flats

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prints

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reds

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pinks and purples

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and posies...

all photos taken on may 25 and 28, 2011.

© anita aguilar