The Department Store of My Dreams

This whole section makes me want to be much more invested in clothes than I am.

When I was a small child, I honestly believed that I had never been to a department store. I read all these nineteenth century books that featured department stores, and dreamed of the day when I would get to visit one myself.

Imagine my disappointment when I realized that the J.C. Penney's in the mall was a department store. Despite my very public distaste for shopping, I had thought that department stores would provide a new and transcendent shopping experience only to discover that my family had been dragging me through a department store all along.

And then, on Thursday, I found the store that I thought existed only in my dreams. It's name is Merci, and I am absolutely floored by its existence. Imagine visiting the store from The Paradise, except it's the twenty-first century and none of the attendants try to speak to you. (My introverted self is loving the lack of customer service in Paris.) Or, visualize me approaching the shopping experience as enthusiastically as Elle Woods' character in the Legally Blonde song Take It Like a Man. The displays are charming, and, of course, the papeterie section is to die for. To top it all off, they have a used book café attached to the store!

This lights and terrarium display is such an aesthetic.

Please enjoy the 2 second video that earned me a very annoyed glance from a nearby Parisian

This well-organized display is devoted to the luxurious art of toothbrushing.

I really appreciate the lighting and placement of this flower display.

I will be returning to this blog very soon with a general life/study/travel update, but, for today, I wanted to take the time to share my joy at discovering a place that I thought lived only in my imagination.

À la prochaine,

Lydia

Comments

The Grouchiest Blog Post

Hello! This post is literally just Grumpy Lydia complaining. If that sounds miserable, congratulations! You have my full permission to click away now. If that sounds like something you wouldn't mind reading, please enjoy and/or suffer through this list of Lydia's Miseries. I was on vacation in Italy all last week, which means that there are many lingering tasks that have not been completed. My flight was delayed on Monday, which means that I missed class, which has led to me being even more behind. Housing selection was yesterday, and I am trying to force myself to come to terms with the fact that I'm pretty much definitely going to be living alone next year, which will contribute to my depression next year and makes me feel lonely in the present. There are just, like, a lot of lingering thoughts that I cannot find the words to write about. It is cold and wet and sad outside, which means that a Self-Imposed Walk to Help With Lingering Sadness would probably jus

Friends, I'm Trying to Keep In Touch

Hello, friends! I feel like the only thing worse than spending 85% of your life on social media is talking constantly about the fact that you are no longer spending 85% of your life on social media. However, I must explain that, since deciding to take a break from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, I have realized that those platforms allowed me to have a sense of social connection without much actual social connection. It is easy to feel connected to someone when you see the mundane details of their existence on Instagram Stories, watch them have mental breakdowns on Twitter, and read the articles they share on Facebook. Without those sources of information on my friends' lives, I began to realize that I hadn't actually been talking to that many people. Despite interacting with friends on Twitter, responding to their Instagram stories, and participating in conversations in Soka's sketch comedy club's group chat, I wasn't spending much time cultivating my friendship

Reviewing My August 2019 Goals

This is an image of my desk during Fall Semester 2018. On the right side of the photo, there is a vintage Singer sewing machine which, unfortunately, does not work. To the left of the sewing machine, there is a crate books inside. On top of the crate, there is a stack of Rookie Yearbooks with a crocheted jellyfish (wearing glasses) on top of it, and a picture frame containing a print that reads "all the time". To the left of the crate, there are a few more books. In lieu of a proper bookend, I have placed a tarot deck (stored in a black makeup bag) and a book-themed Halloween decoration (featuring book spines with the words "Potions", "Hexes", and "Spells") to keep my books from toppling over. I chose this photograph because, unlike my current desk, this desk looks like it belongs to someone who creates monthly goals. Hello! At the start of this month, I made a list of goals. As September 1 draws near, I am l

Slanted Rays

Search This Blog