so I'm moving to paris in less than a month...

just for the summer BUT STILL!!!!! i can't believe it, let's chat about it.

Hi my loves!

This rainy Sunday is just hitting the spot for me right now. I have been running around the city like a crazy person the past few weeks - I have not had a cozy sweatpants day like this in so long. I am loving this busy spring season in NYC, but it is definitely draining me. I can’t believe its already May??? I feel like the first part of the year went by so slow and then all of the sudden BOOM summer’s here. And for me that means…I’m moving to Paris!? WTF!!!! I have been teasing this on social media for a while now, but I don’t think I’ve actually explained at all where this idea came from, what my plan is, the logistics, etc so I figured I’d lay it all out for you guys here :)

I also am thinking of all the best ways to document my big euro summer adventure and I think it would be really fun to do a weekly newsletter on here recapping each week, what I did, what I wore, etc. I am really going to Emily in Paris the SHIT out of this summer, sorry not sorry ;) ! But, I am really loving this Substack community we are building on here - I got a notification this week that my page is like #89 in rising fashion newsletters!? How freaking cool!? Thank you guys for being here as always!!!!

But anyways, back to Paris. If you have been following me for a minute, you know that I have gone to Paris quite a bit in the past few years. I first went with my best friend Jess on a little spontaneous girls trip in the Summer of 2022, and since then I have just been so drawn to going back there and have had some of my most special memories in my 20’s there. I did a 25th birthday trip w/ my best friends the next year, and then the year after we went for Jess’s bachelorette trip, I did a solo trip, PFW w my mom and then again by myself, just so many really incredible, special moments that have been so monumental for me in all aspects of my life. I really do believe the saying that if you are drawn to a place, there is a story written for you there. I can be a woo woo manifestation delulu girl for sure. I think everything happens for a reason and every decision you make leads you to exactly where you are supposed to be. So to answer the first question that everyone has been asking me…WHY ARE YOU MOVING TO PARIS?

I’m moving because of this gut feeling, this intuitional pull that is dragging me there. Yes, there are good amount of logistics working in my favor, which I’ll get to, but really I’m doing this because it feels as if my life is meant to have this adventure in it. Last summer, I did a two week Europe trip - Jess was planning her bach in Paris and I was like you know what I’m gonna book a one way flight and leave the option open to extend and add another trip. My dates ended up aligning perfectly with some friends and I went to Sardinia and the South of France, SO much fun. I was so pulled back to Paris that I ended up booking a last minute train from Cannes and literally booking an Airbnb the night before staying there; I just felt like I needed a few days to myself there. I travel a lot but I realized this was the first time I was actually going on a “solo trip” I guess, completely alone just for me!

While I was on that trip, I was shocked at how comfortable I felt in the city on my own. I know I’ve been many times and I have my spots, but I just felt this magic energy of like wow, this place is lighting up my soul. I spent a lot of time reflecting on all the special memories I had in that city, and just felt excited about the many more to come. There was a moment when I was like I REALLLLY want to make it happen for myself to spend a lot more time here, I would LOVE to do this all summer next summer…

And here we are now, WOW, As I write this it’s bringing me right back to that moment when I got so excited about this idea, and now here I am off to go and do it! :) Life has a weird way of pushing you in the right direction sometimes.

Right when I got back from that trip, I signed up for French classes at Coucou (which is the most amazing little French school in soho - I have a code if you guys are interested - SOPHIE10 :)) I went back for fashion week in September, which was so fun and exciting for me. In December when I went to Turks and Caicos I had talked to my parents about it more seriously for the first time and then a couple days later, my dad found a mini Eifell tower charm in the front yard of the house we were staying in. Like that had to be a sign!?

Slowly but surely all these little signs led me to making the move happen. Right now I am living in Soho in a 1 bedroom flex - I’ve been here since May 15th, my best friend Lauren and I moved here after living in the East Village for 3 years. I’ll have to do a whole other post on our chapter of living together. We grew up together in Seattle and to get to do this stage of life together as adults has been truly so special. She had decided that she wanted to move to BK after our lease was up, which felt like another moment of like ok this timing for Paris feels really right. I originally was going to keep the apartment for myself and continue the lease, but unfortunately my landlord won’t allow subletters, so I will be giving up the space. I have had SO many questions about subletting my apartment - I apologize to anyone who was interested in taking it for the summer, it is not available :( At first I was really upset, but now I feel like this was a blessing in disguise and I’ll come back to NYC and find a new, fun space. It will be my first time living alone and I am ready to start fresh w/ furniture, vibes etc. So I’ll be selling a ton of my furniture (stay tuned if your interested) and I’m putting my stuff into storage and running FREEEEE!!!!

I officially leave on June 2nd. I found an amazing apartment in a neighborhood I love. This was another one of those things that just was a true SIGN and fell into my lap. I had posted a couple times on IG stories about potentially moving to Paris and one of my lovely followers DMed me about a friend of hers who had an amazing apartment there. She put us into touch and voila, we made it happen! I feel so grateful for my community that is always there to help and make the world feel smaller. I have the apartment until August 31st so that is when I plan on coming back to New York for now. People keep telling me I’m never going to come back….I mean, you never know what can happen and where life can take you, but I do see myself in NYC forever and ever and have so much of my life here. We shall see tho!! The world is our oyster. How exciting.

I feel very blessed and have also worked VERY hard to be in a place in life where I am able to do this move. If you didn’t already know, I do content and social media full time - I quit my corporate fashion job at Bloomingdale’s about a year and a half ago and have truly never looked back. I went on an amazing podcast linked here where I go into more detail on my career journey. One amazing part of this job is that I can really do it from anywhere - yes, most of my opportunities are based in NYC…but essentially I am my job, so honestly traveling to new places and showcasing experiences like this is actually really great for my work! I have found that my online community specifically loves my Paris content, so while this move isn’t directly because of work, I do think it will be a great career opportunity, which I am really excited about. I hope to connect with French brands, creators, and just can’t wait to document my entire journey for you guys !!! Please tell me what you want to see!!

The most common question I have been getting is “do you have friends there?” which is so valid, it is so scary to move to a new place not knowing that many people…and honestly I don’t have any close close friends in Paris, but I have a handful of acquaintances and people there that I know. But, I love that for me - I LOVE making new friends and meeting new people - both experiences of moving to a new place for me in my 20’s (NOLA for college and then NYC) have been scary, but that has been the best part - all of the amazing experiences and relationships that I have found from diving into the unknown. My mom always said to me, “life begins outside of your comfort zone” which has really always stuck with me. If you are fellow Paris girly, say hi! DM me!!! But I’m also really excited to spend so much time with myself and grow and learn and just live! Many of my friends will be visiting me or I’ll meet up with them somewhere in Europe - I already have some tentative trips to Florence, Provence, St Tropez, and Mykonos…my vibe is just saying yes to any trip. Once again, I feel so blessed and have also worked so hard to be able to enjoy and afford these awesome experiences.

So yeah, off I go!!!! That’s the scoop :) I’m feeling really pumped, but my brain also can’t even go there yet. I don’t think it will hit me until I’m there. For now, I am enjoying the month of May in NYC, it is always one of my faves <3 but let me know any other questions you have and I cannot wait to take you all along this big adventure! Bonne nuit!!!

xoxo

Soco <3