Photo Apps You Need

I love apps. We all love apps. And a couple of months ago I posted about my favorite apps {here}, but since then, there are two more apps that I love. love. love. and that I think you need too! The first one is my new go-to photo app -- PicTapGo. This photo app was created by the amazing people behind Totally Rad! - a totally rad company that makes software for photographers, including the best actions for photoshop ever created (that's another story)! Anyway, I have been waiting for them to release an app for about a year now and my wishes were granted at the beginning of the month! So what makes this app different than the afterglow's and picfx's of the world? PicTapGo was designed with a photographer in mind. It adapts to your style, it learns your favorite photo effects and it allows you to create and save filter recipes. It's hands down the best photo app I've come across! Read more reviews {here}! 

The second app I'm loving right now is called Fast Camera. Sometimes something so awesome happens that you want to take a million photos at once just to get the perfect one. Or maybe you are obsessed with making animated gifs? If so, you are going to love Fast Camera. Simply fire up the app, adjust your settings as you see fit. You can include a countdown (perfect for when you want to set your phone up on a tripod and jump in the pic), limit the number of pictures it takes (it gets to 1000 pretty quickly!), specify the time between photos, and more. Once you’ve taken a series of shots, head to the review screen. Delete photos you don’t want, and select ones you want to keep. Export them to your camera roll, create a video or make an animated gif. Genius!

 I hope you enjoy!!! PS. Any new apps you are loving right now? xoxo.

Paris Recommendations

I have had quite a few emails asking for Paris recommendations or how I went about planning my trip, so I thought I would give a few tips and helpful links. Before our trip, I spent weeks browsing blogs, pinterest, and stalking friends for their recommendations so we could have the best itinerary ever! Here are some of the big recommendations -- stay tuned for a recap of our trip that will include restaurant, shopping & cafe favorites.

Paris Perfect - Since we were going to Paris for a week, I knew that I wanted to stay in an apartment to get that "true" Parisian feel. I checked out a few Paris apartment rental companies, but fell in love with Paris Perfect because of their beautifully decorated decor and their Eiffel tower views. You might remember when I booked my apartment {here}, but since then, we actually ended up in a different apartment. About a month before our trip, we found out that our super cute apartment was going to be under construction -- huge bummer! BUT, the owner of Paris Perfect had other plans for us and upgraded us to a beautiful one bedroom apartment at no additional cost. I love our apartment "Fleurie" so much and can't wait to stay there again! I would highly recommend renting an apartment for your holiday and I most definitely recommend Paris Perfect!

our apartment's family room

the cafe across the street from our apartment

Localers - is a tour company that allows you to experience France like a local Parisian. When I was researching things to do in Paris, they caught my eye because they don't have your typical "tours"; their tours include a portrait tour, a flea market tour, a fashion tour, a cinema tour, a day at the market with a chef, and the list continues! I chose the portrait tour so that Alejandro and I could get some good photos without worrying about handing our camera off to a stranger and trying to learn how to say "can you take our photo, please?" in French! :) After a little mishap with our scheduled tour and after finding out we recently got engaged, the founder of Localers, Romain, went out of his to make sure we got an amazing photo shoot! That's how we met Carin from Paris in Four Months! I would definitely recommend the portrait tour (ask for Carin), but I also can't wait to try another tour when we are back in Paris! 

photo by Carin Olsson

Paris in Four Months - I was extra excited to meet Carin in Paris because I had visited her blog many times while planning my trip. Not only does she have beautiful and inspiring photos of Paris on her blog, she often blogs about what she does [and eats] in Paris so you can get some great ideas! For example, everyone should add this, this, and this to their itinerary! Or you could follow her dream day and get the best of the best! Oh, and for all of my fashion blogger friend's - Carin took some amazing Paris Fashion Week photos!

photo by Carin Olsson

HiP Paris Blog - My friend Lindsey introduced me to this blog months before our trip and I'm positive I read the entire blog in one weekend -- I just couldn't stop! There are so many great ideas on what to do, what to see and even tips on  how to "fall in love with paris in one day" - which I think we did everything on the list! I actually fell in love with Paris in about ten minutes and I seriously can't wait to go back soon!! 

strolling saint-germain was one of my favorites

Hope this helps! Next week I'll give you a little more insight into our trip, but in the meantime, check out the fabulous resources above [or bookmark for future travel planning]! xoxo.

We're Engaged!

Bonjour! Bonjour! I am back from Paris and I couldn't be more excited to share with all of you that Alejandro and I are engaged! :) I am the happiest [and luckiest] girl in the world! Oh, and on top of the engagement, Paris was the most wonderful trip of my life - hands down. I definitely plan on recapping our trip and posting some of the many photos we took in Paris, but today I wanted to share the good news and a few of my favorite photos.  PS. If you are new to my blog, you can check out how I met Alejandro {here}. I promise it is one of the best love stories ever! I still can't believe it led to an engagement!! So, so, so, so happy! :) 

When we showed up to our amazing, amazing apartment in Paris (more on that later), these beautiful flowers were waiting for us along with some champagne and our first of many boxes of macarons! 

We seriously ate macarons every single day! But, we waited until the last night to see if the rumor is true. AND... we can officially confirm that Pierre Hermé makes the best macarons EVER! Especially his crème brûlée macaron. Heaven.

This photo was taken while we were warming up at a cute cafe! This photo was also about 30 minutes before Alejandro proposed to me! My ring... is in his pocket... which is almost touching me... and I had no idea!! Sneaky boyfriend fiancé.

Photo by Carin Olsson

This is the bridge that we got engaged on - Pont Alexandre III! And... I am lucky enough to have a photo of him on his knee as he asked me (yes, he is that amazing)! We have decided to keep those photos for ourselves, our family, and close friends -- however, I am excited to share some celebratory engagement photos we had taken by the very lovely [and talented] Carin from {Paris in Four Months}!

The night of our engagement, Alejandro arranged for a private river cruise on the Seine which included champagne and macarons (of course)! All I remember about the cruise was smiling really big. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day!

Alejandro surprised me with a heart shape lock that he bought before the trip! The day after we got engaged, we headed over to the Pont des Arts to hang our lock and throw our keys in the river with a wish! I hope our wish comes true!!

Photos by Carin Olsson

And... we got to celebrate our engagement ALL week in the beautiful and amazing Paris! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect vacation or a more perfect fiancé! I love you, Alejandro!!

Photo by Carin Olsson

PS. If you want to see a few more photos from our fabulous trip to Paris - check out my {instagram}. Can't wait to share more from our trip with you soon! xoxo.