I’ve had this idea to do a Parisian inspired shoot for a long time now. I guess it’s the fact that I studied French for nearly a decade while in high school and college, and have been enamored with France for a good part of my life. While my language skills have diminished significantly since graduation, my love of the culture, food, and style has not waned. When I decided to choose a shoot date and actually start planning for the spring, it just seemed like the natural choice.
Lucky for me I have enthusiastic, talented, and stunningly beautiful friends who are willing to go along with my ideas and help make them reality! I enlisted the help of Kristina, my best photographer pal, Olivia, our model, and Brittany, Olivia’s sister and familiar face to this blog who waded in the cranberry bog last October. We began the day by meeting at Seven Stars Bakery in Providence, which is my new favorite Saturday morning obsession. They have delicious coffee, European style pastries and sandwiches… and oh, the artisan breads! It’s a little gem, tucked away a mere 15 minutes from my house and I’m forever grateful to Yelp for steering me in their direction. But back to the story! We arrived within a few minutes of each other and walking in, I see Olivia sporting some old lady hot rollers and a pair of aviators. Major props to her for sacrificing her dignity for a few minutes in front of the general public in order to make sure her hair would look good for my camera. She attracted quite the attention, most especially of admiring senior citizen men. 😉
Once we got to the park and carefully set up the goodies, Brittany was quickly given the role of ‘dog patrol’ since we had several wandering noses trot by. We even had one dog who excitedly got away from her owner in order to come investigate what we were up to… and when Brittany returned him, the owner asked, “Do you have cheese over there? He loves cheese!” Apparently, he has very sophisticated taste.
I did my best to find and include all of my French favorites and while some of them ended up with an Italian flair, I still feel like the sentiment was achieved. The day was filled with Madeleine Peyroux’s smooth melodies via Pandora, lots of laughs and sunshine, and concluded with a delicious lunch – a major success in my book! I encourage you to sit down with a glass of red and have a look at my favorites. À bientôt!
Location: Prospect Park, Providence
Model/Hair & Makeup: Olivia Cornell
Assistants: Kristina Smith and Brittany Cornell
Bread and Croissants: Seven Stars Bakery
Baguette wrap: Courtesy of Heather Bullard via Pinterest
