Thinking About Life After Spain…
Living in Alicante has brought me the gift of Stradivarius, my absolute favorite store in the world now. Fortunately (read unfortunately for my wallet) I live right down the street from it, so I’m honestly in the store at least twice a week to check everything out. Consequently, a large portion of my wardrobe has evolved into clothing from the store. Let’s just say the first time I logged onto their website and found out that can’t ship to the U.S., I almost cried.
This has quickly become my favorite store and I don’t know what I’ll do without my weekly trips there when I come back to the U.S. At the risk of sounding really wasteful and spending my money all the time, I want to clarify and say that most times I simply walk through the store for inspiration. That’s why I’ll continue to follow them on social media just so I can be inspired by their constant outfits that they piece together. I mean, now that I’ve been hit with the European fashion bug, I never want it to end. From culottes to leather jackets to anything in between, I really have admired the Spanish + European way of dressing since I got here, day one.
While everything clothes-wise is from Stradivarius (I’ll still include links at the end of the post for my Spanish readers), the sunglasses are my babies from H&M that I never leave the house without, and my shoes are the most versatile lovelies from Topshop when I was in Madrid. It was probably a blessing in disguise that we don’t have one here in Alicante, or I’d be coming back to the U.S. with a little bit less in my bank account, haha.
While I’m excited to get back to the U.S. and see my family (and eat lots of Chipotle and Chick-fil-a, let’s be real), I will absolutely miss so many things about European living. One of them is fashion. When I wore this outfit to campus here to the Universidad de Alicante, I blended right in. If I wore this to the University of Missouri, I would either be asked what my problem was for dressing up that much or what time my interview was. While I still plan on bringing this European fashion sense back to the U.S., it definitely will look a little different.
With that being said, I have only four days left here in my beloved beach town. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do with my afternoon trips to my favorite cafe where my best friends work, my morning walks to the beach, or eating gelato way too many times a month. Today I not only wanted to share this outfit with you but also just kind of take some time to share how much of a wonderful experience I have had here in Alicante. This semester has truly changed my life in so many ways and I am coming away from this with “ojos abiertos” or open eyes to the world around me and with an understanding of how so many different cultures think and act.
This has been a life-changing experience and I couldn’t be happier that I had it, but also that I got to experience all of these things with my best friend. Josh and I grew so much together in our relationship and it meant the world to me that we were so blessed with that ability. Initially, I left St. Louis not so sure about how it would go, traveling together with Josh. But after almost six months abroad together, I wouldn’t want it to have been any other way.
When I get back to the U.S., I jump back into the world of summer classes, internships, and all things summer in the life of a college student. But, I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, spending the entire summer with my family, and exploring around St. Louis nonstop. This summer, I plan on doing a lot (and I mean a lot) of blogging about all of my Europe travels. I have lots of guides in the works, especially about the seven cities that I visited over spring break! So I have a lot of goodies coming your way this summer!
Have a great week and please keep me in your prayers as I adjust back to life in the U.S. this upcoming week!
Much love,
Olivia
Stradivarius Clothing Links