living alone in paris | finding work-life balance + healthy routines

Auto-captioned from the film, lightly cleaned. Elena's words, not edited prose.

good morning from Paris you might be like Elena why are you drinking water out of a measuring cup well for some reason in Europe pretty much any country you go to they love to give you a water cup that holds about three sips and I'm constantly trying to find larger vessels like how am I how am I supposed to stay hydrated I have questions but I woke up feeling good I woke up feeling rested I got my eight hours and as usual I love serving my day with a little workout before working out on a hair wash today I've become a big fan of hair oiling I use this I I got it off Amazon it's rosemary hair oil I've been on this hair growth Journey cuz I think I had a lot of like hormonal changes as I entered my like 27th year and I had a lot of hair loss and breakage I started getting acne again which is so fun we love being a woman I love to just do a little hair oiling before working out leaving it in for like an hour or two one of the other things that really has helped my hair is taking like good hair vitamin vins taking neutral for a while which I really like doing hydrating masks massaging my scalp taking care of my ends trying to limit heat and just having like high quality hair products I'm like wow it actually makes a difference after using this hair brush my hair has never looked so smooth and felt so soft but now we're going to let this sit hello I realized I personally don't really mind the gym I kind of like getting into another space I feel like it's a bit thick therapeutic but on days when I just have a lot to do sometimes like the extra 20 minutes to like walk there and get set up I just don't have time so I've liked working out at home I feel like in the winter I'm definitely a little bit more chill with my workouts I'm just a bit softer with myself I like being cozy and eating warm cozy food but one thing I've realized throughout the years it's never worth it to give up on a good Fitness routine like I always feel so much better when I have a consistent Fitness practice every week learning to do it in a way that feels sustainable and I'm not overdoing it I'm doing it for the right reasons I genuinely think is like one of the biggest gifts I've given myself in my 20s it's not just to like look a certain way to feel strong it's to feel like I can go run a race if I want to I can go hike a mountain truly one of the biggest differentiators for me was starting to understand strength training I hired a personal trainer in New York for one month and that like changed the game for me cuz for the longest time I was like a cardio Bunny and I thought I need to do these really intense hit classes and when I worked with this personal trainer it helped me for one get over my gym anxiety but it also taught me the importance of strength training and how much that can really help give you the results you want and make you feel just stronger and healthier I've been wanting to find someone like that here in Paris and I found a bit tricky and I have found the best app truly I'm obsessed with train well I can't believeit they're sponsoring this video because I've been a fan of them but it's basically like having a personal trainer in your pocket and they basically make strength training accessible for everyone so I have an amazing amazing trainer named Jill on train well who helped set me up with a great plan and I basically go to the gym twice a week and I do one full leg glute day with workouts she's providing me that I can follow on the app it's so easy and genuinely I've been doing this for like 2 months now and like the glute games so I do like one leg day usually on Mondays I do an at home day where I usually do arms cuz I have two 4 kgam or 9 lb weights and then another gym day which is like leg Focus but it's also kind of full body and then I finish and I do a fourth day of like whatever cardio of my choice it feels very doable but anyways with train well it's so helpful having a trainer for one like accountability and having someone who's keeping track and checking in on with you but also personalization there's a lot of times when I'm like wanting to maybe switch out a workout or work on some different moves and she's just like so quick and responsive about helping me make those changes answer any my questions she's the best and so if you want to check it out for yourself the first 100 people who sign up with my link down in my description get 14 days free and $25 off their first month with train well so highly recommend checking them out I'm going to do a little arm pump a little ab workout here at home and there's a super helpful quiz that helps match you with your perfect trainer for your needs let's get to working out I've said this before I'm a broken record but I was born in France which ab did nothing for me because I didn't get the citizenship and I didn't learn the language but the one story my mom always loves to tell is that in the apartment little complex we lived in in good old messie my origin story the grumpy old landlord would always just smile for me and called me pooi Poopy and I remember as a kid learning English I was like he called me Poopy that's you guys someone's feeling chaotic on that note it is Saturday here in beautiful Paris the cafe scene is so good in Paris there's so many cute of course like is that a French boy anyways excuse me you have of course the classic French Braes you can get your little cafes but you know at the end of the day I'm a girl who likes a nice latte so we're going to find our little hipster coffee shops and there's one of you want to try out so figured I'd go and bring a little book maybe bring my computer get a little bit of work done bring you guys along okay let's go let's get out there see this is why I love Paris I'm literally just walking back from the coffee shop to head home and I stumble across the cutest little flea market I love comparing the items you can find at flea markets in US versus Europe one of the perks of living in one of the art capitals of the world is obviously amount of insane museums and exhibitions that there are here and honestly I haven't really fully taken advantage of it as much as I'd like to So today we're going to check out a cool little exhibition just kind of almost on the outskirts of Paris because I think it's always a good day when you see and interact with art and take time to appreciate what others have created especially when you can get stuck in this just routine of focusing on like all your to-do list not really expanding getting outside of that I'm guilty of that a lot so we're going to a little exhibition will I be warm enough I don't know let's go got the man on his bike where we even are we already in an R&D small or no no we were past R&D small we're in P everybody uhuh we just saw a nice expo Expo Val what did we think what was the takeway that wow you have it really zoomed in my my arm I'm like I'm going to break my arm okay so I understood about 10% because it was in French I understood D take me to the Bushwick of Paris as you can see so we're getting the local soon there actually a lot of cool neighborhoods like this like interesting things to do they got they got show me the real fa 1700 years true was on my way to go get some lunch but I saw a sign for the store that said pumpkin spice cookie I can't lie I'm a sucker for a fall themed good and I'm trying to get in the fall spirit and embrace the cold weather so I think we need to see if we can try this cookie if you've ever wondered how people move in Paris which I've always been curious about this is how it goes through the windows the more you know oh wow I've heard amazing things about myish I've been meaning to go it's a very highly recommended Bakery and I got this bad Bo that couldn't resist taking a little bite on the street it's so it's so good one thing that is uh different about French culture they do not eat or drink while walking so anytime I'm like taking a bite of my sandwich while walking on the street I'm like what can I say I love an iced coffee and a hot girl walk and both go against the grain of French culture like when I say this pans they're like what do you mean you want your drink cold and you don't want to sit and enjoy it I'm like you know what I just I like a coffee on the go we're doing a little taste test I I squished it a little bit all right we're getting up in the camera we're really going full foodie look oh my this has fall written all over it so rich wow I really do love fall in Paris I think it's such a special time but fall in Paris is also very gray and I am prone to seasonal depression which is as fun as it sounds we're trying to keep things positive this season we're finding those little things that bring me a little bit more joy whether it's a sweet treat or something cozy so on cozy vibes are at an all-time high right now but I'm actually leave the comfort of my home to go to this really cool exhibit it's really the day of exhibits I'm going to Jud de bum kind of highlights different photography and Cinema and things I've been wanting to see so that'll be nice going to go with some friends and get a little drinky and enjoy this beautiful city feel like since getting to France I've been using a lot more French skincare Brands like typology and n and I really loving them both for any of my girls out there though that with hormonal acne I see you I'm sorry that you have to be going through this it's truly the worst if you're someone who's never had to experience acne in your life or very little I envy you and the gods have blessed you for 180 minutes and and thanks again to train for sponsoring this video Don't forget that the first 100 people get 14 days free and $25 off their first month