You and Paris have both changed a lot since your first visit there. What is it like for you to live there now as a fully independent adult? Have your impressions of the city changed?

Paris has changed a lot since I lived here during my semester abroad, but that was a six-month stint in 2009, so it certainly has changed a bit. What's amazing is to experience it as an adult, and especially to move here on my own not knowing anyone at all. I was in total discovery mode, and that made it so special because I was able to fully do everything that I wanted. When you're a little bit older, you have your interests more defined than I did when I was younger. I moved here and didn't have plans to keep with anyone or any real agenda at first, and I could spend time getting to know and devouring the city. That was really special.

In your book, "My Own Magic," you have a lot of teachable moments, especially for young women, about relationships. What advice would you give your 18-year-old self now about boundaries and communication in relationships?

Boy, there's a lot I would tell myself. Mostly, it would be to not be afraid to set those boundaries and to not invalidate your own feelings. I spent so many years feeling something and instantly finding a way to talk myself out of it or dismissing it as not valid for whatever reason, rather than listening to what was very clearly my deep self talking to me and trying to show me: "This isn't going to lead to your happiness. This isn't what you're actually wanting; this isn't what you're working toward."

I tuned that out so easily, and that's how I eventually realized I had completely lost sight of myself — because I had stopped listening to my inner voice and what I knew was right for me and was what I wanted. So I would tell her that. I would say, "When that girl starts talking, you listen. You don't invalidate those feelings. Don't cast those needs aside for anybody else. Those things are what make you shine, they're what make you grow, and you need to honor and feed and listen to that voice."