COUP D'OEIL

Just something that caught my eye.

source unknown to me

The clever use of curtains to frame a mirror and add height to a space, the clean lines, mixing warm texture and clean, sleek materials, the minimal palette. 

au revoir.

NICOLE PIBEAUT

LA GENIALE NICOLE PIBEAUT

Quite a few years ago in Paris, I met a wonderful illustratrice whose art I have always admired. 

Her name is Nicole Pibeaut.

I love the portrait she did of Hélène Rochas, the wife of the couturier and perfumer Marcel Rochas, above.

During the last showhouse I participating in, she was generous enough to sketch the portrait of me, below..

Her ability to capture a sitter's expression in just a few strokes of her pencil is astounding

She does work for advertising and some calligraphy, but her work is mainly magazine illustrations.

She illustrated an article for Le Figaro Madame this month about men and their weight issues and wishes. Fun article and great illustrating.

You should definitely go check out her website.
Bravo, Nicole!


au revoir.

FRENCH EYE VIEW

 COUP D'OEIL

Just something that caught my eye.

image robert couturier via elle decor

The restrained color palette on a backdrop of creamy white, the tightly edited objects and furnishings, the contrast between small and gigantic, classic and dramatically modern and hot and cold tones, the 1940's vibe, the apparent comfort.

au revoir.

THREE ZERO

TROIS ZERO

Today in Australia it is already my beautiful little Kevin's birthday


Well, in fact, he will be celebrating in Bali.

When I took this picture a little under 30 years ago, I had no idea what he would become 30 years hence; well...I had an idea; with a smile like that, I knew it was going to be all good, for us and for him. 

My motherly instincts did not betray me. He is all good and so much more.

Happy Birthday 
my cuddly little Kevin who became big, and tall, and cute, and kind and talented and a devil at making everyone melt- "fondre" as we say in French- and the list could go on and on.
I know, I am your mother...
You know I always tell the truth, even on the internet.

au revoir. 

BEYOND THE REAL

PLUS FAUX QUE VRAI

Fur was back on the runways for winter. Real fur. I don't wear real fur.

I don't even wear faux-fur that resembles real animals; I mean leopard or fox or chinchilla; that kind of faux-fur.

I do on the other hand want to wear something furry feeling and looking this winter.

The great news is that faux-fur comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes and in styles that I will call "generic". 

Fantastic!

Irt even comes in luscious colors. 

Fur problem solved. Well, except for which color to choose...

Warmth, comfort and chic and no wearing an animal around my neck.

What more can a girl want?

au revoir.

BEYOND THE SHEER

PLUS FIN QUE FIN

via kitearscat

All right, after my sartorial yearning for pale shades this winter, I am also wanting to wear chiffon. For daytime. I can wear a coordinated tank top underneath, a fine sweater or an easy jacket on top; it works from morning to night, if I don't go crazy on the froufrou (even though even then, I can dress it down with a very simple cardigan and wool pants or skirt and a soft scarf. Yes, always the scarves...

Warehouse

Equipment

A chiffon blouse with a scarf detail is a little more "formal", I would say, but right on this winter.

Mango

To finish off a chiffon style for day, I would choose a very light and airy scarf of the sheerest silk or even wool chiffon.

Echo Design

Burberry's and Issey Miyake 

Alexander McQueen

Tomorrow, my last must have for winter. This one comes with a challenging choice...

au revoir.

BEYOND THE PALE

PLUS PALE QUE PALE

I have been feeling like wearing pale powdery colors lately. From whites to pale grays, maybe a touch of very light lavender and even some hardly there blush shades; any slightly tinted cream, any ethereal misty blue will catch my eye every time.

Maybe its a wish for softness before the hard dark winter? a change from the brights of summer? a continuation after the nudes of spring?

It's not as if this last weekend was anything resembling winter. No, no, quite the contrary; it was delightfully, EXACTLY like a very warm spring day. 

An unexpected very welcome gift of an Indian summer from Mother Nature.

So maybe that's where this yearning for barely colored tones comes from: the gentleness of the weather.

Do you feel the same way?

I'll tell you my other latest fashion whim, tomorrow.


au revoir.

THE CROSSING

LA TRAVERSEE

Mr. Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic ocean on this floating device...

...so that many many years later I could cross it on this.

For that alone I thank him.

Have a great Columbus Day.

au revoir.

BLUE WITH GRAY

LE BLEU avec du  GRIS

I keep going on and on about how much I love gray with orange, I know. But these days I am also leaning towards blue with gray. 

Leaning only. 

Why?

Because even though I love all shades of blue in fashion- dark navy pants and a pale blue sweater and a vibrant Touareg scarf: fabulous!- I am not much of a blue person in decorating. With the possible exception of bright Klein blue and deep indigo, I tend to go for almost every other shade than blue. I never use light blues unless they are very "grisés- gray-ish- and I don't think I have ever opted for turquoise unless specifically asked by a client. And even then, I put up a good fight. 

Sorry Florida...

images via pinterest

au revoir.

FAUX REAL= REAL FAUX?

LE FAUX VRAI= UN VRAI FAUX?

via rare vintage

ebay

Now, THIS is what I call a fake that's confident enough to be really fake. 

And so practical.

And so economical.

And so whimsical.

au revoir

THE CULT WINE

LE VIN "CULTE"

I am not a wine "connaisseur", not in any real sense of the term, far from it. I don't swirl my glass, I don't sniff the cork knowingly, I don't make comments about a balance and complexity and all of that. I could not start a conversation about the body or the finish etc. with anything resembling a straight face; except maybe when it comes to nose since that's what I use, that and my loyal taste buds. And don't ask me anything about this note and that note; I may guess a bit of licorice here or something else there, maybe, but that's about all. What I CAN tell when I taste a good wine or even a great wine and maybe an exceptional wine, is that I like it and that I am very happy when my glass is refilled. My taste buds give me all the information I need.

Having confessed to all this at the risk of being qualified as totally unpolished at best, I must tell the tale of a wine we had in Montreal when I went up there 2 weeks ago.

A guest of my sister's was kind enough to bring a "cult wine" to dinner. (Sorry all you California wine lovers and all my compatriots from Bordeaux or else where, I had never heard the term). Our delightful guest has the privilege of owning a few bottles of a certain cult wine, it seems, and was generous enough to come bearing a bottle of Araujo Syrha that was DELICIOUS!!! My taste buds do not lie. My sister the connaisseur was "oohing" and "aahing", as was I, to the delight of our adorable guest, of course.

Despite it's 40 acres, the vineyard, in the Napa Valley of California, produces only 300 to 400 cases of this exceptional Syrha a year. Hence the rarity. Hence its qualifying as a Cult Wine: 

California Cult Wines

California cult wines refer to any of the California wines "typically but not exclusively Napa Valley Cabernets" for which collectors, investors and highly enthusiastic consumers will pay very high prices. The producers of such wines include Araujo (...)

These wines are generally very expensive and are limited production (often fewer than 600 cases per year) and and command several times their "release price" upon release." -wikipedia


So there you have it . I learned something new in Canada.
Oh, and the main dish was a SUPERB Poulet Basquaise à la Joëlle, my sister, who adds a few squares of chocolate to the sauce!
I'd call it a ...Cult Dish.

au revoir.

 COUP D'OEIL

Just something that caught my eye.

The soft richness of patterns and colors, the nod to the exotic mood of the French colonies of days gone by, the coziness of a red bed nook, the haphazard choice of furnishings and accessories, the patina of a space all the better for wear.

au revoir.

JAMMED!

Coincé!

I had planned to regal you with my weekend trip down the East River in New York City on a beautiful sail boat but my Blackberry phone is jammed and won't let me upload my photos... technology puts one's patience to the test once in a while and always seems to win...in my case anyway. So, I will go to the tech gods today and let them figure it all out some way and get back to you.

image via flickr

au revoir.

MONTREAL NATURE

MONTREAL: NATURE

When you drive north to Montreal from our house, in the suburbs of NYC, the road is basically straight all the way. Put the car in cruise control and enjoy the view. Well, watch out for road kill...

Highway 87 is absolutely beautiful once you hit the mountains (remember Lake Placid and the Olympics?) The Lake George area is worth the long drive alone and the beginning of the fall colors made for a spectacular journey. The perfect postcard day didn't hurt either.

I took a photo of a rest area building where I stopped for tea. Who ever thought this up deserves a medal...pure North American architecture.

I could tell I was getting close to Canada.

For a big change in pace from our very urban stay in Montreal, my sister and I decided to join two very nature-loving Canadian friends on a day of cycling in the Laurentians just North of Montreal. They are both IN SHAPE! one of the girls takes spinning classes every Saturday! 

We survived the ride thanks to a great picnic complete with great wine and shrimp wraps faits à la maison. 

You bike on a railroad track turned cycling path that runs for miles along a small river in the middle of fall colored trees. Breathtaking! in every sense of the word...

bon weekend.