Hidden In France

butterflies

I'm leaving in a few minutes to pick up my soon to be 16 year old after he has been away for two weeks, camping in Catalina Island.  And you know what?  I'm kinda scared.  Those two weeks were good.  It was important and wonderful to be just the three of us with our nine year old.  It has been quiet around the house, which was nice too (Teenagers take up a lot of room, not necessesarily Physically, but emotionally.) Sure I'm miffed that he did not bother calling more than the one time I demanded, but I'm mostly thrilled to see him finally.

But now I wonder, what will he be like?  Will he be warm or aloof?  Will he be happy to see his mom and little brother or embarrassed?  Will he hug me?  Those are concerns you come to have when your kids grow up.  I wonder, will he have changed?  His face has been changing so very much in the last few months that I can hardly see any trace of the little boy he used to be.  I love my teenage boy, but I'm sad that the little boy in him is gone and will never be back.  I'm happy to see him again, and I'm really sad.

Brought to you by Car Möbel, Rice Denmark and the color gray.

Straight from the can via Decor8  from German online seller Car Möbel.  I love these images which should surprise no one.  Great styling.  And what about the use of gray as a pastel: that feels so fresh and new.

  Also is it the entire Rice Denmark line of products I recognize?  Yum!

 

More polka dots.  They're in the air.

Wait:  oranges are awfully orange back there in Germany.

More of that lovely, peaceful gray.

... Off to Home Depot for some of that gray.

More comments than Dooce

I love comments.  I live for comments. I get a whole lot of visitors, (hi there!) but not too many comments. Part of it comes from the fact that I don't deserve them, part of it is due to the fact that I have no time to comment on even my favorite blogs.

But I think I discovered the road to more luuurve or :

How To Receive 700 Comments On Your Blogs In 24 hours?  

Piece of cake.  All you need is a needle and thread.

First step: you make a quilt such as this one:

Okay I can sense a few of you with their hands up already.  But?  But! you say.  I don't have the skill or the time.

Yeah, me neither. I didn't say my plan was foolproof.  So you make an amazing, wondrous, Coat of Many Colors, straight from heaven, gorgeous quilt:

And once the quilt is made, step two:

 YOU GIVE IT AWAY.

That's what Dana of  Old Red Barn co is doing.  

All you have to do for a chance to win the quilt is leave a comment on her blog.  You get extra points for spreading the word.  

My last count showed a jump in her comments from about 7 to 645.

I left my comment.  Can I have the quilt now?  I'm pretty sure I won't be able to live without it.

Thank you Irene at Happy Turtle for the link.  Are we increasing our chances or ruining it by spreading the word?

  

I say no, no, no.

Since I have been a most excellent girl, meeting my deadlines while my kids are out of school, which is no small achievement, I took some time off yesterday.

But it was important that the time off be in harmony with the new me.  The new me puts some space between herself and mindless consumption and only buys what she needs and not what she wants. She lives a meaningful life of Voluntary Simplicity.

So I went to the mall to return a sensible (sensitive is more like it) pair of shoes I had planned to wear on my trip to the East Coast but didn't.  The reason I didn't is that our first stop were three glorious days in New York.  The women there were so elegant, all in dresses by the way, that it knocked some sense into me and comfort shoes became strictly out of the question.  I suddenly aspired -briefly- to become a glamorous-brand-only dresser a la Carrie Bradshaw.

Then we went to Vermont and for a few days lived an idyllic, beautiful and simple life in the cabin.  I promptly came down my imaginary Manolo heels to become a farm girl in training, a woman close to nature, a hermit maybe perhaps.

So getting back to my mall story:  I call this reverse shopping and usually come out of it with a sense of utter pride.  It's the fun of shopping minus the expense or the guilt.  And it makes me feel almost holly.  I imagine it is the lovely sense of purity recovering addicts must feel when they have been sober for any stretch of time.

But then I saw this on sale from Lucky Brand, and what can I say, I had a nasty relapse.  

IT WAS HALF OFF I SWEAR!

Rehab anyone?

More Clorinde Méry

Chorinde Méry, the woman who created these pieces is apparently a movie set designer in France (called 'décoratrice de cinéma' in French, maybe it's not the exact same thing.)  I found that information while drooling over images of her home in Marie Claire Maison.  I am charmed by the quieteness of her décor as much as I am by her unbridled art pieces.

Love the simplicity of this kitchen, the diminutive art on the walls and the contrast with the ornate moroccan jars and tagine dishes.

The poem as a relief is fantastic.  Who makes this?  Can I make this?

Interestingly her home looks entirely unlike her collages.  Hard to see how the same woman could be at the origin of both.

I don't know what it is but I like it.

Do I have to be able to explain something in order to fall in love?

Clorinde Méry is a French artist from Provence who was born in South America.  She travels, gathers shiny and colorful remnants of civilization, iconic images, pop culture, bottlecaps and promotional artifacts and arranges them together, then argues that the result might not be art.

I don't want to frighten you Clorinde, but I think it very well might be art.

Oooh.. Look what Sunrise Hossegor found.

If you're ever in France and lucky enough to vacation in beautiful Hossegor, (in the South West of France) You must go Sandrine's boutique Sunrise Hossegor   "Sea, Sun, Bohème and Rock'n Roll" is the theme.  Here is a girl who loves colors, and Joie de vivre.  And if you still though the "French don't like America," she's one more living proof of the contrary. She is the most California-girl E-vah.

Her blog inspires me daily.  Here is the link she found.  Flickr member, fifties lover and softies maker extraordinaire Devoted Satellite.  shows us her happy home.  Here is her recipe:

A Peacock bedspread.

Glass, bakelite, lucite, varnish and gloss.

Hawaiian retro-kitch smorsgasbord.

Colorful fabric banner.  Doll heads.  Red giraffes.

Red polka dots.  Tea lights.

I'm happy now.

Carolyn Quatermaine in Bendor

I'm in Palm Spring but recently discovered the joys of delayed publishing of my posts.  It took me a while!

Anabelle, from the blog I mentioned yesterday, Anabelle and Co. went to visit the Délos, the single hotel on the miniscule island of Bendor in order to write an article, and she took pictures.  This is particularily exciting to me because the hotel was decorated by Carolyn Quatermaine, one of my favorite designer.

The island of Bendor is located in the Var region of France and is nestled in the bay of Bandol.  Type A personality not apply.  The island is so small it takes  only 15 minutes on foot to walk its perimeter!

Here are pictures from the website:

And here are the pictures taken by Anabelle:

Off to Palm Spring

Where 81 year old grandma has hurt her back playing basketball or rearranging the tiles on her roof or something.

Nothing quite like Palm Springs in July.  You know that feeling when you get your face too close to the oven as you take out the meatloaf.  Humidity syphons out of yourface, your mascara begins to stick and your eyebrows get a slight roast.  Well that's what Palm Springs in July feels like everyday.  You stay in a air conditioned room kept at an unreasonable 65 degrees, open the front door and Bang! 120 degrees.  Zero humidity.  

Why do elderly people insist this is paradise?

Here are a few images that I find refreshing.

First this room found in the blog El Beso.  Does anyone know the source?  Karina calls herself a 'part time romantic' and loves this room.  I do too.  It's magical.

But?  but...!? I never liked peach as a color, and now this?  I like peach now?

Next, found on Curbly: the little red chair with white hearts makes this room.  

I feel very attracted to red and white lately.  Which brings be to this image:

Found on a scrumptious French Blog I just discovered, Anabelle and co.  The Author, Anabelle is a writer and designer of children clothing and softies.   Her life is filled with children, voyages and creativity. Just a lovely read.  

Worlds apart

This is the title of her post.  Thanks to Muralimanohar, author of Miscellany of Me, I had to stop, squirm and think.

Yowzah, no?

Actually, to my defense, i did find Sex in the City a bit obscene.  Not for the sexy moments, nope.  The $600 shoe moments kinda gross me out.  Too much of a good thing.

Please look here for image source.  (I looked for the source for the bottle shoes and only found this on Google.)