April in Paris

Jake and I had the great pleasure of spending the first week of April 2015 in Paris. We flew from Toronto to Charles De Gaulle airport, arriving at 8:30 am. We took the RER blue line to our hotel in the 5th arrondissement, the Latin Quarter. We stayed at the Grand Hotel de Suez which is where we stayed in 1989 on our honeymoon! What a joy it was to be back! I am going to make our trip the basis for the next blog entries, there is so much to tell - and after Paris we went to Rome, where we met up with our daughter, and we traveled on to Barcelona with her. We ended our journey in Belgium where Clementine's been studying for her junior year in college on the Loyola international program. Needless to say - what a wonderful vacation we had! I'll start at the beginning and hope you will enjoy a detailed account of our trip and what lessons I learned during our latest 3 weeks in Europe. I'll break it up in posts. We drove from home to Toronto which is a 4 1/2 hour drive. Flying Air Canada from Toronto was less expensive than flying from New York and NY is a much farther drive; additionally I wanted to fly Air Canada for comparison's sake. The flight leaves nightly at 7:30 pm and arrives early morning in Paris which is perfect. I enjoy driving with my husband, we tend to get a lot of interesting talk in. We left the day before our flight and arrived at Andrea's house in the Lesleyville area of Toronto. Andrea is an old friend who now enjoys dual citizenship and owns a record promotion business, she's an interesting entrepreneur and a lively lady. That evening we had dinner at a new, hot Mexican resto with A and her man. Toronto is a MUST - very international, very cool city. The following morning Jake and I explored the neighborhood - lovely cheese shops and boutiques and cafes etc. before leaving for the airport. For travel I dress comfy but chic: this time I chose to wear newer leggings - heavier material but still stretchy - and layered a tank with a few different tops over it, the final layer a dark denim shirt and my trench coat. Also my topper - a large scarf to be used as blanket, pillow, accessory, whatever it needed to be! I wore my new, but broken in (and ready for lots of walking!), waterproof suede ankle boots. We checked our bags even tho we had both packed only one carry on each! I do not like to lug stuff around, pas chic. Sometime I'll do a packing blog entry, we traveled for 3 weeks with 1 carry on sized bag each! Of course in my purse and the small bag I carried with me I had: earplugs, eye mask, ipad and some almonds, also toothbrush, wipes and water. It's been said a thousand times but be chic yet comfy - travel is exhausting and dirty; you may get cold then hot, need to sleep/relax in a fairly unforgiving seat etc and if you can peel off a few layers and then add them back as needed....you can at least be in charge of something!! The custom lines were ridiculously long but eventually we were on the aircraft - very last row!! I liked Air Canada, the meal was decent actually - a shepard's pie and then, with earplugs and mask on I actually got some rest. Arrival in Paris! We knew to take the blue line RER, but had to ask for help in getting the tickets from the machines. Everyone was very nice and helpful and I always attempted to communicate in french, which I believe pleases them. Tickets and luggage in hand (rolling actually) we took the metro to the stop at St Michel,just a couple of blocks from our hotel. Emerging from the underground into the beautiful light of Paris! The Seine and Notre Dame in view! So happy! Boulevard St Michel is bustling with tourists, locals and the stores and cafes that line it and we roll our bags to the hotel. They are glad to hold our bags until our room is ready so we use the restroom and freshen up and head out to shake off the travel and stretch our legs. To be continued..... xo La

A certain age

There is no denying it. No going back. No regrets? Well, the only thing we can really count on in life is that it will change and change it does. Because I've been gone from here 5 years I can't remember if I've ever written about black cohosh. If you are going thru THE change you may want to consider trying this herb for relief from some of the symptoms. Personally my biggest challenge was/is (hey they came back!!) the lovely sounding "night sweats". Recently they returned and my sleep became severely interrupted several times a night. Not chic. Then I remembered about the black cohosh. Recommended to take 2 capsules a day - I had relief the very first night after taking them! Black cohosh has worked for me and it might be helpful for you. Let us know if you try it and what your results are! xo La

La Rentree

I know it's not Autumn but I have just made a decision to immerse myself in what I love and it feels like new beginnings. What do I love? Well I have neglected this blog for about 5 years and reading thru the posts vividly reminds me of what. Writing, gardening, cooking, eating, reading,travel, Paris, music and more - it's what the good life means to me! So I'm back and making a promise to myself to keep writing and keep exploring what makes me happy in this life. Where have I been? Well my work life took off, my kids graduated high school and I've been living the frantic life of a crazy woman! Make money, keep moving, do what you think you need to do, not particularly what you love to do (don't get me wrong I love doing for my family, but all the rest of it? nuts!) Even so 5 years goes by like nothing. So this makes me realize even more that the time is now! What am I waiting for? Nothing this time. xo, La

Chic Eating - How to Start

A yahoo group I've belonged to forever recently had some posts about clean pantries
and more frequent, but less acquisitive, stops at the market. We been thru this before on that group (french chic) and it's understandable as this is one of the cornerstones of a healthy, chic way of relating to food. Lean pantry, eat seasonally,
realistic portions, unprocessed foods - all building blocks of your personal chic culinary lifestyle, one that will satisfy your mouth and your soul. Wow, who knew. Anyway I also love that it is thriftier (yes,despite costlier organics etc) and just a superior way to conduct yourself (earth consciousness, the whole picture).
You've got to clean that refrigerator out. First timers must take every single item out, wipe the fridge clean, and sort and restock, wiping down the condiment bottles as before returning to their shelves. I try to do this a few times a year- seasonally seems right, and once you do it, and you keep a sparse, clean fridge, it's not too time consuming. First timers - for you it is tho, almost certainly. So worth the effort.
As you go make a list of what you need to eat asap and what you need to replace.
You can make some quick menus from these items. Today I had 1 1/2 lemons (squeezed them right into the existing, summer-fridge omnipresent pitcher of lemonade). One cooked chicken breast and 2 hard boiled eggs - made a quick bowl of chicken salad adding some celery and green grapes. Get the picture? "yes, we see".

Don't forget the freezer. And the dry pantry of course.

The pantry basics, well you can find lists everywhere and you will want to make it
'your own' anyway. The flavors of jelly, the particular spices, what sort of mustard you enjoy - this is what not only makes all sorts of delicious sustenance easy for you to prepare daily - it is your way of treating yourself to what you love! Pick what rocks your world! Experiment! What do YOU like? Indulge yourself here. Condiments are the accessories of your pantry and, as we chics know, accessories are essential, fun and can make or break it.

Off to pick some golden raspberries for the yogurt that needs to be eaten up. It was my first attempt in years to make homemade. And it is delicious, thick Greek style stuff. Maybe I'll post about that process...
La

Positively Free!

Lovely for you and free (or very inexpensive)!
Enjoy!

BREATHE
EXFOLIATE (try Baking soda)
MOISTERIZE
WALK
CYCLE
HYDRATE
POSTURE CHECK
DAYDREAMING/VISUALIZING THE CHIC LIFE YOU DESIRE

XO,
LA

Computer Snack Tip

In general "no snacking" is an ironclad rule for chic. Just think about it - food is messy and greasy fingertips do not belong in a soignee world. But my world - the real one - requires me to spend hours at the computer keyboard. I have found the only snack that is now allowed at keyboard: Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans. 5 beans = about 45 calories w/ 25 mg of caffeine that is more absorbed than the same amount of caffeine in an espresso, for example,due somewhat to the presence of the chocolate (according to my research). I can make those 5 beans last 45 minutes! I rarely chew the bean, rather slowly savor the choc layer and then sort of suck the bean (sounds so gross put this way, but I make sure to never lay the bean against any teeth that might get stained etc) - as I said I almost never chew and swallow the bean. Simply toss it into the compost. These can be found at many markets and
the terrific Trader Joe's.
This is a nice treat, low calorie and invigorating, hope you enjoy it.
To my friends, chocolate and caffeine, and you,
La

Me, me, me

Well I apologize for being such a bad blogger. I'm finding that this particular blog is more like an online diary/goalsetting/vetting resource than the traditional blog.
Oh well.
We are ensconced in my favorite month, finally. Warmth. Growth. Kids home from school (2 out of three ain't bad). The potatger is in. Lots of unexpected veggies cropping up due to compost/reseeding. My peonies and first round of Mme.Issac Periere roses were glorious.
My head is on straight regarding work. I've been slaving (yes that is the correct lingo) for the past several years, attempting to make a new career profitable and supplement with part time work, (Jake has too, he's working like a madman). I am seeing the light at the end of that tunnel. Some balance between work and life, and some earning power. Jake and I have been talking/pondering our 8 year goal path - in that time, God willing, all three of our children will be college grads and we'll be total empty nesters. In 4 years we'll be semi-empty, I guess. This is a good timeline/way to look at the future for us.
I've had time to get back into the music scene, working on a couple of projects right now. It's exhilarating to be back working at that passion.

Our plan, in a nutshell: keep the income as low as possible (easy!) - we have bright kids and they will all qualify for college financial aid based on our current/past several years income. Build my primary business. Freelance/under the radar income (pet sitting, music gigs, handyman (Jake)) etc. Optimize our rental property income.

In 8 years our primary residence will also be paid off. We will probably move to a condo downtown that we own (and currently rent out) at that point and sell or rent this house. We loved city living and the condo is a loft style with exposed brick walls, 20 ft ceilings, hardwood floors, rooftop garden - that we lived in as newlyweds. Simply love the space. We could then travel, use the condo as a home base to recharge, take care of our rental properties etc.
sounds good to me.....
xo,
La

BOOK REVIEW COMPARE CONTRAST

Read 2 books lately. Same theme, American girl moves to Paris. There the similarity ends. I really loved one and only liked some of the humor and french references in the other. Thought it'd be a good exercise to dissect a bit the reasons why.
Book One:
LUNCH IN PARIS A Love Story with Recipes, Elizabeth Bard

RIGHT OFF in the subtitle "W/ RECIPES!!"
Straight on biographical a la Peter Mayle.
Heroine a New York Jewess. Much like some of my best friends, but not me.
A writer.
Visits Paris (from London, where she's working) to have lunch with a man met at an educational conference. Begin serious dating after that first lunch/sleepover. They
navigate the usual cultural divides as they date, she moves and they marry. Lots of back and forth, observation, about/between the French and the American cultural differences as she has occasion to observe her husband and in-laws not only in Paris and their natural habitat - a smaller village - but also in the States.

She learns to love the French approach to food.

Book Two:
PARIS HANGOVER, Kirsten Lobe
Well, hangovers are not traditionally viewed in a good way to start.
Written in a pseudo fictional style, the heroine as well as the author is a pretty, blonde with a fashion background, but, the author protests in the notes,"it's fiction!". Her fiction.
Heroine a NY transplant, midwest(?), very type A with major fashionista job and clothes.
Drops everything (in an unbelieveably quick, easy way) and moves to Paris, alone.
Navigates in a series of oddly timed coincidences to get a great apartment, her paintings in a gallery, etc. And her sex drive is on the border wild.



In book One the writing is far superior and the style of the first heroine rings better with me. Of course the food component rocks. Love books with recipes - will certainly share some in my book:) Tried the cod/leeks/mayo recipe - very good.

more NY Times

I know this is dreadfully lazy and can't be considered real blogging at all, but
the Times has 2 decent articles, one on packing:
http://tinyurl.com/2va67l3
and one about the passing of a stylish icon, Lena Horne:
http://tinyurl.com/2bmpluy

wave!
La

Frugal French

Below is, hopefully, a link to a NYT's article I read today. It speaks to me of a difference between my American culture and that of the French, one that I write about here sometimes, thrift. When I attempt to communicate that feeling of satisfaction inherent in loving a beautiful, old object that has a history, been handed down perhaps, and IS the real thing rather than a stand in, I feel that the fact that it was also the frugal choice sometimes feels cheap.
http://tinyurl.com/y7hhhbp

enjoy,
La

Comments not showing

Hi,
Does anyone know why the comments lister at the bottom of each post isn't registering?
On my last post I noticed that Kristi left a comment, but it says 0 comments.
I left a reply and still: 0 comments.
I have posted a question on the help forum, but it looks like those don't often
get replied to.
thanks!

Dandy salad

Yesterday I harvested the small dandelions growing in our yard. I didn't realize until I was working at it that the nice rain we had overnight was making it very easy to pry my screwdriver-like tool into the base of the plant and pull it out. I shook off the dirt and collected about a quart sized baggie of plants. Inside I cut the roots off and put the greens and any small unopened buds into the salad spinner with a teaspoon of vinegar (standard veggie washing procedure here) and swished thru,
picking out any grass etc. After rinsing and spinning I put the greens into the fridge to crisp up a bit. For dinner I had a bed of lightly dressed greens with a salmon filet on top. Very good! Pricey mesclun mix contains dandelion greens and so I had a 'gourmet' meal for a frugal cost. Bonus: the American side of me liked the fast that I "weeded" the yard while the Eurochic side enjoyed the foraging/frugal/healthy benefits!