Fireside Chats

This holiday season, as with so many holiday season's past, I enjoyed Christmas at my parents' home. My mother, the woman who first taught me to savor life's goodies, always filled our home with fantastic trinkets and sweet treats and carefully coordinated visual details. This Christmas, one of my favorite quiet moments was sitting by the fireside, listening to the crackle of the wood, and sipping on a tart and tasty glass of Prosecco. Ah, delicious solitude!

Amélie-wanna-be

Ever since I was a wee little blondie, I have always found much joy in the little things. A stray seashell on the white sand of the Gulf or a gorgeous shade of blue in a Chagall painting or a delightfully crisp apple...those found objects and delicious details always captivated my imagination and brought me sustained happiness.

Later, as a college student, I watched Amélie for the first time and became enchanted by the title character's similar purview. As Amélie cracked the thin sugar coating to her crème brûlée or adorned her fingertips with perfectly pink raspberries, I identified with her. I wanted to live IN the movie. I wanted to be a customer at Amélie's café. I wanted to learn from her as she sucked in the sweetness in life. (Thank goodness I didn't cut my hair into a black bob!)










I now try to fill my daily rituals with an appreciation for objects of inherent beauty and pleasure.... the little pleasures...les petits plaisirs.