Dreaming of Cannes

"The Cannes Film Festival is the sort of place that if you like wearing gold lamé shorts you’re going to have a great time."
Russell Crowe to Matt Lauer

Café Culture

The French generally excel at carving out time each day for pleasure. Americans do weekend recuperation well, but rarely relish weekday relaxation (say that three times fast).

One of the places where I see this evidenced most in France is in the ubiquitous café. This time of year, on most any street in Paris, at most any time of day, locals linger even longer at their outdoor café tables.

Coveting: Hermes

Hermes scarves are quite possibly the most chic, timeless accessory that a woman can wear. Though I would have to forgo groceries for a month to purchase one, I am dreaming of the vivacious colors and soft silk of an Hermes scarf nonetheless. Somehow I've convinced myself, if only I had Hermes around my neck, I could channel my inner Grace Kelly or Jackie O.

At the Movies: Pink Films

Over the past weeks, I've looked at the way color is used strategically as a cinematic device. Green was woven throughout Great Expectations. Red appears as the color of passion in Moulin Rouge. Black and White becomes the color story for Coco before Chanel.

As you might imagine, any film with pops of pink captures my visual attention. Pink is first and foremost the color of femininity. Whether it's Shelby's insistence that there is a distinct difference between blush and bashful in Steel Magnolias or Elle's head-to-toe rosy ensembles throughout Legally Blonde, shades of pink soften onscreen performances or add a fun girly touch.

And, now....for movies with an plethora of pink: Marie Antoinette, Legally Blonde, Gentleman Prefer Blondes, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Steel Magnolias.

Black and White

These days I am la-la-loving good ole' black and white rooms: so effortlessly classy, so impossibly chic, so French.

A design caveat: be careful with your prints and textures when working in a black and white palette or your room could end up looking like the Happy Days set or conversely a bordello. Images borrowed from JillVanTosh,CandiceOlsen,SimonKelly,AngusFergusonViaBrightBazaar & StephenShubalViaHouseBeautiful.

Words to Live by

Take a Little Trip: Yosemite

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."
John Muir, Scottish naturalist, among the first to explore Yosemite

Words defy Yosemite. No matter how I try, I cannot find any fitting descriptors to convey the magnitude of Half Dome or the adrenaline rush produced by standing before a 2,500 foot tall waterfall. Last weekend, I had the great pleasure of visiting the Yosemite for the first time. This visit will be indelibly marked on my travel memory.

Oh Happy Mother's Day

To the best mother of them all, my dear sweet TW! Have a happy day, Mom! Wish I were there to bake your favorite banana-blueberry muffins or deliver you some pink peonies!

Stair Envy

Perhaps because I live in a single-level apartment, I dream of someday having a home with a winding staircase (I try not to think about the part where I schlep laundry up those stairs):Images borrowed from ImgFave.

Words to Live by

Sometimes the simplest words are the wisest, as proven by Mr. Theodor Seuss Geisel.

Image borrowed from ICanRead.

Kitchen Envy: White on White

When it comes to kitchen design, there is nothing more elegant than crisp and clean white on white. White cabinets and white countertops are endlessly versatile. As your taste changes and evolves, so too can your accessories and touches of color.



Images borrowed from CoastalLiving, AmandaNisbit, CaitlinWilson, & Veranda.

Cocktail du jour

Strawberry-Mango Blended Margarita

Aye ye ye and olé!

In blender:

3 parts silver tequila

1 part triple sec

1 cup of frozen mango

1 cup of frozen strawberry

cover fruit with orange or mango juice

Blend, sip & savor.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

Hola, for today, Les Petits Plaisirs will be going Spanish and acknowledging Los Placeres Pequeños. (Sorry Mes Amis)

For most Americans, Cinco de Mayo is probably just another excuse to party (à la Saint Patty's Day). Cinco de Drunko, if you will.

Because it is so often shrouded in mariachi music and tequila, I was interested to know more about the true roots of this holiday, which is often celebrated to a greater extent by Chicanos in the states than in Mexico.

Via UCLA, here's a little history of Cinco de Mayo, a day that marks the defeat of the French army in Mexico.

A few images to get you in a festive spirit:



Images borrowed from HammockHeaven, DavidLitschel, ADozenEggs, Folklorico & SeductionMeals.

Beach Bag Bingo

Today, I'm borrowing a feature from Coastal Living magazine. Recently, they've been profiling designers and celebs by asking what they tote around in their beach bags.

We're planning a trip to Bermuda later this summer and I've already started trying to whittle down my list of beach-reads and making a Marley mix for the iPod.

Today, I thought I'd spill the usual contents of my own beach bag:

What are your must-have beach goodies?

Tunic by Tory Burch, bag from Jcrew & flipflops from OldNavy.

Seeing Stripes

Is it just me, or are you all seeing stripes too? Everywhere I look, hipsters and celebutants are adorning themselves in striped smocks.

We can probably thank Madame Chanel for this classic androgynous trend, initially borrowed from sailors on the coast of Brittany. But, it looks like stripes are here to stay, as Fall 2010 collections are going Zebra again too. Whether verging on nautical or classically French or outright preppy, stripes are once again making their mark.

Everything old is new again. Images borrowed from JCrew, FemaleFirst, & InStyle.

Words to Live by

Image by Freya.

Retail Therapy

I go through phases where I want to throw the complete contents of my closet into the back of my SUV and drive to the local Goodwill donation center.

Generally this closet ennui occurs mid-week, when I feel as if I've exhausted every possible outfit permutation. As I contemplate getting rid of my tired attire, I also imagine what might replace my heaps of sweater sets and pencil skirts.

Problem is---what I usually dream of are the least practical ensembles possible. Case in point, dreaming of a red gown (because clearly I could wear any of these numbers to Trader Joe's or to teach my classes):




Images borrowed from Buzz, FashionInspiration, Flickr, ImageShack/AudreyHepburnComplex, Img, & Fashion-More.