How I Want it to Feel

I want my day to feel like a birthday party at Disneyland with no lines to wait in.
I want kissing to feel like hot mulled wine on a winter's night.
I want my next success to feel like getting an A+ from my most demanding professor.
I want my body to feel like a prima ballerina at the height of her career.
I want smiling to feel like the first day of spring.
I want my friendships to feel like cashmere sweaters and home-baked muffins and disco balls and whispered midnight confessions.
I want my nervous system to feel like a direct conduit to the universe.
I want my neighborhood to feel like what people dream of when they dream of Paris.
I want my integrity to feel like Yosemite.
I want my money-making to feel like a well-tended organic garden brimming over with succulent, nourishing veggies.
I want my word to feel like a sailor's knot.
I want my laughter to feel like popping a bottle of pink champagne.
I want the end of the day to feel like a cat basking in a patch of sunlight.
I want my philanthropy to feel like planting seeds in rich soil.
I want my challenges to feel like a beautiful, complex 1000-piece puzzle.
I want my love to feel like a murmuration of starlings.
I want my writing to feel like Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling got together for a game of laser tag.
I want my ideas to feel like giant unfurling peonies.


*Writing prompt from Danielle LaPorte's Burning Questions series.

January Photo-a-Day Part 2

We've come to the end of January and it's time to share the second half of the instagram photo challenge. It's official -- I am an instagram addict and I need an intervention.
Speaking of addictions, one of the photo prompts was "guilty pleasure" and I have to confess mine is probably dairy. I don't drink milk, but every other dairy product is my weakness. I am convinced all those "healthy living" advisors who encourage people to give up dairy just don't have access to the good stuff like we do in France. Cheese is an artform here. And if eating heaping spoonfuls of unpasteurized double cream with strawberries is wreaking havoc on my health, I'm too enraptured to notice.
Do you have any addictions or guilty pleasures?

a. Light: repurposed xmas lights
b. Lunch: post-Sunday-market haul of breads, cheeses, eggs, + bacon

c. Where You Sleep: new cloud-like white sheets from BHV
d. Morning: the view from the bedroom

e. Something You Bought: books!
f. Sweet: tarte au pomme + cinnamon ice cream

g. Something You Made: my Paris photograph, looking all fancy in it's new matte + frame
h. Guilty Pleasure: all things dairy, including cheese, fromage blanc, creme fraiche, + petit suisse

Grand Opening: Paris Photography

As hinted at last week, a little project has been in the works for a while, and as of today it's finally up and running! I've had a lot of encouragement from friends and readers about my photos over the years, and decided that this year I would start offering a small, limited number of prints for sale.
I've kept the same online location and name En Route from my former jewelry line -- it seems even more applicable to my photography, which is often done while I'm literally en route to different locales in the city.
If you'd like to visit the shoppe and have a look around, I'd love to hear any feedback you have -- I think my regular readers here are more familiar with my pictures than anyone else, so your opinions mean a lot to me.

Bon weekend everyone!

xoxo,
Lilie

January Photo-a-Day Part 1

Somehow we are already two weeks into the new year and I'm just now composing my first post of 2012.  I've been a busy bee trying to organize myself -- every year I try to use January as a launching pad to embark on new projects with a fresh perspective, so this means making lists and journaling and hashing out my goals for the months ahead.

One of the things I've done for the past three years is choose one word to describe what I want out of the year; something that will inform my choices and keep me focused. Last year's word was LOVE, and if I say so myself, that turned out rather well for me! I'm keeping it close to my heart for now, but I'll be sure to let you know next January how well this year's word worked out.

What I can tell you is I'll be undertaking two large projects, one of which is revising the heck out of my gangly first-draft novel. The second is something I shall be revealing shortly -- hopefully next week? I'm pretty excited about it, and super eager to share it with you.

But for this week I have a little something else I've been playing around with to show you: my first half of the instagram-based Photo-a-Day challenge. Since Santa (a.k.a. Benjamin) brought me an iphone for xmas, I've been snapping photos with it like it's going out of fashion. I think the very first app I downloaded was for instagram, and I've been hooked ever since. 

I've been doing the daily prompts out of order and have skipped a few, but here is what I have so far:

a. Breakfast: fluffy yogurt + banana + maple syrup + cayenne

b. Something You Wore: my aqua polka-dot apron + sequined Moroccan slippers
c. Daily Routine: cooking dinner for two

d. Makes You Smile: neon pink

e. Something You're Reading: Parisian Chic by Ines de la Fressange

f. Close-up: my loyal coffee mug

g. Something You Adore: travel! (and travel photos) This is from our afternoon in Monte Carlo.

h. Favorite: the ocean (technically the Mediterranean is a sea, but close enough)

i. In Your Bag: Japanese coin purse, Ultra-man keychain (keeping my keys together since 1997!), Korres lip butter, fluorescent pink pen, handmade notebook, and iphone

Are any of you on instagram? And what are your goals for this new and shiny year, if any?

More soon!

xoxo

Lilie

Two Thousand and Heaven

2011: The year began in sunny southern California, and is now ending under the azure skies of Nice, France.
In between there was visiting, and then moving to Paris; trips to Ireland, Thailand, Switzerland, Florida, Germany, and as of this week, I can add Monaco to the list.
I moved in with my sweetheart, wrote my first ever full draft of a novel, and started learning French. A year of beginnings and adventure and love.
Can't wait to see what 2012 will bring...

Hope your New Year's is magical and full of promise!

xoxo,
Lilie

love list friday: 12.23.11

1. Clap your hands if you like winter!, 2. painting with light, 3. Neuschwanstein Castle, 4. 131/365

One last love list before off to grandmother's house we go for the holidays.

Making me merry in the last days of December:

• Susannah's annual (free!) the-year-ahead workbook. Can't wait to sit down with this over vacation and plot out some dreams and goals for 2012.
• wrapping up presents and using Japanese masking tape -- I realize I am about three years behind on this trend, but am now embracing it wholeheartedly!
• the fact that it's completely expected and encouraged this time of year to indulge in decadences, like eating molleux au chocolat with heaping dollops of creme fraiche, and drinking coffee with a healthy glug of Baileys in it.
• cozy evenings playing boardgames and beating Benjamin at Carcassonne.
• a massive bowl of succulent clementines.
• my mini suitcase packed with soft new sweaters from Kookai.
• experimenting with nail polish combinations -- today: moon gray + pink shimmer; tomorrow: tomato red + bronze glitter.
• the giddy anticipation brought on by packages under the tree with my name them! (will never be too old for this)

If you're celebrating this weekend, I hope your day is filled with love, laughter, and shiny new toys (just kidding, kind of)! And if not, a glorious day to you regardless!

City of (Christmas) Lights

A sparkly little photo post for Inês, who commented that holiday lights are few in her part of Portugal this year due to the economy. (Is this happening elsewhere too? It's hard to get a proper perspective when living in the tourist capital of the world.)
Most of these were shot on the fly from the passenger window of our car -- it takes a stronger woman than I to brave the crowds around the major department stores this time of year. Benjamin can attest that I was verging on a panic attack the one night we squeezed our way into Galerie Lafayette to see the giant Christmas tree; I barely lasted five minutes before the relentless press of bodies had me gasping for air and dragging him towards the exit.

Left Bank

Place Vendôme

Galerie Lafayette

Karl Lagerfeld's display for Printemps

Hope you're all having a merry & bright season wherever you are. I love a bit of sparkle and glitter as much as (actually more than) the next girl, but without question the best part of the holiday is simply getting to spend it with my favorite person. Cliché but true.

xoxo,
Lilie

love list friday: 12.16.11

1. Untitled, 2. i love christmas!, 3. Little Suede Boots, 4. Holiday Sparkle, Paris Style

Gosh, it's been a while since the last Love List -- things have been particularly up&down the past few days, and we are in serious need for some sparkle-appreciation around here.
So without further ado, bringing cheer this week:

• the world's best care package in the history of the postal service
• related: star-shaped mocha brownies
• the company holiday party, which was held at a swanky nightclub next to the Arc de Triumph and included champagne, a fruit-tarts-and-macarons-and-chocolate-fountain dessert buffet, and someone dressed up as a storm trooper (geek chic)
• related: an excuse to wear my new be-sequined skirt
• finally assembling our Christmas cards -- it was a 5-step process getting them ready, but they turned out pretty cute so it was worth the hassle and the dusting of glitter that's now coating everything in the apartment
• plans to visit some Christmas markets this weekend for some mulled wine, gingerbread cookies, and more ornaments for the tree
• I see snowflakes on the weather forecast for next week!!!

Merry weekend to all of you; stay cozy!

Paris in Autumn Gold

Bonjour tout le monde! 

I hope you all enjoyed Benjamin's posts in my NaNo-induced absence. November was intense, and the only reason I was able to write those 50,000 words was because I had the priceless support of my long-suffering boyfriend (dinner dishes whisked away, endless cups of coffee & tea, a patient ear for my various plot problems, a kind-but-stern reality check when I was falling too far behind) and my friend and fellow NaNo-rockstar Corey, who checked in with me via twitter every day and encouraged me with cheery notes, bribes, and prizes. 

So my advice to anyone who wants to take on something challenging: have a backup team. I've done NaNo twice before on my own, and never made it past 15,000 words. I'm not kidding when I say I finished thanks to these two. And now I have a great heap of messy, tangled, coma-inducingly boring, sparkly, flat, intriguing, written words that I can now turn into something that might become a real story (after a lot, lot, LOT more work).

I am taking a short break from the writing so I can read it again with fresh eyes in a few weeks, and in the meantime I am happy to be back to our regularly-scheduled program of Paris-appreciation. We're now in the colder and wetter tail-end of autumn, with holiday lights and decorations beginning to pop up around town. 

Benjamin brought home our tree last weekend and I've been slowly adding new baubles to it every day. It's our first Christmas together and neither of us had our own ornaments, so it's fun to start fresh and build up a new collection together. My tendency runs towards an understated snowy white & silver palette, while Ben wants to add cheery reds and gold. I tried to make a case for some pink accents, but the look of horror on his face convinced me it wasn't worth the effort. 

In any case, it's wonderful to be free again to leave the house and explore and take photos and enjoy the advent of winter in the city. Will try to share more with you in the twinkling, frosty days to come...

Freeeeedoooom!!!!

It is now midnight in Paris, the bell at the top of the Eiffel tower* has just rang for the last day of NaNoWriMo. Lilie has finally completed the 30 day long trial; what did I learn from this experience: writing is hard, really, really hard on the writer's companion.
First, everyday I have to pick up the writer from the bed and get her on her way to her MacBook.
Second, now I have to do all the chores and spoonfeed the writer cakes and mandarines.
Third, I have suddenly become celibate as writing is all-consuming and anything else is too distracting.

But all in all, all of this is pretty insignificant, my Lilie has finally proven that I was right all along (a feeling that I cherish the most) and successfully completed a first draft novel of 50,000 words in just 30 days! Even if I dread the thousand phases of editing and the gazillion plot adjustments ahead, I am proud of her and look forward to the final bound book.

You have to believe it to make it real.

Believe me!

-- Benjamin

PS: I am giving Lilie back her access to the blog, maybe I will see you again sometime.

*editor's note: Ben is messing with you; there is no bell.