J.Crew vient à Paris

In theory, I shouldn't be as excited about this news as I am.

J.Crew est en plein coeur du quartier du Maris en Mars 2015. 

Once we get salsa verde and masa readily available, then I may actually have it all.

Guest post by Karen: Growth Opportunities

(Paris apartment balcony)

One of my oldest and dearest friends came to visit me this summer. She was in Paris for a conference so we enjoyed a little bit of Paris together, with the added bonus of a side trip to Brussels, and then some quality girl time at my house in Burgundy. Karen is a delight, she is beautiful, generous, kind, smart and an overall inspiration. When I grow up, I want to be just like her. Today's guest post is about her takeaways from her time with me in France.

(11th arrondissement in Paris)

Guest post by Karen:
This summer I was the guest of a beautiful friend-- living nine hours ahead with her, staying in gorgeous locations, and found myself surrounded by abundance-- the food and spirits of the gods and the company of vibrant and inspiring people.As Joseph Campbell said, "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are" To expand on that, the privilege of my holiday was being with a friend who allows me to me myself and loves me for it, in France no-less.

 (walking thorugh the street in Noyers-sur-Serein, Bourgogne)

To add to my personal jackpot, I find myself blessed post journey with the “gift of giggles”.  You know that experience after an adventure, when you recall something that makes a shit-eating grin spread across your face? It is the travel gift that keeps on giving.

(La Serein in Noyers)

Growth Opportunities

As I re-enter my day-to-day life I am armed with a treasure box of what I would call “holiday nuggets” for future growth and enlightenment.  You know the feeling when you piece together a list of things to explore at a later time?  You may have heard about a new book, recipe, philosophy, or even find yourself inspired by a new outlook. Maybe you decide to embrace a new, (or an old), side of yourself.  Whatever it is, the feeling is often palpable after trip.  It is a fire within. You vibrate at a more intense level. I would further opine that this may be even MORE true when you journey to France.  To me, France itself is a magical and inspiring place where possibility seems to dance on the wind.  Below is a list of some of the take-away “nuggets” in my post travel treasure box.  

(upstairs attic at the house in Noyers, referred to as 

"Growth Opportunity")

1.    A call to meditate (download this app).  Slow down and shut out the noise. 

  

(My room in Noyers, referred to as "Little Cambodia")

2.    Learn French. Take a class. Host an exchange student. See what I can learn in my own backyard.

3.     The Wild Unknown Tarot  What are my questions? To frame the question is the first step to finding the answer. Look within.  Be mindful. Be brave. 

4.    Asian cooking. Yes, I come back from France inspired to improve my culinary skills.  My Asian skills in particular.  I learned how to make Sushi and a Korean dish called Vegetarian Bibimbap.  (Note: add fermented soy paste and Kimchi. Delicious and nutritious). My next goal is to self-learn spring rolls.  Yum.

5.    Tracy Anderson Arms. Seriously, there are these deceptively simple and short clips on You Tube. The trick is to carve out the time. Do it with a friend, do it on vacation, and then try to “high five”. I dare you.  

6.    Tuning Forks for the human condition. Who couldn’t use a tune up from Noreen?

(prototype for Noreen's large scale rock installation in Noyers)

7.    Be nice to your candles and they will last longer. Push the wax down when they are warm, use a snuffer, keep the wicks short.

(Cypres, Figuer, Baeis, and Feu de Bois. The gifts that keep on giving.)

8.    Be open. If the universe throws you a perfect pitch, you might as well swing at the ball. Don’t be afraid. What is the worst that can happen? You fail?  That is just an opportunity to grow stronger. It’s not that complicated.

(the beginning of the rock installation on the hill near the chateau in Noyers)

9.    Listen to your inner voice. Sometimes you have to find the melody alone.  It is OK. Reminds me a Avett Brother’s song...

10.  I am pretty sure I have a few unmentionable “nuggets” to unwrap as well. This was France, after all. Viva La France!

In humble gratitude to Jules.  Thanks for helping me light up. Thanks for the gift of giggles that keeps on giving.   Thanks for the treasure box of “nuggets”. Thanks for the simple abundance of your friendship. 

Canicule

Canicule (Fr.)/ Heatwave (Eng.) noun: a spell of abnormally hot weather.

A friend had written this on my new chalkboard wall as a joke about the title of my next book. How prophetic.

Last weekend, France experienced a canicule. I knew that hot weather was expected at some point and that my kale garden would likely suffer a little. Each summer France prepares their canicule alert plan in preparation for these abnormally hot periods. There are four categories of alerts:

• Green: no warnings in place
• Yellow: minor alert
• Oragne: High alert, dangerous meteorological conditions are forecast.
• Red: Maximum alert, severe and dangerous weather conditions, precautions to be taken.

To say the least, Paris was on code red last weekend. Code red is defined as: 
"People are recommended to take precautions by staying out of direct heat and sun and drinking water regularly. Special care should be taken of the young, elderly and ill. Severe medical impact expected."

I heeded this warning and decided to stay down in the village in close proximity to the Boys' pool, rather than suffering back in the city. How civilized of me. And while I was taking precautions to keep my person somewhat comfortable, my kale back in Paris did not fare so well.

Here we have the scene of the crime.

The kale, lettuce, herb garden before the canicule--so much promise.

 Post canicule-- melted kale, and a resilient survivor.

Oh, no!

I thought mint plants were supposed to be sturdy, however it was burnt to a crisp. Thank god for the new growth peeking through.

The lettuce had melted in on itself, and now two confused lettuce plants try and resurrect themselves through the devastation.

The one kale planter that seemed to persevere (and dare I say, thrive), was the one in the Maison Blanche wine box.

I think it is very auspicious that the only survivor was contained in the White House box.

Day 2: buffet

I was super excited to post my accomplishment and wish I could say that everything went successfully today with the self assembly of my buffet.

The good news is that I did not have to buy pliers (pinces) because the grumpy man at the bricolage pulled my wooden wedgie things out with his own pliers when I showed him my mistakes in the support beams. Wow! Someone doing something helpful, it sort of reminded about the way things use to work back in the US.

I was eager to complete my project and quickly got back to work. I was reminded about how great I am at following directions. When something wasn't working, I stopped and tried to understand why rather than forcing it. One time, I simply walked away and returned later and the exact same difficult piece was miraculously cooperative. I thought about how frustrating it can be to assemble with a partner who approached things in a rushed, chaotic way and was sort of relieved that I was going it solo.

I realized very quickly why the instructions say that it takes 2 people to set this up. Flipping over the assembled piece was a challenge, but it was resolved with a large beach towel and a cardboard box support. I flipped it by myself and that was a small victory for me--proving that I can tackle a task on my own without having to stop and enlist reinforcement. That seems to be where a lot of my past projects were left incomplete.

I just wish that the hinges would have played nice. Those things are near impossible to tighten with just a phillips head screwdriver. And that is why I will buy a drill tomorrow. I figured I am going to be needing a drill a lot in the future and might as well get my own rather than relying on the Boys to supply my power tool needs.

Alas, we await tomorrow (Day 3) to finish the buffet assembly. More patience practicing.

Buffet

I finally found a white lacquer & wood buffet for the apartment in Paris. It was 50% off due to the July Soldes (Sales), which afforded me the extra cost associated with having it delivered and professionally assembled.

The good news is that it was delivered to my 2nd floor Paris apartment.

The bad news is that the delivery guy said he doesn't do assembly.

Since I bought it online, there isn't a contact number available so that I can debate this delivery error and demand a "spécialiste de l'assemblage" like I paid for.  But how hard could it be? I am a smart, capable lady. Yet here I am at 9:38pm blogging about this situation, and not actually finishing the assembly tonight like I had planned.

I made a fatal mistake in Etape No.1 (Step One). One that requires pliers to pull these little wooden wedgie things out of the incorrectly inserted holes.  I don't currently own any pliers, and bricolages are closed at this hour. In a desperate attempt to continue my momentum this evening, I took my Shu Uemura eyebrow tweezers to the situation. That obviously didn't work.

I will continue this incredible act of patience tomorrow.

 à demain...

Tortillas

One of the things that I miss most about the US, is the food. Healthy fare and more urgently, Mexican food. I miss burritos, tacos, enchiladas, tamales, salsa and hot sauce. Whenever someone comes to visit, they usually ask me if I need anything from the US. My answer is always the same:

hot sauce
enchilada sauce
chipotles
and TORTILLAS.

It is true, you can technically buy Old El Paso tortillas at almost any grocery store in Paris. But they aren't the same. I am not sure what bizarre ingredients they include, but the flour tortillas taste like flat, doughy croissants and the corn tortillas taste like flour. So as far as I am concerned, there are no tortillas in Paris. Until now!

Yesterday I received my first shipment of homemade corn tortillas from Paris' first Tortilleria, Mil Amores Tortilleria.  Thank God for Louis Rendon from Candelaria for bringing tacos and now homemade tortillas to Paris. I have made veggie tacos and am anxious to use my last two precious cans of red enchilada sauce on a batch of spinach enchiladas. Of course fare this rare should be shared with friends. So the race is on to get my new kitchen installed so I can have the gang over for Mexican food.

I am starting to feel like Paris might have just about everything I need to live my ideal lifestyle. Well, everything except my GT's grape Kombucha and my US peeps whom I continue to miss immensely. The tortillas help to lessen that void.

Peinture

peinture (Fr.)/ paint (Eng.) noun: a mixture of pigment and a suitable liquid to form a closely adherent coating when spread on a surface in a thin coat.

(Before: the choices)

Welcome to my own personal version of 50 Shades of Grey. So it seems only fitting that I went with the color that is situated between S and M, "Gres Naturel". I do love the drama of P, and will use that for the WC.

(after)

(the mantel before)

(the mantel after)

(before, although at this point, I had already painted the bottom half white. It was margarine before, just like the wall)

(after)

In order to take a proper after photo of the living room, I need a few main items:

1. Credenza- inspiration: like the wood one in the far right hand corner of this photo:

 Or, in enamel like the one on the right hand side of this photo:

2. Coffee table- inspiration: like the white enamel one in this photo below, with a place to store things. Ideally, one with wheels so I can move it around. That is so key for small spaces:

or acrylic, like this one from Muji, with a space for magazines:

Or maybe a wood coffee table, if I can find one that I love. And with wheels.

3. Chair(s): tbd
4. Standing lamp: tbd
5. Some sort of storage for extra blankets and pillows: tbd

Limboland

(new pad in the 11th)

I've been in Limboland for a while now. This is the place where an air plant, such as myself resides when it has no home of its own. No place to establish my own root growth. And always able to pick up and bail at a moments notice.

Par contre, I have been actively searching for a house to buy in Bourgogne. So I have hesitated to search out a new place of my own to rent in Paris so that my options remained open.  I've been renting my friend's apartment in Paris the past couple of years, which means living among all of their stuff. It was never really my space, Not really able to fully unpack my bags, settle in, and create an environment that suits my lifestyle.

It has been such a HUGE blessing to have this opportunity... a readied apartment with all the things I needed. Internet. Phone. Fantastic location. No contract, and the ability to move quickly on a Bourgogne house purchase, when and if that happens. 

But I am ready for more in Paris.

I want my own space. I want to create my own aethetic. I want comfort. I want a level of legitimacy in my residence here. As much as I would have loved to stay in Limboland while I figure the Bourgogne house purchase out, these other needs are more pressing.  I can't wait it out anymore.

New living area (with too much furniture and dingy walls)

They say that finding an apartment in Paris is more difficult than finding a soulmate. Virtually impossible, they say. So when this opportunity fell into my lap I felt like I needed to jump all over it. I am happy to report that I now have an apartment of my own in a new neighborhood. It has more room, working fireplace, a long balcony, and my favorite feature, a bathtub! And the proprietere is giving me (measured) permission to give it a makeover.

View of the current kitchen (taken from balcony)

Bathroom (with large ship tile art from Portugal, apparently)

I am doing the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy thing right now by completely refreshing the place. New paint, new curtains, new furniture, new art, herbs in hanging baskets, olive trees for privacy, and a new kitchen. As much hard work as this requires, it has revived my creativity ten fold. It also helps that I have a fabulous friend who is as excited about this makeover as I am. In fact, he may have single-handedly turned this into a really fun project.

Here are some before shots, and I will definitely post the after photos when I have them.

This kitchen is going bye bye (new kitchen will be installed next month)

Living space with too much (granny) wicker furniture

Alternative

Alternative (Fr.)/ Alternative (Eng.): one of two or more available possibilities. A situation presenting a choice. (it is the same word in French as it is in English)

Last weekend I went to the Keep Portland Weird festival/exhibition at Gaîté Lyrique. It was incredible to watch all of the Parisians marvel over the things that I considered a normal way of life. Portland's coffee shop culture, the outdoors, the environmentally sustainable mindset, creativity bursting at the seams, the foodie mecca, and healthy lifestyles.

 I was proud to call it my other home. And it found me a little homesick. At one point, my friend commented that we should leave the festival immediately for fear that I become emotional and decide to leave Paris to make my way back to the other city that I love.

 Rather than take such drastic measures, I pondered about the things that I miss the most, aside from my peeps. It was the healthy lifestyle, particularly Barre3, vegetarian culinary possibilities, and alternatives that are available no matter what sort of food preferences you have. So I have decided to make a concentrated effort to recreate that bit of Portland here in Paris. First up? Not just cutting out the gluten and grains whenever possible, but making my own delicious alternative recipes since Paris doesn't have a Back to Eden or Proper Eats (that I am aware of). So I went to the market to find alternatives to flour and sugar in order to make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

(Organic honey, crunchy peanut butter, mini dark chocolate chips and baking soda)

Here is a recipe that I have made several times over the last week (yeah, I better keep this in check) which is super easy and uses ingredients that I usually have on hand:

Flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookies 
1 c. peanut butter (prefereably organic)
1/3 c. honey (preferably local and organic)
1 egg (preferably local and organic)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. dark chocolate chips (mini's are preferred)

Mix it all together (add the chips last). It will be much stickier than regualr cookie dough but don't worry, it will totally turn out.

Scoop them onto a cookie tray that is lined with parchment paper and cook them at 350 F (175 C) for ten minutes.

Then you must let them cool for at least ten minutes so that they can firm up.

Et voila!

Just as good as any cookie I have had in Paris or Portland for that matter. In fact, better!