A bientôt, mes amies

This is not the "good-bye" post.

This is the "see you in a little while" post.

The good news is that wonderful things are happening.  My days are filled with exciting (to me) projects, meetings, events, tasks, and general endeavors that make me happy, that make me thrive.  A wise friend once told me that your 20's are about self-discovery -- figuring what you want to do in life.  Your 30's are about honing skills to do what you want to do.  And your 40's and 50's are about getting to do the life for which you have diligently and sacrificially prepared.  And that's where I am now.  I am fortunate.

The bad news is this blog needs to take a back-burner position on my simmering stove of projects.  I'm not canceling it, and I'm not leaving the blog universe forever.  As Mr. Cupcake says, "Never play your final card until forced."  Or maybe it was Kenny Rogers, aka The Gambler.  I'll still be lurking and commenting when I have the chance, but I cannot create thoughtful blog posts AND participate in my active schedule. 

I created this blog to fulfill a gaping hole in my erstwhile lost identity: a forum to discuss the tectonic plate-shifting occurring in my head as I turned the corner from my 30's to my 40's.  I didn't have a place to discuss the emptiness and waste of recreational shopping instead of intentional purchases, financial responsibility exercising as a cultivated wardrobe, beloved screen icons, the blessing and pursuit of real food, the desire to openly create a French lifestyle in suburban America, and most importantly, living and owning the full potential in me -- not to merely own a coveted, expensive Hermes scarf, but to wear life unapologetically and with aplomb.

Instead of finding a soapbox from which to opine, I found a community who feels as I do.  I thought I was the only one who talked back to her Inner French Girl.  I thought I was the only one who ate full-fat Greek yogurt and saved for expensive luxuries on a modest income.  I thought I was the only one clinging to chic instead of cheap.

I have adored getting to know each of you as you leave comments and send me emails, and I still look forward to visiting the cities where you live to meet you in person.  I'll recognize you by the way you tie your scarf!  

Until we meet again, and until the next blog post, LIVE la vie francaise!

P.S. And watch Upstairs Downstairs, Season 2.

Red Wine Enzyme

I've been using Inventive Eco-Organic products for nine months.  I love them.  I was turned on to them by my aesthetician who loves all things organic and "natural".  We discuss lots of nutrition concepts each month as she massages elixirs and other goodies into my face.

As part of my monthly facials, this "peel" is done each month.  Recently my aesthetician recommended I purchase the product (after using the generous sample she gave me) to use at home 2-3 times per week  to remove the dead skin cells that hang out around my nose and chin.

In 2011, I attacked these areas with the Clarisonic and I couldn't understand why my delicate, sensitive, dry skin was getting more infected, getting WORSE with the beauty tool everyone in Blogland was loving.  Instead of eliminating blackheads, my breakouts became Biblical.

Since using this Red Wine Enzyme strictly per the instructions located here, I have noticed that my skin is cleaner, less irritated and thus clear.  This product does not sting, does not cause me redness, and I'm not being paid to endorse it.  If you would like to pay me, I prefer free products instead.  :-)

I pay $35 + sales for this product, and I expect it to last me for 4-5 months because such a tiny amount is used.  Here's my method:

1. Before I pop into the shower for the morning, I put one pump of the enzyme into the palm of my hand, and then apply it all over my face, excluding ONLY the upper lids of my eye.  I do put it on the under-eye area because this product is so gentle (and Madame Miracle Worker said it's okay to do so).  However, if you are particularly sensitive I would recommend avoiding your eye area altogether until you can tell how this product works on your own unique skin.
2. Do not be fooled by the creamy texture; this is an enzyme peel, and a very little goes a very long way on your face.
3. I do the things that must be done in the shower, careful not to get my face wet.
4. When the shower is nearly over, I quickly rinse my face.
5. The first thing done when I am out of the shower is to apply my facial moisturizer.  If you let your skin go too long (over 60 seconds) without hydrating it after the enzyme, you risk drying out your skin.

The peel must be used in combination with moist heat, so either a shower or a facial steam is the only way for the ingredients to activate on your face.

That's my enzyme story.  Please let me know if you decide to give this product a try and how it works for you!

Oh, the aesthetician recommended for me a once-weekly scrub: olive oil and sea salt.  Don't you love grocery store beauty products that are already hanging around your house?

Visible Monday: Happy Birthday to Me!

Since it's my birthday, I'm wearing my favorite dress in my wardrobe:  the black halter from Talbot's.  Here's a previous Visible Monday picture of it:

The new Fall weather is still a bit balmy today as we have a front that promises a slight chance of rain; I'll take it, though not this evening as my husband is driving me to eat barbecue for dinner.  And while some of you may think that's my husband's preferred way to spend his birthday dinner....you must remember that underneath the frilly dresses, the H scarves, and the Chanel makeup is a hardcore carnivore raised on antelope and elk in Montana.

I've been saving up all sorts of goodies for my birthday -- goodies as in free samples from the makeup counters of Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus.  I have a little jar of La Mer body lotion which smells like the Avon lotion my grandmother used to use, a mini-tube of Chanel's Sublimage eye cream (I roll on the floor and laugh at the price of this concoction), and a real-size tube of Jo Malone lip balm I purchased last year because I was having surgery and was feeling needy.  As nice as this last product is, I find that the 99-cent tube of Chapstick my dentist gives me every 6-months works just as well for me.

So, decked out in emollient creams, a black sundress, and freshly enzymed skin (stay tuned for Wednesday), I'm spending this Visible Monday sniffing a bouquet of orange roses on my desk, lighting  a candle, and trying to figure out Facebook.  Oh, and I'm going to the gym.  Yes, the gym.  As I'm now in my 40's, I want cut arms - the kind of arms that look good in halter tops and can throw someone to the ground if they snag the H scarf I want.

Just kidding!

(sort of)

Enjoy what all the other ladies are wearing at Not Dead Yet Style's Visible Monday!

French Friday, 65

The weather has warmed back up in Austin, so Monsieur Cupcake and I headed to the pool.

It was bliss; the only other people there were swimming laps.  In between dunking our heads underneath the water and throwing the football back and forth -- where I nearly hyperextended my wee little pinkie finger again -- we read in the shade.  I'm currently enjoying MFK Fischer's The Gastronomical Me.  If you haven't read this lovely collection of essays, I highly recommend you do.  I am ready to pack my sweaters and head to Dijon.

As the clock begins to turn from 40 to 41 this weekend, I've re-enlisted my dedication to good skin care.  I purchased a red wine enzyme to eliminate the dead skin that creates unlimited dirty pores around my nose and chin, and it's working.  My erstwhile dry face is feeling hydrated and CLEAN.  We all know the first step to French Chic is a ruthless, basically OCD skin care regimen.

Speaking of OCD, I rearranged the binders in my office bookcase so the edges line up with the shelving.  I can't be the only person who does this, am I?

I also picked up the bubbly to take with us to the restaurant on Monday.  I love the BYOB restaurants in former dry counties!  There's nothing like popping open a can of cold, sparkling nectar.  I refer, of course, to the Sofia Coppola to-go-wine: the over 21 juice box.

Have a great weekend!


 

Autumn Dreams

Since the temperature has turned bitter cold in Texas hill country - as in, today's forecasted high is a brisk 88 degrees, but the low was 63! - my mind is turning to Fall attire and wondering what I would wear if I lived more north.  Like Canada.

True to form, I'd pull something out of my fantasies of pre-War English county life.  If I'm to-the-manor born and the doyenne of those flower shows and the annual hospital charitable ball, I must look the part and not disappoint the residents!

In my little fantasy, I am of course channelling Kirsten Scott Thomas in Gosford Park.

Ditch the cig and add a martini glass

Mmm, butler?

What deal with the devil do I need to make to get this library?

We're all aiming to grow into the Queen Bee.

I'm specifically thinking of the character's equestrian attire at the beginning of the movie, but I couldn't source any pictures.  So I picked her snootiest moments instead.  I don't think you mind.

Flipping through the catalogs that continue to plague my mailbox, I couldn't help but be sucked into the pages of Brooks Brothers.  They've evolved into something considerably less stodgy over the last couple of years.  While I don't live in Gosford Park or East Hampton, I'm still swooning at the idea of wearing the following:

Monochromatic grey.  Sigh....

This one is from Neiman Marcus: Adrienne Landau scarf.
With some yummy ankle boots and a bootleg jean....

Not your grandmother's Brooks Brothers.
This sums up my entire fashion ideal; this is the essence of MOI.
If only my hair would wave...

I already own the glasses, the jeans, and a similar sweater.
Where's that birthday money for a another new scarf?

Any one of these are worthy of a stroll through fictional orange-leafed lanes, or at least a glass of deep red on the patio with some bacon-wrapped chicken bits sizzling on the nearby grill.

What's inspiring you for your Autumn wardrobe?

Visible Monday: Le Laboratoire du Temps

Whilst in Washington D.C. during the Labor Day weekend, I took a break from rehearsals and went to Chevy Chase, Maryland.  At least that's what the sign post said.  I had to cancel my one-day trip to Chicago whilst in Minnesota because of the family crisis.  So, to make up for that Mr. Cupcake said, "Why don't you take the shopping money you were going to spend in Chicago and spend it in D.C. instead?"

I love me some Mr. Cupcake.

"Oh, and why don't I give you a 100% match?"

Okay, that didn't happen...I'm a would-be fiction writer.  But I did locate one of these in the area:

And so I decided to consult my long list of possible purchases stored on my iPhone.  I did my evaluation, I pondered parting with the money, even though a new scarf was in my Planned Purchases Database for months now, and I decided to go for this:

Le Laboratoire du Temps

I love Spanx
Sweater: Neiman Marcus
Skirt: Lafayette
Watch: Omega
Scarf and ring: Hermes

Prada kitten heels from ebay - I think I paid $20

Don't miss what all the other fabulous ladies are wearing at Not Dead Yet Style's Visible Monday!

French Friday, 64

Mr. Cupcake is scaring me.

He's discovered YouTube, probably because of a forwarded email, and he's watching Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent or whatever that show was.

I was sitting in bed, reading a delicious Edith Wharton novel, and I hear Fantine's lament from Les Miserables, only I don't know it's being sung by Susan Boyle.  I think Mr. Cupcake is upstairs watching a program on PBS and thinking, "Huh?  My lovely love doesn't do Broadway.  Have we been burglarized?!"  But I was on a really good section of the book and ignored it.  And then the song started all over again, and there was much cheering in YouTube land.  I got up to investigate.

moi, "What are you doing?!"

Mr. C, "Have you ever heard of this woman from Britain who sang this song and won..."

moi, "Yeah, yeah, yeah... Susan Boyle.  But what are YOU doing?"

Mr. C, "She has an amazing voice!"

moi, "Yes, she does."

Mr. C, "And I really like that song!"

moi, blah blah blah about Victor Hugo, seeing Les Mis in London, and a 90-second lecture on 19th century French history and the plight of students and workers: "Occupation Paris, 19th century style"

Mr. C, "I'd like to see it!" (Mr. C somehow missed the Les Mis craze from the 1980's and 1990's...)

moi, "Do you know that's the story from which I named my ever-sainted kitty, Cossytte?"

And then I told him the story of Cossette in Les Mis and Cossytte the snooty French house cat who employed me as her butler and wormed her way into Mr. Cupcake's affections.

But the real question is this: how do I direct my inner French Girl into setting up more cultural exploration and general getting-with-the-program to benefit me directly (tickets to the opera, carte blanche at Hermes, et al.) and still allow him to feel like he is the only one benefitting (becoming well-rounded, happy-wife-happy-life, exploring a hidden desire for champagne)?  I don't know how to do this.  I need to consult the French bibles all over again.

So...I think I may have a window here to see Les Miserables, the movie version, with Mr. C.  Have you seen the previews?