Unique Wedding Entrances

Hey, we're so excited for those of you who are planning weddings! The planning process is so much fun! As a simple post (as both of us are super busy right now), we thought we'd share some favorite wedding entrance videos to inspire all you wedding-planners to add a little "flare" to your wedding celebration! (And we promise we'll be back with more substantial posts soon---still have some Paris posts and some fun home ideas coming up).


(This last one was passed on by our cousin Heather. Heather, thanks for sharing it with us...oh, and happy birthday!) :)

French Macaroons

Yesterday's travels through Paris led me to a fabulous little bakery.  The thing I especially love about French pastries & desserts is that they are not only delicious, but very pretty to look at.  A wonderful example of this would be French macaroons!  They come in fun colors and flavors and they taste wonderful.  Actually, you might consider this attractive little treat to be a tasty way to add color to your next party or shower.  It's not terribly difficult to make these treats and you can color them to match your color scheme!  Perhaps at your next party, instead of chintzy favors that will be thrown away, you could have a small package of macaroons waiting at each place setting.  Here are a couple recipes for you to peruse, in case you feel like experimenting in the kitchen with your own macaroon concoctions:

• French Chocolate Macaroon Recipe by David Lebovitz
• Hazelnut Macaroons by Williams-Sonoma
• French Chocolate Macaroons by Williams-Sonoma
• Raspberry Chocolate French Macaroons by epicurious.com
• Martha Stewart's French Almond Macaroons

Also, if you need a little more guidance, the website Giver's Log has wonderful step-by-step instructions with charming photos.  This is a great resource for a first-time macaroon-maker!

Happy baking!

---Kari

(Have a lovely Sunday....I'm off to the Champs d'Elysees to catch the last leg of le Tour de France!)

Inspiration for the Garden

Today was a trip to Versailles.  Of course, seeing what the royal French family built is fantastic and Marie Antoinette's little house is worth taking a look at, but I must admit that my favorite part of Versailles happens to be the gardens.  The expansive, beautiful, romantic gardens...ah, so lovely.  I have to admit, I'm very inspired to go tackle some areas in my yard that are not-so-great right now.  I hope these photos will give you inspiration for your own garden today as you enjoy a wonderful weekend!

A lovely Saturday to each of you,

Kari

Notre Dame & Sainte Chapelle

I felt so very privileged to get to take in these churches on Wednesday. I have visited both Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle before, but this time it was to sit and stay awhile, studying and drawing the interiors.  What a wonderful way to spend a few hours!  Not only are these churches stunning, but they are rich with history and they are still reverent places of worship (despite the occasional tourist who has to be hushed).  I didn't take tons of photos because (a) I spent most of my time drawing for class, and (b) I often am bad about taking out my camera (hence lots of lame iPhone photos on this blog).  Here are a few of the photos I did take, however.  I thought a little taste of beautiful church art might be appreciated by you!  :)

Happy Friday!

---Kari

More Paris lovelies...

If I lived in Paris, one of the places that I think it would be lovely to have an address is Place des Vosges in the Le Marais district. I can't help but love old French buildings with the beloved Mansard roof. Wouldn't you like to live in this little neighborhood? (sigh). So pretty.  

We are currently enjoying rain with big thunder and lightning in Paris----a real treat for a California girl like me as I hardly ever get to experience a light and sound show with rain in the Central Valley.  I hope all of you are having your favorite kind of weather, whatever that may be!  

Until tomorrow,

Kari

Pictures of Paris...

Paris is full of inspiring things.  It truly is a beautiful city (even if I do wish I could be the only tourist here---Paris is absolutely crawling with tourists right now) and it reminds me of why I love French design so very much.  Here are a few favorite photos I snapped around town today---some of scenes that just made me smile, and then several doors.  If you know me, you know I love doors (I think I got that from my Mom---Babs) and I couldn't help but take a few photos of pretty doors around Paris.  I'm inspired to go home and dress up my front door a little.  Maybe you'll be inspired to do the same!  :)

As I post this, it's after 8:00pm Paris time and I've had a long day.  Time to settle in for a French sitcom or two on the TV and then off to bed.  I'll chat with you more tomorrow.

Au revoir!

---Kari

A Monday in Paris...

Some of you know that I'm (Kari) spending two weeks in Paris, taking a class at Parsons Paris. The class is called "Paris Interiors & Architecture" and the focus is on rendering, something I absolutely love. So, today was the first day of class. I get pretty excited about architecture and interiors anyway, but a class that focuses on Paris' wonderful built environments is kind of a dream come true. I have high expectations for this class and am hoping I can return to my school semester this fall inspired by what I experience the next two weeks in this wonderful city.
Orientation was only slightly painful (aren't all school orientations a bit painful? You take the campus tour, you hear about the academic policies, you get a slight glimpse at which classmates will become good resources and which classmates will be just plain annoying...you know, the usual orientation stuff). After orientation, our first stop was La Cite de L'Architecture et du Patrimone. The architecture here was amazing...a few photos follow (again, used the iPhone, so excuse photo quality. I am just not good about getting my camera out!)

A wonderful floor of modern examples of great design. Lots of fabulous models, like this one:

The gothic relics downstairs really captivated me.  Many of these pieces were excavated from churches around France, preserved so that we can appreciate the fine masonry and artistry in each piece.  I love "church art" and am grateful for a sound Biblical background because it's so fascinating to be able to recall the stories being told in these artistic scenes.  Beautiful.  Wish I had more photos of these beauties to share (although that would probably be boring for you...don't you hate it when people have a million vacation photos to show you?!)

Here's a lovely scene:

A lovely example of church architecture from the gothic period.  (My brain starts reciting terms from a past architectural history course:  spire, crocket, buttress, quatrefoil...)

A lovely detail...I wouldn't mind having this in my home somewhere:

We were supposed to be doing sketching and I confess, I never really found my groove today.  Here's a thumbnail of a sketch I started and then discarded (a bit blurry, I'm afraid.  I'm blaming the iPhone).  Let's hope I get back into the swing of things tomorrow.  I love to draw and I was really looking forward to doing some great sketching in Paris.  Today, I disappointed myself a tad.  I've heard of writer's block, but is there such thing as sketcher's block?

Following the museum, we took a loooooong walk along the Seine, checking out bridges and some of the other buildings in the area.  It was a beautiful, sunny day!

And, of course, we saw more of this beauty today:

Wishing you all blue skies today, wherever you are!

From Paris,

Kari

J'aime Paris

Greetings from Paris!
What a wonderful, exciting, beautiful place this city is. I (Kari) am so happy to have returned to one of my favorite places in the world (thus far)! Here's a little snapshot (using bad iPhone photos) of today's experiences:

Took a brisk morning walk past the Eiffel Tower on our way to cafe au lait and croissants for le petit-dejuner:

Marveled at the good fortune of finding an apartment in such a beautiful, old building!  Our fourth floor studio apartment is in the corner of the building, so we have a grand old window that opens up to view a courtyard.  I am in the process of trying to figure out how to get the hubby to relocate to Paris for a couple years...

(The apartment building:)

Marveled at the fantastic "living building" that is the Musee du Quai Branly.  It's stunning!  Coming from the Central Valley of California where July and August are dry, hot, and lacking green, it's refreshing to see such a lush display of healthy plants and foliage:

Saw so many beautiful examples of French buildings.  So lovely to not see bad stucco all over the place (as seen in the Central Valley).  I love the classics when it comes to architecture and certainly Paris has so much to offer in that arena!

Headed to the Marche aux Puces St-Ouen.  Paris flea markets.  Ah, need I say more?  I think if my friend Shelley had not dragged me away from this place finally, I would have shut the place down.  It's a treasure hunter's heaven!

We arrived early, as vendors were still opening up:

Then, the treasure hunt began!  I could easily fill a shipping container with goodies from this market, but I decided to start slowly and tried not to consider the option of shipping anything large back to California.  :)

 

My heart stopped when I saw these through a window:  vintage Louis Vuitton trunks!  They were way out of my price range, but I was dying to buy a couple to use as a makeshift bedside table in my guest room.  They were priced at nearly 1,000 U.S. dollars apiece and I didn't think my hubby would understand how worth it they were, so I passed them by (but not without drooling first!)

So many random odds and ends...

Vintage silver = beautiful.  Very fun to paw through old estate silver!

Even treasures for the mid-century modern enthusiast!

Sorry this picture is so far away...but I must say my biggest weakness at this market happened to be all the fabulous chairs.  Antique bergeres, Louis chairs, etc...

Both Jill & I have weaknesses for great chairs.  Our houses are starting to overflow with chairs, in fact.  But there is something soooo fabulous about a fantastic chaise with great lines and fun fabric.  I really, really, really wanted to buy about twenty chairs today.  :)

This 18th century pottery was almost another downfall for me today!  I really, really wanted to take home that fantastic blue plate with the dimensional oranges on it.  Just a mere 650 in U.S. dollars.  It would look great in my kitchen!

So many fun things!  Not sure you can see them great, but there's a table of vintage soda/seltzer bottles there.  I did pick one of those up in a really great blue-green color.  :)

Something fun for everyone:

Finished off the flea market with lunch----a filling Croque Madame with a glass of wine.  Delicious!

That's it for now!  I hope each of you are having a lovely day, wherever you are and whatever you are doing!  

Until tomorrow,

Kari  :)