Who am I?

So many of you are keen on finding out a little bit more about the the lady behind *Paris in a bottle*,

so here is a mini interview, with myself!

Day job: 

Marketing guru

Evening and weekend job: 

*Paris in a bottle* jewellery

Colour of my hair:

dark brown

Colour of my eyes:

brown

How people often sum me up:

a smile

Nationality: 

French 

How long have I been in the UK:

since 2003…

Living in:

a duplex flat in Leicester

Where I wished I was living:

Oxford (but thinking about Cambridge too…)

Car: 

red Clio called Fizzy (driving license pending...)

Films I could watch again and again:

Amelie, Monsters Inc, The Incredibles, the Ocean films, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Favourite music at the moment:

Portico Quartet, PJ Harvey, Peggy Sue, Noah and the Whale, Elbow, Lang Lang, gypsy jazz

  

Favourite look: 

monochrome with colored shoes and eye-catching jewellery

Favourite clothes: 

skirts and dresses – trousers not allowed!

Favourite jewellery pieces:

necklaces (extra long!)

Favourite accessory:

scarves – à la parisienne

Favourite shoes:

I have a miniature 8 pairs only! I can’t walk on stilettos, so I go for courts instead

Favourite luxury brand:

Valentino and Chanel, Ellie Saab

Favourite perfume:

‘L’air de rien’ by Miller Harris, Miss Dior Chérie  or L’Elixir by Nina Ricci

 Ambition: 

open a lifestyle shop where I would sell my jewellery as well as other crafts and pretty things

Pet hate: 

when food is ready, every sits down and eats. 

Playing or looking for something or going to the bathroom is not allowed.

Pêché mignon:

cheese (brie, goat’s cheese) and nutella

 Must go-to places:

Copenhagen, Lisbon, Berlin, Normandy, Iceland, Canada

What I take pride in:

wrapping gifts, making the packaging look better than the gift; sending cards and gifts

Perfect day:

punting in Cambridge then restaurant with my friends and family

New Year’s resolutions:

declutter my life and focus what is important to me - see here

What I believe in:

there’s fate, there’s luck and then there’s what you make of it

and to finish off, here's a little drawing a friend of mine made a long long time ago... 

but apparently I haven't changed one bit!

If you have any more questions, do let me know and I will be delighted to answer them! :)

Waking up to a morning blog

In the mornings....

Everybody has a daily routine, from the moment you wake up (with or without snooze),

 to what you eat, how you pick your clothes, how you have a coffee and what you

 do on your way to work (if you are not driving).

To soften the morning routine, and add a little thought and style to the equation, 

here are my favourite blogs of the moment, which I would recommend checking daily, 

with a cup of tea (stroking of the cat optional).

Cinema Style

Discussing all things cinema (lots and old and a little of new), this blog offers a different approach and interesting content.  Perfect to wake up your brain!

The Wild Fleur

It is soft and pretty, and makes you light and happy. Sharing photography and making us daydream, Camille and her blog are the perfect way to abolish all stress and submerge yourself in a world that is in her words, ‘flirty and feminine’.

JKR Gazette

For a little thinking in the morning, the brilliant JKR Gazette, by the brilliant JKR agency is a must. Talking all things branding and design (one of my passion, I after all day-work in the industry!), it presents new ideas and gives you a new viewpoint on every day items and brands.

Culinographie et Griottes.fr

  

 Everybody knows I love food. I think about it all the time, and eat it a little too much. 

These two blogs depict and create around the theme of food without actually talking about food. If anything else, they are a creative repository of stunning images and inspiration. And yes, they do make you hungry too.

My Little Fabric

A new find for me, which I can not wait to read more of!

More food but also craft projects, and stunning visuals.

This one is in French, so here's hoping you've been paying attention...

Last but not least...

Here are more recent finds which I most spend more time reading…

A girl, A Style - fashion

Design Milk - design

Disegno - more design!

Please email me your suggestions of blogs that ought to become in my morning routine! Happy reading!

Thinking outside the Bazaar

Harper's Bazaar - one of the luxurious glossies of this world. 

As a new year resolution, I have taken it upon myself to focus on more intelligent magazines and reads. Yes fashion is beautiful, but there is a time and place to indulge in unachievable dreams, and often I feel poorer and completely outdated after having flicked through a fashion glossy. 

I always thought that Harper's was slightly better than all the others, with fashion but also more compelling stories and anecdotes about  people and places. And so it was, February 2012.

Perhaps not the best issue to review as it the official launch of SS12 trends, but hopefully more reviews will follow!

The issue wasn't too long, neither was it too short, nor overwhelmed by shampoo adverts and with intelligent content too. All in all, I liked it!

    

A very stern front cover in my opinion, especially when compared to colourful burst displayed by Vogue and Elle. Perhaps not too suitable to launch the bright SS12 trends either.

It is all the more odd, that behind the front cover of a serious and classic lady, Uma Thurman is shown full of glamour (almost a vamp!) inside the magazine. A fashion faux-pas you might say.

And in come the Spring Summer 2012 trends. Very bold, be it in terms of colour, shape or sparkles.

It is all a bit too bold for my personal taste and for the subdued person that I am (other than shoes that deserve a hint of colour!) if I am honest ... however the return of the 1920s Gatsby trends never came early enough, and I am pleased to see more ruffles, girly colours and detailing.

Some talking points... yes, intelligent reading! :) 

Finishing the issue with a small dose of Audrey is a stroke of genius. Because after the noise, the colours and all the selling, this photo calms you down and makes you think of your dreams and aspirations.

Back to basics, back to classic.

To finish off, some beautiful adverts! I always love looking at adverts not necessarily to look at the clothes themselves but to observe their subversive messages.  

Loving the ice cream theme!

 

 

 

 

 Backdrop of images: lots more Harper's (and a single Vogue!)

Out with the old, in with the new!

My first post of the year and too many ideas and thoughts that I am not sure where to start!

It is always worth taking the time to think, and to take a step back from who we are and what we are doing and most importantly, what we wish we were doing and where we wish we were living. And I have done just that over the past ten days, lounging at home over the Christmas period with only me, myself and I to ponder about my personal goals.

Perhaps not life goals, but 2012 goals certainly!

So here they are. A new year brings new hope, new good wishes and lots of excellent resolutions:

1. Invest my heart and soul into my jewellery brand and see it fly (hopefully ;-))

2. Send more letters, cards, surprises and gifts to my friends and family

3. Spend more weekends away visiting my friends, or discovering new places

4. Rid myself and my soul of "cloportes" (references from Amelie!)

5. Read more 'intelligent' magazines, news and improve my general knowledge

6. Get more involved in the blogosphere by doing more reading and writing

7. Stop once and for all buying cheap stuff (clothes, furniture, kitchen equipment, etc...) 

and invest in grown-up alternatives: less is more!

Currently I have an inexplicable drive and a feeling of being completely invincible. 

I want to do whatever I wish to do, and nevermind for the rest. 

I suppose all this is also driven by my and the boyfriend's two year plan: in two years maximum, we leave everything and do something different, be it move to Australia, open a shop (my forever dream!), do a mini world tour, move to France and just change jobs. 

Sometimes one needs to shake things up a little! :)

And there is no better feeling than to feel free and to look forward to a new start at the beginning of a new year.

On this note, I wish a very happy new year to all of you and let 2012 be a luscious and fabulous year!