Bistro Chic

(Photo source)

When Scott and I went to London a few years ago, we were fortunate enough to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum. I remember it was our last day in Europe and we had walked around London all day long wanting to soak in every last bit of history. We happened upon the V&A by accident. We weren’t even sure what it was at first or if it was open. Come to find out, it was open until 5 PM. We looked at our watches – 4:15 PM!!! Well, it’s now or never, so we headed in. Because we only had 45 minutes to peruse, we decided to split up for 20 minutes. He headed into the paintings area and I into …what else? The fashion and jewelry area of course!

Because it was so late, I was the only one in the fashion history exhibit at the time – well, except for the guard. I spent my full 20 minutes in awe of the beautiful dresses from the 1800′s until present day. The detail in the clothes and how they were preserved and showcased were all amazing. As I ambled through, I couldn’t help but think how styles have changed over the years. From very conservative long wool dresses in the early 19th century, to flapper dresses in the early 20th century, and mini skirts and halter tops in the 70s. This made me wonder – how did fashion trends start way back then? How did people adopt them and why?

Ironically, the former curator of the Victoria and Albert Museum, James Laver (1899-1975), was also a fashion historian. Laver was curator there from the 1930s through the 50s, in charge of prints and drawings. However, his claim to fame has always been fashion. He could actually look at a very old photo and place it within a few years of the time period, just by the clothes the people where wearing. He was also a master at knowing how styles came in and out of fashion. In fact, major department stores bought and sold by Laver’s Law of Fashion, the idea that fashions all have a timeline or lifecycle trend, which could somewhat predict what styles would be hot in the coming year and which would be passé. Take a look…

Laver’s Law of Fashion

Indecent                            10 years before its time

Shameless                          5 years before its time

Daring                                 1 year before its time

Smart                                   Current fashion

Dowdy                                  1 year after its time

Hideous                              10 years after its time

Ridiculous                          20 years after its time

Amusing                             30 years after its time

Quaint                                  50 years after its time

Charming                            70 years after its time

Romantic                           100 years after its time

Beautiful                             150 years after its time

This law applies only to women’s fashion. For, unlike women’s fashion that drastically changed year after year, Laver observed that men’s fashion stayed pretty consistent, with ever so subtle changes through the decades.

As you can see ladies, if you hold onto something long enough, it may take on heirloom status. As they say, whatever is old becomes new again – just give it time. But, in case you’re wondering whether to hold onto your Ugg boots and your jumpsuit – keep in mind, they were never that stylish the first time around.

(Photo Source)

It’s hardly a secret that French women are regarded as some of the most natural beauties in the world. From the time they are born, French women learn that personal appearance is something you should never neglect. Girls in France learn about the importance of beauty and, most importantly, beauty rituals from their mothers, grandmothers, sisters, cousins – it seems every woman in the family gets in on the education when it comes to beauty. And it’s not about contests, pagents, or even comparing yourself to supermodels. French women believe that beauty and taking care of one’s beauty are essential to life and what make you who you are.

This mindset has helped most French women age gracefully, year after year, and decade after decade. Just look at French celebrities Juliette Binoche, 46, Audrey Tautou, 35, and France’s first lady, Carla Bruni, 43. Although far from being considered “young” at least by American standards, they are seen as three of the sexiest French women, and all are over age 35! These are just three examples of how French women seem to defy age and look effortlessly beautiful.

So, have French women discovered the Fountain of Youth? Well, not exactly. Last week, the New York Times reported 10 ways to age like a French woman. However, I think the secret to a French woman’s beauty is based on 3 key elements:

3 Steps to Timeless French Beauty

Maintain a Healthy Weight French women may eat rich, creamy sauces and decadent desserts, but it never shows. Of course, they compensate by taking smaller portions and walking everywhere they go. As a result, most French women will maintain a relatively healthy weight their whole lives. This is key because significant weight losses and gains (ie.  yo-yo dieting) can wreak havoc on the skin and overall appearance – something American women know all too well.

Pamper Your Face and Skin According to a 2008 Mintel report, French women spend about $2.2 billion Euros a year on facial skin care – as much as Spanish, German, and British women put together. And the importance of skin care starts well before the first wrinkle. Mintel also reports that 33% of French girls between 15 and 19 already use anti-aging and wrinkle creams. And this quest for ageless looking skin continues throughout life. They are notorious for trying any and every face cream if there is a promise of younger, more beautiful looking skin. Aside from facial creams, they also shy away from harsh soaps that can damage skin. And when it comes to make-up, less is definitely more. The idea is to play up your best features and look as natural as possible. Besides, when you have great skin, who really needs make-up?

Love Yourself Although they may spend millions on skin care each year, French women know that beauty is not skin deep. Obviously, not every French woman is gorgeous or glamorous, but most will carry themselves accordingly, giving the impression, and sometimes elusion, of beauty, elegance, and grace. In other words, French women have the self-confidence and self-love to make whatever God has give them work to their utmost advantage.

Ciao!

The French are serious about their wine, but not so serious when it comes to opening a bottle of vino. Check out the French way of opening a wine bottle without a corkscrew – hint, it involves a shoe! Leave it to the French to get you out of every wine emergency! The tutorial is in French, but you’ll get the idea I’ve been informed that I no longer have access to this embedded video due to copyright. Here is the link to the video online. Enjoy!

I admit, I have not tried this myself. But, I plan to try this very soon – with a cheap bottle of wine, of course – because you never know!

Ciao!

(Photo Source)

All the world’s a stage. And all the men and women, merely players – William Shakespeare, As You Like It

In high school, I was one of the very few people who actually wanted to take Shakespeare as an English elective. Although reading the Bard’s works was often confusing and hard to follow (comes thou hither, what?), I enjoyed getting lost in the prose/verse. Many others get lost in Shakespeare, but more so because they just don’t understand it.

When you really think about it, reading Shakespeare really isn’t the best way to get to know the Bard and his works. Shakespeare didn’t write books, he wrote plays. What he wrote was intended for people to hear and see, not read. For this reason, I stopped reading Shakespeare in high school, and decided to best way to experience his works was to see them with my own eyes.

In just a few very short years, I’ve been fortunate enough to see:

• As You Like It
• All’s Well That Ends Well
• Romeo and Juliet
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Much Ado About Nothing
• Twelfth Night

(As You Like It, July 2010, as performed at Shakespeare in the Park)

All of these were performed live on stage, with 4 of them being performed outside. This includes As You Like It, which I saw last night performed at the local Shakespeare in the Park. I think the only thing better than seeing Shakespeare’s works performed outside would be to see them performed at the Globe Theatre in England.

Obviously, Shakespeare is not for everyone. But if you gave up on Shakespeare after reading play after play in high school, I suggest you give it another try. This time, see one of this plays with your own eyes. And when you do see his works performed, you may very well have a new-found appreciation for Shakespeare or at least understand it a little better than before.

Bonjour and Happy (belated) Bastille Day! I had a lovely and very French Bastille Day. As I mentioned in Monday’s post, having French coffee is a great way to celebrate this occasion – so that’s just what I did! Before work, I stopped off at a local coffee shop and ordered a café au lait. It was delicious, but rather steamy. So hot in fact, I burned my tongue – ouch!

Every Wednesday, there is a Farmer’s Market near my office that is open from 7 AM – 1 PM. Since I had a little extra time before work – even after my coffee stop – I popped over to the outdoor market. I loved seeing all of the vendors chatting with customers and one another. It was like peering through the window of someone’s family reunion. As for the produce, it was amazing! So colorful and very fresh as is expected at a Farmer’s Market…

I did not end up buying any fruits or vegetables, although I was very tempted to buy the little patty pan squashes – they were just adorable, if a vegetable can even be described that way. I did end up spending quite a bit of time at the cheese table – la fromage. They had so many cheeses to peruse – from hard to soft, from stinky to non, etc. For obvious reasons I associate cheese with France. So, in honor of Bastille Day, I asked the cheese seller to slice me off a small chunk of asiago for breakfast. He didn’t even seem a bit surprised. The asiago was absolutely perfect and made me want to come back next week for more.

Aside from the cheese, I couldn’t believe how many non-produce items there were. The market had gourmet chocolates (definitely going back for those!), honey, baked goods, clothes/jewelry, jams and other jarred items, and, of course, FLOWERS!!!

The flowers were huge, with brilliant colors, and looked freshly picked that morning. I also felt they were very inexpensive – no wonder the French/Europeans buy so many of their flowers at markets like these. They are way cheaper than buying them in a grocery store.

So what was my favorite thing about the Farmer’s Market? You may think I’m a little old-school, but my favorite part was looking at all of the chalkboard signs with hand-written names and prices.

With all of the technology advances in the world today, I’m glad to see that Farmers’ Markets are still holding to their roots. The markets still have their old-world charm – and for that, I am very thankful.

(Photo Source)

Bastille Day is July 14! In honor of the French Independence Day, why not celebrate with a nice cup of French café? If you’ve ever ordered coffee in Paris or anywhere in France (or even at a French restaurant in the US), you already know that the coffee they serve there is very different from American coffee.

French Vs. American Coffee

Strength- First of all, coffee in France is much stronger than American coffee, more like espresso – unless you order the Americain. Most French can’t understand why Americans drink “watered down” coffee.

Etiquette – There is a definite etiquette to drinking coffee in France. Coffee or un café is only consumed with food in the morning (ie. breakfast). Forget about ordering it with dessert! Your server will bring it after.

Selection – Coffee in France is FAR from being made-to-order. Don’t even think about getting picky and asking for 1/2 regular 1/2 decaf, or skim milk, etc.! However, there are a number of different ways that French coffee can be ordered. The key is to know how each café is prepared, then sample a few to find your favorite.

Guide to French Café

1. Un Café (kuh-fay) Plain coffee, no sugar or milk. It’s very strong – similar to espresso.
2. Un Café Au Lait (kuh-fay oh-lay) Coffee with steamed milk
3. Un Café Crème (kuh-fay khremm) Coffee served with ½ hot cream.
4. Un Café Décafféiné or Un Déca (kuh-fay day-kah-fay-uhn-ay) Decaffinated coffee.
5. Un Café Noisette (kuh-fay nwah-zett) Espresso with a hint of milk or cream.
6. Un Café Americain (kuh-fay uh-meyhr-uh-kan) Filtered coffee that is similar to traditional American coffee.
7. Café Léger or Un Allonge (kuh-fay lay-zjay; ah-lohn-zhay) Espresso coffee with double the amount of water, making it a rather week version of black coffee.
8. Un Espresso Very strong espresso!
9. Un Serré Espresso coffee with half the usual amount of water.
10. Un Double A double espresso.
11. Café glacé Iced coffee -a summer treat, even in France!

Once you mastered the art of ordering your French café, add to the fun by ordering a baguette with jam or a flaky almond croissant – the perfect accompaniment – as long as you order it in the morning!

(Photo Source)

William Shakespeare was heavilly influenced by the Elizabethan society of his time. Although you may recogize the influences of politics, family, and classism, in Shakespeare’s works, you may not recognize the more subtle influences of his surroundings. For instance, gardening, ie. plants and flowers, played a unique but important role in the Bard’s quit-witted comedies and his eerie tragedies, with many of these botany terms being referenced by name.

As a tribute to his work, fans of Shakespeare started creating gardens in the playwright’s name. Now, nearly 400 years after his death, you can find these Shakespearean gardens all of the world. By far, the most popular Shakespeare garden is located in Stratford, England, which is thought to be his birthplace. It is there, in Nash’s House & New Place, where you will find not only a garden but also the mulberry tree Shakespeare himself is said to have planted. In addition to mulberry trees, Shakespeare gardens feature plants, flowers, and other foliage popular during Elizabethan times and often include the specific plants that Shakespeare mentioned in his plays.

If you want to pay tribute to the Bard with your own Shakespearean Garden, be sure to include some of these Elizabethan favorites:

1. Lavender, Mint, Savory, and Marjoram -  “ Here’s flowers for you: Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram” – Winter’s Tale
2. Fennel - “ There’s fennel for you, and columbines;” – Hamlet
3. Pansy - “…and there is pansies, that’s for thoughts.” – Hamlet
4. Blackberry -  “…and elegies on brambles;” – As You Like It
5. Lily - “To gild refined gold, to paint the lily.” – King John
6. Wild Thyme - “I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows…” – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
7. Daisy - “When daisies pied…Do paint the meadows with delight.” – Love’s Labour’s Lost
8. Strawberry - “The strawberry grows underneath the nettle,…” – Henry V
9. Rose -  “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” – Romeo & Juliet
10. Camomile -  “…for though the chamomile, the more it is trodden on, the faster it grows, yet youth, the more it is wasted the sooner it wears.” – King Henry IV
11. Crab Apple - “And sometimes lurk I in a gossip’s bowl in very likeness of a roasted crab;” – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
12. Rosemary - “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; Pray you, love, remember.” – Hamlet
13. Honeysuckle - “So doth the woodbine the sweet honeysuckle gently entwist;” – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
14. Violet - “…as gentle, as zephyrs blowing below the violet, not wagging his sweet head;” – Cymbeline
15. Carnation -  “Of trembling winter, the fairest flowers o’ the season are our carnations, and streak’d gillyvors.” – Winter’s Tale
16. Daffodil - “When daffodils begin to peer, with heigh’ the doxy, over the dale, why, then comes in the sweet o’ the year.” – The Winter’s Tale

For more details on how to plant a Shakespearean garden, check out The Bard in the Yard.

Happy planting and may thou garden be full! Ciao!

Bonjour and Happy 4th of July! I’m currently entertaining out-of-town guests and enjoying a wonderful week off on vacation. I’ll return this Thursday with more details

Ciao!

(Photo Source)

As if you need another reason to move to France…the latest poll by Harris Interactive shows that the French enjoy the most vacation time compared with 12 other countries, including the US and Japan.

By far, European countries get the most paid time off for vacation, with France and other Mediterranean countries leading the way. The French get the highest number of vacation days off each year with an average of 37.5 days. For all those who are counting – that’s 7.5 weeks!! The Japanese fell on the low end of the spectrum with a mere 16.5 days, but the US wasn’t much better with an average of 17 vacation days per year.

Average Vacation Time By Country

1. France – 37.5 days
2. Italy – 32.5 days
3. Spain – 32 days
4. Denmark – 29 days
5. Britain – 28 days
6. Norway – 28 days
7. Germany – 27.5 days
8. Sweden – 27.5 days
9. Australia – 20 days
10. Canada – 20 days
11. New Zealand – 19.5 days
12. United States – 17 days
13. Japan – 16.5 days

Hmm…and I thought my 15 days of vacation was a generous amount. How wrong I was – I don’t even fit in with our national average! Obviously, the Mediterraneans know a thing or two about work/home life balance. Maybe they could persuade the US to follow suit!

The real question is, what would I do if I had 37.5 days of paid vacation time per year. A trip to Europe comes to mind…ah, but you know me too well by now!

Q for you: What would you do with 37.5 days of paid vacation time?

(Photo source)

Growing up, I never really paid attention to the nutritional content in my school’s  lunch program. But now, after having two children of my own, I’m concerned about what food they are eating at daycare, and eventually, what they will be eating in their elementary school.

The US standards for school food are extremely lower than that of some European countries, particularly France. Let’s just say if there was a World Cup for school lunch nutrition, France would be kicking our tails right now! When you compare French and American school lunches, it is quite apparent why childhood obesity rates are growing in the US. American schools serve lunches that consist of highly processed foods, loaded with sodium, calories, saturated fat, preservatives, etc. And very little of what they serve even resembles real food.

Conversely, in France all school lunches are freshly prepared with real food, not prepackaged. Even the approach to lunch is different. For instance, a typical school lunch in France includes “courses”, including an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert, accompanied by water or milk. On any given day, a French school lunch could include:

A Typical School Lunch in France

• Fresh bread and salad
• Veal scallops or baked fish with lemon sauce
• Fruit and yogurt
• Water or white milk

Compare that to…

A Typical School Lunch in the US

• Frozen cheesey bread
• Frozen chicken fingers or fish sticks and fries
• Fried apples or chocolate pudding
• Flavored milk, juice, or soda

Furthermore, a typical school lunch in France lasts about an hour, reinforcing the French tradition of eating slowly and savoring your food. In the US, children get roughly 20 minutes to finish their meal and socialize with friends, reinforcing the habit of eating fast and not really recognizing what your eating, let along the signs that you’re full.

Obviously, school lunch programs are not only to blame for childhood obesity rates and unhealthy childhood eating habits. Children learn from their family and friends and even from television what is “good” and what is “bad” in regard to food and nutrition. Still, what they learn in school and from their classmates about nutrition can stay with them for the rest of their lives.

In elementary and high school, my family could never really afford the daily school-provided lunches, which included sloppy joes, French fries, and chicken fingers. At the time, I really wished that I could afford the hot lunch so that I could be like everyone else. But what I realize now is how lucky I am that I did NOT eat those lunches. Instead, I would brown bag my lunch with a salad or a sandwich and whatever fruit or dessert we had in the house. By doing this, I not only saved money, but I learned the basics of healthy eating at a very young age and how to differentiate processed food from real, nutritious food.

Fast forward 20 years and I am nearly disgusted to think about what was served to my classmates back then, and even more disgusted that they still serve such unhealthy food in schools today. I understand that American schools and districts have certain policies about food and that any food is better than none for kids whose parents can’t afford to feed them. But there’s no reason why we can’t serve our children healthy and real food.

I am fortunate that my children attend a daycare program that serves relatively healthy meals. Of course, I pay a hefty fee for this. But it’s a small price to pay to reinforce what I am teaching my children about healthy nutrition. And years from now, if US school lunches do not improve, I will be the mother packing brown bag lunches for my children, whether they like it or not.

I’m hoping they thank me for it later.