Steamy Summer Soldes

Good morning blogsphere!

It is another hot, steamy day in lovely Paris and the sales are about to hit their second week. While most of the good couture is gone at this point, there is still the deuxieme demarque to look forward to! :-) Either the buyers planned better or the economy is picking up, because this set of sales did not see nearly the amount of discounted couture available that I was able to snag this winter. Or maybe I just have good taste, because it seemed that the dress I'd been debating about from Maje and the scrumptious velvet Chanel sandals I could not justify paying full price for (after having bought a pair of Chanel white wedges and my Dior wedding shoes in the past month) had both sold through before the sales. My main win was the two pairs of Tod's ballerinas I was able to grab after waiting patiently for nearly an hour to actually get into the store. My shopping partner did score big with a beautiful pair of Prada snakeskin sandals, and we were both able to pick up some cute summer dresses at Derby. Good times. I look forward to hitting up Printemps and Lafayette after the next round of markdowns... :-)

Lapin a la Mode Tip du Jour:
Summertime equals pool time; and if you enjoy taking a quick dip in the pool for some refreshment from the heat, you know that you will be faced with one of hair's greatest enemies: chlorine! As a blonde who adores floating lazily around a pool for entire afternoons, I've had to battle with brittle, dry hair afterwards. One of the best solutions to the problem is to wet your hair in the shower before you hop in the pool. If your hair is already wet, it will not absorb as much of the chlorinated water. If your hair does get dry and damaged, try a conditioning mask. I have used Borghese's Fango Active Mud for Hair for years. I also recently tried Matrix Sleek.Look Miracle Reconstructor which is more of a hard core conditioner than a hair mask, but I was also pleased with the results. (I love the Sleek.Look shampoo and conditioner so much that whenever family or friends come to visit from the US, I implore them to bring the economy size bottles for me!)

Click of French Culture:
When it comes to weddings, the French love to party until dawn. My American guests were quite amazed by the number of people still going strong on the dance floor at 4 am. At dawn, it is traditional to serve the remaining guests onion soup before they head to bed- a great way to finish an entire day of celebrating! The tradition apparently started long ago, when the bride and the groom would leave the wedding party (leaving everyone else to dance and drink) to consummate their marriage. After an appropriate amount of time, the partiers would arrive with a massive pot of onion soup to wake up the bride and groom. Afterwards, the remaining revellers would come to finish the soup. Today, the bride and the groom party with the guests and retire after the onion soup. Jonesing for your own bowl of onion soup? Try this recipe.

A bientot, readers!
-Liz Anne

Seven Days in Sunny June

Bonjour everyone!

It's another beautiful June day in Paris- the sun is shining, the weather is balmy, we are halfway to the weekend... Everyone always talks about springtime in Paris, but personally I always prefer the June/July months. There are leaves on the trees, the flowers are in bloom, and the cafes are full! I spent lunch lazing in little park near my apartment (which I consider to be my extended backyard). So peaceful to enjoy a nice parisian salad and a bottle of Badoit. I'm totally addicted to bubbly water- the bubblier, the better! Nothing is crisper and more refreshing on a hot day!

Lapin a la Mode Tip du Jour:

Summer means sandals. While are feet are vacationing from winter tights and socks; they tend to get all dried out. And no sandals, no matter how gorgeous, look good when you have cracked heels and chipped polish. One product I've always found to be quite useful over the years is softening socks- you wear them for 45 minutes, and they really help to restore the softness of your feet between pedicures. I tradionally have used Borghese; however, I recently picked up a new pair from Bliss in Sephora that seem to be quite efficient as well.

Click of French Culture:

Since the 1980s, the stars of the French music scene have gotten together each year for a benefit concert and to record a song together. The collaboration is known as Les Enfoires and the proceeds benefit a charity organization known as Restos du Cœur, which delivers hot food to the homeless. This year's song, Ici les Enfoires, is currently getting a lot of radio play; however, my favorite of the collaborations is the 2006 Le Temps Qui Court which is a remake of an old French boyband song. It's about how time flies.

And speaking of time flying... I too must run! A bientot everyone!

-Liz Anne