Tag Archives: Laduree

Postcard from Paris

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Through the window of Dani Roses, Costes Hotel, Paris

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Bonjour!

I am thrilled to be writing my 400th post from Paris

I really can’t believe that I’ve been penning “Slim Paley” for 3 years now-

Mon Dieu!

To have 400 posts under my belt

(albeit one notch looser after a week in Paris)

feels like quite an achievement.

I must admit, I’m quite chuffed with myself.

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In the gardens of Versailles

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Angelina, Paris.

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.Angelina hot chocolate to go

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.Cafe Life

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A fresh and beautiful seafood tartar at Le Bristol.

 

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Boats on the river Seine on a blustery warm day

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I have  many fun photos and tidbits to share

but I’ll leave you with just these few for now.

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A little window shopping at Walter Steiger

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The Slimtorialist strikes at the Louvre

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Hotel Costes

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closing time

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Louvre with a View

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As you can see, I’m having fun on Instagram!

(You can follow my Instagram feed by clicking on this symbol at the top of my blog

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Window of Laduree-the prettiness- it just never gets old

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After walking miles and miles

and miles

I seriously need to hit the mattress

xox

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Unabashedly Girly

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Slim Paley Photo

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The hockey game crushed me last night.  Cuhhrushed.  Who gives up 8 goals in the Stanley Cup Finals??!  Jaysus!  See-this is why I like fashion more than sports- less heart-ache!!  Sure, we had our moment there with the John Galliano scandal, but we’ve dusted off our bodices and put it behind us.  The Canucks, on the other hand… Ugh! I can’t even watch tomorrow night-too nerve wracking (Ok, truthfullly I would watch, but I’m not going to be home)  In an effort to shirk off the rivalry, the fighting, the debacle that was last night’s game, I’m diving headfirst into a very unabashedly Girly Girl post.

PS.  Dear Canada; Do not read anything into the fact that I finally finished my forms to apply for my American Citizenship today- I still LOVE you, just a little miffed with Roberto Luongo.

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I think I’d actually be happy to find one product by  ”By Terry” that I don’t love

Have you spoiled yourself yet??

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Can’t remember where I found this ridiculously girlie photo but I just had to share

Where’s the rose champagne?!

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Slim Paley photo

Having fun organizing some of my vintage pieces for summer

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“Petits pots de creme a la rose” from the Laduree cookbook “Sucre”

Who cares if the recipes are in french? It’s the most gorgeous dessert cookbook ever!

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I’ve had this photo in my files for years- I love the delicate balance between the femininity of the bed and the tribal rug and fabrics

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A big bold feminine toile softened by airy hues and simplicity

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A touch of shabby chic still tugs at my heart strings, especially in the summertime

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So simple, so pretty!!

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Pure, unadulterated, enamel lust

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Slim Paley Photo

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More enamel love

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I cannot tell a lie- these roses in my conservatory are not from my garden, they were a lovely gift from a friend!

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Time to pull out all your summer linens and remember, you don’t have to be camping to enjoy a little mosquito netting.

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Salt pots by Frances Palmer ceramics

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A guest bedroom in my Santa Barbara home

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Sweet scented roses, cucumber water and summertime reading= happiness

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Ahhh…I feel much better now.  Hockey Schmocky.

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(but could someone please email game updates tomorrow night?!!)

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Friday Morsels of Deliciousness

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Slim Paley photo(ish)


Over the holidays we were blessed with the company of our dear friends from Paris.  Amongst many of the lovely gifts they brought us were these divine macaroons fresh from Laduree. Be still my heart. My friend snapped these two photos with my camera but I’m going to call it a ‘a team effort’, or rather ‘un effort d’equipe’  (my macaroons, my camera, my house, my rules :) ) This is the very same friend who originally introduced me to my first Leica camera,  So Merci J.M.!


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I’m afraid it’s been a rather hectic week so my original intention to reintroduce ‘Friday Favourites’ on a timely basis (that would be on Fridays, as opposed to at some point over the weekend) has already fallen by the wayside, along with using my Clarisonic every other day and removing my mascara before bed, no matter how late it is.

Whatever. What sort of uptight Square keeps to those sort of lame resolutions anyway?

I play a much wilder game than that.

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I am SOOOO not sweating the small stuff anymore in this Year of Growth, 2011…

but just for the sake of one last nod to my OLD Self, may we pretend this Chanel boot was included in my ‘Icicle post’ from last week?

Oh good. I feel so much better now.


 

So, for my Favouritist Things This Friday I am recommending you take the time to just watch these two short videos;



 

I know I’ve mentioned The Sartorialist’s website once before and mostly everyone is familiar with it, but I wanted to share this new little documentary being featured on YOUTUBE right now.

It’s cool, he’s cool and what a fricking cool idea ‘The Sartorialist’ originally was. There are so many ‘Sartorialist inspired’ sites in the blogosphere now, but in my opinion, the original remains the best.

BTW,  Do you ever get dressed in the morning and think ‘But what if I run into The Sartorialist?!’  Of course seeing that he is based in NY and I live in a small town in California with a population of 9,600 , I usually feel relatively safe.  The downside is the days I do make the effort  (ahem, vintage tartan skirt…) I never run into him.

Perhaps I will see New York Son on there someday :)


Visual Life-The Sartorialist (click here)


 

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I know those of you that follow me on Facebook and Twitter have already had the pleasure of seeing this fantastically glamourous first look at Tom Ford’s new Women’s collection VIDEO, but for those who haven’t,  the link is just below.  The show features some of the most amazing super models, including Lauren Hutton, Daria Werbowy,  Marissa Berenson, Amber Valetta, Karen Elson (whose great music also accompanies the video) as well as Beyonce, Julianne Moore, Rita Wilson…Well, I could on and on (really Slim?? noooo!)

Just watch and enjoy and let me know what you think!

 

A few peaks at the show;


Karen Elson

 

Beyonce

 

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Rita Wilson

Marissa Berenson

Dibs!

My Favourite dress (shame about the hideous model :) )

speaking of being hard on the eyes

For Tom Ford’s New Women’s Collection VIDEO click here



OK, I couldn’t wait to hear back from you.

This new ‘ Practice Patience‘ Resolution is bull@#$% too.

I have to weigh in now and say how great is it to see so much glamour packed into just a couple of minutes and still see a fashion industry audience enjoying themselves so much, including God forbid, the models in the show??

I LOVE that!

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Oh, and P.S.  Here’s the machine that I was going to use every other night

If I took off my mascara…

but I’m thinking waking up looking like Norma Desmond is making a comeback, aren’t you?

paging The Sartorialist…

Clarisonic

 

Wishing you a GLAMOUR FILLED WEEKEND DARLINGS!

kiss kiss

Ring by Solange Azagury-Partridge

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Blush & Black Swoon

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Via Couture lab

Apologies in advance to the legions of male readers I won over with that last post.  “Manly” things will definitely be making appearances on S.P.  more often, and not just for Christmas, as well as more architectural and design related posts as the “Boy Barn” project continues to gain momentum.  In the meantime, anyone else feeling the Blush & Black vibe in the air with all the hoopla surrounding the premiere of “Black Swan” this week?!  I, for one, can’t wait to see it.  I always love a film with great dance sequences, beautiful people that inspire me to work out for three seconds, and a little dark humour and twisty bits thrown in for good measure.  With a cast including Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Winona Ryder, I’d say this will be one fun film to see with your girlfriends, girlfriends!

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Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”

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Mila Kunis at the premiere in N.Y. this week

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What little girl doesn’t dream of being a ballerina?  I certainly did.

I’d like to say my career under the lights was eventually curtailed by a crippling toe shoe injury…


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The truth is decidedly less glamorous-  It was terminated by a crippling case of stage fright before my first performance.

No joke.

NO ONE was making me get on that stage.

I try to recall the drive home in the car with my parents but apparently I’ve blocked that memory.  Back to the frog pond for me.

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Zac Posen Spring 2011

Feels as if Z.P. was attempting to channel a little John Galliano here, a little Alexander McQueen there, to bring some excitement back into his collection…

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or Perhaps Zac  was inspired by George Balanchine’s ballet “Bugaku” first performed in 1963,

 

and more recently by The Miami City Ballet, just a few weeks ago

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Laduree Paris has caught the pink & black bug…

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My friend in Paris snapped this photo of Laduree’s November window

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Coat & waistcoat buttons c1805 with their own case!

Why isn’t life like this anymore?

Now  extra buttons are all plastic and come in pill baggies hanging from garment tags.  wa wa -no  fair.

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Agent Provocateur ( I think)

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Carolina Herrera Spring 2011

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Manolo Blahnik

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Chanel Spring 2011

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Valentino

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Photo via “A Gift Wrapped Life”

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Pink & Black edginess from Isabel Marant Spring 2011

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Etro

Pink & Black of a different attitude

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Suzanne Farrel’s costume from George Balanchine’s ballet “Bugaku” c1963

 

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via flickr

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Zac Posen

(love the two toned nails)

Nicholas Kirkwood

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Alexis Mabille Fall 2010 Couture

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A rose from my gardener today  (December 4th!)

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Valentino

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Valentino

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Zac Posen’s black swan

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via Flickr

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Cheers to all those aspiring, or once aspiring little ballerinas out there!

Will you be going to see the movie? Let’s talk!

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Postcard from Cannes

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Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale in one of the steamiest film scenes ever!

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Before and after Martin Scorsese’s restoration of “The Leopard”

Over 17,000 hours went into the cleaning and restoring of each and every frame of the film.

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Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale

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Alain & Claudia at the premiere in Cannes last night

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Bonjour from Cannes!  After a rather mortifying start to my European adventure at LAX  ( searching frantically for my watch in the plastic bins at security, before the bemused gentleman behind me pointed out it was hanging from one of my fingers. Note to self -cut down on jewelry, belts and scarves while traveling. Naturally he sat right beside me in the lounge, just to prolong my humiliation for another hour.  Once boarded, I found myself beside “Christopher” (not Ironic Smirk Man from security line) but a  nice and generous man with his various homeopathic jet-lag/sleep meds that I simply couldn’t bring myself to style our conjoining area the way I normally would (although later on, when he watched “Gypsy” with Rosalind Russell in it’s entirety I knew he  probably wouldn’t have minded :) )  FYI- I accepted the No Jet Lag tablets from a sealed foil box, but not the sleepers…”Gypsy” or no “Gypsy” I didn’t know the guy. Hope he’s not reading this.

Hit the ground running in Cannes and went straight to the premiere of Martin Scorsese’s newly restored version of “Il Gattopardo” (The Leopard) by Luchino Visconti.  The 1963 film stars Burt Lancaster as an Italian Prince and the patriarch of a large and noble old family. Let me tell you- what a performance. I have always loved Burt, but now I’m officially obsessed.  What a huge ——– MOVIE STAR he was. The film also stars Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, who were actually at the premiere last night which made the evening so special. It was very moving to see them together, still with adorable chemistry, some 47 years later. I could go on and on- the film is 3 hours of sumptuous, luscious, almost over-ripe beauty. So many scenes so exquisite it would be impossible to isolate a favourite- in addition to having one of the most sensual, tastefully erotic moments I have ever seen in a film. And to think I always assumed Burt Lancaster’s sexiest scene was in “Here to Eternity” Shame on me!  Yes, the last scene lasts almost an hour, and the pace of the film could be described as languid, but the length and pace make total sense, given the story.  I’m really too tired to give The Leopard the praise it deserves- I’ll finish by saying I’m extremely glad I saw it for the first time in it’s fully restored glory – put this beauty on your list!

PS.  Kate Beckinsdale has the smallest nose ever, Benicio Del Toro  is much sexier in real life, and Ashwari Rey (sp?) doesn’t even look real, she is so beautiful. I can tell she must have a lousy personality, that’s a given, right girls?!

PPS. Speaking of sumptuous (Burt and Bennicio)  sadly, we did not make it to the amazing cheese store. That’s what happens when you stay up all night, and sleep half the day away. I did manage a nice stroll in the rain late this afternoon though and discovered this little gem of a patisserie just off the Croisette;

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Jean Luc Pele is certainly giving Laduree a run for it’s money, although the shop itself does not compare, the delicacies are positively Il Gattopardo worthy.

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Slim Paley Photos……

These  orange macarroons are absolutely irridescent!

Alright then, I have to go pack  again.

Tomorrow-Rome!!  Gardens,Eating, Antiquities, Shopping, Eating,Yippee!!

Bonne Nuit my friends :)

I ‘ll check in with you tomorrow.

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