NEW YEAR'S PILLOW GIVEAWAY

Celeste was the pillow published in ELLE ITALIA September 2009 Fashion Issue.

Meet Celeste ... a woman full of fun from the new series, "Women With A Past" and an artful celebration of women. Celeste is a joyful lady (used loosely) of the roaring Twenties who Charleston her way through all the wild and wonderful parties in the Hamptons. When she wasn't out celebrating life in the fast lane in New York City, she was packing her trunks to sail to France. A girl's got to have a little culture, n'est-ce pas?

Celeste is a hand painted pillow that comes with her own stand so she can join you for drinks and a little giggle or two. The pillow is 8" X 8" in size and Celeste is wearing a lovely vintage beaded earring to pick up the colors in her art deco hair band.

On the back of the pillow is a quote that gives you a flavor of the lady and the times she lived in.

"LET'S GET OUT OF THESE WET CLOTHES AND INTO A DRY MARTINI." (Mae West)

Celeste is here to remind you that even though times are tough right now for everyone, we can't lose our sense of fun. It's time for Happy Hour isn't it?I

In order to participate in the Giveaway, you must be a follower and leave a comment at the bottom of this post. A winner will be selected from the comment section.

The Giveaway Contest ends at 12 am on January 1st and the winner will be announced in my blog on the morning of January 2nd. All your names will be put into a New Year's Eve hat and selected at random.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

to all of you

and

thank you for a great 2010 blog year.

VISIONS OF A DESIGNER CHRISTMAS

So what will your Christmas visions be this year?

Will it be an ideal man who runs to your side

with a bottle of the hottest new French perfume?

Or will it be a couple of baubles from Chanel?

Or possibly a beautiful Dior gown to wear on New Year's Eve?

Or a table full of Christmas goodies and a little dress to wear

around the house by Dolce & Gabbana?

But of course all these little visions will be wrapped in tissue

designer luggage by Louis Vuitton.

Would you expect anything less?

Or maybe you will just be happy to accept a big wet Christmas kiss

from your favorite French chien.

That sounds more like it, doesn't it?

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU

AND THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT THIS YEAR.

Hugs,

Meg

All pictures taken in Paris by Meg Mitchell.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM CANADA

This little surprise happened in a Niagara food court in Canada.

Enjoy and have a wonderful and safe Christmas holiday.

ALBER ELBAZ DESIGNS BEAUTIFUL WINDOWS AT PRINTEMPS

All of us love to visit our closest major department store at Christmas just to see

their seasonal windows. This was my first time to see the windows in Paris

and I was thrilled with their classy approach.

Only in Paris would a major department store like Printemps

have a famous fashion designer, Alber Elbez of Lanvin,

create his memory of Christmas. Monsieur Elbez has had a very

busy year with his latest project as the wildly success design

partnership with H&M.

It's fairly early in Paris and already there are crowds of people walking

past the windows of Printemps. I love the Christmas "icicles" hanging down

from the department store's overhang. Golds and pinks make such lovely

Christmas colors as opposed to reds and greens,

don't you think or are you a traditionalist?

Monsieur Elbaz based his beautiful windows on the chateau where

he once lived and the fantasy world that he had imagined

existed many years ago. The beautiful chandeliers hung in every window

and reflected sparkly lights over the venue. The silver and the china

and the lush fabrics gave the window such richness.

The beautiful rich velvets and satins in glorious colors

were a lush backdrop for a Lanvin dress.

Don't you love the pack of black French pooches

in their brocade and fur ball coats?

This would have been a popular window for many of the Parisian families.

My favorite part of the windows were the large pictures of the people

in the background.

I stayed at the Hotel Le Walt in Paris one night that had large paintings

of people from this era as the headboard of their beds.

I've always thought this would be a brilliant touch in a bedroom

and obviously make quite a statement ....

"Someone to watch over me."

Look at the beautiful gold and black glassware on this table with the gorgeous

green chair to the side. And of course, the photograph in the back of this

vignette is filled with soft pink flowers. There's even a little peek at a

typical Parisian building reflected in those most lovely windows.

Oh to be a fly on the wall of Alber Elbez's creative mind.

What a lush and beautiful sight that would be, n'est-ce pas?

All photos taken by Meg Mitchell.

PRADA MANNEQUINS OF PARIS

When I visit Paris, the one thing that is always on my "to do" list is to

walk by the Prada stores and sneak pictures of their mannequins.

There's always a couple of guards by the door and I'm not sure they are wild

about people taking pictures of their windows. So to do this effectively,

I go early on Sunday mornings or as I did it on this trip,

later at night when the store was closed.

The Prada mannequins are beautiful. The Chanel mannequins

look fluffy to me, and the other designers mannequins

are nondescript. Maybe those designers feel that the clothes

should be the main focus. If you look at the Prada mannequins

for each season, you will see the style is similar to the actual live models

on the runway. Now, I think that is good marketing.

The Prada "ladies" are quite intense. Actually, they almost look real.

Love the lipstick color.

The poses are life-like and show off the clothes so well.

Taking the pictures at night cast interesting shadows on the faces.

And the reflections are quite interesting as well. What a great time I had.

All of these Prada photos were taken on the Rue du Montaigne

in the 8th arrondissement.

This is last Spring's Prada window. During the day, the models seem softer

but the reflection of the building in the back makes for an interesting shot.

This photo was taken at Prada's 6th arrondissement store.

All photos taken by Meg Mitchell.

Enjoy the Youtube Mannequin Showroom Dummies.

Fun, beautiful and at times, just a little bit creepy.

MARCHE PRESIDENT WILSON IN DECEMBER

What is the magic of the Parisian open air market? No matter what time

of the year in Paris, somewhere there is an open air market just waiting

for you to discover. Each market is different depending on the arrondissement

but the whole experience is so Parisian.

They say that "we are what we eat" and what a wonderful way to get to

know the Parisian populace by shopping shoulder to shoulder with them.

One of my favorite marchés is the market on the Avenue Président Wilson

in the 16th arrondissement. The market is very close to the Eiffel Tower

and you can reach it by taking the Metro to Iéna stop.

It is open on Wednesday 7 am to 2:30 pm and

again on Saturday from 7 am to 3 pm.

Before you go to the marché, you have to build up your strength.

Having a typical Parisian breakfast will include a café au lait with

rich creamy hot milk and a tartine that is smouthered in delicious butter

and strawberry jam. Take your time and watch the parade of people walking by.

It is a wonderful ritual to kick off each day.

Sip by sip; not gulp by gulp.

At the Marché President Wilson, you will see well-dressed older women

and mothers and nannies pushing prams of children. On Saturday,

the Parisian men are in greater numbers. The day we went was cold with flurries

of snow so thick sheets of plastic were stretched between the rows of food stands

that face each other. In the summer, you see the straw market baskets

but in the winter and on rainy days,

most everyone has the small, two-wheeled covered carts.

Each season is different at the marché. Lots of asparagus, rabbit and lamb

in the spring, and in the summer and fall, the market is brimming with food

and is twice as long as it is in the spring.

The winter market has less food but some interesting and delectable fare.

How about some Frog Legs? They seemed to be all over Paris.

Is there a season for Frog Legs?

The one noticeable difference were all the game birds.

I would suppose the hunting season would have been the reason for the

abundance of quail, pheasant, and other small birds.

They are presented with their heads still attached and the feathers

still on their wings to assist the shopper in identification

of the game bird. Some were so small that you wonder why anyone

would go to all the trouble to prepare a dish with so little meat.

The tomatoes were still beautiful and there is nothing so delicious as

buffalo mozzarella, and a ripe red tomato with a spring of fresh basil

with a healthy splash of good olive oil.

Yummy.

There were fewer flowers but the roses were still exquisite. I love the colors.

There weren't any Christmas floral decorations .... no pointsettias.

Is that a North American Christmas flower?

Notice the clementines. A juicy holiday fruit loved on both sides of the Atlantic

but look how beautiful they are with their leaves still attached.

Can you imagine a big beautiful silver bowl of clementines

in the middle of a Parisian table?

The French love their cheeses. And I love their cheeses as well.

I'm getting hungry.

Time to go make dinner.

I'M AN EIFFEL TOWER JUNKIE

Today was very overcast in Paris. Not too cold ... just very damp. I was out walking over to the 15th arrondissement and in order to do that, I had to walk through the Champs de Mars. The Champs de Mars is the park where the Eiffel Tower "lives." I have never seen the Tower in the foggy dove gray winter weather of Paris. What a beautiful sight the softness of all that steel against through the winter profile of the trees.

From my apartment 7 stories above the street, I could see the Grand Lady just barely this morning. I love the color of Paris in the winter.

I decided to spend the day in my neighborhood and just hang out at all my little haunts. This is one of my absolute favorite neighborhood bistros. It's called "Le Royal Tour." In the summer, you can sit out under the awnings and stare at the Eiffel Tower. It's like a dinner theatre.

It's not a fancy place but the food is good. I am going to make a confession to you but don't tell anyone because it makes me sound boring. I ate Sunday lunch here yesterday as well. It was packed to the rafters with French families enjoying their Sunday meals and I seemed to be the only non-French person in the place.

A group of older Parisian women sat together and one lady told me that they were women who worked with the French army in WWII. They were indeed a feisty group of ladies and a quite elderly one kept raising her arm in the air yelling "paté, paté, paté".

Now, this is my favorite meal. Roast chicken with hand cut fries but that's not entirely all of it. The piéce de la resistance" is the GRAVY. Oh my God ... the gravy.

Now here's the other little twist to this story. I had the same meal yesterday as I had tonight. Even the same wine and dessert. The dessert isn't French. It's Italian with a French kick. Tiramisu with the most delectable whipped cream and a splash of some liquor I wish I could identify but the cream dulled my brain.

After dinner, I went walking to visit my addiction. The tower was beautiful

against the darkening winter sky of Paris, and the bare trees

just add the other interesting point of texture against the sky.

Winter in Paris is beautiful. There aren't many tourists around and you can enjoy

the wonders of this fair city along with all it's citizens.

Once in a while, you get the feeling that you could just live here.

And tonight, as I climb my ladder up to my bed, I will be able to look out into the night sky and see my Eiffel Tower twinkling her lights at me at the top of every hour.

Bonne nuit Eiffel Tower.

All photos taken by Meg Mitchell.

CHRISTMAS MARKET ALONG THE CHAMPS ELYSEES

Here he is. The man of the hour welcoming everyone to the Christmas Market along the Champs Elysees. He's the only Pere Noel that I have seen in Paris. He looks like he may have been imported from North America. This market is also the only place I've heard Christmas music and "Frosty the Snowman" in French is quite delightful. Do you know why the music was delightful? They weren't blaring it like they do back home. The music was a part of the ambience; not the main event.

This is the biggest Christmas market in Paris and it runs up and down the Champs Elysees. Because today was Sunday, everybody was here. Parisians love to enjoy their city on Sundays. It is a day that starts with a good hearty lunch either at a restaurant or their grandparents' home and then everyone goes for a stroll in the park.

There were hundreds of these little wooden houses with people selling Christmas gifts but the majority of the vendors were selling food and drink. It is Paris you remember and the people here do have their priorities. There seemed to be every kind of French food you could think of .

This artisan was selling beautiful crepes. Do you see the large vats of "vin chaud?" It seems everyone was selling hot or mulled wine. Drinking wine on the streets of the Champs Elysees.

Could life get any better?

Don't you love this patissier's face? He's soooo French and his beautiful shortbread cookies were soooo good and he looks soooo happy. Does your work make you this happy?

There were smiles on everyone's face. This lovely lady was making plump waffles. Her booth smelled heavenly. Do you see that white cloud on top of the waffle? It's a huge pile of real whipped cream. Sinful, n'est-ce pas? No wonder everyone is so happy in Paris. But how do they stay so slim????

Along with vin chaud, you may need a little more substance like .... frog legs or snails. See the copper pan on the little stove? It's filled with real butter. Be still my heart.

If the vin chaud is not keeping you warm, then you have to huddle around this wire cage that has an encased flame that pumps out heat. These contraptions are all up and down the street just in case you need a little warm up.

The market starts on the Place de la Concorde and there it was ... a large ferris wheel. I love ferris wheels and this was a particularly tall one. What a wonderful way to see Paris.

It was Sunday and the lines were extremely long. Then I saw the ride's name and half of the lights in the letters weren't working. I wasn't feeling terribly self-assured. One would hope that the maintenance crew was spending more time keeping the ride safe which would account for the lack of lights. I am going back tomorrow to give it a whirl. The kids will be in school and I will get a longer ride.

At 5 o'clock, all the Christmas lights come on along the Champs Elysees. It's truly beautiful although the picture doesn't do it justice. Do you see the Arc de Triomphe at the far end? As I walked back to my apartment, more and more people were arriving.

Guess it was time to eat again.

All photos taken by Meg Mitchell.

CHRISTMAS ALONG RUE ST. GERMAINE

Christmas is coming to Paris along the rue St. Germaine and

one of my absolute favorite places to stop and watch the rest of the world

go by is Les Deux Magots.

The winter months are great for getting into the very popular

places in Paris. It's wonderful. Not many people here.

Look at all those highly desirable front row seats!

There's also no horrible "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"

blaring out all over the streets. It's civilized and tasteful.

This is the best place to celebrate the season.

This is one of the lovely rooms in the Ralph Lauren Mansion. One gentleman

is quietly reading while his wife tries on the beautiful clothing.

So few people shopping. I just love the TV with the beautiful wooden frame

around it. It sits on an old wooden easel. I want to try that in my next home.

The lovely mannequin is sitting on a bench overlooking the courtyard at the

Ralph Lauren mansion. The court yard is the outside terrace that serves

their famous beef hamburgers American style in the summer.

We had a late lunch at Le Petit Zinc just down the street from Les Deux Magots.

It's an absolutely beautiful art deco restaurant with lovely mosaics and iron work

throughout the space. They specialize in fresh seafood and yummy desserts.

A pretty art deco tiled lady looked over our table raising her glass in our honor.

On the other wall hung this other beautiful painting. Art like these hung beautifully

throughout the restaurant.

I am finding I am taking less pictures this trip because it is so nice to sit with a

good friend and just talk the afternoon away. And, a few hours talking over lunch

takes away from the diminishing sunlight that is close to dark at 5 pm.

A good friend is more important than a picture any day.