Blog
Thoughts from the day.
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Part 2: Day 10 – The Many Shades of Creativity
November 12, 2020 Fiona Ferris extolls the virtues of expressing our creativity in Day 10 of her book, 30 Chic Days At Home. She writes movingly about how using our imagination and creating something real with our own hands can bring us a sense of flow in the moment and a sense of fun and accomplishment when we complete our project. Some examples might be to bake something, sew or knit something, use craft-kits, do a puzzle, work in your garden, color, draw, paint or sketch. The main point is to create something that captures our imagination and that the actual doing of is fun and exciting. As you may…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Part 2: Day 9 – The Joy of Books
November 11, 2020 “Read a good book,” Fiona Ferris writes as Day 9 in her book, 30 Chic Days At Home. She describes how much fun she has being carried away into whole new worlds and experiences by a good story. She looks forward to diving into a make-believe world not only just for fun but also when life (and news programs) seem overwhelmingly negative. Her coping skill to handle a long and tough stretch of life is to take an hour or so out of the day on a regular basis for a little self-care in a new world. I agree with Fiona whole-heartedly. One of my favorite activities…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Part 2: Day 8 – Add Color!
November 10, 2020 Fiona Ferris encourages us to “Welcome colour” in Day 8 of her book, 30 Chic Days At Home. Exercising our creativity by adding pops of color into our day can lift our spirits. Bringing out a set of bright table napkins or pulling out a colorful throw blanket can perk up a room and our mood. She points out that while we are home, we have the perfect opportunity to experiment with stronger colored make-up than we might ordinarily try. Another good suggestion is to add some pops of color to a salad. I implemented this one today at lunch – I “dressed up” my green salad…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Part 2: Day 7 – “Confinement” Chic
November 9, 2020 In chapter (“Day”) 7 of 30 Chic Days At Home, Fiona discusses how we care for and present ourselves as a way to keep our morale boosted. She wrote her book during New Zealand’s first “lockdown” month which started 25 March 2020 and lasted until the end of April-mid-May. This was Autumn in New Zealand so Fiona’s style preferences were directed towards cold-weather friendly clothing. The main point that she makes in this chapter is that how we dress ourselves influences our emotional setting. We want to be especially intentional in building “mood-lifters” into our day when we are going through tough times. It doesn’t really matter…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Part 2: Day 6 – Reach Out
November 8, 2020 “Keep in touch with technology” is Fiona’s Ferris’s title for Day 6 in her book, 30 Chic Days at Home. Her idea is to make sure she connected with her loved ones and friends and enjoyed a nice chat. Here in Paris during our second lockdown this year, staying in contact with friends and loved ones is clearly quite important. Long-term isolation is never a good idea for mental and physical health. Happily, there are several ways to reach out. What I think of as “high tech” ways are Zoom video conferences, Google meet, WhatApp video calls, and FaceTime (if you are an Apple iPhone user.) The…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Part 2: Day 5 – Carpe Lockdown
November 7, 2020 “Go on a health retreat” is what Fiona Ferris called Day 5 in her book, 30 Chic Days At Home. Her idea is that one can use the whole nationally-mandated “lockdown/self-quarantine” situation as a “DIY” health retreat. (Which certainly feels much more elegant and luxurious than framing the situation as “trapped at home.”) She made a list of several actions that would give her the feeling of being on a luxury “spa” retreat. Her list included early nights to bed, prepping nutritious food for easy and healthy meals, daily planned walks, yoga, and extra-special at-home skincare. Not only do the daily actions sound fun but she…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Part 2: Day 4 – Little “Nit-noids”
November 6, 2020 “The joy of getting things done” is the title of Day 4 in 30 Chic Days At Home by Fiona Ferris. This day addresses the opportunity to work on making one’s life feel as light and low maintenance as possible. She made a list called “Loose Ends and Bothersome Things” to help her focus on just what she wanted to handle and put away. When I read the title to this chapter, I originally felt more of a Marie Kondo “declutter the whole house” sort of vibe – which felt a bit exhausting. When I read just a few lines further, the title of her list, “Loose…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Part 2: Day 3 – Music
November 5, 2020 Day 3 in Fiona Ferris’s book, 30 Chic Days At Home is called “Scent the air with music.” Fiona writes that she enjoys playing beautiful music at home. She finds it calming and relaxing. I must admit that this idea was a bit of a stretch for me. I like silence in the house. I don’t have a TV in my house in the US and I put the TV that came with this Paris apartment behind the couch under a blanket. On the other hand, I do like soft music in the car when I’m driving. I also enjoy listening to certain podcasts (but only if…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Part 2: Day 2 – Inspiration
November 4, 2020 Day 2 in Fiona Ferris’s book 30 Chic Days At Home is titled “Inspire yourself and dream of better days.” In this chapter, Fiona writes about collecting photos and magazine articles that capture our imaginations for a beautiful and well-lived life and surroundings. I especially like her comment that with her collection of inspirational images, she has an easy wonderful and positive place to “go” when she wants to relax and feel inspired rather than a draining news site/”scandal rag.” Today, my focus is to take advantage of some recent cooking inspiration and finish tidying up the two “clutter corners” that I wrote about yesterday. Part of…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Part 2: Day 1 – Get Your Hyggie On
November 3, 2020 It’s “Confinement 2” here in Paris since last Friday (Oct 30.) Same rules apply – you can only go 1 km distance from your residence and you can only go out of your apartment (max of 1 hour) for certain reasons (such as getting the essentials of life like food, medicine, fresh bread and chocolate.) One big difference is that the schools remain open so children do not have to do on-line school. In some ways, things are a bit better than last March when France first “locked down” – at least, we know what to expect. In other ways, it’s just as unsettling as it…