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A Chic Paris Holiday Season – Day 30 – Thoughts for the New Year
January 1, 2021 Happy New Year & Bonne Année! Today was a lovely day here in Paris – very cold but bright and sunny. I took my usual morning coffee-gratitude walk past the Eiffel Tower (as you can see from the photo.) Even as early as I go out, there were a few people already walking around on the broad plaza. There were, as always, several van-loads of armed police in riot gear stationed around the plaza. I nodded and thanked them for their service as well as wishing them a happy new year (Bonne Année). (It was below freezing this morning and these guys were standing out on the…
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A Chic Paris Holiday Season – Day 29 – Thoughts from the Old Year, cont.
December 31, 2020 This post continues my reflections on how my family, friends and I experienced 2020. Covid was certainly a unifying (and terrifying) experieince for the world, showing us a downside of globalization. I feel that I personally was very blessed with so many good things even though this year has felt like a long struggle for us all. Even though we around the world experienced things in common from this year, we lived the collection of 365 days each in our own way. Looking back over what I personally lived and felt and thought about, I ask myself – what am I particularly grateful for from this extraordinary…
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A Chic Paris Holiday Season – Day 25 – More Treats
December 27, 2020 Today dawned cold, rainy and windy here in the City of Light. I did spend a few moments thinking wistfully of warm ocean breezes and beautiful beaches. Then I got dressed (in wool – cotton is not my friend when the outside temperature drops below 45 F (8 C)) and wandered outside with my coffee. It was a sleepy Sunday morning after Christmas weekend. Even the market street was almost deserted. The Marks & Spencer store was full of empty racks – not a block of cheddar or a little mince pie to be found. I decided that my treats today would a gorgeous mango from the…
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A Chic Paris Holiday Season – Day 23 – Joyeux Noël!
December 25, 2020 Joyeux Noël and Merry Christmas! My intention for today is to revel in the feeling of thankfulness. It was a lovely morning as I made my coffee and enjoyed both the quiet of puttering about in the kitchen by myself and memories of Christmases when the children were younger and they woke my husband and me up much earlier. Coffee back then happened after the noise and excitement of present opening. Today, the lure of presents drew them out of bed earlier than their usual mid-morning preferred vacation rising time. After present opening & breakfast (& more coffee), I wandered down rue Passy to get the day’s…
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A Chic Paris Holiday Season – Day 22 – Counting Down to Christmas Day – Intention
December 24, 2020 In A Chic & Simple Christmas, Fiona Ferris encourages us to do a mental walk-through of our Christmas celebrations so that we mentally prepare ourselves to experience the day as we choose to do. When we set our intention and our mental attitude, we are more in control of how we interpret and react to the events of the day. I’ve been practicing with “setting my intention” for the past few days. Not to practice for handling comments or difficult family members but to see if I can collect myself even before the day begins and set a peaceful, calm mood (that can hopefully last through the…
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A Chic Paris Holiday Season – Day 19 – Sunday Progress Report #3
December 21, 2020 It is now the third weekend in the holiday season of 2020. This past week has been a mixed bag of stressful effort and peaceful calm. I selected and purchased the last of the gifts yesterday. It always seems strange to me that gift-giving, which is usually a sincere expression of caring, can yet be stressful. I guess it’s because gifts are expected in this season. Here in this holiday season of CoVid-19 2020, most of my gifts were purchased online and will be delivered to the recipient’s door. The ordering online part is not new to me. I order most gifts online anyway whether it’s a…
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A Chic Paris Holiday Season – Day 15 – Savor Your Treats of the Season
December 17, 2020 Fiona Ferris encourages us to maximize those activities of the holiday season that bring us fun and joy in her book, A Chic and Simple Christmas. Today, I embraced Fiona’s idea to the hilt! I had a day of what I would call “luxe-enjoyment.” (A day filled with laid back holiday fun – no rushing about and no expensive purchases required.) All of the activities were not necessarily on “The Master Schedule” but were serendipitous additions that could jump onto a block of open time that I had kept just for such a reason. This morning, I had a laugh-out-loud 45-minute walk with a new Canadian acquaintance…
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A Chic Paris Holiday Season – Day 14 – Wellness and the Holiday Frenzy
December 16, 2020 In A Chic and Simple Christmas, author Fiona Ferris stresses the idea of keeping ourselves healthy during the holiday season. In her case, she writes about how, during the holidays, she had the tendency to go to bed later, maybe miss some walks or workouts and, of course, eat Christmas sweets. These things combined with a busier holiday schedule can make anyone start feeling a bit physically worn out but also a bit mentally more fragile to the stress and bustle of the season. “Wellness” is a word that I see often in popular media. Usually accompanied by beautiful photographs of slim women wearing yoga clothes (in…
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A Chic Paris Holiday Season – Day 12 – Declutter the ‘Fridge
December 14, 2020 It’s mid-December – 10 days until Christmas Eve. There’s been a bit of drift with the investment cooking schedule. The creamy chicken chowder has moved to Wednesday. A crustless Quiche Lorraine-ish hopped onto this afternoon’s project list in its place. (I call it Lorraine-ish because there is ham and gruyere cheese in it but also there is some leftover sauteed onions and some roasted red peppers that had been hanging about in the ‘fridge for the last little while.) I make a large crustless quiche almost every other weekend. The quiche acts as a recipient for any leftover veggies and as an easy, hearty lunch during the…
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A Chic Paris Holiday Season – Day 11 – Sunday Progress Report #2
December 13, 2020 This is the second weekend of Holiday Season 2020. The first weekend was a tumultuous Saturday “delayed Thanksgiving” (both happy and stressful). The Sunday of that first weekend was very quiet but full of reflection on how to better maximize the fun and minimize the chaos. This second Sunday, I can see some improvement in my own feeling of calm and order. I have the “Master Schedule” posted. (My husband has taken to calling it “The One Schedule to Rule Them All”.) With regards to ensuring that we actually do fun Christmas activities, the whole family (plus a visiting friend) enjoyed watching Christmas movies both Friday and…