Green, turquoise and its variations

Did you know that green apples have fewer calories than red apples?  Green grapes have fewer calories than red grapes, green peppers have less calories than red peppers and on and on...........

photo by stofo.deviantart.com

What a gorgeous colour turquoise is.  I love it.

photo by littledreamerstutus.com

photo yourstylejourney

Oscar de la Renta

Collectors weekly.com

Opi nail lacquer

Nars lovely eye shadow

A bientôt

Audrey

The way to stay Creative

photo by yourintrinsicbeauty.blogspot.com

For twenty seven years I owned a table linen company which was a supplier to all the major department stores in the US and abroad.  I am passionate about linens.  To make my company a success I traveled extensively and always tried to learn more about how to bring beauty to my customers.  I went to so many gorgeous gardens, museums, and trade shows for inspiration.

I love to entertain and am always looking for interesting objects to put on my table to surprise my guests. Here I went to the garden, which fortunately was in bloom, and filled odd silver containers with an assortment of flowers.  I was simply inspired by my surroundings. I used antique linens which were for sale on my web site French Vintage Home.

I don't really think you can learn to be creative.  You either are or you aren't but what you can learn is to keep you eyes open and see what is going on around you. Open your eyes and observe your surroundings, don't go too fast so that you don't really see anything. 

After selling the company I started to spend more time at my home in France and learned to appreciate the beauty of linens that had lived a previous life.  That is what made me start my company French Vintage Home.  Though we have many other things, linens are my specialty.

Gardens are a great inspiration for me and help me be creative. Homage to Claude Monet at Giverney by Bill Filson.

This is what makes me stay creative.......

 For more creativity by very creative people click here

A Bientôt  
Audrey

Cake Decorating

I don't know how much fun you had today but I had tons of it.  I took a cake decorating class and loved every minute of it.

Okay, it's Dallas not Paris but nonetheless it was fabulous.  Of course being Dallas, you don't ever have to park your own car or carry anything out to your car.  I love it here.

There were about 30 of us and we each started out the same but when we left each cake was our own creation.  We started with a cake that had been frozen as it is easier to frost.  I did not know that.

We put on a crumb icing and then a glaze.

Then we used our imagination and our skill to decorate the cake. I learned to make a shell border, never having done it before.

Here is the finished cake.  After a couple of tries I could not make very pretty flowers so it is a pretty simple cake. I need to take another class.

If you are interested in cake baking and decorating I chose a few books you might be interested in.

Buddy the Cake Boss

Professional Cake Decorating

I thought these paper napkins would look great next to one of these gorgeous cakes.

Decorative Paper Napkins

Simply the best cake baking book ever.

Cake Bible

A beautiful cake stand to put your creation on.

Cake Stand

Enjoy and Bon Appetit

A Bientôt

Audrey

Skin care tips

Dr. Hauschka Products......Dr.Hauschka is a holistic skin care brand with a focus on natural ingredients.


Julia Roberts is the person to thank for the fact that a small natural cosmetics producer, Wala from Bad Boll at the foot of the Swabian Alb, has become a Hollywood society tip. The actress, plagued like many of her colleagues by stressed skin due to having to constantly apply and remove make-up, discovered Dr. Hauschkas Rose Cream in her make-up artist’s cosmetics case.

Dr. Hauschka Rose Cream Day

She swears by the cream because it stimulates the skin’s own resources and does not cause allergies. The special thing: Most of the medicinal plants used are not only grown under strict organic conditions in the company’s own garden, they are also processed according to an 80-year-old recipe which respects nature’s rhythm: light and dark, movement and rest, heat and cold.

The resulting essences and oils keep without preservatives being added. When Julia Roberts was asked, yet again, at a press conference what was behind her radiant complexion, she whispered into the microphone: ”Dr. Huschka.” And soon Cate Blanchett was bathing in Dr. Hauschka’s lavender bath oil, Madonna underwent a two-hour Dr. Hauschka treatment in the chic New York Sanctuary Spa, and the whole world wanted the rose cream. In Sephora, New York’s elegant perfume shop, it is to be found right next to Kiehl products.

(magazin-deutschland.de) copyright: frankfurter Societats-druckerei GmbH

Dr. Hauschka Lavender Bath

Dr. Hauschka has been in existence since 1967 and has gained an impressive celebrity following, including Julia Roberts, Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cameron Diaz , Jack Nicholson, and me. 

Awakening Beauty Book the Dr. Hauschka Way

Dr. Hauschka's Eye Balm

Dr. Hauschka lemon body oil

This should get you started, I have been a fan for years, especially the eye balm and the lemon body oil.  I am always trying new Dr. Hauschka products and am never disappointed.

Happy and Healthy Living

A Bientôt

Audrey

Challenges

johicksflower.co.uk    (a very pretty picture)

This month we are talking about challenges.  I had to think long and hard about this one as I try hard to rid myself of any challenges as quickly as possible.

My challenges are small and easy to deal with.  Should I walk or should I drive, should I have dessert or be a good girl and skip it, should I stay home and work or go to a movie?  Even I think these challenges are silly so I am thinking what is, or was,  a serious challenge in my life and I guess it is life itself.  Trying to do all I can to live as long as I can as healthy as I can.

I am fussy about what I eat, preferring vegetarian cuisine to anything else.  I go to all my doctors at least once a year, maybe twice a year.  I have all the usual tests and then every five years the more difficult tests.  I am challenged to exercise more so this is definitely a goal this year.  

I love Nigel Slater and here is a link to his cookbook.  You will love it.

Nigel Slater

Living in France half the year limits the time I see my children and grandchildren.  I vow to change that as those times together are the best ever.  I was challenged to raise four children, many years as a single parent. I can proudly say, I did a good job.

I was challenged to trek in the Himalayas for a month but I did it and will live with the glory of having accomplished an amazing feat for a non athlete like me.

I am sitting in a luxury hotel in Paris and thinking "challenges".  I faced those years ago when I decided to get divorced and build a business which would take care of me for the rest of my life. 

Leadership means facing challenges head on.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes regarding challenges:

“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” 
― Molière 

“Happiness is not the absence of problems; it's the ability to deal with them.” 
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

“When you do what you love, the seemingly impossible becomes simply challenging, the laborious becomes purposeful resistance, the difficult loses its edge and is trampled by your progress.” 
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Never confuse someone else's inability to do something with its inability to be done.  This has been my mantra and has pushed me to succeed many times.

And now I shall end with this quote. 

The biggest challenge after success is shutting up about it.” 
― Criss Jami

A Bientôt
Audrey

New York

I flew from Paris to New York and will be here a few days before going to Dallas.
The lovely 60 Soho Hotel (formerly Sixty Thompson) welcomed me wonderfully.

After a good nights sleep I had breakfast in the lovely dining room.

So then I braved the snow and took a walk.  What the heck am I doing out here??????

Couldn't resist Le Petit Cafe for a hot chocolate

A Bientôt my dear friends and family who might want to see what I am up to.

You can do it.... flower arranging

dreamalittleblog.com

karinlidbeckbrent

Flower Arranging

The best book even if you are not new at it.  There are so many wonderful ideas inside.

Brass planter

Beautiful brass container for a large floral arrangement.

Art Glass Vase

This gorgeous vase would look just as pretty with big white hydrangeas in it as it would a colorful red and yellow bouquet.

Experiment with some of the things in your kitchen, they make great containers for a single flower or a large bouquet. Use your tureens, Turquoise Ball jars and anything else you can think of.

Have fun!!!!!
A Bientôt
Audrey