One of my most prized possessions is a journal I found at a yard sale, written by a farm woman in 1928. I first wrote about her on this blog almost a year and a half ago.

I keep this 80-year-old gem of a journal on the edge of my bookshelf, and from time to time, I like to open it to the day of the year that corresponds with whatever day I happen to be living. It’s always interesting to see how my old friend’s life compares with my own.  

July 27, 1928: Cloudy. Began to rain about 10-o’clock. Made pie this morning & worked out in the garden a while. Will cultivated the corn and asparagus bed. This afternoon I went to Mrs. Brieri’s to see about weaving a rug.

July 27, 2008: 90-degree weather and scattered thunderstorms. Ate a few of the leftover petit fours I made yesterday (they were a hit at last night’s dinner party!), while Pascal worked in his flower garden. We’ll eat corn in our Nicoise salad for dinner tonight, but it probably came from an industrial farm fifteen hundred miles away, certainly not from our garden. This afternoon I took a nap after cleaning house, which included vacuuming the synthetic rug I paid too much for when I bought it at Lowe’s.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder; I’d venture to say that progress is too…

This past weekend I sent out our annual holiday cards. It’s a new tradition for me and Pascal, celebrating Christmas in July. In years past, prior to owning our bon bon business, I sent out a holiday photo and an annual letter every December. Each year, the cards and the letters seem to grow more elaborate than the year prior. One year, we took photos ice-skating in Central Park. Actually, I ice skated; Pascal refused to let go of the supporting boards around the rink! (There’s a funny photo from that day on our site in The Story of South ‘n France.)

The next year, I convinced Pascal to dress as Santa for a second holiday photo shoot in the park. I had to yell at him for smoking in his Santa suit whilst in front of the children! Of course, they were New York City kids, so it probably didn’t even faze them.

Now that we’re in the business of selling handmade chocolate confections, we’re so busy during the holiday season we hardly have time for sleeping and eating. Holiday cards are out of the question! Of course, we still like to receive Christmas cards (they are one of our lifelines to sanity during the hectic holiday season), and we do want to keep in touch with friends and family. So, after two years of negligence, we decided to take a page out of Julia Child’s book. Literally. In her autobiography, My Life in France (which, incidentally is one of my all-time favorite books), Julia explains how she and her husband, Paul, sent out Valentine’s Day cards every year as an alternative to holiday cards: “Valentine cards had become a tradition of ours, born of the fact that we could never get ourselves organized in time to send out Christmas cards. With our ever-enlarging network of family, friends, and Foreign Service colleagues, we found that Paul’s hand-designed valentine cards…were a nice way to keep in touch." One year they posed in a bathtub, wearing nothing but artfully arranged bubbles!

But, for South ‘n France, Valentine’s Day cards in the middle of peak chocolate-selling season are also out of the question! When does our season slow down a bit? Not until July. From now on, we’ll be cranking up the holiday tunes, pulling out the holiday cards, and telling our loved ones "Merry Christmas" about six months in advance (or, too late, depending on your point of view). So from our house to yours, Happy Holidays!

Christmas is only 148 days away, and at South ‘n France, that means that we are in heavy preparation for the holiday season. The expression "Christmas in July" is used to refer to a windfall, an unexpected find, or a wonderful surprise. And for us, finding Christmas packaging that we like and that we think you’ll like too, feels just like Christmas in July. Last week, we completed a photo shoot for images that will grace our holiday catalog, and we couldn’t resist sharing some of our special finds with you. Forget those "No Peeking" and "Do Not Open Until December 25th" rules; we believe in spreading holiday cheer anytime of year! Won’t our hand-dipped chocolate bon bons look great wrapped up in these cute packages?

If you are a regular reader of this blog (thank you!), you will recall our very enthusiastic build-up to the arrival of author Karen Quinn.  She came to Wilmywood to read from her book Holly Would Dream. For her book reading and signing, Audrey and Karen fans were encouraged to come dressed in homage to that icon of Hollywood glamour, Audrey Hepburn. But that day, another great dame decided to shower us with her presence. Her name?  Mother Nature. And shower us, she did! The heavens opened and the rain poured down so fiercely and so quickly, we were sure Wilmington was experiencing a monsoon of epic proportions. Streets flooded, traffic lights stopped working, and we started to worry that no one would be able to make their way to the Mayfaire Barnes & Noble - especially in tight black dresses, high heels, fancy hats, and evening gloves.

But, the stylish women of Wilmington proved that they were willing to pay the high price of navigating puddles and accessorizing with umbrellas in order to partake in some good, old-fashioned Hollywood glamour. Despite Mother Nature’s attempt to grandstand our false eyelashes, tiaras and pearls, a crowd of brave literary fans filled the chairs at Barnes & Noble. They were all eager to hear Karen entertain us with stories of how she wrote this delicious novel about fashion, travel, romance, and adventure.

Local fashion icon Jess James (fabulous stylist and Style Girl columnist) wore her best Audrey attire and wrote a wonderful account of the evening in the July 25th edition of the Wilmington Star News. Couture milliner, Jan Wutkowski, owner of Amuse graced us with a drop-dead gorgeous Audrey-inspired chapeau.  Cheri Olsen, Ladies Who Launch leader in Wilmington, donned her pearls, sunglasses and fabulous vintage gloves. Melissa Kinnamon of NSALO salon on Front Street gave me the perfect up-do to complete my own Audrey look.

And there were more Audreys, darlings, many more; each and every one of them truly…well…darling!  

World-renowned photographer, Millie Holloman, was there to capture this historic evening when the Mayfaire Barnes & Noble welcomed the best-dressed customers it has ever seen. Of course every photo Millie takes is gorgeous, but I like the black and white ones best since they are true to the spirit of that old Hollywood style we re-created while the thunder clapped in appreciation and the lightning added a special glow to our rhinestoned-tiaras.

I’m still using my perpetual calendar (handmade by my friend, Matt, and one of my all-time favorite gifts). The calendar is loosely sectioned by theme, and it’s that time of year again – the week when he throws a few sassy quotes from classic movies into the mix. Last year, I wrote about the Rhett and Scarlett quote in this blog entry that still delights me. Check out the darling photo of the Scarlett-look-alike bride!

Then, there’s this Sunday’s quote (July 27, 2008), another cheeky quip from a classic film: "There’s a name for you ladies, but it isn’t used in high society, outside a kennel." Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford) in The Women. I’m not even going to ask Matt why this quote makes him think of me…

When you spend as much time working in front of the computer as I do, it’s important to take breaks. Of course, ironically, sometimes those breaks happen to be on the computer! Pascal enjoys a quick game of pinball or solitaire, but I prefer sites where I can express my creativity or enjoy the creativity of others. Here are two of my recent discoveries and new favorites:

Speechable.com is a free site where you can add speech balloons to your photos. The concept is simple: upload a photo, select a balloon and then add text. Speech balloon buttons below the photo allow you to resize your font and add and delete balloons. You can reposition a balloon by clicking and dragging it. It took me a few tries to get the hang of it, and the program seems to have a few kinks, but it’s still tons of fun! Here is my first Speechable.com masterpiece:

Another entertaining and completely irreverent website is www.rattlebox.com. It offers edgy, hip (and yes, free!) email cards for the contemporary adult. Bored by the corny, generic e-cards on other sites, the founders decided to create their own cards that fit their personal style. Card categories include standards like: Birthday, Anniversary, Congratulations, and Sorry plus many more original categories:  Provocative, Vintage, Insults, Random. If you’re willing to watch the short commercials that precede each card preview and if you don’t mind a few "potentially offensive" cards indicated by caution messages, you’re sure to find some fresh and amusing material on rattlebox.com!

My brother, Chad, called me yesterday morning with the news the entire family had been waiting for. He was so excited, he started with this question: 
"So, do you think you’re going to be an aunt or an uncle?"
"Well, Chad", I calmly replied, "I think that no matter what sex the baby is, I will be an Aunt."

I love that one day, when he’s old enough to get the joke, I’ll be able to tell this story to my little nephew. Everyone is thrilled, and I can’t wait to start decorating the baby’s nursery with Mommy, Cara.

We’ve had orders for a quite a few Baby Boy Showers lately. Isn’t this boy-themed bon bon favor box too cute?