La Maison-Home

Decorating for Le Petit Prince

This weekend, Pascal and I spent a fun morning with our sister-in-law, Cara, choosing fabric swatches and paint colors. We're helping with the decoration of our little nephew's first bedroom. I get to play "decorator"; Pascal gets to paint. 

The nursery, based on a "vintage cars" theme is going to be adorable — red-and-blue-striped ticking, ginghams, dark navy denim and a yellow Madras plaid.  So far, we've stayed on budget, but there are so many cute baby things to be had, it's easy to get carried away.  

For example, our little nephew-to-be already owns his first car, a VW pedal car my brother found on Ebay. It may have felt like a splurge, but it was a huge bargain compared to these luxury items featured on PoshTots.com. The site features toys, furniture and décor for children with silver spoons in their mouths. You can buy a pirate playhouse, a shoe armoire, or a covered wagon bed - just $52,000, $49,000 and $13,995 respectively! As for cars, there is a veritable lot to choose from; test drive the kid-sized BMW at $8,000 or think big with a Mini Off Roader priced at just $32,350.00. The site is a fabulous source of inspiration for our little prince, but rest assured that we'll be creating his royal kingdom on a pauper's budget.

My Other House Is In France

We’ve Come A Long Way, Baby!

I'm trying to de-clutter the office. While going through old papers, I came across one of our "vintage" flavor cards. In the very early days of the business, I used to hand-write our flavor cards with magic markers on 3x5" unlined index cards! When we started getting so many orders that my hand cramped and I no longer had the time to "play with magic markers", we invested in printing our first flavor legend. It looked like this: the colors on the card were only an approximate match to the true foil colors (for example, our Peanut Buttah bon bon is actually wrapped in a light blue foil). Although it was better than nothing, it sometimes confused our early customers. We also didn't like that the flavor legend was twice the size of our 8-piece Bon Bon Sampler! As business improved, we invested in a more sophisticated flavor legend which has now gone through several evolutions, including the recent addition of our newest flavor, Café au Lait. I have a new and improved flavor card design idea in mind. But, I've always had "champagne taste on a beer-bottle budget" and for the moment, my wonderful idea is too cost-prohibitive. Until we're able to upgrade our flavor legends once more, I'll just have to take comfort in the fact that in the past two-and-a-half years, we've already come a long way.

FUN-iture

Yesterday, I wrote about how one of my favorite homes in America, Luna Parc, led me to my own colorful home.  Today, I thought I'd share some fun, crazy furniture that brings me joy.  There's no place for it in our current environment, but I look forward to the day when we have a house big enough for my own wild and wacky office wing that will surely be decorated in what I call "Haute Creativity". This sofa is by Lila Jang and is called "Canapé" (the French word for "sofa"). It's so "Alice in Wonderland", isn't it?  I wonder if it's actually comfortable... The piece was featured in a Parisian art exposition called:  "Once Upon a Time" (Il Était Une Fois).

At Least It’s Not Luna Parc...

I found the building we live and work in during a solo weekend visit to Wilmington. It was pink even then, but sans the blue window shutters, window boxes and doors you see here. Pascal was back in Manhattan, working double shifts at the restaurant, and he couldn't be reached. Unable (and okay, I confess, perhaps a tad unwilling...) to consult him first, I made an offer for the house on the spot. When I got back to the city and showed him the photos, he was completely incredulous. "Absolutely not!" he exclaimed, "There is no way that I will ever live in a pink house!" Of course, we know how the story ends.

Souvenirs de Quebec

At the end of June, we had the opportunity to visit Québec City for a few days. It is our tradition to buy a Christmas ornament from each destination we visit, and Quebec didn't disappoint; there were several Christmas-themed stores offering a wide array of nutcrackers, tree toppers, ornaments and lights. Aside from our tree ornaments, the other items we purchase while on vacation could never be easily identified as souvenirs. For example, while wandering the streets of the Old City, we stumbled across this adorable store, Pot en Ciel (which means "Pot in the Sky"). They sell an incredible collection of kitchen wares just like the dishes, utensils, dish towels, serving trays, and coffee bowls you'd find in France. I could have easily dropped a few thousand dollars in this dreamy store (I wanted one of everything!), but Pascal and I settled on just two souvenirs of Quebec: a jam spoon (also called a honey spoon) and a wine carafe (also known as a decanter).



The jam spoon is designed so that the handle of the spoon can rest on the edge of the jam jar - that way the handle doesn't get sticky. Or, you can dip the spoon in honey and then rest it on the edge of your teacup so that honey drips right into the cup.  

We use wine carafes at all of our cooking lesson parties to aerate our red wines. They’'re quite fragile, and this year alone, we've already gone through five of them. So, we're always on the lookout for well-designed, yet affordable carafes. We couldn't resist the beautiful one we found at Pot en Ciel, engraved with the words: "Grand Vin de France, Appellation Controllée".

Souvenir means "to remember" in French, and it is the motto of Québec: "Je me souviens"  ("I remember", as in "I remember my French heritage"). The great thing about our souvenirs is that they'll do double duty. Each time we use our jam spoon or wine carafe, we'll be reminded of a glorious afternoon spent in old Québec City, but we'll also be using them as tools to create new memories in our own kitchen.

1928 Versus 2008

It’s a Boy!

Bargain-Induced Bliss

I love it when the Law of Attraction works in obvious and efficient ways! The other day, I was changing the sheets on the bed in our Master Bedroom, silently lamenting how shabby this one favorite fitted sheet was looking after multiple washings. As I examined the stretched out elastic and the dime-sized rust spot from one disastrous washing, I wished for a new king-sized fitted sheet. But not just any sheet. You see I have "un goût de luxe" (luxury-level taste) when it comes to bedding. Since sleep is so important to me, I insist on a plush bed with incredibly soft cotton sheets and down-filled duvets. I won't buy anything less than high-quality 400-count or better sheets, and they're expensive. Still, I wished for a new white fitted sheet to come to me easily without taxing my budget, and then just let the thought go.

The next day - I’m not kidding you -- the very next day, I had to go to HomeGoods (one of my favorite stores) for an entirely different reason. While there, I thought I'd take a quick peek at the sheets. Usually I don't have much luck there in finding bedding that fits my requirements, but I thought I'd check anyway. (Rule One of Good Bargain Shopping: Check Discount Stores Frequently and Thoroughly).

At first glance, there didn't seem to be anything good, but I dug around a bit. (Rule Two of Good Bargain Shopping: Be Extra-Thorough. Go Through Every Item in a Bin, Every Hanger on a Rack). And there it was - a white, king-sized 400-thread count Lilly Pultizer fitted sheet that felt like heaven. It was the only Lilly Pulitzer sheet in the entire bedding department. A fitted sheet by this esteemed brand name retails for $124.99. HomeGoods had it priced at $9.99. Talk about the thrill of the hunt! I'll delight in using this soft, beautiful sheet (that feels like buttah!), not only because it is an amazing product, but also because it found its way effortlessly to me, at a price I could afford.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Lilly Pulitzer, let me share her story:
She was born to a socialite family in 1931; Lilly Lee was her nickname among her friends. She attended the Chapin School in New York City, along with Jacqueline Bouvier (Kennedy). In 1949, she graduated from Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut. For one semester she attended Finch, a sort of finishing school-inspired college (the kind of place where women go to get a 'Mrs.').

In 1950, she eloped with Peter Pulitzer, grandson of publisher Joseph Pulitzer (think Pulitzer Prize). Together, they settled in Palm Beach, Florida, where they enjoyed a bohemian lifestyle - at least by the standards of the uber-wealthy, ultra-conservative Palm Beach crowd. Lilly and Peter did such shocking things as "entertaining in the kitchen" (gasp!) and "walking barefoot down Worth Avenue" (the horror!). They made Palm Beach their year round home, and raised their children there. Peter owned several Florida citrus groves, which inspired Lilly to open a juice stand on Via Mizner, just off Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. It cracks me up that a woman of her pedigree was essentially operating a lemonade stand in Palm Beach!

In the course of working at the juice stand, Lilly found that squeezing juice from oranges and grapefruits made a mess of her clothes. Seeking to camouflage the juice stains, she asked her dressmaker to design a sleeveless shift dress made of bright, colorful printed cotton. Lilly loved the dress that was produced for her, and it would later become her "Classic Shift Dress." Juice stand customers loved her dress too. In no time, Lilly was selling more dresses than juice, so she decided to get out of the juice business and start a business selling what had become known as her "Lillys." Jackie Kennedy, then the First Lady, (and Lilly's friend and former classmate, remember), was one of the first celebrities to sport Lilly's shift dress. Jackie was featured in Life Magazine wearing one. As a result, the dresses became an overnight fashion sensation. These days customers of all ages sport Lilly dresses.



Throughout the '60s, '70s, and '80s, Lilly's bright, colorful, well-made clothes were very popular and continued to be must-have items for "preppy" women. Today the company, which has 70 signature stores (including one in Wilmington, NC) produces lots of product lines: clothing, bedding, shoes, jewelry, and accessories. You can also find Lilly Pulitzer products in major department stores such as Bloomingdale's, Lord and Taylor, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus. And, if you're really, really lucky, the Universe will send you a Lilly Pulitzer bargain for $9.99 at a discount store.

Bon Bon Bellies

Zachary. Nou. Caiden or Carter. Those are just a few names of the sweet little babies who are joining the South 'n France "family". It's baby mania here in Candyland; while Pascal and I are busy cranking out chocolate bon bons, our friends, co-workers and relatives have all had their own little "bon bons" in the oven. That's what inspired this photo from our most recent product photo shoot: Bon Bon Baby. Isn't the stroller the cutest?

But check out those little shoes. They belong to Lori and Steve's new addition, Zachary. He was so eager to join the world, he came six weeks early, weighing in at just 4 lbs 10 oz (or 74 bon bons). Zachary and Mom are both doing fine.

And, meet Nou. She's still hanging out in the belly of her Mommy, Tess (isn't that the cutest tummy?), but she'll be here soon.  I especially love this photo of Tess and Nou because it's such a perfect example of our relationship to Tess. You see, Tess is our "invisible" virtual assistant. She and her husband, Hamid, do amazing work on our website and blog, but no one ever sees them - including us. During the time they've been with South 'n France, this couple has lived in India, Nepal, Arizona, and Washington. We've never met them in person, but we communicate daily and they are a huge part of our work family. Much like giving birth, they perform mysterious miracles for our company (like creating an online shopping cart) from miles away.  We bought "My Mom Rocks" and "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" onesies for Nou because that's exactly how we feel about her amazing parents. We know she will agree.

Meanwhile, here at home, we're planning for the first Dupray-family grandchild from our generation. My brother and sister-in-law have the all-important find-out-the-sex ultrasound in just one week. We're all anxiously awaiting the results. I get the honor of decorating the nursery, and I must say that shopping for real babies is even more fun than shopping for bon bons! I can't wait to be "Auntie Charlene"!