Who You Callin’ a Tart?

Its finally beginning to feel like summer here in Paris. However, I wish I were in Provence. Yes, I am remorseful that I had to leave my soon to be first summer in Provence because my stupid ALS forced me back to Paris. Woe is me, right? But honestly, Paris sucks in the summer. But as usual, I will make the best of it. The best thing to do in the summer in Paris is to leave Paris and that is just what I plan on doing as much as I can. For David’s birthday last weekend, we hightailed it out of Paris to a very special place that I will tell you all about next week. Next week, my new eye tracking software should arrive and after I learn how to use it, I will be back to blogging on a regular basis.

It is difficult for me now to blog because my voice is weak and my caregivers don’t give a shit about my blog. They care about keeping me alive and getting paid… not necessarily in that order. But, if there is a will, there is a way and by God, I will be back to blogging soon.

In the meantime, let’s look at some gorgeous tomato tarts. I put together a whole Pinterest board dedicated to tomato tarts HERE. I cannot really eat much so Pinterest has become my food porn. All I do is look at food. So, this next week is going to be all about food… summer food.

Let’s start with tomato tarts…
 

Tomato Tart with Blue Cheese 

 

Tomato Ricotta Phyllo Tart

Cherry Tomato Tart with Feta

 

Puff Pastry Tomato Tart with Macadamia Nut Pesto

 





 Fresh Tomato Tart

Follow my Tomato Tart Pinterest Board HERE.

*Something you don’t know about me? Even though I am a devout Real Housewives fan, I am proud of my friend, Yolanda Hadid, for exiting the show, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, gracefully. Yolanda intelligently wants to focus on restoring her health, continuing to mother her children and regaining some privacy… and for that, I admire her. Just for the record I will never watch the show again… yes I will.

Christmas Two Thousand Fourteen

 

Wow! You all are amazing! When a girl is down, you all really know how to pick her up, give her support, offer hope, advise, personal stories, hugs and love, your own tears, empathy, sympathy and understanding. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for everything. If I could give you all a hug, I would. Better yet, you know what I would love to do? I would love to have a little party, invite you all over to my apartment in Paris and we could talk about everything, laugh about everything and try to move forward perhaps with 2 to 300 cocktails. The good news about me is that I very quickly pull up my knee socks and move forward. Unless one wants to wallow in the misery (I hate people who do that), I think the best thing to do is move forward…with a smile. So…here we go…

It’s officially Christmas season. I have been listening to Christmas music since 8:30 AM this morning. Loudly. My caregivers think I’m weird, my nurses think I’m weird, my kinesiologist looked at me funny and guess what… I don’t care because I loooooove Christmas! My tree arrived today, the ornaments are out, the garland is on its way and we are ready to decorate! Gracie told me that she wanted a very traditional tree this year. I am not one for traditional so I thought, “How could I do a traditional tree… With a kick.” I know, I know, I know… I will use tinsel! Christmas tinsel. I have never used tinsel in my entire life but I thought that it is the epitome of Christmas traditional… And chic! You are going to laugh but I swear to God I watched a video of how to put tinsel on a tree. My caregivers are going to be so thrilled when I tell them that they have to put on the tinsel strand by strand. They are either going to quit or murder me. (Gracie already refused to do the tinsel.) But guess what? Come hell or high water, that tinsel will be on the tree by morning.

So, I had an idea. I thought it would be fun if we had a Christmas contest! What’s a little competition amongst friends, right? C’mon, it will be fun! Here’s my idea… Send me photos of your decorated Christmas tree, I will share my top 10 choices on the blog, then I will choose my favorite one, and I will send a copy of my Christmas book, A Very Chic Christmas, to the winner along with a little gift from Paris! Even if you already ordered my book, you can give the other one away as a gift. (No, mom, you can’t enter.) Don’t be shy, don’t be intimidated, just go for it… It will be fun! Show me your best… Traditional, modern, flocked, old-school, children’s, fancy, casual… Whatever it is… Make it unique. I only have one request… Please, please, please, for God sake, do not send me a photo of your upside down Christmas tree. I think that is the most ridiculous Christmas trend I’ve ever seen. You will ruin my Christmas spirit if I see one upside down Christmas tree. :-)

The deadline is December 15 because if you don’t have your tree by December 15 you might as well just just skip Christmas.

I am so excited to see all of your trees. It’s always good to get fresh inspiration each year for your Christmas tree so I have put together a great board on Pinterest of some seriously inspirational Christmas trees. Click here to see all of them. You will love them! Here are some inspirations…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your tree doesn’t have to be huge to be wonderful. Your tree doesn’t have to be matchy matchy to be wonderful. Your tree does not have to be perfect to be wonderful. Your tree doesn’t have to be expensive to be wonderful. Your tree does not have to be professional for it to be wonderful. I like all sorts of trees… White lights, colored lights, just lights, lots of decorations, no decorations, garland, no garland, solid color, lots of color… You name it, I like it… if it is done with some style. Your tree should be filled with love!

I am so excited to see everyone’s trees. My caregivers are currently in the living room decorating my tree. Uhhh… Stay tuned for that. I’m pretty sure I should keep my expectations low. Better yet, I’m pretty sure I should just go to the George V hotel and steal their Christmas tree.

Let the competition begin! Send me a photo of your tree to my email address: havesomedecorum@gmail.com. My cat, Frances, and I will look at every single photograph and judge with a softly discerning eye our favorite tree. Remember, the deadline is December 15. Start decorating!

*Something you don’t know about me? When I was young, on Christmas morning, I would wake up very very early, go to the living room and see what Santa had left for us. Then, I would run back to my sister’s bedroom, wake her up, and tell her everything that she got. And then she would cry because I would ruin her surprise. “Heather, Santa brought you an Easy Bake Oven!” I just couldn’t help myself. She’s probably still mad at me.

It's Fall, Y'all!

 

I will admit…fall arrangements and wreaths are not that easy. They can fall into the tacky category rather fast. To have a great autumn arrangement and a great autumn wreath you need to be clever. Not that you need me to tell you how to do this but… I thought I would anyway. I’ve broken it down into two categories: tacky and good ideas.

Tacky:

artificial pumpkins

artificial flowers

suburban bows

artificial fall leaves

using a pumpkin as a vase

anything “Pilgrim-y”

felt

artificial fruit (unless it is very very very good faux fruit)

dried roses

dried hydrangeas

pussy willows

mums

sunflowers

Good ideas:

pheasant feathers

crab apples

pomegranates

persimmons

magnolia leaves

fall leaves and branches (real)

gourds

wheat

autumn colored bows/ribbon… Copper, mustard, brown, olive, maroon, chestnut, sage, persimmon

acorns

fall berries

pumpkin pods

pine cones

eucalyptus leaves

cornucopia (they are totally back in style if done well)

 

Take a look at these wonderful fall/autumn arrangements and wreaths…

 

 

I always think it is best to make your own arrangements and wreaths (find the time). I once took a wreath making class… Swear to God I did (I’m so lame) but it really taught me how easy it is to make a great wreath and fall floral arrangements. The trick is to stick with nature…

However, if you must, there are a few good sources of where to buy autumn wreaths:

http://www.williams-sonoma.com

http://www.thewreathdepot.com

http://www.themagnoliacompany.com/

For more inspiration, you can also check out my Fall Arrangements and Wreaths Pinterest board HERE.

The next blog will be all about Thanksgiving centerpieces and Thanksgiving table settings.

A toute!

 *Something you don’t know about me? I would kill for a Taco Bell bean burrito right now. Sometimes I hate Paris. I don’t want a croque monsieur, I don’t want chocolate mousse, I don’t want potato dauphineoise, I don’t want poached salmon, I don’t want an omelette with a salad for lunch, and I don’t want any foie gras or coq au vin. I want an In-N-Out Burger, chocolate pudding, regular mashed potatoes, pancakes, a salad with bac-o bits and Thousand Island dressing, a regular iced tea, and a turkey sandwich with a 7-Up. Is that so much to ask? As I was forcing my French husband to drive clear over to the ninth arrondissement to get me a Chipotle burrito I asked him, “Don’t you miss American food?” In his French accent he says, “Non.” I wanted to just smother him like I did when he called a quesadilla a “Mexican crêpe” the other day. How could you not miss American food!!?? What is wrong with you? Don’t you want a Shake Shack hamburger, a Pastrami Queen ruben on rye, a powdered doughnut, a Jamba Juice smoothie, an everything bagel, a California Pizza Kitchen barbecue chicken pizza, a Pinkberry frozen yogurt, or at the very least a bag of fucking Cheetos! His answer? “Non, I want a cornichon.” Yeah, I think I’ll smother him.

Happy Halloween. Non-crappy Halloween Decor.

I wanted to start today’s blog with a big  Merci! Thank you to everyone who leaves fun, funny, smart, encouraging, informative comments. And thank you for sharing part of yourself with me. I read every single comment and then I read them to my husband to make him jealous that I have more friends than him. I do consider you all friends and I am so happy that you enjoy the blog. Even though I cannot reply to the comments because my energy and breath are limited, I love reading your thoughts every day. I need to save my energy and breath to raise my daughter and scream at her a little to stand up straighter and to not walk around Paris with a hole in her tights. This may sound corny, but for me, writing this blog gives me a purpose. So, thank you to everyone who reads the blog, thank you to everyone who pops over from other blogs, thank you to everyone who shares my blogs with their friends and just thank you for putting a smile on my face every day with your comments. Keep ‘em coming!

Today, let’s step through the porch, past the front door and go inside of the house for Halloween…

It is entirely possible to decorate the inside of your house for Halloween without it looking corny. You just have to use a little imagination and remember that this is your house, not your four-year-old’s preschool. Even though I realize that this is mainly a holiday for children, it’s never too early to teach them a little style. There is enough tackiness in the world already… Real Housewives of New Jersey, red carnations, jeggings, platform heels, Jane Seymour’s furniture collection, Ugg boots, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (I am sorry that he has cancer now…but he is still tacky. Kind of like I have ALS but I’m still a bitch), gladiator sandals, faux antiques, oversized headboards, cheese dip, taking pictures of oneself getting on a chartered private plane, grotto pools, anything Swarovski crystal, and not saying please and thank you. Let’s do our part for the world and exercise good taste. It’s the least we can do, right? Take a look at some of these examples of chic interior Halloween decor.…

 

 

To see some more great examples of chic Halloween interior decor, check out my Pinterest board HERE.

*Something you don’t know about me? Okay okay okay, I’m not promising anything but I have been working on a cookbook this past week. If I can pull this off, it will be available soon. I thought it would be really fun to do a quick cookbook of just my mother’s Thanksgiving recipes. She is famous for her Thanksgiving dinners so much so that people fight for a seat at her dinner table. Since I cannot invite everyone this year because I am in stupid Paris with no Thanksgiving culture, I thought it would be fun to share her recipes with the world. My mother has been cooking her entire life, taught private cooking classes, had a gourmet cookware/gourmet food shop and was the chairwoman of the Los Angeles Junior League cookbook committee in the 80s, so she definitely has some “street cred.” But relax, even though my mother is from a hoity-toity family, her cooking is quite the opposite. Yes, she can do all the fancy stuff, but what we all love about her cooking is when she cooks “real food.” I think everyone will really like the cookbook. You’ll laugh… because the way my mother describes things is so hillbilly. For example, for the green bean recipe she tells you to cook the green beans until they are “dead with no vitamins.” You’ll cry…with tears of happiness because finally Thanksgiving dinner is approachable. You’ll beg for more…Because the recipes are tried and true and full of flavor…You will be going back for seconds and thirds. So keep your fingers crossed that I can pull this off with the help of my illiterate caregivers who have never seen a printer, let alone a scanner.

jux·ta·po·si·tion

 

jux·ta·po·si·tion : the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.

 

Do you know what these Parisians that I live amongst have mastered? Juxtaposition. They have the concept of juxtaposition down to an art form. When you have an apartment that dates back to the 1700s or 1800s, I think the stylish thing to do is to let the bones of the apartment speak for themselves and let the furnishings and accessories have their own spotlight. Chic Parisians agree. It’s all about the mix. Mixing styles, mixing eras, mixing designs, mixing elements etc. But not too much! It has to be juuuuuuust the right amount. And by the way, I’m talking about mixing 18^th-century boiserie with Jacques Adnet, not mixing 18^th-century boiserie with Ethan Allen, for God’s sake. Let’s have some self-respect, shall we?” Okay, let’s take a look at some dropdead gorgeous juxtaposed spaces…

 

How fine! How wonderful! How refreshing! How unique! How très chic! Don’t you just want to throw away everything in your house and start over? I do. There are more examples on my Have Some Decorum Juxtaposition Pinterest Board HERE. Yesterday, I saw, with my very own eyes one of the best examples of this juxtaposition. I almost had a design heart attack. I was invited over for petit déjeuner to one of the chicest family’s apartment in Paris. As soon as the front doors were opened, I was all in. They had me at the entry. The uniqueness of their apartment matched their warm hospitality. Style, grace, elegance, humor and joie de vivre. I am going to ask permission today (because I have manners) to do a blog posting tomorrow on “My Morning with the Chicest Family in Paris.” Stay tuned.

*Something you don’t know about me? I like to take the side streets. It’s where all the magic happens. This is where you find the quirky, the unusual, the low-key, the jewels, the charming, the not so perfect, the marvelous, the special and the magnificent part of life. Take the side streets!