3, 2, 1, go! (#1)

For my big return after a long time away, and to celebrate my 100th post, I am taking you on a trip. Ready? City of love, here we come...

So, by now, you will have no doubt worked it all out. I was lucky enough to get to spend a few days in Paris, and my oh my, do I love this city! I was over there when the country was supposed to be torn and angry with strikers in every corner of streets, but to tell you the truth, I have not met a single protester during my stay. I saw them on TV in the news, though, but I guess the media just makes things out to be much worse then they really are. As for the reason why people are down in the streets, don't get me started - sometimes I almost feel ashamed to be French. However, this is not by any means a political blog, so let's move on to the nice stuff: monuments, food, and shopping (how futile!)!!

beef carpaccio - one of my very favourite Parisian lunches 

If you are ever in Paris, you MUST go to "le Zimmer" and order this dessert. Granted, it is the most calorific thing you can have, but this fondant is the best I ever tasted. Marks & spencer do a good version here, but you have to kind of do-it-yourself, and of course, you only get the cake, none of the essential trimmings!

Some cute windows at Hermes... and at Chanel

Place de la Concorde

I hope you have enjoyed it so far. Our journey will continue tomorrow or in a couple of days. There is so much to do when you come back home. Some say you need a holiday to recover from the holiday, and in a way that's true. I'm back to work tomorrow -sad face - but cannot wait to share the rest of my adventures.

under pressure

Nothing gets me going like this song at times. It always reminds me of the genius and underrated movie Gross Pointe Blank. The song comes at a pivotal moment when Cusack decides to more or less turn his life around. That being said, I have always loved the song, long before my Mr Lavender showed me the movie!

Ironically (or not) I am feeling a lot of pressure at the moment, and cannot wait to be able to breathe and come back here on a regular basis. To celebrate my 99th post, here's Under Pressure

"arm aber sexy"

To prepare for long autumn evenings sewing by the fire by the radiator, I made this cushion a while ago.

Autumn is my favourite season of all, and I really look forward to being able to enjoy it fully when I'm on holidays in about four weeks'time. I am going to be on the move quite a bit during this half-term, jetting around between Northern Spain (for a school trip), Paris (for shopping  romance) and Berlin. Yes, Berlin again!

There is nothing quite like Berlin and the crispness of autumn mixed together. The first time I visited this city was almost by accident, when Mr Lavender and I booked a ticket two days beforehand instead of going camping in the Lake District (too cold). It's hard to explain what happened there, but it just had that amazing feeling about it, like the perfect balance between peaceful and awe-inspiring monuments / buildings and trend-setting vibrant little cafes and improvised art places.
Plus, everybody is lovely and kind. People smile at you, and say hi in the metro. How cool is that? Berlin truly deserves its nickname "arm aber sexy" - "poor but sexy".

I cannot wait to get myself a new completely OTT advent calendar like last year, and hope Lindt will outdo themselves again!
        
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German readers - is there anything I'm missing out on in Berlin? I've visited the obvious places, but if you know of a nice place to eat / buy fabric / discover, let me know.

little pleasures

I know things are bad when...the only thing that got me through the day is as simple as wearing my new jumper I bought in france two weeks ago. That was like, a century and a half ago, when I still had time / wanted to cook during the week. Those were the days!!

Purchased for nothing in Promod, Paris. Effective, though:

"oh, miss! I love your top, where did you get it?"

"Paris"

"I knew it, they're so fashionable over there!"

hen night - HELP!

So this December I'm going to assume a brand-new role for the first time in my life:

* bridesmaid *

I have never really paid attention to what the key people do during a wedding (probably too busy drinking and catching up with people you only seem to bump into at weddings these days), but the future bride has informed me of my duties and here they are, in no particular order:

* make the favours for every guest (oh, they are starting to be really cute, I'll show you soon)
* make my famous pancakes on the morning of the wedding (piece of cake!)
and...the hardest...
* organise the hen night (totally out of my comfort zone)

So this is my cry for all your contributions and ideas, your comments on past experiences, good or bad!
So far, I have a few ideas...

a pottery class in the afternoon?

a cocktail -making class at Cloud 23?

a karaoke night?

I have the feeling there should be a theme to the night, maybe a classic SATC, or something totally girlie like Marie-Antoinette. Or maybe that's just silly? What do you think?

In other news, I have just about survived the start of the new school year, but already feel like I need a major glass of wine distraction in the evening. So, thanks in advance for your amazing contributions to my plea - I'm off to distract myself!!