Remains of the Day

We have been exceedingly lazy this past week.  Here at Passage Paradis.We still have a ton of food in the house.  We are going to be very lazy for a couple more days.  I did want to share a final thought with you before the year ends..... (and I do not recall having ever previously felt this way in my life!) :

(Pic: Anki at Zylverblauw)

I want a PINK Christmas tree next year!  I have mentioned this to Mr. Paradis and tho' surprised, he hasn't said "NO!" yet.  What do you think?  Might this feeling pass?  I'll keep you posted.........

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!!!!

see you in 2013!  (Yikes!)

Happy Christmas Everyone

Hope it's cozy and restful and full of good cheer and good things to eat!

I Feel So Embarassed

It's a week til Christmas.  And I have not taken any Christmas pictures for you around L.A.!!!!!!!!!!  Despite best intentions.

I tried last week.  This (above) was the paltry result.  It's been all about errands in the car.  And cleaning

(I left some ornaments much like this sitting in my Mother's garage because they wouldn't fit in the car when I moved to NYC.  I haven't stopped regretting it.)

the house from top to bottom.  We're having company on Sunday and I've rearranged all the furniture.  I had a nice Christmas lunch last Thursday, and a loooovely Christmas skype with a girlfriend.  We bought a new rug....in festive colors.  And I'm failing at getting new groovy glasses by Christmas.

I'm making tons of cookies - which will be very bad for my waistline and nether regions.  Some will look something like this.  And others will be inspired by this place:

The tree is teeny, in a giant vase near a door.   I haven't gotten lights on it yet......

There are no presents wrapped yet - though several came over my fence yesterday.  I just HOPE they are not broken!  (Heartless UPS man, you!)

How nice if they were to look like this, though.  I don't know what I'm wearing Sunday night yet.  And my bangs need a trim!

(First pic and this above, yours truly.  Most others, Inspired by Tamar!)

But I am thinking of you, I am.  And hoping your Christmas preparations are going well.  (I mean, better than mine!) If it's not complete pandemonium, I'll take pictures and show you after.  Meanwhile, all the cookies are in the freezer at the moment.

And yourselves??????  Making or planning anything special?  Let me know?

OK fingers crossed, Google let's me upload these and post.  AFTER Christmas, I'll figure a whole new thing out!

Christmas kisses poppets!

Tender Tones

Before the final weeks get going and start having that frazzled feeling........

 (via Little Blue Deer)

How's about....

 (via This Is Not My Life Forever)

a little

tender-

ness?

 (this pic and above, via Rhubarb in the Garden)

I'll bet

(via Oh Joy)

you

(this pic and lampshades above, via Bohemian Wornest)

weren't

expecting

 (Spitalfields Life)

 this last picture!  Were you?

And something to go along with this theme?

And Further To .......

My wildlife post.......

I'm not bragging - I just continue to be amazed........This one bloomed on the deck the day after my birthday and continued until two days ago.  That's just about three full weeks.  It's in a big pot with other things....(hyacinths to be precise, so watch this space!).  But next year I think it will be nothing but a solid stand of bearded iris just like this. Nothing succeeds like success they say!  I am so inspired.

IRISES.  IN DECEMBER!  If you are a gardener, it's very hard not to believe in miracles.  Every plant, blossom, fruit that manages to thrive in my back yard seems to me to be utterly, astoundingly, miraculous.  In my New Jersey garden in December, I would be rushing outside at nightfall to wrap my plants against the nightime freezing temperatures.  If they weren't already bundled up.  This is what I came to Los Angeles for.  

Almost the best birthday present ever.

Situational December

As you know already,

we've had a couple SITUATIONS ovah here

at Passage Paradis.  One of them has involved squirrels.  (More on this soon.)  Have I mentioned how much I love L.A.? Yesterday I saw a coyote napping in the grass right next door to a group of golfers teeing up at Griffith Park.   (For the second time!)  Do you golf?  Would that put you off your game?

I don't play golf.  Tennis instead.  And so far I haven't met up with any rattlesnakes on my tennis courts.  But that doesn't mean that it doesn't happen.  I'll let you know.  As and when.

Read This Now

Still a little up in the air.....

(Photo: via  ChutJeReve tumblr)

but I did just want to say.....ThaNk You ! to everybody for your nice comments from the last post and the tip from Beatrice about storage.  Yes, it's true, I had to delete some photos from Picasa and a couple of posts from 2009 in order to squeeze this little picture in.  I have yet to settle on a long term strategy - I am a little loathe to fall for that old paying-extra-for-storage-space routine.  I mean, where does it end?  It's like your cable bill, the numbers only go up and up.  And one's dependence seems never to wane.  I want to say "NO!" NOW! - before it gets any harder to push the metaphorical plate away.

I did want to pop this quick post out into cyberspace now though, before it's too late -

Suzanne, at Sakura Snow is closing her Etsy shop for the season tomorrow (Friday) evening.  Quick!  If you love her macho-tender blend of Aubrey Beardsley and African-graphic style of prints you should hop over there and get yourself or someone you dearly love a magical sea animal or whimsical land-beast.  They are go--o--o--o--r-geous!!!  My own owl arrived at my house last week.  And it is huge!  (Meaning exceedingly reasonably priced.)  You won't regret it.  

And while you're there, give Suzanne a little love and wish her a Happy Christmas.  I think she's off on another adventure.  The pictures it will produce I'm already very keenly  anticipating.  

OK, it's been a busy week over here in Paradis.  (Did I mention I've had an iris blooming on my deck for the last fortnight?)   So I'll say HAPPY WEEKEND for the moment and hope to come back very soon with all my existential blog-issues resolved.

xoxoxo -  (How are your holiday plans coming along?)

And I Think to Myself.........

Sorry for all the blog negligence this week!  We have a bit of a situation here, I've run out of storage space.....and I have the impression that I'm not the only one out there in the blog world who's run into this problem.  I tried to delete old posts and pics with no immediate improvement and my tech support has been otherwise occupied.  Meanwhile, I had already been ruminating on possible format changes, maybe even moving to tumblr with less talk, more pictures.  What do you think?  Meanwhile here are some older images which I've not used yet.......and hope you enjoy............

What

a

WON-

DER-

FUL

world.  (All images via Sophie Munns' aka "wonderful eye" SeedCapsules)

You can finish this post with Louis Armstrong maybe:

And speaking of Henri Matisse, is anyone headed to New York soon?  The New York Times gave an effusive review of the new "Matisse, In Search of True Painting" show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art thru March.  Details here.

*******Happy Weekend Everybody!*******

London Design Week at the Conran Shop Morphs into Christmas

Now that Thanksgiving is over (how was yours, anyway?), can I get all art-ey and designer-ey on you?

Here are some pics I've been saving up of the Conran Shop in London

during Design Week in September.  For awhile there, it seemed like the Conran Shop

had lost a little of its pop, snap and zing.  (After Priscilla Carluccio left it to start her own place, short-lived, sadly.)

But on the day of these photos, this temple to design was back in all it's brilliance.

With even, the great man himself, Sir Terence in evidence (we tip-toed past him in awe, with sneaking backward glances).  I've posted about these fabulous Sue Binns ceramics before.  You can't think in terms of buying kitchen ware.....they are far too dear.....you have to buy them for yourself for a special occasion and think in terms of INVESTING IN ART!

OH MAN this gleamy all-in-one kitchen island made my heart pitter-patter.  But I would not want to be the slavey with the constant job of keeping it's shine impeccably bright and finger-print free.  Still........

A big development in London, the Conran Shop is not the only place where you'd be able to find these wonderful creatures from Boutique Petit Pan Paris but it might be the most FUN place to purchase them from.

Love their otherworldly quality, and the genius of their underlying structure.

So, oh!  Christmas is coming.  If I lived in London, or Paris, Tokyo or New York......I'd be heading over to the Conran Shop to see what kind of goodies I could find to make me as a Christmas Holidays guest, or Christmas Holidays hostess.....just a little extra "distinguee" in December.  On the other hand....today is cyber Monday and there is something called on-line shopping.

Just an idea.  I'm not a big shopper, but if I must, the Conran Shop never fails to be at the top of my list of Happy Places.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy the abundance.

Wherever you journey...

Hope you find something uplifting in your encounters.

We can be thankful for being mostly the same at the same time that we're thankful to always be just a bit different.

Top photo: via Sophie Munns' SeedCapsules, others, ChutJeReve tumblr

Birthday Smiles

It happened again!!!!!!!

I had another birthday!

I guess on balance, it's better to have one than NOT.  But I can't say I'm always a great lover of my birthday.... if only it could happen at a different time of year.......Anybody else out there having one?    (Happy-Happy to you!)

I got a really wonderful present. Which makes the whole day.  I will share a picture of it soon.

Meanwhile thanks to those who have already sent birthday wishes.   I'll wish you back a "Very Happy Thanksgiving" with whoever you choose to share it with - and successful turkey roasting!  And for those not celebrating Thanksgiving - JUST HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

(Photo:  Ebony Bizys aka the HelloSandwich girl.)

By the Sea, By the Sea - Hastings

An old old town

An old

old way of life.

Hastings still has the

largest beach based fishing fleet

in England.

I love the sober geometry of these ice houses.

Isn't the light so beautiful by the sea?

What do you think about the life of a fisherman?  Could you be one?

Have a happy weekend!  I'm going to take a bit of a break for a birthday and some Thanksgiving preparations.  I'll be back soon.........

Little Blessings

(AFP-Getty Images)  Hoboken, NJ  (I used to live there!)

We've had a little too much excitement lately here in America.  A lady on the phone from England asked me last week if the right man had won.  I think so.  As Maureen Dowd put it so sagely today, we may not have elected him this time on his message of hope and change, but rather, we just hope he WILL change!  (And find some cojones!)

But it certainly can be argued that this was an election of hope and change. There are other wise people who say that human progress is accomplished more through evolution than revolutions.  If this is true, then it seemed that this election signaled the handing of the baton to the (more highly evolved we're guessing?) children of the baby boomers. It's a generation not only happy to be governed, and by women and people of color, but a generation convinced of the value of hard work, showing up, and being counted.  (Woody Allen always said that 98% of success is just showing up!)  They went to the polls, they got people to the polls.  And they elected MANY candidates who represent hope and change.  Most importantly this election could neither be bought nor stolen, (despite our worst fears) despite the insane amounts of money that were poured into it by both parties.  Oh my, just imagine what problems could have been solved in this country and the world if the $2.5 billion had been spent elsewhere.

Anyway, I think the soft-hearted ones prevailed.  Nothing wrong at all with being soft hearted.   When you use your ingenuity and stick-to-it-iveness to make sure that everybody gets a chance (or even two) and nobody is left behind. That's my idea of America.

It's nice to know that other people think of it that way too.  Including some of you who've left nice notes of support for President Obama.

Much Aloha.

Restaurant Recommendation: Terroirs, London

It won't be out of your way.

It's within a few very short blocks of the Covent Garden and Embankment Tube stops.

Hard by the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Trafalgar Square and St. Martin in the Fields.

The prices are gentle, the food is impeccably fresh.

The bread is crunchy, just a little chewy - and moist.

The staff are young, friendly and on top of your order.

I guarantee you, you will clean your plate!

And for afters, there are pubs close by!  TERROIRS on King William IV Street.  More here.

It is possibly the very best restaurant value in London.  It's new, so go soon while they're still endeavoring to impress! If you aren't eating there this weekend, I hope you're going somewhere good!  

CHEERS!!!!