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Send Yourself to Paris When I miss Paris, I indulge in some of my favorite things that transform me (in my imagination? lol) to Paris    1) Surround yourself with little Parisian things: a t-shirt, a small cosmetic pouch, ladurée, & many post cards of Parisian café chairs and tables   Photos courtesy of Daemonds foods & Bobbette and Belle 2) Bake Macaroons: I have attempted making macaroons once before (mine turned out like cauliflowers gone bad) You might have better luck with a better recipe on Desperately Seeking Macaroons - i'll try this recipe soon, je promise  3) Give yourself a break on a Louis XVI chair and.. philosophize about your life, ..dream beautiful. 4) Listen to Peter Sarstedt: I simply looooove this song  5) Get a fluffy poodle: and adorn it with a rhinestone collar, ..and if you wish not to have a real one, go to the nearest Accessorize shop and buy a cell phone charm version ;p 6) Take a virtual tour through Saint-Germain: ..walk by Les Deux Magots, the Dior boutique, and the seafood restaurant tucked on the left sidestreet, ..mmMMmmm View Larger Map   6) Send your Pet to Paris to window-shop: Carol Gillot from Paris Breakfasts paints gorgeous water colors of your pet windowshopping in Paris. I'm soooo sending my horse and Tantra there =D & I say horse because I haven't made up my mind whether I'd want her to paint a portrait of IB or Sultan yet >_<  7) Have a cup of chocolate: preferable in a glass cup, with a biscuit in the beautiful outdoors (a la Paris)  8) Hang it on your front door: A typical door knocker in France is one made with brass, a hand holding a pomegranate -- buy it here     9) It's all in the wallet: keep photos of Paris' shop fronts and cafe chairs -stacked & otherwise- in your wallet, take them out while waiting for your appointment at the clinic, or while getting electrified in your painful laser session - guaranteed to make the pain subside. 10) You are the one for me, for me, formidable: ..and finally, sing along Charles Aznevoure You are the one for me, for me, for me, formidable Labels: Books, La Dolce Vita, Music, Travel $3 in my moola box | link | email this post At My French Table: Food, Family, & Joie de Vivre in a Corner of Normandy  "..This time Michel gave us a little of it's history. The Napoleonic style Château de Bosgouet is considered young by European standards. It was built in 1853 on the foundations of a sixteenth-century château that had burnt to the ground some thirty years before. The five-storey château sits within a 50-acre park and has many outbuildings, some of which were used as servants' quarters. The château was occupied by the Germans during the second world war and two rather unremarkable outbuildings were built on the grounds to accommodate the troops. One was used as sleeping quarters and the other built as a mess hall. Only those with rank and seniority could have ever expected to see the inside of Château de Bosgouet." Its been a long time since I picked up a book that I related to at many different levels, en fait, the last book of that effect on me was Sacred Contracts  -- in many ways, this book had the same effect on me, just in a very different context.'At My French Table' is where Jane Webster tells her story of selling her house in Melbourne and moving her four kids to Normandy to open a cooking school. She speaks about the beautiful countrysides, the decadent charms, her impressions, her recipes, and the complicated French system (the latter I know too well)  Buy at Amazon Or, go to the château on your own, or through an organized culinary trip - I know I can't wait to take mine =) + Mariek's Art of Living: A Culinary Vacation Beyond Expectations + At My French Table: Visiting Chefs & 8-Day Itinerary More on the subject, & I also like: + A Table in the Tarn: Living, Eating and Cooking in Rural France  + French General: Handmade Soirees: Simple Projects for Special Occasions  Okay, I'm off to start my day -- Did I mention I did a very crazy thing yesterday that I'm -still- trying to comprehend? No, I didn't but now you know, so I'm off to spend my comprehension Have a lovely weekend x Labels: Books, Cookingfessional, Domestic Goddess, La Dolce Vita, Travel $2 in my moola box | link | email this post The Beauty of Sucré      The legenady people at Laduree launched their book, finally! and just as one would expect from them: it's faaaaaaaaaaaaaabulous! AND it has a whole section comprising of macaroon recipes. I'll try not to get carried away telling you how excited I was when I first saw the book in Paris, but rather, I'd like to tell you the first three thoughts that popped into my head: 1) Yay! After breif contemplation, I realized that this was not going to be just any cookbook, this one was put together in the most beautiful form - square, velvet, and colored pages. More like a family album, or something that was loved very very much. Beautifully laid out, beautifully collected, beaitifully edited - tres chic! Everyone should get a copy, buy it directly at Amazon.fr  Or if you're in Paris by any chance, just drop by their shops at any of the locations below: 1. 75 Avenue des Champs Elysées Paris 8ème Labels: Books, Cookingfessional, Domestic Goddess, La Dolce Vita $8 in my moola box | link | email this post The Diving Bell & the Butterfly  Please, please, please read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly at your earliest convenience, for it will make you "fall back in love with life" -- Read it in in French if you can, or in English & if you really, really don't have the time to read, watch the movie. Now that I've completed both, I'll take my after-thoughts to bed, and ponder upon the endlessss possibilities out there. Meanwhile, I wish you a blissfully pleasant night - a bientot! Labels: Books, TV and Movies, Videos $7 in my moola box | link | email this post From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years  "Some years ago when I worked at the libertarian Cato Institute, we used to label any new hire who had not yet read "Atlas Shrugged" a "virgin." Being conversant in Ayn Rand's classic novel about the economic carnage caused by big government run amok was practically a job requirement.. " Read More The article published on The Wall Street Journal last week, I took a lot of pleasure reading it mainly because 1) Ayn Rand has been my favorite female philosopher since The Virtue of Selfishness, and 2) her story is a true example that willingness and value are the main drivers of success -- Neither your name, nor the people you know will get you to places and sustain your high horse seat. To move away from the subject; I don't remember the last time I was in a group of utterly welcoming and equally helpful professionals who say "you're welcome to walk into our office and ask your questions any time" and actually meant it. The last time I experienced that was during my CFA prep course a few years ago, and ever since moving into the operations unit I haven't felt that genuinely once -- until yesterday, that is. Aerospace is far less sexy than Media, that I cannot argue. And as an industry, it's less 'sensible' than Telecom or Logistics (both of which I was part of in a previous life), but one thing I've learned: The industry has very little to do with how happy, or unhappy you are in a workplace, it's the people that make the difference -- and people here are simply delightful. It probably is too early to make a judgement; hence, I'll draw the period to this post now. Related links: + Atlas Shrugged movie starring Angelina Jolie + Atlas Shrugged book Labels: Books, Personal Philosophy $6 in my moola box | link | email this post There's a Worm in Your Book The other day I received a private message on the forums for book recommendations, but things were quite hectic last week & I never got around compiling a list of my "stack" ;p but I knew i'd have plennnnnty of time during Eid to make a list of recommendations, & thought i'd share it with those of you who enjoy reading as much as I do => Here's something you should know those, with reading I go into phases of interest, meaning, when I find myself interested in a topic, I go & fetch just about every book out there covering that subject, I continue doing that till I get to the point of saturation & then get hooked to a different topic, become a leech & start the cycle overrrrr again >_<; So, my current metaphysics/energy/ancient spirituality phase was interrupted by alan Greenspan's book, a must for awl of you out there. Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926 in New York City) is an American economist and was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006 I was delighted to see that in his book he made a reference to Ayn Rand, one of my favorite philosophers, who wrote The Virtue of Selfishness - a piece that had a profound effect on my outlook on life. These are some of the best books I've come across in the recent pass; I know there's plenty mOre but I honestly do not remember the titles of each & every single one {i'm 165km away from my book library} -- I caaaaaaan't wait till our new place is done for me to consolidate my entire book collection on one place ;( 4 walls of floor-to-ceiling book shelves - YUMM! delicious ;p I hope you enjoy these, & if you manage to get your hands on any of these titles, do share your thoughts puh-leeZz =D P.S. PinkChampagne, I do keep my promises ;p.. here's my waaay overdue book-list ^.^ Currently reading: The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World by Alan Greenspan  Other great readings: FLOW: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Harper & Row, 1990 The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander Penguin Books, 2000 Creativity in Business by Michael Ray and Rochelle Myers Doubleday, 1986 Autry, James A. and Stephen Mitchell Real Power: Business Lessons from the Tao Te Ching; Riverhead Books, 1998 Badaracco, Joseph L., Jr. Defining Moments: When Managers Must Choose between Right and Right; Harvard Business School, 1997 Baker, Wayne E. Networking Smart; McGraw-Hill, 1994 Bennis, Warren On Becoming a Leader; Addison-Wesley 1989 © Copyright 2003 Bianco, Anthony Rainmaker: The Saga of Jeff Beck, Wall Street’s Mad Dog Random House, 1991 Zen Lessons: The Art of Leadership Shambala, 1989 O’Neil, John. R. The Paradox of Success; Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1993 Dyer, Wayne W. Wisdom of the Ages & Manifest Your Destiny: The Nine Spiritual Principles for Getting Everything You Want; HarperCollins, 1997 Jaworski, Joseph Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership; Berrett-Koehler, 1996 Peale, Norman Vincent The Power of Positive Thinking; Prentice-Hall, 1952 Al-Ghazali, Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Munqidh min ad-Dalal (Deliverance From Error) & Alchemy of Happiness Dass, Ram Be Here Now; Lama Foundation, 1971 Senge, Peter M The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization; Doubleday, 1990 Tolle, Eckhart The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment New World Library, 1999 Kabat-Zinn, Jon Wherever you go, There you are; Hyperion, 1994  Coelho, Paulo The Alchemist; HarperCollins, 1993 Danah, Zohar. Rewiring the Corporate Brain: Using the New Science to Rethink How We Structure and Lead The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World by Lynne McTaggart (Author) The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe by Lynne Mctaggart Living with the Himalayan Masters by Rama (Author) Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy by Yogi Ramacharaka  Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche, Patrick D. Gaffney, & Andrew Harvey The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt, & Stephen J. Dubner The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing by Caroline Myss  Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential by Caroline Myss One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking & The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe  Labels: Books $0 in my moola box | link | email this post Somebody's Me I am writing this with a heart-crunching feeling of unfairnessss *sob sob sob* -- I finally got a taste back of the ol' days of blogging every day when I was on my vacation {attributed to joblessness of course, but i'll choose to omit that fact here} but it felt sooooo goood.. & I realized that -in my head- I write a new blog post every day, sometimes several times a day on random occasions, ..say while getting ready in the mOrning, or.. while taking a shower.. or even as I prepare to go to sleep.. I just never have the time to actually jot down my thoughts nor keypad them onto my MacBookah I dislike the fact that work is sucking me away from blogging, & many things.. And although I'm enjoying at least 66% of the projects I'm working on at the moment; I don't feel too comfortable when meetings are scheduled *after* 5 PM.. Not that I do not want to work on these projects, but more often than not my evenings are populated with inflexible plans.. In fact, my mum has been wanting me to select curtains, sofas, & head boards for my brother's place & I -literally- haven't been able to fit than in any of my evenings during the week, simply because -like I said earlier- my days are filled with inflexible plans. Language classes, & riding namely. I'm scheduled to fly back to London for a week, & as tempting as the idea of spending my birthday in London avec my bestest friend might sound; I actually do nottttt want to go.. I get this sinking feeling in my very gut at the thought of it & I think I'll bail out on the whole thing. I mean, ..seriously, no can do. I just got back less than a week ago, I missed this place & I missed having 'me' time.. Spreading my Yoga mat in my room & meditating every evening in the comfort of familiar surroundings {I meditated only once in London.. bad, bad, BAD >_<; }.. & I feel sooooo guilty for lagging behind on Spanish, I feel that i'm pushing myself to the limits, trying to do everything at once {so typical of me} but that's enough. So, as you can see, my cost-benefit analysis yields a major deficit on the feel-good factor, so why go when I have the opportunity to be perfectly happy here? {minus the staying late at wOrk part, that is lol} I won't leave. This will proooobablyyyy come in as a disappointment to my best friend, nyxx, & a third friend who's been insisting to have Joe's date pudding with me on Sloane.. bu.. buh.. but i love you awl *fweaked smile* I dooo I dooooooo, it's just that.. *another fweaked out smile* ..that.. I'm not 'feeling' this trip <=) ..& on the brighter side, we can always do Momo's moroccan tea and macaroons in Dubai {karroozi, now don't you go feeling left out, you can join too xx} ... Meanwhile, I must run a bath now, ..every move of my body makes me flinch in pain.. my sore muscles begging for a hot salted bath & plenty of sleep to recover from yesterday's adventure with a crazy hyperactive pony that scared the sweats out of me & squeezed every muscle in my body to bitssss >_<; ..BUT before I go, here are a few of my favorite finds that I'd like to share with you.. Things that make my heart tickle.. 01. This book is for the Goddess in you, Goddesses {yes, you know yourselves}.. & it's an aaaaabsoluuuute must for every gorgeous girl out there, ..I <3 what Gisele {the author} has done with it, it's looks every bit gorgeous in a trés girlie girl way <3 <3 my cuppa tea! ..this books makes a perfect gift for every fashion/lifestyle/well-being addict, & I think no girl should be without several copies of it.. one for the bedroom, one for the car, one for the bathroom, & one just in case ..{Bonus: the cover makes another gorgeous decorative item to throw around your room *winks*}  02.Crystal Icing is trés cuuuuute way to smother l'oooove onto your favorite possessions; think your makeup brushes, your riding helmet {yes, i've sent them my horseback riding helmet for a crystal icing ^.^}, your blow dryer {yes, i did that too *lol*}, & even a pepper spray *gulp* <-- how cool would that be? -- i'm loving the super mario face on a DS <3      03. Seamed point-heel stockings by Gio. Why do I love them? well, aside from the fact that they're the essence of femininity, and the embodiment of delicacy, Gio hand-manufactures classic fully fashioned stockings on the original Reading machines from the 1950s {think Dita Von Teese lol}. I've alwayZz loved stockings & tights in vibrant colors & fishnets, but classic seamed is something I never seem to get off my 'all time favorite-slash-must have items' list, nonetheless, the problem with seamed nylons is that they're sooo very delicate that one-time wear is all that it can handle before it snags.. The other day I lived through the self-condemning shrinking feeling of having to walk with a ladder cutting through down to my decollete louboutins >_<; I promised me self not to leave home again without an extra pair in my bag! ..but Gios have come to the rescue, they're delicate & substantially mOre durable than any other kind i've tried before =) 04. The über HUGE foam in my 'appuccino =)  05. This song: a'ight, now I need to go get my doze of meditation for the evening; so until I post again, you have my love {& care for it} =D xx Labels: Books, Daily, La Dolce Vita, Yogafessional $0 in my moola box | link | email this post |
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