I know I wrote a little piece on my trip to Paris and why I chose Paris, but I actually planned on writing three pieces on Paris–because it was such a delicious romp and I wish I could have taken each and every one of you on the trip, but since I couldn’t I’ll take you along through the blog!

So, let me start at the beginning.

One of my best friends, Lin was also in between jobs–both of us starting our new jobs on the same day–and we decided to go for it and buy tix to Paris.  Since she has a 14 month old and I had the Peach, we decided to make it a quick little jaunt. Just four days. Four days to soak up as much of Paris as we possibly could.  But we were up for the challenge.

Armed with some brilliant recommendations from the wonderful Jordan, we boarded a plane and shamelessly gabbed and drank and laughed for the full 10 hour flight to land in sunny (actually mildly rainy and sometimes overcast) PARIS.

Hundreds of guide books have been written about Paris.  How could we possibly do  it all? So we decided not to do it all. But instead play it by ear and enjoy not only Paris, but spending time together.

Isn’t it awful that you have these great friendships cemented over years of hilarious single escapades and then you get married and have children and move out of the city into suburbs and all of a sudden you feel you’ve gone a year since you last saw them in person? Yeah, I hate that too. And I refuse to let it happen, so we wanted to make sure that enjoyment came before agendas.

And enjoyment was had–with a whole lotta laughter to boot.

We landed in Paris and got to our hotel in the 7th Arrondissemont across the street from the Bon Marche around noon and were too wired to even think about relaxing.

We shamelessly spent the first day getting lost in our little hood stopping every couple of hours at cafes to people watch and have a bellini and pinch ourselves that here we were in Paris and truly it was magical.

We did do more than drink. We did go to a few selected pieces of Paris in the form of art and architecture.  Utterly amazing.

But we were equally charmed with people watching.  Lin and I were especially charmed by the Parisian tot set. So sweet and as well turned out as their parents. Go figure!

Parisian style really is extraordinary.  You will not see someone running around in yoga pants or wearing white running shoes.  And I love that we saw people of all ages. Paris wasn’t just a city for the young. Oh no, this was a multi-generational city. And all of them well dressed to boot.  Like this very gracious woman who saw that we were lost and graciously offered to help us find our way back to our hotel. She was wearing an Hermes scarf and Chanel glasses.  She could easily be on the blog Advanced Style in a heartbeat.

As helpful as that lovely lady was, we really must thank our friend, Courtney for being the best Parisian tour guide ever!

Lin and Courtney went to college together and were fast friends from the moment they met. And with good reason. Courtney is as down to earth and fun and charming as she is beautiful. And man, can she crack out a super cute baby.  Courtney had lived abroad for the past 12 years and spent the last 10 in Paris with her dashing husband in a tiny but perfect little apartment, which was a hop skip away from our hotel.

She took us to this most amazing restaurant that Jordan had recommended as well.  It felt like you were eating inside of an Anthropologie store–deliciously quirky (hello ping pong table in the middle of the restaurant) and all sorts of styles mish-mashed together with a knowing wink and a nod. And the best part was that there was a secret room–it looked like a bookcase, but if you pulled a certain book, voila–crazy secret room!

And that was just one of the marvelous places we went with Courtney.

She also took us to this hidden gem of a bar called Prescription.  Of course France is well known for its wine, but artisan cocktails with fresh fruit juices and unique liquors and bitters are just beginning to pop up in Paris. There was no sign on the street and it was after 2:00AM in the morning and she just knocked on a door and we slipped in. Very much like a speakeasy.

Sorry for the grainy photo, but it was so dark in there. And I must apologize for all of my pictures–just taken with my iphone as my camera was dead when I pulled it out of its case on the first day.

I’m sure there are dozens of other little moments.  Delicious little pieces of time that make up anyone’s vacation to Paris. And I’m thankful for every one of those moments.

But, how do I summarize my trip? I know it was such a whirlwind trip, but I feel now as if a puzzle piece in my life has been filled. A lifetime of questions about what Paris was like and truly–some things can only be experienced to full understand them, like love, being a parent, going to college–oh the list is endless, but I think you know what I mean.  Hard to sum up in words but priceless what it means to the heart.

So, I will tuck a bit of Paris in my heart and know that I will be back again.

Have you been to Paris? What was your Parisian experience? Is mine off or like yours? What was your favorite moment?

PS: One more post–on shopping and what I did and didn’t buy! Stay tuned!

We bought a new sofa.

Well, not a new sofa. An old sofa. Off the streets of Oakland. For 30 dollars.

Here’s the story.

I was looking for parking to meet my friend for lunch at the best Ethiopian restaurant in Oakland. As I was driving around looking for parking, I spied with my little eye this button tufted beauty. Now, I can’t lie, it was clearly “loved” by its past owner.  Covered with animal hair and the cushions were worn nearly flat, this sofa had lived a good life. But I thought that tired old piece of furniture could have a bit more life with the proper love that I knew my family could give it.

I sent a picture of this worn sofa to Eric and he replied with a quick yes and drove over in our big old vintage station wagon hoping this eight foot sofa would fit.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure…

But thanks to some rope and strong knots we did get it in!

We delivered the sofa to our garage where it patiently waited until we found a good upholsterer and the right fabric.  Every now and then, I’d visit the sofa and let it know that soon, it would be inside and loved. Patience, friend.

At last we found a great (and relatively inexpensive) upholsterer and some lovely indestructible super soft charcoal faux velvet. We sent our sofa to the furniture spa where it had its cushions re-stuffed and a fancy new outfit. It was returned to us looking quite changed.

This sofa was meant for us. Get ready to see a lot more pictures of this grand dame in a lot of future pictures.  It looks so lovely in our living room like it was always meant to be there.

The old girl clearly has a lot of life left in her to give to our family. And we are so grateful for it!

Have you ever reupholstered any items?

Well, in a nutshell, it was wonderful.

But before I get into all the fun moments, the nutty shopping, the great meals, I must share with you the one thing that was the reason I had to do this.

When I left my old job, I wanted to do something wonderful with that little bit of time in between my next gig. And I chose Paris.

Paris was always tantalizingly out of reach. I lived in London for a year after college and planned a trip there, but due to a missed flight I didn’t get to Paris. And well, life just started happening. Jobs, boyfriends, the right boyfriend, the wedding, the baby–it all pushes those little life list things down.

Until you realize life is passing you by and you still haven’t been to freaking PARIS. Which is what I realized awhile ago and I promised myself that I. WAS. GOING.

And I needed to go to Paris, so I could go to the Louvre and see Nike of Samothrace in person.

Now, what is Nike of Samothrace? It is to me the most beautiful piece of sculpture. Ever. It is the reason I decided to pursue Art History in college.

This is her in all her beauty.

I know, right?

I remember when Professor Havelock slipped the huge, old, glass plate slide into the projector.  There was an audible gasp in the darkened auditorium.  Professor Havelock went on to talk about how this was found in the sea and that is was Nike, the goddess of Victory who landed on the prow of a ship with her linen shift drenched with sea water and clinging heavily to her body. The creases of linen over her body are the best example of Hellenistic sculpture ever.  And I remember her final parting comments on this exquisite piece of art– its imperfections–the lack of a head and arms actually enhances its beauty. Perfection isn’t necessary to make something extraordinary.

Lynne, my travel mate and one of my dearest dearest friends, and I planned one of our days in Paris around going to the Louvre.  We started with a lovely lunch at Cafe Marly, a divine little cafe right next to the Louvre.  Where we watched people outside milling around I.M Pei’s wonderful sculpture.

Prepped with a full belly and a properly fizzy head from a couple of glasses of champagne we headed to the Louvre.  This nice fellow let us skip the lines and within five minutes we were in and headed toward the staircase.

But along the way, oh the glorious things I saw. It was like being immersed in my Art History 101 class again.

I turned a corner to go up the stairs and there she was.

I started to weep when I saw her.  And weep. And weep.  Seeing something you wanted to for twenty years can really impact you. It did me.  After 15 minutes of quietly weeping, I walked around Nike slowly three times and tried to soak up every crease in the marble, every feather in her wings.  It really was breathtaking in its beauty and craftsmanship.

I took like a dozen pictures and none of them did her any justice.

I must admit, I was in such a daze it took me about a half hour to pay attention to the other pieces of work at the Louvre.  But after the whole experience I came away determined to knock more things off my life list.

But I’d say the best gift from this whole Paris trip was the feeling I have more amazing travel to plan in my life.

So, here is to new trips!

PS: Expect two more posts about my Paris trip this month!