Pensées D'amour

Maybe I am going a little nuts on the love theme this year. I think I get until Valentine's Day and then I have to cut it out. I can't really help it though, I come to work and the place is all decked out in pink and red and there's giant heart lollipops placed on romantic tables set for two, there's handcrafted valentine boxes with ribbons around it and little packages of writing paper encouraging you to put all your pensées d'amour down in writing. It's always romantic here and anyways, as Saul Bellow pointed out:

"Here we write well when we expose frauds and hypocrites. We are great at counting warts and blemishes and weighing feet of clay. In expressing love, we belong among the undeveloped countries." 

Alors, I bring you John Keats - (I know yesterday I said I thought of him more for his musings on beauty than on love, but that was before I broke into his love letters to Fanny Brawn:

To Fanny Brawne:

I cannot exist without you - I am forgetful of every thing but seeing you again - my life seems to stop there - I see no further. You have absorb'd me.

I have a sensation at the present moment as though I were dissolving ...I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for religion - I have shudder'd at it - I shudder no more - I could be martyr'd for my religion - love is my religion - I could die for that - I could die for you. My creed is love and you are its only tenet - you have ravish'd me away by a power I cannot resist.

- John Keats 

snippets from another longer letter to Fanny:

"I never felt my Mind repose upon anything with complete and undistracted enjoyment - upon no person but you. When you are in the room my thoughts never fly out of window: you always concentrate my whole senses."

And how could I leave out the French? This one, mes amis, is a little on the racy side. It's a good thing these two were already married. I probably would have stayed away from this guy thinking him a little too amped up.

August 15, 1846

I will cover you with love when next I see you, with caresses, with ecstasy.  I want to gorge you with all the joys of the flesh, so that you faint and die.  I want you to be amazed by me, and to confess to yourself that you had never even dreamed of such transports...When you are old, I want you to recall those few hours, I want your dry bones to quiver with joy when you think of them.

Gustave Flaubert, to his wife Louise Colet.

 Hopefully, this gets the juices flowing and we can all prove Saul Bellow wrong. Let us expound on love! Or as Carl Sandburg said:

"Let joy kill you! keep away from the little deaths."

A few quotes on Love

I never get tired of reading quotes - especially on love; it's a subject that raises a variety of reactions and a million permutations therein. It's a little like talking about God. There's a lot you can say, but no one really knows anything, so its fun to poll the audience and see what's out there. I've posted a few quotes that run the gamut on love -to help usher in Valentine's spirit and get us in the mood for romantic cogitations. I left out Keats, who I remember more for his words on beauty than his words on love, and a bunch of others who weren't resonating with me at the moment, but tell me anyway, whose sublime words have I missed? Who hits the spot for you?

If you like quips and quotes you may also like this fun little book we have in the shop right now - Words on Love.

New Arrivals for Valentine's Day

Here's a few ideas from Cupid to get things going...

Don't forget to stop by after 6 and kick off the weekend with some good shopping. Plus a free frozen hot chocolate!

Shopping after-hours at The Paris Market

Bonsoir Mes Amis!

Tomorrow we will be open until 9pm! And we will be for the first Friday of every month hereafter. This is exciting news for all us working girls who normally have to relegate shopping to the weekend. We also have a special treat for those of you stopping in after 6. It's our famous Frozen Hot Chocolate! I got to drink our prop after the photo and they are really delicious!!! Just a little something to perk you up after a long day and keep your shopping buzz humming.

See you tomorrow evening!

Objets d'Amour

Just a little homage to Objects of Love:

Tokens of Love: 

Gold ring, Lock of hair from Marie Antoinette, Love letter from the novelist Edith Wharton to her younger lover - Morton Fullerton, Vintage locket, and the ever-ephemeral "message in the bottle"

Valentine's Day Windows

So, you saw the windows-in-progress shots of the worker bees / elves Shelby and Kelsey. Now we bring you the windows in finished form!

We've got lots of great stuff in the store right now to get you in the mood. I'll put together some pics soon so you can do a little "blog-shopping" And don't worry if Cupid fell short on his archery skills this year, you can always celebrate with your buddies. Like at Lulu's Chocolate Bar with sipping chocolate, a few chocolate martinis, and a slice of the Jameson Walnut Pie. YUM.

toodles mes amis,

lauren d.

Working Girl Sweethearts

It's our favorite duo - Shelby Massey and Kelsey Garrity-Riley back in action at The Paris Market; captured most superbly by one of my favorite photographers - Lily Lewin. You can check out more of her work here. But for now, enjoy some behind the scenes shots of the making of our Valentine Window. Even sweet things take a little bit of sweat.

Another post soon to follow with some in-the-window closeups...

Toodle-oo mes amis, 

lauren d.

Tea for Two - Christine's Baby Shower

So besides traveling the world and bringing back the goods, we also design interiors and plan parties and events! Last week, we held a baby shower for Christine Hall - "Tea for Two" (she's having twins!) It was a little nerve-wracking taking photos for Christine Hall (of all people!), but I think I got some good shots. And she looked great! Earl Grey was brewed and served in vintage teapots and a beautiful set of floral mismatched china.  Tomato and Cucumber finger sandwiches were served as were blueberry and cranberry scones with clotted cream; (Clotted cream! Delicioso!) made by Susie of of course. A real treat were the raspberry macaroons at the absolute apex of freshness, made by Papillote; so fresh they just crumpled and melted softly in our mouths. Sugar cubes wrapped in paper and little chocolates Marie Antoinette style completed the feted look. Erica Wilson, was the perfect host, having big boiling pots of water at the ready for all the tea, (and how much nicer to pour tea from a pot than dipping around a tea bag!) welcoming guests and doing up the bright pink table arrangements in mint julep cups. And Monica Lynch did these darling invitations!

Half the fun was chatting with Christine's friends - meeting new people and seeing familiar faces once more. Everyone agreed that it was a nice, bright, pleasant and relaxing shower, and a relief not to play "those shower games"  

Congratulations Christine! 

We had a great time doing Tea for Two!

Simple Prettiness: Mismatched China

We recently aqcuired some new china pieces - in some very pretty floral and chintz patterns. These stacks are perfect for digging through and finding a few special pieces to add to your mismatched set of china. They're also great for stashing a few in your picnic basket so you'll be all ready to go when the mood strikes. And of course the florals will be pretty much perfect for any picnic occasion.

Come on in and take a look!

 

Peau d'hiver

The nonstop sunshine (and heat) isn't here yet, but the air can be dry and now is the time to pamper - especially leading up to Valentine's Day. Cupid has the arrows, but you have to turn his head first! So what do you do for winter skin? Why you slather on everything nature made the previous summer of course! If you've caught any of our Favorite Things segments, you can see virtually everyone here is obsessed with the lip sugar treatment, but we also have some new additions to our skin care line that are just as delectable.

Some ways to enjoy the skin you're in...

 

Happy Pampering!