Scent is a powerful way to welcome beautiful memories of our travels, special moments and unique scents into our homes, and thus into our everyday lives. For the past four years I have been welcoming different French candles into my own home, and each time it has felt like a special, pampering moment. While I […]
The holiday shopping season is well underway, and here on TSLL, a holiday gift guide wouldn’t be complete without focusing on the gifts for the Anglophiles and Francophiles on your list. Don’t worry, I have also included more than a handful of special items just because they are simply luxurious. 🙂 This year’s holiday gift […]
With each year TSLL has its annual French Week I am tickled to be introduced to readers who share how they incorporate seemingly simple, yet life elevating rituals and routines inspired by the French culture. The readership of TSLL continues to grow and is a vast international community of varying ages, life experiences and interests, […]
The talented woman behind the French lifestyle blog My French Country Home, My Stylish French Box and Brocante, Burgundy and Provençal Tours in France, and who I feel fortunate to call my friend, Sharon Santoni, has stepped into the magazine world, and Francophiles are celebrating. At the beginning of 2019, Santoni brought to fruition a […]
A double handle or a single handle. That is most pressing question when it comes to deciding which French markets tote to purchase, because the easy question to answer is, Do I want a French Market tote? And in my life, the answer is an emphatic YES! 🙂 The second question is easy to answer, […]
“Parisian women . . . want above all to become the best possible version of themselves, outside and in, at any age.” —Anne Berest, Audry Diwan, Caroline de Maigret and Sophie Mas, How to be Parisian Wherever You Are Each time I have finished reading a beauty book that offers advice I welcome into my […]
One gift books offer is that no matter where we may find ourselves in the world, we can always slip away to wherever our heart desires by opening up a book focused on that one place in the world we love. In this case, for me, and especially this week, the books I would like […]
If you take an American man and place him in Paris, asking him to fit in, it will take a good sense of humor and a sincere love of France, but this man will be calling Paris his home, his sincere home, in due time. Such a man, or should we say, monsieur, is author […]
~Scroll to the bottom of the post for a round-up of all of the posts shared during this year’s French Week~ My affection for France is grounded in the over-arching premise of approaching life with the intention to seek quality over quantity in all arenas of living, thus enabling the individual, the community and a […]
TSLL Semaine Française has concluded, but not without announcing the winners of the two giveaways and one more extra piece of inspiration and remembrance. I want to thank you for taking the time to stop by as often as you did, sharing your thoughts, ideas and experiences as well as expressing your enthusiasm for […]
“September is the chosen month for everything that flowers a second time: the month of the second flower; the month of the ripening wine. All these are mysterious advantages for the month September, full of deeper meaning; and above all, it is the month when the earth opens so that we can plant again!” —Karel […]
Crêpes and France. Delicate and substantive. Quality ingredient-forward, simple in composition. Quintessential French. The crêpe I have enjoyed most frequently is one that involves the basics of a scrumptious breakfast, although I have typically enjoyed a crêpe for lunch. A Buckwheat Crêpe avec Prosciutto (or ham, for the traditional ingredient) and Gruyère with an egg […]
Whether at home in Bend, Oregon, or having the good fortune to be in France, the French-culture is present in my everyday life, as it is for many TSLL readers from around the globe as well. I have been savoring my favorite tea each morning and evening which I began drinking in 2013 after a […]
The sales are in an abundance. Much like the chocolate shown above, Cyber Monday is offering no shortage of goodness, aka savings, and often the sales extend site-wide, which has not always the case in years past. Having watched and shared here on the blog information about Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales for the […]
“Everyone knows you don’t have to be born in Paris to dress like a Parisian.” —Ines de la Fressange, author of Parisian Chic, Encore!: A Style Guide (2019) with Sophie Gachet, co-author ~Subscribe to The Simple Sophisticate: iTunes | Stitcher | iHeartRadio | YouTube | Spotify In 2011, Karl Lagerfeld’s muse and the first model to sign an exclusive modeling contract with the haute […]
Joyeux Noël! There are three common ways to wish a merry Christmas in French, and my go-to French language expert Géraldine of Comme une Française will teach you easily what and how to pronounce each. But in the meantime, today I would like to share with you the first annual TSLL Francophile Holiday Gift Guide […]
The simple process by which solid butterfat is separated from the liquid buttermilk produces the most scrumptious and one of the most important details when it comes to cooking and making delicious, mouth-wateringly good food: Butter. Butter, as TSLL readers know, is not all the same, and the difference makes a différence! So I decided […]
For just over one year, I have slept every night on vintage French linen sheets, and for me, it has been the sweetest sleep year of my life. In the summer heat (my house does not have a/c), linen sheets keep me far cooler than cotton sheets ever were able to do, and in the […]
“Julia was good because she was curious.” —Russ Morash [~Russell Morash a television producer and director of many television programs produced through WGBH and airing on PBS. His shows include This Old House, The Victory Garden, and The New Yankee Workshop. He also worked with Julia Child to produce The French Chef and other cooking […]
~J.Crew Long Sheath Dress in Four-season Stretch, navy and black available, use promo code FALLFAVES to save 25% off full priced items~ ~J.Crew Lucie suede pumps, more colors – 50% off~ ~Rebecca Minkoff Kate Soft Tote (more colors)~ ~for wrapping over your shoulders – St. James Maree II Breton Stripe Sweater with buttons, navy/ivory (ivory/navy […]
The delights in Paris are seemingly never ending. As I was just talking to a friend of mine recently about what makes travel extraordinary, for me, it comes down to knowing I will be able to eat and sleep well. When these two fundamentals are tended to, then everything else I have dreamed of experiencing […]
Food, France and an expert American expat who offers cooking classes. A trifecta indeed for someone like me who loves to eat, loves France and wants to learn even more about cooking seasonal, French cuisine. During the first week of July this summer I had the opportunity to attend a three-day class taught by Susan […]
Acquiring the skill of savoring everyday pleasures and moments is a crucial ingredient of living an extraordinary life. And while one person’s everyday pleasurable moment may be different than another’s, finding what soothes you, what brings you to the present moment, is knowledge about oneself worth discovering. For me, one simple everyday pleasure is sipping […]
Julia Child found her large (The New York Times described it as “bird bath sized“) and much-used mortar and pestle at the Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen in the 1950s, and with the help of her husband Paul to carry it to their car, it remained a part of her batterie de cuisine through her years in […]
