Macy's Flower Show

This weekend I was at the Macy's flower show in SF and I kept finding myself saying "This is spectacular!" Every 10 steps, I'd see something beautiful and feel this way. The theme for this year's exhibition is Carnival & yes, the displays are over-the-top, but that's the whole point :) 

I wanted to share with you some fantastic scenes from the show. Here's 12 things I loved. This isn't everything - there was a lot of cool stuff - but specifically things that caught my attention. Also, it was SUCH A BEAUTIFUL day in the city, I had to thrown in a couple street pictures, for good measure!  

Macy's has their flower shows in NYC, Chicago & SF around springtime every year. And they have some fun in-store events happenings as well. Here's what's going on in your city (major envy right now for the events lineup in NYC and Chicago!  floral cocktails & chocolate samplings, anyone?)  But I gotta say, it's hard to be too mad, because nothing beats the gorgeousness of a beautiful spring day in SF! :)
 

Street-side tulips just outside Macy's...

Angel's trumpet (what a perfect name for these flowers) at Union Square.

The Waterford crystal "wishing well". The only time you'll be allowed to throw quarters into elegant crystal. There were a few kids there having a ball :)

The "Oops: Spilled Bag of Popcorn" lady. Look closely at the ruffles on her dress :) 

This beautiful floral bouquet. Yes, those are sprigs of MINT leaves sticking out. I loved it!  How beautiful would this look on a spring table with a whiff of mint floating around the table. Elegant and unique. It was part of a floral demo that I caught the tail end of. 

These beautiful jazzed out pegasus, the stars of the show (there were 6)

I really liked this Love Tunnel recreation in the perfume department

And this pretty patch of flowers. The little orange flowers at the bottom of the patch are supposed to be super easy to maintain all year round. Perfect to grow in your garden, per our tour guide, who knew a hell of a lot about plants!

Towering pots

These adorable carnival cookies

And lastly, this Greek goddess themed Paco Rabanne Olympea perfume bottle. I loved the shape of the bottle & the display.

And that's a wrap! Anyone else go to the show?

P.S. You'll find all the details for your city here. There's some  fun events and workshops happening over the next 2 weeks. These in particular looked attractive to me,

Meet GODIVA's Global Executive Chocolatier Thierry Muret (NYC)
Floral Cocktail Seminar  (NYC)
Harry London Chocolate Sampling (Chicago)
Cooking demo with My Chocolate Soul (Chicago)
Spring Centerpieces with Freckled Florals (SF)
Festival Styling Party (SF)

Something cute for the walls

Ok, so lately, I'm loving the design finds I'm seeing in the Wall Street Journal. Here's another great find from their Off Duty 50 Spring list - contemporary embroidery by fiber artist Sarah Benning. I love her modern take on this traditional craft!

Her patterns look like snapshots straight out of a design magazine. I was especially drawn to the hoops with the mid-century desks & the rug patterns  (first & second picture). They'd make for GREAT wall art for a kid's room.

Her story is pretty adventurous too. She left her day job working as a flower specialist at the Whole Foods, to pursue her embroidery career full-time. So far, she hasn't had to look back. She lives in Spain & retails her patterns and workshops through her website. If you enjoy needlework, this might be a cool project to do. Not to mention you'll have some gorgeous handmade art for your walls.

Marthe Armitage's Inspiring Wallpapers

I recently discovered a wonderful English wallpaper artist - Marthe Armitage, from reading this article about her in the Wall Street journal. Marthe has only recently gained acclaim for her beautiful botanical wallpapers that she still makes by hand in her riverside home & studio in England. And here's the kicker - Marthe is 86 years old! "Success has arrived for me late in life, and no one is more surprised than I am", she says. Talk about inspiration!

Her most vital inspiration? Nature. “My eyes are always open to it.” 

I'm in LOVE with her hand-printed wallpapers! You can see her entire collection on the website of historical wallpaper dealers, Hamilton Weston. And there's a cool video as well if you want to see what her design process looks like.

The mug in this picture caught my eye too. Absolutely beautiful.

Her collaboration with luxury perfumers, Jo Malone, a pattern called Summer Afternoon.

Image credits: Vogue, Elle Decor, New York Times, Daily Mail, IMAGE, The Telegraph, Hamilton West, Nick Balloon photography

Eclair Extravaganza (25 Beautiful Objects No. 22)

This week, No. 22 on our list of 25 Beautiful Objects, comes from France!

After spending a full day at the Louvre, basking in the presence of the greats, we stumbled upon this FANTASTIC eclair pop-up shop just outside the museum. L'Eclair de Genie. Look at this spread.

22. L'Eclair De Genie eclairs

The founder, Christophe Adam, wasn't kidding when he decided to call his posh pastry outing L'Eclair De Genie ("Eclair Genius")

Notice the special attention given to aesthetics. Each eclair is carefully crafted, with a rich, glossy glaze and toppings in metallic & pop colors. They look downright luxurious!  And that's exactly what Christophe is going for.

You'll find fancy macron shops across Paris, but a luxury eclair outing? There's only one :)

When I dug deeper (here and here), I found that Christophe started L'Eclair De Genie to introduce a new concept of a pastry shop - "flash engineering". The idea is to create a place where you'll find a collection of beautiful looking eclair, each appearing as a "flash of genius". Behind the scenes, Christophe & his team get to experiment, take creative risks and get quick feedback on if their ideas are working or not.

We had their No. 12 Pistachio Cream & No. 22 Passion Crispy Raspberry.  Hardcore deliciousness.

Christophe's experimental magic definitely comes through.  It's no wonder L'Eclair De Genie shops have opened up in Japan and Italy too.  I'm waiting for one to show up in the US! When? :)

France diaries - Part 2

Continuing from last week's post about my time in France, this week, I'm going to take you into the heart of the French countryside.

When we reached Lourmarin, a small French village in Provence, it felt like we were stepping into a natural wonderland! You could see every shade of green imaginable and just like that you'd stumble upon a patch of lavender. The cedar trees touched the sky. 

Our little apartment was right across the street from Cafe Gaby (that I had read about in Peter Mayle's book!). This was a surprise. We had only to look out our window to observe the goings-on at the world-famous cafe! It filled my heart with JOY!

I spent a few minutes every morning  standing by the window looking outside. I could see the village clock (that struck a bell at every hour), see the shops opening up below, and the happenings at Cafe Gaby. There were usually 3-4 regulars who sat at the cafe for hours, silently drinking coffee, smoking a pipe, observing people or playing with this little pup who was having the time of his life jumping around from one table to the next!

Over the next few days, I found myself noticing specific things about Provencal home & hospitality. How they made you feel welcome, the colors, the sense of homeliness and how they invited nature into their daily life.

Here's 2 aspects that I thought were standout and very unique to this little town,
1.  inviting storefronts
2.  simple & charming floral entryways to homes
 

inviting storefronts

Part of Lourmarin's appeal is that the entire village gives that leisurely, laid back vibe.

The shop owners will indulge you in conversation (we went right before peak season, so there were admittedly fewer customers).

My friend Nanou owns a beautiful romantic boutique, Rose de Bagatelle, that's close to the village center. She was at the shop with her baby grand-daughter. We later met her daughter too and it turns out, we were renting the apartment that belonged to an aunt!   

I loved the way her boutique & some of the other shops on that street, created this lovely inviting feel outside the store.

1.

Outside the Rose de Bagatelle, there was a beautiful birdcage with roses, hung alongside the apparel. It was eye-catching.

I asked Nanou where & how she'd found so many beautiful things to decorate her shop with. It turns out she had DIY-ed most of it!

There was a pastel lavender & blue canopy at the entrance of her shop, above the door. It was magnificent. (unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it!).  She had taken the canopy from an old crib that belonged to her daughter, repainted it and converted it into a unique entryway to her store. 

It's this natural creativity & flair that I find super appealing about the French.

2.

One of the boutiques had their wares laid out on benches, or hanging off small flower pots. Cute.

simple & charming floral entryways

Almost every home we walked past, had beautiful flower arrangements and potted plants at the entrance. The homes were painted in shades of ochre & the pots and flowers were a nice contrast and gave them a touch of charm. Plum and lime green planters, poppies growing alongside the window sill or a camellia swinging gracefully in a pot, were always just the right touch. 

There's LOTS more I could share with you here from my time in Provence, but I'm going to wind up for now. I'll share more in bits & pieces in future posts!

Have you traveled to a new country or city recently? And what's something you've loved about it? Tell me below.