… or so my mother used to tell me. I’m perhaps not the most patient person, always full of ideas and grabbing inspiration everywhere I can find it, in a bookstore, the Paris metro, watching films and TV series that moulded a generation, or simply people walking by, people I meet. This blog has been on my mind for years now and last year while I was on holiday in Greece, I took the leap and set it up…
Of course, me being me, I wanted it to be perfect, so I started thinking about moodboards, complex structures, taking loads of photos… and then life took over again the minute I came back to Paris, the second I walked back into the office. I have been working for about 14 years now, pretty much non-stop, pushing myself and being pushed. I have done incredible things, met incredible people.
Last year was a turning point however. I got engaged and then married, changed jobs and completed a yoga teacher certification. Granted it’s a lot of things at once. But back to the first, life-changing event, suddenly it is no longer about me, my ambition, but us and our shared goals, something that is going to bring new meaning to my life entirely. 2018 was also about planning the perfect wedding, whilst living in different cities and … working round the clock and travelling all over the place.
So it is with a little delay but just as much passion that I am taking that step again, a small step, just one post but one which I hope marks a new beginning.
This blog is about capturing my journey from “Bright lights, big city” to Real, Wholesome life. While you can achieve a lot of things in life if you set your mind to it, I don’t believe you can “have it all” as we were brought up to think in the movies.
Real life is about choices, compromise, staying true to yourself and who you want to be and to get there you first need to figure out who that true self is, what inspires you, what makes you happy, proud, inspired, what brings meaning to your life; and most importantly, who you want to be for your friends and family.
I have had to learn over the years how to slow down and set realistic expectations for myself and for life in general to find a way to savour each moment and be as grateful for the little things – a love note found in my bag, the smile of a stranger in the street – as for the fancier ones – a designer dress, a trip to the other side of the world, going to a ball, eating out at a Michelin starred restaurant.
Everything is in reach, you just need to believe it is.
Who am I? That is a good question.. I grew up in Paris to a cosmopolitan family, spent my early adulthood in London skipping from one party to the next, enjoying Gallery openings, trips to the Theatre several times a week. London is also where I met my closest friends, those I chose one at a time and kept with me for the journey. I look back very fondly on those years and realise that however hard they were at the start, how lonely it could feel, how unsettling it was trying to figure out who I was against a plethora of other personalities, in the end they helped me come back to who I truly was deep down and I have never looked back. I loved London with all its excitement, new openings, ideas, trends, fashion, art and culture but when I look back almost ten years later, I realise I loved those years because they helped me shape my own path, after trying out a number of others.
Back in Paris, I am very curious about the world I live in. I love nice fabrics and materials, aesthetics, architecture, both classic and modern art as long as it has beauty to it, jazz, classical music, ballet, a bit of saxo house music, and most of all I love to travel, try new foods, cook, discover new wines, see new places and meet people with different outlooks on life as they are all sources of inspiration.
This blog is about all of that and more.. over the years, I have made very enriching encounters, read incredibly deep and inspiring books and I am trying new paths to bring balance to my life – between high ambitions & a solid mind, getting energy from meeting new people and trying new things & focusing on those people that matter most to me, a fascination for incredible, artful design and fashion & a real person’s budget…
I hope these pages will inspire you to try new places, eat different foods, admire beautiful things and over all find some balance in your very busy and demanding lives.
It is delightful to meet you…
This is not a designer life... 