... but I made it!

I'm in Mexico. Been here for a week now. Things turned out quite well in the end, but I was lucky, very lucky! Here is a quick sum up of how lucky I got.

Friday evening: packing, got a phone call from my friend Viviana (who was travelling with me together with Maite) "flights are cancelled". Calling KLM who tells me there are no availabilities before Monday... Deciding with V and M to go to the airport on Saturday morning with the luggage and see how things are going.

Saturday morning, 8 o'clock: after 4 hours of sleep (couldn't sleep the night before so I watch Entourage until 4AM), we're going to the airport and the KLM disk. All major airports are closed heathrow, Amsterdam, Frankfurt... It's a total chaos in Europe. But Paris is still open. The girls are flying business, me economy. The business line is muuuuch shorter so they ask the lady if she can help me as well. The lady says she can't because she has too much work and keeps processing Maite's file. After that she tells us to keep our voice low and that she's been processing mine as well. We are flying to Paris the same day and to Mexico the day after. In business all 3 of us: she gave me an upgrade!!! We renamed her "Sunshine".
After that, we go and check in our luggages, pass security and to the Business lounge. The clock is 11 something and we finally get some breakfast. Wait for a couple of hours since the flight is delayed and finally depart to Paris.
Get our luggages back and go and check in at the hotel we booked from the business lounge. Shower, TV, dinner and sleep. Tomorrow is another day.

Sunday: morning: Maite studies, Viviana reads her mail and plays on her iPhone, I watch TV. At 12.30 we leave the hotel and head towards the terminal 2E and check-in for us, lucky business travellers. Took around 2 hours. Umpf! Under that time, we learn that Gothenburg airport is closed and that there are no connections between Got and Paris... We made the good choice to leave on that Saturday! (Amsterdam was still closed...)
Our flight was initially planned at 16.15 but delayed at 18.15, when we checked-in the stewardess mentioned the possibility of a departure at 22.54, ouch! We decided to forget that possibility and went to the business lounge. There, they said they would announce the boarding time. So we start eating, reading and anything to try to kill time. After a couple of hours (we arrived there around 15), Viviana and I decide to go duty free shopping, on the way there we check the screen that shows 18.45 instead of 18.15. "At least things are happening" we think... When we get back to the lounge, it now says 19.15... eh, I hope we're not going to be delayed 30 more min every 5 minutes! Back at our seats with more food and more drink and more bore... Every once in a while during the whole afternoon I was checking the screens when suddenly our flight says boarding. So I go to the info disk and ask "yes, they started boarding, you should go there now". They never announced anything! Thank God I checked!
So we start going to the gate, and do the boarding. There's no queue. Mmmh... are we first? After that we arrive in those glass corridors but the doors to the plane are closed, we push the door anyway, get in the plane: empty! Dirty like after a flight! But not a single person! We take a couple of pics in the pilot cabin and then leave: this can't be our plane... That's when I spot a bus under the glass corridor with Mexico and our flight number on it. We go down and get in the bus together with another couple. "Is this the first bus?" we ask. "No, it's the third, you're the last passengers". Ooops! When we get in the plane, the crew greats us, closes the doors and says Let's go! They were really waiting for us!!!
The plane was half full only due to all the people that couldn't reach Paris for their connection... But anyway in business you don't notice such a big difference... What a service, what a level of comfort. AirFrance for long and short flights is really not the same. Oh my god the food! And the quality of the staff. Let's pray I get and update on the way back too! ;)

When we landed in Mexico City, the pilot announced us that after we left, it started snowing again in Paris and that they had closed the airport again. Lucky is the name for this trip for me.

After that, all has gone very well but that will be another post. Stay tuned! Pics to come as well...

Still far away...

On the 30th of Dec, I'm supposed to arrive there...

Actually I will get there. And stay 5 days. But this afternoon it just got a bit further away. It's snowing all over Europe and particularly in the Netherlands. They have actually never seen that much snow. Good for them. Not so good for me. My flight tomorrow was cancelled. And all the flights on Sunday and fully booked. So it seems I won't be leaving before Monday. Just lost two days of my trip, just like that.

The positive part is that I will still have the beach and coronas and everything! Stay tuned!

Just sayin'

Next Saturday, instead of flying to France and my family for Xmas, I'm going to Mexico. I went to Mexico in 2002 for 3 weeks and loved the country (and Guatemala too). If you've read this blog for a while you will know I have Mexican friends here in Sweden and I'm going with them, we'll be there for 3 whole weeks. Woooo, I can't wait! I'm going to travel quite a lot inside the country since there are so many places I want to see. It's actually going to be like 4 mini trips.

This little red star on the map is where I will stay for 4 days and the blue zone is where I'll be going. The place where I will stay is a small city called Puerto Morelios, a few kilometers south of Cancún. And I will stay in a small hotel owned by a friend of a friend.

It looks like that.

Not too bad, uh?

Miaou!

L'amour

Edit: Pas de message caché. A défaut d'avoir trouvé l'amour en chair et en os j'ai au moins un coussin à prendre dans mes bras. ;)

How to become a star style blogger

Click on the picture to make it larger.

Source : http://www.onesocialmedia.com/blog/2010/11/how-to-become-a-star-style-blogger-infographic/

Liselotte Watkins

The other day, while ready Metro in the morning I stumble upon this ad. And I immediately fell in love with it. It's so different from all the glasses ads I've seen before.
I recognized Liselotte's style directly and wanted to see if there were more ads. And I found this one.
Now the marketer in me is talking but I really like the fact that you really can see the product, the brand (both Lensway and Givenchy/Diesel) and the price. What else do you need in an ad? Perfect realisation!

And of course I love the fashion touch! ;)

I saw those ads last week and just a couple of days later, I saw this ad, for Absolut Vodka this time.
Do you recognize the style on the bottle? Yes, it's Liselotte Watkins again! She even got her own limited edition. Woaw! Impressive. It's with a coffee flavor apparently.

But who's Liselotte Watkins? are you thinking now. She's a Swedish fashion stylist and illustrator that now lives in Milan, Italy. And since she's Swedish we've see quite a lot of her work here in Sweden. But even if you don't live in Sweden, you may have already seen some of her work.

Remember the Marimekko collection that H&M did a couple of years ago? She did the illustrations.


She got famous internationally when Miucca Prada noticed her and asked her to design some print in 2008 for the Miu Miu brand. Here are some pics from the collection:



If you want to see more of her work: click here (her agency's website).
If you want to see some of her but also her inspiration and her life, check her blog.

Surprise

Some of you have already seen it on FB but... Tadaa!

How cute is that?

The red coat

Yes or no? I've always wanted to have a red coat. Well to tell the truth, I'd like to have many coats with bold colours and patterns but let's start with a red one, you can wear it more often. I've already bought a winter coast last month, a bit more sporty and with fake sheep skin inside. Not super chic but oh so cosy! I love it! I told myself I wouldn't buy any other then for the season but then I saw this one. Red, a bit militar style, the big button, the stand-up collar... Ah!!!

What do you think, yes or no?

Tea for two

I don't like coffee, don't like the taste, don't like the smell and certainly don't like people's loud slurp when they drink it although it's boiling hot.

Tea however I like. A lot. As you can see. There are unfortunately a couple of flavors on the pic that I don't like (my sister bought them when she was still living here) so I don't know what to do with them.


Will probably take them to the office some day. Have you already done that? Taken to the office some stuff you didn't want but couldn't bear to throw away?

Anyway, next time you come to my place for a cup of tea, you know you'll have the choice! :)

Shoes and Boots

In case you don't know it yet, autumn in Gothenburg is a wet season. Yes, it unfortunately rains often. And a lot. And as much as I own quite a few pairs of shoes, I don't have any good pairs for the rain. Already last autumn I was looking for one but didn't find anything. I was looking in France first but I was there in July and it was too early, the autumn collection hadn't arrived yet. And in Sweden, there was nothing nice. Si I wore sneakers when the weather was bad. And got wet feet. Spent many days in socks in the office with the shoes drying on the heater.

This year, I started my search again. I was in France at the end of August-beginning of September and thought I would be more lucky. Mmmh, no no! I went one day through the entire city, went in every single shoe store (ask Gratianne, who kindly came along to support me in my quest although she hates shopping). Didn't find anything.

So I came back to Sweden. And this time I found a solution. Rubber boots for the days it's raining. I just need a pair of ballerinas in my handbag to switch when I arrive and the office. Et voilà! And while we're at it, I found these cool panther boots. I like the panter pattern and wanted to by some ballerina ones this summer. I saw some on H&M's webshop but missed them. In the end, I'm happy with those because I think I can wear them all year round.


What about you, how do you face rainy autumn days?

Miam Miam

Louis Vuitton cupcakes. Sweet, no? ;)

Stereotypes?

Want more stereotypes? Check this page. ;)

Top 10

The search engine Ask Jeeves has listed the 'top 10 unanswerable questions' over the last 10 years. Which one is your favorite?

1 What is the meaning of life?

2 Is there a God?

3 Do blondes have more fun?

4 What is the best way to lose weight?

5 Is there anybody out there?

6 Who is the most famous person in the world?

7 What is love?

8 What is the secret to happiness?

9 Did Tony Soprano die?

10 How long will I live?

Do blondes have more fun? Haha, love this one!

Read more here.

Belle du monde

Un post en francais, ca faisait longtemps...

Je viens de lire un article sur Helena Christensen, le mannequin des années 90 qui s'est reconverti en photographe. Elle est mi-Danoise, mi-Péruvienne et a justement fait un reportage photo sur le Pérou en association avec Oxfam (Oxfam France est une association de solidarité internationale qui a pour objectif de construire avec chaque citoyen un monde plus juste, où les droits humains fondamentaux sont respectés, voir leur site internet ici).

Vous pouvez lire l'article avec Helena ici.

Source: ParisMatch

Est-ce qu'elle n'est pas magnifique?

Elections and Google

Today I've voted. For the second time in Sweden. Yes I can vote in Sweden although I don't have the Swedish nationality. Although I cannot vote to elect the Prime minister.

In France, I can vote for 5 level of jurisdiction: town (village in my case - Artigueloutan), "canton" = a part of the département - Pau-Est, département - Pyrénées Atlantique 64, région Aquitaine, nation - France. The mandates have different lenghts: mainly 5 of 6 years so there are elections nearly every year or every other year...

Here in Sweden there are only 3 levels, town - Göteborg, region - Västra Götaland and nation - Sweden. But the good thing is that all votes are at the same time since all the mandates are 4 years. Each level has a different colour: blue, yellow (yep, Swedish colours) and white. So I voted for two of these three levels: town and region. It took 3 minutes max! Smidigt as Swedes say or smoothly...

After that I went for a walk in the park with my friend Maite and we went and check the seals as usual. And here's what we saw there:


I knew about the Google car but I didn't know Google was using bikes too. We went and chatted with the guy who was really nice and told us that they did use bikes for parks and such.

And you, have you every seen the google car (or bike)?

I love H&M nr I don't know how many

H&M generated a small revolution in the fashion industry back in 2004 when they announced that no other than Karl Lagerfel would design a collection for them. Here are the previous collaborations, always launched in November:

2004: Karl Lagerfeld
2005: Stella McCartney
2006: Viktor&Rolf (including a wedding gown!)
2007: Roberto Cavalli (and also Madonna or Kylie Minogue)
2008: Comme des Garcons (and also Marimekko, of which I bought some pieces)
2009: in the spring Matthew Williamson (I bought some pieces) and in the autumn Jimmy Choo (I bought some pieces)
2009-2010: Sonia Rykiel (Ibought some pieces)

As you can see they accelerated the tempo last year. And at the same time, some other fashion companies started with collaboration. Last spring, after Sonia Rykiel, I read about people getting tired of these collaborations and that H&M would wisely wait before launching a new one. Or create another revolution of the kind.

And then bam! They dropped the bomb: Lanvin. LANVIN people LANVIN!!! What will be next time, Dior? Ah I couldn't be happier, I love this brand, Alber Elbaz is a genius. So chic, so French, so timelessly modern, so... so unaffordable made affordable thanks to H&M. Thank you H&M!!!

(source: H&M)

The collection will be launched on the 23rd of November and I know this time I will get up veeeery early and queue. I don't know how the collection will look (we'll know on the 2nd of November) but it doesn't matter. Actually I would be happy even if I only got one of these blue boxes... I don't need anything else, 'cause I could watch the box everyday, put my jewels or my nail lacquers or any other girl stuff in it.



But if the boxes include some of these ballerinas for instance or a garment, I will for sure not say no. ;)

I've been shopping

So I'm back.And I've been shopping a little during these three weeks...
1- two books, one in French, the latest by Marc Levy, the other one in English, also the latest but from Lauren Weisberger, the girl who wrote The devil wears Prada
2- A handbad, a smaller one than the ones I have. Inspired by my friend Mélanie, it will be good for travelling
3- Some cookies, macarons to be precise from Saint Jean de Luz
4- Another bag, from Moët & Chandon, works like a computer bag, a portfolio or a handbag: Perfect!
5- Some espadrillos from Saint Jean de Luz as well, I'm starting a tradition of buying a new pair every year (already have some pink and the turquoise pair I've lived in all summer)
6- Some more espadrillos but some real height, love them!
7- Cotton pads, yes there are cotton pads in Sweden but not that big and I find them convenient when I use a lot of make-up
8- Some cream samples I got when I got a facial
9- Chocolate, no explanation needed
10- French magazines, Elle and Vogue. As some of them are special fashion edition, they must have weighed 2-3 kilos all together. Heavy!
11- 3 great bracelets
12- Tea from le Palais des thés, mmmh!
13- Two Petit Bateau T-shirts. Love Petit Bateau, unfortunately I bought the wrong size and they are a bit to large but they will make great pyjamas (will go with nr 15)
14- Some Tees from Monoprix, loooove Monoprix
15- A pyjama short from Monoprix as well, looooove Monoprix!

When I left, my luggage weighed 19 kilos including some clothes for my sister. When I came back, it weighed 24... I blame it on the magazines, what do you think?

And you why did you buy this summer?

It's in the blood

I usually don't eat much cheese when I'm in Sweden. It's not because of the lack of choice, no. There's a lot of choice, even in the supermarket; and there's a lot of French cheese among these. I don't know, I just don't feel like it. However when I'm in France I eat more cheese (in fact I eat more of everything there, hehe).

But lately... There's always a bit of camembert or creamy blue cheese in my fridge! Do you think it's a sign from my body? A way of saying: time to go home now! Either way, I'm listening and on Saturday I'm flying to France for three longly awaited weeks. And I'll probably eat a bite of cheese!

My boy

You saw him for the first time when he was a few months old.

You saw him when he was 9 months old.

You saw him when he was old enough to get his first tooth.

You saw him when he was 1 and then 2 and then 2½.

And now he's 4!

BON ANNIVERSAIRE CLÉMENT!

Don't I have the cutest nephews? :)

Colour of the Day: Red II

Soooo! Here is the before, the after and the one week after!

My hands au naturel, as my friends are used to see them.


The hands of a new transformed woman. :)


Matching feet. Not a big revolution at that level as I am used to paint funky bright colours on my toe nails. But I am definitely liking it!

Result after one week. A few scratches but not bad at all uh? Chanel is really good quality!

And look, it's a perfect match with my new socks! =)

Colour of the Day: Rainbow

Look what I received today! I can't believe a few years ago I was only buying black and grey socks... How wonderful aren't these? I am not looking forward to autumn yet, I still want to enjoy summer. But with those, I know it will be fun to put on my socks in the mornings and that they will put a smile on my face.

If you also want som fun, check out Happy Socks. It's a Swedish company but they deliver all around the world (for free). And right now they have some special sale. 50% off if you order 10 pairs. Hurry hurry!

Beauty

Do you recognize all the women? A bit more difficult in the beginning but otherwise it's quite easy.

Which one do you prefer? I am very fond of Katharine Hepburn and Cate Blanchett... They look a bit the same. I also love Audrey Hepburn but maybe it's because she's born on the 4th of May like me? ;)

In any case, Megan Fox or the plastic barbie in the end aka Heidi Montag could easily disappear as far as I am concerned.

Colour of the Day: Red

Lately I have been thinking about a real red lacquer for my nails. I have several colours but no red. Didn't seem to be me. Do you sometimes have that feeling? When you like something but you don't buy it because it's not you? Happens a lot to me with perfumes.

And red lacquer. I didn't feel feminine enough. I started with only with very light and natural colours. Beige, iridescent sand colour, white. White was the first one my mum bought me. I was 20 and I was going to start my internship at Louis Vuitton. You see I started late...

A couple of years later, I started to buy some brighter colours but put them only on my feet. It felt OK on the feet but not on the hands. It may have to do with my many years of horse riding not being very gentle on the hands. It may have to do with biting my nails when I was a kid. It may also have to do with the fact that I don't really like the shape and size of my nails. Anyway, I barely painted my nails until May this year.

One my nail polish is a grey one from the brand OPI. I love this brand, they have super funny names. This grey shade is called "You don't know Jacques?". Actually it started a couple of month before when I enjoy my sister's Xmas present: a manicure/pedicure. My first one. At 30, better late than never. I of course loved it. So when I was going to a wedding in may and was wearing a grey dress, I thought: why not a manicure with the grey polish? The result:


And the result of this? I loved it! In the beginning I was looking at my hands aaaall the time! And I started to think that OK, I don't have long pianist-like hands and nails but it's not so bad anyway...

And lately then, I've been thinking about a red, a real red, deep, elegant, parisian-like, femme fatale... all this. And I found it today, it was the last one: a sign!

Dragon from Chanel (OPI and Chanel are my two favourite brands).

I guess it could be not only the colour of the day but also, the colour of the summer. Look how it matches with my strawberries. Not more strwaberries at the time of writing, ate eeeeverything! It's so good, hahaha!

After eating the strawberries, I lacquered my nails. Both feet and hands. It's still a bit unusual but I looove it. Think I'm going to watch my hands quite a lot the next few days. ;)

Do you want to see the result?

Mariage de bois

My brother and his lovely wife got married 5 years ago today. Time flies! Don't have any pics of their wedding here (blogging from the office, whoooo!) but here are a couple of us that I found of Facebook.

Etienne and me, not so old...

At our family summer house, I'm on the left, Etienne has the stripy T-shirt on the right. We must be something like 2 and 4. The girls are (some of) our cousins Priscilla (standing) and Marie.

And a couple of years later (last summer to be more precise) at (one of) our cousin's wedding. In pink, our sister Gratianne and in green, the lovely wife and mother of two precious beauties, Gaëlle.

Happy wedding anniversary! Here's to your 5 years! (five is supposed to be marriage of wood according to the omniscient Internet).

Black&White vs Colours

Been playing again... do you like it? For the design of my blog, I have in mind words like, classic, elegant, simple, timeless, Parisian, few lines, little colours...

So what happened? Well, I don't know exactly how I want that and while checking the new templates I found this background with I like a lot. So there you go! That will do for the summer and a couple of months. Until we change again.

What do you think?

Asterix

I love it when I find this kind of humor on websites. =)

Nom nom nom

One year ago he looked like that. Who knows how much bigger he will be when I see him again in 4 weeks my mini youyou. *proud auntie*

Alexis eating his 1-year old Day cake

Ooooeeiiii!!!!

I will never take the bus, tram, subway or any other way of transport to work again!

Edit: I am not implying anything with this, unfortunately not. I just think it's hilarious.

No news = good news... or?

I wish the expression no news, good news was true in my case but unfortunately it's rather the contrary... Nothing life-threatening, no illnesses but a couple of sad and annoying things that don't make me feel like writing. Like my sister leaving Sweden, for good. We moved in together in our appartment so now it feel a bit empty... And all her decoration in the room which is now my bedroom is gone for instance. Very white and unpersonal, I have to work on it the next couple of weeks...

Some other bad news are job-related, with disappointing NOs, especially one... Well not much I can do anymore, need to get it together, gather strength, leave it behind and move on. There is something else for me out there and I need to keep strong enough to wait for it.

But don't worry, there's a couple of fun things as well. Like when I went and see Sex and the City 2 and had fun despite the bad critics (and Isa's advice :p), or the zumba class I discovered (+ the girls there). My new addiction for Robyn's last album can also be classified in the good things, I love it! (listening to Dancing on my own right now).

And my friends of course, my lovely friends that are always there for me. :)

Are you happy?

Summer = easy

In the summer, everything feels easier. Even getting dressed. A dress + some shoes = you're ready to go. Or a top, some trousers and shoes. Ready to go! And you can still be elegant. Scott Schuman aka The Sartorialist (whom I met 3 weeks ago in Barcelona, yes yes! I talked to him and he signed his book for me!) shows it very well in his blog. Look at these ladies.

Source: the sartorialist