Something Sweet - Garden Cake

Looking at this photograph makes us happy; imagine having a piece of it. And really, if you're pressed for time or not inclined to bake, why not buy a plain cake & decorate it? Because that is the really fun part. Here's another beautiful cake, especially if you have rose petals to spare. (Hint: you can buy them at Whole Foods). Mimi Thorisson's Manger is more than sweets, though; it's just beautiful & you should visit.

ciao/xx

(photograph by Manger)

Have a Classic Saturday

Several Jeanne Moreau films are available on Netflix Instant right now. If you can't get out to the movies tonight, that would be a great bet. You can sign up & watch right away (no, we do not work for Netflix!) Jules et Jim is available until Tuesday, the 21st. After that it will be DVD only for awhile. Have a great Saturday!

ciao-meow/GG Film Central

(photograph via Jeanne Moreau Is My Hero - same here!)

Weekend - La chanteuse, Françoise Hardy

For a little French fun, visit Francoise Hardy's terrific website. You can watch some of the videos from her new album, La pluie sans parapluie. Giulia especially loves the first song Noir sur blanc & she's listening & tapping her pawpads this very moment. (1960s photo by Jean-Marie Périer via FH website)

ciao-lalala-meow/GGCM

The Line of Beauty in London - Week's End

What's with all the London posts? Jealousy, pure & simple (& we have friends & readers in & near London). Another terrific fashion illustration exhibit, this time at Somerset House (through 9 January 2011). The exhibit is Dior Illustrated: René Gruau and the Line of Beauty. And before or after you see it (maybe after is better?), you should absolutely go ice skating. The rink opens next week (23 November). (illustration & the head's up via automatism, thanks!)

ciao-cheeky-meow/GG Central

The Clever Pup's Paris Notebook - Week's End

GG Central is in a mad Friday/Saturday- Hallowe'en-Rally for Sanity rush...oof. So pull up a chair, sip on some hot chocolate (or a glass of wine) & dip into the recent Parisian adventures of our Canadian friend. This is a new & ongoing venture, not the Pup you might be accustomed to (note the Breton shirt, ballerinas, & the beret placed just so). Très mignon, non?

We'll be back over the weekend to wish you a Happy Hallowe'en. (You can always hop over to GG's editor's blog & say boo.)

ciao-meow/GG's editor

(illustration by Hazel Smith/all rights reserved 2010/used with permission)

GG Chic - The Catwalk Cats

Ooh la la. It's raining, as people say, cats & dogs. We love this adorable French cat with beret by Claire Owen. It reminded us of genius Grace Coddington's wonderful The Catwalk Cats. Here's a link to a Steidl Books illustration slideshow from the 2007 book. (No, we don't own it but someday...Giulia needs to earn some pocket money. We'll let you know how that turns out. Ahem. She's asleep right now, of course. Rainy day deep sleep.) We're also reminded of a favorite artist who channels cats, Jamie Shelman. Have you visited her Small Expectations blog? No? Immediately go there, well, here.

ciao-damp-meow/GG's editor

(French cat by Clare Owen via Audrey Hepburn Complex)

Sunday Style - Become Fashionably Enlightened

Here's your passport to style if you live in the Washington area Thursday, 23 September 2010. GG's editor would love to see you there. (YSL blue coat, Paul Schutzer for LIFE, via myvintagevogue)

ciao-charmed-meow/GG's personal stylist

Sunday Shopping - French Sailor Stripes

GG's editor had a bit of a fit last month & wrote about Sailor Stripe shopping. The gist is that we cannot stand seeing consumers taken advantage of, especially when in the throes of fetishizing French(style) material goods. It happens to the best of us; we're not judging.

Satisfy your stripe-y longing & read here (or click directly over to brittany-boutique.com). Usually, even with shipping, it's less expensive to buy these items directly from France. GG Central knows this from experience. People around the world do not want to wear stripes made by an exploited labor force. At the same time, stop spending at stores like J. Crew when they overcharge for items they stock (like the shirts above) from other sources. It's the same Saint James shirt. Yep.

ciao-meow/GG's personal shopper

[collage photographs via brittany-boutique (dot) com/Audrey T. from a cute site Pink Peony--to the author: props to you for discussing cruelty-free diamonds/Picasso by Doisneau from goodness knows where; tragic but lovely Jean Seberg via Elle (France)]

Gigi & GG - Week's End

GG celebrated her blog-birthday by watching Gigi for the first time. As she falls asleep during most films, her editor does not know if she liked it (or not). But her ears moved up & down, front & back quite a lot as "Gigi!" is pronounced (& sung) more than any other word(s), except perhaps "Paris" or "I'm bored!" These are especially charming images from the film (& one drawing of pretty Leslie Caron as Gigi - by Cecil Beaton). As ever, GG would love a hat & is still agitating for one that will accommodate her ear-tips.

ciao-meow during an especially busy week...The Management

Muguet in May

GG & her editor wish everyone a belated Happy May Day. One of our very favorite flowers is the lily-of-the-valley. If we must, if you insist, if we are tied to a railroad track as in the silent pictures & forced to choose our favorite, well then...it would be muguet. Here is a charming post from French-Word-A-Day 2006 May Day about the significance of muguet (& you can learn a song, too!). Shortly before GG's editor was born, her mum's friend was a bridesmaid for a very beautiful princess. The poetry-loving princess carried a bouquet of muguet & maybe that is why we love it so much.

ciao-flowery-meow/GGCM

[photograph via here via we heart it; botanical illustration, here; & another lovely Walter Crane illustration from Flora's Feast, A Masque of Flowers via the LIFE Archives]

Audrey & a Café Cat

It's a Wednesday & GG is not allowed to go to the museum (again!). A GG dream come true would be AH, another cat, & a café . [undated photograph but via Audrey1.org; lots of fun for the admiring legions.]

ciao-darling-meow/GGCM

PS: Visit AH's fabulous official website & see what you might do to contribute to her charitable work. Which has never stopped, of course.

Les Modes

It's a busy week, therefore some fun is most necessary. Last night GG & her editor were looking at hats & old French fashion magazines. These are covers from Les Modes (a French fashion magazine) to entertain & inspire you. All are watercolors by Félix Fournery, 1908 (via LIFE archives). Look at those hats in the first image. Wow. GG is desperate for a summer hat...but her ears, where do we put her ear-tips? (She does not like the cut-out option. We can never win with her.) It is our considered opinion that GG should wear green feathers in her red-orange hair (like the third lovely lady). Very fashionable & chic, non?

Bonne nuit/GG's milliner

Desktop déshabillé

We know it's Carla B's desktop. But really, it's not so far off from our own. And we mean déshabillé as in artlessly chic...not just 'messy.' Ahem. (Photograph by Bharat Sikka via CB's site).

ciao-meow
redactrice de GG

French Style, Doré & Goddard

For those who don't read French, or who get a headache from the strain, Garance Doré's witty, elegant blog is now available in English translation (by a human, Magali Eva Suárez). There was an amusing exchange between Garance & Joanna Goddard of the delightful A Cup of Jo last week. One of Joanna's New Year's Resolutions is to dress more like a French woman. Here are Jo's charming engagement photographs by Max Wanger.

Both blogs are a welcome respite during a stressful day. It beats playing computer solitaire--truly.

bisou!
GG

Update: title change due to font problems. Actually, Doré & Goddard is a cool name for a design or production company, non?

[photo of Jeanne Moreau, Encyclopedia.com/no time to ask for a Garance illustration, but we will. We love JM for many reasons, but making under-eye shadows sexy--or so we are told (& believe)--is a service to womankind.]

Café crème in Paris

Don't you just want to be there? Photo by Glynnis Ritchie, an American photographer & writer currently living in Paris.

Bisou, bonsoir/GG's editor/rédactrice

Un petit mouton

GG's editor has had a lamb-sheep fixation forever. Her paternal grandparents had lambs-for-wool on their farm. Sofia Barão's l'oiseau rare shop has some charming handmade petit mouton-themed accessories. Inspiration for holiday gifts? Oui. [For those disinclined, or with no time, to make their own, Sofia's prices are very reasonable. But contact her soon as she lives in France.] One wonders if GG fancies a little lamb (as a pet!)...we think yes, absolutely.

bisou, ciao-meow!

Scarf Chic, la huitième partie, Mont Blanc

Though you can barely make out the off-center, rakishly tied scarf-bow, believe us when we say that then-7 year-old Anne-Sophie was already adding a personal twist to her daily ensemble. Oui. Would we lie? GG's editor was so impressed with A-S's insouciant, charming manner (& her excellent manners, too). Click here to go to Garance Doré's Les jolies choses...this is where scarves go to grow up. The hike was in the Alps, on the Mont Blanc side. We don't want to slight the Italians, so here is a recipe for the gorgeous Monte Bianco. (Nigella Lawson's lazy woman's MBianco, here. Marcella Hazan's still-very-easy-classic, here.)

For good measure, here is a New York Times interview with Marcella & Victor Hazan in September. We look forward to her soon-to-be-published memoir. Finally, here are some cute kid photos by The Sartorialist.

baci, bisou...

Scarf Chic, la partie sept...l'oiseau rare

A departure for a scarf series, yes...but a fabric necklace is hard to resist as a twist. The charming necklace is by Sofia Sbarão of Paris. Her accessories shop, l'oiseau rare, is on Etsy. The necklace sold quickly--no surprise--but Mlle. Sofia has many unique pieces & is open to custom work. Contact her through her shop site's email.

These illustrated kittens are enjoying their new collars. GG resembles the ginger kitten; her friend Hermione is a brunette gattina. GG would love a dress-up holiday collar. Her editor has lengths of Belgian lace (yes!) squirreled away. Hmmm. A new Christmas lace collar-necklace for GG? C'est bien possible.

ciao-meow, bisou

Aujourd'hui, le vélo

Ah, le vélo...we miss you. The photo by The Sartorialist, 29 Jan. 2007, is one of his favorites. The bike might be an Automoto, very like GG's editor's battered old one in Strasbourg. The woman's self-possession & style? Not for sale. We cringe at those who slavishly try to replicate other people's style...it is so not the point. It's mannered, inauthentic, & awkward. Inspiration, that's one thing...copying is so...comment dit-on? Icky. Ah, oui...eee-kee.

bisou!

French Toffee on Hallowe'en

This is our friend Toffee dressed up for Hallowe'en! She's a Franco-American chienne & we're just crazy about her. As a French girl, she knows that a little classic touch (note the hair bow) goes a long way. And she was worried that she didn't have a great costume! She knows just how to pose--touching her forepaw to a tiny autumn gourd. C'est adorable. Look at those cute baby pumpkins.

xoxo, bisou
GG & her editor