Saying goodbye is never easy

Today is the last day of August. I guess I have no choice but to say good-bye to summer. I always find it hard because I never want this season to end. What my summer was about...

The Mediterranean... What's not to love about this picture?

Waking up to this view in the south of France. The trees, the morning sun, the fresh air, the pool and the sound of birds singing...

The refreshing drinks (they're all non-alcoholic, by the way!). The one in the middle was the most delicious watermelon cocktail!

Outdoor festivals and desserts (here: crepe with Nutella).

Discovering nature with the family. The boys built a dam / useless bridge across a stream and I built a stone path, which led from our little picnic mat to the edge of the water. I really got into it and was busy for at least an hour, collecting stones - it felt strange but good to concentrate on something like this! (do you know the feeling?) 

And simply enjoying those warm, sunny days.

I will miss you, summer! 

p.s. I wanted to post more photos but had trouble uploading them. I've been having quite a few problems with blogger recently (including google friend connect). Anyone else?

Chanel fall collection 2010: Enigma, Inimitable Intense, Paradoxal

I finally went to pick up my reserved goodies... and I must say, I'm rather pleased with my latest Chanel purchases.

I picked up the Enigma (19) eyeshadow quad without even swatching it, which (thinking about it now) is usually a silly thing to do but I wanted it. That's a good enough reason, right?

* * *

I also got the new Inimitable Intense mascara, this simply being the technologically more advanced, more intense version of the already existing Inimitable. It holds the curl all day and gives my lashes a dramatic boost. Yes, I really like it! (and how gorgeous is/are the model(s)? Not sure if it's the same person?)

* * *

And I picked up Paradoxal (509), obviously. It's usually more purple than grey but it depends on the light. I applied two coats. (On the right: with a ham, cheese and mushroom crepe.)

* * *

I got some samples of the Beauté Initiale skincare. Has anyone tried it?

Barbie the Fashionista

I used to love Barbie... (I never had a Ken but that didn't bother me). She was the gorgeous all American girl with the beautiful long blonde hair, big blue eyes, perfect lips, dainty feet and stunning figure. (These days I would also add: no split ends, no wrinkles, no spots, no sagging. Ever). Who didn't / wouldn't want to be like her?

Fast forward many years and... Barbie has black hair! And darker skin! And designer clothes! Wow! Starting with 'around the world', just have a look at the modern Barbie... "Barbie for grown-ups"!

Around the world: Japan, Italy, Spain

Brides: Badgley Mischka, Carolina Herrera, Monique Lhuillier

Brides / Designers: Vera Wang (first two), Dior

Designers: Kate Spade, Versace, Burberry

Royals: Empress Josephine, Marie Antoinette, Queen Elizabeth I

Hollywood: Audrey Hepburn, Scarlett O'Hara, Marilyn Monroe

And now I have another reason to be jealous of Barbie: her amazing Louboutin shoe collection!

So um... who wants to join the Barbie Fan Club with me?!

The Chanel villa

Welcome to the Chanel boutique in St Tropez, an 18th century villa...

In the gardens there is this charming swing... with a Chanel cushion, of course. (I wonder if these cushions get stolen often?) 

Dream equipment for the sporty Chanel girl...

Here is the terrasse of the Chanel villa.

Step inside... and I couldn't take my eyes off these beautiful necklaces!

Ok, so I also found a Chanel item I would never wear (the black and gold outfit on the left) but that's irrelevant.

Because it felt special just to be there!

Meeting Claudia Schiffer

Happy birthday, Claudia! (she is 40 today)

It was at a flamenco show in Paris (must have been in 1998?) when Naomi Campbell was dating Joaquín Cortés, a flamenco dancer:

"He famously dated Naomi Campbell – despite neither of them speaking the other's language – with her reportedly taking a drugs overdose when he ended their relationship (one acquaintance tells me that it only lasted as long as it did – just under a year – precisely because he could not understand what she was saying)." (Telegraph)

Anyway, the two supermodels were there. I'm guessing that they were in Paris for fashion week and Naomi begged Claudia to come along to the show...

It was embarrassing... but I asked Claudia for her autograph (and I'm glad I did!). Here it is:

Zooming in on the signature... 

Have you met any famous people?

1 - via google images

A downpour and Petit Bateau

Kindergarten doesn't start until next week and my husband has this week off (but no holiday planned because we thought we were going to be moving house; more on that some other time) so we are doing fun 'family stuff' every day (and I have less time for blogging - boo). We've been doing a lot of swimming, cycling, going to playgrounds, eating ice cream :-) and today we decided to go for a walk. 

We went to a big park and walked aimlessly for about 20 minutes until we came to a lake. I sat down on a bench to enjoy the view (normally there would be a picture of that but I didn't have my iPhone with me! Shock horror! I'd run out of the house with the wrong iPhone: the first generation one with the crappy camera that nobody at home actually uses but just happened to be on the table...). 

But then we heard noises. A constant rumbling noise... like an airplane that wasn't going anywhere. Within seconds the sky had darkened and rain started to fall over the lake. We started running... and I swear there was one black cloud - just like in a cartoon - that was chasing us. We could hear its 'footsteps' as it got closer and closer... 

Anyway, we got soaked. I was wearing flip flops. I wish I'd had sensible shoes on like this cute little piggy because walking back through the mud was disgusting.

(source unknown)

And next time I'll have to be better prepared... with these matching raincoats from Petit Bateau!

What's in a name?

Naming a yacht is probably like naming a blog. You want something different, catchy, an expression of your character... but it's not so easy.

I'm sure it's happened to all of us... you think you've thought of something funny, clever and original but after a while it just seems silly, you know?

What do you think of these names? I wonder if these owners are still happy or wish they could 'delete' and start over..?

Why Doc

Madness

Octopussy II

Pink Panther 

L'Occitane gel and towelettes for clean hands

It's only in the past year or so that I've started using L'Occitane products but I'm hooked! I have their soaps at home, hand creams in my bag and now these are changing my life....

The tube is a "Clean Hands Gel: water and soap free", enriched with lavender essential oil and aloe vera. It "purifies and cleanses" and does not leave the hands feeling greasy. It smells gorgeous and I can't think of a more pleasant way to get rid of germs!

The Verbena Refreshing Towelettes are refreshing and practical for cleaning dirty hands (no more baby wipes!). I like to keep these in the car and they're also perfect for travel. It's good to know that they are 100% biodegradable!

What are your favourite products from L'Occitane?

Chanel accessories... I want!

Looking around the Chanel website is such a bad idea because I always find something that I want!

Like this beautiful agenda, for example, even though I don't use an agenda anymore (I do everything on my iPhone).

We can never have too many Chanel necklaces, right? J'adore!

And if I had this tweed 'captain' cap it would be easier to say good-bye to summer...

I didn't particularly like any of the bags from the new collection (sigh of relief). Well, apart from this one, maybe. (But it's so small! You could just about fit a Chanel powder, Rouge Coco and Platinum (or is it black these days) Amex card in that.)

Ok, I'd even settle for Chanel ribbons at this point. (I collect them. Really. Sad, huh?)

Party cups

I want these paper cups for my next party! Aren't they hilarious? 

Just pick your nose...! 

Available here.

Brigitte Bardot exhibition

There were posters everywhere in St Tropez for the Brigitte Bardot exhibition so we decided to go. It was really fun! She was so beautiful, no wonder she was and still is such an icon! I took a couple of photos; do you see any here that you've never seen before? And has anyone seen her films? Are they any good?

Here is an original postcard that she wrote and sent from Capri! This is her handwriting - interesting!