A Breakdown of French Style

I was so very lucky to get to people-watch while strolling the streets of Paris.  I was so enamored with the recurring chic style of the Parisian women.  I was able to distill a few common factors these lovely women all seemed to possess:

1) Slightly messy or imperfect hair.  French women seemed to have lovely hairstyles, but every style I saw also looked touchable and soft.  There wasn't a tight curl or a lacquered 'do in sight.  The "I-couldn't-care-less" hair just added to the overall beauty these women conveyed.

 2) Glowing skin free of foundation or obvious makeup.  Every French women that caught my eye had amazing skin.  It didn't matter what age they were, their skin all was (what appeared to be) make-up and foundation-free.  There wasn't a garish eyeshadow color or severe "contouring" on  a single, lovely Parisian face.  Parisian women's obsession with great skin is apparent in all of the potions for sale in every pharmacy we passed!

3) Aging isn't a beauty-killer.  It's actually a beauty enhancer!  I could not get over how many wrinkles and faces with expression I passed in the streets!  Coming from Utah where everyone is trying to "keep up with the Jones'" when it comes to Botox and cosmetic procedures, it was refreshing to see, well, expression in women's faces!  If Parisian women are getting cosmetic procedures, they seem to be erring on the side of natural-looking, not younger-looking.

4) Hair-tucking!  Fall was just hitting Paris when we were there and letting locks stay warm in scarves was the look to be imitating.

 5) Confidence.  You really didn't get the idea that any of these chic women were wallflowers.  The way these women carried themselves not only conveyed how they thought of themselves, but how the people around them should think of them, as well!

Music Monday: Lykke Li

 

This acoustic version of "Little Bit"

was filmed by the ocean in Bermuda.

I love how the sound of the waves cut through the song here and there.

I'm excited because she has a new album coming out this year!

Smog.

The whole Salt Lake Valley in filled to the brim with pollution.  This used to happen only one or twice a winter when I was a kid, but now it happens whenever we don't have a storm system constantly blowing fresh air into the valley.

I really do love Utah and Salt Lake, but the inversions we get in the wintertime are enough to make me want to move!  We consistently have some of the worst air in the nation in the winter months!  I feel pretty guilty about my driving habits lately, as well.  I drive about 75 miles a day with my job...while I am driving clients around to appointments and the like, I still can't help but cringe when I'm heading into work on the freeway and I can't even see our beautiful mountains because of the smog.

Luckily, we have a storm system moving in on Saturday to sweep the air clean, but I can't help but think about where all that pollution goes.  Everyone has been freaking out over these mass amounts of animals dying around the world, but why can't we stop and look at how much crap we're pumping into the environment daily?  Let's not mention the ripple effects from a huge offshore oil leak that occurred last year, either.

I think the poor Earth is finally speaking more loudly and clearly: what we are doing is not sustainable and it is damaging.  So, in this New Year, let's try our bests to make the small changes that lead to a healthier and happier planet.  I've mentioned a few things we can start doing, but I'll give a few more here to think about:

• Recycle.  It's easy and its impact is huge.
• Turn off the water when you brush your teeth.
• Use dishtowels instead of paper towels to dry your hands.
• Walk or ride public transportation when you can.
• Don't let your car idle at drive-thru windows. Turn it off!
• Run your dishwasher only with a full load!
• Wash your hair every 2nd or 3rd day, it saves water and my hair looks better a day or two after a shampoo anyway;)!
• On that same note, invest in some dry shampoo or shampoo powder to freshen up your hair on the non-wash days.
• Keep your thermostat at 68 degrees or lower in the winter.  Just put a sweater on of you're cold instead of heating up the whole house!
• Use eco-friendly laundry detergent, it's an easy switch and you won't notice the difference!
• Get a reusable coffee mug and swear off disposable cups for good!
• When your old light bulbs burn out, switch to the new compact fluorescent bulbs.

There!  If you choose to try just one or two of these over the weekend, you will be making a difference!  If you have any other great conservation ideas, please leave them in the comments so we all can give them a try!  I hope you have a lovely, smog-free weekend! xo.

Coming Down from the Holidays

It always takes me a few days to get myself back together after the insanity of the holidays.  I love that time of year, but I'm also so ready for the New Year to happen and be over with, so we can all try to get back to our already overbooked routine.

I don't make New Year's resolutions, but I do try to orient myself so I can start working in a direction of a goal.  I feel I need to start spending less time being surrounded by chatter, noise, and music and more time just being.  I realize one of my most favorite times of the day is when I get up earlier than Shug to write my blog post for the day.  While I truly enjoy the blogging part of my early mornings, I have discovered I love the silence, too.

When I let Ruby out into the dark morning after we've been all snuggled up in bed, the cold and the heavy quiet have the most calming and invigorating effect on me.  These opposite feelings are also coupled with a clarity I usually lose once the noise of the day gets into full swing.

Do you have a favorite time of day?  I want to try to recreate this time I enjoy so much throughout the course of my crazy days, even if it's just for a minute or two...!

Beauty is Everywhere

Beautiful.

Book Club: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Remember how I was sooooooooo excited for book club?  Well, our first official book club was a success!  I really don't need to mention the fact that we only spent 20 minutes of the 4-5 hours we all were together actually discussing The Hunger Games, do I?  I think the book, being youth fiction, was probably not "meaty" enough to really get some good conversations going. 

The main points that were brought up revolved around the simplicity of the book's main character, Katniss.  She's really portrayed as a product of her surroundings: a killer, unidirectional in her goals, and a heartless survivor.  Most of the book club agreed that they found Peeta, Katniss' "love" interest in the reality killing games, more interesting and much easier to care about.  I did enjoy the commentary on reality television and the rampant voyeurism that is a part of our current pop culture; this theme is central to the "importance" of the Hunger Games.

Some of our book club attendees couldn't help but read the next two books in the trilogy, just to find out the resolution between the characters.  I was tempted to do the same, since the first book was such a page-turner!  But again, as much as we tried to dig deeper into the subtext of The Hunger Games, we realized there wasn't much else to discuss.

In light of that, the next book selected is The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery, and having finished it last night I have no doubts that this text will spark some interesting banter!  Have any of you read this or heard anything about it?  I'd love to hear what you think!  If you haven't read it yet, get reading!  Book club will be in a couple weeks, so you have time!

Music Monday: Two Bicycles

 

 This band can produce the loveliest, dreamiest songs.

Plus, these shots of Norway are amazing!

After you're finished listening to this, 

check out KRCL today, a favorite SLC independent radio station.

They are having a countdown of the best albums of 2010!

It'll be a good way to get back into the week and a non-holiday season;)!

xo.