A movie to watch: La Chamade

 

If you know me you know I am enamored with French cinema.

Yesterday I had the treat of catching La Chamade while I was playing hooky from work!

(Shhhh, don't tell!  

I had to work until almost midnight last night, anyway, 

so not really feeling too guilty over here;)!)

I love this scene and it really made me laugh at how anti-AMERICAN

it is!

All the talk about relaxing and enjoying and living!  

In a bar full of people at midday, no less!

I was listening to a radio show on NPR the other day with a yoga specialist and he called

stress the "American disease!"  I couldn't agree more with that!

We work, work, work and stress, stress, stress!

We (the lucky folks) get 2 weeks paid vacay a year and Germany, well, they get 6 weeks!

Most of Latin America still takes a 3 hour siesta each day.

Enjoying a break in France means a leisurely cup of coffee with a friend,

not scarfing an energy bar at your desk.

All I can say is,

WE ARE DOING IT WRONG.

Solutions, anyone?

Pretty Sure I Belong in the 60s

Oh, and Europe, too.

GIF amazingness here, you won't be able to look away!

Via A Cup of Joe

I may or may not have a boot problem.

I never really have a problem finding great boots.

These have the essence of the Isabel Marant booties 

I'll never have on my feet in a million years!

Why can't I find a perfect basic top though?

Seriously...?  Why is it so difficult to find a great top?

If you've found one please give me your suggestions in the comments!

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!