French Townhouse

Thanks to delayed jet lag and dare I say... menopause, I find myself with a lot of hours to kill in the middle of the night.  So I am endeavoring to complete my little French Townhouse from Small Time Miniatures. Plus I am anxious to start my La Petit Palais from Petite Properties but have promised myself that I won't until I have finished this little project.

I am actually very close to being finished but am having troubles with the electrics. You can see how dull the bulbs shine compared to my little Georgian house  Unfortunately the problem seems to be with the switch.  I don't have the ability to fix it myself, but I can shop for another one (shopping is in my skill set). Unfortunately the shop is way across the city so I will have to be put on the back burner until I can get there.

Also I didn't realize that I failed to decorate the base I made for the Georgian house.  I have a AAA battery lighting that little house with no switch so I have to take the battery in and out.  Not ideal.

So I have to finish the little Georgian house and the French townhouse before I can move on... oh yeah, I haven't install the fireplace in my Petite Properties Washtub Cottage so I suppose I should do that too.

I have to share with you this beautiful miniature Laduree boutique that I found here
http://vitrinesminiatures.wordpress.com 

I contacted the artist but unfortunately she only sell these little boutiques in France at the Christmas markets.  They are too fragile to be ship, sigh. 

I think that eventually I am going to have to have my own little Laduree's boutique.  I love that place!  It is responsible for my new diet of fresh air and regret as I came back from Paris with a few extra pounds. Hopefully I have enough small projects to keep me busy so I keep my snout out of the trough.  The sound of my thighs rubbing together is now deafening!!

Home Terra Firma

We are now back on home turf after a lovely week in Paris where my son Michael married our beautiful new daughter Becky in the gardens behind the Eiffel Tower.

What felt like a lovely, touching and intimate ceremony was actually witnessed by dozens of on-lookers who erupted in applause and loud cheering after the kiss at the end.  It was the perfect end to a magical moment.  The newly weds have now managed to shake off the parents and are now honeymooning on their own in Paris for another week.  I believe Euro Disney is next on the list of things to do.

Of course no trip to Paris would be complete without a visit to my beloved Laduree shop (typical tourist eh?).  I managed a trip to their flagship store on Champs Elysee where I envisioned myself strolling in and browsing at my leisure all their wonderful offerings.  Not so!  We went on a very, very busy Saturday afternoon and it was the most stressful event of my life.  We had to line up outside the door and wait our turn to be let in and then my little mind was racing as I tried desperately to take it all in and make a decision and be ready to order when my turn came.  I think I did alright though.... but a little more time would have nice.

One of the best surprises was when I opened the beautiful "L'Esprit decoration Laduree, Paris" book.  It contained a pop-up paper Laduree vignette that is so beautiful.  It is sitting on my sideboard weighted down with paperweights and then I will slip it into my doll cabinet in between all my tiny antique mignonette dolls.

 It even has little tiny mirrors behind the flower arrangements on the wall of the salon.