Simply Extraordinary

“The only difference between an extraordinary life and an ordinary one is the extraordinary pleasures you find in ordinary things.” ― Veronique Vienne, The Art of Imperfection

Sometimes it’s the little things that make ordinary life feel extraordinary. Here are the little pleasures that help me to feel happier:

• A place for everything and everything in its place — Nothing feels better than a clean, well-organized home.

• A neutral palate — I like my home and my wardrobe composed of good quality, clean/classic staples punctuated with special pieces that reflect my unique taste, personality, and experiences.

• Fresh flowers from my own garden in summer, from Sendik’s or Trader Joe’s year round — I like to divide preassembled bouquets into multiple vases and enjoy them throughout the house

• Fragrant candles — My favorites are White Tea and Sage (Bath and Body Works/White Barn), Roses (Diptyque)

• Chilled Champagne in the fridge regardless of whether it’s a holiday or a Tuesday

• Coffee with frothed milk and either lavender syrup (spring and summer) or a sprinkle of cinnamon (fall and winter)

• Carefully curated playlists on Apple Music and stations on Pandora

  • J’adore Paris when I’m missing Paris or making galettes, soupe à l'oignon gratinée, etc.

  • Sailing on warm summer evenings or cold winter nights when I wish I were sailing again

  • Cool jazz/Vince Guaraldi radio in the fall

  • My own Christmas and Halloween mixes

• Guilty pleasure TV while I’m getting ready in the mornings (Emily in Paris, Gilmore Girls, Friends, Making the Cut, The Great British Baking Show, etc.)

• Having a lip gloss and hand lotion in my purse, bathroom, car, and desk so I never have to go without

• Wearing my favorite perfume everyday even when I’m not going anywhere

• A cozy blanket, cup of tea, and a good book.

• Fragrant hand soaps and lotion in the kitchen and bathrooms — Current favorite: Savon liquide de Marseilles - Thé Blanc

• Merino wool sweaters and socks

• Having a clean car inside and out — Thanks, Eric

• Festive, seasonal cocktail napkins with my morning coffee and evening wine or cocktail

• Reader comments on my blog posts (Merci)

January 2023 in Pictures

“Feeling a little blue in January is normal.” – Marilu Henner

Currently • January 2023

“This year, be structured enough for success and achievement and flexible enough for creativity and fun.” — Taylor Duvall

Currently posts in 2023 will feature my Instapuzzle of the month - Cheers to new challenges!

READING:

• Lagom: Not Too Little, Not Too Much, Just Right: The Swedish Guide to Creating Balance in Your Life by Niki Brantmark — The title says it all. I’m re-read this book since lagom is my word for 2023

• Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari — “Our ability to pay attention is collapsing. From the New York Times bestselling author of Chasing the Scream and Lost Connections comes a groundbreaking examination of why this is happening--and how to get our attention back” (Goodreads).

• Links I Love (I am retiring this stand-alone series and incorporating suggested links into Currently Reading.):

  • A Brief History of Champagne: Were Those Bubbles an Accident?

  • How to Make Your Smartphone Photos So Much Better (Shoot in RAW)

  • The Story Behind Ladurée and Its Famous Macarons

  • The Orient Express Is Launching a Luxury Sailing Yacht in 2026

  • A Guide To Spring Sailing On The French Riviera

  • The Best Things to do in Paris for First Time Visitors and Veterans

  • The Best Hotels in Paris (CN Traveler) - I’m stay here in March, but I’ll save this for future reference.

  • 52 Places to Visit in 2023 (NY Times)

    • I have visited: #1 - London, England; #24 - Nîmes, France, #32 - Charleston, SC; #34 - Burgundy, France (without the beer); #38 - Lausanne, Switzerland; #40 - Louisville, KY; #44 - Madrid, Spain; #49 - Quebec; #50 - New Haven, CT

    • Places on my wish list: #2 - Auckland, NZ; #4 - Scotland; #6 - Palm Springs, CA (for the architecture); #10 - [Tromso], Norway (anywhere in Norway is #1 for me); #18 - Alaska; #27 - Cuba; #39 - Greece; #45, 48, 51 - The American West

WATCHING:

• Marquette basketball — Football season is over for me since the Packers are not going to the playoffs, but MU basketball is in full swing and I’m into it.

• Wednesday on Netflix — It creepy and it’s kooky, mysterious and spooky…

LISTENING TO:

• Podcasts — I like to listen to podcasts while editing images or rowing. Do you have any suggestions for me? (No true crime, please.) Here are my current favorites:

  • The Earful Tower — “ A weekly podcast all about Paris, hosted by Australian expat Oliver Gee [and his Swedish wife, Lina Nordin Gee]. With a huge variety of guests - from cooks and comedians to TV hosts and tour guides - this show will transport you to the City of Lights and make you feel like you've met the characters that make it shine.”

  • A Beautiful Mess — “Elsie Larson + Emma Chapman are sisters and co-founders of the top DIY blog — A Beautiful Mess. They have written over seven thousand blog posts, so it seemed like a good time to start a podcast! The sisters have a lot to say on everything from home and DIY to family life and business.”

  • Every Outfit — “After spending years dispensing bitchy fashion commentary on their viral Instagram account Every Outfit on Sex and the City, hosts Chelsea Fairless and Lauren Garroni realized that they have highly specific opinions about other things, too. Every Outfit is a weekly show born from our deeply unhealthy, lifelong obsession with fashion and popular culture. It’s like The View (but less geriatric) meets Fashion Police…”

  • Desert Island Discs — “Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.” I accepted the challenge in 2021. Read about my choices here.

  • The New Paris — “In a country like France, where tradition reigns supreme, even a suggestion of change or newness has long been met with scepticism by locals. This is no longer the case, offers writer and adopted Parisian Lindsey Tramuta in The New Paris podcast, a side dish to her bestselling books The New Paris and The New Parisienne. Here, with an assortment of other local experts, she takes a closer look at the people, places and ideas that are changing the fabric of the storied French capital.”

  • Rom Com Rewind — The show’s hosts “re-watch your favourite Romantic Comedies, break em down a bit, take a peak behind the curtain, dig beneath the surface and decide... do they still hold up?”

• My Instapuzzle 2023 Playlist — A fairly new feature of Instagram is the option to add music to a post. As part of my Instapuzzle project (see ENJOYING below), I am selecting a song to accompany each post. At the end of the year, I will have a playlist of the 108 songs that reflect my year. January’s mini list includes:

  • Auld Lang Syne (Ingrid Michaelson)

  • Here Comes the Sun (The Beatles)

  • Happy New Year (ABBA)

  • Little Birdie (The Vince Guaraldi Trio)

  • Don’t Stop Me Now (Queen)

  • Linus and Lucy (The Vince Guaraldi Trio)

  • Rhapsody in Blue (George Gershwin)

  • Ceremony (New Order)

ENJOYING:

• A new challenge — I am using Canva to create an Instapuzzle this year: Nine posts each month that become a seamless feed of 108 by the end of the year. I’m sharing my posts on Instagram and on this page on my site. Let me know what you think.

Eight is Great

"Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift." — Aretha Franklin

Happy Birthday to our sweet girl #pipermarie #eightisgreat #bisous

2023 in a Word

« Mettre tout en équilibre, c'est bien; mettre tout en harmonie, c'est mieux. » — Victor Hugo

2022 Year in Review - Instapuzzle

“Celebrate endings for they precede new beginnings.” – Jonathan Lockwood Huie

🥂 Cheers to the colors of 2022: January blues • February’s lovely, rosy hues • The wearing o’ the green in March • Sunny yellow to offset April showers • May’s lilacs and violets • Pure whites befitting a June bride • Every heart beats true for the red, white, and blue in patriotic July • The spectrum of August • Down to earth in September • Orange you glad it’s October? • November in black and white • The festive colors of the holidays in December.

🥂 Cheers to a new challenge in 2023: Creating an Instapuzzle — a series of image that when viewed together create one seamless visual. I practiced with this post and hope to accomplish this goal next year.