A Parisian New Year

Blouse - Zara; Skirt - Urban Outfitters; Pumps - Le Chateau; Necklace - The Bay; Serpent Bracelet - Stella & Dot; Cuff - Unknown; Ring -Market in Paris

 DJB and my New Year’s will consist of a nice lunch, immediately followed by a bottle of Cazanove Champagne (which we purchased from the Champagne cellar in Reims) after which we will head to the Pub across the street for a “crazy all night party”. Well, that’s what the pub is advertising anyway. I don’t think we will be partake in the “craziness” but definitely want to check it out for a drink or two. For the occasion I chose this semi-casual outfit complete with a pleated mini, sequined stripes, with a few touches of pink. I also opted for a navy/silver smokey eye and light pink lips.

These photos were taken on the 8th floor of Printemps department store. It is by far the best terrace view of Paris!

NYE Glam

If you are looking to glam it up in the makeup department on New Years Eve, here is a great look that will last all night.

Eyes: A shimmery silver shadow, black winged liner and tons of jet black mascara. For a long lasting uncreased look, use an eye primer underneath your shadow. I also went for a thicker than usual brow by filling it in with an eyes shadow of a similar colour.

Products Used:

Lid Primer: MAC Paint Pot in Painterly

Base: Smashbox Smokebox Photo Op Eye Shadow Palette in Bliss

Lid: Smashbox Smokebox Photo Op Eye Shadow Palette in Mist

Crease: Smashbox Smokebox Photo Op Eye Shadow Palette in Putty

Liner: Eveline Charles Eyeshadow in Noir and MAC Superslick Liquid Eye Liner in On The Hunt

Mascara: Rimmel Scandal Eyes Retro Glam in Black

Eyebrows: Smashbox Smokebox Photo Op Eye Shadow Palette in Putty

Lips: Red! Use lip liner in the same colour and not only line the lip but fill it in entirely to ensure it stays on long after your midnight kiss.

Products Used:

Liner: MAC Lip Pencil in Cherry

Lips: Satin Lipstick in M.A.C Red

Cheeks: Contour, contour contour! Define those cheekbones by brushing a bronzer in the hollows of your cheeks. Make sure it is blended in nicely. Add a blush of your choice to the apples of your cheeks. Blend in as well.

Products Used:

Contour: Eveline Charles Pressed Powder in Pashmina

Blush: MAC Mineralize Blush in Warm Soul

Face: Dust some highlighting powder on your forehead, nose, upper lip, chin and cheeks for a fresh, dewy glow.

Products Used:

Eveline Charles Loose Powder in Angelica

LBD With Lace

Dress - Vera Moda; Tights - The Bay; Pumps - Reed Krakoff; Necklaces - Tiffany & Co./Gift; Earrings - Swarowski

I don't think I need to explain what this acronym stands for but just in case there are some who aren't familiar with the term (I'm guessing my male readers, if there are any out there), it stands for little black dress. The term LBD has been around for ages. Wikipedia has a really great definition and sums it up nicely. 

"A little black dress is an evening or cocktail dress, cut simply and often quite short. Fashion historians ascribe the origins of the little black dress to the 1920s designs of Coco Chanel and Jean Patou intended to be long-lasting, versatile, affordable, accessible to the widest market possible and in a neutral colour. Its ubiquity is such that it is often simply referred to as the "LBD".

The "little black dress" is considered essential to a complete wardrobe by many women and fashion observers, who believe it a "rule of fashion" that every woman should own a simple, elegant black dress that can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion: for example, worn with a jacket and pumps for daytime business wear or with more ornate jewelry and accessories for evening. Because it is meant to be a staple of the wardrobe for a number of years, the style of the little black dress ideally should be as simple as possible: a short black dress that is too clearly part of a trend would not qualify because it would soon appear dated."

Whether or not these lace sleeves qualify as a trend, I'll leave up to you to decide. I love this dress regardless as it's cotton and extremely comfortable. Oh, and did I mention it has POCKETS! 

These pictures were taken in front of the cathedral in the French city of Reims. Click here for a recap of our trip!

Champagne

Many people refer to any type of sparkling wine as Champagne. However, as Rob Lowe explained in Wayne's World:

"Oh, actually all champagne is French, it's named after the region. Otherwise it's sparkling white wine. Americans of course don't recognize the convention, so it becomes that thing of calling all of their sparkling white "champagne", even though by definition they're not."

If you are ever in Champagne, it's a good idea to check out a check out a Champagne cellar. The guided tour will show you how Champagne is made and, most importantly, give you some samples. We went to the Mumm's Champagne cellar but it was randomly closed. They told us to come back the next day to catch the 5pm tour. Fortunately, we stumbled upon another cellar on our way home.

It certainly didn't have the same feel as the Mumm's cellar but it was only 10 euros and we had our own personal guide!

Champagne starts out the same as regular white wines and is created using a mix of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. 

The second fermentation process is where the bubbles are made. Yeast is added to the bottle and it's sealed and aged for a minimum of 1.5 years.

During this process, the yeast dies and settles to the bottom of the bottle.

No one would want to drink Champagne with this stuff in it so it needs to be removed. This was done manually by slightly rotating the bottle everyday until the yeast settle in the neck of the bottle. This is called "remuage" which probably translates into "extremely frustrating". Now they have machines that do it in a fraction of the time.

After the yeast is at the neck of the bottle, it is removed. They do this by freezing the part of the neck that contains the yeast and shooting it out using the pressure from the bottle. They add a little bit of syrup and liquor and then voilà! You have Champagne.

By far the most rewarding part of the tour was the tasting!

The next day, all pumped up on our Champagne knowledge, we headed to the Mumm Cellar to catch the 5pm tour. DJB confirmed with security that the 5pm tour was a go and we headed to the main building where we were greeted by a snotty receptionist that told us the last tour had already departed at 4:30. Oh well, the tour was 20 euros each and you only received one sample! We headed to the Champagne tent at the Christmas market and treated ourselves to 40 euros worth of 5 euro a glass Champagne :)

"A meal without wine is breakfast, but breakfast is not breakfast without Champagne"

Merry Christmas

Thanks for reading! Have a great Christmas!

Reims

Reims, pronounced something along the lines of "RRRAAANCE" is the largest city in Champagne. It's only a 45 minute train ride from Paris, so it's a possible day trip, but in order to get the whole Champagne experience, we decided to spend two nights.

Reims is probably best know for its cathedral. This is where the crowning of the French kings occurred. It was heavily damaged during WW1 and is constantly under construction. 

It also has a large Christmas market. I think it is the third biggest in France.

Unlike the markets in Paris, this market was lacking in the food department (other than crepes). After wandering the city for hours, we were really tired and slightly cold. We needed something hearty and we stumbled upon this:

It was the best thing ever....

Reims is also where the Nazis surrendered to the Allies in WW2. The Musée de la Reddition is where you can find the actual map room where it happened. 

On the bottom right, I think you can actually see them tweeting the surrender.

There was also a Christmas fair, which for some reason had a haunted house. Nothing says Christmas like a haunted house. We did play a dart game, and won!

The food was one of the highlights of the trip. I swear it was half the price of a meal in Paris. We tended to take advantage of the menu, which was around 20 euros and included an entrée, plat, and desert. 

Entrée.

Plats.

Desert (Okay one of these is actually an appetizer). A "poire au vin rouge" is a must have.

Oh I almost forgot, we drank a ton of champagne. More on actual champagne later this week.

It's Christmas Eve! What better day to look at nice pictures of Champagne. Merry Christmas!

Black and Gold at Musee de la Mode

Skirt - Zara; Turtleneck - H&M; Pumps - NineWest; Tights - Calzedonia; Belt - BCBG; Ring and Earrings - Market in Paris; Watch - Michael Kors; Serpant Bracelet - Stella & Dot

Last week I finally successfully ventured to the Museum of Fashion at the Palais Galleria. The first time I had tried to visit this museum, it was under renovation so I was extremely happy that it had reopened and that the featured couturier was Azzedine Alaia. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed inside the venue which was a shame because there were some pretty amazing Alaia dresses on display. You may be unfamiliar with the designer but I'm sure you have seen his work on many celebrities including this classic Tina Turner ensemble as well as Rihanna at the 2013 Grammys. A few interesting tidbits I learned about the designer include that he does not have a store front and only holds fashion shows when he has something to show, on his own time frame.

I decided to be festive and wore all black and gold that day. I also incorporated gold hues into my eye makeup, which I don't do very often.