Category Archives: Blogs

Girls Guide to Paris party

Posted in American in Paris, Blogs, Events, Expat, Fun, Paris, tourist, travel, trendy, Uncategorized by

Gathering a slew of Paris bloggers and personalities for a coupe or two of bubbly at a fashion boutique on the Faubourg Saint Honoré,  seemed like a fabulous idea to me. Sign me up!

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Towards the end of November Girls Guide to Paris threw a cocktail party at the Michael Kors boutique on the Faubourg Saint Honoré to promote their GO Card wich gives you exclusive access and discounts around Paris….what a fabulous place to have a coupe and mingle with other expats, bloggers and fashion people… Continue reading →

Prête-Moi Party

Posted in Accessories, Blogs, DIY, Paris, parisian, Pretty!, vintage, wine by

So the Prête-Moi Paris 4 year blogiversary fête was a hit and a success. Complete with a vintage fashion show, champagne, and a raffle for prizes, it was a feast of pink fluff, cupcakes and DIY!

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Sion of Paris Imperfect and Gail of Perfectly Paris ; Meg of De Quelle Planète Es-Tu? Lisa of Ella Coquine  Mary Kay of Out And About in Paris and Patricia of Patricia Parisienne have all written posts on the event. Thanks ladies! You make me sound waaay too fab! *blushing*

It was a fabulous gathering of our little blogging community in Paris, most of us expats, but a Frenchy and a best friend or two and the crowd was well mixed albeit largely feminine (yeah girl power!). Chéri high-tailed it far away for the evening. Something tells me all those pink puff scared him a little. But being the absolute chéri that he is, he helped me clean up every last sequin sparkle and cupcake crumb when it was all over. I am truly a lucky woman.

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Prête-Moi Paris turns 4!

Posted in Accessories, Apéro, Blogs, Pretty!, vintage by

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My little pink blog is four years old this month. I can hardly believe that it has been so long already! Hmm actually, yes I can believe it. For such an simple and sweet publication it certainly demands a lot of my attention and energy… not always abundant when working a full time job as well.

But I haven’t given it up because it gives me such satisfaction and is my instantaneous creative gratification. Plus I get to share MY Paris with all of you! ♥

Tonight I am having a little fête to celebrate these past four years of Fashion, bubbly, gourmandise and DIY blogging in Paris, with a handful of bloggers and friends. And to share the love, I am showcasing a few friends’ brands at the party : Vintage Galerie, Kasia Dietz bags, Mon Champagne, Sugar Daze cupcakes and Cleopatra’s Bling.

Joyeux anniversaire Prête-Moi Paris!
Here’s to many more….

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A Little Paris Café Story

Posted in American in Paris, Blogs, Café, Charming, Dairy Free, Expat, Foodie, Paris, trendy by

P1200777So my dear friend Quinn (who has just very recently left Paris for the Land Down Under to follow her ♥ -but she will be back someday, let’s say in like 2-3 years…) has been going to a café in the 9th for well over a year. And she has been going, religiously. I think she’s still the Mayor on Foursquare even though she is no longer in Paris! She kept telling me to go there, and me never “finding the time” to hike over there put it off and off. And then Quinn left… :-( Her café of choice? : Kooka Boora.
P1200752 Continue reading →

My @ExpatsBlog Writing Contest Entry

Posted in American in Paris, Blogs, Expat by

I have written a fun little post for Expats Blog who is holding a writing contest. They have 80…yes 80! entries!!! So I need all the help I can get!

Just wanted to give you all a heads up, in case you wanted to show some love and head over to their site to read it and comment on it at the bottom of the article! Each comment gets me more votes!!! So please add your “two cents”!

I wrote an article about what I think are the top ten Complaint/Clichés in the city of Paris. A little humor to get you through the week!?!

Bises!

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Pretty Paris Pictures : Snow!

Posted in Blogs, Charming, City of Paris, Outdoors, Paris, photography, Pretty!, Uncategorized by

I am sure every Paris based blogger has been posting articles about the snow blanketed city of lights! Thanks to the delightful powdering by mother nature we all got to enjoy winter for once in the city-that-rarely-gets-snow.

So now, allow me to add mine to the list. :-)

Also you can visit Le Figaro’s collection of photos of Paris under the snow, where you can see how pretty it is, and Parisians having fun, and *gasp* helping eachother!

I also enjoyed A French Frye In Paris’ post with pictures of all the snowy playfulness in Montmartre!

Enjoy!

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Snowy Paris rooftop Continue reading →

♥ Prête-Moi Paris celebrates 3 years! ♥

Posted in American in Paris, Blogs, Delicious!, Expat, Pretty! by

♥ ♥ ♥

Moi, Photo by Kasia Dietz

So Prête-Moi Paris turned 3 years old very recently (plus I am celebrating 10 years since my arrival in Paris!!!) and I thought I deserved a party….so I threw one!

Within just one month’s time of organisation, I gathered together some of the best people and elements I know in the City of Lights, to collaborate with and help me create and event that not only I would enjoy and celebrate but where my friends could benefit too! There was champagne, and cupcakes and frills and a specially made cocktail (a recipe post is in the works), and lots of pink, and sweets, and awesome prizes that were raffled off (for free of course) so that I could promote some of my favorite brands and services that I have blogged about or tested over the past three years.

Happy 3rd Birthday Prête-Moi Paris! from Prete Moi Paris on Vimeo. Continue reading →

A week in the life of Prête-Moi Paris !

Posted in American in Paris, Blogs, Paris, parisian by

Life has its ups, life has its downs, (it’s a roller coaster ride really), and there’s all that inbetween time that we stuff full of activities, writing blogs, scrolloing thousands of tweets, devouring books, chatting over wine, riding the metro to work and back, grocery shopping and oh so many more things, until life feels like one big race for time. A train chugginng at a breakneck speed down the track of an existence. Have you seen how fast it has been going lately?!? 2012?!? WTF!!!! How did we get here so fast? And why am I in my thirties already?!? LOL!

ok so, let’s ignore those questions.

I would rather recap a fun week in the life of Prête-Moi Paris, and show you how I fill my time. I was saying to someone the other day how I could hardly believe that it was already over two years that I had been writing this blog, and it has really given me the opportunity to do and see so many fun and fabulous things. And let me tell you, it certainly helps fill up all that time I keep chasing after! Although, granted, not every week is as jam-packed as last week, many of them are.

Photo by Quinntessential Style blog

In addition to my day job at Hermès, I also ran around to various events, most of them brought about because of the connections I have made and opportunities I take via the platform of this little Paris blog, and thanks to social media, like facebook and twitter, wordpress and fourquare, where the extent of a modern woman’s reach in this world is endless. I never would have met such cool and talented people nor would I be living such a full life were it not for these tools that I have put to great use.

Me and Gail of Perfectly Paris at Ô Château

Monday : After putting in a full day of work, I headed over to Ô Chateau for some wine with a big group of twitterites, most of them anglophone for the 2012 edition of the annual event organised by Pricilla of Weekend In Paris. It was great to catch up with friends I don’t get to see as often as I’d like since they like myself are also chasing after that slippery critter “time”, and meet new faces and interesting contacts, like Sofiane MOURAH of Ambiancity who’s created a fabulous business concept that I was (and am) totally enthusiastic over. It’s kitch and it’s fantastic!!! Check it out!

Tuesday : I was off from the day job and had filled my schedule with fashion shows for Couture Week in Paris. I love couture week! It’s not as much of a frenzy as prête-à-porter week, people are nicer and more champagne is served! After a morning of catching up on email, blogging and laundry, I went to see Didit Hediprasetyo‘s show at the Crillon palace hotel, thenI skipped over to Claudine Ivari’s presentation in her boutique at the Ritz hotel (which is sadly closing for 2 years to complete a total renovation of the historic building). Then I sauntered over to the 6th near Odéon to see Basil Soda‘s show at the Couvent des cordeliers. Early to the venue, I decided to grab a quick Starbucks nearby before baring through the bitter wait in the cold January rain. Fashion shows always start late! And the last event of the day was the Julien Fournié show at the Showcase club where I met up with my friend and fashion pal Quinn from Quinntessential style blog. More waiting in the rain… and then thankfully when we made it inside we were invited to sit (hallaluhia) …front row! More fashion blog posts will follow soon for the rest of these shows, I promise (just as soon as I find the TIME to write them!). Tuesday was mighty exhausting, with much running around town, dozens of metro rides, intervals of rain, and then there’s the constant umbrella obstruction, the cold and the lack of time to eat… As much fun as I had, I was glad when I crawled into bed. Yet the glass of champagne after the last show was a welcome delight! And we got our mugs shot by Runway magazine.

Runway magazine : photo by Ko Kok

Wednesday : After another full day of work, I ran over to the Shangri-La palace hotel for another couture show; this one for Eva Minge which was 55 minutes late in starting! I was glad to have a seat and chat with my pal Octave who I found next to me (Octave is afashion student and writes for Mademoiselle à Paris). After that I booked it over to my dinner invitation where Chéri and I were served a gorgeous Asian meal with chic company, just around the corner from the Elysées palace. We took a taxi home with full and happy bellies and finally turned out the lights at 2am. Aïe! The morning alarm was only a handful of hours away…

Thursday : With deepening under-eye circles, after work I headed just around the corner to meet Kasia Dietz for a wine tasting event at the new hotel with a wine bar, hôtel du Ministère near la Madeleine. Judith who runs the bar is the most wine enthusiastic person I have ever met! She threw a fun little shindig with bloggers a plenty in attendance and even a lifestyle reporter from the New York Times. We tasted some fabulous wine and won some fabulous prizes! If only this could be a weekly tradition! I stayed longer than I had anticipated I was enjoying myself so much, and I completely forgot how tired I was!

Wine tasting at the Hôtel du Ministère

Friday : After a long day at work where I got to visit the Hermès site in Pantin and observe the purchasing of the Fall/Winter 2012-2013 collections for all the different sectors, I ran over to Mademoiselle Rose to pick up my wedding shoes that had been dyed blue! And the rest of the soirée was reserved for Chéri.

Saturday : After work I was supposed to head over tot he opening of the new bakery Cake Bake in the 10th with a bunch of other Paris bloggers, but my feet just couln’t drag me there. (Is this was being in your thirties means???) I made it as far as the Tuileries bar of the Westin hotel, where Chéri and I ordered a glass of relaxation and chatted quietly in the large English leather armchairs, munched on rosmary herbed cashew nuts and let the fatigue of the week slip to the bottom of our shoes.

Sunday : Is for blogging, watching movies and if we can muster the courage, a stroll somewhere in Paris.

Blog birthday number 2!

Posted in American in Paris, Blogs by

I can hardly believe it has been two years since I began this little blog. Time has literally flown by!

I will be celebrating by taking a much needed rest today, kicking my feet up, sipping a giant cup of tea and curling up with Chéri on the couch in front of a movie most likely. And if I am feeling ambitious, maybe make some lactose free cookies!

But for all of my lovely readers, I thought I would do a little reminiscing over my favorite articles from the past two years for those who would like to re-read or for those who have not discovered all of the archives yet. In return,  I would love to hear from all of you, which posts you have appreciated the most!

Bisous! And cheers to another great year of blogging!

My favorite Paris article : So many to chose from…how to pick my favorite!?! I think I am going to have to say it is “Spring in Paris” published on March 26, 2011 for it’s simplicity, beauty and it captures a moment in Parisian existence that is heart lifting…the first appearances of Spring. After long gray winters, many fully packed metro rides and heavy winter coats…there is finally a moment when Spring breathes new life into the city of Paris and the Parisians. We suddenly smile more at each other, café terraces fill with laughing faces and conversation, the birds start singing and there is the magic of the budding trees that seems to paint the city for yet another breath-taking season of Spring…

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My favorite tourist friendly post : Obviously this one is the one about the free toilettes!!! “The Necessary” published on March 28, 2011. I still chuckle when I think of myself snapping photos in there!

My favorite Expat article : Another toss up…. oh how to chose! It’s hard to chose between “Mac Attack” published on February 20, 2011 relating a humorously frustrating  event in my life involving macarons of course; “To see or not to see…” published on March 11, 2011 and is a heartfelt rant about people who refuse cultural integration that brought up some very heated discussions; and “L’herbe est toujours plus verte dans le pré d’à côté” published on November 19, 2010 and touches on all the emotional stages that many expats in Paris go through. I am going to go for this last one, because not only was it written with humor, but it was also written under the intent of offering something to my expat readers to help the understand the emotions that fluster us all as we grapple with when trying to transplant our lives here in this ever-frustrating, ever awe-inspiring city.

My favorite rant : So then I suppose that favorite rant MUST go to “To see or not to see” because man that post got me a LOT of attention! ;)

My favorite fashion post : Without a doubt my favorite fashion post is about my friend Kasia Dietz and her hand bag designs. I love who she is, what she does, and I love her bags! May 8, 2011 “Kasia Dietz – a natural born artist“.

My favoite shoe post : This one is also an easy choice! Because master shoe maker, Vicente Rey, was so kind to agree to an interview with me, and I am very inspired by his creativity and his dedication to the work he does as opposed to making a giant market out of his talent. He works mostly on custom designs, he is a true artist. The article “Vicente Rey rayonne – Vicente Rey shines” was published on October 30, 2010.

My favorite luxury article : Oh boy… this is hard to chose. There are so many luxuries, big and small to experience her in the city of light! Between my post about the Serge Lutens boutique, “Serge Lutens – a voyage for the senses” published on January 3, 2011; my fun Louboutin post, “Prendre son pied- Get your kicks” from March 13, 2010; or “Best girlfriend date ever!” published on March 8, 2011 where I relate a fun and inexpensive girlie night out in Paris; and then my post “Bubbly at the Crillon” where my friend Milla and I indulged like princesses on champagne… Honestly I cannot chose.

My favorite food article : Another easy selection… “When your best friend is a foodie” published on March 31, 2011 because that was a meal made with so much love! and it was delicious!!!

Favorite Paris monument post : No monumental experience can top the one I had at the Opéra de Paris that I wrote about in my article : “Théâtre des rêves – Dream theater” published on May 6, 2010. It was literally a dream of mine to stand on that stage and do a pirouette. I still can hardly believe that I have been able to do that!!!!