Fragrant jasmine....my favorite scent...

The kitchen smelled like jasmine this afternoon.

When I work at home all day, there's nothing more enjoyable than stepping out quickly in the evening to get some bread, wine or flowers. Here the shops are opened until 9pm. Yesterday, after working indoors all day on a new project, at 8pm, it was time to get some fresh air and see the world. Buying flowers in the evening is one of my favorite things : their freshness makes me feel like the day is starting again. There are two flower shops in the village and luckily, one is very close to the house. I bought some white carnations with a bunch of baby's breath and green foliage and also, I couldn't resist to take this beautiful jasmine plant with me. It's already quite tall and has myriads of flowers. Jasmine is one of my favorite scents. So much so that I placed it in the living room then in the kitchen so its scent would follow me everywhere in the house. Tomorrow morning only, I will put it in its designated place in the patio. Hopefully, the sun will kiss it gently and make it grow beautifully.

Another nice flower I had the pleasure to receive is the Beautiful Blogger award from Penny of PK Studios some weeks ago.

My blog is by principle (and mostly laziness) award-free but I thought for once, I would breach my my own rules and step out of my mutism.
So the rules of the game are : Tell 7 things about you.
Here we go....

1) My childhood memories are very sweet. My two sisters and I were born and raised in the south of France, in Aix-en-Provence. The collines de Provence (hills of Provence) were close to paradise to me. Also, my mom used to make cute little dresses for my sisters and me. I can still remember some of them ! particularly a summer dress with a lovely cherry print

2) Sorry, childhood again....I feel too emotional about the places I cherished in my childhood. Going back to Aix-en-Provence in a way implies some sort of suffering because of nostalgia. One Christmas, not long ago, my younger sister gave me a box of calissons, this exquisite sweet which is made in Provence. I just had one bite and started to cry. We used to have them every sunday after church in our childhood. It's my madeleine de Proust.

3) In fact, I seem to fall in love strongly with places. I was an English student and spent one year in Ireland after my 2nd year. I loved it so much that for me, it was the place where I would spend, part of my life, no doubt. Then I went back to France then spent one year at the University of Virginia and again thought I'd spent part of my life in the States. But I came back to France.

4) I also fall in love with languages. Well some more than others. German was my second language and I wasn't too keen on it but I studied Latin for 6 years and adored it ! I'm a bit old fashioned in terms of education and think Latin is important.

5) I love Andalusia but miss Paris from time to time...especially to keep up with the movies, exhibitions and the cakes of course...One thing I'm quite chauvinistic about is French pastry! I even made a special pillar covered with names of French pastries : puits d'amour, (well of love), poire Belle Hélène, sabayon, millefeuilles, charlotte, tropézienne, opéra, napolitain, bavarois....These are names which sing !

6) I wonder if perfectionism is really a quality. I'm a perfectionist and it actually makes me act stupid at times. But I try to work on it. I'll just tell you this funny story when I started to exhibit my handmade stationary for the first time at Scènes d'Intérieur, at the Maison & Objet show in Paris, in the mid 90s. There is this journalist from Marie-Claire Maison who obviously likes my work and asks me how about having a 10 page article about my work, the workshop, the house, me, my cat, bla bla...Instead of saying yes, I would be delighted, I visualize the total mess of the workshop, the general mess of the house and I say no, I don't think the place is good enough and that I'm not ready! She walks away surely thinking I'm completely stupid.
But don't worry, this was when I was young and stupid. Time has passed and I realized that my perfectionism was strongly linked to a lack of confidence.

7) all in all, love is THE THING. Yes, this I'm sure about !

I hope you didn't feel asleep with all my bla bla...

Now, the rules of the game are to pass on this award to 10 bloggers. So I'm very happy to pass this award to some blogger friends I discovered more or less recently

1) Theresa from Art's the answer - I just love the topics of her posts...and she's captivating

2) Don from Ffocuss - a superb photographer which combines his pics with subtle quotes

3) David from Global Around Town - for his refreshing cultural posts and sense of humor - my favorite Epicurian

4) Michael from Oia Santorini - the Aegan sea has never been more beautiful and Oia found its poet

5) Mel from Rêverie - she adds this very special sweetness and she's a wonderful person !

6) Gym from The Sandpit Club - her short anecdotes are very addictive. She's also my friend and neighbor and can tell you, she's great !

7) Agneta from Wabi & Sabi - her imagery is always beautiful and so is she

8) Susanna from Tres cosas hermosas - always interesting, very lively and she's the only Spanish girl I know who speaks fluently English and Chinese

9) Kristin from A Page of Inspiration - her blog is really a page of inspiration for me - also she loves Nice which is one of my favorite places

10) Ry from Sotto Il Monte Vineyards - I love her ambiance and her little peregrinations

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I resumed my series of simple romantic breakfasts on my other blog Un mariage au soleil. Go and have a look here....

Have a wonderful week end !