This has been that weekend in January. The one where all the signs of the Holiday Season have been dismantled and nestled away in their proper resting places until next Christmas. The pillows and lights and decorations will be in a deep slumber until the end of this coming November when they will be, once again, sparkling and shining and making everyone filled with happiness and fond memories.
A small sampling of what was packed yesterday. Good bye until later this year!!
There is always a sense of bittersweet tone of melancholy whenever I take the decorations down. I get a flush of sadness and emptiness because the kids are no longer home. They have their own lives and carry on without the need from me. I know—it is so self-centered—but hey, I’m still a mom. And its okay to feel that way.
As an aside, we started the weekend off by watching “Being There” on Friday evening. I hadn’t seen this movie since 1979 when it first came out and I saw it in the theatre. It was better and more meaningful watching it in 2017! Trust me–if you have the opportunity, watch this before the next president is sworn in. Oh god, the great Peter Sellers was such a genius. He is missed!
The house looks barren and empty with the absence of the reds and greens of Christmas. I think that’s why I love my sun room so much. The reds make me happy and it’s the most inviting and cozy corner of the home.
No more evergreens, ribbons and lights on the stairways. Ugh. Now I have to dust!
Festive pillows have been replaced. The cabinets are no longer embellished.
Little nooks are no longer holiday themed..
All is monochromatic in whites and creams–and another project is having the ridiculously expensive Ethan Allen sofa reupholstered with more goose down.
The newest addition to our walls is this painting of Bonaparte’s sister Agnes, who passed away some time ago. It had been in Daniele’s apartment and we were lucky to have acquired it during our last visit to Paris.
The sun room always remains my favorite cozy spot. I love it here!
I did manage to salvage the few poinsettias that I didn’t destroy and I’ll keep them as long as possible.
The poinsettias are enjoying themselves in a sunny nook of the kitchen. I hope they will be around for a while!
But now that things are back to normal, I have to admit I enjoy resuming our winter weekend routines.
Bonaparte enjoying HIS routine of taking Chippy out to do his business..
…while I just loll around taking photos of my boots and bag for Instagram!
Yesterday was snowy and cold. And running some early morning errands lent itself well to my coming home; to not only take the remainder of the decorations down, but to give me respite in my kitchen. It was back to our Saturday evening dinners for the two of us. Starting with the aperitifs and ending with Bonaparte finishing off the remainder of my uneaten meal.
Part of my Saturday fun is the prep work for the dinners. Yesterday, the shallots were diced, the dried cherries were reconstituted in Cognac for the cream sauce. The hens were buttered and seasoned well-ahead of time, the duck fat was purchased for the potatoes and the rosemary was grinded by hand in my mortar and pestle!
Mushrooms poached in Cognac (can you tell I love cooking with Cognac?) for a great side dish..
…the potatoes were beautifully cooked in the duck fat (I had ONE little cube–Bonaparte was very happy)..
And the hen turned out delicious. I’m a fan of Cornish Hen because it is a welcome change from chicken.
Today has me in my Sunday routine of no makeup, a roller set to give my hair a break from blow drying and lazing around in comfy PJ bottoms and a tee shirt.
Makeup free and my hair in rollers. I am the quintessence of pulchritude!
I also baked some chocolate chip cookies for a co-worker. His birthday was last week, so it’s a belated birthday gift from me. Better late than never I suppose!
I hope these taste good. I’m back in diet mode so these are off limits to me!
Chippy is enjoying having the sofas in the house all to himself. And as I look around the chateau, I remembered that our new project is to find a handyman to hang up curtain rods in the living room. We need to have window coverings made to give the room some warmth. I’ve been procrastinating and probably will continue to do so on this subject.
Someone is glad to have the sofas back to himself. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by the need to restuff the Ethan Allen sofa (Ugh–this sofa is a headache for me).
And another project is window coverings for these two windows!
Oh. And don’t think I didn’t forget that I need to get back to my weekly weight loss posts. I will return to posting later this week. I really did overindulge over Christmas—but that’s over and it is back to carefully watching what I’m eating.
But in keeping up with what I’ve been wearing—here’s a look at some of the ensembles I put together this past week!
Monday’s look was catwalk in leopard spots! I love this skirt I got on sale at J. Crew Factory! The weight is a heavy one for the winter!
Tuesday–Black & Tan! I love my inexpensive over-the-knee boots!!
Wednesday was a very lady-like day for me in this lady jacket from J. Crew–which I got for half price. I think this was Wednesday. Maybe it was Thursday. I forgot to take a photo of one of the days this week!
Jeans Friday! I wanted to add a feminine touch to this otherwise kind of masculine look so I added a touch of bling in the form of a fun necklace!
I got dressed up to run errands yesterday because the jacket I literally coveted and dreamed about is now mine. I got it on sale and I’m going to start a post about this jacket and other sale items after I publish this post. This is my favorite look of the week. You have no idea how much I am in love with this jacket. The Daniel Wellington watch the kids gave me for Christmas is also getting a ton of love from me.
And that is my weekend! I hope you are having a lovely snowy weekend–stay toasty and warm!! And have fun!!
Since life is back to two in the house, what would be a more fitting song than to give you Bill Withers and “The Two Of Us”?
Love your decor, and I really love the painting of Agnes! Glad you enjoyed your holidays, and looking forward to hearing about that jacket!
Hi Lori! isn’t the painting beautiful! I’ll be posting about the jacket tomorrow. This evening i will be torturing myself with the Golden Globes!!! XOXOXXOXO!!!
What a treat to have watched Being There again. It is one of my all time favorites. The Character of Chauncy Gardner is priceless and Dom and I have discussed the political similarities many times. But I think Chauncy would make a better President.
Hi Bernadette! We had a long discussion about the relevance of Being There and like, you we both agreed that Chauncy would be a far better president than old orange ade! XOXOXOXO!!!
That jacket – wow! I think I would almost kill for it! I am looking forward to hearing all about it! Such a lovely nostalgic post, yes, Christmas is over, but life goes on, and you have lovely memories to sustain you and so much to look forward to,
Thanks, as always, Catherine, for sharing your life so generously with us. Xx
Hi Judy! Yeah. That jacket is pretty darned epic. I’m so in love with it and can’t wait to post!! XOXOXOXO!!!
Thank you again for a great post! I enjoyed every single bit of it!!
From a fellow 60 year old… in the rainy, windy…San Francisco Bay Area
Hi Renee! Oh…that rainy San Fran area. It may be windy and rainy but at least it isn’t snowy…and the price point of real estate. Ouch! So expensive!!! XOXOXOXOXO!!!
I am working on getting our decorations put away as well. It really is a bittersweet feeling, isn’t it?
I love your jacket and can’t wait to hear all about it.
I also indulged over the holidays, but then I came down with that cold/crud that everyone seems to have had, is having, or has just gotten over. My appetite was zero, so I’m kinda hoping that in the end, it will be a wash, weight-wise …
Have a good week and keep warm!
HI Bridget. I swear having a flu shot ruined any chance of a lack of appetite for me. I thought I had a cold coming on but it dissipated! My appetitie never waned and now I’m paying for it! Oh well, at least I’m able to realize that now–right???? XOXOXOXO!!!
Catherine – The painting is so sweet and beautiful. Made me smile. Your tackling the end of Christmas clean up and pack/put away made me laugh out loud. Such fun! Hello 2017!
Hi Jeanne! Thanks. I love that painting of Agnes! In my family we only have ripped old black and white photos–but Bonaparte’s family is so classy..They all have paintings of themselves!! LOL!!! XOXOXOXO!!!
Rockstar you for getting Christmas packed away! We had planned on removing the mammoth tribute to Hallmark that is our tree but, sadly this weekend we were a house of mourning. Our 13 year old kitty was not well over the holidays ( as in suddenly unwell) not eating etc. Turned out he had cancer in his abdomen that was taking him down fast on Thursday night his Dad, two brothers and his mom gathered to send him off to the great litter box in the sky, Nobody felt like taking down the tree under which he had supervised Christmas for so many years…removing the décor will be bittersweet this year for sure.
That painting of your husband’s sister is adorable what a wonderful piece to have!
Congrats for only eating one cube of those potatoes, I have eaten fries cooked in duck fat miam miam, you are to be commended on your awesome willpower:)
Aww. Momcat. My sympathies are with you and your family. Losing a pet is losing a family member it’s so much more. I feel for you.
Everyone in B’s family has really cool portraits. We have one of his other sister Isabelle and it has to be reframed. The painting is huge and I love it so I’m excited to have it framed. Don’t commend me on my willpower because I ate one cube. I made up for it in other gluttonous ways during the Christmas Season and now I’m back to square one!! XOXOXOXO!!!
Thanks for the post, Catherine. Yes, the house always seems rather naked when all the Christmas décorations have been put away. But another bright year awaits us, eh ?
On another topic, in an earlier post, you mentionned looking round for a discount pharmacie in France, like the one you used to shop at in Paris. Well, just to say that there is a chain of pharmacies called Lafayette in practically all the big towns and cities in France who are famous for their low prices and large choice in the parapharmacie department. All the top names are sold plus more. I’M sure you’ll be able to find one near to where you will be staying.
Bises xx
Oh Rosemary. THANK YOU! I wrote the name of the pharmacy chain down and will be finding locations near where we stay. I’ll be hanging out there for sure!!
Big Bises to you for that!! XOXOXOXO!!!
I actually love taking down the decorations—I feel a sense of openness and newness!!
In fact, we just did it this weekend, and then switched around the furniture!!
Happy days!
jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Jodie–it’s so funny that you mention switching around furniture! I almost did that yesterday! But you’re right–there definitely is a sense of openness and looking around, we realize that we have more projects!! XOXOXOXO!!!
What a gorgeous post – your house is beautiful, and Agnes – she is beautiful really beautiful
Thanks Juliet! I dig our little, humble Chateau! That’s a nice compliment—thank you! Oh…Bonaparte’s sisters were gorgeous. But his mother was a great beauty so the gene pool was a very good one!! XOXOXOXO!!!
Being There – a favourite of the husband and as it is set in DC, we will have to watch again. Just the Two of Us – perfect song with great lyrics, great vocals, percussion and sax solo. As you have probably gathered snowy days are not my thing and I feel such a stranger in a strangeland. But as Gloria Gaynor says “I will survive”.
Hi Yvonne! Oh..after we watched the movie, we both agreed that another trip to DC is in order very shortly. We haven’t been there since the summer!! I LOVE Bill Withers. All of his songs put me such a great and relaxed state of mind!! “Stranger in a Strange Land”–are you a Heinlen fan???? XOXOXOXO!!!
No, not keen on Science Fiction at all but love the title. Watched Being There last night and Richard laughed so much. Not dated one bit and interesting parallels with today on control in politics. The mansion is Biltmore – boy did the US have some rich, rich families. Richard flicked to the iPad occasionally to look at the College football score. Love to meet up if you have a chance when you come to DC. We are going to Paris and Madrid for inauguration week as R has a conference and meeting. Last went to Paris in 2005.