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”?
