To Paris On A Cloud

I'm off to Paris. I'm flying there but if I could substitute a plane for a cloud, I would.

That's what I do when I'm in the plane and we are taking off. I close my eyes and imagine that I am floating in a cloud and that calms my heart. At least part of my heart. The other part is beating so fast and that cannot be helped for I am in love with Paris.
When I arrive, I will find my favorite corner florist and buy flowers for my room. I'm staying for ten days, why not wake up to flowers each morning?
Then, I'll set back out and have tea in a favorite cafe and try to believe I am there. I have been traveling to Paris for over 27 years now and each time I find myself in amazement that I am actually there. It's a magic that I never want to stop feeling.
I'll pay homage to my beloved Luxembourg Gardens and the Medici Fountain.
And I will never stop enjoying people watching like this man in purple pants!
Laduree will call out to me as I walk by...."macaroons for sale!"
Once I've finished walking for the day, I will head to Place Furstenburg for some peaceful beauty.
For fun, I will head to Palais Royal and watch the children race their tricycles. The joy on their faces match the joy in my heart. Beauty is everywhere!
And then, when it is time to leave, I will frame all my thoughts, photographic memories and dreams into gold frames that will stay with me as though I've mounted them on the walls of my heart. Au revoir! A bientot!

Ojai Beauty

After a wonderful weekend visiting my parents in S. California, we headed back out on the road ready for a scenic drive home. With life moving at a slower pace for a change, we decided we were in no hurry to reach our destination. I love Ojai and know that their farmer's market on Sunday is special, so Hwy 133 was our new path.

Ojai is a very artistic and spiritual community and you can feel the great energy amongst the small crowd at the market. We didn't want to leave even when we were finished shopping! So round and round we went taking pictures, sampling food and talking to interesting people.
How could we resist eggs named Lily?
The colors were blinding!
And radishes resting on a cardboard box were more charming than ever!
Sweet organic strawberries ....
The basket man from Dakar! Of course we bought a red one!
More astounding color
And soft green lettuce to finish!
And then, there is Bart's Books. Bart's is one of my most precious childhood memories. It is the most inviting bookstore ever and I spent hours and hours reading used books in quiet corners here with the sun peeking through the sky lights. Throwing coins in the slot to pay for books when the store is closed is just beyond charming.
Today they were brewing very strong, aromatic coffee and although I didn't stop long enough to browse through any books, I took comfort in knowing that Bart's was still there offering a place to rest, refresh and gather new ideas. Ojai means Valley of the Moon but today, in the full light of the sun, we appreciated her beauty.

Momentum

Peace and calm does not describe New York but then, I didn't go there to find that.

From the moment I walked out the door of the apartment where I was staying, I felt that each step on the pavement was like a strike of a key on a typewriter...I was writing a story just by being there.
My view from Anne Thompson's apartment was spectacular. New York simply has a way of making one's blood move faster through the veins... I felt so alive.
Anne was away and as they say, "while the cat's away the mice will play!"
I had to try on her Emmy award...
and her shoes...
In a quiet moment, I captured myself on film getting ready to go to Vera Wang's home for dinner. I wanted to remember what that moment looked like.
Vera, Peggy and I toasted our meeting with a generous vodka martini! The four hour evening was like a slow motion film...I absorbed as much as I could and am still seeing flashes of it in my mind.
740 Park Avenue was the childhood home of Jacqueline Bouvier and has been the home of countless amazing figures in our lifetime. Just stepping inside was like taking a step into history.
The next day, we enjoyed tea and cookies at the bar restaurant, One if by Land , Two if by Sea in Greenwich Village.
We also had a great time trying on clothes with Maria, Vera's assistant in her atelier.


Our evening with Peggy's agent Sue at Megu Restaurant, was a treat.
A month has passed since this trip and I have been asked so many times what will come of my meeting with Vera. My answer remains clear for me... It is difficult in life to see how everything we do and everything we experience adds up. Every minute of that trip counted and each experience is framed in my mind. The sum total of it (if we are adding) gives me momentum. Momentum to do more, feel more, create more, and desire more. Momentum that pushes me closer to living my dream. In life we have to find our inspiration and then we have to put momentum behind it...this is what came from my meeting with Vera.

How to Light a Heart

When I was a child, my father always lit the house with Christmas lights. He put angels and choir singers made from beautifully painted wood cut-outs on the front lawn and my Mom placed the Christmas tree in the front window. I looked forward to all of this each year...it was so exciting and everything that I could ask for to make the Season magical. Mostly, I loved the lights; the lights on the tree and the lights on the roofline of the house. ( Just as an aside, my first word spoken as a child, was "light")

Eventually, I had my own family and we started our own traditions, but somehow, we never had lights. Never. I have dreamed of it many times, and though it may seem like a simple thing to do, I just wanted to come home one day and see the house lit up--poof-- like magic! Yesterday, I returned from New York to our home that hadn't yet been decorated for the holidays. Life has been very busy and this was going to be the week. It was dark and Alain pulled in the driveway to let me out. I went to sleep, exhausted from my busy trip. Today, we were sitting at the breakfast table and he asked me when I had had the time to put a wreath on the front door. I was puzzled...what wreath? I ran to the door and opened it to find the most beautiful wreath that had been hung with a proper hanger ( I always tie my up with any ribbon I can find!). I knew immediately who had done it.... the day continued and as we were heading to the nursery to buy our tree, Alain asked me another question: when did I have time to light the tree in the front yard. I looked at him in amazement...what tree, what lights? I asked him to stop the car and I ran to the front yard and there they were...lights in the tree. I couldn't stop the tears from falling...He came up behind me and hugged me as I cried. It could only be Thierry.

Tonight, when the lights came on with their timer, my heart lit with them.

Christmas came early this year.

Thanksgiving

Leaves crackling under foot, smells of pie crusts and turkey mixing in the morning air, and simple visuals filling the mind and heart...Thanksgiving.

What Does It Feel Like.....

This morning I was asked the question "What does it feel like to be Carla Labat today?" The question demanded a pause....a pause because I wanted to answer it honestly. I responded, " Well, it's taken me a half a century to find my stride, but I have found it and I am embracing it and feeling so good in this time of my life!". The whole day, I carried this question with me. It made me look at things differently and made me listen to my feelings with a more careful ear. Thinking of me as "Carla Labat" instead of me, made me take myself more seriously. Not too seriously, but just the right dose. People worry about so many things as we get older; women especially. But instead of worrying about aging and the physical appearance it makes, ask yourself what if feels like to be you today. Carry your answer around with you for awhile and know that you can change any portion of it that doesn't feel just right.

As important the question was that was asked of me, even more important was the person who asked it. Camille asked me. I feel so fortunate to have a daughter who takes the time to think of me in this way. I am her mother, but also, by chance I forget, I am Carla Labat. So very thankful, today and always.

"to kiss a woman's hand in public"

This morning I awoke early and headed to the farmer's market to find treasures for tonight's dinner. While deciding on some winter vegetables I looked over to the flower stand across the way and spotted a distinguished white-haired gentleman greeting a woman with a kiss to her hand. He had a gleam in his eye and she had color in her cheeks. I took a deep breath; actually, I think I let out a loud sigh and continued on picking the best of the carrots. Driving back home, I remembered a manuscript I had saved from who knows where on one of my favorite topics, kissing a woman's hand. And here I share with you these excerpts from J. Newhouse's manuscript... I hope it makes you sigh out loud!

"When I first came to Hollywood, it was still the custom to kiss the hand of a woman to whom you were introduced. It is, indeed, a grave loss for civilization that the genteel gesture has become extinct....

You know nothing other than her name, uttered just before the moment of truth, but if you are astute, if you've trained your senses, you can, in kissing a woman's hand, learn everything that there is to know about her. As your face lowers toward the hand, note well its position: does it veer out from the wrist, away from her body, or straight ahead? What rings or bracelets are on display? Are the fingers held close together in modesty, spread apart in wantonness, or do they find their own natural comfort. Is there a tremble or a steadiness? Listen! What does she say during the public hand-kiss, and when and how does she say it? Silence suggests that she's savoring the touch and is impassioned. The signals will most likely be unconscious on her part; she will be telling you things that she does not even know, or if she knows them, would not dare to utter.

And when the act is complete, do not simply drop her hand. Make a gesture as if giving it back to her, as if it has been something with which she has entrusted you, and you have taken care of it. Give her back her hand as if for safekeeping and that hand will want to return to your lips like a bird returning to a safe and comfortable perch. And then, as you let go of it, look deeply into her eyes and smile slightly, only slightly, but in a way that suggests that you want to beam with joy and are restraining yourself only because others are present. Absolutely nothing has happened and yet two people, unbeknownst to anyone, have, in a fleeting moment, had the love affair of a lifetime."