Paris Dreaming

 

Paul and I went to the best concert on Saturday night - an Edith Piaf tribute with jazz band and dancers too. Singer Mandy Meadows is local, but I first saw her in a YouTube video filmed at a jazz club in Soho, London.

 

 

She did Edith's songs proud, and it was a real show, with a history lesson woven in as well. It was also nice to see almost a full house.

What a lovely night out!

You can see the London show below on YouTube. If you are a French music fan it's fab! And if you get a chance to see it live it's even better.

 

Thank you Mandy for an amazing evening.

 

~~

 

 

I bought myself a treat at the Honolulu airport Starbucks, a special Waikiki mug for my morning tea. The inside is the cheeriest orange you could imagine. It makes me happy just looking at it 🧡🧡🧡

~~

 

It's lightening up in the morning now that we are getting closer to the end of winter. And even though I am a person who really appreciates rain and cozy weather, I am quite ready for spring and summer! Perhaps because we missed summer last year...

I know those of you in the northern hemisphere will be looking forward to cooler weather, and gosh, poor California and northwards with tropical storm Hilary. My thoughts are with you.

The weather world seems to be a crazy place at the moment, no?

And in other news, I am busy writing my next book. I took a little break to recharge but am now about half-way through this latest book, with a couple more started. So hopefully I will have a few out in quick succession. Who can tell. Certainly not me!

I wish you a brilliant rest of the week. And please let me know if you have any fun weekend plans.

My fun plans are staying at home and writing, and I'm also doing a little bit of sewing.

I am shortening my wide-leg linen pants (two pairs) to be on the ankle bone rather than really long. That way I can wear them with heels or flats, and not just heels. Plus I think they can be casual or dressy too, being slightly shorter.

And, there are just a few more days left for my book sale.

The Kindle copy of 'Thirty Chic Days Vol. 3: Nurturing a happy relationship, staying youthful, being your best self, and having a ton of fun at the same time' has 70% off, and the print copy is much reduced as well.

Both paperback and Kindle versions are here at my Amazon affiliate link.

And if you prefer an Amazon alternative, you can order the eBook here from my eStore.

Happy reading!

xx Fiona

 

Rockin' Rod Stewart concert - we went!

 

 

Hello chic friends!

 

I hope you had a lovely Easter weekend.

We were lucky enough to see Rod Stewart in concert on Saturday night, right here in Hawke’s Bay.

He gave such a good show too. I loved the start with Scottish bagpipes which turned into a rocking ‘Addicted To Love’ complete with hot guitar playing girls!

 

 

I love how Rod has fun with his performance and really seemed to be enjoying himself even though he’s probably repeated the show hundreds of times.

What a legend! And an inspiration at 78!

I didn’t see her but a friend told me that his wife Penny Lancaster was there too, wandering around up the front taking selfies with people. How cool is that!

Mind you, if you were Rod’s wife you’d probably stick close too :)

All in all a good night and it didn’t even rain like it was meant to. Phew!

 

And, we got our internet back on the next day. After seven weeks!! Hallelujah. I’m so grateful!

 

 

How about this beautiful autumn sunset the other night? It was fleeting but spectacular.

 

 
Little Micky Dog gets tucked in at night, but then migrates onto the carpet complete with blanket :)

Is his bed too comfortable I wonder? Or too cozy?

Apparently he has always been a floor sleeper. Funny wee thing. He's such a honey.

That's all for this week, wishing you a good one :)

xx Fiona

 

 

Number one best seller! Thank you!

Everyday elegance on a budget

Do you save elegance for special occasions?  I used to, but the shame is that there’s not that many special occasions to go around.  Instead of waiting for those one or two times a year when I was invited to a wedding or special dinner, I decided to make elegance  an everyday indugence.

At first it felt decadent and yes a little bit wasteful, but most of the new things I was doing weren’t even costing me a lot of money.  Mostly they were free, so just why was I resisting it so much?  Did I feel like I needed a reason to be fancy?

I’m very pleased to report that I no longer hold back.  Daily life at Chez Fiona is an elegant extravaganza.  Here are some of my favourite ways to bring elegance into your everyday.  I hope you enjoy them!

An alluring derriere

Buy lacy panties instead of solid fabric – in black, cream and pretty colours.  I love shopping at Victoria’s Secret when they have a special offer and their lacy undies are very soft.  Scratchy lace is not good!  My underwear drawer looks so lovely now with my bright/dark/pastel/pale selection of lacy knickers.  Cleaning out underwear that is past its best or nearing past its best make a huge difference in how you feel about yourself.

Your own life soundtrack

Play background music softly when at home.  Classical strings such as Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto is simply beautiful and uplifting, even if you’re ‘not a classical person’.  And Carla Bruni music always makes me feel good.  Have you heard her sing?  Her music is like you’re being sung to by a very chic angel.

Bombshell eyes

Try new makeup techniques – I have been learning how to apply bombshell eyeshadow lately by doing it every day, even if I’m not going anywhere.  Not only have I been getting better at it with practice, but it’s fun to rock the smokey-eyed look even if I’m only going to walk the dogs in our paddock.  I look at it as bringing a little bit of the fashion world to the country.

A beautiful mind

Think elegant thoughts.  Even using the word ‘elegance’ as a mantra helps me move in a lovelier way.  When I channel someone elegant such as Coco Chanel, I more effortlessly make good decisions when it comes to what I’m going to have for lunch, whether I’m going to read a book or watch television, and what I’m going to wear that way.

Mona Lisa

Employ the mysterious half-smile technique until it becomes second nature.  You will look beguiling.  You might have heard me mention before that as we age, our mouths naturally turn down.  To not look like you’ve sucked a lemon, have a tiny smile on your face at all times.  I know it sounds a bit Stepford Wives, but it becomes second nature before too long, and it really does change your face.  You will look softer, more relaxed and overall have a pleasant expression on your face.  An added bonus is that when you smile, you will feel happier.  It’s psychosomatic.

Floral love

Have cut flowers in your home.  I know a lot of you do this already and for some reason I resisted buying cut flowers forever.  I thought they were a waste of money because they died after a week or so, but I knew that I was spending money on other things such as snack foods which were not good for me and were gone within a few days.

I found that one of our supermarkets had mixed bunches for $12.95 which lasted for a few weeks (and did not cause weight gain as snack foods did).  Every couple of days I change the water, trim and rinse the stems and remove spent flowers.  I then practice my floral arrangement skills by putting everything back together.  The bouquet in this image is one of my $12.95 specials.  I think it’s so pretty.

Formal dinner

I've used cloth dinner napkins for over a decade now.  No more paper towels for me.  Whether it's at the dining table or in front of the television, pizza or a roast, I always use cloth dinner napkins.  I've collected a good-sized collection both from sales and making them myself from pretty cotton fabrics in my stash, so that I'll never run out.  They are washed with towels or by themselves, and I don't iron them anymore either.

If the casual rumpled look is good enough for Ralph Lauren, it's good enough for me.  I simply flick the wrinkles out when I hang them on the line and fold straight away once I've brought them in.  The secret trick is to put those napkins at the bottom of the stack and when it comes around to their turn again, et voila, they are pressed!

~~

I hope you enjoyed my favourite tips, and I'd be so grateful if you could share you favourite ways of bringing everyday elegance on a budget into your home.

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

 ~Fiona~

If you need a bit of a boost, I invite you to peruse my 30 Chic Days Series.  There are four in total, so you won't be short on inspiration.  I had such fun writing these; who knows, maybe there is a fifth around the corner...?

The original series in 2010 sparked off my book of the same name.  It started off as a spur of the moment thing where I wanted to re-remember my chic principles for a whole month.  It's amazing the kind of momentum you can gather when you stick at something for thirty days in a row, and obviously being chic is a worthy goal :)

30 Chic Days Series

I hope you enjoy them!

~~

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{Hear} Being more feminine blog series

 

I love to feel feminine, and am always creating my own inspiration.  I find that introducing little pockets of femininity into my day helps everything run smoother.  I feel more ladylike and life is enjoyable – even when I’m doing mundane tasks.

The fourth post in this series is on using the sense of hearing to be more feminine.

Classical music

The right kind of classical music instantly elevates the frequency of an environment to me.  I used to think it was boring and old-fashioned when I was younger, and now, thankfully, I have grown into appreciating it.  I love that our favourite five-star hotel plays elegant sounding violin concertos and sometimes has a live harpist playing.

At home I have a playlist with lots of classical pieces which I have gradually curated to include only those that I love.  If anything is too clangy, strident or cannon-y, I delete it.  As a result I now listen to a mix of soothing strings and calming adagios.  Listen to the one below on YouTube, it’s glorious.  I feel instantly more elegant and refined when I have music like this playing (but I still love many other genres too!)

Having a lovely voice

In my book Thirty Chic Days, I mention that I strive to keep my voice pleasant.  I have horrors of turning into a shrewish, screeching fishwife; so to avoid this I try to remember to walk into a room to talk to someone rather than yell for them, and endeavour to speak as much as necessary and not dominate the conversation.  I don’t always manage it, but at least I try, right?

Instead of fishwife, I’m going to aim for Lady Mary Crawley.

And another thing: do you ever leave somewhere thinking ‘I couldn’t stop talking; whatever must they think of me?’  I do!  Or rather, I did.  I think (I hope) I am better at this now – the two-conversation thing where you ask questions of others and actually listen to what they say.  The two ears, one mouth thing is so on point, as always.

Do you enjoy classical music?  Is it boring or elegant to you?  What about your voice… fishwife?  Or Lady Mary?  Your secret is safe with me.

fiona

PS. It’s not too late to get some inspiration and enthusiasm for Christmas with my book A Chic and Simple Christmas, available from Amazon in print and on Kindle.  Inspire yourself!  Here is what readers have to say:

‘I just read every word of this beautiful book and it felt like a loving friend was holding my hand and saying it's okay that Christmas stresses you out, it's okay if you don't love everything about Christmas. It was such a relief to read this book. I'm glad I gave myself permission to disappear from family for a bit and relax and read it.’

‘Fiona is like your best friend that you have over for coffee and a little chat. Her books are so inspiring and down to earth. She is definately a breath of fresh air in that she is direct, honest, and delightful in her writings. Christmas time has always been such an exciting time of year for me but I cannot say that it was ever a Chic or Simple Christmas, by the time the Christmas Celebration arrived , I was frazzled and unfortunately what I spread to family and friends was very short of any holiday cheer. I sat down with a cup of coffee and my warm knitted slippers and read this wonderful book which presented such a simplistic approach to the holiday season that keeps the season what it truly should be: Chic and Simple. With Fiona's suggestions and a great deal of holiday cheer, I am confident that this year will be a very Chic and Simple Christmas as I celebrate this season with grace and ease. Thank you Fiona for another great book!!’