Mille Merci Dress Your Day with Dreams!!!

A gift from Macaron heaven...

photos from dress your day with dreams

Not long after I started this blog, I discovered the beautiful world of Nathalie's in her 'Dress your Day with Dreams' blog. And she does just as the title suggests with beautiful photographs of Paris - including her penchant for beautiful Parisian doors, flora, hand-embellished works of art, and last but not least...macarons.

My love for these delectable patisseries has always been present, but it was only during my last trip to Paris that I discovered just how much I loved them...On my return, I was upset when I realized I had not visited the famous Ladurée or Pierre Hermé store, both world-famous for their macarons. Nathalie allows me to live vicariously through her experiences whenever she shares her beautiful photographs, a fact I have not kept secret, since her very first post on macarons. And so, it was with utter delight and excitement that I discovered a package covered with gorgeous French stamps in my mailbox a few days ago:

Sacre bleu! Emanuel Ungaro stamps! How gorgeous are these! What I had not told Nathalie was how I loved foreign stamps, and used to collect them; there was such a beautiful variety on this envelope.

I could not believe my eyes as I opened the package to discover it was filled with the cutest assortments of beautiful cards, 'catalogues', pamphlets, booklets, a beautifully handwritten Happy Birthday note from Nathalie, and the 'pièce de résistance': a gorgeous glossy Laduree bag of my very own! My heart soared...

The Valentine macaron by Ladurée

One heart macaron with fresh cream and strawberry confit, and one heart chocolate macaron with mint creamy ganache...

These little Ladurée mice treats seriously looked so real I could almost pick them out of the card!

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I was in 'macaron heaven', as my eyes devoured the colourful pages with Pierre Hermé macarons jumping at me, with the most incredible descriptions beneath them, macarons in flavours such as: wasabi & grapefruit, salted caramel, white truffle & hazelnut, chocolate and foie gras (seriously!), olive oil and vanilla (my cousin tells me this is incredible)...I could seriously almost taste them...

Nathalie tells me Pierre Hermé macarons are her favourite, with each flavour so special, and its beautiful colours and texture. Looking at their pamphlets, it is not hard to see why...


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pic above from david leibowitz

Picture of Pierre Hermé macarons taken by my cousin, who after getting married, embarked on her European honeymoon, where she indulged in her passion for macarons (haha, perhaps it is genetic?). Her wedding cake was a self-made macaron tower (she is a trained chef and pastry chef).

Even though Pierre Hermé's macarons are Nathalie's favourite, she loves Ladurée pastries, especially their licorice, mango/jasmine macaroons, and their beautiful boxes!

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Mille Merci Nathalie, you are as sweet as all the macarons you sent me put together! Words cannot describe how thankful I am for such a thoughtful beautiful and generous gift!

The September Issue Outfit

Inspired by the beautiful pastel colours above, I reached for my baby blue patent Christian Louboutin's when I went for a spot of shopping with a friend, before we went to watch 'The September Issue', which I absolutely loved. If you have not seen it yet, you simply must! I loved every minute of it...

Complex Geometries silk split square dress (click for more pics)
Stella McCartney Ging Gang Goolie silk jacket (click for more pics)
Christian Louboutin baby blue patent pumps
Burberry Prorsum large floral necklace (click for more pics)
Country Road stirrup leggings
Bauhaus black suede rosette ring with freshwater pearls

Recent Buy: Complex Geometries

Hailing from Canada, Clayton Evans studied art & architecture, and debuted his label Complex Geometries in Fall 2005. With monochromatic fabrics, striking shapes to create minimalist pieces that can be worn a variety of ways, its intricate draping & distinctive cuts, Clayton creates clothes that focus on "the clean, the smart, and the soft". The concept behind Complex Geometries is very minimalist, yet designed in an intricate and interesting way; as Evans puts it “the line itself is a balance between challenging and comfortable”. The simple lines of the pieces, usually made of silk and jersey, play off the different geometrical shapes used by Evans resulting in a line of clothes that is cool and fresh without trying too hard.

The SS09 collection played around with the notions of travel (the clothes are light & pack well) and unconventional cuts, CG's signature look. I have been coveting this Silk Split Square dress for a year or so.

When Mathilde generously shared that CG was offering 40% off for one day only (which I fortuitously read just before I was heading to bed), I swiftly pounced on the opportunity to finally acquire this dress.

A reversible black asymmetrical silk column dress with a slight cowl and a silk chiffon lining that hangs longer than the satin outer layer. This dress is a prime example of CG's wonderfully utopian formula: garments that have several permutations, allowing the wearer to choose front or back, inside out or outside in. I am afraid this post is mostly gratuitous, as I scoured the internet to find some of these "permutation's" in which this dress can be worn, and have collated them in this one post for my own reference.

As a fan of garments that can be worn in a variety of ways, it is often the case that after purchasing such an item, I only remember a handful (at most) of ways I can wear it, and forget the rest. Case in point: I have a Dries Van Noten large wool 'wrap' that has five holes in it, and like a CG piece, could be worn in 1001 different ways, which looked cool on the mannequin, but when I took it home, I was dumbfounded as to how to wear it, I wish it had come with instructions. but that is another post altogether...

www.complexgeometries.com

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www.complexgeometries.com