Fill up a room with wintery snow....

Gorgeous location

plus...

Beautiful architecture

plus...

millions of fluffy snowflakes
plus...

ceiling to floor velvet window treatments

plus...

gilded moulding and a grand chandelier

plus...

ethereal lighting

plus...

tufts of powdery snow

equals a dreamy winter catalogue produced by Anthropologie.

Everything about Anthropologie-its clothing, accessories, window displays, home decor, and catalogues-is saturated with creativity, color, and beauty.

I just wanted to share with you this very inspiring photoshoot.

This year I am using touches of aged gold in my Christmas decorating and gift wrap...for a little bit of glamour.

Now, perhaps, all I need is some feathery snow...

_{Images from Anthropologie November 2009 catalogue}

Glorious Shades of Autumn

Honey, Spice, Pumpkin, Caramel, Nutmeg, Butterscotch, Cinnamon, Sienna, Burnt Orange...these are the glorious shades of autumn as summer goes backstage and allows automn's chilly winds, rain showers (here in Texas), and cloudy skies to debut.

I couldn't help but gravitate toward the assundry shades of orange while in Quebec provided that these beautiful colors are not common in Texas during the fall.

This rock building and sweetly painted butterscotch window pane reminds me of a walled city in the south of France.

I kept telling my husband, "If I could preserve one of these golden maple leaves exactly as it is with it's gorgeous color, I would safely wrap it up and tuck it into my pocket..."

Throughout our last day in Quebec, we witnessed the quebecois bringing out pumpkins for their outdoor fall decorations.

I captured this close up in front of the Aux anciennes canadiennes restaurant. I just loved the saturated color of these dried (pods?)
If anyone knows the name of these orange pods, please share. I do feel quite ignorant for not knowing....

Oh, and I had the best creamy pumkin soup here....Absolument délicieuse!

As my husband and I were strolling along the Terrasse Dufferin in front of the grand Chateau Frontenac, I noticed this sweet couple enjoying the view of the St. Lawrence river.

It appears that they also enjoy hues of autumn!

I felt that if I included pictures of absolute stangers, I might as well include a picture of myself.

Hope your weekend is lovely~

A la prochaine!

_{All photos in this post are by a la parisienne}

Faire une promenade: Vieux Québec's Faded Charm

I had a couple of moments to steal away and share a couple of glimpses of Vieux Québec-Old Quebec-the portion of the city that is envelopped by a walled fortress.

My husband and I were fortunate enough to stay three of our four nights in Vieux Quebec on rue St. Pierre. We felt like we were in the center of everything, yet our hotel was tucked away bearing few pedistrians/tourists.

This is probably my favorite picture that I took. I love its paleness and innocence. To me, it possesses a fairytale quality.


These images are just a taste of Québec's charm. I have many more that I would love to share...Perhaps in a couple of days.

Bonne journée, my friends.

Une promenade romantique in Québec

Throughout our busy days of caring for our families, working, paying the bills, etc. I would like to invite you to faire une promenade with me through Quebec City. Each day, I will share with you a glimpse of Quebec's beauty during our blissful stroll.

No walking shoes necessary.

A demain - See you tomorrow.

Happy Return from an Autumn Reverie

Bonjour, mes amis. We have finally settled back in at home from our autumn getaway in Quebec City.

With over 1,000 photos of our trip, I am going to do my best to sift and select the very best pictures and share them with you soon.

I am in the very center of a creative endeavor, so I will do my best to keep an even balance between taking care of my family, running my Etsy store, blogging, visiting your blogs,...

the list keeps getting longer!

It's great to be back home. I look forward to catching up with you.

A Flickr of a Beautiful Artist

In my quest for beautiful images for French Friday Lessons, I stumbled upon my absolute favorite artist on Flickr. She is the subject and creator of the beautiful image I used on last Friday's post of the innocent couple wearing white. Her profile name is Rosiehardy. Interestingly, even her name transports me back to my childhood as the elements of her name are very closely related to my closest childhood friend from the tender age of three.

The first image in this post was my first impression of Rosiehardy, and it is still my favorite. It intrigued me to search deeper into her portfolio where I found a well of beautiful artistry. Rosiehardy is the creator, subject, and editor of her photos. (Although I am not sure if she has a photographer or is also the photographer with a self-timer on her camera.)

All of her pictures are laden with emotion--love, frustration, sorrow, intimacy, awareness...and many of her images explore various strong emotions between a man and a woman. Not only does she express these emotions in her art, but she also includes a lenghthy caption along with each of her photos, which is uncommon in my experience on Flickr.

Rosiehardy has a impressive following on Flickr, and you can see why. She is a beautiful woman with a beautifully creative mind. I love the color palette of many of her images. They are muted and these muted tones give them a dream-like quality. Of course, I have selected some of the more feminine, pretty images...Some of her images are, well, the opposite, yet they still interest me.