Scary Space - Storage Solutions Debunked

We had to give back to the cave (cellar for storing stuff). I am in a panic.

The question I find myself asking more than any other is "How the heck am I going to find space for everything!!!!!" For the past couple weeks I have Google'd every possible variation of "please let me find some actual kind of storage solution before I lose my mind".

When in doubt, or, out of tequila, one must find other ways of maintaining their sanity. In New York sanity was maintained through the buying of footwear. I'd do that now except (wait for it)...I HAVE NO STORAGE SPACE!!! I'm pretty sure the flat is already unable to handle my current shoe count. I am so shoe'd.

So in the interest of my not being carted off in a straitjacket, I've decided to self-medicate. As they say Louboutins laughter is the best medicine.

Here are the ten worst, unrealistic, and assanine storage solutions and why they don't work the way home decor magazine editors think they do outside of the magical land where these editors live. I have left out the names of the websites where I found these major storage fails only because they have more lawyers than I do.

10. The hideaway television for people who live under rocks and haven't realised flat screens exist yet. Shame my parents threw away that television in a cabinet I had as a kid, think of all that free space!

9.  The most useless tray to ever be partially shoved under an armchair. All I can say is how much ad space did The Basketweaving Company buy that this ever made it into the pages of Britain's most read home decor magazine? Thankfully I now know exactly what to do with my four magazines, my remote control, and a cell phone from 1999. Maybe it's supposed to be a garbage basket?

8. The perfect solution for someone who may be short on storage space and functioning brain cells. I'm pretty sure whoever rolled these towels probably off'd themselves in a Bed, Bath, and Beyond or is having an illicit affair with the bear from the Snuggle commercials because the only way I'd think this was a clever solution was if I got hopped up on dryer sheets.

7. I can see it now. Monday morning editor's meeting. The room is packed with interns full of ideas that they've probably had to come up with because they're underpaid, like alcohol and having food to eat, and therefore live in a Manhattan studio where the bathtub in the kitchen is also their bed. In walks the editor who after a few moments of detached silence shoots down all their ideas because she's finally come up with the best kitchen storage solution of all time. Cupboards!!! Kitchen island!! Never considering any one of her interns would happily sleep in the space on top of the cupboards, a space which is mysteriously void of anything. Either these are the world's first cupboards to allow one to store their bulky kitchen wares in another time dimension or someone has no concept of what it means to sleep on your own books because there's nowhere else to put them.

6. I don't have a lot storage space and didn't need it because of being able to stash things in the cave and I'm trying to do the best with what I've got. If this situation isn't already bad enough, I apparently have to take decorating advice from blind grandmothers with bad taste in handbags. Not only is having to mount your sofa to hang up your coat one of the worst ideas I think anyone has ever had ever, but I think I could search the dumpsters of Calcutta and never find a coat rack as hideous as the one in this picture. It's like a rose trelis got jaundice and climbed up on the wall to die with only the accessories it's owner was too embarassed to bring out in public to cover up it's own hideousness.

5. The focus of this picture is supposed to be the recessed wall and the little benches with their oodles of storage space underneath the seats perfect for storing things and keeping the place tidy for when your guests come over and want to pretend they're in a paralell universe where Laura Ashley has invited you over circa 1982 to stare at the back of her head. This apparently not only provides you with less space to store things than would two high cabinets, but also frees you from that terrible thing called social interaction.

4. You're lucky enough to find a kitchen with drawers. It's a dream come true compared to your last apartment where you kept your silverware in the refrigerator. Kitchen drawers come with great responsibility. You crack under the pressure, having never been all that responsible in the first place, and instead full your kitchen drawers with rubber band balls, paper clips, house keys, your only two remaining napkin rings, White Out, and trimming ribbon because you are a jackass.

3. This closet is perfectly fine, assuming you have a closet and a deep profound love for 1) hot pink, 2) clothes hung on perfectly spaced out hangers in your favorite color the aforementioned hot pink, and 3) no sense of style whatsoever. If you don't love hot pink or have a closet this storage solution is about as useful having a tank of gas but no car while sitting on a freeway during rush hour.

2. If you're living in a place the size of a broom cupboard, but it's not because you don't have oodles of money stashed away then this is the storage solution for you. Custom made cupboards are nothing 'cause you got dividends coming in and this is just how you roll. This might not be something I would have understood before except just the other day on the Canal Saint Martin I saw Baron Rothschild having some custom cupboard put into the flap behind his refrigerator box. Apparently he's letting some friends crash in his cereal box on the Ile Saint-Louis because it has two bathrooms.

1. You're slightly underpaid. Perhaps if you earned more you'd spring for the other half of the bookshelf, but you just sprang for a basket to put under your couch for your remote control and one of those new fangled flat televions. Still you need a place to store that one candlestick and a few other miscellaneous items. You put the half shelves in, thinking to yourself if you're very careful with your spending habits, you'll be able to have real bookshelves one day. Granted you only have twenty nine books and a few photo albums you've spruced up with the ribbon you keep in your silverware drawer. But books say you're sophisticated and smart and maybe if you keep some books around, people will look at them and then afterwards look at that picture of you when you were a kid and that's what you're really after because let's face it people who keep pictures of themselves around are narcacistic a-holes.

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Dreams and Apartments

I was asked by a friend if I could have any apartment in Paris and I had two answers. One, if I could only have an apartment I'd chose Colette's apartment at the Palais Royal. Two, if I could have a building I'd chose the British Embassy, but then I shouldn't be greedy.

I found this video, which is a close look at Colette's apartment, currently inhabited by Jacques Grange, the interior decorator and artist. Unfortunately I couldn't get it to embed, but you can view it here.

Colette's historic apartment is in the Palais Royal, home of many a scandal when it was occupied by the Duke of Bourbon (by scandal I mean it was a brothel and gambling house). I love that Jacques Grange preserved much of the house and most of Colette's spirit. If you watch the video he even calls her "Madame Goudeket", which is quite some deference for someone who spent most of her life on a first name basis with the world.

I have a number of books full of photos of Colette and inevitably her apartment where, later in life she spent a vast majority of her time due to ill health. What cemented my decision beyond the history of the Palais Royal and Colette herself was she was a woman after my own heart when it came to her desk and a little story of my own.

In Robert Phelps' "Belles Saions, A Colette Scrapbook", there are multiple quotes about Colette talking about her desk. The little pot of pens she kept on her desk and her massive paper weight collection. How she liked to look out her window and when she became ill, the historic society in charge of the preservation of the Palais Royal, even with all their rules replaced the wooden panels on Colette's windows with glass so she could continue this favorite pass time. Later on in life, when she couldn't sit at her beloved desk, she took to writing in bed surrounded by the last of her pets and covered in a mink blanket where she ate cherries and received her beloved friends.

Among the writers I admire, Colette (born Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette) has a special meaning to me. She was one of the most successful writers of her time and is still one of the most successful female writers of any time. She was bold and brash and theatrical and scandalised conservative French Catholic norms with not only her words, but also her life. This is why I'd chose her apartment over all others no matter how much bigger or how much more grand other apartments might be. I always think if I could just sit in her window with paper and a pot of fresh pens, I might string my sentences together as if each word were its own pearl with the same practiced hands as Madame Goudeket.

Like Colette I grew up reading everything I could get my eyes and hands upon, but unlike Colette I grew up in many countries were women weren't allowed to read. Since reading was already such a taboo pleasure, I talked myself out of the idea that one day I might write a book of my own.

One day there was a rain storm, the kind you can only have in Africa where the rain is so powerful it threatens to cave in the roof in order to get to the ground. There it amasses another type of force entirely. It collects quickly and moves like liquid lightning taking everything that crosses its path along with it. 

That day was no different.  I stood in the window and watched hoping we would have to climb up on to the roof for safety. If only the water would get high enough we could be stranded up there for days. The house would become a sort of island or maybe a ship. I wondered if the house were not actually a ship. I desperately wanted to believe that just before the potential catastrophe would hit that the house would transform into a massive steam ship and kept looking at the chimney for any sign of smoke.

A few hours later life had gone back to normal. I was completely dry having not been allowed to even open the window just enough to put my hand outside to feel the rain fall upon it. The house was just a stupid house and not a ship at all. I became highly suspicious that the chimney was just an ordinary chimney, but why should it be? What was a chimney doing in Africa anyway? 

Discontented I remember going outside into the yard where the earth was already begining to dry. A massive amount of silt and sand had been deposited in the flower bed by the temporary river the rain had caused. Little worms, some bloated and some lifeless and others optimistic and trying to burrow back under the dirt made our yard look like a battlefield and  I hadn't the inclination to save the ones who were merely wounded, though this was a particular favorite game of mine and I considered myself an expert amateur Worm Rescuer and even had a special bucket I used for this sole purpose.

Without thinking I picked up a stick and began to scribble in the dirt. I wrote a story about a ship that could turn into a house, but it was a stupid ship and it'd forgotten how to turn itself back into a ship again. I wrote until I grew bored with scribbling in the dirt and went inside to find my papa.

He was as always in his study, which was a place not forbidden to me as long as I didn't disturb his desk or knock over the tall stacks of leather bound books they give to lawyers even if they have good memories like my father. I navigated them as cautiously as if they were landmines and the softest touch might set them off and all those things my lawyer parents talked about at the supper table would come bursting out of them and then I'd go to jail because as far as I knew lawyers made people go to jail when they did something wrong and upsetting my father's work was considered a criminal offense.

I stared at my papa for a really long time. My feet started to hurt from standing in the same place so long and so I started to sing softly in the hopes of getting his attention. When this didn't work I squirmed my way under his long arms and then stared at him right in the eyes and even though I knew I could be in big trouble I told him that I was going to be a writer one day. Not right away because first I wanted to be a nuclear physicist and then maybe build a robot, but eventually I'd get around to it.

I told him my story and my papa laughed and lifted me up to sit on his desk even though it was full of papers and I knew that he knew I really was going to be a writer.

A few months after my papa passed away I found a letter he'd written me long after our closeness had evaporated like the rain in the heat of the African afternoon. It was sandwiched between pages of Colette's La Fin du Cheri and what it said was almost nothing. It mostly a blank page except for a little scribble near the bottom in my father's handwriting that said "write".

I dream about having a desk like Colette's to write my stories and all the blank pages I will one day fill, but this page remains wedged between the pages where I found it and it's message - no it's command - was enough to inspire me to write.

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Peter Greenaway's film, "The Pillow Book"

I recently rewatched Peter Greenaway's film The Pillowbook, based on the novel written by Sei Shonagon during Japan's Heian period.  There are many reasons to see this film if you haven't from the interlaced quotes from Shonagon's book, to the sets, and of course Martin Margiela's costumes created specifically for the film.

Since my eyes are trained more towards decor these days, I made a mental note of the elements in the sets that I really enjoyed. The film takes place in many different rooms and settings, all centered around the main characters obsessions with writing and aesthetics and beauty. Here are a few that were particularly interesting.

This first screenshot is just one of the book filled rooms that the movie takes place in, and while I know those bookshelves are highly impractical, I love overfilled bookshelves. 

I have a horrible habit of putting knickknacks and random objects on the unfilled edges of my bookshelves. These particular shelves in the film remind me of the Danish-Scandanavian design bookshelves you can find in a lot of brocantes and design stores in Paris. I like basic the basic wood aspect with natural finish and the cleaness compared to the clutter.

But my favorite piece of furniture in the movie is this massive antique cabinet turned into a stationary supply cupboard. Or as Monsieur says, a tabernacle of ink and paper.

A storage solution you would never see in an Office Depot catalog.

I am a big fan (big fan here really means impulsive-obsessive) of office supplies. I have boxes upon boxes full of different size and style paper clips, Post-It notes, various staplers, note writing paper, notebooks, pens & pencils, and art supplies. I like to keep these things around because if I ever do find the inspiration, I want to have them immediately. Unfortunately in their current state by the time I've managed to find that one marker I wanted, the inspiration has passed.

In the film, when she opens the cupboard or closes the cupboard it's an artistic statement. She's ready to get to work. I've been trying to have the same serious artistic feeling about opening my laptop, but it's just not the same thing.

Since I don't have the space for a tabernacle of office supplies, I've tried to find a smaller solution. Something as beautifully made to give the same dramatic effect that within this object are the tools of my trade.

One of my favorite places for decor items is Maisons du Monde (Houses of the World). Here you can find nice wood pieces from a company that does care about the environment. I remembered seeing a really nice dresser of drawers (perfect for supplies) when I last visited one of their shops.

Mango wood cabinets, with brass accents 300,00 euros.

My favorite is the cabinet in the back with the little shelf that pulls out. I could definitely see that as being useful when digging around for things or wanting just to staple a few pages together, though it's hardly a tabernacle and for 300,00 euros I'm positive I could find something cheaper and nicer at any of the brocantes or vide greniers (meaning attic purging, the French equivalent of a garage sale where people in the neighborhood sell their wares on the sidewalk) for much less and it's a more environmentally friendly option. Still I like the idea of having a chest full of small drawers for office supplies, even if it's not the ode to stationary supplies found in the film.

One of the most interesting connections made in the film is that every aspect from the physical appearance of the characters, to the settings, to the clothing, to even the way the characters speak is all taken from Shonagon's lists or observations of how the world is or how the world should be.

Here is one example of a list from Sei Shonagon's fascinating little book, and probably my favorite.

Elegant Things*

A white coat worn over a violet waistcoat.

Duck eggs.

Shaved ice mixed with liana syrup and put in a new silver bowl.

A rosary of rock crystals.

Wisteria blossoms. Plum blossoms covered in snow.

A pretty child eating strawberries.

* Keep in mind she was a princess.

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Fashion Gets Decorative - The Big Names & Big Price Tags

There are an astouning of number of designers and brands who have branched off into home decor or design. From ages past we have names like Pierre Cardin and even Issey Miyake. Nowadays Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Kenzo, Christian Lacroix, and even non-designer shops from Urban Outfitters to Anthropologie to Zara have added curtains, sofas, and even napkin rings to their product lineups with some good, bad, and ugly (Armani Casa I mean you) results.

I never really paid much attention until I saw a Hermes exposition where they covered a sofa in scarves. Photos were interdit, but I kept thinking a little chair in my boudoir reupholstered in Hermes scarves would be a wonderful idea until recently when I fell in love with these:

Unfortunately I got too excited before I looked at the price tag. These beautiful pillows will run you about $1300 US. A bit steep for a couple of throw pillows even if the back side is covered in leather. A bit of research turned up a few custom made Hermes scarf pillows (without the leather backing) for about half the price.

I imagine making your own wouldn't be much more difficult than making any pillowcase, if you keep in mind that you'll need to roll the edges of the scarf piece (the same way a Hermes scarf is stitched). For practical purposes I'd back any custom made Hermes scarf pillow with either silk or another dry cleanable fabric as Hermes scarves are dry clean only. Also, I'd copy Hermes idea and find a beautiful scarf that can be centered when the case has a pillow inside of it. There is usually a border around the scarf where there is no print and most scarves measure 90cm x 90cm (35in x 35 in) giving you a nice seam allowance.

Some clever scouring on ebay, depot ventes (charity shops), or vintage stores might turn up a good condition Hermes scarf cheap enough to make this project worthwhile or, you could use a Hermes scarf you own that may not be in pefect wearing condition. I've added this to my list of potential projects. I just need to find a scarf I can either part with or buy one especially.

Another one of my favorite brands, Missoni has been making home decor objects for quite some time and I've been drooling over a Missoni sofa for nearly just as long. Unfortunately the only Missoni sofa I really want belongs to the Missoni family.

I would settle for a Missoni throw/blanket, but I've rarely seen a design or color I really like. I've had it in my head for a long time to recycle old wool sweaters by knitting old sweaters together, but that's been on the DIY list for a very, very long time...sad considering I used to be a knitwear designer.

If you're looking for a handknitted blanket I would say ebay,etsy, and thrift shops are the best way to go. Make sure to ask specifically about the quality of the fiber if buying online and if it's used to ask about any holes, loose or unraveled stitches, and general condition.

Now one thing you can consider, especially if you love fashion is to frame a piece of vintage clothing. I've never seen it done with western clothing, but it's quite common in Korea and Japan to frame either paper versions or real life versions of hanbok (Korean traditional clothing) or kimono (Japanese traditional clothing). In the picture below the person has used a plexiglass shadow box with a matching plexiglass rod to hang the kimono. The interior is lined with white silk as a sort of matte board.

"I have traveled from 1979 specifically to pose in front of this kimono!"

In Part II I'll look at more apparel brands branching out into home decor with friendlier price tags.

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Fashion Gets Decorative - Zara Home vs. IKEA Part I

When I started researching for this blog article, I never thought I'd be typing the following sentence: Zara Home isn't all that bad. For starters it's miles ahead of IKEA in aesthetics, without adding to much heft to the price tag. In fact, where IKEA usually fails - linens, silverware, and decorative items - Zara Home succeeds. But who does it better at the best price?

Picture Frames

IKEA has cheap frames. So cheap in fact it's almost impossible to find the same quality frames anywhere else at a similiar price. My problem with IKEA's picture frame selection is there isn't much of a selection and what's available is downright boring.

The downside is most of the frames sold at Zara Home are for smaller format sizes whereas IKEA has a wide array of sizes for most framing needs.

Winner: IKEA

Lighting and Lamps

When it comes to lighting solutions, there is generally something for everyone at IKEA provided you want your house to be lit like an art gallery. I had high hopes that Zara Home would have better options for those who love good table lamps. I had a friend who lit Broadway shows and gave me the advice that ceiling lighting should be aimed on one specific object, while the rest of any space is best served by lamps scattered at different heights with the uppermost and lowest eye level positions for the best effect.

Sadly neither IKEA or Zara Home had any lamp I'd ever decided to purchase.

Winner: Draw

Bed Linens, Curtains, Rugs, Blankets, & Pillows

Again I had high hopes for Zara Home's offerings, but was left disappointed. Zara Home's selection is pithy compared to the vast amount of choices offered at IKEA, where I've always managed to find something. In fact I would say IKEA's color range has vastly improved in the past few years as their designers apparently discovered there are more colors in the spectrum than simply apple green and fuschia.

I could really see the second bed cover as a perfect way to make up the guest bed.

Winner: IKEA

Kitchen & Dining Room

Anyone who has been to IKEA knows its chock full of things for the kitchen and for setting one's table. I have found some really great cheap objects for the kitchen from IKEA, but the aesthetics always was sort of blah. I like good forks with long twines and good weight. I have never found a set of cutlery at IKEA that I thought was great besides being very cheap (and cheap is good because apparently teaspoons and soup spoons grow magical legs and run off to places).

I was however, pleasantly surprised by some of the cutlery at Zara Home such as the Classica.

This particular collection offers every piece of cultery imaginable beyond the standard soup spoon, fork, knife, tea spoon sets found at IKEA, but you pay for each piece in this particular collection. I usually buy cultery for at least 8 place settings as for dinners I generally keep the guest list between 4-6 people.

Based on what I would select for my needs I selected 8 each of the following: serving spoons, dessert spoons, tea or coffee spoons, table knives, table forks, fish forks, and fish knives for a grand total of 250,00 euros. My favorite maker of cutlery is a French brand called Guy Degrenne and a 44 piece set of cutlery will cost about 400,00 euros, but really is worth every penny. I was lucky to buy my 44 piece set at an outlet for 285,00 euros, so at 35,00 euros more than the Zara set I'm not impressed.

I'm a fan of white dishes and have bought a lot of plates and dinnerware from IKEA and am pretty satisfied with the results. I do wish however that the round dinner plates were a little bigger because they are slightly recessed and make it hard to plate things properly. Also, when dinnerware is patterened at IKEA it's always a disaster. Plates should be either simple with the artistic flair of the cook being the focal point or if the dinnerware is patterned it should enhance the visual presentation of what you're serving. The designers at IKEA apparently do not understand this.

I found three patterns of Zara Home dinnerware that I think would make a wonderful addition to any table setting depending on what is being served.

These white plates are perfect for every day and can handle any type of cuisine if the meal is plated properly.

This bone china set is rimmed in gold and perfect for serving almost anything from boeuf bourriguignon to fried chicken and potato salad. It's also very reasonably priced.

This is the most difficult of the sets that I liked. I would buy plates to serve salads and bowls to serve sliced fruit or yogurt. As much as I like the pattern, it's the least practical.

As far as placements, tablecloths, napkins, and other table accessories go IKEA continues to disappoint while Zara Home surprised me. Here are a few of the goodies I spied on their website.

To see who wins in the end, click here.

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Fashion Gets Decorative - Zara Home vs. IKEA Part II

Click here to read Part I of "Fashion Gets Decorative - Zara Home vs. IKEA.

All pictures show the current collection available in Zara Home boutiques or Zara Home Online.

(1) I love the tablecloth, but I'm not a fan of matching the tablecloth to the napkins. (2) A new take on the old water glass. (3) A seashell is a perfect accent when serving exotic cuisines such as Indian or Moroccan.

(1) Embossed leather coasters maybe not be as chic as real crocodile coasters, but it's a mere fraction of the exotic price. (2) Dish towels are boring, but these add a little color and charm to the monotony of washing up. (3) These napkin rings are literally fantastic.

(1) I love these Caesar inspired napkin rings. Not to be used on March 15th. (2) This is sold as a fruit bowl but all I see are the tiers full of petit fours. Wonder why that is? (3) A perfect tea cup for a garden tea party.

(1) Another tea cup for a garden tea party. (2) Technically a coccoa powder shaker, this could be used with confectionner's sugar. Perfect for nice Sunday afternoon brunches with homemade waffles and raspberries.
(3) These napkin rings are my favorite. I can just imagine serving a brace of wild fowl shot by the game warden with blood red napkins and these beauties.

 

Winner: Zara Home by a landslide.

Overall IKEA and Zara Home are somewhat evenly matched, though decidedly IKEA is good for practical, no frils every day items while Zara Home tries (and succeeds often enough) to concentrate on a few items and offer some quality while not elevating the price tag too much.

Since I'm not a practical girl and would probably buy every napkin ring I could lay my hands on and can't seem to think of one reason why I shouldn't have a special shaker for my coccoa powder or confectionner's sugar; I'm going to give the match to Zara Home though I may rescind this decision later when I actually make a visit to the store to see if the quality really is that great or Photoshop has duped me yet again.

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Spice Racks & Pot Racks

I like to think I'm a serious cook. I can make just about anything provided I've tried the dish before (I call it reverse food engineering) and once I've got the basics, I can adapt recipes very easily. In Paris one has to learn how to cook in their kitchen because space is more often than not the issue. 

My first apartment in Paris for example had a nice stove and a dishwasher but there was only one small sink, one small section of counter space that was at a practical level, an island counter that could only be used by giants, and almost no place to put the refrigerator.

My second apartment in Paris had more counter space and lots of cupboard space, but was narrow enough that two people couldn't stand back to back. It was more of an alley than a kitchen and opening the cupboards or the oven was a problem. There were two stove burners in the counter, which was a nice space saver, but two burners means your timing for different parts of the meal had to be planned perfectly.

The kitchen is a bit weird in my third flat as well. The sink area is recessed in the back of the kitchen with a smaller four burner stove with oven and a counter for working that is about three feet long. There isn't ample cupboard space though, and this is where the problem begins. When I bought the dishes and pots and pans I had plenty of cupboard space.

The celings aren't high enough, even at my underwhelming height of 5'5 (165 cm) for a hanging pot rack and there isn't a lot of extra space. In New York I didn't have a problem with the ceiling height being too low, in fact it was the opposite. I couldn't find a pot rack with long enough chains so I would actually be able to reach my pots and pans without sucking down human growth hormone shakes or needing a ladder.

What I decided to do was make the most of the limited wall space. I bought some grid wall, normally used in stores and boutiques (see an example here: Gridwall ) and then sorted out all my pots and pans from what could be hung up and what couldn't. You can buy "s hooks" just about anywhere and they're cheap. Buy a few extras if you think you'll buy more pans during your time in your apartment or house. Then simply attach the gridwall securely to the wall (use anchors) and use the entire grid to hang up your things.

That's one problem solved. If you're in France you could probably find the gridwall at any Bricorama or Castorama, but if you're in Paris (or other parts of Europe) you can make use of a wonderful place called Retif that sells equipment for stores and boutiques. There is a hitch, which is you're supposed to be a "professionel", but it's easy to get around by saying you'll FAX them your VAT (tax identification number for businesses) at a later date. I have a VAT number and an account there, but I've brought friends to buy stuff and it worked out fine. I did a search for "grille", since grid wall doesn't translate exactly (grille mur would be the closest translation) and came up with all these inexpensive results: Grille Mur.

Now one other problem remains. The spice rack.

Getting a pot or pan from an elusive cupboard or rack is much less of a pain in the derriere than having to sort through all your spices when time may be of the essence. At the moment I have a small shelf above the stove where I keep all my spices. It's quite an ecclectic collection of repurposed Bonne Maman, mustard, and other condiment jars and coffee cans and basically anything that can hold spices. In other words, the aesthetics of my spice jars means very little to me. What I want is enough space to keep all the spices I use in my everyday cooking, which varies from spices for French, Korean, Japanese, Indian, American, Creole, and Mexican.

A Google image search leads me to believe that many people don't have my same problem. Every photo I get when I search for "creative spice racks" looks more elegant than my collection of haphazard jars and bottles deserve. Where is the form that meets the function?

If you have a creative spice rack idea you've been dying to share, I am dying to know. Otherwise I can already envision the chaos that will take over my soon-to-be kitchen. As of now, I'm thinking a wire basket placed on top of the fridge is going to be the temporary solution.

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A little about Walden Pond (and Craigslist)

I went to school in New England for years, but it wasn't until I was living in New York that I decided to take a nostalgic trip back through New England and went to visit Walden Pond. While there I danced with the sculpture of Henry David Thoreau and thought, "no, it's not the life for me. I'll never leave the big city."

I left New York and made a temporary home between my native France, London, and Amsterdam. It was Amsterdam that first started to change my attitude towards the big city. Less cars, less pollution, and Amsterdam is simply a beautiful city full of charm.

Yes I live in Paris, and at the time I am writing this I am in my flat with car horns blaring and the hustle and bustle like ambient background noise. I still see what makes Paris a beautiful city, but I also felt myself longing for something else. A garden. Fresh air. Something was missing.

I took a peek on Craigslist Paris and spotted a little house. I didn't imagine it hadn't been rented yet, but I crossed my fingers and sure enough it was still available. Somehow I knew the moment I saw the trees and the garden and was told not to walk in the forest at night because there are wild boar (called sangliers in French). I had visited Fontainebleau before, as had La Chienne, who had a joyous day of running in the forest pestering chipmunks and sniffing everything, but this was different. I was actually thinking about taking a weekend place in the country.

The supermarket is 3 km away or in another town. There are buses to Fontainebleau's city center and trains to Paris, but it will be difficult without a car. I am resolved to not get a car just to do the grocery shopping on the weekends. I am out of shape, a 6km bicycle trek sounds like torture, but I will presumably only buy exactly what I need under these limitations. While candy bars and cookies remain rather light when walking from the store across the street, after biking 3 km maybe I will be less inclined to chuck those types of things into the grocery cart when I realise it's still another 3 km home. At least that's what I'm hoping.

I have a picture of me dancing with the statue of Thoreau and now I am preparing to move a part of my life to the woods. I will bring some furniture (nothing says I have to rough it like Thoreau did), half of the books (over 1,000), and my dreams.

What I really, really want to do with my life is write books for children. Amazing books full of adventure, similiar to the books that made me believe I had that spark of magic inside of me that you fan into a fire.

So in August I will take the keys to a little house on the edge of a dark and mysterious forest that once belonged to the kings and queens of France and if that's not a real life fairy tale, then nothing is.

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On the Write Track

So today I had a moment I rarely seem to have lately. Lately I'm all ideas, ideas, ideas, and nothing but notes to show for it.

I was cooking up lunch (fresh merquez sausages with last night's shallot vinegar green beans with crispy mushrooms and the tasty remains of smashed roasted sweet potatoes with parmesan and chive cream sauce) when I had an idea to write a short story.

1,186 words later I've got a first draft of this story and I really like something about it. Maybe the tone of voice or the perspective. It's written in the first person from the perspective of a young girl who after an accident suffers severe vision loss.





After a printer mishap, I've printed two copies and made my first edits. It's clever, or at least I think it is. I'm looking forward to ripping it apart and fixing the little mistakes that I know are there.

This is what I live for. I live for this moment where I've got a story by the tail and I feel for those blessed albeit too short moments that I'm on the right path. It's cheesey and corny and cliché, but two paths diverged in my wood and I took the path less traveled by. It's in these rare moments when I begin to truly believe it will make all the difference.

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Ojingo Bokkum, Pan Fried Squid in Spicy Sauce 오징어볶음

I tend to cook a lot of Korean food not simply because Korean cuisine is my heritage, but because I love the beautiful simplicity of a well-prepared Korean meal.

Last night I served ojingo bokkum (오징어볶음) (sauteed squid) with sukju namul muchim (숙주-나물)(green bean sprout salad), with marinated radish, mat kimchee, and seaweed.




Ojingo Bokkum

Korean cuisine is a complicated thing. How many side dishes (called banchan) to serve, how many different dishes, soups, etc. Then once the food is made there are rules about place settings, where the hot foods are placed, where the cold foods are placed, who eats when, and even where you're supposed to place the kimchee!

Don't think of Korean cooking as it is in restaurants or else you will torture yourself. When I cook Korean at home for just myself and a few people, I rarely ever make what is known as "haejeongsikk", or a full course meal. When I cook for less than 6 people I usually make one banchan or side dish for each person and unless I'm serving BBQ (bulgogi, daegi gogi, kalbi, sam gyeop sal) I try to make one main dish for two people.





Hanjeongsik - I count 17 side dishes, 1 main dish, 1 soup, rice, and 3 sauces!

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My favorite vintage shop in Paris?

In Paris there is a great possibility to find amazing vintage pieces - especially from French brands or designers like Chanel, Hermes, YSL, Azzedine Alaia, Herve Leger, Balmain, Givenchy, and Ungaro.

But the best vintage for the price is found at Vintage Clothing Paris located at 10, rue de Crussol in the 11eme.

It has odd hours (Thursday,Friday 12h - 18h30; Saturday 14h - 18h), and it won't help if you need a Monday (or Tuesday) fix - but definitely save your money until it opens because the owner has an amazing collection of affordable designer pret-a-porter and even a few pieces of couture. The owner is a former stall owner at "Les Puces" and brought her flea market sensibilities to a part of Paris that was desperately in need of high quality vintage with reasonable prices.

I've scored YSL suits here for less than 300,00 euros. A friend of mine bought a vintage Herve Leger dress from the 80's for less than 200,00 euros and almost bought an immaculate Azzedine Alaia skirt suit for 300,00.

What I like about this shop is the owner isn't trying to show off. It's not a "collection" where you get the feeling she's unwilling to sell. Instead you get the feeling she's got all this great stuff and she's just been waiting for you to pop round and buy it all up.

The only drawback I can think of is that the store isn't full of accessories, but for the real clothing nuts (those of us who buy clothes more often than accessories understand what I mean) it's a cave of wonders.

Don't forget about the weird hours and if you do score a major find at Vintage Clothing Paris, feel free to email photos of your scores and I'll post them up!

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Dutch Pancakes with Crispy Bacon

Last year when I was in Amsterdam, passing yet another morning at Pancakes!Amsterdam, I decided I would recreate them chez moi for a fabulous brunch.





I absolutely love this little place. The pancakes are delicious and rather modestly priced. I also love the outdoor seating on one of my favorite streets in all of Amsterdam. Berenstraat is the name of the street between the Keizersgracht (east) and Prisengracht (west) canals. If you follow the Herengracht canal northward for example, you'll want to take a left at Wolvenstraat and will have to cross the Keizersgracht, where the street changes to Berenstraat.

Also located near Pancakes!Amsterdam along Wolvenstraat-Berenstraat are some of the best vintage and second-hand clothing shops in Amsterdam; Episode, Lady Day, and Second Line.






Dutch Pancakes
Serves 2  (8 pancakes using 1/4 cup of batter each)
Difficulty: Easy!!!

Equipment:

1 large mixing bowl
fork
dry measuring cups
measuring spoons
liquid measuring cup
spatula
soup ladle
non-stick crepe pan or frying pan


Ingredients: For people residing in Europe, I've included the metric conversions


1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour / 190 grams
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder / 10 grams
1 tsp. salt / 6 grams
1 tsp. sugar /  6 grams
1 1/4 cups milk / 295 milliliters*
1 egg
3 T. melted butter / 45 grams *
2 cups chopped bacon / 200 grams "lardons"

* Use liquid measuring cup regardless of which version of the recipe you are using.

1. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

If available use flour that guarantees no "lumps" or "grummeaux" in French. In France I use Francine brand for all my baking. I've tried the lesser priced Casino, Monoprix, and Franprix brands, but for the minimal savings the quality is not as good.

Baking powder can be extremely expensive in France. I buy mine for 1 euro at the Indian shops on rue Louis Blanc (Metro Line 2, Station La Chappelle).

2. Make a well in the dry mixture.

3. If using all-purpose flour, add half the milk and butter and mix until you get a thick batter that is smooth without signs of lumps. Then add the rest of the milk and butter.

If using a specialty baking flour, as mentioned in Step 1, you can simply add all the milk and butter and mix until smooth.

4. Add the egg, and using a fork tilted at an angle, beat the egg into the mixture making sure to "add air". Do not overmix. Overmixing will give you heavy pancakes.

5. You can slightly oil your crepe/frying pan/griddle, but I find it's usually not neccessary and can give the pancakes a non-uniform look.

6. Heat pan and test for temperature using a drop of batter.

7. For pancakes that are uniform in size, I find the best thing to use is a soup ladle or a measuring cup. Exactly measure the batter (about 1/4 cup or 59 ml) and pour on to hot pan in one steady pour to help keep the circular shape. If you mess up, don't worry just let the pancake cook and eat it while you perfect your technique!

8. Cook on one side until there are visible bubbles in the batter. After the first bubbles, you will notice the pancake will look smooth again but that the batter is still moist. Wait until a second series of bubbles form and carefully flip the pancake over. It may stick to the pan, so carefully lift it and don't be afraid to use your fingers - just make sure to check the temperature of the pancake first.

9. Once the pancake is flipped over, wait for it to "rise". Once the pancake has risen uniformly, the pancake is entirely cooked and no longer still "wet" in the middle. Move to pan and garnish with a few slabs of unmelted butter.

10. Continue until all the batter is used and stack four of the pancakes one on top of the other on 2 plates. Set plates into a warm oven (usually to keep the oven warm for this sort of thing I preheat it to about 200 degrees (C) / 400 degrees (F) and then turn the oven off and wait about 10-15 minutes to let everything shut off).

11. On the same pan, add 1 cup of chopped bacon (100 grams) and fry until crispy.  Set aside fried bacon in a bowl and fry the remaining half. Make sure to conserve any grease.

In France you can use "lardons", which are already chopped up bacon. For the same type of texture, in the US you would have to buy the bacon uncut in a chunk of 1/4 lbs. and then either slightly freeze it to making chopping it up easier, or slightly freeze it and chop it up in a food processor.

12. Divide the bacon mixture and the grease and pour over pancakes and on to the plate.  Add maple syrup for garnish.

Maple syrup can be attrociously expensive in France. The best for the price is either found at some Franprix's or found at Casino. The price is usually less than 5 euros for a bottle of 250ml. For better quality maple syrup you can try the various American/English epiceries, but it will be much more expensive (10-12 euros for 250ml) or the "Bio" stores, which is definitely more expensive with 500ml costing around 16-20 euros.

Serve this with chilled clementine or orange juice and with fresh red berries, yogurt, and cream for dessert.

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More Book Buying Abroad

So I went to the US for a short trip of gambling, stocking up on American consumer goodness, and book buying. I visited a few fantastic bookshops but the best of all was Calico Cat Books in Ventura, California. Here I snapped up a rare edition of Swift's Gulliver's Travels, the 1956 edition of Proust's In Search of Lost Time in 7 volumes, and a very nice copy of Journey to the West. At Starlight Books in Flagstaff Arizona I bought an odd book edited by Italo Calvino of Italian Fairytales, W. Somerset Maugham's book on Kipling, and a first edition of Knut Hamsun's Pan. This was an exciting purchase as it is an extremely rare printing by Knopf from 1921 after Hamsun won the Nobel.

Needless to say I came home with so many books that I had to rush to Walmart with my best friend THL at 3 in the morning to buy another suitcase and repack (after we drove back to Vegas for our flight back to Paris along Route 66) as we were a bit over the max weight limit per suitcase.

One thing I find amusing is that bookstores here in Paris are always trying to be more American and bookstores in the US are always trying to be more European. Europeans read a lot. But don't lose faith America - aside from the Les Pleiades, printed by Gallimard (which are for French people the ultimate editions and rightly so, they're AMAZING and cause me to drool whenever I see them) - American books are much better printed in general.

The real score of my American book buying was finding a first edition Charlotte's Web by EB White for $4.00!!!! No seriously. It even had a printing flaw, where the last chapter's start page had to be written in by hand...would be interested hearing from any collector's if this means anything? I'm adding this on my shelf beside my 1st American Edition of The Trumpet of the Swan, which is my favorite EB White Book.

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A Good Ol' Vent

I've been keeping this blog rather sporadically. But in the month or so that I've been away, I've actually been very busy with lots of stuff other than blogging...

1. The book buying continues, as if I could stop it. I'm currently reading a lot of fairy tales and Colette. Freud would love to get me on the sofa over that I'm sure. But even today I went to two place that sell books and passed by the closed WH Smith with regret. I need a 12 step program and Jesus.

2. I went to the book launch for the letters of Samuel Beckett at the Irish Cultural Center in Paris. The two editors who put the book together, Daniel Gunn and George Craig read some of his letters and Daniel kept mentioning that Beckett struggled with being a writer. I waited until after to ask him if he ever became more confident about it and Mr. Gunn said he struggled his whole life. Take this as you will. For me it simply meant no matter what you might accomplish as a writer, you'll always be uncertain. But he also said Beckett knew he had to write and that he knew he wasn't fit for anything else. Inspiring thought.

3. I bought a bike and have been riding all over Paris. It is by far the best way to see the city. I think it's the best thing I've bought since I've come to Paris. I see the city through new eyes and plus it helps burn off all the pastries.

So expect more from me, but in snippets. I'm getting ready to begin my book. I can feel it...or maybe it's just gas?

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Helpful Links & Inspiration

"We have read your manuscript with boundless delight. If we were to publish your paper, it would be impossible for us to publish any work of lower standard. And as it is unthinkable that in the next thousand years we shall see its equal, we are, to our regret, compelled to return your devine composition, and to beg you a thousand times to overlook our short sight and timidity."
~Rejection slip from a Chinese economic journal
(from Sophy Burnham's collection of inspiring thoughts for writers, "For Writers Only," Ballantine Books, 1994)

Character Trait Chart


Essay on Writing from Kurt Vonnegut

Be Brutal

Online library of scanned book covers

From bard-de-boulogne

“In any society, the artist has a responsibility. His effectiveness is certainly limited and a painter or writer cannot change the world. But they can keep an essential margin of non-conformity alive. Thanks to them the powerful can never affirm that everyone agrees with their acts. That small difference is important.”

Look for L'Age d'Or


Blog Full of Interesting Facts

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