Travel Guide - Les Carroz D'Arraches/ Annecy

Happy new year to all of you! I am currently in France and I just came back from the French Alps. It was my first time up there and I have to confess I quite enjoyed my time and felt really blessed to have been able to see such a beautiful region.

We went specifically to Les Carroz, which is about 2 hours from Lyon by car. There we met some friends and had a lot of fattening foods! It was a diet suicide but totally worth it.

The temperature was quite low and I was really thankful to have a warm coat on me. For those who are against fur, I sincerely apologize and do not mean to be offensive at all, the coat was a gift from my wonderful beloved friend Traci Peace-Greco and it belonged to her grandmother.

We stopped at this Chalet-restaurant called Le Marlow, where I had the Patates a la facon Lulu and a gigantic Hot chocolate with whip cream. Both of them were heaven!

If you are ever in the area, do stop by, I am sure you too will enjoy the flavors of the local Savoyard cuisine and the friendliness of the staff.

Le Marlow

5 Place Ambiance

Araches-la-Frasse, 74300

We stayed at this cute and secluded hotel-chalet called Haute Combe and it was absolutely fabulous! Here is a picture of me walking in the snow to get there. The view was absolutely breath taking. I would recommend this place to anybody:

Haute Combe

Chemin de la Sarbotte

Les Carroz, 74300

+ 33 4 50 90 32 91

On our last day, we drove down to Annecy which is about 50 minutes away. Annecy is a pearl in the lake, absolutely beautiful. We walked around the lake and then had a hearty meal (another one!)  at one of the little restaurants in the Quai.

And to close our sejour, we went to the local restaurant Les Molliets where we shared yet another meal with our friends. On the menu: fondue and raclette.

Thank you very much for reading and I wish you a fabulous 2013. May you be blessed and all of your dreams come true!

Santa came this Xmas with pleasant surprises!

I really enjoy this time of the year. The chilly weather, the non-stop Christmas marathon in the radio, the candy, the family and obviously the gifts!
Giving and receiving gifts is such a pleasant experience. Seeing how creative people can get to please us and finding just that perfect little something for that special person always cheers me up.
Christmas is all about giving. We celebrate our Lord Jesus Christ that was sent to this world to give himself for us. We also celebrate all the blessings that we have in our life.
This Christmas I was particularly spoiled by my husband and his family. So here are some of the material gifts I got:

Displayed above:

Savon Soyeux J'adore - Dior

Huile Seche Satinee J'adore - Dior

Coffret Eau des Merveilles - Hermes

Carre Tigre du Bengale - Hermes

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you also had a wonderful Christmas!

The Look - All black: leather + feathers + lace

This past Sunday I thought I should embrace the winter time (since it is officially here) and dress for it. I wore high heel boots with a playful feather skirt and a cozy sweater. I got so many compliments that I want to share the look with you:

Lace cami - White House Black Market (old), similar here

Sweater - Zara

Skirt - Caroll (old), similar here

Belt - Renner (old)

High heel boots - Michael Kors (old), similar here

Sunnies - Tiffany & CO

Bag - YSL

Thank you for reading and hope you've enjoyed the look!

Alexander Wang chez Balenciaga

It came to me as a surprise that designer Nicolas Ghesquiere would leave Balenciaga after 15 successful years leading the brand. It came to me as a further surprise that the new head designer of this amazing fashion house is the American Alexander Wang.
I am delighted. I am also full of expectations and curiosity to see his first collection for Balenciaga. Will he reach the same level of success of his predecessor? Will he continue on the same aesthetic lines of what we now know as the Balenciaga look? Or will he input his own signature in the collections to come?
Furthermore, will this be his permanent position from now on? Or is this another test drive/ disposable experience by the Spanish Fashion house in search of a designer? I guess time will tell us.

The Look - Tell me what you're thankful for

I know it has been a couple of weeks since thanksgiving but I really wanted to share with you the look I wore for such a special day.

I mixed a combo of neutral color pieces with a candy-like necklace and burnt orange booties.

I hope you too had a lovely thanksgiving with your loved ones with plenty to be thankful for. I know I have countless blessings in my life and am thankful for them everyday. Here is my look:

Jacket - BCBG (old), similar here

Bonjour sweater - ASOS

Skirt - It was gift from my mom ages ago, similar here

Bag - YSL

Necklace - Anthropologie (old), similar here

Booties - Schutz (sold out), similar here

Thank you so much for reading and hope you've enjoyed this post.

L'Occitane

This past summer I had the opportunity to travel to the South of France for the very first time. I have been to France many times and have lived in the city of Lyon as well, but for some reason I had never been to the famous Cote d'azur.

So this summer I gave my husband and ultimatum, we have to, have to go. So we got a rental car and drove from Lyon all the way to Monaco and back. Since I've heard of the beautiful Provence and of the spectacular Couvent des Minimes (aka the L'Occitane's Hotel and Spa in their home region of Provence), I've decided to book a night and a couple of treatments there.

We drove from Lyon to Mane en Provence and I was in heaven! The hotel is simply amazing, the staff, the facilities and the spa, oh the spa! I had a treatment entirely using L'Occitane products and my husband pampered himself with a massage also using L'Occitane oils.

After the relaxing treatments, chilling by the pool and having an outstanding lunch, we headed to L'Occitane - the factory! I have to confess we did get lost while trying to get there and ended up in this isolated Lavender field (I know, I know, there are worst places to get lost).

We did end up finding the factory and the museum and the factory store. I was mind blown to know that this company started during the 70's with a man that sold soap in one of Provence's local markets (does this sound crazy to anyone else?). Here are some pictures of me enjoying the museum and ultimately the store, which gives you a heavy discount since you are shopping within the region.

Thank you so much for reading and hope you've enjoyed this little travel tip. I do strongly advise anyone that wishes to go to the Cote d'Azur, do take a detour and enjoy this amazing place called Mane en Provence.

Cool Stuff - Fashion! A highly entertaining trilogy

I am a huge fan of fashion documentaries. I've watched anything from the Canal + bio on Karl Lagerfeld's life, to Diana Vreeland's the eye has to travel which I'll have to write a separate post about. With that being said, I was browsing through one of my favorite stores (both online and the actual physical one at Rue St. Honore) and found this gem!
It's called Fashion! (with an exclamation mark) by Olivier Nicklaus a delightful almost 6 hour documentary that tells the story of the last 3 decades of fashion, the 3-part DVD is composed by:

- The Golden 80's
- Antifashion (aka the 90's)
- Go Global (aka 2000's)

On a whim, I've placed the order through Colette's website and 48 hours later (no joke), the package arrived! My heart was pounding, I was so delighted that I wrote a long email sharing my wonderful experience and sent it to Colette: no response! What is the matter with you FRENCH PEOPLE?
Anyhow, I got home, put on my comfy PJ's, took the Vanilla Hagen Dazs out of the freezer and even made my husband watch it with me (he will never confess, but I am sure he enjoyed it as much as I did or even more - love you, honey!).
So if you are looking for something to do on a stay in Saturday night (pretty sure you don't have those, right?) or a lazy Sunday morning, this is a great suggestion.
Go to Colette and grab yours!

The look - Snake print + Hues of blue

After working very hard to make sure our lecture went smoothly, Sunday came! Oh, how I love Sundays! Being able to get up later, sip a cup of hot cocoa in bed with my hubbie, read a book (currenty The Gospel according to Coco Chanel by Karen Karbo), just being plain lazy!

So I wanted a comfy, effortless look that I could just throw on to go to Sunday morning church, so I wore one of my favorite animal prints: snake! And paired it up with different shades of my favorite color for the moment: Blue.

I have been wearing so much blue lately, I could easily say I've got the blues. Anyhow, here is my look:

Maxi dress - Armani Exchange (old), similar here

Grey cardigan - Armani Exchange (old), similar here

Necklace - Anthropologie (sold out), similar here

Pumps - Jean Michel Cazabat, available in red here

Cool Stuff - Tatiana Sorokko's Lecture

On my previous post I showed you my look at Tatiana Sorokko's lecture, but never got to tell you what the event was all about. The amazing Russian supermodel Tatiana Sorokko accepted the invitation of non-profit Visions of La Moda, where I am the chief sewing and design instructor, to come and do a full lecture for a limited list of guests.

On her lecture, Tatiana talked about her exquisite collection of couture items (over 250 items among clothing and accessories) as well as her career as a supermodel. I was so delighted to finally meet her and more so when I saw how sweet, humble and intelligent she is. Here are some more pictures of this prestigious event.

                

With the gorgeous Barbie Villanueva

Julia Barboza, Traci Peace-Greco, Alika Mailly, the students Cheyenne and Arielle, me and the fabulous journalist Fabiola Kramsky-Gascon

Again, the gorgeous Fabiola Kramsky-Gascon with Traci Peace-Greco

Frank Greco, Traci Peace-Greco, Fabiola Kramsky-Gascon and her husband the district attorney George Gascon

Traci Peace-Greco and Carolyne Zinko from the San Francisco Chronicle

VOLM students Arielle and Cheyenne, Alika Maily, Julia Barbosa, the amazing Tatiana Sorokko and me

Julia Barboza, me and Alika Mailly

Thank you so much for reading and hope you've enjoyed this lecture as much as I did!

The Look - Tatiana Sorokko's Lecture

This weekend was very special for Visions Of La Moda, o non-profit where I am a volunteer. We had a very special guest coming in for a lecture: the supermodel Tatiana Sorokko.

She spoke on the subjects of fashion and art and of course her fabulous carrier as a super model and couture collector. With her having such an extensive resume, I though I should dress to impress.

Trench - H&M (old), similar here

Dress - Hunter Dixon (sold out), similar here

Scarf - Hermes , similar here

Shoes - Christian Louboutin (old), similar here

Bag - YSL

What do you guys think? Xoxo

Look du Jour, au travail

Business wear are two words that can easily mean dull. All the pantsuits, button down boring shirts, odd length skirts paired with sober colors don't add an inch of style to most people's outfits. Thinking of that , jazzing up my daily outfits became a goal.

Bright colors, strategically placed accessories and a little make up can do wonders for one's look. I do have to admit, I enjoy some freedom most mortals don't since my husband and I own our business. But I still think about my full look before putting a single piece of clothing on. So this is what I've chosen to wear on this cloudy Thursday.

Shirt: Meadow Rue sold at Antrhopologie (old), similar here

Skirt: Valentino RED (sold out), add to wish list here

Pumps: Gucci

Trench: H&M (old), similar here

Necklace: Antropologie (sold out), similar here

Cuff: Vintage (A lovely gift from my husband)

Bag: YSL 

Thank you so much for reading! Hope you've enjoyed this look. Beijos!