Nash-vegas Here I Stay (for a brief while)

Okay, so this blog is going to be titled "My Belle Vie in Nashville" for a little while longer everyone. But never fear, I will be in New York before Saks puts up its Christmas lights. Until then, I hope that I can entertain you with stories from the South. If anyone wants to come visit, you are welcome as always.

Good Clean Fun

I was watching some ridiculous tv show last Friday -- "Clean House" on the Style channel I think. The show is absolutely terrible, but I did hear this brilliant little nugget of wonderfullness from the houseowner:

"I first met my wife at Chucky Cheese at our friend Bonsai's birthday party."

I'm glad to be back in America.

State-side Entry

I'm back in the States! I have not much to say today and have to get ready for dinner now, so I'm going to just share one of my favorite poems that's been stuck in my head for a fews days now. My birthday present to you . . . .

SUZANNE
John Logan

You make us want to stay alive, Suzanne,
the way you turn

your blonde head.
The way you curve your slim hand

toward your breast.
When you drew your legs

up, sitting by the fire,
and let your bronze hair

stream about your knees
I could see the grief

of the girl in your eyes.
It touched the high,

formal bones of your face.
Once I heard it in your lovely voice

when you sang –
the terrible time of being young.

Yet you bring us joy with your
self, Suzanne, wherever you are.

And, once, although I wasn’t here,
you left three roses on my stair.

One party night when you were high
you fled barefoot down the hall,

the fountain of your laughter
showering through the air.

“Chartreuse,” you chanted
(the liqueur you always wanted),

“I have yellow chartreuse hair!”
Oh it was a great affair.

You were the most exciting person there.
Yesterday when I wasn’t here

again,
you brought a blue, porcelain

egg to me
colored beautifully

for the Russian Easter.
Since then, I have wanted to be your lover,

but I have only touched your shoulder
and let my fingers brush your hair,

because you left three roses on my stair.

Du Vin, s.v.p.

Back in July a few of us got together with our oenology teacher to have a wine/dinner pairing. The professor brought all of the wine, so, of course, it was amazing. We all had a great time, as you can see from the pics.

Wine with Dinner

Ce Soir Est La Nuit Blanche

Alors, c’est la Nuit Blanche encore à Paris. I didn’t exactly tell you the whole truth about la Nuit Blanche last year. I might not have mentioned that I had developed a big crush on Chesley Hines that night (God forbid that he actually find out that I liked him or that Ainsley disown me for pining after her little brother). Fortunately, the crush was mutual and Ainsley’s still speaking to me.

So, then, I might have also glazed over the fact that we’ve been dating now for close to a year now. Most of you know this, though. However, I’ve never given him proper space on My Belle Vie, and I feel like I’m keeping secrets from friends by not updating you (let’s hope he’s not reading this right now and wishing that I hadn’t written it).

Now I don’t know what to write other than I still think he’s entirely wonderful, and I’m so happy that we met for dinner on this day last year. Had I known that I was about to meet le garçon de mes rêves, I might have tried harder not to get lost on the way to dinner, which made me horribly late that night. However, I still get lost in that neighborhood, and he didn’t seem to mind all that much.

Au Revoir Cergy

One year later and I’m heading out to Cergy for the last time. I have to deal with the devil bank and meet with my career counselor. I guess BNP isn’t exactly the worst bank in the world, but French banks have yet to centralize customer information so I have to go to my home branch out in Cergy to get things like printouts of my statements. Of course! C’est impossible to get this information at one of the hundreds of branches in the city. I guess that’s what you get from banks that don’t actually have money at the branches, which begs the question of why the branches invest in heavily secured entrances that only allow one person to enter at a time.

It’s weird to think that there is another class now in my old classroom, but I’m also glad that I’m not in class anymore. If I had only known how little sleep I was about to get for the next 3 months at this time last year . . . . Well, I probably wouldn’t have done anything differently. Last night I had a too much cheap wine and too little dinner so I’m feeling just about the same way that I usually felt at 8:00 in the morning on this same train during the school year.

I officially graduated two weeks ago! I am now part of the “Christian Dior Couture Class.” That sounds fancy doesn’t it? The ceremony was really nice and most of the class was able to make it back so it was nice to see everyone. We were very international indeed! Meeta wore a sari, Akiko I. wore a kimono and Suen wore a traditional Korean gown. They made my black dress look très boring, but I had brightened it up with some pretty pink shoes. If I had known so many girls were going to wear their cultural best, I would have donned my old deb dress and talked like Scarlet O’Hara all night.

Mom was able to come over at the last minute, which made all of the graduation festivities seem much more festive. I was happy that she got to meet all of my friends and that I got to show her my favorite places in Paris. We had a great time for the week and ended the adventure with a visit to Giverny. So here are lots and lots of pictures of flowers:

Paris & Giverny

Carey and Elizabeth also came to graduation and proved that they are some of the best soirée-goers in Paris. After setting up shop near the bar, they entertained guests all night. Every time I went over to say hello and get a glass of champagne, I swear they had made new friends. They are also expert party givers. I confirmed that fact last night, which explains why I am still in my pj’s at 3:00 p.m. Ugh. I feel like I’m revisiting college a bit. I probably should get it out of my system before I head back to New York and have to act all adult and responsible every day.

I will have lots of pictures from graduation later – I want you all to see that I did, in fact, graduate.

Empty Promises Made Less Empty

Enfin, je reviens!

I finally don’t have much to do. Well, I should rephrase that. Everything that I have to do, I am not currently inclined to do – like mailing all of my books home and cancelling my various accounts around town. Boring! So I ventured out of my apartment and have been at a café eating lunch and drinking wine and coffee. How French of me, non? Lots of exciting things have happened since I’ve been here. A dog chased a pigeon into the corner where I am sitting. It flew almost straight into me and then started banging itself against the windows until it took a seat in the chair right behind me. I had to get the waiter to catch it and throw it back out into the air. Then, there was some sort of motorcycle/car collision right outside, but no one was hurt so I can call it exciting and not tragic.

I have been renting an apartment on Ile Saint Louis, which is an amazing location and the perfect place to say au revoir to Paris. The apartment itself it filled with stuff – lots of old dusty stuff. I hung 7 sheets around the place to keep everything out of sight. I also put as many objets d’art, like the African reed instruments and the tusk with teeth, as I could into bags and hid them away. I have a great view of the street, which is always busy and it’s only 3 flights up, which is a welcome relief from the 7 I’d been climbing since December. The apartment is also sans Internet, which is sort of my excuse for not posting more often.

I don’t even know where to begin with catching you up on things. I want to say thank you first to anyone who’s still reading. It’s been hard to keep in touch this year and I’m not exactly the best at it to begin with. It’s so nice to get emails and see that people have checked my little blog because it makes me feel like I’m still connected to my friends and family.

I’ll just start with the most recent news and go backward. Earlier this week I was in London to interview with Phillips de Pury (an auction house) and Fabergé. The first went really well, and I’m very hopeful that they will have a good opportunity for me in New York in November. The second was not so great, but I’m glad I went to check it out anyway.

Here’s a picture of me waiting for the Eurostar. I still think that’s one of the coolest things ever. You just pop on a train in the middle of London where everyone is speaking English and being helpful and calling you “Love,” and before you know it, you’re in the middle of Paris where everyone’s speaking French and not caring about you. Still I love Paris. I liked London, but it’s no Paris. For the first time, I actually felt like I was going back home when I left St. Pancras station. Of course, Paris isn’t home home, but it’s become a new home like New York is a new home place for me.

So, yes, I’ve decided to come back to New York, for a while at least. I don’t seem to be able to plan more than a year ahead anymore so I’ll just have to wait and see how long I stay and where I go next. Dammit! That pigeon just flew back into my space! Are you kidding?? It’s sitting next to me on the floor just looking. Good, now the waiter just told it to leave and it walked out of the door like a human. Maybe it is a person who’s been turned into a pigeon. Anything’s possible here . . . .

London