Faire Une Pause

I took a break from writing in July.

It was partially because I was busy watching le Tour de France and partially because I needed to give myself a mental holiday from thinking - obsessing! - about Paris. Some days I know my obsession gets in the way from living my life here and I become too consumed with worrying about how any inconsequential action will somehow affect the potential of my future life in Paris. As if buying a $12.99 pound bag of Fair Trade coffee instead of buying the $4.99 pound bag of drug store brand coffee will have serious implications as to whether my husband and I live out our Paris dreams in our right bank flat above a patisserie.

More or less for the past ten months I have lived according to these self-imposed ideals and restrictions for the ultimate reward of Paris. And now Paris is less than forty days away. This time next month I will be writing about Paris, from Paris; this time next month my first bite of crepe from the stand just outside of les jardins tuileries (predictable but delicious) will erase the memory of all those winter can-of-soup-with-Stoned-Wheat-Thins lunches; this time next month, standing amongst the fall collection of bags at Longchamps, 404 rue St. Honore, I will congratulate myself for not succumbing to the charms of three seasons worth of clearance bags at everywhere from Aldo to Holt Renfrew; and a simple stroll along the banks of la Seine with my husband will make everything in my world perfect again.

I cannot wait for Paris.

But before Paris, there is business to be taken care of. It is no secret that one of my dreams is to be able to support my Paris habit by writing about Paris. During my pause, I started the process of trying to promote my Blog to the wider world. You can now join my Facebook group, All Things Paris - The Fabulous Adventures of CountessLV, by searching "All Things Paris" under "Groups" on Facebook.

All Things Paris was also recently invited to become a member of Lookville.com, an invite only, beta web site for fashion lovers. It is completely legitimate and if fashion is your language, these online users are your community. I have quickly learned that my French fashion collection is nothing compared to some of these international fashionistas. Conchi Pellin writes her Blog, My Jewls and More - http://myjewelsandmore.blogspot.com/- from Alicante, Spain. Her personal French collection includes vintage Chanel shoes and a Dior "pouchy".

The countdown is on, my pause is over and I will stop at nothing for Paris.

PS - If you want to join Lookville.com, I was given five memberships for joining so send me an e-mail to allthingsparis@gmail.com