After a few days in Paris, I wanted to talk to you about this exhibition called "Le Dressing de rêve des Parisiens".
It takes place at the Hôtel de Ville in the very heart of Paris so we can hardly miss it, plus it's free entrance ! (It's better not to go there during weekend to see fewer people and get time).
This exhibition was born from the idea of Régis Pennel (founder of the concept store L'Exception) and Philippe Zorzetto (founder of the eponymous shoes brand) presents 50 young fashion brands and designers from Paris. They went all over Paris, from "Le Marais" to "Saint Germain des Prés" passing by South Pigalle to discover and carefully select those designers and their boutiques.
Copyright Eple & Melk
This small-scale representation of the fashion market offers different styles, identities and inspirations through ready-to-wear, jewellery, shoes and accessories.
It's a real decoding of parisian trends and a great opportunity to know a bit more about those people who work really hard to keep Paris in motion and enrich our inspirations and wardrobes.
Among the designers you can find: - Melindagloss - Andrea Crews - Eple & Melk - No Youth Control - Misericordia ...
Copyright No Youth Control
Copyright Valentine Gauthier
Workshops are organized every saturday for those who'd like to create their own accessories.
This is one of my favorite activity to meditate: color mandalas. I guess I had the "mandala fever" when I was a kid, at school. I loved it because it was a way to calm down everyone after recess, all the children were whispering about the one they'd choose and what color they'd start with, getting very concentrated and inspired.
It may seem like basic coloring but (to me) it is so not !
The meaning of Mandala comes from Sanskrit meaning "circle". Mandalas come from India, and are part of Buddhism and Hinduism. Their design absorbs your mind with its balancing visual elements, it symbolizes unity and harmony.
Coloring mandalas helps being and feeling present. It develops creativity while focusing and opening our mind. It really helps to relax and feel better because while you're coloring you don't think about anything else, and it feels really good. Your thoughts don't remain, they don't set, they're just flying by and you don't even get touched by them. This sensation is very powerful.
Coloring mandalas is a suspended time for fun and harmony.
Carl Jung was the first man to discover the therapeutic virtues finding a link between the midpoint of mandalas and the human psyche. Lots of people suffering depression said they were feeling better after this kind of activities. So I guess it's better and cheaper than pills on a daily basis... !
Plus, meditation is very powerful on our brain (but not only), if you want to know more about it works, click here. I'll post some very interesting facts and studies about this subject at the end of the month !
You can easily buy or print some mandalas in bookstores and on the Internet.
My boyfriend made me discover this place. Even though I have to admit I had already noticed its front window that allows us to see an original and trendy decoration with modern light bulbs and flowers.
Now I've been there several times, I can tell you they definitely make the best mojitos ever (with a little preference for the raspberry one) !! Fresh and perfectly dosed.
They also serve wines, beers, other cocktails and softs, and some really tasty "tapas" for those who would feel peckish, and "granizados" during warm days of summer.
The bar has a dual exposure on two streets and its terrace is located on the most peaceful and quiet one of them, with some other bars' terraces a bit further.
You easily feel like home once you're in. The decoration mixes retro with do-it-yourself designs and objects like straw-hats as lampshades, ancient books and old furniture. It's tastefully original and cozy.
Great if you want to enjoy a drink while reading a book when it's quiet during the afternoon,
Perfect if you want a lively typical spanish night around good drinks.
Put them in a frying pan and add the seasoning mix to spice them up
Meanwhile, put corn in a bowl
Cut cherry tomatoes in squares and avocado in squares and slivers
Moisten avocado with lemon juice
Heat hot salsa sauce in a frying pan and some squares of tomatoes in it
To make different versions of this recipe - in anyway it'll be yummy - you can add/choose:
Red beans and peppers with hot salsa sauce
Tacos for a crispier version
Gluten-free tortillas
Today I want to introduce you something I recently discovered: the UNICEF bricks.
Apparently, the Psychic Factory agency imagined it: a brick like the ones we had when we were playing Lego® as kids, that would be able to bring water and food in two compartments and that could also be piled up to build houses.
UNICEF and Lego announced their partnership (for 3 years) in March 2015 to promote and help children's rights and development through worldwide countries.
Copyright UNICEF
This inspiring collaboration lead to this brick but this one is going to be helpful not to children but to families.
Once food and water have been consumed, sand and soil can replace them in the two empty compartments, this way it gives them weight and help to pile them up.
The aim is to efficiently help populations victims of poverty and/or provide them temporary shelters from disasters (natural, industrial...).
Copyright UNICEF
Plus, those bricks are made in a reusable material so they can help some other people, somewhere else.
Let's get undressed for the Free the Nipple Campaign
This movement started with a movie of Lina Esco. And then celebrities fought for it, helped by hashtags and pictures on websites and social networks.
But the "showing breast" problem is a very old one. In the early 1900s, lots of men were arrested for not wearing the right bathing suit... And a few 100 years later, same thing happens to women.
Quick reminder, men's bathing suits looked like this:
But women's breasts have always been more "taboo", always hidden or not much unveiled - even if some women dared topless on the beach - certainly because it's related to breast feeding and because they're bigger than men's... The worldwide religions legacy has probably something to do with it too.
Whatever, the thing is: women's breasts are still perceived as something awkward.
But only because that's what we - and by "we" I mean society - were told and raised with this perception, so nobody even tried to think about how absurd it could be. (And we also probably should question a certain amount of our "common perceptions", but that's not today's topic...).
Some people might say it is too excessive to ask for a gender equality regarding breasts, but I don't know what you think about that but to me, it goes way beyond equality. It's a matter of rational thinking and logic.
Women's breasts are prohibited, related to breast feeding and if not, to sexuality (look for the hashtag #FreetheNipple on Instagram, for example, you'll understand what I mean). Most of the time, they do are related to something sexual, something desirable, something that excites.
Although when you're a woman, you just consider it as a part of your body that is indeed practical if you want to feed your own baby. Otherwise you're just like "seriously, it's just breasts, no need to get crazy about it". They are symbols of our feminity, so what ? So are our lashes !
Sorry for this comparison but we tend to have longer lashes than men, as we tend to have more "prominent" boobs ! And nobody makes a big deal out of it !
Well, it can be a silly thing to say but maybe we should consider this way of thinking to change perspectives.
The fact that it's taboo to see women's nipples/breasts has become a great opportunity for maketers. The fact that we suggest nudity, by showing part of breast but not the entire breast heighten its mysterious-desirable side. And it attracts people. Because they are symbols of feminity and especially because we are animals and also because when something is forbidden or prohibited it appeals you even more. How twisted are we ?!
The fact that they are taboo supports the sexualization of women. It's a mean to promote goods and to maintain women as objects of desire.
The world goes upside down ! We are able to see and watch violence and terrible scenes in videos of people being killed: Charlie Hebdo's attack in january 2015, people killed in Pakistan, Iran, mistreated people or animals, and the list can go on and on and on.
But breast feeding and pictures of breast are automatically censured ?! And in Desperate Housewives when Susan Mayer gets wet because of the water jets in her yard, the episode becomes scandalous because we can see her nipples through her shirt because she gets cold ? And then the whole scene has to be touched up !!
We should definitely be able to make a difference between pictures where breast nudity is just natural and pictures where breast nudity is used as a sexual tool !
If we could change our vision of women's breast, I guess even the most obscene picture of breasts wouldn't be noticed. As it sounds completely absurd to imagine a picture of a man showing his nipples in an obscene kind of way...
What do you guys think about it ?!
Anyway, it's 2015 and we still have a lot of work regarding evolution ! But let's fight for it and make part of history like our grandmas did with the right to vote: let's Free the Nipple !
Now the two official months of summer are over, it's time to stop chilling !
Some people only consider July and August as summer, but as I am a summer-optimist (and a sun and beach lover) I'd liek to remind everyone that SUMMER IS STILL ON... At least until the 21st of september !!
Anyway, I wanted to talk about the magic of summer. This period of year that makes everybody feel better, feel happier, feel cooler, and the list can go on and on...
It's probably not a coincidence. It's the association of the fact that we know we are or we are about to be on holiday, the fact that sun is part of our lives [almost] everyday, days are longer [and warmer]. It definitely gets positive effects on us.
I feel like summer makes us take time for everything.
We take time to go for a walk at sunset after a nice dinner made of fresh and tasty products, we take time to cook, we take time to sit on terraces, have a few drinks, share a few laughs. We take time to read great novels, even if we sometimes glance at magazines. We take time to discover great places, hidden lanes, small gardens, shady squares. We take time to hike, swim, paddle, or whatever makes us feel good. We take time to be with people we love. We take time to disconnect and take a break from [overwhelming] news.
We take time to breath. We take time for us. We take time to live, and feel alive. Because we tend to forget that we are, the rest of the year. And we promise ourselves not to forget that.
I hope your summer gave you all the energies and good vibes you needed. And that you are ready to start a new season in a couple of weeks !
