And yet in the face of it all...

Lets see what my oracle Oscar Wilde had to say about marriage or related issues :

"I have always been of the opinion that consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative..."

"Lord Henry: ...the one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely neccesary for both parties.

...every experience is of value,and,whatever one may say against marriage it is certainly an experience.

...Women try their luck; men risk theirs."

"Lord Illingworth: Twenty years of romance make a woman look like a ruin; but twenty years of marriage make her something like a public building ...

....Men marry because they are tired;women because they are curious.Both are disappointed. "

"Mrs Cheveley:Ah! the strength of women comes from the fact that psychology cannot explain us. Men can be analysed, women...merely adored. An Ideal Husband


"Lord Goring: It is the growth of the moral sense in women that makes marriage such a hopeles, one sided institution."

"Mrs Cheveley : Oh there is only one real tragedy in a woman's life.The fact that her past is always her lover, and her future invariably her husband.

Take all that , the fact that I'm reading Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates (wanted to read it before going to see the movie) that two peple who are quite close to me just announced the separation from their husbands.It makes us think, and yet in the face of it all we are getting married...


Quotes:Oscar Wilde:Nothing...except my genius; image : wedding 1933 , condenast.com, image of Oscar Wilde: www.wilsonsalmanac.com

"Pleasure is the only thing one should live for.Nothing ages like happiness."O.W.

Somehow last night Paris magic struck and the evening turned into one of decadent delights.

It even started well when I met P. DF's best friend who lives in the Congo currently and works for an NGO, at WHSmith's (they had a sale on all Penguin books and I found some great one's including one on Oscar Wilde)then we went to a lovely tiny Thai / Vietnmese that I didnt know in the same street as Maria Luisa and the Souffle restaurant.

When we finished we hadn't talked nearly enough and were debating going to one of our usual places like Juveniles or the Caveau (de Montpensier) but somehow P. mentioned the Bar Hemingway and we got very fired up (except I told her that DF would kill me if I lots) but P. in her endless generosity ivited me.I guess she needed a partner in crime and well there isn't anything more fun then sharing a guilty decadent evening and about 6-7 cocktails with a friend who shares the same expensive habits. We cosied up in the bar, struck up frienships with Pierre and Romain the barmen who still remembered my friend from previous visits(Colin was off) got served pretty drinks with roses and orchids and cucumber water and warm almonds and ... oh well the whole place just enveloped us in its golden shine until closing time , when reality had us back.

And this morning a raging headache / hungover , lovely. But if any bar is worth the morning after then that one is. Next time will be after our mairie wedding if ever we get it done.

Tomorrow DF will take me out for our proper, belated Valentine's dinner,we had an unplanned impromptu one on valentine day , but that doesn't cancel out the need to go to Le Recamier once every winter for a souffle feast, before it gets warm again an d souffle feels too heavy . Life can be quite pleasurable sometimes, sure old papa and colin would agree.

Dominos falling

I'm back in Paris , back to work back in our cosy little apartment back to evenings alone watching Godfather till too late eating Ben & Jerry's taking a break from my break. No wedding planning no diets ... for the moment at least and there is much more to write.

But for the past half hour I was going through dominomag.com I'm sooo sad to see my facourite interior design mag go that I downloaded every image I liked for future inspiration, when one day I will own a home I can remodel to my hearts desire and without limitations given by DF's guidelines on colour etc... ah one can dream.

Really Conde Nast broke that little piece of my heart that beats for pretty pretty apartments , wall colours , mirrored beds ... pretty lamps, wallpaper etc..;

Seriously each image is like perfect real estate escpism...

all images from dominomag.com

Honeymoon time is over...

Wow this wedding planning business is getting a bit overwhelming especially having my mom and DF's oppinions raining down on me from two different countries while I alone (ok there is our planner) am left with figuring out budget etc... So as much as I love being engaged and the process and all the pretty things involved . Today it happened : I finally got sick of it all and just wish it was all done alrady and we could move on.

(Of course I still look forward to it, just slightly less enthusiastic about the process,it starts giving me headaches)

Thank God, after my morning dress fitting I was booked for an entire afternoon at the beauty parlor , literally two hour facial, massage , pedicure all of it. Gotta love Hungary for that though it only cost 25$ for all and my skin feels heavenly. Yup takes work to stay pretty, well in this case the work of 5 lovely talented ladies , not mine , but work nevertheless. I feel like Dita looks on that image . Soooo pretty

(image from google images/ www.ahlanlive.com)

Somehow even after all this time the beauty of this city takes my breath away every time I cross a bridge over the Danube , I had one crossing today on tram 6 over Margaret bridge at dusk , with the whole city , parliament and castle hill in pink candy coton light and later from the other side crosssing at nite everything aglow in golden night lighting.Breathtaking.

I guess I should stop gushing and there is plenty places tht are a bit shabby , dodgy or just plain ugly , but it just makes me love it more.With all that I like about Paris and all its architectural beauty there is rarely that I get the same feeling I have every single time I cross the Danube. Its home i guess.

Could have something to do too with the fact that I got contact lenses today and for the first time in a long while aactually had some spatial sight , well and could actually see.

As for wedding stuff , we got lots done while DF was here fun stuff like cake tasting, choosing first nite suite, tasting the menus , meeting the priests (slightly less fun more nervwracking) and thanks to our lovely wedding planner things seem to go smoothly.

Although after almost a whole week of it and another full day to come tomorrow, I have a sudden urge to take a nap from all things wedding and just wake up after all of it is done . Then again I'm way too perfectionist about details and all matters easthetic to just lean back and let other people deal with it.I never thought i could get sick of it all but , though i still look forward to it , im starting to get sick of the planning , the worrying about documents and shedules and family and budget and all of that. Maybe I just need a holiday from my holiday or something like that...

Sailing...

I just desperately fell in love...though DF doesnt have to worry just yet, I fell in love with a ship, Its called Sea Cloud, and I guess DF would still be worried as its far out of our budget. In fact their website www.seacloud.com doesn't even mention prices .It does however mention butler service, gilded faucets only 60 guest per ship etc. But the ships are heavenly and I love being on ships where you get gusts of saltwater into your face , that are closer to the water with lovely wood plank flooring and oil paintings hanging in the dining room. I guess we'll just have to save it for our 10th wedding anniversary (another good reason to stay together) until then i'll just be hopelessly in love...

(images from www.sevenstarsandstripes.com-view of the cabin, www.jhcbh.com for image of the ship)