A very sweet Sunday

Queue outside the Bistro Vivienne, as cupcake fanatics jostled for their sugar hit

Last Sunday saw the Cupcake Camp at the Bistro Vivienne in the 2nd. A hot, heavy day, so we were glad of the internal courtyard at the back of the bisto once we had filled our boxes...


The day's favourite was rose and pistachio, top right, but the bottom-left with blue flowers won top marks for icing from our group. 4th of July cakes were a little too sugary, check out the real Cupcake Camp winners.


A cupcake dragon by Wedding Cakes Avenue. Great icing!


A sugary, full, waddle back through the gardens of the Palais Royale, we came across an exhibition of designer scarecrows made out of hemp, from the Linen and Hemp Community. Above is the shabby glam Swarovski scarecrow.

Balenciaga and Lanvin.

Martin Marghiela's hairy scarecrow.

Pour la première fois de ma vie...

... j'ai hâte de me lever demain matin pour prendre un café! Merci trnd, colis bien livré...

The Nespresso machine has arrived. For the first time in my life, I'm actually looking forward to getting up in the morning.

Séléctionnée! / Chosen!

Un grand merci au super site de marketing de bouche-à-l'oreille trnd, qui m'a séléctionnée de tester un Nespresso Citiz machine... et de la garder après! On l'a choisi en couleur crème vintage, bien sûr.

Plutôt thé comme une bonne anglaise, est-ce que le fait d'avoir une Nespresso à la maison va me transformer en caffeinomane? Watch this space...

A big thank you to the team at word-of-mouth-marketing site trnd, who are sending me a Nespresso Citiz machine to test. (And keep afterwards. My mornings just got easier!) Obviously, I went for the retro cream option, which I am hoping will go splendidly with the new kitchen we have planned, courtesy of the upstairs neighbour's insurance company after water started pouring through the ceiling a couple of weeks ago.

Generally more a tea girl, I'm hoping I won't be transformed into a caffeine-craving mess in the weeks before my wedding. Not a good brdial look.

In three weeks' time...

...we'll be married and heading for the beach. Before then, a few more things to sort out and a crazy-looking four-day action plan where everything is timed to the last minute. Almost.

Here's a blog I wish I had found six months ago, Parisian Party, by expat wedding planner Kim Petyt, who was at the Cupcake Camp this weekend (sugary sweet photos to come!). I'm too late for the beautiful decoration ideas, and the practical advice for foreigners daring to brave the administration and get married here would have been just what I was looking for last November, but her post on wedding money boxes is just what I'm looking for.


It is accepted and in some parts of France, traditional, to give money as wedding presents. As this seems a bit full-on for our British sensibilities, we deliberated for a long while before choosing to do the same - the idea of a package honeymoon just isn't us, so we've asked for guest contributions directly. So I need to make a box for guests to put their cards in... Kim has picked out some great ideas from Mains et Merveilles, designed and made by hand for a rather reasonable fee by Fanny.

I'll be off to investigate hat boxes and decoration ideas in mint green, dove grey and fuschia pink on Friday...