To New Beginnings and Endless Possibilities

My all time favorite New Year's Eve scene....

Denys: "Happy New Year, Karen."

Yes!!!!!



Wishing you a memorable New Year's Eve, wherever this post finds you.

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My Big Fat Giant Clam Shell

The possibilities.....

are endless and beautiful....

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Believe

I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink! I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing; kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything else seems to be going wrong. I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles.

— Audrey Hepburn

Hollywood legendary photographer Leo Fuch's vision of Audrey Hepburn as captured by his eyes and lense.

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The Day After Christmas

I hope you got everything you wanted.....

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A Christmas Memory Forever

Okay, so we had a little meltdown this morning.  Well, it was more like a dilemma than an actual meltdown. And I'm sure you are dying to know why, so I'll tell you.

As preparations for Santa's arrival were underway this morning (by the way, in Europe as in my native country of Argentina, Santa Claus delivers his gifts at midnight on Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas morning).  Frankly, if you stop and think about it, it makes sense that he would have to somehow space out the delivery of gifts during the night given all the stops he must make.  I guess the U.S. is last on his journey and hence, the morning gifts.

But I digress (as always)...

So as we don't have a fireplace in our home (really, when I rebuilt this home after Hurricane Katrina, I planned on what were the basic needs of our house and a working fireplace in a city that doesn't see freezing temperatures, seemed like a huge and needless expense), we leave a huge antique gold key on the front door for Santa to be able to enter our home in a civilized manner.  Roma and Liam took care of the preparations, making sure we made cookies for Santa, had milk for him to wash them down, left oatmeal on little bowls outside for the reindeer to eat, put a small wooden stake on the ground for Santa to tie them up while he delivers our presents, etc.  You get the point.

Then came time for hanging the stockings.  That's where the problem came in.  For the life of me, I cannot figure out what happened to our stockings.  I mean, I know that we lost the ones that grandma knitted for the kids as a result of the flooding in Hurricane Katrina, but I swore I bought some regular fuzzy red and white ones last year.  Still, I could not find them anywhere.  It's Christmas Eve and no stockings to be had in the house.  Crisis!!!!

Liam suggested I go "buy" some stockings at our local convenience store, but I explained to them that in the old days, kids left their own socks for Santa and there was truly no need for me to spend money on Christmas stockings (okay, I realize that my kids will need major therapy as adults as a result of my need to impose certain values on them, but in such a highly capitalistic society, can you blame me?????).  Although the sock idea did not seem to faze them at all (in fact, they were very agreeable to it), when they reached into their drawers and pulled out their respective socks, they realized that this idea presented a major fairness issue.  Liam's socks are much larger that Roma's socks and, therefore, Liam would presumable get more candy and presents than Roma.

That's where the meltdown came in.

I assured them that this would not be the case and that Santa is a fair and just person and that certainly, he would not favor one over the other on the basis of their respective feet sizes.  Still, that did little to assure them and, given that fairness and justice are values that we stress in this family, they were determined to find a solution.

Which they did.  Or, maybe I should say, Roma did.

Is that hilarious or what?????  Like I could ever go back to store-bought Red and White Fuzzy Stockings.....

I hope they never lose that innocence about them!

Have a very Merry Christmas wherever this post finds you.

www.KarinaGentinetta.1stdibs.com

New Orleans during Christmas

I love New Orleans this time of year.  Frankly, I think I love it any time of year except when it is a scorching, humid 100 degree day in August.  But still, with a cold cocktail on the veranda, all is forgiven.

New Orleans is so nostalgic and whimsical during the Christmas holidays that I wanted to share some images with you.  Enjoy the visit.

A reveillon dinner at Oak Alley Plantation. In France and some other French speaking places, réveillon is a long dinner, and possibly a party, held on the evenings preceding Christmas Day and New Year's day. It is still a very popular tradition in New Orleans.

An interior.

In the French Quarter.

Even Brad and Angelina can relax in their home in New Orleans and be like any other family in the world.

Preservation Hall where Jazz is celebrated and honored.

An ordinary (or perhaps extraordinary) view in Uptown New Orleans.

Sandra Bullock has not yet put up her Christmas decorations in her home on 4th and Coliseum in the Garden District.

Galatoires' Restaurant.  One of my favorite places in the world (their crabmeat Maison and souffled potatoes  dipped in powder sugar and bernaise sauce are to die for).

Reveillon dinner at Antoine's Restaurant.

St. Louis Cathedral.

Love those streetcars!

Shopping on Magazine Street.

The Roosevelt Hotel (formerly the Fairmont Hotel) becomes a Winter Wonderland.

The Omni Royal Orleans Hotel.

A home in the Garden District.

Uptown New Orleans.

On St. Charles Avenue in Uptown New Orleans.

My home this morning.

My prized Rosemary bushes -- the last of the season's blooms.

Hope you enjoyed your visit to New Orleans.

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