"When nothing goes right, go left."
— Alber Elbaz
“Take what serves you, and leave the rest behind” is a phrase I typically attached to the more woo-woo aspects of my life, but lately I’ve been leaning into its wisdom more broadly: in my career, my personal relationships, and how I choose to spend my time. As I’m heading back from Paris and Amsterdam, I’ve been thinking a lot about this last week, and how I managed to experience Paris Fashion Week on my own terms for once. I didn’t see as many shows as I normally would, but I didn’t necessarily push to get in either. I didn’t need to go. Instead I milked those precious moments to catch up with good friends, eat frites and cheese with my sister and niece, dip into some favorite haunts, and just walk, and walk… And I was just so happy. Ca m’est servit bien.
And in Amsterdam, too: Sure, I probably could have gone to a museum, but it wouldn’t have impressed me half as much as watching my nephew draw pages and pages of different sharks, or hearing his younger brother assert that New York is where all the “fox ladies” are. I mean…
And now I’m headed back home without a single complaint—aside from the security worker at Heathrow who confiscated my mini Barbara Sturm face serum, and promptly went on her break (with it). I guess she was leaning into the mantra too.
1.
Two new(ish) travel items since I last flew internationally: La Compagnie, the all-business class airline is back in the air after taking a pandemic-prompted pause, with new routes and upgraded planes, and the whole experience is better than ever. I flew the airline once a few years ago and again for this most recent trip to Paris, and I was actually able to sleep for once, thanks to the full-flat seats and cozy, quilted comforters.
For my flights back home, I downloaded the Verifly app, which a number of airlines are pushing fliers to use. You put in your flight info, and it creates a checklist of everything you’ll need for that trip: visas, vaccination info, covid test results, and other mandatory paperwork. You can even upload most things into the app, so you’re all set and cleared before you even get to the airport. This takes the daunting confusion out of “what do I need to fly to…” which goes a long way these days.
2.
Just some really great things I ate in Paris last week: a perfect croissant and too many buttery biscuit cookies from Poilâne to count; fries, wine, and a plank of six or seven different cheeses with my sister at Café Charlot with my sister; falafel and eggplant-stuffed pitas from Mi-Va-Mi in the marais (because our favorite spot, L’As du Falafel was fermé!); just about everything off the menu from Season to-go, so I could load my fridge up with healthy, ready-made eats; deviled eggs and champagne with Apollonia and Patrick at Le Mary Celeste, then some more wine, and then some more wine (not a typo) and a handful of small dishes like whipped taramasalata and smoky, roasted carrots with fresh herbs with Patrick at Martin. Oh! And a gorgeously-constructed salade niçoise from Le Bristol that will make me think twice about just throwing some greens and tuna on a plate and calling it by the same name.
3.
And from London… delightful, hand-painted lampshade brand I recently came across. Not exactly ho-hum, but Hum.
4.
Ok, there was ONE Paris Fashion Week party I have total FOMO about missing: the 45-designer tribute to Alber Elbaz titled “Love Brings Love.” Vanessa Friedman of the NY Times does a pretty satisfying job of bringing the rest of us there, while also expanding on the greater significance of the event itself, most especially how rare a designer and friend Alber was to unite such an astounding number of fashion peers and industry players in his honor.
5.
For my last dinner in Amsterdam, I tasted two new things: lamsoren (aka Mediterranean sea lavender), which apparently doesn’t exist in its edible form here in the states—or at least as far as I can tell; and a beautiful champagne that thankfully does. Life is too short to drink shitty wine. And life is too precious to drink cheap champagne. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself these days.