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Yes, my kittens, I dared to go there.

 I give you the last "calorie-full" dessert before Spring arrives. Afterwards, I’ll get back into "bikini-friendly" recipes, since I definitely went a bit overboard during the winter and I want to get back in shape and have energy, and that also begins with what I put on my plate !

 So yes, today in posting this article, I’m wondering if I haven’t taken the concept of the little cat a bit too far, but what are you gonna do, people never change!  I hope you enjoy it for a teatime with your friends, it’s better than cupcakes at least, it’s more fresh. In summertime you can vary the recipe with red berries and reinvent the Pavlova ! Sending you big kisses, see you real soon my little cats! 

To make 6 cats, for the panna cotta, you'll need :

• - 40cl of fleurette cream (sort of whipping cream)
• - 80g superfine sugar
• - 7 gelatin sheets, or 2 level teaspoons of agar
• - 2 tablespoons orange blossom water
• - and half-pod of vanilla

 Start by soaking the gelatin sheets in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. In the meantime, mix the cream, vanilla and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once the mix is simmering, remove from heat and stir the gelatin (make sure it’s wrung out) into the mixture. Then put it back on the heat, to let it warm up, and then add in the orange blossom water. Fill up the silicon demi-spheres of 7 cm in diameter, I found mine at Mora here. Let cool in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

To make the meringue base, you’ll need:

• - 60g egg whites,
• - 60g powdered sugar,
• - 60g superfine sugar,
• - a pinch of salt. 

First of all, take your eggs out of the fridge, they don’t have much to do with anything here…but that’s another debate altogether… Take your eggs out about 15 minutes before startng to prepare the meringue, so that they will be at room temperature by then. Preheat the oven at 90°C on a convection/fan setting. Prepare a baking sheet with baking paper. In a big bowl, crack the eggs and only keep the whites, and be precise, no yolk nor shells in the whites, it’s essential to making a successful meringue, it’s all chemistry my friends ! Add the pinch of salt to the egg whites and start whipping. Stir in the two sugars little by little and continue wisking until the meringue is firm. Now form 7cm disks of meringue on the baking sheet, you can shape them using a pastry bag or a spoon. Put in the oven and bake for 2 hours at 90°C. 

For the decorative icing, you’ll need:

• - 20cl chilled fleurette cream,
• - 50g superfine sugar,
• - 1 tub of Philadelphia cream cheese,
• - White and pink almond paste,
• - chocolate chips and a pastry pen made by Vahiné.

Start by whipping the cream with the sugar, and when the cream is firm, add the cream cheese. Take a meringue disk and use a spoon of whipped cream as a binder for the panna cotta and the meringue. Then using a small spatula or the back of a knife spread icing over the domes. And smooth out your little cats. You could very well decorate them with chocolate sprinkles if wanted, as usual, have fun! Then for the face and ears, use the almond paste, the eyes are made of chocolate chips, and the nose and mustache are made with a chocolate pastry pen. And now you can serve immediately or keep them chilled in the fridge! Enjoy!

Translated by Ida Driscoll. 

Hola my little kittens,

Today is Wednesday, so let’s get back into the good habits of "DIY Wednesday"! Do you remember how much I love kilties (literally Mexican tabs in French) ?What you talking about Willis ? Come on, you know, the fringed tongues that golfers wear on their shoes! Remember when I told you about how my trip to Maurice Manufacture finally lead me to discovering the name of these marvelous little things that make any shoe look eccentric… And today we’re going to teach you how to make your own kilties, to be worn on their own, or to create a waterfall effect, sort of like a ruffle on your shoes… A few weeks ago, Sarenza asked me to propose a concept for a DIY for Converse. For the occasion, he wanted me to work with the legendary Chuck Taylor sneakers, who will soon be turning 100, and not even a wrinkle… I could tell you countless anecdotes about these shoes that carried me throughout my teenage years…It was therefore with such unconcealable pleasure that I accepted to play the customization game.

The problem now is that I want to put them on all of my shoes ! At the Studio, I see the fringes travelling from shoe to shoe, I think I’ve spread my addiction to everybody… But I love wearing them like a waterfall on Converses, it makes them look less juvenile, more sharp, almost chic !

• Time required : No more than an hour
• Difficulty level : Super easy as long as you have the right materials.
• Cost : About 20 €

• For this DIY you will need:
• - The template of the fringes tabs, download here,
• - An awl (punch pliers)
• - Some thick leather (you can find scraps at Sacré Coupon Cuir, rue
• d’Orsel),
• - A scalpel that cuts really well, or it’s time to change the blade,
• - A pencil,
• - A ruler, preferably metal,
• - Scissors.

To get started, download, print and cut out the templates of the kilties. Trace the templates onto the back of the leather with your pencil, remember to cut out the various slits in the paper beforehand. For the slits, you don’t have to trace them entirely, you can simply trace the upper extremities, you will join them together directly when cutting, with the help of a ruler.

Use the awl, or a thick needle, to mark off the holes on the back of the leather and go over the markings with a pen.

Take your scalpel and begin cutting around the tabs (keeping in mind not to damage the surface underneath). Continue with the fringes !

For fringes that are rounded, use small scissors to cut along the curves, it’s easier this way than with the scalpel. Once again, use an awl or a thick needle to mark off the positions of the holes on the lower part of the fringe. Using your awl, choose a rather small diameter and punch some holes !

Do the same on the upper part of the fringes. And you can change diameter to make wider ones so you can perforate the top of the fringe, or thread shoelaces. 

Punch out the two holes at the top, and you’ve got your first Ta-Da !

Continue to do this with the fringes of other sizes and layer them, making sure to match up the holes on the top.

Thread the fringes into the laces, at the level of the next to last eyelet. Make a bow (I’m not teaching you anything new here I hope) and TA-DA !

For the little bitty fringe, thread it at the very base of the laces to dress up the front of the shoe. 

 Translated by Ida Driscoll

Happy Sunday to you, my little cats!

Today we’re going to talk about cosmetics, and more specifically, perfume. I’ve always found beauty articles specializing in new fragrances to be fascinating. I am convinced that it’s a pretty difficult task to talk about something as volatile as perfume. How do you find the right words, visual enough to make you want to open the door of a boutique to smell them, and more importantly, to buy an invisible accessory that will end up becoming an integral part of who you are? 

As for me, I’ve pretty much been lazy when it comes to perfume. I wore “Innocent” by Thierry Mugler every day for an easy 7 years. Now whenever I smell this scent, it makes me so nostalgic, it’s the smell of my teenage years and of my arrival in Paris, my first loves…It’s crazy how intimately perfume is intertwined with our emotions, there are scents that make me lose my head because they remind me of a guy I had a run-in with a few years ago, or others that are soothing because they remind me of one my mother used to wear when I was a kid, or others that make me uncomfortable because they bring back memories of the despotic, ex-boss from my past.  

A few years ago, I thought to myself what a shame it would be to have only one signature perfume, because after all, I am multifaceted. I wasn’t just “Innocent,” I was no longer that slightly-lost adolescent, fresh off the boat, just arriving in Paris. For a long time I wanted to make a change, but I didn’t know where to look, because for me, the holy land of perfumes was Sephora. And then I started my blog, I met people. I received perfume samples, fabulous press kits, I met new people like Lili Barbery and Mai Hua, who introduced me to beauty care in the bathroom, I visited perfume workshops. And I really wanted to go towards new things, less factory-made, fragrances that I wouldn’t smell on other people either. So there you have it, I just gave you an analysis of my thoughts when my gaze fell upon my collection of indispensables this morning, sitting on my mantelpiece as if on a throne…

I love them all.

My favorite perfume, out of all of them, is "Néroli", oh and it’s empty by the way, but I just can’t get myself to throw the bottle out. I think it’s perfect, it makes me think of something really fresh, very feminine but not too overpowering, although as soon as I put some on, my boyfriend’s nose is buried in my neck. Néroli, orange blossom and lemon… I wear it in total confidence; it’s my safe bet when I don’t know what else to put on. But I’m trying to force myself to change so I don’t fall into old habits. 

Since I have a problem with orange blossom, I also wear Bonpoint’s Eau de Toilette that smells baby-fresh, it gives me a pick-me-up, as if the spray shaved a few years of my age. I wear it along with “Néroli” for a combo of freshness.  By the way, Bonpoint’s eau de toilette was designed by Annick Goutal. This product has been my top discovery of these last few years.

And then for the days I want to be more subtle, a bit more boyish, I wear the cologne "l'eau d'Hadrien" by Annick Goutal. I find this perfume to be more unisex; it also has hints of super-fresh citrus, but is woody and green, with a touch of basil and rosemary. I like to put it on right after my shower for that clean smell. 

And then one day, I was supposed to work on a project for Jo Malone, for the launch of a new perfume called "Wood Sage and Sea Salt."  The project never came to light but I fell in love with this scent. It is, without a doubt, the most masculine of my perfumes, I wear it when I feel like having adventures, or when I want to be taken seriously, it smells like both sea and land at the same time. For me, it’s the Oreo of my perfumes, more salty, it has that little taste that’s keeps you “coming back for more”…

And then we have the 3 other ones, stronger, and noteworthy. The first is the body lotion "Un Jardin en Méditerranée" (“A Mediterranean Garden”) by Hermès, which Lili gave me when things weren’t going too well, and it was seriously like a band-aid for my low morale. The scent is so strong that I wear it like a perfume and it lasts all day long. I put it on as soon as the weather gets nice, it gives me the sensation of having my heart warmed while waiting for vacation-time.

Elie Saab l'essence n°1 Rose, is the most recent addition to my collection. I used to think rose smelled too “girly” and was in complete rebellion against all that was “too girly” for a long time, and then, you know, people change, and I put water in my wine…Never say never. I like this fragrance, it’s rather exhilarating, since at first it has a strong aroma of rose, and then it literally smells like pomegranate juice, a super sweet smell. When I wear it, I feel like a heroine out of a Jacques Demy film... I love it.

And then of course there’s B by Balenciaga, but that one, I’ve already talked about here. It’s my evening-wear perfume, the one I splash on when I want to be noticed, when I want to be remembered…As I said in this article, I don’t know whether it’s the lily of valley or the iris but it leaves no one unaffected…

How about you, are you loyal to just one, or do you have a whole collection of perfumes? 

Translated by Ida Driscoll

Aaaah it’s fashion week, my little cats!

I won’t hide the fact that, for several seasons now, I’m less excited about them. I don’t mean to bite the hand that feeds me, but it’s a lot of time and energy that I don’t put towards the office…And it’s also hard to get tickets when you have a blog, you practically have to fight for it, you have to find an angle in order to find something new that surprises you, readers, and gives you the opportunity to learn something new.  “The famous reader’s advantage” because it’s great to see the fashion shows but I’d really rather be sharing something unprecedented with you…

 I find that it’s become like a circus, who’s the most “street-style” OVER dressed, who will rub the most elbows to get THE coolest photo backstage without bothering the make-up artists and dressers who are actually there working… So for 2 seasons now, I’ve been watching fashion week on the web, I daydream while looking at Style.com with the sublime street styles of Tommy Ton, on Vogue.com so I don’t miss a single figure on the runway, and I keep an eye on beauty backstage for my favorite lines on Instagram, in peace and quiet at my desk.

But when I receive the invitation from Chanel, I don’t care, I race over there. I want the pandemonium, the snobby looks from the journalists, the front row seat to a wedding between Kanye West and George Clooney, I want the crazy décor, the magnificent work, hundreds of outfits, and I never, ever want to leave – even when it’s over…I want it ALL.

I feel like I’m the one becoming a snob now, but if it means I have to choose, I really want to see a show. And this time, pure insanity! I think that since I’ve been lucky enough to attend, each time it’s even crazier, the show is just as great in the hall with the guests and their looks, as it is when the models are on the runway! Between the Chanel supermarket, an island coming out of the sand of Dubaï and a street in Paris, this time it was the Brasserie Gabrielle. Le Grand Palais (the Grand Palace) was transformed into a giant, typically Parisian brasserie, decorated as if it were late 19^th, early 20^th century. And the other times, I was so into the décor that I forgot about the fashion, but this time, I felt that they achieved a perfect balance. The set design and the story told by the fashion models really complemented one another.

The décor was over-the-top, you could have sworn you were in the legendary brasserie Chartier, only under the cupola of the Grand Palais. There was something surreal about seeing the guests eating deviled eggs whilst leaning on a zinc bar counter, black coffee in hand, wearing extravagant outfits…Last Tuesday I felt like a time traveler…

I really liked the models dressed in neo-Parisian kid styles, little heads with plastered-down hair, XL smokies, tweed oversized cuts, super-elaborate embroidering…Once again, for me, there was magic in play…

And what about you, what was your favorite moment from fashion week?

Translated by Ida Driscoll

Hello my little kittens !

I hope you are doing well, today I’m going to tell you a funny story. Almost a year ago, I discovered the incredible work of Charlotte Abramow, an amazing photographer who is 20 years old. In your face ! I cyber-stalked her on Instagram so I could meet her. We met up, and I fell for her. She’s funny, talented, and totally nutty. We started working together on the blog here and there, and now she is the photographer responsible for the photos in my two upcoming books. Then, one September’s day, Charlotte calls me up to ask me to make a little black dress out of paper for a project she is doing at Gobelins.  The subject is a diptych for La Petite Robe Noire perfume by Guerlain. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Charlotte is still in school in order to fine-tune her craft… Since the subject amuses us, we design and create an ephemeral non-woven, black dress. A 6-hand project at the office, a fine example of a lemonade studio product.

Photos : Charlotte Abramow, Make-up : Ophélie Secq, Hairstylist : Jonathan Dadoun and Model : Adeline Jouan. 

Several days after seing the photo, Guerlain contacts me out of the blue, and asks me if I’d be interested in collaborating with them. Like Ace of Base, I saw the sign, and when I arrived at the meeting with them, I immediately showed them Charlotte’s pictures. They fell hard for her as well… So today, I give you the fruits of our collaboration, our little black paper dress, to be posed, wherever you like, free-standing, and most importantly to be sprayed with perfume that gives off your favorite aroma like a new fragrance for the interior.

For this DIY, you will need :

• The template of the dress, download here
• Some black paper,
• A blunt scalpel,
• A Small ruler,
• Scissors,
• Glue,
• Some black non-woven fabric.

To get started : download and cut out the template of the dress. 

Trace it onto the black paper and cut out the two parts, back and front.`

Now you have both pieces and can move on to the assembly !

Using your blunt scalpel and your ruler, go over the edges every so slightly to facilitate folding later on. And now fold !

Grab your glue and assemble the shoulders of the dress using the flaps.

Now move on to the sides, assembling them carefully by gluing each flap.

The basis of your dress is ready, we can now move on to the ornamentation ! Cut out strips of non-woven black fabric of various widths (from 1 to 4 cm) and 30 cm long.

Fold the strips like an accordion by pinching the non-woven fabric with your nail, do the same for all of the strips.

Take your glue and apply some onto the top part of the strip, pat lightly with your finger to get rid of the excess glue.

Gently place the first frill on, and wrap it around the dress.

Take a second frill and place it on top of the first layer, and continue on this way with the different sizes, do as your heart desires.

And TA-DA !

Now you can spray your non-woven fabric with some perfume, La Petite Robe Noire by Guerlain (preferably) so that it can diffuse the scent throughout your room !

And because I love to spoil you, I am giving you the chance to win the whole line of these little Guerlain dresses, to do so, it’s real easy, just post a comment telling me what your little black dream-dress would look like ? I’ll choose the winner at random next Monday at noon. The results will be posted at the end of this article !

You can consult Terms and conditions here.

Translated by Ida Driscoll

Happy Sunday, my dear readers.

I am in love. Well it didn’t just happen overnight, it’s been going on for months now. Love at first sight, something unexpected and delicious. It’s been a while now that I’ve wanted to write this entry for you, not because you absolutely need a press release on what’s going on in my love life, but because I am having a rather life-changing experience…

We love each other in English.

He’s Danish, I’m French, he doesn’t speak French, I don’t speak Danish. Yet somehow we just knew, within seconds, without saying one treacherous word, that we were going to share something incredible. I still think it’s crazy looking back, because 9 months ago, I didn’t speak what you would call Good English. I wasn’t a total mess, but it was basically basic. As it was, I was embarrassed to speak English in public, because I thought I had an awful accent and I would always compare my accent to that of the people I was speaking to. So on paper, this story seemed to be off to a bad start. And then all of a sudden I said « screw it », if you really want this to work, you’ll just have to force yourself. Kind of like flirting with a guy when you’re wearing bowling shoes, because in heels it’s just too easy. Just take a step outside of my comfort zone, and bam, happiness, freefall, and a gust of hot air…

Well, today I can’t say I’m bilingual, even though I speak English every day, he doesn’t speak French that well even though he lives with a French girl. My accent is still horrible, but I think he gets a kick out of it, and in any case, I wouldn’t know how to do it any other way. We have found our own language, I am totally capable of saying things like "your moufles are in the tiroir "(your mittens are in the drawer)... And I can even be sarcastic in English, that’s really saying something… Our love can be found somewhere between the two languages, it’s our own frequency.

Even if it doesn’t always flow, if some days I can’t be bothered, if I curse in French, it’s so much easier. Let me explain, I’m done with that typically girly thing we do when we try convoluted and twisted ways of communicating, "Straight to the point", just get to it. I feel like I’ve wasted too much time and energy waiting for people to read between the lines, and in the end I’m left disappointed and frustrated…

Well now, I no longer have these sort of complications in my life. It was certainly revolutionary in the beginning, I wouldn’t beat around the bush, and neither would he. Staight to the point, no embellishments. We’ve obviously exchanged wonderful words, but when a message must be conveyed, it’s crystal clear, as if communication were the most important thing, for at first glance, not an easy task, but precious. I no longer send cryptic messages that I’m not sure he’ll get, because on the one hand, he’s a guy, and on the other, we don’t speak the same language… It’s become a kind of universal rule in my life now, talk, communicate, take no detours, could it be the key to happiness ?

And you there, how about you tell me when the last time was that you stepped outside of your comfort zone ?

Translated by Ida Driscoll

 A small glimpse of our office, tables Arcachon, white bench,  leather chair, black-shell chair,  armchair with white armrests, everything comes from Maisons du monde, the lamps are vintage but you can find similar ones here. 

Ahhhh my lovely office... 

I am so happy to show you our lemonade studio today, I hope it will inspire you, as much as it gives us a boost and soothes us at the same time…It has been a real pleasure to organize it the way I really wanted to, without a man to tell me to tone down my enthusiasm for colors, even though I know I’m lucky, my guy totally goes along with what I want when it comes to decorating. So yeah, it’s my office, but I don’t work alone, there are 4 of us girls here, and since I think they trust me, it was easy to make ourselves happy being that we are all on the same page. Imagine our excitement growing at the very instant you choose furniture, and then while you are waiting for it to be delivered, and then ripping open the boxes, it’s hysteria…Little by little, we have built our nest. Well, little by little, that depends, everything is relative, all of this was done in 15 days because, maybe you don’t yet know this about me, but when I get an idea in my head, I move fast. I have trouble being patient…

I wanted the office to feel like home, it had to be cozy and calm. Given the amount of time I spend at the office, I needed there to be some eye candy. But it had to represent who I am too: chaos with order, allow me to explain…I wanted to have big tables that we could move around and put back to back to make one long table for the Workshops…I found these incredible tables at Maisons du Monde. So yes, the tables are identical, but seating is all different, leather chairs, white resin chairs, black wooden chairs, a bench, etc… And an organized office, in that I give myself a gold star if I leave the office looking impeccable, and let me tell you, that’s a long shot for me!

 Wall shelving from Urban Outfitters, console table from Maisons du Monde. 

But truth be told, I am not the only messy one in this office, but I won’t point any fingers. So I uncovered this piece of furniture in the same collection as the tables, to delineate the "entrance from the work space", and in this unit, each of us has a box, in which we stash away our personal effects. My box is unfortunately the one filled with the most stuff, but what can I do, those pesky, stubborn bad habits…

A cluster of frames, my own small collection of bulletin boards that I tracked down on the internet, the blackboard with clip-on letters, and the LED signboard with sliding letters. A wall that can evolve, change message, leave little notes, write mantras that motivate us. I’ve already started to make a wall like this in my own living room, and I really love the concept, it’s a bit like a visualization of what’s going on in my head. A collection of thoughts, moments, inspirations that randomly come out of brain, which could move or expand.

Table from Urban Outfitters, “squat” armchair from La Redoute, floor lamp, Rocking Chair,  bench, and throw pillows we found at Ikea.

And yes, yesterday we were talking about the hideous color of the walls and the disaster that is the ceiling, and “solutions” to camouflage, transform or distract attention from these aspects. I forgot to tell you that there are bars on the windows of our office. And we have tried every which way to solve this problem, just like the fire-retardant ceiling, there’s nothing to be done, apart from getting a concrete grinder…So in order to forget about these bars, but maximizing the light exposition, we came up with the magical solution of putting up curtains made of tulle. Super cozy, they divert your attention from the bars, and hardly darken the room at all…

And the little “reception” corner, here I didn’t want uniform seating, and I couldn’t find what my heart desired as far as couches go, but fortunately, once again, Maisons du Monde came to the rescue. I really like the fact that the whole thing looks like it came from a bargain-hunt, but it’s all brand new, a vintage look that’s brand new, who could ask for anything more? Above the bench is a suspended mirror with a leather hook, an awesome illustrations courtesy of our former officemates Benjamin Moreau and Noémie Ferst, and a print of a lemon tree we found at a bookstand along the river Seine… Actually, I need your help with something, in the photo above on the left, there’s a small bouquet of yellow-blossom flowers, does anyone know the name of this species?

Artichoke lamp, metal bins and my grandpa’s trunk! 

I hope you enjoyed it, we would be happy to welcome you into our office if you decide to come pick up your patterns in person, that way you can bask in the flawless organization of the studio! And here are some recommended addresses for home and office shopping!

• Maisons du Monde for stunning furniture and a unbelievable variety of styles 
• Lightonline Galeries Lafayette online of the light...
• Farrow and Ball for those special colors
• Urban Outfitters home for little random home deco items
• Coming B. for designer items of all prices
• Les soeurs Grene du Danemark for office supplies, and organizing bins, no  e-shop yet, but there’s a boutique in Aéroville, and one opening soon in Versailles 

If you need information on where any of the items come from, don’t hesitate to write us a comment! Sending you big kisses.  

Translated by Ida Driscoll

Color Farrow and Ball Pink Ground N°202 / Wimborne White N°239 / Off Black N°57, tables Maisons du monde and string of lights Lightonline.fr 

 Hello my kittens, 

I’m back this week with the first part of our office-story, don’t worry there won’t be 12 episodes like the Star Wars Saga, only two, but it’s important that we explain the process…So, as I had mentioned before, we gained back a whole room when our ex-officemates moved out, and yes, just imagine that less than a year ago there were 10 of us here…And not just ten people behind their computer screens, but cutting wood, sewing, and cutting up mountains of paper... Hiroshima 1945, every day of the week. 

Pink Ground N°202 / Wimborne White N°239 / Off Black N°57

The walls were painted blue/grey/dreadful, the door frames and doors were a weird storm-cloud grey, but in any case it was just a temporary situation until we found a better place, and it was also already a good thing to have an office other than at home, anywhere else, as long as I am leaving my apartment, wearing real clothes and not just hanging around in jogging pants until 6 pm…So it was supposed to be temporary, but it ended up being 9 long months of blue/grey/dreadful and not-really-unpacked boxes…So today, I am going to tell you how to “transform” an office entrance into a cozy workspace, with the help of just a little splash of color…As for furniture, we’ll talk about that tomorrow.

For the renovation of the office, I was fortunate to collaborate with the famous paint store Farrow and Ball, and was entitled to a real “color consultation,” almost like as if I were going to see the doctor because my work space was causing me physical pain. I was craving colors, a wall like that, paneling like this, and only one inspirational picture, this one. But I had absolutely no idea just how much a color could delineate a space, and organize a room, oh how naïve I was. So one day, a color specialist, Geoffrey from the Farrow and Ball boutique in the Marais, came to the office, listened to my needs, I felt like I was lying down on a coach to talk to him about my decorating anxiety, my “pinterestable” wishes, my passion for the lemonade studio and my addiction to polka dots. Geoffrey literally analyzed the room, and said: “We’ve got our work cut out for us.” No kidding!

And then he took out his color chart, showed me shades of pink, white and black, and just like a magician, he came up with a plan for the organization of the room. Well, I grant you that you need to have imagination and talent to visualize like that, but I knew he understood what the office needed, and what we wanted to do.

As you can see, all the office doors were dark and brown glaze finish, and as a result, it was as if we found ourselves in the entrance of a whole other space. We would enter the office and automatically have a sense of the flow guiding you towards the double black door, "winking at you," as if to say “this way, friends.” So we "erased" all the doors by painting them the same color as the walls. And we delimited the work area with a large solid color pink, and a think black border. The pink solid color draws an "L" in the room and the black border starts at the bottom of the door frame, and continues all the way around to mark off the "work" space.

 Furniture found at La Petite Brocanteuse, repainted with Setting Plaster N°231.

And I know what you’re going to say, there’s still that polystyrene ceiling tile, I’m looking for the word to define this ceiling. I don’t want to be crass, so I won’t say it, but I think you get what I mean ... Well, there aren’t 36 ways to do it because it is a fire retardant ceiling etc ... But to limit the visual aggression of the neon lights and the imitation granite slabs, we opted for two solutions: the first one being to never turn on the neon lights and ignore the switches. And more seriously, to create a diversion, I wanted to put up a string of light bulbs, creating a kind of dancehall atmosphere, I found strings of light with sockets and cables at Light on line, but I’d better wait till tomorrow to show you that. It is a tactic to divert your attention away from the ceiling. And it makes for very soft lighting, totally insufficient to work in, but tomorrow we will show you our other indirect lighting solutions.

 Skimming Stone N°241 / Wimborne White N°239 and lemon yellow Yellow Ground N°218

And for our “meeting / lounge / waiting room / lunch just us” corner of the office, Geoffrey suggested paneling in beige Skimming Stone N°241 in an L shape, and that we make an “anamorphosis” of a lemon in the corner.  Oh yeah, so to make an anamorphosis, we had the beautiful Alexandra B. come over with her projector and she projected an image of a lemon in the corner angle of the room. She then drew the outline and we painted it lemon Yellow Ground N°218 paint! 

I am oh so excited to show you what’s coming next! Meet back here tomorrow for the second part – decorating! 

Translated by Ida Driscoll  

Hello my little kittens!

I hope you are doing well this Sunday morning, I give you a very serious horoscope brought to you by Madame Irma, a graphic associate of our wonderful Alexandra B, who came especially today, in the name of love, to create little cats out of modeling clay….I really hope you like them! See you later, my lovelies…To see more of Alexandra’s work, just click here and there!

Lisa Banana

•  Aries, 21 March - 20 April (like Josiane Balasko) 

Your birthday is coming soon and you are already quivering, you have “the banana” as we say in French (a smile from ear to ear), your better half has promised you a big surprise, you are already dreaming of the Red Square in Moscow or at least of the red soles of a pair of Louboutins. Careful what you wish for, especially if he’s a Capricorn, his planets are not aligned under the Rouble sign. 

•  Taurus, 21 April - 21 May (like David Charvet) 

Work: You are a huge success right now, kind of like a David Charvet on Baywatch, do not rest on your laurels and keep giving it your all to ensure you will not struggle in your career. In matters of the heart, Valentine’s Day was full of surprises and you are still surfing on a wave of happiness. The singles feel like they’ve been holding their breath for a few months now, take advantage of being single, it will soon come to an end.

• Gemini, 22 May - 21 June (like Stomy Bugsy) 

That Daddy of yours is not a gangster, but your biggest ally, remember to spoil him! In matters of health, you’ve just gotten over a raging flu and you are emerging from your shell like a beautiful pearl, springtime is almost here, activate the plan of attack! Money-wise: Pluto is going to disrupt your balance for a few days, lay off the Starbucks.

•  Cancer, 22 June - 22 July (like Bill Cosby) 

Madonna is allied with Venus, guaranteeing you thunderous sex-appeal, but beware of being struck by lightning! Work-wise, you’ve grown weary, the jokes at breakfast-time don’t make you laugh anymore, you’ve settled into a routine and you don’t love this job as much as you once did…It’s time to evaluate, and look around a bit, you will surely find other answers at the office of the Director of Human Resources, the planets are aligned under the P.R.O.M.O.T.I.O.N. sign.

• Leo, 23 July - 23 August (like Calogero)  

You’re all atwitter in anticipation for springtime, you’ve gotten lots of rest during the winter, and now all you’re waiting for is the sun for you to put your plans into action. And if it turns out you don’t have the patience to wait for Spring, which should probably get here by August, try the Tropics. And don’t forget to use sunscreen, remember Donatella Versace if you get lazy, and get on top of your 50 SPF instead of turning into a starfish.

• Virgo, 24 August - 22 September (like Alex Lutz) 

A new temp is in sight in the open space, you turn on the charm to get what you want. Saturn and its rings are aligned to help you end up with that ring on your finger. Money-wise, you won 16€ last week from an instant lottery scratchcard, you are born again! Health: a good glass of lemon juice in the morning before breakfast!

•  Libra, 23 September - 22 October (like Sophie Favier) 

Between work and your love life, your heart is torn, look ahead into your future 10 years from now, and maybe that will help to see things more clearly. A little birdy told me that you need to take a step back, and most importantly, lots of sleep, favor tea over white wine and you’ll see that your migraines will not last as long.

• Scorpio, 23 October - 22 November (like  Mademoiselle Agnès) 

The Scorpios of the first decan will see plenty of unexpected developments during the first two weeks of March. In matters of the heart, you’ve seen "50 shades of Grey" 12 times and it gave you some ideas, be sure of yourself before arriving at the office with marks on your wrists that you will have a hard time owning up to. Health: stop trying to convince yourself that fries are vegetables.

• Sagittarius, 23 November - 21 December (like  Philippe Etchebest) 

You’ve already broken up with your better half for the 12^th time this month, dry your tears, you are awesome, take a step back, nobody should make you cry, unless they are tears of joy… Remember that all good things come to those who wait, deal with your discomfort patiently and stop rubbing your eyes if you don’t want to end up like Gilbert Montagné. Health: a good old raclette to comfort you.

• Capricorn, 22 December - 20 January (like Popeye) 

As was aforementioned, you are broke, your wallet is empty, your bank account is dry, in short, you get it, in terms of money, you are not loving your life right now. Take advantage of that to appreciate simple and inexpensive pleasures: watch Le Petit Journal snuggled under your comforter, go pay a visit to your Mom so she’ll make you a good roast…Don’t worry, March is looking up to be more fruitful.

• Aquarius, 21 January - 19 February (like Mia Frye) 

The weather is nice, the sky is blue…You feel like you are living in a Xavier Dolan film and it’s rather pleasant. Remind yourself that there will definitely be a plot twist to break this harmony and bite you in the butt, if only for the benefit of the audience. Keep your guard up and take off that blue wig, it does not work at all with your complexion. 

• Pisces, 20 February - 20 March (like Jeanne Mas) 

It’s not all black and white, or red and black as Jeanne would say...Don’t forget to make compromises, at work as well as at home, it’s not a big deal if the lipstick you are wearing today doesn’t match your shoes (by the way, if you are guilty of this bad habit, you should know that Christina does not validate this fashion faux pas at all). Total eclipse of Mercury: your birthday is shaping up to be caliente.

Translated by Ida Driscoll

Bonjour my little kittens!

I hope you are doing well! And that you got the chance to enjoy the little ray of sun that made a surprise appearance today! I’m nothing but love, not really love but happy, you know, life is sweet, crazy but sweet. I’m so pleased to see my projects coming to life, and I feel like you have always been such a loyal audience, and that my work has had an impact on you, it’s such a gratifying feeling, on a daily basis. One reader aptly said “A clothing line created by you but brought to life by us,” I so want to tell you what comes after, but I have to try to maintain some semblance of surprise…Even though I am sure that some of you have probably already guessed what’s coming next…

So today I’m wearing the blouse called Bianca from the  previous article with a heart-shaped pocket with “My moon” embroidered on it, which I keep close to my heart. Alert, Cheeeeessy! You got me, I’m the kind of girl you want to choke, happy and in love, what a nightmare… I wish you all the happiness in the world, that you work hard to turn your projects into a reality, that you take care of yourself, and not forget about your own needs, and may you wholeheartedly believe in your dreams, and stick it out until you achieve your goals! There you have it, I warned you, I’m full of nothing but love.

Ok so, I am actually happy despite my pouting face with a berry crown on my head…nah, come on! And quite honestly, when we did this photo shoot at the Palais Royal (Royal Palace) with Pauline Darley, there were sadistic little drops of rain, and yes rain can be sadistic sometimes, when it’s somewhere between a mist and Breton rain (no offense intended towards Brittany), which made me not the happiest camper. In reality I was so happy to see Pauline, content with herself after having made me a crown out of flowers in a matter of minutes, I felt like dancing for joy. A crown for the “Queen” of the forest, like I had seen on Pinterest...

Today I’m wearing the blouse Bianca, a Liu Jo coat, boyfriend jeans by Samsoe Samsoe, a pair of Sarenza boots  and an all-purpose handbag by Liu Jo and a crown of flowers from DIY Minute! Sending you many kisses, and I’ll see you real soon! 

Translated By Ida Driscoll

Hello my little cats!

I’m so happy to find you back here, thank you so much for your feedback regarding the internship offering I posted on Saturday, do not hesitate to keep sending us your applications, we will get back to you quickly! We are back today with our second installment of Wear Lemonade, a blouse called BIANCA! We were really surprised by your overwhelming enthusiasm for the dress LUISA (which is back in stock by the way!), it’s so awesome, and we’ve seen more and more of your own creations pouring in on social media, they all look great! We’ve gone through all of your comments with a fine-toothed comb, taken your suggestions from the previous article into consideration, and have made some changes accordingly.

From now on, in each template package you will find:

Dans les patrons se trouvent à chaque fois désormais:

• - A cutting layout to place the various elements of the garment in the correct orientation of the fabric. 
• -  We now have up to a size 46.
• - We have made a size chart with all the measurements we use to graduate the garments, click here! 
• - And most importantly, we have included the seam allowances in the 1cm template, which, I have to hand it to you, makes life easier! 
• - And as a bonus, we have changed the packaging a bit to give it our own personal “flair”…  

A hundred times thank you for your positive and encouraging feedback on this project! Today we give you a blouse called Bianca, a top with a dress-shirt collar which can be made from any type of cotton. In the template, we included a variation: you can make the blouse with a heart-shaped pocket or a classic one. We really had a great time making a bunch of them, we truly hope you will like it. I had envisioned it with a little collar of “perfect” proportions so as to wear it under a sweatshirt or a sweater, and only the collar would show…So yes, there is a collar (I can hear you freaking out from here) but if you let yourself be guided by the instructions, you’ll see that everything will turn out fine, it’s a dress-shirt collar but without the difficulty of a button placket, since the opening is in the back…This template has been tested and approved by even the novices in our entourage. You’ll see that making a collar is a piece of cake, honestly! Like last time, you can choose to download the template for free, all you have to do is click HERE.

For those of you girls who might be curious, the satin-stitch fabrics, white plaid, speckled and white honeycomb print, I found them at Sacrés Coupons, 4 rue d'Orsel in the 18th district of Paris, and the fabric with the crazy stripes, I found on the MILH website, and hurry up by the way if you want some, there are sales with up to 60% off on everything with the promotional code AMOURPUISSANT.... 

I’m psyched to get your feedback, and don’t hesitate to write to us for even the slightest request for advice, and share your creations on Facebook, Twitter and especially on Instagram with the hashtag #DIYwearlemonade. On that note, I send you big kisses, see you soon! 

Translated by Ida Driscoll 

Adios little kittens!

And so begin my last few days as a lemonade girl…sniff sniff. Six months, how time has flown! I remember my first week here as if it were yesterday: I had to cut up sheets of paper for the Tsumori Chisato window display for a whole week! I experienced my very first paper cuts, I felt like I was walking across hot coals, ha ha. And then the projects and the months came one after the other, the horoscope, online shop, Advent, the cake calendar, the window display for St Louis, Wear Lemonade…to name but a few. As you can imagine, I am so happy to have contributed to the elaboration of these projects.

It wasn’t always easy sailing, that’s for sure! I can’t even tell you how stressed I was when Lisa told me she wanted me to create an original horoscope, fortunately I know her well enough to appeal to her feline-feelings (yeah, yeah I know my joke is cheesy).

I must admit that before starting at the Lemonade studio, I hadn’t anticipated all the diverse and enriching experiences I would have. I do realize how lucky I am to have dabbled in a bit of everything, and bring together work and passion.

In short, thank you Lisa for making me feel at home, for your trust and your wacky expressions, and thank you Charlotte for your advice, your positive disposition, and your explosive sense ofhumor.

On that note, I leave you with a heart full of kittens and lemons. And who knows, I might just make a comeback when Wear Lemonade will have become the must-wear brand of Parisian fashion !

A thousand kisses,

Jeanne.D

Last special, daily selection "sweet office" before you get to discover THE Lemonade studio.

• 1- A super classy magazine rack at Fall  For Design
• 2 – A superb two-tone door from Sugar and Cloth
• 3 - Easy! An adjustable suspension on I Spy Diy  
• 4 - A swing for the office, oh yeah, one can always dream! From the great Park and Cube 
• 5 - A chandelier in all its splendor from See Saw Design 
• 6- A minimalistic marble lamp at Designofrom

Translated by Ida Driscoll