Les saisons de la vie. The seasons of life.

Bonjour readers, et bon dimanche! Happy Sunday! Friday welcomed the fall season, though here in St. Louis we are still experiencing temperatures in the 90s. I'm awaiting the cooler temperatures, warm colors, crunching leaves, and bonfire smells impatiently. L'automne is my absolute favorite. 

As the seasons change, I can't help but also think about the seasons of our lives - the shifts, the seasons we enjoy, the seasons that feel difficult, and the seasons that we wait for but sometimes take a little longer to arrive. Much like I'm awaiting the transition to fall, I am also awaiting some shifts in my life. And waiting is hard. 

I've already put my summer clothes away and transitioned my closet to fall. I was ready. The season wasn't. I had to go and get some of those summer items back out. It simply wasn't time. I expressed my frustration in having to get my shorts out again to Tony. I want to be wearing my sweaters, my boots, my jeans, my scarves... but at this turning point, patience is required.

In my life, I am also at a turning point where patience is required. I'm very excited for a shift to come, but it has not yet arrived. I've said this before on the blog, and it is something I very much believe to be true. If you tune into your world mindfully and listen, answers you seek have an amazing way of presenting themselves. In the midst of processing all of these feelings, a beautiful reminder arrived in my inbox Friday morning. In her weekly newsletter, Shannon Ables of the Simply Luxurious Life shared the following. It was as if she was speaking to me:

So today, let the angst that impatience is causing you roll of your back, and rest-assured you will meet with success at a time when your journey is meant to meet with success. Simply by understanding such truth, you are already successful as you have brought back to your being more energy, more contentment, and less worry. 

What a beautiful reminder at a moment in my life when I am feeling angst and impatience. I have the power to invite contentment in, it's simply a matter of perspective - taking a few steps back to realize that what feels frustrating now will pass. It may take more time for the fall season I am so eagerly awaiting to be here, but it will come. And so, too, will the life shifts I am awaiting. 

As always, thank you so much for stopping by, for reading, and for sharing in my journey. It is my sincere hope that in telling my story, you might just find something that speaks to you right at the moment you need it. 

This week was a particularly busy one, so I didn't have the opportunity to collect those beautiful inspiration de la semaine links, but I did stumble upon a blog post that is in many ways in line with the thoughts I shared today. Caroline Joy of Unfancy shares a difficult season of her life and reminds us that nous ne sommes pas seuls. We are not alone. Click here to read her story. I think it might just speak to you. It certainly spoke to me. 

Merci beaucoup for being here 

and as always, warm wishes from me to you,

La pause-gâteau

Bonjour readers, and happy Sunday! Today is my fiancé's birthday. Joyeux anniversaire, Tony! In the French spirit of valuing time with loved ones, I'm going to make today's post brief and let the birthday celebration begin.

A few months back, I wrote a post titled la pause-café, coffee break. Tony is currently taking a beginner's French course and his teacher has them take a pause-biscuit, a cookie break, in the middle of each class. I love this, and so today I've decided we are taking a pause-gâteau, a birthday cake break. With a lot on both of our plates lately (no cake pun intended), intentionally taking time to pause and focus on quality time together has been incredibly important. Maybe today you will invite a pause into your Sunday as well. 

Before I sign off, a few francophile finds to enjoy today or throughout the week when you need a little pause, a little inspiration.


Inspiration de la semaine (inspiration of the week):

⚜Sézane launched their fall collection today. Happy shopping!

⚜Rebeccca Plotnick of Every Day Parisian explores Paris from A to Z

⚜Justine Leconte talks French women and their parfum

As always, warmest of wishes from me to you.

L'Art de Vivre avec French is Beautiful

Each week for the past 4 weeks, a little bit of Paris has arrived in my inbox. Through the lens of French/Parisian culture I have had the opportunity to explore beauty, wellness, love, and style. I have connected with francophiles from around the country and around the world, deeply touched by their words of wisdom and encouragement. 

Mais comment est-ce possible? How is all of this possible? It's all merci to Carrie Anne James of French is Beautiful for pursuing her passion, believing in her dreams, and letting her French love radiate. Her unique 4 week l'art de VIVRE course included a weekly e-book text, video, audio, and Facebook group interactions. In addition, we participated in two group coaching calls that allowed us to ask Carrie Anne questions live. Hearing the voices of the beautiful women from our online community was a wonderful experience! 

Today, I'm going to share my top takeaways from the course with you. If the course sounds like something that would interest you, check out Carrie Anne's offerings on the French is Beautiful site. You can also follow her on Instagram @french is beautiful OR @theparisdarling for her latest course offerings and even more French content related to both language and culture. Now for my top takeaways from this course that I will carry with me always 💕: 

beauty: la beauté

That French girl je ne sais quoi we all envy is actually the result of very mindful self care, the result of focusing on inner confidence as much or more than on outward appearance. And perfection is never the goal. A few French girl beauty secrets: she takes the time to truly know herself, she feels at ease, and she rocks a classic red lip every now and then. 😉

love: l'amour

Si on sème de l'amour on recueille d'amour. If you sow love, you reap love. The French way is to spend quality time with those you love, to spend a beautiful Sunday with family, a dinner party at home with a close group of friends, to experience a feeling of oneness with votre amour, your romantic love.

wellness: le bien-être

My favorite topic of the course. L'équilibre. Balance. This is the French way. Seeking wellness is not a reaction to a high stressed life as it can be in American culture. Seeking wellness IS life. The French focus on experiencing joy and low levels of stress. Leaning on those tight knit relationship described above and focusing on solutions rather than sulking... that is the mindset of the French. "Work can wait. Love does not." Inspiring words from Carrie Anne. The French listen to their bodies and hearts, follow their joy, and as a result enjoy a reality where time seemingly creates more of itself. Moving forward from this course, I will definitely be focusing on mon bien-être first and foremost. 

style: le style

This encompasses all of the above: your inner feelings about yourself, your relationships, and the way you carry yourself and present yourself to the world. I'm going to quote Carrie Anne's beautiful words here:

"Your personal style is an imprint left upon whom you love, it is a reflection of where you go, it is inspired by what you do and it begins by knowing who you are + what you love." 

Notice that above there is no mention of clothing. Clothes are an expression of style, not style itself. You can read more about my journey with personal style here.



There you have it, a small dose of inspiration from my l'art de VIVRE experience. I say small because I truly am scratching the surface with big picture take aways. To dive deep and experience meaningful conversations and connections surrounding these topics, the course is absolutely the way to go. I cannot recommend it more highly. It was something I looked forward to each week and something I will dearly miss now that it's done... but I find joy in knowing a new course could be just around the corner, and I will be following French is Beautiful closely so that I can seize the next opportunity. 

I hope you have a beautiful week.

Warm wishes from me to you,

Inspiration de la semaine (inspiration of the week):

⚜ I made my first sale at the Fleur de St. Louis Atelier! This is an example of me moving towards my joy. The shop is starting small, but I never the less chose to commence. If you are interested, you can visit the shop here. Enjoy. :)

⚜The Fleur de St. Louis Instagram community hit 400 this weekend! The happiness I feel in my heart as I continue to follow my joy and grow connections with others doing the same is immense. Merci to everyone who is here for the journey! 

⚜Fleur de St. Louis now has a Facebook community! Search Fleur de St. Louis Communauté on Facebook and request to join. My dream is that this will be a space for connecting through the lenses of wellness, learning, and creativity with a little French flair, and much much more! 

When to say OUI and when to say NON

Bonjour à tous! Hello everyone!  If you are reading this from the States, I hope you are having a beautiful Labor Day weekend. If you are somewhere else in the world, I hope your week is off to a wonderful start!

I have been looking forward to sharing today's topic with you as it is one I have been working through in my own life: when to say OUI (yes) and when to say NON (no). 

I was listening to a coaching call with Carrie Anne of French is Beautiful over the weekend. (Carrie Anne has so many wonderful resources for those interested in immersing themselves in French language and culture. She has become a huge part of my Francophile journey.) As she discussed the topic of bien-être, well being, this idea of saying NON surfaced. In American culture there is a tendency to add more and more to the t0-do list, to associate being constantly busy/productive with success. As an American expat in Paris, Carrie Anne understands this but also brings the French perspective to the table, this idea that knowing when to say NON is incredibly important. She shared that the French focus on endurance, releasing themselves from the feeling that they haven't done enough and embracing moments to pause and step away. There is value in listening to your body, in knowing when you need to say NON to that last minute dinner invitation because you simply need to rest and restore in solitude. Saying NON does not need to be rude or harsh or cause guilt that prevents you from enjoying the time you truly need. When we say NON with graciousness we are honest with ourselves and honest with others. We feel genuine, true to ourselves.

There is, of course, always the other side of the coin. As important as it is to know when to say NON, it is equally as important to know when to say OUI. I read the The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes earlier this year (the audio version is fabulous). The premise of Rhimes' memoir is that she realized that out of fear, she wasn't saying OUI to anything. The result? Missed opportunities that had the potential to open doors that would allow her to feel like her truest self. Shonda was saying NON out of fear. Fear of failure, fear of inadequacy. I've realized that I sometimes say NON because I'm simply overwhelmed. 

I was recently given a wonderful opportunity that was completely in line with my passions and my dream of creating and living a life I love. OUI or NON? While OUI sounds like the obvious response, I let a knee jerk reaction in that moment control me and I said NON. Are you kidding? I'm so overwhelmed right now! How could I possibly consider adding another thing to my plate?! What followed was regret. I had missed a beautiful opportunity. I hastily e-mailed to change my response. I felt anything but self-confident and poised. In all honesty, I felt like a mess. In the end, it wasn't too late. I got to change my answer to OUI and now I am energized with excitement and ideas as I begin prepping and planning. But I think this whole thing could have been a lot simpler, and a lot of stress and anxiety could have been avoided.

I want to circle back to Carrie Anne's advice of listening to your body. I think this is so important when it comes time to say NON, but I think it is equally as important when it comes time to say OUI. Moving forward, I am going to approach OUI and NON in a much more French way. Instead of answering immediately, I am going to grant myself the time to pause and step away. I am going to use that time to listen to my body, to my mind, and truly hear what it tells me. Does the thought of saying OUI weigh me down, cause fatigue, increase my anxiety? If so, it would be most appropriate to simply and graciously say NON. Does the thought of saying OUI light me up, energize me, excite me? If so, I'm saying OUI all the way. If there's one thing I've learned, life doesn't slow down, but you have the power to traverse it in a way that best suits you. I believe mindfully choosing to say OUI or NON can lead to an incredibly enjoyable journey. 

Merci for taking the time to visit and read. It is my sincere hope that in sharing these moments and thoughts with you, you find something that speaks to your heart and soul. As always, I love hearing your thoughts, advice and experiences in the comments below. I'm dreaming of making Fleur de St. Louis a more interactive community and saying OUI to projects that will bring me closer to that reality. À dimanche prochain! See you next Sunday here on the blog. 

Warm wishes from me to you,

Inspiration de la semaine (inspiration of the week):

⚜Justine Leconte's career story:

I recently subscribed to her YouTube channel and the inspiration doesn't stop here. She is a joy!

⚜Along the same lines as Justine's video, Lindsey Tramuta talks career shifts and passion projects with guests Thoams Abramowiscz and Usha Bora on The New Paris Podcast Ep. 7.

⚜What Should I Read Next? Ep. 93 - Anne Bogel and guest Kristin Economos talk openly about anxiety and how reading has played a role in the journey to feel better.