paris secrets {pavillion de la reine} & update

Thought I would update you on my BRCA2 journey

in a gorgeous setting far away...a fantasy destination

we stumbled on in Paris (must stay here someday).

 

my photo

 

In the heart of Le Marais, is the loveliest first-class hotel

Pavillon de la Reine.

 

my photo



		Learn more about a suite I love at this place right here.

 

Join me in the library for a chat, won't you?

Oh my, the elegance. Heavens, the discreet luxury!

 

Let's whisper here about victory.

I made it through the bilateral mastectomy

and reconstruction (NOT a cakewalk).

I do not resemble Angeline Jolie in any sense

except I can now join her in the great relief

of decimating the significant risk of cancer

which has tortured our mothers.

 

 

 

Where is the Pavillon de la Reine?

 

my photo

 

Slightly set back from the Place des Vosges.

Just around the corner from the

Place de la Bastille,

Hotels Particulieurs (my fav museums!),

and the shops of the rue des Francs-Bourgeois

(no shopping on the planet like the Marais!).

 

 

It's Sunday evening, and I feel pretty dang fierce.

My surgeries were early morning on Thursday.

I went for a walk around the block today.

 

my photo

 

Surgical chit chat on my Paris balcony.

Some high drama. Not enough Alloderm (cadaver skin)

for reconstruction, and in case you were wondering, you can't

ask your nurse to make a 7-11 run for a lil' mo skin for a petite fairy

in the middle of surgery. A small miracle...more skin secured.

We are hoping and praying all of my skin survives.

I am so grateful for my surgeons and medical team.

Post-op, I had intense hallucinations, steroidal rage, freeeeeky

side effects of anesthesia, and no sleep until Friday afternoon.

On the upside, my view of the Chicago skyline was rad.

 

I left the hospital Friday at noon.

There has been no pain (believe it!)

except for migraines from the evil anesthesia.

 

I am sure I'll be working out in no time.

Wouldn't this be a sweet space for cardio?

Didier Benderli (Kérylos Intérieurs) is the designer

of the interiors, combining aesthetics with innovation.

 

 

 

my photo, my man

 

 

 

 

 

 

my photo

 

Ahhhhhhh, Pavillon de la Reine relaxes me.

The journey continues, but today was a

simple lovely day of rest and time with my family

after a challenging chapter...victorious is the mood du jour.

 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart

(which is serving me quite well)

for all the loving comments and concern.

 

8 Place des Vosges, 75003 Paris

Telephone: + 33 (0)1 40 29 19 19

standing up to cancer

jo and me

 

When this post airs, I'll be in surgery again.

Prophylactic bilateral mastectomy due to

BRCA2 mutation and family history.

 

In the past 7 months, my mom, sister, and I have

undergone multiple surgeries in conjunction with

breast and ovarian cancers.

We don't have time to be shy. We're standing up to cancer.

 

Thanks so much for all the supportive comments

and emails expressing encouragement and hope.

 

just before my mom's mastectomy

 

It wasn't my idea to be public about our journey,

but my mom and sister felt strongly about it

to raise awareness and support for those

battling feminine cancers and who test

positive for BRCA, so we did...

then Angelina Jolie

did the cause a HUGE favor

by sharing her story.

 

 

 just before jo's surgery

 

I feel great about taking this next step.

Am I gonna dish/rant/blog in the future about implants?

*AGITATES MAGIC 8-BALL,

a hard sphere girlfriend hopes is

far firmer than her new ta-tas*

 

Signs point to yes.

 

peaceful paintings in my shop now

 

Am I gonna keep creating paintings

and collages and beautiful pastry?

No doubt.

 

 

My faith, my medical team, and my

family make it so much easier to

stand up to cancer and watch

the risk plummet.

 

For updates on my BRCA2 journey, click like

on Hello Lovely Inc's facebook page.

 

See you on the other side of breast cancer risk!

 

 

 

 

 

mini coffee cakes

I'm a girl who loves to eat.

Especially breakfast.

Also, I'm a girl who MUST bake.

 

So today I'm sharing a recipe I developed.

I'm calling them

Michele's Mini Coffee Cakes.



Coffee cake?

O my goodness, those words tickle

my ears like a 6-month old baby's laughter.

The lovechild of a cupcake and a muffin? Coffee cake.

 

My Swedish Gram (not a blood Grandma

but the Gram who took care of us in childhood)

always had coffee cake for us to spread with butter.

Also Swedish Pancakes which are the only

pancakes our children know.

 

Food memories are powerful, yahhhh?

Swedish Gram didn't speak English and

always responded with the long yahhhhhhhh.

 



 

I came up with the recipe on a whim

at midnight last week when I had a craving,

blueberries, granny smith apples, and a kitchen

full of 21 year old nightowls cheering me on.

Since I am sensitive to gluten, I made mine g-free.

Better Batter gluten-free flour is DA friggin BOMB.

It's high quality schtuff you must discover if you

are eliminating or minimizing gluten in your diet.

 

They are so moist, you will freak. 

 

Rich and sweet, you can skip

buttering em if you like.

 



 

A beautiful French dishtowel from

The Enchanted Home

makes a lovely mini table runner

for mini cakes on a teeny plate

by Rae Dunn...and a mini candle

from Diptyque works magic too.

Not a coffee drinker like Gram?

Neither am I.

OJ with calcium works for me with these.



 

My family is loving m'cakes,

and there is little chance I'll ever turn into my crabby neighbors

 who wouldn't dream of sharing a yummy family recipe...

they will never taste the joy of

giving and spreading pastry love!

 

Gram taught me that feeding scrumptious fare

to the ones you love is more than

a simple act of nurturance...

it creates sweet memories to last a lifetime.

 

 

 


Michele's Mini Coffee Cakes
Makes 2 dozen

2 1/4 cups flour
OR
2 cups high quality gluten-free flour (Better Batter is my fav)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated
1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced small
3/4 cup to 1 cup fresh blueberries
More sugar for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray standard muffin tins with non-stick spray.
Sift dry ingredients in bowl.
In a separate large bowl, cream butter and sugar.
To butter, add vanilla and eggs.
Begin stirring dry mixture into butter mixture
alternately with sour cream and grated apple
just until combined (do not overmix).
Fold in diced apples and blueberries.
Divide evenly between 24 muffin cups.
Optional: Top each cake liberally with sugar.
Bake until golden brown, 15-20 minutes.
Let cool completely on wire racks.

 

 

lettering lovely {2 ways}



 

Ever tried calligraphy?

I came across an incredible guide

for instruction and inspiration called

Mastering Calligraphy:

The Complete Guide to Hand Lettering

(Chronicle, 2013)

by Gaye Godfrey-Nicholls.

 

 

I remember humbly hand-lettering

our wedding invitations 25 years ago,

but ohmyword (get it?), look at the artistic

renderings a master like Maria Eugenia Roballos

accomplishes with ink and pointed metal nib!

 

Maria Eugenia Roballos

 

She is but one of the many talented artists

offering advice within Mastering Calligraphy.

 

 

 

 

 

If you love words and typography like me...

art by me

 

...remember my panels from years back????

 

Then you will likely enjoy the portfolios

of nearly 100 typographers contained

in this sweet gem:

via

 

Little Book of Lettering

(Chronicle, 2012)

by Emily Gregory.

 

Chris Silas Neal

 

Christopher Silas Neal is one of the innovators

profiled in the book, and I have admired

his work for awhile.

 

 

 

 

 

This one's an ultimate guide to the

still very hot lettering revolution.

 

When was the last time you played around with lettering?

 



 

 

 

 

abstract lovely {betsy eby}

I love her work so much.



Betsy Eby creates these ethereal encaustic
paintings that speak to my soul.

I interviewed her here.



A classical trained pianist,
her abstract art has a lyrical quality.
I was soooooo hoping to meet the artist
at a recent exhibition at Winston Wachter
in Seattle,
but my current BRCA2 journey
made that impossible.



So I'll shoot for the next one, and in the
mean time, we can enjoy these images
of her work displayed in various settings.


Traditional Home


Song of the Indian Guest, 2012

There's a weightlessness, yes?
A gentle energy moving, moving freely,
yet with perfect order.


Architectural Digest


American Embassy in Dubai


Elle Decor

Chanson de matin

2012

Encaustic on canvas over panel

30 x 48 inches

Winston Wachter
 

via

 

Le Deluge (After Mahler)

2013

Encaustic on canvas over panel

60 x 60 inches

 

Finlandia

2013

Encaustic on canvas over panel

46 x 66 inches

I am sure I can find a place
for the super-sized Eby and the
magical Bo Bartlett masterpiece
with Betsy in the left corner!
(The creative geniuses are married.)

Isn't it lovely?
 

 See more of Betsy Eby's new exhibit Chromatic Fantasies here.