Petit Prince has the chicken pox and has trouble sleeping, which means I have trouble sleeping. And I don’t even want to sit up with him and nurse him because, until today, we had no heating.
Our workers are supposed to be painting our old fashioned radiator a raspberry color to complement my pink kitchen but they have dropped off the face of the earth. With our radiator. And without one radiator, the circuit of hot water heating, fueled by gas and connected pipe to pipe between all the radiators in the house, is a broken circuit. That means none of them work.
I haven’t been online much because the only thing I allowed to stick out from my covers was my nose and mouth so typing got a little complicated.
Then Sir found a makeshift solution because he’s smart like that.
On another note, I have a gazillion people coming over tomorrow for Sir’s birthday. Okay, maybe more like 30 people with all their kids, but you know what I mean. And the thing is, I already have two English classes to teach in the morning, in which we’re having a Halloween party. So basically, I’m throwing a huge party on the day of a party.
By the way, would you like to know what I’m making?
On the American (with all its ethnic influence) side:
cupcakes with raspberry filling and chocolate cream frosting
mini hotdogs and barbecue sauce
5 layer bean dip and corn chips
assorted vegetables and onion dip
humous with toasted pita
brie topped with jam and baked in a pie crust. And no that is certainly not French
From the French side:
smoked salmon over buttered toast with a squeeze of lemon
blinis and tamara (which is creamy caviar over little pancakes and is actually Russian in origin)
I guess I’m basically going all American on my French guests.
Today was supposed to be a foodie post. Matcha Sandies. You know … green tea cookies? But I had the light setting on my camera too low and couldn’t figure out why everything looked so grey and unappetizing. And then I made it with my usual gluten free mix and it was a crumbly mess so I’m going to have to do the whole thing over another day with regular flour.
So the whole process ended up being matchabout nothin’.
Which brings me to my point. Or rather I’ve run out of uninteresting non-sequiturs.
Remember when I went to a fancy hotel in Deauville a year ago for our ten year anniversary. (I think I only had three readers then and one of them was my mom). And we got a fancy sample of Hermès perfume in our room? It was called Un Jardin sur le Nil.
Well I proudly put it on right away and went about my business of getting ready for dinner. But the more I wore it, the more I found that it didn’t smell right on me. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that it didn’t smell right on anyone.
And then it dawned on me! It was a room spray!
If I had thought of it while writing the posts, I would have made a big joke out of the fact that the hotel doormen could spot the posh from the yokels by which ones came through the door wearing the room spray as perfume. So I rectified that and for the past year or so, it’s been the room spray in our bathroom (there’s still some left – that’s how big the sample is – not that we need to use it that much, I mean …).
Then the other night I was complimenting a friend on the perfume she was wearing and she said it was Hermès Jardin sur le Toit, based on the flowers on the private roof of the Hermès store. I couldn’t remember if it was the same perfume as the one I had since they both contained the word “jardin,” but it did make me question if the Hermès room spray I had was indeed a perfume after all.
I checked it out. It’s a real perfume.
So who’s the bigger idiot? The one who wears her Hermès room spray as a perfume, or the one who uses her expensive Hermès perfume as room spray?
(Or the one who plans a huge party on the same day as a party)?
I’m thinking it may not be too late to avoid idiocy …
On the plus side, I’m thinking your bathroom must smell really good! So maybe that makes you an innovator. Good luck with all the partying – you are a braver woman than I am.
I think I will keep my opinion on the idiot question to myself 😉
Seriously though, have a ton of fun with both your parties and hope everything goes without a hitch. The menu looks awesome!
This made me giggle. I was just thinking about how I’d like to find a new perfume. I never thought about using my room spray. Or the other way around 😉
Good luck with your parties; your menu sounds delicious.
Hahahaha!!! At least your room smelled like a million bucks!
Oh you brave adventurous woman, making all those goodies for a party on the day of a party! Good luck!
Maybe Hermes got it wrong and you got it right. Some people’s opinion of a product is biased by the brand name (no way that Louis Vuitton bag is actually ugly because its $1,500 it must be beautiful, right?!), you, a woman of self confidence, looked passed the name and thought “hmm this smells bad” and no fancy brand name was going to fool you. You are no idiot…..But two parties in your home….I’d be freaking out about cleaning up one in preparation for the other…..and you are cooking on top of it. G-d Bless and good luck! I love the American food choices. It isn’t a party without mini hot dogs and 5 layer dip!
I can’t stop laughing about the room spray/perfume debacle. On another note, though, HOW ARE YOU MAKING ALL THOSE RECIPES?
I love to cook but my oh my you have your work cut out for you, and a sick baby? You are in my prayers.
Chicken Pox + No Heater + a Party to Plan? I would definitely be on overload right now. I can barely handle one thing per day…you are definitely graceful under pressure!
The menu looks delicious. And lengthy. Your party guests are lucky!
30 people and all their children is indeed a gazillion.
I did the math.
So I hope every single one of the gazillion appreciates your smoked salmon because I’m drooling already.
And I hope Petit Prince feels better soon.
p.s. I can only imagine that mix-ups between room sprays and perfumes are the LEAST of the amusements witnessed by hotel doorman. Not that I’ve ever done anything embarrassing…
LOL! Good luck on your parties! That is crazy! I know I would have a melt down. I bet all the French kids will be excited about American food. Have fun and Happy Birthday to Sir!
Hahaha! I think I need some “room spray.” Your menu sounds fabulous to me, though overwhelming. I would be tempted to just order Pizza and call it good. 🙂 Good luck!
Your menu sounds delicious (and very ambitious)!
Your “perfume” story is hysterical. I have a similar one in that my sister had visited Greece and sent me a beautiful scarf as a present – the kind with the Greek keys woven into the design and a little fringe on the edges. I kind of thought the fabric was a bit odd for a scarf, but I wore it proudly to work a few times. It took a while but then I realized it wasn’t a scarf at all. It was supposed to be a table runner! Yikes.
Hope Petit Prince feels better soon.
I’m hoping the five-layer dip and tortilla makes it all better! Just think, with all those people in your house, you won’t even need the heater. =>
Sounds yummy…you had me at cupcakes with raspberry filling and chocolate cream frosting 🙂 sorry about the chicken pox and the heater.
I’m so sorry you’ve been without heat. That makes it tough to get anything done. You just want to cuddle in bed and try to stay warm. I hope you get your beautiful raspberry radiator very soon.
Thanks for stopping by on my SITS day. It was a fun day for me.
(I tried to reply to your comment, but your email address isn’t linked to your profile.)
Oh, is it wrong of me to enjoy a freezing you so very much? I just wish we could sit and have coffee one afternoon . . . I would SO love that.
I spoke of you at a party this weekend. Relatives of ,one are planning a trip to Paris next year. I started to glow as I told them, “oh, my dearest friend, Lady Jennie, lives in France!!! How exciting!” When they asked more about you, I had to fess up that you were a ‘blog’ friend and we have never, actually, met.
Some people just don’t get the whole BLOG friend thing.
Ah, well. Someday we’ll have that coffee. This I know for sure!
I’m exhausted just reading this! You are sooo brave to do all that in one day–hope everything went OK and Petit Prince is feeling better.
Hope the party was fun! Can’t wait to hear the deets! And I hope you no longer have the chicken pox in your house. 🙂
Okay, thanks for that giggle about the confusion over room spray/Hermes perfume thing. VERY funny!
And…may I just say how stunned I am that you are cooking all that “handmade food” for the party AND you have time to blog about it beforehand? I wouldn’t be able to do either! Fantastique!
I need a nap just thinking about the party within a party before another party scenario! On the bright side, you and your house are probably smelling fabulous!
Oh my… it’s funny but certainly not idiotic!
I hope that your parties go over well and I think that your menu is just fine! I for one would have thrown a box of Cheez-It’s out and let that be good enough.
Ok, that’s a lie. But you get the point, right?
Can’t help but laugh whenever I stop by.
Hope the lil’ prince feels better soon.
Aw – thanks for your visit Anna!
I’d say using an expensive perfume as room deoderizer is playing Marie Antoinette.
veddy veddy fancy, what with the Hermes and all. Tossing that into the mix with mini-hotdogs. Truly the epitome of cool. Love baked brie w/jam (I use apricot); brie served unbaked but with a little side dollop of fig jam is also pretty much heavenly but makes my French brother-in-law rooollll his French eyes at me. Two parties in one day seems like a lot…(and I want all the recipes). On the other hand, the day after both parties? You’re DONE. And living off leftovers for a week. Yum. Eating will keep you warm until they fix your heating… : )