By Invitation Only...Cocktail time!

It hard to believe, this will be our last "By invitation Only" group post of the year....
A toast to you Marsha, our inspiration behind our fun, caring, creative group.
"Bienvenue" to our cyber cocktail party.

In lieu of hosting a cocktail party in my home in Connecticut, I decided on a different venue...my Interieurs Atelier, my second home, a place of work and  inspiration where clients and friends meet.
Invitations are out..... the Showroom transformed into an intimate space with soft lights and candles glittering, champagne chilled, my favorite cocktail will be prepared and served by our faithful bartenders, canapés warming, music selected.

Most importantly, what should I wear? My dress will dictate the tone and mood of the environment . It has been a rather tasking year, so let's celebrate in style! Thankfully, I am very decisive and picked my dress in a flash...how can one go wrong with Chanel?

Red will set the tone.

Entry

Red roses

Center piece

I collect venetian glasses, love their jewel tones, unfortunately so fragile... 

My favorite cocktail

Vodka, passion fruit, fresh squeezed lime juice, sugar syrup and Champaign

Shake softly in a shaker all ingredients (except the champaign)

Serve in a flute and add champagne. Stir from top to bottom

A heart for every guest

Happy Holidays!

A bientôt,

Francine

Reflections on the Holidays and my Second Home, Interieurs

Saturday morning I woke up to a beautiful pure blue sky. Going outside I felt the crisp cold air of late November here in the northeast and suddenly felt the spirit of the coming holidays sweep over me.

I really love the winter holidays, especially Christmas when its time to decorate the tree, my house and especially finding new and creative ways to gift wrap Christmas presents.

When my children were young, every Christmas over a period of now uncountable years, we hosted "Christmas" lunch for all our friends. Often we would have as many as 28 people (of all ages, shapes, sizes, hues and faiths) trek out to Connecticut from Manhattan for a stunning feast prepared by my husband and we would luxuriate in the gifts, food, wine and, most importantly, companionship. Often my parents would come from France and my mother-in-law would come down from Newport to join us. These celebrations gave my sons a great sense of comfort and community. They now tell me how much they long for and will always remember those great Christmas parties past. Alas, now, almost all of those friends and their children (now all grown up) have scattered to new cities and countries, so re-capturing those times can only be done from our memories and photo albums.

As our friends began moving away in the years after September 11, we left behind the large dinners of Fondue Chinoise (or Canard-a-L'Orange, or Beef Wellington), Rose Champagne, Bordeaux wines, foie gras, salmon roe caviar and chocolate/hazelnut Buches de Noel.

In 2004 we started a new family mini-tradition of traveling to Asia where, that first year, we spent Christmas Day in a Dayak village in Kalimantan (See my post Deep into Kalimantan). For a period of several years afterward we went to Asia every year for the holidays (except 2007 when we went to Whistler B.C. after a very quiet Christmas at home). Last year we spent Christmas in Bangkok and New Year's Eve in Phuket having already fully pre-paid the trip just before the economic tsunami hit here at home.

This year we will spend Christmas at home, something my now college student sons Alex and Hadrian actually look forward to, as do my husband and I. After so many years of semi-nomadic holiday traveling, we look forward to a quiet regrouping of our emotional and financial resources. As I'm sure most if not all my readers can readily agree, 2009 has been a really tough year. Celebrating the holidays at home, with loved ones and close friends will be a wonderful and welcome change.

As I reflected on the holidays, I realized that Interieurs really is my second home. It also dawned on me that I have never fully introduced you to that part of my life, so Saturday morning I headed down to the Manhattan Flower Market district where I loaded my trunk with greenery to style my Showroom's windows for the Holidays. As I worked along, I took a few snapshots of the space to share with you here. If you are planning to be in New York, I hope you'll stop in for a visit.

Interieurs... My TriBeCa Showroom

My Welcome to the Holiday Season

Jose Esteves' "Peace Bird" greeting the
holidays by our "Audrey" Sofa

Interieus' Bamboo "Marcelle" Bed named

for my paternal Grandmother

Interieurs' "Julien" L-Shaped Sofa with re-purposed
industrial furniture from the South of France

I love these old hand Re-bound books.

Our "Aurelie" Sofa and "Antoine" Bamboo cocktail table

The "Jason" Steel Sandwich table.
Most "Jason" tables are unique pieces made
from re-claimed industrial parts here in the U.S.A.

Interieurs' Walnut or Oak "Armande" four post bed

Below, the same showroom, styled for an advertising photoshoot to introduce our Le Bambou Interieurs furniture line. Photos: Michael Grimm, another of my favorite commercial photographers.