Bonjour Happiness, watercolor sketch, 9" x 11"
A week ago I went to hear Jamie Cat Callan talk about her newest book on finding your inner 'Frenchiness'...
'Bonjour Happiness'
Jamie was recently injured in her car (by a possibly texting driver) but she reminded us, "You can still have joi de vie whilst hobbling around in a leg cast". Jamie is nothing if not an optimist.
The French have recently adopted the cheesecake as a favorite dessert...
But they've always had the best 'cheesecake' of all - matching lingerie. Jamie says"your lingerie MUST match and be frilly' or just furgettaboutit if you wanna find your inner French girl.
Jamie proceeded to do 'French' scarf demo for us...
Luckily there was a REAL French girl present to concur with Jamies' scarf instructions. Jamie says,"DO NOT ever wear your scarf the way the sales guy in the street shows you" Non JAMAIS! Wrong, wrong, wrong. French Girl agreed this is not correct.
Jamie says, "French people do not have an expression for 'the pursuit of happiness'." They do not chase after it. Rather they take things slowly. Jamie says, "You must cultivate your own 'secret garden'. That place where you can refresh your senses and recoup. Jamie says, "Learn the French shrug when presented with a difficult situation. Simply shrug your shoulders casually and say, "C'est la vie." 
Bien sur there were macarons on hand (merci Mad Mac).I had to ask Jamie what she thought of French men, since the DSK episode had just occured. Jamie said, "That's in the next book."
I shrugged and said, "C'est la vie..."