Part 3: How to Live Well
Chapter 10 "Always Use the Best Things You Have"
This chapter showed how Famille Chic's philosophy of always using the best they had didn't stop at clothing. They applied this practice to every aspect of their lives. Jennifer talks about the urge to keep your best items put away until a special occasion present itself. She recommends using your best often as a way to make everyday special and luxurious.
A great reminder for me in this chapter was on always using my best manners. While it may seem natural to be polite when in public or with guests, it is quite easy to let our manners slide with our immediate family members. While we will all inevitably loose our patience from time to time, practicing our best manners with those closest to us can ensure that when we do go out in public, we will be modeling our authentic selves, and not come across as phony.
In this chapter, Jennifer explains that living formally is about honoring traditions. While the word "traditions" may conjure up such practices as attending Church on Christmas eve, or carving a Thanksgiving turkey, it is really about everyday rituals that we put into place. Formalizing everyday rituals strengthens their importance and helps us to live richer lives. In our home, rituals that we have put into place include breakfasts together at the children's table and weeknight dinners together at the dining room table,
One of my personal favorite rituals is waking up before the rest of the family and coming downstairs for my morning coffee- French-pressed with cream. The stillness of morning mixed with the view of sunlight streaming through the trees in the back yard is a welcome scene.
Chapter 12 "Clutter Is So Not Chic"
This chapter gives me a slight anxiety every time I read it. At this point, we all know clutter is not "chic," nor does it provide good "feng-shui." Clutter itself can produce anxiety. So why does tackling clutter cause me to feel anxious? Because I have always struggled with it. I've lived in cycles my whole life of letting clutter build up, then purging, then doing it all over again. So when I read this chapter, I get anxiety about my coat closet, about our storage/playroom/TV room downstairs, and (most definitely) about the guest closet that acts as my holding place for the children's out-grown clothes to be consigned. Jennifer recommends de-cluttering each area very slowly while putting into place systems to avoid future clutter. Maybe I see a future blog post coming on, in which I share my experience with creating a good system for one of these clutter-prone areas!
Chapter 13 "Seek Out the Arts"
"The benefits of being a patron of the arts is perhaps one of the most important lessons I learned while living in Paris because it is an aspect of my life that brings me so much joy." This quote from Jennifer sums up this chapter on exploring your city and supporting its arts. I know right here in North Fulton, Georgia, we have immense opportunities to do so, including
"The Chopin Society of Atlanta is a non-profit organization devoted to promoting
Fryderyk Chopin's music and advancing the understanding and appreciation of his legacy while engaging and inspiring youth from the Metro Atlanta area."
Founded in 2012, Lefont Film Society strives to program a diverse slate of specially selected classic, art, independent, and foreign language films for our loyal movie going audiences.
ACT1 Theater is a community theater and an outreach of
Alpharetta Presbyterian Church (APC) in Alpharetta, GA.
Through the use of drama we strive to provide fellowship and entertainment to our community.
These three organizations are literally the ones I thought of off of the top of my head. I know there are many more opportunities to support the arts in our community- seek them out!
Chapter 14 "Cultivate an Air of Mystery"
"French people, as a habit, do not reveal too much information about themselves." We've all seen that person on social media who shares too much. But have you ever been that person in a conversation? Jennifer talks about her propensity to overshare details to avoid what she used to think were awkward silences in conversations. I love how she explains the art of "long pauses," and becoming comfortable with silent moments, and how they can contribute to your air of mystery.
Chapter 15 "Practice the Art of Entertaining"
Chris and I have always loved entertaining! Before we were even married, we would throw large dinner parties with wine-tastings and multiple courses. Since having children, our form of entertaining has evolved and very often we will go the "cook-out" route over the multi-course dinners. Both of these forms of entertaining are enjoyable and the key to a successful gathering, according to Jennifer, is practice. While in France, Jennifer's host family entertained guests at least once a week. With that consistent practice, anyone can master the art of entertaining!
Chapter 16 "Reject the New Materialism"
It is so easy to fall into the trap of materialism. With new versions of technology, cars, and even fashion constantly blaring at us, I will fully admit to the inner struggles of "keeping up." I find that the more I'm online or watching TV, the stronger this pull is. Jennifer has many suggestions for combating these urges and the one I most like is, "Learn to appreciate what you already have."
Chapter 17 "Cultivate Your Mind"
I have had many a conversations with others about intelligence being one of the most sought-after qualities in a partner. Jennifer offers many suggestions on cultivating your mind including reading books (as many as you can!), reading newspapers, watching films (independent and foreign) following the arts, improving your vocabulary (try subscribing to a "word-of-the-day" blog), and, of course, watching less television. Travel is also recommended as seeing and experiencing "other cultures is the best way to cultivate your mind and expand your horizons."
Chapter 18 "Find Simple Pleasures"
Jennifer observed that Famille Chic didn't have negative attitudes toward the repetitive details of their daily lives and as a result, they got along very harmoniously. While it may be our default to be ho-hum about everyday chores that need to be done, wouldn't it be more fun to extract pleasure from simple things?
I wrote in detail about this in the post "In Pursuit of Simple Pleasures". Since writing that post, I have been in pursuit of even more ways to make everyday mundane tasks more enjoyable and one that I have grown to look forward to is (drum-roll, please!) IRONING! I can hardly believe I typed that. But I do look forward to it. I've created a routine that actually makes this once daunting task enjoyable. I save this chore for late morning when Eliot is napping or early afternoon during Fiona's nap, so that there are no interruptions. I then make a cup of hot tea, light a candle, turn on a podcast (click here for my favorite), and get started. I discovered a while ago that harsh over-head lighting can put me in a bad mood, so I keep the over-head light off and use a bed lamp for a soft glow. This routine may sound crazy, but it has helped me find simple pleasure in an once-mundane task.
Chapter 19 "Value Quality Above All"
Jennifer advocates the commitment to living a life of quality and, once you do so, quality will permeate every aspect of your life. She references quality food and clothing, and investing wisely in those items. She also talks about quality attitudes, which I loved. She writes about going on a "Negativity Diet" and eliminating negative people from your friendship roster. While we all will go through difficult times (and you will no doubt be there for your friends and family during those times) she cautions to be wary of people who are chronically going through a difficult time.
Chapter 20 "Live A Passionate Life"
"Every detail of life can become exceptional if you allow it to be so," is a great quote from Jennifer that sums up this book. Her hope for the book is for the reader to be inspired to lead a passionate life that one can reflect back on and say that every moment was well-lived and not a single moment was wasted.
I truly hope you enjoyed this in-depth look at Lessons from Madame Chic: 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned While Living in Paris and that this 3-Part Series has encouraged you to live life well. Hopefully it has also whet your appetite for Jennifer's new book, Polish Your Poise with Madame Chic, which will be released tomorrow, October 27, 2015! Be sure to check back with a review of the new book!
