At Home with Madame Chic Book Review

Jennifer L. Scott's second book, At Home with Madame Chic: Becoming a Connoisseur of Daily Life delves into daily life rituals and the importance of living a passionate life.  While these two topics seem like they may have little in common, Jennifer examines the importance of seemingly mundane tasks and decides to see what life would look like performing her chores with patience and mindfulness.

At Home With Madame Chic is broken into two parts:
Part 1 "Chez Vous" ("At Your House") begins with  Jennifer giving insight into how to get your home in order through organizing and decluttering while simultaneously finding pleasure and peace in the process.  One of my favorite quotes from Part 1 appears in chapter one as Jennifer is describing the pride and pleasure many French people take in making a home: "... a passionately pleasant home life sets you up for a very happy life in the outside world."

Part 2 "Les Routines de la Journée" ("Routines of the Day") is subdivided into three sections: the pleasures of the morning, the pleasures of the afternoon, and the pleasures of the evening.  These pages are full of wisdom and ideas of how to "live in the moment" throughout each day.  Included are lists of candle scents and music albums that are specific to different times of the day.

A story that stuck with me from Part 2 can be found in the last chapter under a subheading entitled, "Trying to Change Other People Is So Not Chic."  Jennifer shares a story of her and her husband and their difference of opinions relating to dinner rituals.  I'm sure by now, all of my readers know my admiration for Jennifer and her books.  My admiration was taken to a new level when I read that she prepares a home-cooked meal nearly every night, serves it at a set table (complete with candles and music!) all the while knowing that her husband may not be eating the prepared meal.  I was convicted on several levels with this story (from being grateful for Chris always sitting down eat our family dinners to realizing that if I know it will only be the children and myself home for dinner, there will be no cooking, and finally, my own general nagging to try to persuade Chris that my way is the best way in every arena of home).  Rather than nagging family members to persuade them to do things your way or that your way is best, it is recommended to rather "be the change [you] want to see in [them]."

I would highly recommend At Home with Madame Chic for anyone looking to find pleasure and peace in everyday living.  Of Jennifer L. Scott's three books, I would definitely say this one is my favorite!  I especially love how she doesn't make the reader feel like her way is the only way to do things and offers different suggestion for people with different lifestyles to maintain their homes.  This book ends with a sweet story Jennifer shares about driving by her childhood home.  This book truly encourages one to cultivate a home-life that one can cherish and  look back on with found memories.