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Happy Halloween! "Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direc...

Have a Marie Christmas with these fabulous, handmade ornaments inspired by our beloved French Queen and designed to look like a vintage holiday bauble!  Made using original artwork, vintage decorative papers, and a wax seal, these are tres charmant! IF YOU CAN'T RULE THE WORLD, YOU MIGHT AS WELL RULE THE HOLIDAYS with these adorable Napoleon inspired Christmas ornaments.  Made using rare, vintage French Brandy labels and metallic paper and finished with a wax seal. Available on Etsy.

   On a sunny day many years ago, in a crowded Barnes and Noble in Hilton Head, South Carolina, I met a woman who was destined to become one my best friends.  Fueled by caffeinated beverages, Cindy and I chatted for hours, squealing each time we discovered shared interests (writing, travel, ghosts, 80s music, and photography) and coincidences (we had eerily similar childhoods and had the same big, blond beach hair in our 20s).  One of the things I remember most about our first meeting was Cindy's unbridled enthusiasm for Scotland.  As I shared stories about my travels in la belle France , Cindy shared stories about her journeys to Scotland. One place in particular that truly captured her imagination (and eventually mine) was Dunnottar Castle.  The ancient, clifftop castle located on the eastern coast of Scotland was, in fact, the setting of her first novel, Spirited Away . As the years passed, Cindy and I became the closest of friends....

On a sultry July morning, a few years before Katrina blew into town, a friend and I wandered into the frenetic, powder-sugar dusted Cafe du Monde for an early cup of coffee and the pastries we had heard so much about. We were hot, sweaty, and more than a little worn out from having hoofed all over the historic district. It would take more than a few Dunkin Donuts to revive our exhausted, jaded spirits and a whole lot more than a Krispee Kream to skewer our skepticism. The pastries needed to be fresh, hot, and Paris-pretty to impress us. What we had that morning (several plates of steaming, sinfully-sweet, perfectly-powdered beignets) were tiny pillows of pastry perfection. The beignets were so good, we made several more early morning trips to Cafe du Monde during our stay in New Orleans. Once home, I experienced a serious post-perfect-beignet let-down. Krispee Kream no longer cut it. I was thrilled when I discovered I could buy Cafe du Monde's beignet mix onlin...