Help send us to Paris for New Year's!

Katelyn and I in Paris
My dear friend Katelyn and I are close to winning a three-day trip to Paris for New Year's -- we just need your vote!

Katelyn entered the Yves Saint Laurent "Experience Parisienne Contest" (per my suggestion), and she has been picked as a top ten finalist. The finalist who receives the most votes will receive an all-expense paid trip to Paris for two, as well as a YSL bag and $250 spending money. If Katelyn wins, she has offered to take me as her "plus one."

The prospect of winning is so exciting, as Paris is near and dear to both of our hearts. Katelyn is fluent in French (a French major at LSU) and has lived in the Paris suburbs as a nanny. I also have friends living in the city who I would love to see.

You can start voting today at YSL's "Experience Parisienne", but you can revisit the site to vote once a day. Once you've voted, please comment below to let us know. Voting ends December 1st.

Thank you in advance for your help. We will be ECSTATIC if we win!

All the best,
Cynthia

Houston Blog La Dolce Vita

I just discovered Houston blogger Paloma of La Dolce Vita. I'm always so excited to find inspired Houston bloggers! Paloma has fabulous taste!

image via La Dolce Vita

ETSy

Like it. Buy it.

Marlene Dumas

Stopped by the Menil the other day, and discovered South African artist Marlene Dumas in the bookstore. Her work is very dark... and often sexual. I'd love to see it in person, as the scale is apparently extreme. What do you think?

Photo via NY Magazine.

Raymonda is a blogger.

I'm digging my friend Ray's new blog: Raymonda Fortunee. C'est genius. We went to Paris together in April, and now she's living in the Victor Hugo house in charming Jouy-en-Josas.
Photo by Ray as well.

Check out my sister's new Web site/blog.

Oh happy day

Photo via we heart it.

Don't think, just love.

Illustration by Jeffrey Fisher.

I often find myself defending why I delight in modern and abstract art. I still haven't come up with a better answer than "I just love it." However, I do know that I am not drinking the kool-aid of a scam artist's attempt to splash paint around for money. Surely the creators enjoy their work as well and are not just laughing all the way to the bank?

I'm going to think about this, and get back to you.

James Nares

I would love to own a James Nares piece... This one is oil on linen, titled "What I Do," and is for sale at Galerie Stefan Röpke.

Nare uses huge canvases, on which he leaves his stroke and some authentic splattering drops, with the swing of one movement. He makes the oversized brushes himself, as well as the apparatus from which he suspends himself laying flat above the canvas. His subject has consistently been the brush stroke since for the past 27 years.

Joyful

And this is how I feel.. I've really enjoyed cooking, painting and spending time with friends and family lately. Life is so good.

Thanks to all the bloggers who brighten my day on a daily basis with their creativity -- and thanks for this picture Meredith!