As many of you know, my partner Vincent makes a special art gift for me every Christmas. It’s always unique and special, and I never know what form it will take, either a painting, drawing, book, multimedia piece, or a video.
This year it came in three parts. In a rare moment, Vincent gave me the first part of the gift on Christmas eve, which is a first, as he’s always had a strict rule that presents are always exchanged on Christmas morning, no exception. The first part was an exquisite, Faberge-like egg made of brass filigree and inside was an old photo of the two of us in black and white tied with a gold satin ribbon.
On Christmas morning, I received part two, a gold painted box with a gold, round wax seal with an anchor embossed on it and on the bottom of the box “YOU ARE GOLD 12/21” spelled out in capital letters. The box was lined with a stunning black and gold paisley paper and inside a book was covered with a piece of soft gold leather. The pages of the book were handmade, and each page had either a photo or a collage on it and the sides tied with a gold ribbon. One page had a small envelope glued to it and inside was a notecard that Vincent hand wrote with the words below:
You are my anchor.
You are my standard.
You are my youth.
You are my love.
You are gold.
I immediately broke into tears of joy, love, and gratitude. I tried to compose myself, but to no avail. Even as I am writing this there are tears, but thankfully good tears.
As if that wasn’t enough to make me an emotional wreck, the third part of the gift was a glass frame with a blurred photo of an anchor on one side and the other side, the same words as above.
I finally calmed down as we exchanged our other gifts. Vincent did a Snoopy theme this year, and I received an adorable Snoopy watch, T-shirt, and mug, plus a cool Adidas sweatshirt.
I gave Vincent a cast iron skillet that you can put in the oven (he’s been wanting one forever), the newest Yotam Ottolenghi cookbook, Test Kitchen, and a box of vegan and organic skincare products from Humanrace, beautifully packaged in Kelly green, plastic containers (Vincent loves cool packaging). Another stocking stuffer I knew he would love (and he did) was a roll of masking tape from Hermés, with one side of it backed in their iconic silk print they use on their scarves. (I think it’s the least expensive thing that’s ever been sold at Hermés).
Christmas Eve we had friends from New York over for dinner. Vincent cooked a delicious dinner of orzo with butternut squash and brown butter, a salad of red and yellow cherry tomatoes and pomegranate seeds with a dressing of allspice, white vinegar, and olive oil, along with fresh mozzarella and Serrano ham. Dessert was a chocolate Buche de Noel. Someone brought a magnum of vintage 2009 Ruinart Champagne, and we drank every last drop of it as we celebrated our good fortune of 2021.
My Paris Apartment for Rent
I am looking to rent my apartment from March 22 to April 1, 2022 a total of 11 nights/10 days.
It’s a spacious, loft style, one bedroom, with 12-foot ceilings, wood parquet floors, kitchen with dishwasher, flat screen TV, queen size bed, a bathroom with a tub, and beautifully furnished with mid-century modern furniture. It’s on the second floor and there’s an elevator.
The apartment is in a great location, in the Marais by Saint Paul, right next to metro station, bus stop and taxi stand. Also great restaurants, cafes, boutiques, and food shops right outside your doorstep.
Price: 200€ per night, minimum of 7 nights. For the full 11 nights, it’s 2,000€ instead of 2200€.
Please email me at [email protected] if you are interested or need more information.
