How is it almost the last week of September? The whirlwind of la rentrée, the official period of back to school and regularly scheduled programming in France, began on September 1 and left me whirling as well. The morning rush of getting kids fed, dressed, and out the door has replaced our languid summer mornings of easing into the day with pancakes on a random Wednesday. However, we do try to ease into the weekday mornings by sitting down together for breakfast, even for a quick bowl of yogurt and berries or some speedy scrambled eggs. We light the candles on the table in the morning during breakfast, even during the school/work week, as a way to start our day in peace, and our kids love it (and fight over who gets to blow them out!).
I noticed I had an uptick in new followers after I posted this popular photo I snapped while waiting in line at my local grocery store.
I couldn’t believe it myself, but it’s true, the French love a good stripe, and the stripe does not discriminate against age. But thank you for hitting subscribe and hello to you, new readers. Maybe I should send every new reader a striped shirt in the mail to say merci.
I thought I’d give a bit of an update to share what I’m working on for both subscribers and new readers, and to announce a second new newsletter!
With what feels like the start of the new year even though we have about three months left of 2025, I have plunged into various projects, both creative and personal, that are keeping my plate pleasantly full. I have several posts in my draft folder for this newsletter that I am looking forward to wrapping up and posting soon. In my next post, I will share about my language learning journey as I’m often asked, “you must be fluent by now, right?” And I will be diving more into interior design -related posts as I am slowly stepping back into design projects after taking a hard pause while growing our family.
I am also excited to share that I have co-created a second newsletter with my brilliant friend, Maddy Odom. We created En Bref as a space to have a more editorial and curated newsletter that focuses on European lifestyle and culture, design, travel, and a personal look into our own lives as American mothers raising our families in Paris. We hope you will check it out and pass it along to friends who may enjoy reading it!
The leaves are slowly beginning to turn here in Paris, and while I love a sunny day, there is something about a moody, autumnal sky that I happily embrace (maybe it’s the lack of A/C all summer long). I recently restocked my favorite candle, and I’ve started the closet switch from summer to fall/winter clothes. I’m also looking forward to the new expositions at the museums and galleries, especially the John Singer Sargent exposition at Musée D’Orsay-it’s one not to miss if you are in Paris!
Editor note: If you’ve missed that exhibition, there are always so many awesome exhibitions on in Paris - here’s a good place to start searaching→
Thank you again for being here, and I would love to hear from you! Please do reach out if you have something you are curious about or would like to see more of in this newsletter.
À la prochaine,
Kathryn
Introducing Contributor, Kathryn Ivey:
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