I just needed a day at home...home , home...home. It sounds so exotic and wonderful to travel the places I go...but ask anyone with this kind of schedule and they will tell you what a toll it takes. I just wanted to put my things in their place, talk on the phone without interruption with people I care about, make tea, have an apple, listen to my music, make my bed, do laundry...you know...just ordinary good stuff.

There are still vivid memories of Paris, of my first Fashion week in Paris that are quickly fading to background that I want to share because everyone should have some of those moments in their lives. Those moments of joy... because the worry and the stress had to come first to make them that sweet.

• Seeing the tent from the Rue de Rivoli...just where I knew it would be...but prettier...the gardens, the Seine, the Louvre in the background
• Having my first fresh chocolate croissant for breakfast... sinking my teeth into the soft, flaky, buttery dough and firm chocolate
• Waking up with that rush of adrenaline....knowing that you are late as soon as you wake up .Bolting to get ready, rush out the door, run down the street in the rain to stand in the rain trying to stop a cab for 20 minutes as the clock ticks in your head and makes your heart pound even as you're thinking that you didn't have enough time to get ready to be on display to hundreds of people.
• Handing out cards, matches, cards, matches...no sales...just lookers. Feet aching, stomach empty, discouraged, frustrated.
• That woman that came directly to the booth with a specific message- that I had produced the best, most beautiful press kits in the press room -but that I should have had more pictures in them. No card, but a mention that she was an editor from a top Parisian magazine
• The well dressed gentelman who looked the collection over carefully, told me that it was, " Wonderful- great design" spoke with Yohan in French and then turned away to come back, leave a card and in passing say that he was the owner of 25 magazines in Paris and that he would be in touch. Yohan lifted me off my feet with a bear hug at that moment.
• Walking in the rain with achingly tired feet to find a cafe , sit down and watch the fashion crowd chattering at tables around me while I had perfectly grilled fish and pommes frites.
• FRUSTRATION that getting business cards from anyone was like pulling hen's teeth. What was with that ?!!
• Teen Vogue...taking pictures of the collection for the NY editors back home
• The buyer from Hong Kong who came in at 6:30 ( the show closed at 7) asked for a chair to sit in front of the case and pick out a very well chosen selection for his stores. We stayed late for him.
• The look on people's faces when we handed them the match boxes; surprise, and then gratitude at getting anything for free. Then they would look at the logo, then at the logo on the booth walls. My lions....in 2,500 hands from around the world. Nice; very nice.
• The compliments...every day... for my personal style and designs in a gathering of some of the most discerning eyes on the planet. SUPER nice.
• The suspicion, then surity that I...who NEVER get sick...was going to get sick in Paris. Super sucked. No sleep that night because I couldn't breathe, and a long day to look forward to in front of me. No 24 hour Walgreens around the corner.Only one 24 hour pharmacy in all of Paris.... and it was not nearby.
• The hug from an American woman who was stopped with the match box handout and then found out that I was from Tucson. Since she had lived here...I got a big hug from a stranger:)
• SOOO many pretty women...OMG...a non stop parade all day of so many attractive girls and well dressed ones too...sooo much fun to watch. And the guys... it was like WOW... all day, every day. Eye candy.
• The smiles and conversations with the friends we made in the booths near us...fellow Americans, Italians, English...we were all there to work, but we all had stories to share. On the 3rd day I was wearing thigh high boots and velvet shorts with a matching jacket, feeling miserable from my head cold. My friends gave me a banana and as I ate it, started to mimmic me, lounging in my chair, with my legs stretched out, slowly eating my banana. We all got a good laugh out of their imitation of my 'elegant' style.
• Matthew, across from us.... was a former drag queen .He wore the big jewelry from their collection with confident panache every day... while I had Yohan, who looked like a Gucci model, and had great style, to wear my men's jewelry.

I'll post the last three days tomorrow...happy thoughts to take to sleep with me tonight of my Paris days ...