Hasta Luego

Lulu no longer lives here... But this is not the end of la Dilettante. For the time being we're having buckets of fun at this lovely place called Clip by Connect. This is where I sign The Insider Column and some of the posts under What When Who & Where.

Despair not beloved followers (mum, dad). I shall soon be migrating to a spanking new platform where we will be reunited once more.

Tatah...

A Favourite: Ellen Von Unwerth

Why Stressed-Out Men Prefer Heavier Women

"Most men prefer leggy and lean women, Gisele Bündchen lookalikes, right? Not necessarily. In fact, the body type that a man finds attractive can change depending on his environment and circumstances, a new study finds: when under stress, for instance, men prefer heavier women.

The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, reports that when men were placed in stressful situations, then asked to rate the attractiveness of women of varying body sizes, they tended to prefer beefier frames, compared with unstressed men whose tastes skewed thinner.

“This suggests that our body size preferences are not innate, but are flexible,” said study co-author Martin Tovée of Newcastle University in the U.K., in an email, noting that they may be influenced by our particular environment and resources."

Read more on The Time

Tata's Tattoos

Forever Bad

It's been over a month since I've posted in this blog, a crime I had vowed never to commit. But to find yourself writing a dissertation while handling a full time position at a magazine, to then just jump on another ridiculously exciting project - where I have to pull a thousand rabbits from my hat if I want to succeed - is kind of hard. So yes, Lulu's been busy, proactive, gown up almost. But it doesn't mean I've been good either. Here is a list of the horrible, horrible things I've been up to. Judge me if you will:

1 Drunk dialing or/and drunk SMSing... I should be forbidden access to my iPhone when I hit the bottle. Period.

2 Flirting with Coling Farrell, that's right: Flirting With Collin Farrell. We met in a premiere, he snobbed the MTV girl and I got to interview him. Yup. And then we flirted... Ahem, I flirted, he shook my hand and calmly walked away.

3 Smoking during the day. That's probably the worse. Let's not get into it...

4 Spend hours reading beauty product reviews and then buy them in Amazon (celulite, saggy eyes, bad hair, you name it).

5 Stopped recycling, working out, brushing my hair and opening my bank correspondence. Cringe!

A Chef In Every Kitchen

Via AlexLugoArt

It seems that being a certified chef today has less to do with cooking than having a flair for business. Who cares about Michelin stars? We’re talking TV shows, book deals, festivals (I beg your pardon, feastivals) and the endorsement of every sort of paraphernalia a respectable foodie is ought to have in his kitchen.

The end of celebrity chefs has been predicted for many years now, but just like hipsters they refuse to disappear. Gastro-culture is still toute la rage and proof of this is that, every year in the UK, over 6 million aspiring cooks actually hurt themselves while trying to replicate what their more professional counterparts are doing in the telly.

Thankfully, Jamie Oliver has come to our rescue once more in that charming, happy Labrador ways of his. Recepease is a cookbook shop (that only sells his books), a grocery store (that only sells his products), a café and a cookery school all in one. For those of you who refuse to acknowledge the existence of the South Bank, despair not, following the success of the Clapham Common store Recipease was launched this very month in Notting Hill. From Beef Wellington to Vietnamese street food and Bouillabaisse there’s more than enough for you to impress your amigos. 

Click here to find out more.

Little Bee

"We don't want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it. Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this: It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific. The story starts there, but the book doesn't. And it's what happens afterward that is most important. Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds."

Lulu Rates: 5 Stars

Fifty Shades Of Blue

After what can only be described as a very tough break-up, if a friend invites you to their house in Corsica there's only one answer you can possibly give. So pack my bags I did and following an entire week of much soul searching, plain croissants and endless layers of sunscreen (SPF 50+ of course), I found myself late last night thinking of none other than Anais Nin's lover, Mr. Henry Miller: 

One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things. 

Somewhere in Ajaccio at 9AM 

Destination Corsica didn't change who I am, but it has definitely made me shift a little on the inside... How? Well that's the beauty of travelling, you don't only get to see new things but you also get to meet new people. People's whose life stories, should you have a moment to spare, can baffle you or touch you, make you laugh or run a thousand circles in your mind, just to realise that you will never understand. Getting to learn such stories, so far removed from my own personal experiences, never fails to soothe me. Why? Because this is the moment when my heart calms down and I'm finally able to remember how big and mysterious our world really is. 

Futility Closet - Summer Edition

Maslin Zebra Beach Towel

Tara Matthews for Net A Porter

Anya Hindmarch Fruit & Vegetable Tote

Get Catty

Source:
The Bare Intimates

For some reason cat eyes remain the Achilles' heel in my makeup artist number. My precious little cousin Amelie, God bless her, can pull it off completely hungover, half asleep in a bouncing car. Irritating, I know... But she's Parisian. Resilient, however, as only Lulu can be I've decided to deal with the situation the adult way: practising for hours in front of the mirror. If you need a few tips on how to achieve the mother of sexy looks, here goes a video with former reality star (star?) Lauren Conrad. And if you happen not to be a certain annoyingly pretty girl from Paris, bonne chance!

Living With Diane

Not that I'm wild for everything she does, but DVF's house in Cloudwalk, Connecticut, has left an imprint in my soul. This library/sitting room alone will be showing up in my dreams for years to come. 

Source:InStyle

Featured in InStyle's Sept/10 issue, the former princess and trendsetting powerhouse showed us why it was high time she got out of the closet and took over the whole house. No one can work asymmetrical shapes, bold colours and a flair for animal instinct as she does. I mean no one.

Source: House of Anais

Wedding Clipping

"All marriages are happy. It's the living together afterwards that causes all the trouble."

-- Raymond Hull

  

Unlike most of those of my generation I feel incredibly serious about the institution of marriage. So much so that I intend to get married several times in this life. By the time I reach my seventies, I hope I will have sent at least 5 wedding invitations. As with my different husbands I expect each one of the ceremonies to have a different flavour to them.

And so I decided that while husband numero 1 stubbornly remains in hiding, I might as well have some fun and start gathering inspiration for all of these delightful parties yet to come. Never mind the inbetweens. Luckily, one of my first online destinations happened to be The Rock N´ Roll Bride, a  Victorian era lover after my own heart.    

To check out the wonderful world of Clockwork Heart & Eyelash Dream: A Victorian Steampunk Shoot and other fantabulous wedding inspired material click here.

On The Dot

A Facebook Profile

The Pillow Book

Born in Japan c. 966, Sei Shonagon wasn't particularly beautiful nor rich, but she was clever as a whip. Besides being a lady in the imperial court (where she seems to have been slightly obsessed with the empress), Sei was a poet, a diarist and above all a gossip girl extraordinaire. Alas, little do we know of her life, all that has survived to this day was her fabulous writing.
In the Pillow Book Shonagon gives us insight to life in court as well as her extremely refined, albeit sometimes cruel, view of the world. It is a collection of lists, complaints, observations and poetry. I particularly love her apprecitation of Nature and the unapologetic way she complains about other people's children.

Source: Maritime Heritage

Elegant Things

A white coat worn over a violet waistcoat. 

Duck eggs. 

Shaved ice mixed with liana syrup and put in a new silver bowl. 

A rosary of rock crystal.

Wisteria blossoms. 

Plum blossoms covered with snow. 

A pretty child eating strawberries.

Things Without Merit

An ugly person with a bad character.

A handsome man with an ugly wife.

A woman with ugly hair wearing a robe of white damask.

Snow on the house of common people. This is especially regrettable with the moonlight shines down to it.

Hateful Things

One is just about to be told some interesting piece of news when a baby starts crying.

An admirer has come on a clandestine visit, but a dog catches sight of him and starts barking. One feels like killing the beast.

Fleas too, are very hateful. When they dance about under someone's clothes, they really seem to be lifting them up.

parents worshiping a very unappealing child -- something we've all been annoyed with.

'Why so silent?' said Her Majesty. 'Say something. It is sad when you do not speak.'
'I am gazing at the autumn moon,' I replied.
'Ah yes,' she remarked. 'That is just what you should have said.”

"There is nothing worse than feeling you're not liked. Whenever someone dislikes me I have the impression that the person suffers from some sort of lunacy".

Happyness Is...

Coming back from a one month stay in Rio to this slush pile! Who said the business of magazines was dead?

Tacky Under 40

There are three things that I consider extremely tacky for a woman to do before she's 40:

1 Wear huge diamonds
2 Take sleeping pills
3 Inject botox

Why? I do not know, but if you ever catch me doing any of these, please, slap me hard.

Markus Lupfer, Resort Film

Shameless little hoarder... That's me!

Quote Of The Day

“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.” 


― Coco Chanel

Play My List

1. I'll Be Seeing You - Billy Holiday

2. The Way You Look Tonight - Michael Bublé

3. Dance Me To The End Of Love - Madeleine Peyroux

4. I Love You For Sentimental Reasons - Nat King Cole

5. At Last - Etta James

6. Baby I'm A Fool - Melody Gardot

7. Fly Me To The Moon - Nat King Cole & George Shearing

8. The Look Of Love - Dusty Springfield

9. La Vie En Rose - Louis Armstrong

10. Sway - Peter Cincotti

11. You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger - Beth Rowley

12. Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildered - Stacey Kent
...

To hear this flawless little ensemble all you gotta do is click here. Cheers to 8tracks' user Kisslock. You deserve a kiss indeed. A very wet one. With lots of tongue. Ew.

My Favourite Ending

“I will come,” said Peter, but he sat on for a moment. What is this terror? what is this ecstasy? he thought to himself. What is it that fills me with extraordinary excitement?

It is Clarissa, he said.

For there she was.

Work That Brain, Biatch

And because Lulu believes there is nothing sexier than highly intelligent individuals - hello nerds! - here are a few simple tips on how to stimulate your brain, and establish some new neural connections  while you're at it. OK, that was a bit smug, but I will tell you all about my most recent neuroscientific endeavours soon. For now, let's focus on acting like the happy result of 4 billions years of evolution, shall we? Here we go.

1. Read the dicctionary and make up crazy associations.

Try to learn at least 2 new words every week. This will consideratly improve your vocabulary by the end of each year. It will also help you find quicker intersections between seemingly unrelated problems. Which is kind of great for problem solving. You make the math.  

2. Try new foods.

While grown-ups usually prove to be more receptive to diffent tastes and shapes, we also tend to be more set in our old ways. Just look back at the last 5 times you went grocery shopping and try to calculate the percentage of new ingredients you buy every week. There you have it. Try new foods, discover new pleasures and allow your pallates to show you just how sophisticated they can be.

3. Keep up with the world.

However fascinating the Kardashians may be there's more to your television than Kim or Kloe, and to the world. You don't need to subscribe to 16 magazines (ahem) or spend the day with CNN turned on. Just tune in a little bit every week. Search for subjects that might be of interest to you even if they're not work related. This alone can give you that very pleasurable feeling of doing your own thing.

4. Make love, like, all the time.

Not only will your skin look fabulous but you will also liberate a bunch of happy chemicals, great for stimulating that old brain of yours. Do I need to go on?

5. Be spontaneous.

Dance when you're alone, walk naked in your home, take a different route to work sometimes. Reverse assumptions, spell words backwards, observe things from your daily life as if you were a foreigner. Change patterns and you'll help yourself out of that mental hut. 

Love, Pamela

Not only is Pamela Love this stylish being with a mane of great, luxurious hair, but she's also an amazing designer. I'm doing my best to be a good girl and keep it in my pocket, but every time I see her jewelry I want to max out my credit card sooo bad. 

Riiight?! For more, visit Pamela's site HERE

Lost In Translation

"Mamihlapinatapei (Yagan, an indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego): The wordless yet meaningful look shared by two people who desire to initiate something, but are both reluctant to start. 

Oh yes, this is an exquisite word, compressing a thrilling and scary relationship moment. It’s that delicious, cusp-y moment of imminent seduction. Neither of you has mustered the courage to make a move, yet. Hands haven’t been placed on knees; you’ve not kissed. But you’ve both conveyed enough to know that it willhappen soon… very soon."

-- Pamela Haag

The Magic Of Toile

Whoa, someone went to town! This is what I call living in bold colours. And while I'm not wild for the first interior, the 2nd and the 3nd are breathtaking. Just goes to show how having a little decor guts can pay off nicely. If you have good taste, naturally.

Source: Shine

Quote Of The Day

“If you take a book with you on a journey,...an odd thing happens: The book begins collecting your memories. And forever after you have only to open that book to be back where you first read it. It will all come into your mind with the very first words: the sights you saw in that place, what it smelled like, the ice cream you ate while you were reading it...yes, books are like flypaper--memories cling to the printed page better than anything else.” 

― Cornelia Funke, Inkheart

How To Outwit Smartphones

They make loud phone calls in public places, and take their iPads to the dinner table. Here's how to beat the new social savages.

"... At parties – originally designed to promote friendship and romance – the direct experience is being intercepted by smartphone as partygoers are too busy announcing their presences at the event and checking on the progress and whereabouts of their peers. In the age of perma-provisional arrangements, their friends are bleeping in to say they have decided that this is the best party on offer and they are on their way, but “could you text me the address again?”


To continue reading Mary Killen's article for The Telegraph click here. Meanwhile here are some crazy statistics I've found on This Is Mobile:

• 
  
• 22% of adults and 47% of teenagers answer their smartphones whilst in the toilet. Too much info for my liking, thanks!
• 38% of adults and 40% of teenagers have their handsets permanently switched on. As in 24/7. As in public holidays, weekends and quite possibly the dawn of Armageddon. All the time. Take a break peeps. Not healthy.
• 18% of adults and 27% of teenagers use their smartphone in a location where it shouldn’t be used, like in the library or at the movies.
• 23% of adults and 34% of teenagers continue using their phones during a meal. Are they talking with their mouths full? That’s just gross.
• 51% of adults and 65% of teenagers admit to using their phones whilst socialising with others. One question for you selfish so-and-so’s: why bother meeting friends in the first place then? Just stay at home and text them – at least they’d be getting your attention. Too rude.
• Because of their smartphones, 15% of teenagers read fewer books and 23% watch less television. So tht is y tey cnt spk proply?

What the hell, I'll admit it. I'm a smartphone zombie too. Maybe one day they'll rehab clinics for the poor bastards that we are. 

Lovely Day

When I wake up in the morning, love
And the sunlight hurts my eyes
And something without warning, love
Bears heavy on my mind

Then I look at you
And the world's alright with me
Just one look at you
And I know it's gonna be
A lovely day
Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day

When the day that lies ahead of me
Seems impossible to face
When someone else instead of me
Always seems to know the way

Then I look at you
And the world's alright with me
Just one look at you
And I know it's gonna be
A lovely day

When the day that lies ahead of me
Seems impossible to face
When someone else instead of me
Always seems to know the way

Then I look at you
And the world's alright with me
Just one look at you
And I know it's gonna be
A lovely day

Oh No!

Facebook Determined to Ruin the Last Fun Thing About Facebook: Stalking

"Better go click through your ex boyfriend's kind of weird-looking new girlfriend's tagged photos now, while you still can. Facebook announced today that they're going to start letting people know who has viewed certain items on the social network — technology that, for now, only impacts a limited area of the site, but could, in the future, make the beloved shametivity of Facebook stalking a thing of the past."

Read more on Jezebel

100 Years Of Dance Filmed In 100 Seconds

Eva Luna _ Chapter I

"My name is Eva, which means "life," according to a book of names my mother consulted. I was born in the back room of a shadowy house, and grew up amidst ancient furniture, books in Latin, and human mummies, but none of those things made me melancholy, because I came into the world with a breath of the jungle in my memory. My father, an Indian with yellow eyes, came from the place where the hundred rivers meet; he smelled of lush growing things and he never looked directly at the sky, because he had grown up beneath a canopy of trees, and light seemed indecent to him. Consuelo, my mother, spent her childhood in an enchanted region where for centuries adventurers have searched for the city of pure gold the conquistadors saw when they peered into the abyss of their own ambitions. She was marked forever by that landscape, and in some way she managed to pass that sign on to me."

-- Isabel Allende

5 Blogs For Foodies

For one the best food styling you'll ever see try What Katie Ate. Her recipes are lovely, but it's the visual that's simply to die for. 

Although I have specifically chosen blogs that I usually visit and not the top 50 or 25 (which you can easily find on Google), I just couldn't leave 101 Cookbooks out. With its clean, lean and no nonsense approach to food, this is a food blog to enjoy on several levels.  

Wondering which cookery book to buy next? Sunday Times food editor Pip McCormac just made life a lot easier for you. Cook The Books is a woman's honest account of what happens when you decide to follow the recipe.

Fabulous pictures of beautiful people cooking in their homes. What's not to like? Photo Director of Elle Magazine, Pippa X, hit a home run with Sous Style.

To me, Geri Hirsch is hands down one of the best bloggers out there. And since we're on the subject of food, I figured her gourmet addition to Because I'm Addicted definitely deserved a mention. Make sure to watch the videos, but beware: if you're a food blogger you're bound to feel a little jealous.

Paris Literary Prize

"The Paris Literary Prize is an international novella competition for unpublished writers. Any topic is welcome.

Shakespeare and Company has a long-standing tradition of opening its doors to aspiring writers and in keeping with that philosophy, the 10,000€ Paris Literary Prize is open to writers from around the world who have not yet published a book.

We have long been admirers of the novella, a genre which includes such classics as The Old Man and the Sea, Animal Farm, L'Étranger and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. The Paris Literary Prize celebrates this small but perfectly formed genre while giving a unique 

opportunity to writers whose voices have not yet been heard."

For more information visit their website.

Bukowski

Raw With Love

little dark girl with
kind eyes
when it comes time to
use the knife
I won't flinch and
I won't blame
you,
as I drive along the shore alone
as the palms wave,
the ugly heavy palms,
as the living does not arrive
as the dead do not leave,
I won't blame you,
instead
I will remember the kisses
our lips raw with love
and how you gave me
everything you had
and how I
offered you what was left of
me,
and I will remember your small room
the feel of you
the light in the window
your records
your books
our morning coffee
our noons our nights
our bodies spilled together
sleeping
the tiny flowing currents
immediate and forever
your leg my leg
your arm my arm
your smile and the warmth
of you
who made me laugh
again.
little dark girl with kind eyes
you have no
knife. the knife is
mine and I won't use it
yet. 

Precious Bugs

Source: Polyvore

DV - A Favourite

“I was always fascinated by the absurdities and the luxuries and the snobbism of the world that fashion magazines showed. Of course, it’s not for everyone. Very few people had ever breathed the pantry air of a woman who wore the kind of dress Vogue used to show when I was young. But I lived for that world, not only during my years in the magazine business but for years before, because I was always of that world — at least in my imagination.”

 — DV by Diana Vreeland