The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Travel with Janice Archives - Page 8 of 17

The Streets of Paris, December 2015

December 17, 2015

I had a wonderful time, no hesitations, and no conditions or qualifications apply.

Were things in Paris a little bit different? Yes, a little bit. As I said yesterday, my flight was very "uncrowded", so I anticipated smaller crowds, which was indeed the case. Maybe the thing that I noticed first was that there were French flags on display in unexpected places, including quite a few hanging from the windows of apartments in the city. In some cases, the flag was just a sheet of paper with the flag printed on it, taped to the window. I didn't see thousands of them - this wasn't something organized - but that made it all the more striking and moving when it was ... View the Post

Getting to Paris from Chicago (and back again), December 2015

December 16, 2015

If you're considering going to Paris soon, DO IT! If nothing else, the trip over was MUCH easier than it's ever been before, in my experience. A lot of people on my flight were no-shows, which meant that lots of us had a ton of space. On both of my flights - to and from Paris - I had a window AND an aisle seat all to myself. On the trip over, some people had ENTIRE middle sections (three seats wide, maybe 4?) in which to stretch out and sleep somewhat comfortably.

I know that a lot of this is the result of no-shows, because I seriously considered upgrading my seat on both legs of the trip, and decided not to because of cost. When I viewed the seat maps online, they showed that there were very few free seats on ... View the Post

Back from Paris

and my circadian rhythms have NO rhythm. You'd think I would figure out jet lag....More very soon, when I've had some sleep. It was a WONDERFUL trip. If you're thinking about going to Paris, do it!

love, Janice ... View the Post

Packing for Paris! What I’m Doing Differently, This Time…

December 10, 2015  

I'm leaving today! Early this evening, in fact, which is a little bit irritating, because I don't get to Paris until 10 a.m. Sometimes this flight leaves much earlier, getting one to Paris in time for an early breakfast. Some day, I will understand why the airlines change things so often...But no matter! I'm going, and I'm going to have a wonderful time. If you want to keep up with my running around, please follow me on Instagram. (it's that little camera-ish thingy in the right margin area)  I plan to post something there at least hourly when I'm awake, so everybody will know that I'm okay...

Differently? My primary plan originally was that I was going to be pretty informal - jeans and nice athletic ... View the Post

A Day Off…

Gearing up for the holiday to come, but still thinking of you all!

love, Janicep.s. Make sure that you leave a comment on yesterday's post, so you have a chance to win that gorgeous Diana Vreeland book!

 

  ... View the Post

What I Wore to the French Fete

November 23, 2025

Wow, what a party!  The French American Chamber of Commerce in Chicago had a blow-out part last Thursday in honor of the Beaujolais Nouveau, and it was AMAZING...There were chefs from all over Chicago handing out samples of wonderful food, a lot of pastry chefs forcing us to each cakes and macarons (oh bother...), and more wine than you could possibly consume, even if you really worked at it. (I did my very best!)

Tish was there (from A Femme d'un Certain Age), and she was as elegantly beautiful and charming as always!

I tried my humble level best to do justice to the event by being understatedly appropriate. The dress code was "business elegant", which wasn't really the most help I've ever had. Some guests ... View the Post

The Four T’s, in Brown, and in Pine Green

October 23, 2015  

After I reported to you about how women were dressing in London (see here), I kept mulling over that idea of the four garments in the same color... There's certainly no reason that they have to be black! I think we can agree than many of us don't wear black, and that there's a lot of other options available.So I replicated the same idea in brown:

Something I saw only a few times in London,but that I wanted to share, is women wearing their matching turtleneck and tights with a dress over it. While this will only work with the rarest of dresses  it's worth remembering. A dress that's too bare for cooler weather, too dressy for day, or just well-suited to layering will work here. And a denim shirtdress ... View the Post

What Women Were Wearing in London, or the Four Black T’s

October 20, 2015

If you want to blend into the London crowd, the first thing you need to buy is black tights! And a pair of very sensible low-heeled black shoes... We walked for about 26 miles over the 2 days that we were in London (yes, I'm really happy that we work out so much!) and about half of the women we saw were wearing either black tights or black trousers, with shoes in which they could easily walk. Many ballet flats...And I saw a large number of women who had paired their tights or trousers with a lightweight top in black.

Thus is born the Four Black T's: tights, tee shirt, trousers and turtleneck! (mnemonics help me remember things!)

  In my ever-mathematical mind, this immediately translated into four ... View the Post

A Little Bit About a Lot of Things… and a Special Offer!

October 19, 2015  

Back from vacation!

I thought about you all A LOT, and have all sorts of odds and ends to share... My Packing

First off, 2 suitcases are 5 times the headache of 1 bag... But we did run A LOT, so I didn't regret having my running gear with me. However, I'm seriously going to think about how to whittle down packing every more - maybe do laundry even MORE often? We had laundry done on days 5 and 10... I should have used MORE packing cubes - to segregate dress from casual from spectator sport from running. No excuses on this - I have the cubes, and just didn't use them! Economizing on the number of socks one packs is just silly... Ditto lingerie... I used to pack a plastic vacuum bag, that ... View the Post

Vacation: TODAY!!!

October 3, 2015  

To say that we're excited would be a bit of an understatement! Two weeks (which is SO un-American, the country that has NO law requiring any vacation, at all, for any person, ever) in Wales and England, including attending a Rugby World Cup match! And dinner reservations at some amazing places, and a few days in London, and a visit to my English relatives, AND a bunch of driving around amazing places etc. etc.This is gonna be good...

If you don't follow me on Instagram, you might want to start. You'll be able to see what I wear every morning (I lay out my outfits and photograph them), and we'll take some pictures of beautiful or amazing places. I'm not one of those people that buries you in photographs, but ... View the Post

Chic Sightings: White Trousers, at the Art Institute of Chicago

October 2, 2015  

I haven't done Chic Sightings for a while because... well... I haven't seen much! But last week I was walking home past the Art Institute of Chicago (which I do frequently, since it's 3 blocks from home!), and I saw both of these women. It was one of those days that started with a cool-ish morning, building to a warmer afternoon, and they both looked lovely, and perfect for the day.Is it the museum that attracts the simple, chic, eye-catching woman?

It feels like the "brunette version, blonde version" of wearing white trousers in the city...love, Janice ... View the Post

Our Move, and Cleaning out Closets

Finally! We are settled in our new apartment... It was, realistically, a pretty small move - just down the hall, from a west-facing studio apartment to an east and south-facing 1 bedroom apartment.We wouldn't have moved - we were massively happy in our studio, but we received SUCH an incredibly kind offer to rent the 1-bedroom unit that it was pretty much impossible to pass up. Now, we have enough space to have either of our mothers visit, and give them a bedroom and master bathroom to themselves. They will have a modicum of space and privacy, which is always useful when family members are in close quarters.

This is our view, seen over my extraordinary chaise longue. Why yes, it IS wide enough for Belovedest and I to sit in ... View the Post