The first day

the ferris wheel in the Tuileries was being set up when i got to the park tonight - i can't wait to see the summer fair lit up and alive with animation

Today is the first day of summer and we woke up to a sky covered miles high in thick, dark, threatening clouds. Living in Miami the majority of my life, the first day of summer has never really stricken me, considering the seasons that precede and follow the summer are an unofficial prologation of endless sun and scorching heat. By the time June 21 rolls around, deep tan lines have settled, first bar-be-ques have been had and a few (or a few dozen in my case) mosquito bites have come and gone. 

So for someone so used to such decadent summers, today's clouds were most unwelcome. From the time the shades were drawn in our apartment this morning and the clouds came into sight, my mood took a turn for the worse, and had there been raindrops falling against the window at breakfast, I feel I may have been perfectly capable of throwing a full-on temper tantrum à la two-year-old and climbed right back into bed. 

When I left work this evening, ready to race home to dinner for one and a quiet read in the living room (because la fête de la musique would not go on under the rain!), I was greeted by beaming sunshine, pristine blue skies and the perfect pick-me-up. I decided to start my way home walking, making a detour at a sale I thought might be interesting and finding fun discoveries the metro would never be capable of showing me. I started down rue Saint Honoré, planning on taking the metro at Palais Royal. Instead I took a detour through the Tuileries, where I found a great, sunny little spot to take in a few pages of my book, and enjoy a welcomed pause. 

I'm glad I took time to smell the flowers tonight, because honestly, if taking time to breath and enjoy life isn't what summer is all about, then what is? And what better time to start than on the first day? Tomorrow would have been too late and I would have regretted coming home early and alone (monsieur being at a work function) on a beautiful evening. 

 why hadn't I ever seen this before? 

 pink shoes in the city - so glad I thought of bringing these in my bag today, and even more glad my super sister thought of surprising me with these practical babies from Gap 

the longest night of the year and not a cloud in the sky