Souvenirs

The French term "se souvenir de" means "to remember."  This is where we get the English term "souvenir." 

I was randomly thinking the other day about my favorite things in my apartment. I must admit that my favorite things all have something in common: they are connected to great memories.  I'm a very sentimental person, so really this makes a lot of sense for me.  So, what are the stories behind some of my favorite things?

I think my absolute favorite thing in my apartment is the lamp above.  It belonged to my mom and I inherited it from her.  It was made (Yes! Made!) by her uncle.  Isn't that crazy? He made the stained glass shade!  I just love stained glass windows and this lamp is no exception to my love for stained glass. The fleur de lis is the flower of France, but also an important symbol for Louisiana.  It is also meant to represent the Iris, which was my mom's favorite flower and is the state flower of Tennessee.  Finally, the colors are very reminiscent of the Mardi Gras colors of purple, gold and green which I love. 

This piece of art is so unique! It is hard to tell from this picture, but it is a teeny-tiny pen and ink sketch of Paris.  The thing that makes this really unique is that the drawing is done on the back of a Parisian metro ticket.  I bought this at a little art market in Paris. I only wish I'd been able to afford some substantial art at that market because there was another artist selling fabulous paintings inspired by the Luxembourg Gardens! 

I've mentioned this before, but I love this print because it represents a great vacation I had in France.  (This post totally makes it sound like I summered in France growing up or something which is VERY far from the truth!! But I was a French major in college...)  The poster was also relatively difficult to track down, but the powers of the internet gave me some help! 

So, those are my favorite things in my home. I'm actually picking out my new bedding for my bed based on the lamp colors, so I'm excited and anxious to see how that all comes together.