I'm someone who absolutely loves all kinds of fashion books, and I am always reading a fashion book. I want to share my knowledge on these books, no matter if they are photography books, books on designers, books with outfits or fashion sketches in them, or any other type of books on fashion. So read my reviews and feel welcome to give me tips on other good fashion books that I have not read yet!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Bonjour, Happiness! by Jamie Cat Callan

If you like the French way of dressing and living (I certainly do!), there are several different books and style guides on this topic out there. I recently read Bonjour, Happiness! which is a book about "Finding your Joie de vivre" or the ability to enjoy the moment to the fullest, but also about French style, eating the French way, how to create a million euro look on a budget of just a few francs, and much more, and I have to say this is one of the better guides on this topic that I have read.

The reason is that this book actually explains how all aspects of life for a Frenchwoman are connected, so instead of focusing just on style, it also explains how she lives her life otherwise. So it gives you a more complete look on the French way of living than most books.

Some of the advice I really liked in this book include:
Minimizing the time you spend on the internet/reading e-mails and so on when you are not working. Constantly checking your Facebook/your blog stats/Twitter/the stock market or whatever it may be that you are into at the moment is a huge distraction that may prevent you from actually enjoying the moment at hand to the fullest.

Buying fresh, small quantities of food from a market or similar daily or almost daily instead of stocking up on food for weeks at a time. If you do shop for a week at a time, you often end up buying frozen/ready made/less healthy ingredients or foods, and it also does not make cooking as much fun as using only fresh, gorgeous ingredients when you spend time in the kitchen.

Making meals a priority and working up an appetite for them instead of snacking between meals or eating whenever you have the time to spare. Instead, make dinner an event and don't eat for several hours before it, so you really enjoy the meal. If you can, you should also make it a habit to eat with your family or friends so you can have interesting conversations as you eat too.

Buy delicate underwear that needs to be hand washed and learn to enjoy the process on washing your underwear and drying them somewhere in your apartment. Very French and something people who are not French rarely do. But can really make you more aware of the things you keep closest to your skin and help you pay more attention to the parts of your outfit that aren't visible to all too!

Adding small, personal and almost invisble splashes of color, such as the red soles on a Louboutin shoe or a hot pink camisole under a blazer. Makes you more interesting and your dressing less obvious!

Try to think of one way, no matter how small it may be, to make yourself feel better when you are down, and then DO IT! Even if you aren't sure that it will work, but you think it might, it is always worth a shot!

This is just a sample of the advice I personally found in this book and found useful. I mostly want you to get an idea of what kind of advice you can get by reading the book. So if these kinds of hands on tips are what you are looking for when you are looking for a book about happiness, feeling better about yourself (those are the main themes of the book, after all!) or the French, this is definitely a book well worth getting!

I've provided a link to Amazon where you can get the book if you are interested, below.

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