My Christmas Wish List

 

Only a month to go and Christmas Eve will be upon us, so, I’d better compile my Christmas wish list, give my loved ones plenty of time to save up!

 Some items will remain just that; a wish, a dream, others, well, you never know, I may be lucky.

 Twelve wishes, one for each of the twelve days of Christmas, here we go then, I’ll begin with my wildest dreams!

 

1. Hermes Cape Cod watch

 

 

 

I’m not a jewellery person, in fact, I don’t own any jewellery, does this justify handing over a large wad of cash for a smart, classy wrist watch?

Yes, something that will be worn every day, and will last for many years, call it an investment!

 I have coveted this marvelous Cape Cod watch from Hermes for as long as I can remember, it’s so different with its long, wraparound leather strap.

 Actually, my best surprise Christmas present ever was the watch I have worn everyday for about the last ten years, a Cartier Divan , which by the way, seeing as there is not much chance of a new Hermes watch, is in need of a new strap, I should have put that on the list.

 

2. Roger Vivier Pilgrim Shoe

 

 

A classy, flat shoe, trimmed with a pilgrim buckle from Roger Vivier, who is known as “The Faberge of Footwear”

This shoe became famous when worn by the chic French actress Catherine Deneuve in the 1967 film “Belle De Jour” which was a cult hit straightaway, two hundred thousand pairs of these shoes were sold in one year, the best selling model ever for Roger Vivier.

 I once found a must cheaper version of this shoe, still a bit pricey, but still three times less than Vivier, on Yoox fashion website.

They didn’t have my size!

Oh the pain!

 

3. Max Mara Manuela Coat

 

 

What the trench is to Burberry, the camel coat is to Max Mara.

Can you imagine a more versatile, classy, easy-to-wear winter coat than this beauty?

No, I can’t either.

It’s available in black or camel, I do adore black, but for this coat, camel looks so classy, and, goes with everything.

The coat is made from 100% camelhair, and has Max Mara’s iconic “Puntino” large, visible stitching, all around the edges.

 If I was ever lucky enough to own this coat, I would wear it every day, the only coat I would need.

An investment indeed!

 

4. Christmas in Rome

 

 

How wonderful it would be to spend a romantic Christmas wandering around the eternal city of Rome.

To walk hand in hand along the Tiber, to see the colosseum  lit up in all its Christmas glory, to savour an aromatic cappuccino while sitting outside the Café Greco, watching amazingly stylish Italians pass by.

 Ah, shopping at Gucci, Prada and Ferragamo, Italian gelato and grappa after dinner.

 This is not going to happen!

 Maybe just as well, I love Christmas at home with my family.

 

5. Cuisinart Ice-cream Maker

 

 

I have always stressed to my family, never, ever buy me a present that involves a plug and electricity.

 For the Cuisinart Ice-cream Maker, I will make an exception.

 Have you seen all the chemicals, preservatives and so, on listed on the back of ice-cream containers?

 Have you noticed that it is never called ice-cream on the tub, but something like frozen dessert, do you know why?

 For it to be legally called ice-cream it must contain 4% milk, only 4%, what is the other 96%?

 This is why I want an ice- cream maker, after researching and asking around, this seems to be the best, produces perfect ice-cream every time, whatever flavour you desire, in only twenty minutes.

 A bit expensive, yes, but cheaper models, especially the type where the bowl needs to stay in the freezer overnight (with the Cuisinart, you don’t need to do this) apparently churn out very sloppy ice-cream, and small quantities to boot.

Imagine, you are overcome with an urge for rum and raisin ice-cream, with this miraculous contraption, in twenty minutes, you have it, fresh, pure and homemade!

 

6. A Yiannis Tsarouchis Painting

 

 

Ah, number six, a real pie-in-the sky dream, this, for sure, is not going to happen.

 Even if you have the money, paintings by the unique Greek artist Yiannis Tsarouchis (My favourite Greek artist) are hard to come by, they are very thin on the ground.

Not that I have searched, I have been informed!

 All of his work is exceptional but I do like his sailor series, I would be happy to own any one of his masterpieces though!

 I shall have to be content with the two lithographs of his which I cherish.

 

7. Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan

 

 

You can’t have a Christmas wish list without scent on it, right?

 This was a difficult one, I use two or three; Annick Goutal’s L’eau d’Hadrien, Acqua Di Parma’s Colonia Absolute, and a couple more that I shall keep secret, I like to be different.

If someone else wears a scent I wear…I never wear it again!

 I’ve tried a few by Serge Lutens, all good, but I always return to Ambre Sultan, so that’s the one that goes on the list.

 Coriander, sandalwood, bay leaf, patchouli, angelica, resins, myrrh, amber, oregano, myrtle, benzoin and vanilla, that’s what’s it comprises of, says the blurb on the website.

It has a deep, mysterious, rather medicinal aroma, delicious!

 

8. Acqua Di Parma Cube Candles

 

 

I must have something from Acqua Di Parma on my list, and, seeing that I’ve already named a scent, I’ll go for these fab looking candles which burn for sixty hours.

 The black is amber scented, yellow; colonia, red, spice accord and the white one cloves.

 With my two darling but smelly old-age pugs, I need all the help I can get to keep our house from smelling of, well, from smelling of smelly pug!

 I first discovered Acqua Di Parma about ten years ago, in a high-end boutique; tucked away in the back streets of Ancona, Italy.

I had no intention of buying anything but the dishy Italian salesman was very good at his job, and so began my love affair, no, not with the dishy  Italian, with Acqua di Parma’s Colonia Absolute.

 

9. L’Occitaine

 

 

For my Christmas “smellies”, I’ll plump for anything, absolutely anything at all, from the French company, based in Provence; L’Occitaine.

 The company I’Occitaine was founded in 1976 by a then twenty three year old Oliver Baussan, the name means woman of Occitaine, an area, in The middle Ages, covering Southern France, North-Eastern Spain and Northern Italy.

 Baussan keeps alive old traditions of Provence (His birth place) when producing his amazing products, all 100% natural.

 He now has ninety shops all over the world.

 

10. Books, Books and More Books

 

 

My family usually presents me with a book or two at Christmas, they know how much I love to read.

 I’ll help them along, a bit this year, by making a few suggestions, not that they have ever bought me a book I didn’t love, it will just save the leg work! Here’s one book I would love, Leonard Cohen’s autobiography.

 

 

The only trouble with receiving books for Christmas, for me anyway, is that as soon as I open them, I want to down tools, stop whatever it is I’m doing, and devour them.

This book has been on my list of “Books to buy” for quite a long time.
Apparently, according to reviews, one of the best books written about the well-known painter and grandson of Sigmund Freud, Lucian Freud.

 

 

How nice though, the anticipation of settling down in my cosy bed, to read, once all the gang has departed and after the dreary job of cleaning up the kitchen of course.

 

11. The Ubiquitous Christmas DVD

 

 

 

The Christmas DVD, useful for all those “Christmas Moments” usually after lunch, when half the guests fall asleep, and the other half are nearly asleep.

 Again, I will help my family along a bit here, as with the books.

Anyway, here, they really do need the help, I adore French New Wave and Italian Neorealism genre when it comes to films.

They all hate this type of film and would have no idea at all of what to buy for me.

 French New Wave appeared in the 1950’s and 60’s, with directors such as Truffant, Jean-Luc Godard and Louis Malle, using film as a way of expression, rather in the way an artist uses his art to express himself, or as an author uses his books.

Films made to express, not impress, this set of DVD’s directed by Francois Truffaut look like just the job!

 

 

Italian Neorealism, “The golden age” of Italian Cinema, use non-professional actors to portray stories of everyday life in post WWII Italy, set amongst the poor and the working class, showing how, after the war,  life and conditions had changed.

Three good choices here from Federico Fellini .

 

 

Noted directors are Fellini, Luchino Visconti and Vittorio De Sica.

 Any film of this genre will definitely be watched alone, twice, maybe even three times, that’s what it takes for me to understand the plot, usually a different understanding of it each time!

 

12. A Wish for My Family: Be Happy and Healthy

 

 

The most treasured wish of all is for my family and those I love.

I wish that they may be happy and healthy, that they will live life to the full, forget about yesterday and not worry about tomorrow, just live for today.

May all your wishes come true, for all of you my darlings.

Happy Christmas