Christmas gifts ideas

My Christmas tree finally takes pride of place in the living room, all the little lights are switched on, and Christmas is just around the corner! :)
All we have to do now is just waiting for this magical time of the year to come to spend quality time with family and friends, chatting, watching comedies, playing cards games, eating too many chocolates and drinking too much bubbles.
In the meantime, we can think about the gifts we would like to offer or receive. Here come my Christmas gifts ideas! :)
I'm not going to suggest you to buy the latest it bag or expensive stuff, you don't really need help for that, plus i don't think most of the readers can afford such things. What is trickier is to find nice things without braking open your piggy.
For anyone a bit of adventurous and curious, you can't go wrong with "Wild swans", that incidentally is also one of my favorite books. It's the story of a Chinese family over three generations and of China itself. Once you start reading this incredible story you won't be able to stop til the end of it and you're gonna learn so much. This book is translated in several languages. It's just great, trust me.

Another book but of a different kind: "Revenge wars Prada". The sequel of the very well-know "The devils wears Prada" is finally out. An easy a funny reading, as all Lauren Weisberger's books, for a fashionista friend.

Maxi clutch Marc by Marc Jacobs. Love the color, love the XL size and love the simplicity of it. And I love to use clutches all day long, not only with evening outfits, and this one seems perfect from morning to night to me. 

Woody Allen. What else should I say? One can't go wrong with Woody's comedies. Seriously, who doesn't like them? And what's better of a good and funny movie in a cold winter night? And with this dvd's collection you'll get the most of it!

For a ballet lover, I suggest "Center stage". Not the most famous dancing movie, but one of the best in my opinion. And choreography is beautiful! Jodie and the other dancers wait for you at the NYC Ballet! 

Shoes...We never get enough of them! ;) And at New Look I found the perfect pair for this holiday season: light blue, high heels and comfortable! 

And always at New Look, the sweetest Christmas jumper... I'm usually not a huge fan of Christmas jumpers, they always seem a bit too old fashioned, but this one is absolutely lovely.

For someone traveling a lot, this neck pillow from Etam will be just perfect. Not only it's comfy but it also looks like an adorable, little pet! And I know what I'm talking about: as I take a lot of planes, often early in the morning or late at night after a day full of work meetings, I always fell asleep as soon as I reach my seat...and always wake up with a stiff neck!

In Italy we wear red underwear on the night of the 31st of December for good luck. So why not to offer some good luck to your girlfriends, with this red string and slip from Oysho?

They also have funny socks in nice boxes

And to keep your feet warm during the winter, I also found leopard, fur slippers! From New Look again. 

I have the same one in bright pink from a couple of years ago, but I could change them this year for the leopard ones! ;)

"Les petites chaudières" is a young French clothes brand. I discovered it not so long ago and they have nice and original dresses. Plus for Christmas, they've designed three dresses in collaboration with La Halle, they're perfect to sparkle in this holiday season and they're cheaper than the normal dresses of this brand. Here's my favorite one! I'm just sad, my size is not available anymore!

A funny, original, pvc clucth by Diane von Furstenberg

And, a bit more expensive, but still at a reasonable price, the classic, large Hamilton bag from MICHAEL Michael Kors. Just for the record, it exists in several colors. I just select the picture of the one I like the most ;) Also I put a link to Michael Kors website, but for Europe you can shop it on Net-à-porter.

A little, sparkling make-up box form Sephora with all one need to make grey or brown smoky eyes. The essential!

A classic : Nuxe Christmas box. 

A beautiful book, to travel the world from home while being inspired for your next journey : "Le patrimoine de l'humanité : 25 ans d'images" . 

Personally, I really love candles. I think they immediately create a cozy and warm atmosphere and I always have a couple of them in my living room in the evening. Candles from Papillon rouge are scented and elegant. Here's the red one that I find really beautiful, but you have more on the website. 

Then for the babies, what about this cute, sheep slippers from French shop Nature et Découvertes?

Mix of mid-finger rings by Asos

Asos jewel earrings, to feel like a princess ;)

And eventually also something for the boys : printed t-shirt from Jack and Jones. I picked up one I like, but obviously they have much more than that, and they're really nice and good quality. 

H&M gold clutch

And always from H&M, this essential, perfect for holiday season, white smoking blazer

A sweet skirt for your little princesses, H&M

Let's be fair: here's something for your little boys as well...Or I should say little monsters?! Sweat from H&M, again.

Mariage Frères is a French very good and well-known tea producer. They have so many flavors of teas, all of which smell, and taste, deliciously. Plus, tea is a nice gift idea and they've created a special Christmas tea.

Did you notice that men are really bad in taking care of themselves? ;) and during winter they always have cold, dry hands... So here a nice pair of gloves from Emporio Armani.

Time's up : a funny game to play with friends and family in which one has to guess and try to get his teammates to guess famous characters. The game exists in different languages.

Looking for the perfect pair of sneakers for myself, that I still didn't found... I found this Puma red shoes, that in my opinion are pretty cool!

For your classic men, cuff-links

And I'm going to finish with this beautiful, sparkling, white and pink necklace from Swarovski.

Well, I hope I gave you some good ideas. I really like to look for gifts for people I love and it's nice sharing inspiration. Actually, what I really prefer to offer, more than material things, is something to share, like tickets for a show or a week-end somewhere...Something to do together. So have a look to things to do where and around the place you live. It's really important to take the time to share moments with your loved ones.

And more than gifts, this is what is really important during Christmas period and all year long! <3 

No rest at Christams

Normally, I have the impression that in any sector, Christmas is a very calm time. Well, this is not the case for acting. I already had this feeling last year and this year it was confirmed: after a super quiet period, now it's been 10 days that there are plenty (or at least more than usual, let's not exaggerate; p) casting calls, earlier this week I had to make a quick trip to Rome for a meeting for a movie and next week I have 3 auditions, two of which for theatre plays! I hope to come back on stage soon! And on the big screen as well! Wish me good luck!

So today my Saturday is a working one, but next to my Christmas tree anyway! Plus I made a cake I'll eat later with a hot chocolate! ;)

Good weekend! :)

Normalement, j'ai l’impression que dans tout secteur, la période de Noël est une période un peu creuse... Et bien ce n'est pas le cas pour le théâtre. J'avais déjà eu cette impression l'année dernière et cette année cela se confirme : après un moment super calme, depuis une dizaine de jours il y a plein (ou en tout cas plus que d'habitude, n’exagérons rien! ;p) d'annonces de casting, en début de semaine j'ai du faire un aller-retour à Rome pour une rencontre pour un film et la semaine prochaine j'ai 3 auditions, dont deux pour des pièces de théâtre ! J’espère de revenir sur les planche bientôt! Ainsi que sur grand écran!! Croisez les doigts pour moi!

Alors aujourd'hui mon samedi c'est un samedi de travail, mais à coté du sapin quand même! Et j'ai aussi préparé un gâteau pour le goûter avec un chocolat chaud! ;)

Bon week-end! :)

Le mystère des agences de pub!

En France, il y a des agences spécialisées dans la représentation des comédiens pour la publicité. Pas pour des films ni des pièces de théâtre, uniquement pour la pub. Et, contrairement aux agences "classiques", il n'y a pas d'exclusivité: un comédien peut (et devrait !) être inscrit dans plusieurs de ces agences, en plus de son agence "classique".

Déjà il y a des publicités qui sont très intéressantes, réalisées par de grands metteurs en scène et de plus, même celles qui sont moins intéressantes, sont en général très bien payées.

Pour s'inscrire, il suffit de remplir le formulaire sur le site de chaque agence et ensuite on est rappelé pour le rendez-vous d'inscription. Normalement.

Sur les sites des agences de pub, on peut lire qu'ils sont constamment à la recherche de nouvelles faces, tous profils bienvenus. Et si vous parlez avec des acteurs, ils vous diront que bien sur les agences de pub prennent tout le monde. Mais non, ce n'est pas vrai, j’en suis la preuve vivante : les agences de pub prennent tout le monde à l'exception des filles blondes aux yeux bleus, mesurant environ 1m70.

Oui, car moi j'ai beau envoyer ma candidature plusieurs fois par an depuis plusieurs années, la seule réponse que je reçois est "merci pour votre candidature, mais vous ne correspondez pas aux profils recherchés". Soit. 

Franchement, je ne comprends pas... Mais comme je ne suis pas du genre à me décourager, j'ai encore envoyé mes nouvelles photos à toutes les agences le mois dernier, et il y en a même UNE qui a m'a répondu positivement cette fois ci!! Yeah, vous voyez la persévérance paye!

Et comme dans mes recherches, j'ai remarqué que c'est impossible de trouver sur Internet une liste complète des agences de pub sur Paris, voilà je vous fais profiter de mon travail :

In France, there are agencies specialized in representing actors for advertising. Not for movies or plays, only advertising. And unlike "classical" agencies, there is no exclusivity: an actor can (and should!) be registered in several of these agencies, in addition to his "traditional" one.

Yet, there are commercials that are really interesting, filmed by great directors, plus, even the less interesting, are usually very well paid. ;)

To register, simply fill out the form on the website of each agency and then you'll be called for a registration meeting. Usually.

On the websites of advertising agencies, one can read that they are constantly looking for new faces, all profiles welcome. And if you talk with actors, they will tell you that indeed advertising agencies take everyone. But no, this is not correct, I am living proof:  advertising agencies take everyone except blonde girls with blue eyes, approximately 1m70.

Yes, indeed, I’ve been sending my application several times a year for several years, the only answer I got is "thank you for your application, but you do not fit the required profile."

Frankly, I do not understand… But as it's not easy to discourage me, I sent my new photos to all agencies last month, and this time there is even ONE agency who answered positively! Yay! See, perseverance pays!

And as in my researches, I noticed that it’s impossible to find on the Internet a complete list of advertising agencies in Paris, I thought you could enjoy my work:

- People-Coccinelle

- Rebecca

- Dynamite

- Celine

- Agence Happy

- Agence Di

- Nouvelle Ère

- Agence VIP

- Agence Gladys

- Profil

- Contrebande

- Digital Artists

- Urban Talents

- Agence Parallèle

- Smith & Smith

- Rodéo

- Caméléone

Donc si vous n’êtes pas une blonde italienne, allez-y, foncez! Bonne chance! :)

So if you are not an Italian blonde girl, go for it! Good luck! :)

Ps. Si vous voyez que même cette liste n'est pas complète, n'hésitez pas à laisser un commentaire ou m'envoyer un mail pour que je puisse rajouter les agences manquantes, de façon à ce qu'on ait une liste à jour qui soit utile à tout le monde !

Ps. If you notice that even this list is not complete, do not hesitate to leave a comment or email me so that I can add the missing agencies in order to have un updated list that can be useful for everyone!

Today we watch : Les garçons et Guillaume, à table!

Gros coup de cœur pour ce film! C'est drôle, touchant et émouvant. On rigole (beaucoup), on réfléchit, on s'attache à ce garçon à la recherche de son identité et on sort du cinéma avec le cœur chaud.

Guillaume Gallienne est un plaisir à regarder, il joue son propre rôle à différents âges ainsi que celui de sa mère avec une rare justesse. Il se livre à la caméra avec une sincérité désarmante.

Il nous fait partager sa vie avec humour et intelligence. Et on ne peut que l'aimer.

Il m'a fait penser à Woody Allen, génie névrosé.

Guillaume Galliene ne se limite pas à jouer, il réalise également ce film, adaptation cinématographique de sa pièce de théâtre. Je n'ai pas eu le plaisir de voir la pièce et j'avoue que je ne connaissais non plus l'acteur, pourtant remarquable, avant hier. Mais cela fut une très belle découverte et je ne peux que vous conseiller de courir au cinéma voir "Les garçons et Guillaume, à table!", si ce n'est pas déjà fait!