A Letter from Danielle for April ’17
Hi Everyone,
I hope that all is well with you. Well, we made it through the winter, and with April here, in some places it actually feels like spring.
Even if it’s still a little chilly, I love the way California looks in spring, with blossoms out, leaves on the trees, and a lush carpet of green grass on the hills, like in the Napa Valley (especially after all the rain this winter!!) It’s much harder to feel spring-y when I visit New York and the landscape is still gray in April. The trees are still sad branches with no leaves on them. Winter lasts a lot longer in New York, despite occasional warm days, and it never truly feels like spring to me there until June.
Easter is coming up this month, and all that comes with it … Easter bunnies, Peeps (I love them!!!), baby chicks, and all sorts of things that children love. We dye Easter eggs and make Easter baskets. I usually have purple fingers for weeks afterwards, from dipping hardboiled eggs in different colored harmless dyes.
Easter always makes me think of Easter bonnets too. I don’t think anyone wears hats much anymore. I used to, but I don’t these days – life is so much more informal now. I remember that when I was a little girl, it was a big deal to wear a hat on Easter, and my mother had some fabulous ones. My mother was very, very, very beautiful, and was a model when she was young. She was tall, with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. One of my daughters looks a lot like her, but I look nothing like her. I more resemble my paternal grandmother who was very small, like me, and had dark red hair and green eyes. My mother looked spectacular in hats, and always wore a big beautiful hat on Easter. My parents gave a big formal Easter brunch for their friends, everyone was very chic and all dressed up, my father looking formal in a suit, my mother in a pretty dress or suit and a big hat. And there would be ballroom style dancing after lunch. My big thrill as a young child was dancing with my father at these events. As Europeans, my parents were a lot more formal than people are now. And it was always exciting for me to go to that Easter brunch. I loved seeing my mother in those gorgeous hats, I still remember them vividly. One that still sticks in my mind was huge and wide with pale green mossy looking tulle, and nestled in the tulle were tiny white silk flowers that looked like lily of the valley. They are fun memories to have.
I share Easter brunch with my children these days—everyone comes in jeans, we eat too much (pancakes, waffles, etc. — yumm!!!) and just enjoy being together. Whether you celebrate Easter or not, I hope it’s a nice relaxing day for you.
April is also special because one of my daughter’s has a birthday, so that gives us something else to celebrate too!!!
Have a lovely month of April!!!
Love,
Danielle
PS – If you want to put some magic in your life, please read my book MAGIC, which just came out in paperback. It’s about the White Dinner in Paris, which is one of the most exciting events I’ve ever been to! I hope you love it!!