Grange & Interiors by Donna Hoffman Cordially Invites VOUS! (you!)

OK Peeps – this is last minute I know, but well intentioned invites are well intentioned invites.

What Francophile doesn’t love Grange, Cooking & . . . Amour (that’s love girls!). I just got off the phone with a Grange cohort who told me about a fun event happening tomorrow evening (April 22, 2010 @ 5pm) at the Grange Showroom in the Philadelphia Marketplace Design Center.

You are cordially invited to the Grange showroom at the Marketplace Design Center, (Suite #106, 2400 Market Street) in Philadelphia on April 22, 2010 at 5pm for a book signing and reading by author Elizabeth Bard, from her latest book, LUNCH IN PARIS, A Love Story with Recipes. You’ll enjoy not only Elizabeth’s Bard’s exuberant book reading and signing, but also some tres delish nibbles and drinks . . . from the book! What a great excuse to head into the Grange Showroom! And what a perfect combo…France, food and love.

Why I am a Francophile:

*Not sure why, but it started when I was 6 and learned my 1st French word . . . for ‘cake.’ (How do you say Weight Watchers in French?). I was a mini-francophile from that day on (une petite)….couldn’t get enough of my French-English pictionary.

*I am a Francophile, in spite of the fact that I spent the first 6 months in 7th grade French class thinking my name was “Donna, fermez la bouche” – which I eventually learned translates to “Donna, shut your mouth.” Ah, Madame Dennis – it was a love-hate relationship . . . I loved talking in her class – she hated that my mouth didn’t stop – AND – that my ‘bouche’ was usually speaking English, saying mostly things like, “What did she just say to us?”

*I saw the movie Gigi one late summer evening. I was hooked: Louis Jordan, Leslie Caron, Mameeta – and all things Frehhhnch.

*In other words, I was hooked on France by age 6 with the word cake, yelled at for 2 years by a tiny shrill French teacher who I actually came to like eventually . . . in a terrified sort of way and became Gigi obsessed some time before turning 16. I dreamed of going to France all through my adulthood. By the time I made my 1st trip to Paris only a few years ago – so joyous was I that I actually began to cry as I boarded the plan. (All true….)

*France: Arbiters of taste, beauty & style – from the garden to the table to design. Ahhh….

Why I Love Grange: (and you should get yourself into their showroom….)

* You can find anything in their stunning assortment from a beautiful traditional walnut console with perfect provincial proportion and artisinal workmanship – to that same traditional console painted in . . . bright pink (!) or with a marvelous diamond pattern. Style with a wink! How French.

*A Grange favorite factoid: They include in some styles . . . . are you sitting down . . . hidden drawers in select pieces. Why? (Are you still sitting?) Because that’s what the royals did your Highness. (Hey – you’re a queen to me – with or without the hidden drawer….)

*There are more even reasons that I love Grange . . . but that is a blog in itself. (Note to self….blog on Grange…)

OK my peeps – that book event is scheduled to hit the Grange showroom in NYC shortly – so if you happen to be in Philadelphia looking for something great to do on April 22nd, from 5-7pm . . .you can now meet Elizabeth Bard, author of LUNCH IN PARIS – a Love Story with Recipes, sneak a peek in the ‘to-the-trade only’ Grange showroom, nibble and be entertained. Breath deep all things French for 2 blissful hours . . . You heard it here mon cherie….

A biento!