It's Christmas Time In The City

If you have been a reader of
Ooh La Frou Frou
for any length of time,
you are all aware that this is true:
I love New York.
I do not live there but I do visit as often
as I can. which is never often enough.
I love the noise, the energy, the movement ...
I love the hotels, the stores, the windows,
I love the architecture, the taxis, the townhouses ...
in other words,
I love the magic of New York.

Image via

I must be Eloise all grown up ...
who wouldn't be perfectly happy living at the Plaza?

Eloise {author Kay Thompson, illustrated by Hillary Knight}

So ...
I mentioned in last week's post that
 our new house has ten foot ceilings,
so it seemed only reasonable to bring home
a majestic ten-foot tall tree ... right?
I must say that it's the prettiest Christmas tree
I've ever had ...
and when we stood it up in the bay window,
we couldn't help but notice it was really rawwwther large ...
like a Rockefeller Center tree in the house ...
which was soooooo exciting!

Image via

It felt only right to give this tree a memorable theme.
And since that theme just had to be New York,
why don't we dream just a little
about where we'd like to live there?
Of course. you know I have a THING for townhouses ...
so, let's do a little dreaming of how
we'd decorate for the holidays if we had our own
Upper East Side
townhouse ...

Above townhouse photos via Heather Clawson,  Habitually Chic.

Whenever I'm dreaming, I always find myself sketching ...


So I did a quick sketch of one townhouse,
then two, then three ...
then painted them,
{which I must say is EVER so much easier
than painting a real house} ...
and then I took one of my taxi illustrations
and had them all printed off so there were
many, many townhouses and taxis ...
and then each townhouse and taxi
 got a sprinkle of glitter.
(Maybe we should try that with our real houses ..
they'd probably look really fab :) .


Would you live in this lovely little townhouse,
which has a glowing glass greenhouse on top? ...


.... or perhaps this chic abode,
with it's balconies at every window? ...


... or maybe you'd prefer one with a
lovely staircase leading to your front door? ...


... this actually looks like it sits in the glow
 of an Upper-East-Side streetlight ...


... Of course, true to NYC form,
lots of taxis are scooting here and there and everywhere
all over the tree ...


Once the city was all over the tree,
I searched for my prettiest decorative ornaments ...


... and chose from my ornament collection
those that would be perfect accompaniments
for chic townhouses ...
I was looking for items that might actually adorn
 the inside of these fictional
Upper East Side dream homes ...

Of course, these townhouses
surely would have lots of chandeliers ...
so these now hang on my tree ...








... and I assume lots of entertaining would be going on ...
candy cane martini or glass of pinot, anyone? ...




... probably quite a few silver trays ...
these glasses and the tray are all miniature ...


... I know I'd definitely want some of these
for the walls ...


And, of course, at least one of these ...




You'd probably want something like this
to sit by the fire in ...


... or perhaps this? ...


I'm sure we'd be bringing home lots
of these to go under the tree ...


And maybe when we step outside,
there would be a wreathed gate
leading to the formal gardens in back? ...


Maybe you'd spot something like this
in your strolls through Central Park and the city ...


When all of the ornaments were hung, I stood back and looked
at the miniature city before me ...


And I had the distinct feeling
that way up at the top  ...
is probably the tree's "Upper" East Side ...


Thanks for joining me for this fantasy, everyone ...
Happy Holidaying ... and don't forget to
print out your gift from me ...
chic little gift tags for your gifts ~ here!

 Ooh La Frou Frou

is the blog of illustrator
SANDY M 

If you are interested in
custom illustration

contact Sandy here.