The Weekly Digest by French Mango #1
New Beginnings
Yesterday I sent the first of my new Weekly Digest (you can read it here) and announced that I’ve decided to step away as much as I can from social media and especially Instagram where I have spent an awful lot of time since I first joined.
I believe it was in 2011 and I think that my very first pic was a photo of my then toddler having a McDonald chicken nugget. It was highly filtered but no photo should been seen without a grainy, yellowy filter at the time.
Anyway, what I loved then and loved for many years, was these little windows into people’s life and the chats that would save you from days of boredom watching Ben 10 or Big Cook Little Cook (the worst). And then it changed and we all know what it became.
Social media has drained the joy from sharing and I have naturally distanced myself, not wanting algorithms to decide who sees my posts. Instead, I have decided to reinvest my energy in writing and communicating via my newsletter.
But there is a lot of you here and I wanted to make sure that you would get the juicy news too. I am not going to lie to you, I have tried really hard to think of ways not to double up into your inbox if you have subscribed to my mailing list, but my brain didn’t take it very well.
So I have decided to leave it up to you.
My intention is to share the main newsletter here, but not just. I would like to start using Notes and Chats and maybe even share blog posts. Just remember that aside of the Newsletter there will be exclusive content for each platform so you decide which one, if any, you want to unsubscribe from and if you stay on both, I pinkie promise to try and make it worth your attention.
And if you want to leave for good, I get it my friend, you look after yourself first and I will never begrudge that.
So what did I discuss in the Newsletter
Embracing Change and New Beginnings
Around Christmas, I started my Interior Design Diploma, diving into my passion for home decor. Over the past six months, I’ve reinvented French Mango, moving from embroidery design to Home decor and studying which is no mean feat as a mature student.
I needed time alone to figure out what I truly wanted. It was a beautiful and intense time all at once.
But then alongside the physical challenges of perimenopause came doubts and self-questioning. “Who do you think you are to imagine this dream can be yours?” was a constant refrain.
I spent as much time as I could alone until I realised that I was missing you all dearly. I was missing the connection and the conversation. It was time to surface back up but I didn’t want to play the algorithm game.
This is why I have decided to focus on a newsletter where I can share authentically knowing that the people who have opted in will have every chances to see the content.
I’ve created this space for us, away from social media noise. A place to be me and let you be you. A space to share everything I love about home decor and lifestyle, and the ordinary mind f*ck of a midlife, French woman in the USA.
Reflecting on Life and Aging
A couple of weeks ago, I turned 49. I’m still letting that sink in because, honestly, I stopped registering numbers after 41. Age seems so big and restrictive by society’s standards. “You look good for your age,” “not many wrinkles for your age,” “your stomach is expanding despite cutting carbs and sugar? It’s normal for your age.”
I believe age is a mental thing. I focus on being grateful for life, health, and the chance to see my kids grow old. If wrinkles, aches, and some mild malfunctioning are the price to pay, I’m all in.
Yet, doubts creep in, and confidence ebbs and flows. Some days I feel ready to ace this aging thing, while others are shadowed by whispers of self-doubt. But there are so many moments when I give zero f*cks and just want to do what I love and see what happens.
So let’s see what happens.
Life Lately
Last Monday was our wedding anniversary, and as usual, it slipped my mind. Well, not completely—I knew it was coming but on the actual day, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I woke up realizing I didn’t have a card, but of course, he did! He’s the romantic one, not me. His card this year played "Just the Two of Us"—cheesy as hell, but I loved it.
This week was also the boys' first week off. Summer break is here, and we’ve slowed down—well, they have. I’m still up at 5:30 AM, but they’re not. How many hours of sleep do teens need, for real? At that age, they eat, sleep, game, go to the mall, hang out until sunset, then retreat away again.
The other day, I felt a pang of nostalgia. I was sitting alone on the sofa at the crack of dawn and I longed to curl up with two sleepy boys watching Postman Pat. I even turned on CBeebies for a bit and saw Andy still there. Isn’t he close to retirement now?
In other news, I obviously cannot not talk about the cicadas invasion we are enduring. I accept that they are allowed to just be and love life screaming altogether attach to most trees in the neighborhood but imagine being in a giant Karaoke where everyone sings out of tune, for 10 hours a day. That.
And then we ended the week at a nearby town’s Gay Pride. What we thought would be a simply watch on the sideline but it turned out we were there to march and oh my goodness if I could have bagged the joy, the colors, the support, and the amazingness of witnessing people being 100% themselves, I would have done it in an instant. Love is love, and there’s no better feeling to witness and experience.
In Home Decor News this week
There was a spotlight on Parasols. I love a beautiful parasol, who doesn’t. Here are a few I have shortlisted for you in the UK and the USA.
Spotted and Loving
Each week I share the little things that I have come across, that made my heart beat slightly faster.
1- Pookie Light , 2- Emma Jane Palin, 3- France Thierard Venise, 4- Melanie Lissack Interiors, 5- Palm Beach Homestyle, 6- Design Archy Studio
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