In the lead up to Easter we fasted, and by fasted, I mean we ate french fries, and lots of them. Some people, old people, kept a strict vegan diet for weeks before Easter, but we kids only did it for a few days. The lambada -– the candle given to a child by her godparents –– was a big deal and every year we waited to see what trinkets and charms it would be adorned with. It’s one of the most beautiful images, the sea of children at midnight mass, their faces illuminated by candle light. That, and the epitaphio, a coffin covered in hundreds of flowers, that is carried through the village and sent out to sea. We stayed up way past midnight cracking red eggs, eating Kokoretzi and reveling in the light and music of the panigiri. I’m a million miles away from all that, but this weekend, there will be red eggs, there will be tsoureki and there will be lamb on the barbeque.

Last summer, I surprised myself by buying a pair of red leather sandals designed by someone who embraces the elms and cuddles the chestnuts. They were tree huggy, for sure, and I adored them. My feet were covered in braided tan lines and by the end of August there was little left of the soles. If I could find them again, I’d snap up a pair in a second. The runner-up could be these Colombian crocheted lace-ups. I doubt they’d last beyond one summer either, but with the distances I walk, is there a shoe that could?

I spent this evening trolling through the homes of the movers, makers and creators spotlighted on the The Socialite Family. The spaces (and the people who live in them) are original and cool, for sure, but it’s not all glossy and glowey like some other voyeuristic sites. I loved the living room at Delphine de Canecaude’s home, and the rooms in the home (in a former school near the city of Nantes) Aurelie Lecuyer shares with her husband and children are just charming. It’s aspirational trolling, yes, but there are lots of ideas to bring home.