Holiday: Welcome

A little welcome, my favourite pâtisserie in Paris, the perfect set of Murano glassware, and my favourite salad bowl from Zara Home.

I’m so glad you’re here! I have so many incredible conversations with you all through DM’s and would love to reach more of you through this HOLIDAY newsletter. I’ll share a few of my personal thoughts and insights —from favourite hotels to stay at in Paris, to homewares I’ve found and loved, mama/cub things, what I’m watching/reading/listening to. Just some fun things I’ll share with you each week.

Paris is honestly such a dangerous city to live in — the only way to not spend money is to stay home! This week was one of those really special weeks, and Sammy and I were ‘just having a look in Chanel’ when we walked past after finishing a shoot. It was really quiet in store and we had such a lovely sales assistant who was so patient and brought out so many boxes of shoes for me to try on. I was searching for a pair of loafers for fall (not necessarily Chanel…but I wouldn’t say no to Chanel loafers). Also, I definitely feel more in line with the northern hemisphere seasons, having lived in Europe now for over a year. I fell in love with the Chanel 23B loafers (thank you TikTok community for letting me know the name). Sammy calls them my tuxedo loafers…and they are perfect. See the unboxing here on my TikTok with Ocean. PS. I LOVE TikTok and will usually share a day or two ahead of Instagram with content if you’d love to follow along. 

If you’re coming to Paris with really little ones I have two tips: buy madeleines, and head to the sandpit at Palais-Royal. We love buying a trio of madelines from Cyril Lignac (there are a few locations in Paris), but madeleines are usually sold at most pâtisseries in Paris. At first I didn’t really love them, because so many are dry, but when you find a good one they are really light and delicious. They are the perfect little French vanilla treat that you can just brush crumbs away and won’t get chocolatey fingers all over your Paris outfit from the little cubs. Atlas and Ocean are obsessed. We also go to the sandpit at Palais-Royal a few times a week, and bring some toys with us. It’s enclosed in a small square with lots of benches so you can watch them play (without running away) whilst enjoying a flat white from Café Kitsuné Palais-Royal, or takeaway onigiri from Omusubi Gonbei. The closest metro is Palais-Royal - Musée du Louvre on le métro Ligne 1 (line 1) and then the sandpit is about a five minute walk away through the jardin. 

I have just discovered a new homewares brand, Stories of Italy and love all of their beautiful Murano pieces. We love investing in quality glassware, usually collected from our travels. This set of Murano glasses from Koibird is on it’s way this week to Paris. I accidentally broke one of the Murano glasses that Sammy gave me for Christmas by pouring boiling water in it to heat up Ocean’s bottle. They were part of a set from Australian designer Stevie Michaels. They always sell out, but keep an eye out for when they restock. I also have this Murano glass bowl on my mind from Net-a-Porter. Last week I bought this large bowl from Zara Home. I love the French inspired tableware collection. Do I need two salad bowls? Maybe…they are both so different… 

Everyone always wants to know where the rug in our living room is from! Atlas has spilt so many glasses of oat milk on it and it is still in great condition. It’s also such a good price point for a 300 x 400 cm rug. It’s a collaboration piece with Vincent Van Duysen — you can find the rug here. I also love this desk as part of his 02 collection. Ok, I’d buy the whole collection. We still need so many furniture pieces for our apartment. Half of our furniture is still in Queensland, which we have decided to sell so we are no longer storing any items. There’s a beautiful oak sideboard and oak mirror from Mr and Mrs White that I was hoping to keep forever. I’ll keep you posted and link all the items soon for sale, please get in touch if you’d like any pieces for your home. 

The boys have been very spoilt with new season Bobo Choses pieces, kindly gifted by the brand. My favourite styles are these two jumpers — the burgundy organic cotton rubber duck one for Ocean (size 2-3) and the navy wool one for Atlas (size 4-5). I love dressing them in a similar way, but not 100% matching. Ocean’s little leggings with the tulips on them are also Bobo Choses. You can have so much fun with boys fashion — I always love when pieces are a little oversized as well, especially in jumpers and tees. 

Last one, we have been watching a new series called Maestro in Blue on Netflix. It’s a romantic drama set on a small greek island and we watch it with English subtitles. It’s so nice to watch an international series that isn’t set in the US. It’s easy to watch and makes me want to ride around Greece on a vespa, swim in the sea all day and sit in the garden and drink coffee. Sometimes we really do miss having a little garden in Paris and popping in to Bunnings! 

Bisous x

Saasha Burns is an Australian fashion and lifestyle influencer who lives in Paris with her husband, entrepreneur Sammy Leetham, and two young boys, Atlas and Ocean. Together, they host the HOLIDAY podcast where they share personal stories, their parenting journey, travels, careers and life as a young family in Paris.