Macaron Craze

My love for macarons started back in 2007 when James and I visited Paris for the first time. I was hooked after one bite of a Laduree macaron. I have never seen a cookie that was so pretty and tasted so good. I was obsessed but it was hard to find a bakery that sells them back home. They weren't really well known back then. That was why I had to learn how to make them myself. If you follow this blog, you already know how often I make them :) Nowadays, macarons are everywhere! They've become super popular and I really love all the macaron-related things that I've been able to buy lately. Here are some of the lovely items. There are more but I'll have to share them at another time. I really am obsessed! :)

I saw these trinkets on Bakerella's post last fall and had to get them! There were a few other colors but I really like these three colors (pink, yellow, and green) together. They were the theme colors for my engagement party and I also made macarons in this same color combination before too! These trinkets are perfect for storing my jewelry.

Btw, you can enter for a chance to win a raspberry macaron trinket here!

This charm with 3 tiny macarons was from Swarovski. I love the sparkly crystals. Too cute!

During our honeymoon, James and I stopped by Laduree in Ginza, Japan where I found all of these goodies. As you know, this collaboration was almost too much for me to handle. (I wrote about it here and here.) Two of my favorite things...together! I hope they will do it again in the future.

The sticky note set (on the left) is part of my macaron giveaway so you can read more about it here. I bought it at Paper Source and right now they have a whole macaron collection at their store! Go check it out! The little note set on the right was purchased in Tokyo. They love macarons over there as well :)

 I bought these cute kitchen towels at Sur la Table. I love the macaron tower on the right one!

Lastly, here's a towel that I bought at Forever 21 when they also had a collaboration with Hello Kitty. She's wearing a huge puffy skirt made out of macarons and there's a macaron on her hat too :)

Have you come across any cute macaron goodies? I would love to know! And don't forget to enter in my Macaron Giveaway if you haven't already! Happy weekend!

Hello Kitty Laduree Notebook

Remember when my sister bought me all of those wonderful Hello Kitty stuff at Laduree? Well, this is what was in the fancy green pillow box. The notebook is so pretty. It even came with a sweet little bookmark. I don't know if I have the heart to use it because it's so cute. I think I'll just keep it in its pristine condition until I can find something worthy enough to write in it ;) Here are some more photos of this lovely notebook:

I love all of the Hello Kittys peaking out from behind the macarons :)

I love this illustration so much! Wished they made a notebook with this as the cover too!

Hello Kitty is sitting with a macaron on the corner of every page :)

The last page and the bookmark...so cute!

♥ Hello Kitty at Laduree ♥

I can't get over how cute these boxes are! Thank you so much sis! :)

I don't think I have to tell you how exciting this is for me. I love Laduree and I love Hello Kitty. The collaboration between the two is almost too much for me to take. I received a newsletter from Laduree announcing this exciting news and I promptly asked my sister to go buy them for me since she lives in NYC. Not only did she get them on the same day that I called her, she even took these wonderful pictures for me. She's so awesome :) I can't wait to share more photos of the goodies. There are notebooks, stickers, and letter sets too! The only thing they're missing are these Hello Kitty macarons hehe.

I love the contrast between the sweet pastel Hello Kitty box and my sister's super cool spikey bracelet lol

A Taste of Paris

I've been looking forward to going to Laduree ever since I heard that they were opening a store in NYC.  I love everything about Laduree; their macarons, their decor, their packaging...all are so well thought out. Everything is so elegant and classy.

My sister and I made our way there and there was quite a line even though it was almost closing time. The shop is just as charming as the ones in Paris. They also sell jams, chocolates, candles, and small souvenirs in addition to the macarons. Too bad they didn't open this one with a tea salon. Rumor has it that they will open one next spring in SoHo. That means that freshly-baked pastries will be available so lets keep our fingers crossed!

I didn't go crazy and buy the whole store now that I can make my own macarons :) I bought a box of eight with my favorite flavors: orange blossom, coconut, and vanilla. We also tried two new flavors: orange passion fruit and cinnamon raisin. The orange passion fruit was citrusy and bright. It was very good. I wasn't a fan of the cinnamon raisin one though. This flavor was made exclusively for New York and to me it just tasted like a cinnamon raisin bagel lol.

It's definitely a splurge at $2.70 a piece but then again you don't have to fly to Paris to get one. Now I will patiently wait for the tea salon to open next year :)

Exciting News!

I love Laduree's macarons but they also have amazing desserts and pastries. I can't wait to enjoy some of these in their tearoom!

A customer told me the best news this past Sunday at SoWa. Laduree is finally opening a location in NYC! I looked it up and they're scheduled to open sometime this month at 864 Madison Avenue. How this news escaped me for 2 months is beyond me but I am so excited! I love Laduree and their macarons. In fact, I'm pretty obsessed with them. I've blogged about macarons endlessly (here, here, here, and here) and have been making them at home whenever I have the chance. Not to mention that I love taking pictures of them. I can hardly wait but somehow it's also a little bittersweet since I associate Laduree with being in Paris on a wonderful vacation. Now that it's more accessible, I'm afraid that it won't be as special but I'm sure I'll get over it pretty quickly! I think I'll be visiting my sister a lot more often now ;-)

Here are a few more pics to celebrate this awesome news!

I love the boxes that the macarons come in. I keep them to store little knickknacks and they always remind me of my trips to Paris :) Btw, look at how shiny and pretty the macarons are...I need more practice!

I was so tempted to buy that cake in the window! (left); I want one of these macarons tower for my birthday (right)

My very first box of macarons!

My favorite macaron at Laduree is the orange blossom (left); They always have the most beautiful window displays (right)