My obsession with macarons hit a feverish point last week as I visted Ladurée, the fabled patisserie in Paris, credited with inventing the double-decker delights. Macarons are little sandwiches, sugar-filled cookie sandwiches and as delightful as they taste, their optimistic demeanor is just as significant. Fluffy, colorful, small and round - really they are the happiest cookies you could ever ask for. Ladurée also made the macarons for Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette which has undoubtedly added to the allure of these petite pastels. I myself waited outside and then in a small twisted line at the rue Royale location, feeling silly as a half hour, then forty minutes passed, thinking about the times I had laughed at people waiting in line outside the Magnolia Bakery in New York. Well there’s no good way to travel with a cupcake, but the macarons were surprisingly adept; at Ladurée, they sit nestled side to side in decorative boxes, with crinkly tissue paper protecting the lot. Wonderful! The packaging happens to be just as covetable as the merchandise.

Another obsessed macaron fan:

Just Macarons Flickr Page

Tags: cookies, Laduree, macarons, Magnolia bakery, Marie Antoinette, package design, Paris, patisserie, Sofia Coppola.

In this week’s Short List: random dispatches from Paris and London (fashion), New Orleans (food) and the World Wide Web (blogs).

Chanel's Spring 2009 Couture Show / Images via style.com

Paris: Karl Lagerfeld debuted his 2009 Spring Couture collection yesterday for Chanel. Over sixty outfits came down the runway, all in variations of white with models wearing intricate sculptural paper crowns and headdresses. The rich fabrics of Lagerfeld’s creations combined with the simple everyday aspect of paper provided a stunning contrast of luxe and commonplace.

See the entire runway show here (style.com)

Hussein Chalayan's "Readings" dresses

London: The Design Museum is showcasing fifteen years of work by Hussein Chalayan, the fashion designer who has always upended the disciples of art and fashion, often times creating pieces that are more conceptual than wearable. Case in point: the dresses above which are composed of over 200 moving lasers. These pieces were specially made for the show and unfortunately not a part of his ready to wear line.

Until May 17, 2009.

Chalayan’s 15 Years in Fashion Video (style.com)

New Orleans: Mardi Gras season has officially begun and this is important for one reason: king cakes. We have always loved the oversized danish-like cakes which are brought to Mardi Gras parties in festive tradition. Each one is baked with a plastic baby inside and whomever lands the coveted piece will bring the king cake to the next party. A lovely tradition indeed. Out of towners can order their cakes here.

Tavi of Style Rookie

www.: The fashion bloggers are getting younger and younger still. First, it was 15-year-old Camille of Childhood Flames, who posts photos of herself in very Alexander Wang inspired outfits. Now it’s 12-year-old Tavi, who at only 4 feet and 6 inches runs the blog Style Rookie. At first it made us feel a little uncomfortable reading a middle schooler’s musings, but French Vogue is calling her a l’enfant prodigue, so we’re taking a second peek.

Tags: blog, Chanel, French Vogue, Hussein Chalayan, Karl Lagerfeld, king cake, London, New Orleans, Paris.