My Book Wish List

My decorating magazines always have a page featuring new books and I am often sold.  Here is my current wish list.

                                                   The Sprouted Kitchen by Sara Forte

I have been interested in sprouting and I think I could do it with some instructions plus recipes.

                                          The Italian Table by Ron Suhanosky

There's a recipe for Eggplant and Peach Parmigiana!

                                       Be Your Own Decorator by Susanna Salk

She poses the question "why not create a kitchen that feeds your appetite and your soul?"

Life in Color by Annie Griffiths

 Taken from National Geographic's collection of photographs, the book is a celebration of color.

Here is one the pages.

Reminds me of another book I've had on my list for several years.

Apples For Jam by Tessa Kiros

A unique cookbook where the chapters are separated by color instead for conventional categories

I've included links for all these books to Barnes and Noble.  Gotta support the only bookstore left.

Family Pictures

It used to be once in a blue moon, my laundry room would look like this.  But lately, it's been happening more and more.  And don't know what's going on, but I've been noticing that the morning house work is not overwhelming anymore.  After all these years, I'm learning how to handle my responsibilities and its wonderful not to feel weighed down with the never ending cycle of mess, clean, mess, clean.

 Anyway, I decided I want to take advantage of my little bit of new found freedom, and squeeze more into my days.  Today I made a list of extra tasks I need or want to do, all requiring 30-60 minutes of time.  After my list was written, I chose the family room picture wall to tackle today.  Oh, wait.  First I'm going to finish showing off of my laundry room.

 These are all the bulletin boards I've mentioned in the past.  This is my room, filled with books, fabric and clippings that make me happy.  Do you see my two quilt squares I made with my local quilt guild?  They're houses.  I joined in August because I wanted to spend more time with these ladies.   Then I discovered the whole time was spent doing "show and tell" instead of time for chatting.  I'm not continuing my attendance, but I think these two squares will inspire a special quilt.  You know I'll keep you updated.

                                                   My cupboard for 1 yard pieces or bigger.

                                                                   My cupboard of scraps
Okay, so on Sunday night Daniel was sitting in the family room after our dinner guests had left.  "How come the walls are so boring in here?"  he asked.  I explained I still needed to buy the floating shelves, "remember you said you didn't want all those holes again?"  "So I have to mount shelves?"  his eyebrows raised.  "Just put the pictures up, I always liked that wall."

This is what I finished today.  Me and Daniel at the bottom (I'm the big baby), our parents above us, grandparents above them and I have one great grandparent picture at the top.  I want this wall make more sense, like a family tree, in stead of all mixed up.  I am going to leave it like this for a few days.  I want to give myself a chance to add any other pictures of us and our parents before the rest of the space gets filled in with siblings, nieces and nephews.

Denver, Colorado

Last weekend Daniel and I had a little getaway to Denver, Colorado.  We stayed just off of Sixteenth Street Mall.  This is what it looked like in the evenings.  It was pretty cold. Each night we would start out walking towards our restaurant and then resort to taking the shuttle or getting a ride from a bike carriage.

On our trip we met two very interesting people.  One was our taxi driver who took us from the airport to our hotel.  He was from Afghanistan and had moved to America when he was 18 years old in 1974.  Having read The Kite Runner, I was fascinated to meet someone who had a very similar background and time frame to the protagonist in the book.

 The other man I was mesmerized by was Claude, a fifty something black man who was shining shoes on the corner of 16th and Welton.  We stopped because my beautiful boots Daniel had given me for Christmas had a few scuffs on them.  I received a lecture about the importance of cleaning my shoes.  First, shoes are filthy and carry disease, and second, my shoes are made of skin.  It would be irresponsible for me to neglect this skin, let it dry out and crack, when it always took such good care of the animal is was on.

Throughout this learning/polishing session, Claude would look up to notice everyone who walked by.  Sometimes he'd comment on the people, "Are you a bumblebee?"  he'd say to a man passing by.  "Well, how did you get that honey?" referring to the woman at the man's side.  Sometimes Claude would comment on the shoes, "Nice shoes.. to one of you."  Daniel watched as two men carried on walking while looking down at their shoes and then at the other's.  "I think you might have just started a fight," he reported.  Daniel decided to wear his leather shoes the next day and go back to the same spot for a shoe shine.  I loved my time with Claude.  I love people who make me laugh and who are also serious about life.

Our favorite discoveries for food were Vesta Dipping Grill on 1822 Blake Street - Very cool and very delicious.

 Mixed baby heirloom lettuces, shaved butternut squash, ricotta, garden herb vinaigrette.  Garlic grilled scallops, fingerling potatoes, fennel-arugula salad, bacon aioli.  That was my appetizer and main dish.  Then a sliced caramel apple for dessert with a vanilla bean sauce for dipping.

And Snooze, an A.M. Eatery on 2262 Larimer Street

 - so cute and so yummy. 

 Upside down pineapple pancakes with cinnamon butter.  Sweet potato pancakes with pecans and caramel.  The list goes on and on.

Besides relaxing and exploring, the best part about a vacation is discovering the best food your destination has to offer.  Daniel often uses yelp.com to find recommendations.  

Sugar and Spice

                                       Well, I hope you all know how much I adore my four boys,
but I am thrilled to announce that Daniel and I get a chance to raise a girl! Our daughter has been growing for 20 weeks, and will be ready for her arrival sometime in the first week of July.

14th Wedding Anniversary

This is me and Daniel February 19th 1999.  How do you measure fourteen years?  In homes?  In babies?  In  vacations?  In fights?  In make ups?  In love....

Here is "Seasons of Love" from Rent, the Broadway show and movie.   

 

I really like this song, its very sentimental.  And I love Daniel, the man I chose to spend my life with.

South Pacific

Today I am still in Valentine's mode because tomorrow is my wedding anniversary   So for Musical Monday I tried to think of a very romantic show to share and came up with South Pacific.  There are not very many songs more magical than "Some Enchanted Evening".

And I just love the psychological sequence of  "I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair"

followed by "I'm in love with a wonderful guy".  It's so fun to watch Nellie  fight her feelings and then give in to love.

These pictures are from the 1958 movie starring Rossano Brazzi and Mitzi Gaynor.

There have been more recent productions featuring Glenn Close and Reba McEntire.

I am not a Reba fan, but everyone else in this concert is excellent.

Here is a little bit of "I'm in love...." comparing Mitzi to Glenn

One of the best songs in this show is sung by the Navy, "There is nothing like a Dame".

I love these lyrics and I soo enjoy men's voices.

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's to Valentine's Day, which makes us stop and remember how much we love those in our lives, especially our husbands.  And here's to Hollywood, nothing like a romantic movie to inspire more passion in our lives.
                                                     
                                                              Carrie and Mr. Big

 These photos were taken several years ago for a Vogue photo shoot and they are still my favorite.  
                             They remind me to strive for connection, confidence and beauty.

                             If you haven't seen the movie P.S. I love you, here is a trailer for it below.
                          Wow! this movie makes you want to love deeply and live every day happy.

Share your history

On my trip to Hawaii, I read the book Marley and Me by John Grogan.  I was hoping it would make me feel more sentimental about Winston.  I really enjoyed reading Mr. Grogan's feelings, memories and story.   In this book, he has done a fantastic job of recording twelve years of his life.  The details and the sequence of how all the little moments fit into the bigger picture, I was very impressed.

I want to share an excerpt that I thought were very insightful.

"Children serve as impossible-to-ignore, in-your-face time pieces, marking the relentless march of one's life through what otherwise might seem an infinite sea of minutes, hours, days, and years." page 186

 

                Marley and Me goes in the same category as Gwyenth Paltrow's cookbook and children's picture book The Gardener by Sarah Stewart.  They are all creative ways to share family history.  And this is what I was referring to when I said "the hearts of the children turn to their fathers" is a great way to show your Valentine's love.  This Sunday for our Valentine's dinner, I shared my typed notes with Daniel's family of a few interviews I recorded in England during my last two visits to see his Gran.  

  

I've also been working on an essay about road trips with my family when I was a child.  

I am sorry it's not quite ready to share.  I actually have a lot of vivid memories related to this subject and I want to present them in an enjoyable way.  

Grandma's dishes

Sometimes when I am getting dressed I wish I still had roommates to give me their opinion on my outfit.  The same goes when I am hanging pictures.  Why don't my friends and family live just around the corner?  It forces a girl to either wait indefinitely until company arrives, or move forward and trust her choices.

Today I am doing a little of both.  I wanted to share with you my Great Grandma Gerda's plates that I have decided to hang on the dining room wall, but realized once I had them up, it looks like I need more.
Here is what they look like from a distance.

                                                                   And here is a closer look

My options right now: I could hang my favorite Christmas plate which has a popular British icon on it. 

                           I think it would be a fun contrast to the old fashioned floral design.

                                     Or, I could just hang a white plate, giving it cleaner look.
                Really, I don't want to distract from my favorite picture of Jesus with Mary and Martha

                    Or I could leave it as it is for now and not rush my creative process.  Any thoughts?

Peter and the Starcatcher

Last week's musical of Peter Pan  reminded me that there was a production of Peter and the Starcatcher  which just finished playing last month in New York on Broadway.  It had caught my eye in  fall, but we choose our tickets for Chaplin instead because it gave us the best seats.

Anyway, this play is based on the popular book written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.    From what I can gather from the highlight clips on youtube, their strength is in the acting and comedy, and not so much the music. You'll see what I mean when you watch for yourself.

Very fun stuff.  I can tell this show really captured the audience in the story and world of Peter Pan

Here is a clip for my costume friends out there.  This show won a Tony for Best Costumes

Cinque Terre

On the northwest side of Italy, there is a place on the Mediterranean Sea called Cinque Terre.

                                 Cinque Terre actually consists of five separate villages on the coast.
                                                   Are you ready to see this amazing place?

                                                                             Behold!

  Here is a picture of what the coast looks like between each town.  You can see the tunnel where the train comes through.  The train is the best way to travel in Cinque Terre.

 The roads and stairways can be very steep.  Don't bring high heels for this reason,  also the cobblestones.

 Doesn't it look so tranquil and inviting?!  All you can do here is eat, swim, hike and shop.  What wonderful ways to spend your days in the sun.  I was so happy when I visited here on my way back from Lake Como.

At the very top of the main street in Vernazza, Daniel and I wandered upon a fantastic little restaurant, owned and ran by twin brothers from Sicily.   Their food was delicious and they were so funny, they entertained us the entire meal.   We had to go back a second time.

 We rented an apartment right above the main square looking out onto the water.  It had a kitchen, dining room, living room, two bedrooms and bathroom with a washer machine.  I absolutely loved hanging my clothes to dry on the lines outside our windows.  We paid 320 euros for two nights, that ended up being 80 euros per night, per couple.  Here is the stairway leading to our front door on the right.  Oops, we left the kitchen light on when we went out that night.

 This is a place that is calling me back.  I could live here.  I hope I do someday.