Monday, February 28, 2011

Ten Best Tips From My Favorite Magazines

1.  Running a bit very late again with my favorite monthly tips. I saw this necklace in the February issue of Living Etc. I've never spent $2000 for a necklace, but if I was going to spend that much money, this necklace might just be the one. It's called Pyramus. Such a fantastic shade of blue.

2.  I also saw this headboard for the first time in Living Etc. It is designed by French fashion designer Paul Gaultier. I love the side panels and how the headboard kind of wraps around the bed. I also like how it kind of calls for the bed to come out from a corner instead of flat against the wall.
3.  These slim and stylish carafes from Mud Australia were in Martha's Living magazine. They're available in numerous colors at Elements.

4.  Also from Martha Stewart are these suggestions for paint colors. I am heading over to Home Depot to pick up a sample 8 oz can of Monk's Cloth to see how I like it for the bedroom.


5.  I love the Zagg combo cover/keyboard for my iPad. However if I just needed a cover I would definitely order this Dodo Case, which I discovered in House Beautiful. The cover reminds me of the kind I carried around in college or the moleskine notebooks Hemingway was fond of.



6. I saw this canopy for a pergola in February's issue of Garden Design. It retracts like a roman shade and they make it custom so it fits perfectly. It's made by a company called ShadeFx.



7.  It seems like so many of my favorite ideas comes from the Living Etc. magazine. Here they've taken an old mirror and transferred lettering (for a quote, words to a favorite song...) onto it to make a very personal piece of art.

8.  I've been eager to put away my winter boots and buy something for summer. Love these denim wedges I found in Elle.

9.  I remember eating frozen Tater Tots as a kid, but these created by chef Michel Richard at Citronelle in Washington DC and featured in Saveur, look down right yummy.

10.  Also in the February issue of Saveur is Susur Lee's recipe for Molten Cake.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Don't you just love it when the daffodils begin to bloom? Is there anything that looks more hopeful?

Monday, February 21, 2011

These are my mother's baby shoes. I love the little buttons. I think the coolest part of taking pictures with your iPhone is how you can combine different apps to make something truly your own. I took this image with the regular camera on the iPhone4. Then I took the image into CameraBag and changed the borders, color and contrast so it looks like it was taken with a polaroid camera.

I then brought the image into the PictureShow app where I played with tilt shift effect so that the photograph would have a very narrow depth of field, leaving the foreground and the background soft and the buttons sharp.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Trying a couple of new apps. I took the picture with my iPhone using the Photo Booth Classic Plus app (Be sure to get the "plus" version so you have a choice of b/w or color). I then brought the image into Labelbox. You have a choice of labels to use, but I like this one best.

Friday, February 18, 2011

A while back I posted about a list of the Fifty Best Chocolate Makers and ordered a box of Chocolates from Anna Shea to review. The box arrived, beautifully packaged with my 12 custom chosen pieces. I could have easily eaten the entire box by myself (yes I do have a chocolate "problem"). But I decided I would look like a better human being, in my post, if I shared.

So I called up my Mom, sister and brother-in-law to see if they would like to help with the review and all eagerly agreed (and yes my chocolate "problem" does seem to have a genetic component to it). We divided each chocolate into four tiny pieces and rated them on a scale of 1 to 5. I defined the scores as...
1.  Yuk, I spit it out
2.  I'd rather eat asparagus and brussel sprouts
3.  Worth the calories
4.  OMG
5.  Yes! Yes! Yes! (picture Meg Ryan in the restaurant scene with Billy Crystal in the movie When Harry Met Sally - see video below)

Top 3 choices were the Madagascar Chocolate Vanilla Ganache, the Carmel du Chocolat and the Strawberry Fields Forever (Strawberry Ganache in Dark Chocolate Shell)

Yummmmm

Thursday, February 17, 2011

There are sheep in the vineyards...to chew down the grass between the vines. There were babies too. So cute!

Monday, February 14, 2011

I thought for sure today I would have some sort of Valentine picture. But the fortune from my fortune cookie at the end of our Taiwanese meal was just too good. This is the only fortune cookie I ever 100% believed in. I agree, a new pair of shoes would do me a world of good. I'm thinking maybe a pair of high heels from Cole Haan.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

It was such a beautiful day today.  I walked around Palo Alto with my friends. Icelandic Poppies were blooming everywhere. People were outside eating lunch. We had frozen yogurt. Stanford students were walking around in shorts and t-shirts. It was an amazing day.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Monday, February 7, 2011

My friend Les (and ex-husband...yes it's possible to be really good friends with an ex) gave these to me for my birthday. Can you tell I love tulips? Some day I am going to go to Holland and stroll through fields of them.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Now That's How You Turn 60!

So the Super Bowl wasn't the only celebrating on Sunday. My friends Lois and Joan invited a few people over for my birthday dinner (as well as for football watching). The theme was chocolate - yum (my friends know me so well) and music -yipeee (I've never turned down an opportunity to dance around the house) through 6 decades - ouch. (Okay that part hurt a little bit). Here's the menu...


So, for the 1950s we had yummy hot chocolate in cute little bowls and danced to...
Wake Up Little Susie by the Everly Brothers
Tequila  by The Champs
Blue Suede Shoes  by Carl Perkins

For the 1960s we had mini hot fudge sundaes in shot glasses and danced to...
Louie Louie  by the Kingsmen
Good Vibrations  by the Beach Boys
I Feel Fine  by the Beatles

We shared 3 Hershey chocolate bars for the 1970s and worked off some of our dinner dancing to...
Joy to the World  by Three Dog Night
You're So Vain  by Carly Simon
Hot Stuff  by Donna Summer

We had the most amazingly delicious chocolate covered strawberries for the 1980s and danced to...
Billie Jean  by Michael Jackson
Like a Virgin  by Madonna
Girls Just Want to Have Fun  by Cyndi Lauper

For the 1990s we ate chocolate truffles and danced too...
Believe  by Cher
Livin' la Vida Loca  by Ricky Martin
Vogue  by Madonna

We finished dancing in the 2000s, with "Designer chocolate" we were too full to eat. (I'm saving it for another day).
Smooth  by Santana
Umbrella  by Rihanna
I'm Yours  by Jason Mraz

And yet there was one more chocolate surprise...my birthday cake.

Now that's how you turn 60!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Friday, February 4, 2011

My friends Judy and Steph took me out to lunch to celebrate my birthday and we did a little shopping at Santana Row. I love their Antrhopologie store. I always get so inspired. I thought this mirror might go well with the stenciled ceiling I want to do in my bedroom.

I took this picture inside the store with my iPhone and the CameraBag app. Those little paper birds reflected in the mirror were attached to painted wall across from the table.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Okay...starting a new one photo a day project. I turned 60 on February 3rd. (Yikes...still can't say it without feeling kind of weird. I don't feel that old. Really I feel about 40. I am determined to be brave about it. After all Maya Angelou says the 60s are great!) Anyway I am going to do one photo a day for my entire 60th year...365 days. My goal is to take all the photos with my iPhone. I do love iphoneography.

One of my favorite flowers (along with lilacs) are tulips. I usually hold out buying my first bunch each year until my birthday. These arrived from my friend Joan. A perfect subject for day one of 60for365. This picture was taken with my iPhone with my Hipstamatic app.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Fifty Best Chocolate Makers - Anna Shea

I recently came across one really great list...The Fifty Best Chocolate Makers. Tomorrow is my birthday. So I've decided to see how many of these fabulous chocolate makers I can test (and afford) this year. I am going to start with Anna Shea. I decided to order the 12 piece signature box. And what's really cool is I can custom choose what flavors I want. Yummmmmm. Will take pictures and post a bite by bite review when they arrive. Here's what I'm ordering.

Aged Balsamic Caramel
Berry Bubbly Strawberry Champagne 
Caramel de Chocolat
Chai Latte Ganache
Cherry Baby
Haiku Green Tea Ganache
Madagascar Chocolate Vanilla Ganache
Mon Cheri Cherry Cordial in Milk Chocolate
Margarita Tequila Lime Ganache
Midsummer Nights Dream White Peach Ganache
Milk Chocolate Ganache with Crushed Caramel
Wild Honey Lemon Caramel