a proverbial truth

I live somewhere where there are 4 seasons. I enjoy what winter, spring, summer and fall have to offer. But, around this time each year, I start getting antsy. I'm ready for the snow to melt, the temperature to rise, and the calendar to move on to what's next in store so that winter clothes can be packed away and I can feel the warmth of sun once again. Recently, I stumbled across a proverb that I am quite fond of and find apropo for this time of year and the mood I'm feeling.

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.

Of course this is obvious - spring always follows winter - but don't you sometimes think that when we find ourselves stuck in a seemingly never-ending winter, we lose sight of the warmer days to come? On this last day of February, I'm taking comfort in this proverb's truth.

topaz for mom

For my mom's birthday last month, I decided to give her something simple, yet handmade and from the heart. She chose the yarn, and her pick was Manos del Uruguay's Silk Blend Semi Solid in Topaz. It's a 30% silk, 70% merino blend - the silk adds a touch of sheen - it's not too shiny, just the perfect amount of luster. I've used this yarn before for a few other projects, and I can say that this is my favorite yarn to both wear and knit. It's warm, breathable, and totally not itchy in the least. It drapes beautifully and knitting with it could not be easier nor more relaxing - this yarn allows for the right amount of "give" with each stitch. I can imagine a blanket or a throw knitted from this yarn and how elegant and cozy it would be. I love the color my mom picked out for this project - this shade is very much her! I think this jewel colored topaz is the perfect compliment to my mom's warm complexion.  

the topaz cowl, modeled my lovely mom

light and reflections

Isn't the glow these devotional candles cast so warm and calming?  I photographed these candles in the San Jose Church in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.  

may all of your intentions be met...

flowerful Friday

I took this picture of an almond tree in a rustic Greek village a few years back. The blossoms were adorably petite and cute. This trip to Greece was a mother-daughter vacation - it was mid-March and spring had arrived to the land of Homer, Socrates, and the beautiful Helen - and, for me, this experience will last a life-time.

There is something about seeing flowering blooms that can give us hope. We still have a few weeks of winter here in the North, but spring is just around the corner and soon we'll be seeing our own flowering trees.

tiny almond blooms sending a BIG signal - SPRING!

Happy Friday to you!

color therapy - green

I'm in the mood for green - beautiful verdant greens. Maybe it's the overcast sky combined with being under-the-weather, but these emerald hues are a much needed diversion for me, and I hope you enjoy them too.  

large leaves with crimson veins

 little oval leaves catching the
early morning sun 

 beaded with freshly fallen rain

is there anything more tropical?

a circle of love

We recently returned from Vieques (more pictures to come), and the island was spectacularly beautiful.  Our friends, David and Jill, were married on one of the many striking beaches of this tiny island.  Their ceremony was intimate and the crowd was encircled with lovely white starfishes, making a circle of love.  We wish David and Jill all of the very best!

one of the crisp white starfish

details, details everywhere (part 2)

In continuing with my "details, details everywhere" posts about the amazingly ornate and rich decor of Southern Spain, I'm turning my attention away from the ground beneath our feet (very lucky feet get the opportunity to walk across such beautifully decorated ground!) to the walls at eye level. Spanish tile, like so much in Southern Spain, is heavily influenced by the Moorish presence in that area from 711 to 1492. I'm not a "numbers person", but those are 2 dates that just are so easy to remember! Just because the Moors were forced out (granted, some Moors assimilated, but this isn't meant to be a lesson in the re- Catholicization of Spain) didn't mean their design and aesthetic was lost. Thankfully, because the Moors, in my opinion, had excellent design taste!

Sometimes geometric, sometimes curvilinear, always colorful and always a bit mesmerizing, these tiles are works of art and they adorn so many of the walls in palaces, fortresses, and even more humble buildings. I find the use of color to be completely inspirational and believe decorators the world over have been gleaning from these palates. And, how ingenious to use cool tiles on walls in a locale where the summer temperatures, I hear, can be blistering hot. It's a marriage of form and function!

Seville tile - heavily decorated,
yet there is a lightness

geometric and bold -
Casa de Pilatos, Sevilla

a bold beauty

simple squares turned into a
visual masterpiece!

warm colors, cool tiles

squares and stars

if you look at this long enough,
I believe you will be hypnotized!

star bursts of color!

sky blue infinity

Knitting lace weight yarn is a new favorite winter past-time of mine. To me, scarfs are ideal - making it convenient to take each project with me whether it's for a long car ride, a business trip or vacation, plus I think I've always been partial to scarfs. I've been known to sport light weight scarfs - silk or cotton in the summer months too. There's just something about keeping one's neck warm!

For this project I used yarn I purchased awhile ago on Etsy - it's SRK Ovation Kid Mohair & Silk a 75% mohair/25% silk blend in the color "sky" (more green than blue). The pattern I used was a new for me. A few Christmas's ago my parents gave me a great gift - a little box that contains all lace pattern stitches - this box, more like a deck of cards than anything else, is called "Lace Knitting to Go" by Andrea Tung. I think it's a brilliant idea as it makes carrying one pattern around so much easier and as an added perk each pattern is beautifully photographed for inspiration! For this project, I used the lace stitch called "Orchard", which can be done over any multiple of 8 stitches plus 1.The pattern is 5 rows that repeat and repeat until you have your desired length. For my infinity scarf, I casted on 33 stitches (8 x 4 + 1). I connected the ends when I was done and voila, my "infinity" scarf was born! The #1 advantage of an infinity scarf in my opinion, is that there are never loose ends - a huge perk when one, such as myself, is prone to losing their scarfs!  

light weight and airy

doesn't it have such nice body?

a close-up of the Orchard pattern

the completed infinity scarf -
it wraps around two times...
lofty, soft, and warm!

song of the lark

Let me start by saying quite honestly, "Song of the Lark" is one of the most hauntingly gorgeous paintings I've ever seen and my photo of it doesn't showcase even 1/100 of its actual beauty. The peasant girl's expression is one of serenity, the setting sun is breath-taking and it is as if you feel like you are breathing the same air as this girl. The "Song of the Lark" by French Realist painter, Jules Breton (1827-1906) is the type of masterpiece you stand in front of in total awe and have an internal dialogue filled with confusing emotions - something along the lines of, "how on earth can this 2 dimensional canvas make me feel so much?... How can a man I know very, very little about and who obviously knows nothing of me - how can Monsieur Breton stir my soul like this?!" You then go on to resent, only for a millisecond, M. Breton for manipulating your emotions, but this rightfully passes and you feel nothing but heartfelt gratitude for this Frenchman as he's touched a nerve deep inside of you that only the most sublime pieces of art, music & dance can trigger, quite often resulting in a tug at your heart, a lump in your throat or even a tear on your cheek. It's true artistic beauty, and it is a wonderful blessing we can all enjoy.

Song of the Lark 

"Song of the Lark" resides in the Art Institute of Chicago. If you haven't seen it and you have the opportunity, please go, stand in front of this young woman's image, look at her kind face, find the lark in the distance and imagine how this bird's beautiful song echoes in the mind of this peasant girl as her hard day comes to an end. 

light and reflections

A glowing candle resting in a wire votive holder, a single red rose tucked into a bud vase and a green glass bottle - aren't light and reflections simple things of beauty?

simple beauty for a romantic evening

flowerful Friday

I think these gorgeously eclectic blooms (all picked out by my husband, Paul - kudos to him, right?!) embody summer. I am a lucky lady - for so many reasons - one reason being Paul knows me and my aesthetic so well. Since summer is still far off in the distance, past any bend in the road of seasons, I thought I'd soften the edges of this photo, that is, make the corners look blurry, to create almost a dreamlike feel. Here's to dreaming of summer! It will be here before we know it! Happy Friday to you.  

what a summery combination!
would you like some lemonade?

southwest inspired breakfast

Lately, we've really been reining in going out for weekend breakfasts and brunches. And to our delight, we've created a few breakfast dishes that have been kind of awesome! Last weekend we made the most flavorful Southwestern inspired hash-brown and egg bake. With the addition of black beans, salsa, a little bit of cheddar, cayenne & chipotle peppers and lots of fresh cilantro on top, a breakfast was born that is hearty, delicious, and actually quite economical. A glass of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, to me, is like the icing on the cake!

bold flavors, bright colors -
what a way to start of the day!

cameo colored chevrons

A recently completed scarf made for a surprise gift to a friend - a friend who's an inspiration to me and if you knew her I bet you'd feel the same way! The pattern is called "chevron" - it was a fun new pattern for me to learn, and I doubled it to make the width I was looking for. The yarn is Manos del Uruguay's Handspun Semi-Solid in the "cameo" color - it's definitely more lavender than pink. My friend I knitted this for is one of those ladies with a fair, pretty & rosey complexion, which is why I thought this color would look nice on her! And luckily for me, it knitted up like a charm.

For all of you knitters out there that haven't used Manos del Uruguay's yarns, I really do adore them - great feel, never itchy, and beautiful colors. And what's more, the company stands for such a great cause. Since the late 1960's, Manos del Uruguay has promoted social and economic development for women in rural Uruguay. You can read more about the company's mission at their website -http://www.manos.com.uy/. The company's objective is obviously commendable, and their yarns are wonderful! A win-win, don't you think?!

the chevron pattern -
I doubled it to increase
the scarf's width

a close up - can't you feel the softness?

here I'm modeling the scarf - 
this yarn drapes nicely and has a nice weight

tea, anyone?

One of my favorite, simple things in life is a good cup, or better yet, a good pot of tea to share with family and friends. I love the warmth tea brings, the cleaning almost astringent-like quality it bears, and lest I not forget, the taste. Teas range in flavor from almost bitter to floral. A few years ago for Christmas I received what is my absolute favorite kitchen appliance - an electric tea kettle but not just any kettle - this one, Utilitea from Adagio has a temperature dial. A true tea lover knows that for a proper cup of tea, the temperature of the water is dependent on the type of tea one is preparing. A black tea, for instance, requires hotter water than a green tea. The wrong temperature along with over and under-steeping are cardinal sins for tea preparation. I raved so much about my electric tea kettle (did I mention it boils water is just a minute or so?) that now, both my mom and brother are proud owners of the same model! If you enjoy tea, I wouldn't think twice - this electric tea kettle is brilliant.

A good cup of black tea - Assams and Earl Greys - are my favorite early morning choices. Later in the morning I enjoy a soothing cup of jasmine green tea. I can't think of another drink that tastes grounded and earthy and light and floral all simultaneously. And the scent is divine! A good jasmine green smells so heavenly, and the heady jasmine scent triggers my own Proustian memory - an instant flash of childhood trips to Thailand where jasmine blooms are commonplace, tender and sweet grandmother and loving grandfather with his baritone voice are in sight, I can hear the constant buzz of mopeds - more like bumblebees than machines, and I can feel that incredible Thai heat. The warmth of the tea makes my cheeks flush as if I'm there in Bangkok reunited with my departed, yet still cherished grandparents. All induced from a breath in and a sip. Isn't remembrance so powerful? Monsieur Proust was on to something...

green jasmine tea - I wish you could smell this!
the brightly painted cup was a gift
from my Great Aunty Nancy

Then in the afternoon I move away from the "real" teas and sip chamomile, peppermint, or some other herbal blend. Did you know that these actually aren't by definition teas? Tea is a specific type of plant with the scientific name Camellia sinensis. Herbal teas contain no Camellia sinensis and are instead infusions a.k.a. tisanes of flowers, herbs, or fruit. The nice thing about tisanes is that there's no caffeine, which is why they're my afternoon and evening drink of choice!

On an almost daily basis, I look at my husband with a smile, and he hears me say - "ooh, warm beverages are so comforting". It's become a joke in our house because I say this nearly every time I take my first sip of whatever warm drink I'm about to enjoy - it's practically a mantra around here! With Valentine's Day having just passed, my husband of course knew me well enough to know that a box of chocolates to me, doesn't do much because I'm simply not a chocolate girl. I was never one to go crazy for chocolates - I do enjoy a bite of something incredibly dark or a spoonful of airy mouse, but mostly anything else I find cloyingly sweet. He surprised me, for Valentine's Day, with a new teapot - one that is perfectly round, just the way a teapot should be, and with just a touch of French country charm...oh, be still my beating heart!

I have a rather embarrassingly large tea "stash" in one of our kitchen cabinets. I wish you would come join me for a cup of tea - we could use my new tea pot!

my new teapot!
perfectly round with a little French flair

love & sonnet 18

LOVE - so much as been written about it...it's what is in the air, it makes the world go 'round, it's patient and it's kind, and sometimes it is a battlefield. There are so many types of love. I recently learned that ancient Greek had a least 5 words for 5 different types of love - philia (brotherly love & love of the mind), eros (passionate love), agape (pure love & also the modern Greek word for love), storge (affection - like that of parents towards children), xenia (hospitality, which was highly revered in ancient Greek culture).

On this 14th of February, to me, only the Bard of Avon's Sonnet 18 can give love for another the justice it deserves.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date,

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed,

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed.

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,

Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st.

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

As Shakespeare writes, as long as we can read this beautiful written song his love for this unknown person lives on. What a gift! What this means to me and I like to think, for all of us - tell those whom we love that we love them, and put in it writing! We don't have to possess bard-like talent to let our love for our loved ones live for "as long as men can breathe". Happy Valentine's Day to all, wishing you much love and happiness.  Xoxo.

a Sunday night dinner

What a dinner we had tonight! Oh, how I wish you could have been here to join us. The "menu" was braised chicken thighs, Spanish yellow rice with peas, and roasted parsnips and red peppers.

The chicken dish starts with olive oil, onion, minced anchovies, chopped Spanish and kalamata olives, bay leafs, paprika, a few cloves of garlic, and a just a little bit of chicken broth. Once the onion is sauteed the other ingredients are added and the scents begin to sing! And, it gets better. Wait until some of the chicken broth cooks out and then add the chicken thighs - I seasoned them with black pepper, dried parley, paprika, and just a littlest amount of salt (the olives and anchovies provide most of the salt in the dish) - then wait for them to get a nice medium brown on one side then turn and wait for the other side to brown a bit too.  Lastly, add in about a 1/2 cup of dry white wine (of course save the rest of the wine to sip while finishing cooking and to enjoy with dinner!) and the aromas reach a crescendo.

The Spanish rice we fixed is a pretty standard - butter, onion, broth, saffron, salt and pepper. We added some frozen peas at the end. I love how something with such a simple preparation becomes so utterly savory and completely delicious.

While the chicken and the rice were busily cooking away on the stop-top, in a very hot oven parsnips and sliced red bell peppers were roasting. Before being put in the oven, they had been tossed in olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper - it never ceases to impress me how sweet & savory roasted veggies turn out!

chicken braising in wine -
the scents are singing!

parsnips & bell peppers - cooked to
perfect veggie sweetness

a colorful plate, full of flavor

so good & enough for leftovers!

light and reflections

When sunlight hits the ocean, unworldly sights can appear.  Here in just a foot or so of water, the sun's mid-afternoon rays mix with the moving water and the drifted sand to create a mesmerizing, dance-like scene. Throw in some warm sunshine and gentle breezes and a feeling of peacefulness should ensue!

water, sand, and warm sunlight -
a heavenly combination!

flowerful Friday

A most romantic scene - a lone pink rose outside a courtyard window.  

Can't you imagine Romeo picking this bloom for his Juliet?

Happy Friday to you.

a metamorphosis metaphor

There's something about this caterpillar that I find intriguing. I watched in awe as the caterpillar crawled slowly, yet deliberately across a stepping stone this past summer.

 a slow trek to change

To me, there is something so mysterious about the process of metamorphosis. This little fellow with his bold, almost clown-like stripes was on is way to becoming a beautiful, regal monarch butterfly. I wonder what goes through the mind of a caterpillar when he starts this process of change. Similarly to the caterpillar changing into a butterfly, we all change and hopefully continue to grow.

Miami - a day at the beach

My recent trip to Miami was a quick little break from winter, allowing me to soak in some sun and swim in the ocean.  I snapped this photo of a little boy on the beach - he was having so much fun running and jumping and playing and imagining.  He was a delight to watch, running into the waves with his little bucket then running back onto the sand to show his mama and papa what he found.  

a day at the beach

glorious golden hues

There's something about the way yellows and orangey golds imbue warmth that I adore.  Perhaps it's the way gold radiates, the way orange makes even a grey day seem bright, and the way yellow is always cheery that makes me drawn to all of these shades.  In my book, these golden glories are 2nd to none!

one of the Alhambra's many ornate ceilings 

a perfect persimmon, full of sweetness

a close up a glass tray -
almost looks like a sunset over water doesn't it? 

my ginger tom, Nino -
orange stripes abound!

Sevilla's cathedral glows goldenly at night

pardon in Brittany

Gaston La Touche's "Pardon in Brittany" is one of those pieces of art that stays with you long after you walk away and move on to the next masterpiece. It hangs in a rosy-clay colored room in the Art Institute of Chicago, and the warm wall color allows for the most amazing depiction of light to pull the viewer right into the scene, as if you were right there too holding a candle. This oil on canvas painting from 1896 uses just a few main colors - shades of blacks and whites for the clothing, delicate pinks for the sky, and golden yellows for the flames.  These flames, to me, are what make this painting go from visually pretty to visually extraordinary as they just leap right off the canvas in a most realistic depiction of fire. It's like you can imagine each candle magically flickering making the 2 dimensional become so real. 

Pardon in Brittany

wine braised beef

One of our favorite winter dinners is braised beef with creamy polenta. This dinner defines comfort food in our house. The beef takes awhile to cook, but there's actually very little "hands-on" time, and the polenta cooks up in just a few minutes, so it's actually a super simple dinner to put together. The great thing about using a large cut of beef is that we have delicious leftovers for a few nights or some to throw into the freezer and pull out on one of those nights that anything more than reheating doesn't seem like a viable option. The beef is slowly braised with carrots, onion, garlic, thyme, bay and 1 full bottle of red wine! Sure, it's a lot of wine, but it makes for the most tender, the most deliciously amazing braised beef. Bon appetite!

the most savory of dishes
to warm you up on a cold winter night

light and reflections

A mid-winter break to a warm destination and a beautiful view from a friend's new home - what a lovely evening!

flowerful Friday

Forcing bulbs is one small way to bring beautiful blooms indoors. And, the transformation from brown bulb to vibrant bloom is a truly mesmerizing process.

I received the lovely gift of an amaryllis bulb a few months ago and after watching and waiting with child-like anticipation, the amaryllis is now in full, magnificent bloom.  Once an amaryllis begins to bloom, it loses all of the quiet shyness that it embraced for so long and starts to sing an enchanting song of floral bliss.  Its most showy flowers are amazing and trumpet-like - it's like each flower is calling out, "I'm gorgeous, and I know it!"

architectural in stature

its many blooms are ready to shine!

the jade green stem, sturdy enough to
support so much decadence

dusty yellow pollen tipped anthers
 at the end of each stamen

amaryllis in its full glory

showy amaryllis -
8 blooms from 1 humble bulb!

Wishing you a most happy Friday!