Beautiful Room: 07.27.10

After reading about designer Amy Meier on Eddie Ross' superfab blog I headed over to her site to check out more of her work. I immediately fell in love with this room, not least because the fabric for the window treatments combines three of my loves: blue, Greek key, and ikat.

I'm also a big fan of the coffee table and the way the fabrics and colours in the room have been melded together.

I'm also loving this soft and chic living area. Everything from the grey couches and coffee table to the patterned chairs. What do you think?

Book of the Week: Blood Royal

The story of a young French Princess, Catherine de Valois, and her marriage to the conqueror of her country (Henry V of England), Blood Royal by Vanora Bennett delves into the question of how such a young girl--subject to so much tragedy and upheaval--managed to eventually make her life her own. The novel also deals with Catherine's lifelong friendship and romance with Welshman Owain Tudor (yes, those Tudors) and her attempts to protect herself and her son from the grasping and scheming going on around her.

I'm a fan of interesting historical novels like The Other Boleyn Girl (and Bennett's own Queen of Silks), mostly because I like to imagine the people behind the historical figures and their motivations. Admittedly, I didn't know much about Catherine prior to reading this novel and before I even finished it I was busily researching her to find out which parts of Bennett's story were historical fact. Funny how sometimes the truth is so much more fanciful than fiction. If you like historical fiction and some romance then this is a good one.

Browse Inside

I'd also like to wish my baby sister (who is not much of a baby anymore) a very, very Happy Birthday! Love you E!

Weekend Eats, Appliances and a Winner!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Mine was great, although busy as usual. My birthday festivities continued with dinner and drinks with some great friends on Saturday night. We ate at Buca on King West, located in the same alley as Cheval. Buca has a very cool subterranean design, all exposed brick, distressed heritage tables and low lighting. The menu is extensive and is supposed to change daily, but I understand that many of the mainstay items remain the same. We were five couples so a lot of food was ordered and shared (and I really need to get better at bringing my camera so I can take photos of all the dishes).

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I had a three cheese tasting platter with preserves (very good mozzarella di bufala, ricotta di bufala and parmeggiano reggiano) and tiny garlic knots (don't try to eat with a fork and knife) to start and then the pizza with mozzarella di buffalo and prosciutto. The pizza was good, but not the best I've had in the city, and I ended up picking all the prosciutto off. I had bites of some of the other stuff and thought the ravioli with peas and gnocchi were both good. Lots of raves at the table for the sausage stuffed olives as well, although I'm not a fan of olives so I can't vouch for myself. Overall I thought Buca had a really great atmosphere and good food, but not the best around.

I'm also super happy to report that M and I finally decided on appliances for our new home yesterday. I've been kind of stressing because there are so many different options to choose from and I didn't want to make the wrong choice. I also wanted good, quality appliances that didn't break the bank. So the search was on and I'm pretty happy with what we came up with.

We debated getting a cooktop of built in ovens, but decided to go with the range instead. I really like the one we chose, although I was kind of into the idea of having a double oven. I'm also pleased with the size of the fridge and freezer. The only drawback is that there's no water dispenser, which I've been finding is typical in these types of industrial styles. We also went with an LG SteamWasher and Dryer, a Bosch dishwasher and a stainless steel range hood. I'm hoping we made good choices and can't wait to see them when our kitchen is finally ready!

After our purchases we stopped for some food at Kelsey's where we found out they are having two-for-one appetizers throughout the summer. I love appetizers, so I felt like it was my birthday all over again. Needless to say I didn't order an entree.

And now the important stuff...

The winner of the Primele Personalized Stamp giveaway is

AZ in August

Congratulations!

Thank you to all of you who entered and
to Primele for supplying this fabulous prize!

Please contact me at sogni-e-sorrisi[at]hotmail[dot]com
with your shipping info.