Happy Memorial Day!

All images courtesy, Martha Stewart. For her ideas and recipes visit her website.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. Whether you are spending it quietly at home with family, or away with friends, while you eat and drink and relax and celebrate this wonderful country, let's please take a moment to remember all those brave men and women who have fought valiantly, and are still, for our freedom and our wonderful country.

Letters to Juliet: Reason # 103 Not to Wear Mascara!

Amanda Seyfried as Sophie, in Letters to Juliet

Aerial View of Verona, Italy

View of Adige River, Verona, Italy

Actual Letter to Juliet, Image Courtesy The New York Times

The Wall above Juliet's Tomb, filled with letters, that inspired the movie.
Image Courtesy, The New York Times

Ettori Salomani, tended to Juliet's tomb and answered letters
Image courtesy New York Times

I don't always wear mascara. In fact I rarely wear it. A few friends of mine swear that it makes them look more alert and awake. Because I have had a few lousy nights' sleep, I decided on the mascara yesterday. It really does help!

Rebecca and I had plans to see a movie with her friend Grace and Grace's mother, my friend Kate. Well, actually the initial plan was that Rebecca and Grace were going to hang out for a while in the afternoon and then Kate was going to take them to the movies. But an interfering soccer practice forced us to switch plans a bit. And when I learned what movie the girls were going to see, I invited myself! We had a fabulous night. I can't remember the last time we had a mother-daughter date with friends... Have we ever? We'll do it again, for sure!

Letters to Juliet was a really cute and funny movie. The lead character, Sophie, works for The New Yorker as a fact checker. She desperately wants to be a writer. (As does everyone who works for that publication!) Sophie is engaged to a highly energetic and passionate chef, Victor, who is about to open his own restaurant in New York City. The two take off on a pre-honeymoon journey to Verona, the city of love, only to spend no time together. Victor takes off to pursue his many distributors and Sophie to do some sight-seeing.

While touring Verona she comes across all these women, young and old, writing letters to Juliet, asking for her advice on love. At the end of the day, a young woman comes around, collects all the letters in to a basket and takes off into another building. Fascinated, Sophie follows. She learns that there are a team of women, of Juliets, who respond to each and every letter.  She is invited to join them. Sophie finds a letter, hidden behind a brick, that is over 50 years old. She decides to take a chance and reply. And this is how the story unfolds...

Shortly thereafter we meet Claire, played by the beautiful and talented Vanessa Redgrave, and her grandson, Charlie. Sophie, Claire and Charlie take us on a beautiful and sensual tour through Italy in hopes of reuniting Claire with her long lost love, Lorenzo. The scenery is breathtakingly magnificent and whether or not you have any interest in the story line, the sights of Verona, are enough to feast your eyes.

Outstanding performances by Ms, Redgrave, who clearly owns the movie and Gael Garcia Bernal, who portrays the passionate Victor.

This movie had elements that reminded me a bit of Under The Tuscan Sun, Sabrina, and Before Sunset. If you are looking for a feel good chic-flick, this movie is for you. It'll make you laugh and cry and you'll want to see it again and again. But bring the Kleenex. I wish I had. And don't wear mascara!

I rate this movie 3.5 out of 5 buckets of popcorn!

Nauti Pillow Talk...

I love throw pillows. I love that by adding or changing a few pillows you can dramatically change the feel of a room. Whether you want to add a splash of color, or enhance a theme or a fell, pillows are a wonderful way to express yourself without breaking your bank account. There's no reason to go overboard as she did. But, by swapping out a few pillows you can really lighten up a room's feel.

Feeling a bit nauti today since the summer is fast approaching. I thought some of these pillows might look good in either my living room or my family room...

The above pillows can be purchased at Newport Nautical Decor...

Anchor's Aweigh! Beach Decor Shop...

River Canoe pillow also available at Newport Nautical Decor

Coral Reef, LuluDK Designs

Coral Pillow, Ocean Offerings

All Nautical Needlepoint Pillows available at Beach Decor Shop

Sailcloth pillows not only serve as a wonderful decorative addition to any room, but are environmentally friendly as well, made into pillows from used sails...

Need one of these today?

I do!

I'm trying to hold my head up... No time to stop until 7:00pm... 3 hours of sleep... too many loud noises... snoring... violent thunderstorms... Yawn!

On the upside the temperatures have cooled tremendously, the yellow film that covered everything in sight has washed away and the asthma inducing humidity is now a thing of yesterday!

What's on your iPod?

I totally stole this from my bloggy/Twitter friend Short Southern Momma because she found herself with nothing to blog about. I'm uninspired today as well, but I loved reading about what everyone is downloading on their iPods! Summer is a Verb has some great tunes, especially for working out, and was sharing them with Tickled Pink Talk over Twitter the other day. I need some new songs. I am hoping Rebecca gets me an iTunes card for my Birthday... just in case you are reading this Becca!!! (Btw, thank you for my Birthday wishes, but I have another week to go!)

So here's what we're going to do... because I am pretty sure you don't want to hear my 200 song list, especially since half of these are Becca's songs, and I even have the Phineas and Ferb theme for Alexander... I'll hit shuffle and share the first 10 songs.  Won't you all come play along?

1. Change, Taylor Swift
2. 100 Years, Five for Fighting
3. Haven't met You yet, Michael Buble
4. One Less Lonely Guy, Justin Bieber -- UGH, I hate him and ff past this song!!
5. Crazy Love, Michael Buble
6. Funhouse, Pink
7. Unwritten, Natasha Beddingfield
8. Two is Better than One, Boys Like Girls
9. This is it, Michael Jackson
10. Single Ladies, Beyonce

As you can tell by the songs that popped up... many of those were Becca's Downloads!

I love...

I love the smells of freshly mowed grass... and
I love the feel of the cool, cut grass underfoot.

I love eating dinner on the deck in the sunshine.
I love letting the children play outside at night.
I love watching them play croquet outside when it should be their bedtimes.
I love the smell of bug repellent. It reminds me of cool Maine nights.
I love the smell of sunscreen. It reminds me of warm Newport beaches and cold Maine waters.

I love a glass of champagne under the big open sky.
I love sleeping with the windows open and hearing the Peepers below.

I love taking a late afternoon soak with the windows wide open and hearing the children's laughter beyond...
I love the sounds of the sprinklers and mowers and
I love the sounds of the birds chirping cheerfully, even at 4:30 in the morning.

I love sundresses and sandals.
I love spring flowers.
I love warm sunshine
and cool rainy days...

I love dinners at the beach with friends and long, lazy mornings.
I love sweet tea and lemonade and hammocks
and late afternoon siestas.

I love spending time outdoors with my children.
I love watching all the birds and the butterflies flutter around in the backyard.
I love catching fireflies!

I love barbecues and gathering with friends.
I love ice cream and watermelon and corn on the cob.

I love watching my children enjoy the warm weather.
I love watching them run through sprinklers and swim in the ocean.

I love to watch them collect shells and frogs, and snakes! (Yikes!)
I love to watch them lick their ice cream cones.
I love to watch them without a care in the world.
I love to watch them play.
I love to watch them have fun.
I love to watch them be...

I love Springtime!

 

The Color Purple

Watch this Mom!

What Dorothy would wear all grown up...

I love these!

I've been thinking of purple, but truthfully I'm not terribly fond of the color purple. At least I wasn't until I spotted the images for this post. While I own no purple clothes or accessories, I love the watch and the Manolos! I could easily find something to pair these with.

In our Upper East Side apartment our dining room had a purple ceiling. Well, truthfully it was lavender. And the walls were a lovely heathered, masculine gray. The trim was all in white and it was very elegant. But other than that I have never been a purple girl. I was not the kind of girl to dream about fairies and princesses either. My bedroom is periwinkle. It is the most soothing and relaxing color. my bedroom is my haven... a least until the kids come barging in! But I consider periwinkle to be more a blue color than a purple color.

I think I am changing my mind about purple. The images I have come up with are stunning, classic, fun and elegant.

This "purple" bedroom is relaxing in light periwinkle hues...

Martha Stewart plays up the purple wall and dresses up the mantel with these lovely hyacinths...

A modern kitchen with purple cabinetry...

I love this more suburban feel. The purple ceiling adds character and warmth to the crisp, clean walls...

The pale purple and the crisp white cabinetry in this kitchen have a calming feel...

I adore the dramatic flair of the deep purple offset by the brilliant white...

A romantic and tranquil eating spot...

The energy of the walls is balanced by the calm of the furniture...

I do love the combination of the regal, rich purple as it is juxtaposed by the bright, almost ochre-colored, beige...

I love the pop of color generated by the sofa...

I never imagined purple to be a soothing color before...

I wanted to learn about this rich and mysterious color. And this is what I learned:

Purple is the color of royalty. A mysterious color, purple is associated with both nobility and spirituality. The opposites of hot red and cool blue combine to create this intriguing color.Purple has a special, almost sacred place in nature: lavender, orchid, lilac, and violet flowers are often delicate and considered precious. Because purple is derived from the mixing of a strong warm and strong cool color it has both warm and cool properties. A purple room can boost a child's imagination or an artist's creativity. Too much purple, like blue, could result in moodiness. (I have never heard of such a thing as too much blue! Have you?)

According to nutritionists purple is a very important color to incorporate into our diets. Purple foods are also good for lowering the risk of heart disease, some cancers, preventing age-related memory loss, keeping the eyes and urinary tract healthy and lowering the risk of gum disease and stomach ulcers.

Beautiful purple foods are so good for you!

But every now and then you need this kind of purple. It's OK, unleash your inner kid and enjoy!

Or put on your stunning purple Manolos and have a more grown up treat!

And you'll know you've finally gown up when you own a bottle of Chambord that you'll pour into a glass of champagne of a lovely Kir Royale!

Nothing soothes and calms as the scent of lavender...

Are you rested and relaxed?
What do you now think of the color purple?