Vintage DeLIGHT

Since I started remodeling my 1950's era home I have added some wonderful vintage pieces to my house. Thanks to my parents who are antique mall, Ebay and resale shoppers I have a collection of glassware and china, including George Briard and Edwin Knowles Weather Vane. I've also purchased some great mid century furniture pieces including a fantastic table that folds up flat against a wall.

During my frequent shopping trips I've found some odd pieces that now have a place in my home. This fantastic blue chandelier I found in a shop window for $60. My parents call it the "Big Ugly" but I love it and it's a great conversation piece.

I recently found this little treasure, a gold and crystal cherub chandelier in an antique mall and it's now hanging above my bed. We are calling it, "Baby Big Ugly". The light is very dim, like the glow from candles and I'm crazy about it. I painted the wall behind it a bright blue to highlight my growing collection of dress forms and vintage hats. My most recent purchase, an early 20th century gorgeous but very fragile hat of feathers was bought for the 1920's era Great Gatsby party Paul and I are having this summer, you can see it in the photo below on one of my dress forms.

And finally for less than I usually pay for light bulbs I found this mid century lamp that is now in my living room. Odd right, but so unique. I mean why have something everyone else has? Traditional I am not. Boring, why bother.

Later this week I will blog about some of my favorite vintage sources online. I will also add them to the Vintage page.

Stories are Everywhere

I'm at work. It's about 8:30 pm and as I'm sitting at the reference desk I can see and hear the library bustling around me.

A few feet away from me in an aisle between the books on trains and the oversize travel books a mother and her son are reading together. The mother has placed her coat on the floor like a blanket and is laying on her side. Her son is curled up against her as she turns the pages. I can hear them as the mother points to pictures and her son reacts with "ohs" and "ahs". There is a large pile of books at their side and the boy is holding a large zip loc bag full of toy train tracks.

As the mother murmurs to him and describes the places and cultures in the pictures he asks her question after question. She quietly answers him and creates story after story. The Library will close at 10 pm and I think they might be here until then, curled up on the floor, completely at home in the Library and with the stories they are creating.

Love Love.

Many call this a "Hallmark Holiday". Yes it's rather silly to mark 1 day a year to celebrate love when we should remember to celebrate the love in our lives every day. For me its the little reminders of people, places and things that I love.

I presented to a group this morning on Creating Videos for Your Business and one of the attendees gave me a heart shaped chocolate lollipop. Love it.

When I turned on the new vintage chandelier in my bedroom this morning, the newly painted walls shined. Home Love.

I enjoyed a delicious lunch with my son today. My 3 year old niece mailed me a handmade Valentine. My Mom texted me a picture of the flowers she got from my Dad. Family Love.

A surprise gift was waiting for me at work. Happy Love.

Tonight an evening out with my Love where we first met. Love.

So no matter what you do today...buy flowers at the grocery, make handmade Valentines, create a delicious meal for someone special, or even ignore the commercial aspect of the day...I hope you spend time surrounded by people or things you love or creating the love you want.

Oscar Worthy

In preparation for my annual Oscar party this year I've been viewing as many of the major nominated films that I can before the show on February 26. During the last 2 weeks I've seen 4 excellent movies, My Week with Marilyn, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo and The Artist.

Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn was extraordinary. Williams was a rather unconventional choice as Marilyn, Williams is tiny and although they dress her to play up her assets I don't think she looks much like Monroe. What she does have is Marilyn's movements, her luminescence and her sex appeal. You simply cannot take your eyes off her. She's plays her as a childlike woman, very lost and sad but very wise to her role as a sex symbol. Williams has my vote for Best Actress.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, it's quite a ride. Rooney Mara has a well deserved nod for Best Actress, she is fantastic in the movie and my second vote for this category. And what a cast, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard...and no, believe it or not, I have NOT read the book. I know I know, it's on my list especially after seeing the film.

Hugo. What a magical movie. Martin Scorsese has created an extraordinary film based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret about an orphan living within the Paris train station. The character of Isabelle with her love of books and her devotion to her friend Hugo is my favorite. I like many others assumed this was an animated children's movie, it's almost too beautifully filmed to be anything but animation. Run out and see this movie, today. Oh and it's in 3-D, when the snow falls in Paris its as if you are there. My vote for Best Picture.

The Artist. How to describe this charming movie. A silent film. Black and white. Funny, nostalgic, uplifting. It's wonderful. Set at the end of the 1920's when films were moving from silent to talkies. The costumes, the sets...a throwback to the days when movies were simple, the story was perfect and there is even a cute little dog who steals every scene he is in. Jean Dujardin has my vote for Best Actor.

I have a couple more weeks to see:

Moneyball

The Iron Lady

and one or 2 other films I didn't catch last year.

See you at the movies, or at my Oscar party!

What's on Your Reading List?

Where do you begin? Do you scribble down the books you want to read in a notebook, on scraps of paper, in emails to yourself? Do you have a pile of "to-read" books in your home library?

Do you virtually organize your library on Goodreads? (I've been on Goodreads since 2007, find me and lets compare book lists and reviews)

Well to get some book related conversations started with friends who read my blog, here is my list of "to read" books for the next few months...

1. Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
2. Making Handmade Books: 100 Bindings, Structures & Forms by Alisa Golden
3. Do it Yourself Kitchens: Stunning Spaces on a Shoestring Budget
4. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
5. Salvage Secrets: Transforming Reclaimed Materials into Design Concepts by Joanne Palmisano
6. Silk is for Seduction by Loretta Chase
7. Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran
8. Simple Asian Meals: Irresistibly Satisfying and Healthy Dishes for the Busy Cook by Nina Simonds
9. The French Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone
10. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Easy Peasy Vegetable Soup

It's unseasonably warm right now in Chicago, walking my Beagle tonight it was a balmy 50 degrees. Regardless it's January in the Midwest which means soup season. I whipped up a batch of vegetable soup tonight and thought I would share the easy recipe.

Ingredients:

1 leek, white and light green bottoms, wash thoroughly to remove sand

1 large carrot

2 celery stalks

Couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Cup of whole wheat pasta

1 32 oz cartoon of organic vegetable broth

2 cups of water

1 5.5 oz can of tomato juice

2 tablespoons of pesto (you can make with basil from your garden in summer and freeze in ice trays for fall and winter recipes or use store bought pesto, I favor the Trader Joe brand)

Generous dash of salt and pepper

Generous amount of herbs ( I use dried oregano from my garden and fresh parsley)

Additionally you can add any fresh vegetable in the pantry including potatoes, peas, garlic, green beans, tomatoes, etc.

Seriously it's this easy...roughly chop the leek, carrot and celery, throw them in a large pot or dutch oven with the olive oil and cook over low until almost translucent. Throw in the uncooked pasta, cook with vegetables for a couple of minutes until the pasta gets slightly browned. Add vegetable broth, water, tomato juice, pesto, salt, pepper and herbs. Cook until pasta is al dente, taste for additional seasoning. I like to throw in bread cubes I defrost from the freezer for a variety on traditional bread soup. Other toppings, splash of tabasco sauce, grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese or popped popcorn.

Easy peasy. Enjoy.

Bookstores in New Orleans

Paul and I are back from 4 days in New Orleans and already missing the chicory coffee and beignets from Cafe Du Monde, the rooftop pool and views at the Omni Royal Orleans, the jazz at Fritzel's and playing pool at Molly's and Fahy's Pubs.

We spent our days wandering the French Quarter and Garden District and our evenings listening to music on Bourbon Street, enjoying cocktails in the Hotel Monteleone and the Ritz Carlton and indulging on Southern cooking at Stella and Muriel's.

During our ramblings we poked through dusty bookstores and an old carriage house behind a Garden District Library full of books and maps for a book sale. I bought 2 books, an 1897 edition of Amos Judd by J.A. Mitchell and a 1945 illustrated edition of The Sir Roger de Coverley Papers from The Spectator, London: 1711-1712.

If you are visiting New Orleans here is a list of bookstores to pay a visit too:

• Arcadian Books, 714 Orleans Street, The French Quarter
• Beckham's Book Store, 228 Decatur Street, The French Quarter
• Crescent City Books, 230 Chartres Street, The French Quarter
• Dauphine Street Books, 410 Dauphine Street, The French Quarter
• Garden District Book Shop, 2727 Prytania Street, Garden District
• Librairie Books, 823 Chartres Street, The French Quarter
• Maple Street Used & Rare Books, 7523 Maple Street, Garden District

And don't miss the Friends of the New Orleans Public Library book sale every Wednesday and Saturday in the Carriage House behind the Latter Library Branch on St. Charles Avenue.