Genius

Pitti Uomo - Menswear S/S 2012

FrenchTrotters, a Parisian store by Clarent and Carole Dehlouz, put together this fantastic video while at Pitti Uomo! It's great report of streetwear, beautiful products and people. Especially if you like: Daiki Suzuki and Engineered Garments, Nigel Cabourn, Gitman Vintage, Mark McNairy and Woolrich Woolen Mills, Levi's Made & Crafted, Alden, Yuketen and Want Les Essentiels de la Vie.


FrenchTrotters at Pitti Uomo from FrenchTrotters on Vimeo.

What to wear today?

Just another rainy day @ the office .... Some Gucci to brighten things up :)

Everything is available @ net-a-porter

- Gucci, Printed silk scarf, €265
- Gucci, Large New Bamboo leather shoulder bag, €1,850
- Gucci, Sterling silver horsebit bracelet, €1,819.12
- Burberry, Short cotton-twill trench coat, €950
- MICHAEL Michael Kors, Stretch cotton-poplin shirt, €135
- A.L.C., Thomas wool flared pants, €360
- Jimmy Choo, Clue patent-leather slingbacks, €495

Really French

Love Badaude's eye on how to dress like a "française" or maybe even more like a Parisiene.

Go The F**K To Sleep

Hahaha just really funny bedtime story. I've been hearing about this book for some weeks now and just found this great read by Samual L. Jackson - It's really funny .... I don't know if it's an appropriate childrens bedtime story, but it sure is a great one for adults ;)!

Pierre Hermé

I don't think it would be crazy to go to Paris just to get these .....

Pierre Hermé

Talent: Aelita Andre

Quite special ... Aelita Andre at work in her studio

The coolest restaurant, New Zealand

This is so cool!! If you are going to Auckland - New Zealand, please visit this Yellow Treehouse Restaurant.

It’s the treehouse we all dreamed of as children but could only do as an adult fantasy.

The tree-house concept is reminiscent of childhood dreams and playtime, fairy stories of enchantment and imagination . It’s inspired through many forms found in nature -the chrysalis/cocoon protecting the emerging butterfly/moth, perhaps an onion/garlic clove form hung out to dry. It is also seen as a lantern, a beacon at night that simply glows yet during the day it might be a semi camouflaged growth, or a tree fort that provides an outlook and that offers refuge.The plan form also has loose similarities to a sea shell with the open ends spiralling to the centre .

Access is via a 60m tree-top ‘accessible’ walkway –an adventure in itself.

Little messy braided bun

Some weeks I had a post about subtle braids and how cool they look this summer, this is the same style (with a youtube how to video at the end). All pictures and youtube instruction are by Maegan.

Or wear it lose ...

How to create this?

Dear Deer

Think this deer is just beautiful, it's by Gabrielle Elle, might get it for my home

Be the best you can be ...

Irena Sendler 1910-2008

A 98 year-old German woman named Irena Sendler died a couple of years ago. During WWII, Irena worked in the Warsaw Ghetto as a plumbing/sewer specialist. Irena smuggled Jewish children out; infants in the bottom of the tool box she carried and older children in a burlap sack she carried in the back of her truck. She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers wanted nothing to do with the dog, and the barking covered the kids’ and infants’ noises.

Irena managed to smuggle out and save 2500 children. She eventually was caught, and the Nazis broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar buried under a tree in her backyard.

After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived and reunited some of the families. Most had been killed. She helped those children get placement into foster family homes or adopted.

In 2007 Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected. Al Gore won.

Happy

The happiest people don't have the best of everything,

they just make the best of everyting!

A magical secret in New York

CH Presents: The Conjuring Arts Research Center from Cool Hunting on Vimeo.

Nestled in a hidden location in midtown Manhattan, the Counjuring Arts Research Center is ground zero for illusionists and historians alike. The Center provides a range of services, publishes scholarly journals, and teaches hospital-bound kids magic through its Hocus Pocus program. It is perhaps best known as home to one of the largest known collections of historic books, letters, and other media, which the center makes available online.

Bill Kalush, the center's founder and director, explains how he built the collection piece-by-piece and shows us some of its highlights.

Barrett Alley Bracelets

Prices about Euro 50,-

Hand made in Texas, Barrett Alley's makes the most beautiful bracelets and other leather accesories ( wallets, card holders) they state it's for men... but I'll wear the bracelets any day.

Made with love and care, each piece of leather is cut by hand with a knife and sewn together with linen thread using the same durable stitch that saddle makers have used for centuries. Strong vegetable tanned leathers and a double strength saddle stitch make them durable enough to pass on as an heirloom to the next generation.

More info and shop: Barrett Alley

Raspberry Scones (glutenfree)

A friend of mine is allergic to gluten - which is kind of tough if you enjoy life and thus love food ... So espcially for her this great recipe I found via Cannelle et Vanille.

Picture by: Cannelle et Vanille

This raspberry and oat scone recipe is an adaptation of one of Dorie Greenspan's recipes. In it a combination of brown rice, sorghum and tapioca flours in lieu of wheat flour and also, gluten-free oats. It workes great. They are hearty, yet soft and chewy from the oats. The raspberries add a touch of sour and freshness that I love, if you want to you can replace them for blueberries (but I prefer raspberries).

Picture by: Cannelle et Vanille

Gluten-Free Raspberry and Oat Scones (adapted from Dorie Greenspan)

150 grams (1 cup) superfine brown rice flour
50 grams (1/3 cup) sorghum flour
40 grams (1/3 cup) tapioca flour
150 grams(1 1/3 cup) gluten-free oats
75 grams (1/3 cup) cane sugar
20 grams (1 Tbs) baking powder
3 grams (1/2 tsp) baking soda
2 grams (1/2 tsp) xanthan gum
5 grams (1/2 tsp) salt
Zest of 1 lemon
140 grams (10 Tbs) cold butter or non-hydrogenated shortening
1 egg
110 grams (1/2 cup) cold buttermilk (I used coconut milk with 1 tsp lemon juice)
75 grams (3/4 cup) raspberries, fresh or frozen

Picture by: Cannelle et Vanille

Put the butter in the freezer for 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the first 9 ingredients. Take the butter out of the freezer and grate it into the dry ingredients using a box grater. If you don't have a box grater, then just cut it into small pieces (no need to freeze) and work it into the flour. Coat the grated butter with the flour and spread it throughout.

Whisk the egg and buttermilk together and add it to the flour and butter mixture. Fold using a spatula or your hands until flour moist. It will be lumpy and chunky. Just press it together with your hands. Add the raspberries and fold.

Picture by: Cannelle et Vanille

Pat to a disk that is about 1/2" thick and cut using a cookie cutter or knife. Place the scones on a baking sheet and brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake at 400F (200C) for about 18 minutes or until golden.

Picture by: Cannelle et Vanille

Get Striped

Striped shirts and tshirts always look great, they really fit the current preppy look that's going on.

And what's really sexy combine a stripe with some "off the shoulder"

How to cook like an Italian Mamma

Pictures by: Hip Paris Blog

Just read a great post by Hip Paris Blog about Steve Brenner and his wife Linda Martinez. They moved to Rome with the dream of opening an eco-friendly hotel and indulging in delicious Italian food.

Pictures by: Hip Paris Blog

Here are some of Steve's tips mentioned in the post to create a dinner like an Italian mamma.

It’s not about precision and elaboration. Instead, it’s about knowing what to leave out and how to combine a few simple, but seriously tasty, things for maximum flavor.
If you read non-Italian language cookbooks in an attempt to find these secrets, look out – you are being deceived. Perhaps it’s a conspiracy by Italian grandmothers to keep the uniqueness of the Italian kitchen from being too accurately reproduced outside the boot, but the truth is (and I may be at risk with the food police for spilling this information) Italian recipes are not reproduced faithfully by English speaking writers. Italians would almost never use 1 whole onion in a pasta sauce (and Italian onions are about 1/4 the size of an American one). Two tablespoons of oil? Ha! I guffaw when I see a recipe that asks for 2 tablespoons of oil. I go through about a liter of oil a week.

For those of you without a bona-fide Italian Mamma, here are a few pointers to start you out based on many years of scrounging around Italian kitchens and the Mamme who preside over them:
1 - Don’t be shy with the oil. When first learning Italian I was searching for the word for lettuce and asked my friend, “How do you call it – the main part of the salad?” He replied, “Steve, the oil is the main part of the salad.” Don’t forget that wisdom – oil is liquid gold in Italy.
2 - Salt. Invest in good salt (sea salt is my preference) and salt your pasta water well – and I don’t mean a sprinkle or a pinch. In Italian it’s a pugna (fistful), and a couple is the right amount.
3 – I don’t care what you’ve heard or what arguments this might spawn: there is no cream in pasta carbonara. When in doubt, leave it out and add more oil (see nr. 1).
4 – Grana Padano is NOT the same thing as Parmiggiano Reggiano. Second rate cheese makes for second rate pasta.

Pictures by: Hip Paris Blog

I’ll share with you the most important secret of all, the most crucial measurement used in Italian cooking: quanto basta, or otherwise commonly seen as q.b in Italian language recipes. Quanto basta means “however much is enough”.

Steve and Linda keep a great blog about their experiences http://www.the-beehive.com/beehiveblog

Gucci spring summer 2011

You know they are gonna be a classic when you buy them, next year or the year after ... The older and more worn they get the more beautiful they get. Ofcourse I'm talking about my Gucci bags....

Really like their "new" selection for this season

Combine it with one of these belts

Combine with these georgeous platform open toe pumps

Or with these great sunglasses

Combine with these beautiful sexy heels

And for the guys .... what to think about this tote .... wouldn't mind owning it myself (be great to carry my laptop).

Everything is available @ Gucci

Buckle Up!

Love this belt by Topshop, price approx Euro 40,=

Picture and worn by: Sandra

Back in the office

To be honest ... today will be the first day I have to go back to the office and, after such a great holiday and a couple of wonderful days back home, I am not really looking forward to it. To make it a bit more fun, feel good, so I'll get through the day ok the best recipe for me is: put a little extra attention to my clothes, make up and hair .... makes any girl feel better instantly.

My inspiration for today? It will be a copy from this great outfit (including allstars and jeans shirt). I'll just add some bangles, which I bought in Portugal, to remind me of the great time had.

Picture by: Garance Doré

MK's style

Lately I really appreciate MK's look

Apple galette

Delicious and so easy to make and you'll for sure impress your guests with it, just watch this cute short video.

P.s. I always use brown sugar and add cinnamon to the apples. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

the apple galette from rachelchew on Vimeo.

Ingredients Apple Galette (serves 2 to 4):

For the dough
* 1 cup flour (I used a 50/50 mix of white and wheat)

* 1/2 teaspoon sugar

* 1/8 teaspoon salt

* 6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

* chilled water, as needed (I used about 6 tbsp)

For the filling
* 2 medium apples peeled, cored and sliced

* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
* 1/4 cup sugar (more or less depending on how tart your apples are)
* turbinado sugar for topping (optional)

Ofcourse if you want to change the apples for, for instance, strawberry and rhubard - or add pear to the apple... possibilities are limitless ;)

The sun. The surf. The salt air. The lifeguards.

When in Portugal, really appreciated the lifeguards ... a pretty sight. The appeal of those bronzed, zinc-nosed gods of the shoreline is one photographer Matt Albiani understands implicitly. Albiani has spent the last couple of years shooting lifeguards all across America. Check out some of his photos from his book Lifeguard on Duty.

Little crush: Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen - "When I believe in something, I fight like hell for it."

Steve McQueen - 
"Ill never be as good an actor as I want to be....but I'll be good."

Steve McQueen - "Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting."

David Foster about Steve McQueen -
"He was a fascinating, crazy, irascible, roguish, likable, dislikable guy. Yes, he was all those things."

Back in town