Tuesday 30 August 2011

Summer 2011

Summer

is all about

Ice cream



and reading at one's leisure


 
Home cooking


Our village


Welcoming a new relative


(and paying our respects to an old and loved one)

Gardening



Camping


sun and sea


I hope your summer was good

 
love, Irene

Monday 22 August 2011

Bottega Veneta Living

I know Bottega Veneta from the lovely signature pattern of its chicissimi leather goods.


I find it interesting that its devotion to perfection is reflected in the creation of residential areas, 
like this one in Rome.




I love the mushroom backdrop, perfectly relaxing and very chic, 
accentuated by the lovely mustard and red, reflecting the colours of the eternal city.

It is the same attitude towards colour that appears in the firm's Early Autumn collection




Proof that good taste and solid craftsmanship will last and last bringing comfort and pleasure.



Live a tasteful life,

love, Irene

Saturday 20 August 2011

Embroidering Dreams

Embroidery is to me the most relaxing of the womanly arts.


As a teenager, whenever I had exams time approaching,  I began an embroidery project. 
It kept my hands busy during the season, it freed my mind and filled my eyes with beauty.
 It also gave me a sense of purpose, a beginning and an end, a tangible target as I was working towards achieving my goals at school. I can surely attest that it worked pretty well. 

 Over time I began many an embroidery project, finishing some, like a lovely Cherub Angels cross stitch with my in-laws' innitials for their 40th Anniversary that takes pride of place above their bed, 
while having some sit quietly in their bags, 
like the Wedding Sampler I began for me and my husband when we first moved here, fourteen years ago. It is not coincidential I think, that one of the first things I bought as we were settling here was this embroidery. 
 This year I bought a canvas from a shop that was closing down. 
It is printed on the local traditional style. I hope to do it one day, to remind me of our years in this part of the world. Is it a coincidence? I wonder.

 I admire many women who like to embroider and do so with grace and pizzazz. 

DMC France


 DMC is my floss of choice. Athough I have also worked with Anchor but very rarely. 
I found out that DMC is doing a 3-day course in their headquarters in Mulhouse, France, this coming September. The theme will be Gardens of the 18th c. 
Mmm! 

The course costs 750 Euros, so I don't know how many of us would afford to go. However, there is a Greek company of the Mouzakis family, who famously is the most loyal Greek tax payer, and they represent DMC in Greece. Now, if they would like to sponsor me, I tell you, I'd throw my hat and go!




love, Irene

Friday 19 August 2011

Found...a moment in Time


Bringing childish fantasies in mind
A magical moment in time
{see more here}
love, Irene

Fashion Fridays: Painted nails

Carefully 
Lovingly 
painted nails 
say 
"I care about me"


natural shell pinks are easy to wear and girly


pinks are summery, joyful, bold.


My French tutor used to wear this very shade. 
Her boyish fun meets femme fatale style shaped my 20s. 
{Thank You for everything}


These are so fun, so perfect for chic Wintertime

and they'd all match my basic wardrobe of beige and oyster. 

Though
Sometimes, 
one gets tempted to get bolder
and have even more fun



Like when my daughter painted her nails patriotic blue-red-and-white

Or
when Sarah Palin got into polka dots



Go Sarah, Go!

Images #1,#2,#3,#4 via Tumblr, #5 by Joules, #6 Happy Turtle, #7 Huffington Post.

Linking to




Enjoy!



love, Irene

Thursday 18 August 2011

What would you do with your Life?




Vitality shows in not only the ability
to persist but the ability to start over".

-F.SCOTT FITZGERALD

If you could 
overcome the fear of the unknown
what would you do with your precious
 Life?


Here is what I would do


a) Open an ice-cream parlour in a North European country.

b) Make a caravan tour of Europe with my husband and kids.

c) Work on a cruiser.

d) Open a restaurant on a tropical island.

e) Open a deli with gourmet Greek finger food in New York.

f) Work for my two Lifestyle icons:

 Lilly Pulitzer, designing the most delicious outfits and developping new markets.

Oprah, and live the excitement of TV, journalism and publishing on a top level.


What would YOU do?



  love, Irene

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Fresh Summer Rooms



via






:: Holding on to Summer ::

love, Irene

Friday 12 August 2011

Fashion Fridays: The it-bags of "la rentrée"

I have a weakness for handbags.
Travel bags
Shoulder bags
Bucket bags.
I love them.
I believe they are portable works of art.
They are the shelter of my world
a portable world of
my favorite gris-gris
my book
my diary
etc
etc
etc
...
I don't purchase signature bags.
I think I stopped just before I got married and dressed up in my adult life
I'll show you one day
:)

Now,
that doesn't mean I am not interested in bags
oh!
my heart skips a little at a lovely little gem like this



It's all in the details
...


Chanel 4 ever


Cute baby blue



On craque pour le bamboo handle de Gucci

Classic with a rock twist


Hmm
I am more likely to carry something like this at work


Mom would approve of this Chloe number. 

Elle magazine's "Les it-bags de la rentree" via Paris Breakfasts.


Linking to



Hope you enjoyed today's window shopping :)
love, Irene

Friday's Fabulous Finds: Pillows and pom poms

Friday, Friday 
This week i got to tour a little some of you know cause i stopped by and said hello 
Here is what;s new and what i liked most 

I love pom poms and i found this tutorial that is justgreat
and the end result is so chic yet playful!

Mondo pom pillow via Living with Punks
 Those are creative, motherly or cherished aunterly hands in my vocabulary!

And
Amy Butler has some wonderful pillow patterns like the
Gum Drop Pillows
that I really love!

Lo-ve-ly!
A pom pom garland?
I love it for a Fall/Winter party!
Now
if you don't have the time or the inclination to make pom poms yourself, there are lovely
Martha Stewart Pom Poms
too!

Hope you feel inspired and amused!


 love, Irene

Best buys