Friday 29 July 2011

Friday's Fabulous Finds-My Godmother's apartment

Some spaces stay in my mind, although there may be years since I visited them.
My godmother's apartment in Athens is one such place.
Stacked in a quiet street, off an old Athenian road, it is in my mind an icon of elegant bourgeois living.









This apartment reminds me of her apartment every little bit.
The boiserie walls.
The library of my godfather.
The green velvet couch, same as the one in my house!
The stacked dishes.
The telephone on the wallpapered kitchen wall.

Times...


See it all here.


love, Irene

Thursday 28 July 2011

Pink and Green and a {Palm} Beach Story

In my beach bag...


A fabulous issue of T&C



featuring an article cum interview with the author of my most recent book purchase, Celerie Kemble: To Your Taste: Creating Modern Rooms with a Traditional Twist.



This Palm Beach royalty, has created on of my two most favorite pink and green rooms ever.
Absolutely wonderful, it opens my heart like a breath of fresh air.

Chic and Fun.





Celerie Kemble's childhood was in many ways a design tutorial spent in construction sites, antique stores, and in the unique homes designed by her mother, Mimi McMakin.  After concentrating in English Literature she graduated from Harvard and quickly succumbed to what she calls a compulsion for design and home improvement.  For 12 years she has been working as a much publicized residential and commercial interior designer based out of New York City.  The office now boasts six designers and an influx of interns working with clients in The Dominican Republic, Puglia Italy, Texas, Amagansett, Bridgehampton, and Manhattan.
"In life as in design, it is not perfection you should be after.  There's beauty in the faded and worn, the well loved, and the sentimental...After all, life has seams. Your home should be like a loosely woven fabric of desires, memories, practical, notions, and even compromises."  - Celerie Kemble


I absolutely loved the book by Celerie Kemble of Kemble Interiors and I shall be making a separate post about it. She really knows and loves her subject.


Linking to 











love, Irene

Saturday 23 July 2011

Friday's Fabulous Finds

Hello dear friends,
Can you believe it's been a week since I last posted?
Oh dear! 
I hope you are all doing fine.
We have  the Summer Clearance Sale going on at the shop right now.
We have also being doing some work at home, digging into five houses worth of  much loved items. 
Books reminding us of book fairs, beautiful summers on the beach and winters in my favorite arm chair, embroideries, jewellery supplies, kids clothes now too small that they never even put on...
When were they so small?
These will be making their way to Happy Turtle-The Shop and the new Shop my Closet section of my blog that will be here soon. 
Today I added some lovely jewellery supplies, in white, cream and gold and a Thesaurus of turquoise, perfect for busy little hands, necks and ears!



I wish you a sunny and warm weekend,

love, Irene

Friday 15 July 2011

Fashion Fridays: Women of Style-and a man

Some women do have it. Style, that is.




SJP for Vogue
{Thank you Vogue for letting us read your cover story. No wonder you are Queen of the press}


Portrait of a lady
Lee Radziwill 


Queen on the making.
Natural and unassuming, the Duchess of Cambridge commands the admiring attention of Southern sweetheart Reese Witherspoon and fellow onlookers.
{via the Daily Mail}

...
and the man
Greek fashion designer Angelos Bratis takes
first place in the prêt-à-porter at the seventh annual Who Is On Next competition, 
held by Italian Vogue and Alta Roma


Got to love women
...

Linking to 





love, Irene

Wednesday 13 July 2011

Un bel été grec

"Un bel été grec"


That's how my favorite summer magazine puts it. And I have no reason to say otherwise. A Greek summer is as summery as it gets. 
A very talented fellow Greek and fellow blogger posted some lovely summer vacation pictures and memories recently. Lovely summer, isn't it? Nothing fancy. I like what she said about it, "the care-free way of living life, the don’t-worry-about-tomorrow type of lifestyle".

That's what we are hanging on tight to. And what you should hang on to. The French have a phrase for it that very much expresses my own feelings right now: "Vivre au jour le jour". Live each day as it comes.

That's one thing this present situation is teaching us, I told my youngest daughter today. To be present. To be thankful for what we have. To be free from want.

This time last summer I wouldn't dream of going through this time of the year without my favorite magazine. Although I subscribed to Cote Sud, I bought it while on vacation because I couldn't wait to get home and put my hands on it. Yeah, I am part of Greece's economic crisis, but look where my money went!

One of the things I love about the French language is la poesie. There is something inherently poeic in the way French words are uttered. When I get Cote Sud in my hands, the first page I go to is the editorial. I love the way Françoise Lefébur writes. i read it out aloud. I read it silently. i let it sink in.


"Plein bleu soleil au balcon de l’été ! On en rêvait. On l’attendait comme un
panier de vacances rempli à ras bord d’azur léger, de bleu d’Egée, de bleu de
mer, du bleu de Cadaqués, d’un bleu baignade ou du bleu des îles d’Or. Alors,
ni une ni deux, on plonge. On s’éclabousse les yeux par un bel hommage à l’eau
précieuse interprété aux 4 côtés de nos magazines (Sud-Ouest-Est-Paris) par nos
photographes et stylistes, tandis que l’on rapporte sur la tablée des envies une
bonne pêche d’assiettes méditerranéennes. Pour être tendance, on enroule la
maison dans un paréo d’indigo tie & dye et on la laisse vivre, heureuse, sans
façon et plus belle que jamais dans sa toute simple déco estivale, un brin dénudée,
un rien délurée. Elle s’inspire ici et là des intérieurs radieux, adopte le style
Costa Brava, ibicenco, gréco-sérifien... Elle craque aussi pour le look cabane
Robinson des temps actuels, le blanc de chaux contemporain ou un dedansdehors très Ramatuelle. Ils deviennent totalement incontournables, ces nouveaux
refuges de l’amitié et du partage, ceux qui accueillent les journées copains autour
d’une authentique bouillabaisse et ceux du bon vivre en terrasse. Les balades
à Porquerolles, à Port-Cros, ou dans les Cyclades sont plus que jamais les
bienvenues... Et si vous vous échappiez avec nous ? A l’horizon, la lumière vogue
sur le bleu bonheur. Alors, vive l’été et cap au Sud !

Françoise Lefébur

Although i miss all the wonderful photography, the well written texts, the thrill of leafing through, the smell of the printed paper, i cherish this little piece of summer.

I love people and companies who are generous. Thank you Cote Sud for letting me have this little piece of summer. my summer. 
C'est le mérite de la poésie qui a mille petitesportes de planches pour une porte de pierremillesorties au jour le jour pour une gloire triomphale.
{Paul Eluard}






P.S. To the French people: I think you didn't do well to kill your kings. In fact what a horrible thing to do. I do love your new king, queen and baby, though. So, do have a lovely national holiday. Vive la France.



love, Irene

Tuesday 12 July 2011

5 good things


Five good things happening right now

Reading  a most beneficial, soul enriching book by the late Athonite monk Paisios. Forget every psychobubble you've heard or read. This is the stuff of God. 

A whole bunch of previously unread/untouched or much read and loved books are finding their way to my shop so make sure you stock up on beach reading in bargain prices.


Collecting pictures of summer beauty. I am being choosie-only what really matters. Like this one. A cane chair to read and relax. A big table for family and friends. Nature.
And colour.


There is something about turquoise and orange that makes the combination invigorating and very modern. Love it! 
(Picture people, don't know where I got your photos, just drop me a line and I will gladly acknowledge you. Thanks for the eye candy!)

Having the in-laws stay with us for a week. Sometimes it's good not to be a grown up. 


love, Irene

Monday 4 July 2011

Catching Up!

Hello Dear Friends,
and a very special Hello to my friends across the Atlantic. 
May God bless and guide your great nation.



I have been off blogging for a few days. 
Funny how one cannot make a very simple straight forward post-a-day. 
I hope to stick to the plan a little bit more in the next few days. 

Here's our news.

J is on his first Cub Scout camp!
He left on Sunday and will be back this coming Sunday. 
Having been a Cub Scout Leader myself, I am a little more relaxed about it, so far, but I think C is rather miserable. He looks forward to speaking to him today during rest time. 
Can't blame him. after all, J is our baby!

We have some nice warm days here. 
We collected the first cucumber from our garden, and C made us a tzatziki on Sunday. 
Quite striaghtforward really. 
You need Greek yoghurt, garlic vloves and cucumber in thin slices  and olive oil, mix together and ta-da! your Greek dip, perhaps with some pita bread,  is ready! 
The whole trick is in the details, the balance of garlic, according to your or your guests' tastes. It takes practice, but it's worth it. 

We have C's parents here for a week or more. 
And then next Sunday F goes to Boy Scout Camp on the same site. 
I have the fondest memories of my Summer camps. Hope the kids will have a great time, too! 

Remember my book review about Maria Menounos' new book The EveryGirl's Guide to Life ?
Here is an interview of Maria with Jenny Balatsinou, one of Greece's top models turned into a beauty entrepreneur, and wife to Greece's hotest magazine editor or so some think ;)



Anyhow,
I wish you all a lovely festive day.
See you soon,


love, Irene

Friday 1 July 2011

Fashion Fridays: Summer Heels


Ah! Happy Turtle's fashion rendez-vous.

Though you are most likely to see me wearing shoes like this

as in


or like these 


as in 



I confess I love these shoes


The most fun ~ chic ~ cheerful pair of shoes ever :)


 :linking to:



images: net-a-porter

Have fun, 

love, Irene

Best buys