Have a splashy weekend

Hi friends, the weekend is here!  I'm crazy happy it's finally Friday.  Do you have special plans, now that the weather is turning warm?  It will be in the 60s throughout the weekend in DC, and those are really good news. Gone are the days when my husband and I could easily do date nights or just meet up with friends.  Nowadays we stay in, put the baby to bed, and have a dinner and movie in the coziness of our living room.  Tonight we will be watching Ides of March with George Clooney and Ryan Gosling.  I love political thrillers, as a former political blogger, it's deep in my system. We have been on a Gosling movie streak lately, and this movie comes highly recommended.   Other good news I want to share with you is my most recent splurge and purchase, the Nikon SLR d3100. I got a good deal from Amazon and I will be trying it out this weekend. So excited!  I hope you all have a wonderful, splashy, sunny, relaxing weekend, and if you feel like we browsing, check out these links.

Cute felt DIY flowers

Got cinnamon?  10 Cool facts you should know

Would you join in saving Milano?

This yummy tomato soup

Sweets that make my mouth melt

Maia's secret is so inspiring!

Hipster branding is cool

I always wanted to go to Greece!


Living in Green Card, as if she could afford an apt. like this!

This mesh skirt is so pretty!

This incredible double vanity is so affordable!

Yummy sugar buns!

Easter in a box, the adult version and the kid version

{Photo images via}

The Goodbye Girl apartment

This kitchen is so stunningly organized and spacious (a dining table in the middle)

I love movies. During my college years, I used to be a movie theater manager and got to watch all the movies I wanted for free. Sometimes, when the movie was a big blockbuster, we used to play it, the night before it opened, for our employees, mostly kids in college too. That's when my love for movies began. Dinner and a movie was something I did with all my boyfriends back in the days, and with my now husband as well. And part of the love I feel for movies, is the production set decoration and film photography, which becomes a very important piece of the whole film. The other day, I was flipping channels and came across The Goodbye Girl, a 70s movie based in NYC starring a single mother (Marsha Mason) and her 7 year old, who live in Manhattan and become close friends with a theater actor (Richard Dreyfuss). This movie is so witty and romantic.  But it's her apartment I really love. She redecorates it half way through the movie, in a style that's making the rounds in many current design magazines. I apologize for the picture qualities, they were taken with my phone. The real location of the apartment in New York City.

I love the soft beige colors in this corner of the apt.

Before renovation

After renovation

The fireplace mirror is gorgeous, and the hanging plant by the window was so late 70s.

This hanging tapestry is beautiful, and gives the bedroom its distinctive flair

I was trying to capture her low standing vanity, it's so old Hollywood, isn't gorgeous?

The tapestries on the wall bring texture and dimension to the living room

I was going for the mirror in this shot

In the kitchen

{Spring onion pesto linguini} 

Can you tell I am nuts about pasta. Yeap, pretty insane! Especially when it's served in a light sauce. So, today's recipe is a perfect dish for Spring and it comes to you via The Kitchen Finesse blog.  This dish is so easy to make there's really no need for instructions and ingredients list. Just toss some spring onions, basil, Parmesan, garlic, pistachios (or any other nut you like) and olive oil into a food processor and add to some cooked pasta.  My secret is adding a bit of lemon zest to the sauce to brighten up and add a new dimension to the flavor.  It's so good.  Bon Apetitit, my friends!

{Images and recipe via The Kitchen Finesse}

Breakfast in a tray

 © Andre de Dienes Estate- Marilyn Monroe, Breakfast in Bed, Bel Air Hotel, 1953

I can't remember the last time I had breakfast in bed. This is one of the sweet perks of taking a relaxing vacation. Well, I think it's about time I had some really, yummy breakfast in bed. Plus I need a vacation.  Don't these breakfast trays look delicious and beautiful! Let's all get inspired to have breakfast in bed this weekend, shall we?

(Photo source}

{Photo via}

{Photo source The New Tiffany Table Settings, "Breakfast in Bed" by Mario Buatta, via A Lovely Being}

(Photo: Martha Stewart}

{Photo via}

{Photo source}

An unusual day at the playground

I hate it when we make assumptions.  Today at the playground, assumptions were made, both ways.  I was on the floor with Emilu under the shade and there was a foreign-looking guy (a parent) close to us.  I had seen him by the swings with his daughter and wife.  During one casual glance at them, I caught him, jealously nodging his wife away, who was pushing the swing and loudly laughing with her daughter. They looked Middle Eastern. I made no big deal out of this.  All family dynamics are different, and yet, special.

Cherry blossoms in our neighborhood

Did you know is the 100th anniversary of the cherry blossom trees around the tidal basin in the Mall? The trees were a gift from the Japanese government to the US government as a gift of "growing friendship." Every year we watch them spring out and delightfully enjoy their presence around the city.  Are there any cherry blossoms around your neighborhood?

Have a Spring-full weekend

{Image via Kate Spade}

Hello, friends!  I know I have been posting sporadically lately but I hope to return in full swing Monday.  Life just got in the way these past days.  What are you up to this weekend?  I'm so excited to bring  back to life our patio's plants and flowers.  So we are headed to the hardware store to get some fresh Spring plants.  Also, our parents are renovating their master bathroom, and have asked my husband for design tips, and so we are going to stop by Home Depot to see the materials they have chosen, and also choose a new vinyl floor for our own rental apt. kitchen.  Hurray!  Down the road, I have plans to put chalkboard paint in one of the kitchen walls.  I can't wait.  Also, Spring is here!  So make sure you get some Spring cleaning done and a  fresh splash of color to your wardrobe.  And as always, here are a few links I have enjoyed this week.

Crazy about this diy door organizer

Inspired by Spring,  the tangerine dream 

Food styling at its best!

I would love to spend a weekend in this cottage retreat!

A Springful dose of quirkiness

I must say Brooklyn has the most inspiring residents

Another Brooklyn home gets beautifully renovated

The Socialite Family project is a bit elitist, but aren't we all a bit snobbish?

The truth about "cage-free" eggs and what to do about it

{Image via This is Glamourous}

Under a spell: Downton Abbey

Throughout my life, there's always been some degree of obsessiveness, and I've managed to keep it under wraps or, at least, out of plain sight.  However, there are moments when gloom threatens to override everything and all you want to do is comfort yourself with that, which brings you joy. And that for me, right now, is Downton Abbey.

My mother left us last week, after a breezy stay and I introduced her to the British series. The last episodes were watched late at night, sprawled under the covers with the lights off.  Now that she's gone and I'm missing her dearly -something that can only be understood by the special close bond we share with each other, and explained when the tight ropes of new motherhood seem to be overwhelming- I been under a spell.

I have watched the last episode, the Christmas special over and over again.  The war is finally over, there's a sense of normalcy and a desire to start anew. Each scene is like a forbidden elixir that can only be enjoyed by watching more of it. I can't helped but be saddened by Mr. Bates' fate, and uplifted by Daisy's new found family ties.  It's comforting to encounter Sir Anthony Strallan once more in Edith's path.  And how about that Wintery tablescape from the shoot's luncheon.  I pinned it immediately! And finally, what we all have been waiting for:  The coming together of Matthew and Mary under Lavinia's blessing, for course.

But really, it's much more than that. I've come to love the house and its people, and can't stop thinking about the mechanics and sentiments of that prescribed lifestyle.  What fates does lady Grantham dreams for her daughters?  What real yearning does O'Brien harbor?  What happens to Ethel and her boy?  Where do all those hunting dogs live?  Will Thomas' cowardly ways ever resurface?  I'm obsessed with the upstairs and downstairs, and if it wasn't for everyday commitments, I would be adrift with my own obsession.  Luckily, I can only dream of this.

The bells are ringing now and the Servant's Ball is about to commence.  Lord Grantham and Matthew whiskey up for the event.  This is where it gets teary for me.  The upstairs and downstairs come together to dance and to welcome the new year.  Some things remain unturned, while others get shaken up, and as long as there's hope, all will be fine in their eyes.  I bid farewell to Carson, Anna and Mrs. Hughes; send my good wishes to Edith and Mary, and of course, Sybil; my prayers to Mr. Bates and William's father, a friendly wink at Daisy and Mrs. Pathmore.  And lastly, a very warm embrace to Lord Grantham for keeping it together no matter what life throws at him.  It's time for the obsession to become a life lesson, for every character's lifeline is a lesson in disguise.

{Images via Hello Magazine}

Sweet Paul magazine Spring issue

So excited for the Spring issue of Sweet Paul Magazine. I only started following it late last year thanks to Maria from Jamie Says Dream.

Sweet Paul's recipes are not the only sweet, tasty things I get excited about, like this Croque Madame. The magazine is a sanctuary of rustic style, simple living and overall inspiration. Go see for yourself. 

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Emilu's Birth Story

I’d like to tell you about the time I got it in my head I wanted a natural childbirth. That’s right.  I wanted to experience the raw pain, the ring of fire and the love hormones flooding my body.  You say crazy right?  I say, delusional. But before I begin to recount my experience, I ask you: Why are we in America so obsessed with childbirth?  I get it, it’s special, a memory that lives in us for the rest of our lives.  But aren’t we missing something? It’s not the defining moment people romanticize about.  When everything is said and done, you file it in the back of your mind and then the real work begins. What I took from my birth story is this: Labor is unpredictable and strenuous and childbirth is a jubilant but tiny event in the life of you and your baby. What’s really transformative is the aftermath. It’s both, Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Aphrodite’s craft. And despite recent literature of the New Age kind, it doesn’t matter much how, when and where your baby is born.  Childbirth doesn’t change you. Child bonding does. A bond you will weave from the love, patience, tolerance and compassion you are suddenly endowed with.

Laboring at home

A place to hide

Photo by Daniele Martinie

Hello, friends, I'm sorry I have been away. I''m in the middle of a blogging crisis. Suddenly blogging seems too hard and superfluous in my state of being.  I'm overwhelmed and tired all the time.  Being a stay at home mom, while still trying to keep up with my domestic activities has taken a toll, and blogging has slipped from my priorities. I honestly don't know how some moms out there do it.  Besides, I'm longing for something more substantial and rewarding.  I love to write on my blog, and love reading people's comments and browsing other blogs, but what I truly love doing, to write, has taken a back seat and made me question so many things in my life. Until I figure out some things, it will be hard to blog from a true and honest point of view.  In the meantime, I will keep checking your spaces, because I truly enjoy visiting your blogs and getting inspired by you, especially now that I need it most. 

On motherhood

I love this shot of one of my favorite actresses, Selma Blair with her baby
son, Arthur. Oh joy!

(Image source US magazine}

In the kitchen

{Argentinian baked empanadas}

Source: nicolefranzen.blogspot.com via Patricia on Pinterest

I eat empanadas all the time.  It's one of my favorite appetizers.  When I visit Miami, my dad buys a bunch of them for Saturday's brunch from an Argentinian market around the house.  I always eat the spinach ones, but the onion, olives and cheese one it's to die for.  So, in the spirit of Saturday brunch in my house, and just because the days are getting warmer, I have decided I want to bake my own version, and this recipe from La Buena Vida is the perfect one to try.  This recipe is for caprese, and celery, onion and blue cheese empanadas, but really, you can stuff them with anything you like.  That's the beauty.  Buen provecho!

Inspired by kids: Cool bunk beds

I love the idea of bunk beds. They are charming and versatile, and of course, functional. Whether is part of a themed bedroom or a standalone feature in a room, the bunk bed renders any kids room a fun and whimsical getaway.

All images via Pinterest -some images are uncredited {the boo and the boy, apartment therapy family, noosh loves, and momtastic}