I ♥ RESORT COLLECTIONS

Resort Collections are always so much fun. I normally love the bright summer colors, but the Alexander McQueen 2012 Resort Collection was all neutrals. It was beautiful! It may be my obsession with everything Spanish since I married my sweetheart, but I think the spanish "matador" influence makes this collection. Beautiful!

Love everything about this dress, and with a few extra inches on the sleeve, it would be perfect! 

I'm in love with this jacket! When I'm rich and famous, it will be my first purchase!  

Love the handbag

Pictures from style.com

I ♥ COOKING

So I normally don't post things I have made myself, but today will be an exception. I love, love, LOVE cooking! I especially enjoy cooking for my dear husband. There is nothing better than cooking for those you love! It makes me so happy and to me it's one of the best ways to get inspired. I rarely follow a recipe (not that I think there is ANYTHING wrong with that at all, it's just the opposite, but as soon as I start mixing ingredients my brain starts going "what if I added this?" and "I wonder what it would taste like if I did this?"... I can't help it!). Something that I started doing a couple of months ago is taking pictures after I've cooked a meal. I didn't really intend to post them anywhere. It's more like a food journal. It's too often that I make new things and then COMPLETELY forget about that dish. I though this would be a good way to keep a little record of some of my favorite things I've tried out.

Since my sweet husband started his diet, I've been making tons of healthy foods. Here are a few of them!

This one was a ricotta/beef stuffed manicotti

Pork chops, garlic mashed potatoes+gravy, herbed broccoli

Salad with a bunch of stuff, parmesan couscous, basa fish

During Spring we got to enjoy this beautiful garden

the weather was perfect for an outdoor breakfast. It was my favorite part of spring

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice + mini pizza (I ran out of mozzarella)

breakfast turkey+ spinach omelette sandwich

Strawberry Pear smoothie with coconut milk

Spinach/sun-dried tomatoes/fetta cheese stuffed pork chops with a mustard sauce

beef stroganoff with steamed/herbed veggies 

Savory ground beef crepes with creamy cheese sauce

chicken lettuce wraps

Seared Salmon Salad + Basil, asiago cheese artisan bread topped with mediterranean tomatoes

chicken/spinach/tomatoes/red bell peppers/ lemon butter sauce pasta

Pork ribs + corn/pepper risotto + roasted garlic asparagus

After announcing on facebook that I was makingthe pork ribs above, my sweet cousin Marjorie asked for the recipe. Here it goes! Sorry the measurements aren't very specific - just another problem of cooking recipe-less.

Costelinha de Porco:

2 pounds of country style boneless pork ribs
4 large garlic cloves
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
2-3 bay leaves
1 beef bouillon cube (I actually used the "costelinha" flavored one my mom brings from Brazil)
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Just add 1/2 tbsp of olive oil to a large pot, add the ribs and garlic and brown the meat for just a little bit to seal the juices in. Add all the other ingredients together. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 45min to 1 hour stirring periodically. It should only take about an hour, but if the meat is not tender enough, just add a little more water and let it cook for a while longer. Once the meat is to the desired tenderness, just take the lid off, turn the heat to medium high and stir until all water is evaporated you you are left with a little bit of a thick sauce covering the meat. Super easy!

I ♥ PERFUME

I believe that one of the senses that is the most neglected in design is smell. We are always concerned about how things look and feel, even how things sound, but when it comes to design, smelling if often forgotten. I am so grateful for the ability to smell. I think there are few things more pleasant in life than hugging someone, or greeting someone with a kiss and sensing the delicious smell of perfume. I love it when I put my hair up in a bun when it is still wet, and hours later let it down and the fragrance from my shampoo is still there. I love how powerful odors can be, and how they can trigger your memory so quickly. I will never forget the smell of my mom's house. Every single time I go there, as soon as I go through the threshold I can smell cleanliness and the sutil perfume of whatever home scent she has plugged in.

Anybody who knows me knows I LOVE food. Now that's an art form that takes smell seriously.

Anyhow, this post is actually about something that combines great design and great scent - perfume!

I love perfume, and never go a day without it. So here is a compilation of some of my favorite designs and all time favorite perfumes! 

How about you? What is your favorite perfume? I would love to know! =)

 

I ♥ FEMININE FASHION

Now here is a fashion designer who's work I truly admire: Elie Saab. I love the fact that he makes such feminine and delicate collections. Did you know that he is a self taught designer? Talk about a God-given gift! Some people are just born to do certain things. Elie Saab was born in Beirut, Lebanon and loves fashion design since he was young. When he was only 9 years old he would sketch dresses and make them out of his mother's curtains and tablecloths for his sisters to wear. Soon his fame spread around the neighborhood. Can you believe he opened his couture atelier when he was 18? He went to Paris to study fashion design, but became quickly bored and that's when he decided to open up shop. I love the fact that he is a family man, married for 21 years and has 3 children.  Bravo Elie Saab. I hope someday I can at least see one of these gowns with my own eyes (what I really want is to wear one of them, but lets get real, I'll be content just touching it!) He has been an official member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture since 2003, and his REady to Wear Collections are amazing as well.

Here are some of my favorite dresses from his Haute Couture Spring 2011 Collection. I am in love with the color palette and natural airy flow of the dresses. My favorites are the pale pink ones! 

You can check out the whole collection here.

(pictures from www.elle.com)

I think this is my very favorite one!

I'm In love with this dress! 

I ♥ OPERA

Magazine cover by Italian Artist Leonetto Cappiello - one of the pioneers of modern advertising

Here are some of his posters:

Now enough about Capiello and on with what this post is really about. Today's inspiration is opera. I love opera, specially Italian opera. I love the costumes, the music, the acting, the sutil humor and everything else about it.Yesterday night my husband and I spent a couple of hours listening to our favorite ones, like Rigoletto. It just makes my soul happy!  How sad is it that this this video of Pavarotti and Sutherland in Rigoletto only has 27,346 views and Justin Bieber's Baby has 537,230,394? I'm not saying anything bad about Justin Bieber, but it just seems unfair to me that these are the numbers. Anyway, hope you enjoy one of my favorite opera songs (and please disregard the voluptuousness of the singer if at all possible).