Forgiveness

I needed this recently. I figured other people might to. 

Man, oh man this is hard to do. 

Somehow, it's the right things that always are.  

LMF

Finding Beauty

A good friend of mine used to work at the high end beauty store and spa, Blue Mercury.  Whenever I went in, she was sweet enough to toss a few samples in my bag.   

This act of kindness has been detrimental to my wallet.  The only item I haven't purchased yet is the Darphin oil which is quite a splurge.  I'm still squeezing the last few drops from my samples each night.  It's a bit like Hanukah, really.  Will the oil last one more night?!

1 - mario badescu aloe vera toner | 2 - dr. dennis gross glow pads | 3 - darphin niaouli oil

4 - skinceuticals sheer physical spf 50 | 5 - mario badescu drying creme (miracle creme for pimples!)

6 - caudalie grape water spray | 7 - laura mercier creme de pistache hand creme | 8 - caudalie cleansing water

I'm still in need of a good moisturizer.  I've tried everything from Oil of Olay to Chanel.  All suggestions welcome!

LMF

*this post is not sponsored by Blue Mercury, it just happens to be where I buy most of my products

La Rusticana D'Orsa {The Tour}

Yesterday I posted about the awesome cooking class I took over the weekend at Rusticana D'Orsa.  I thought today, we'd tour the property.

They had a vision of Italy when they built it, so that as soon as you enter the gates you think you're in Tuscany surrounded by olive groves, vineyards, gorgeous gardens and 2 beautiful villas.  It was breathtakingly gorgeous. 

Wouldn't you love to have your morning coffee here?

The property was completely built from the bottom up.  They brought in the vineyards and olive trees to create the atmosphere that they envisioned.  And you can tell they did an amazing job because everything looks so authentic, like it was always right there, in that spot, and meant to be there.

Like in Rome, you rub his nose so that you come back here :)

The grill and brick oven...

...which the men couldn't stop staring at and taking pictures of.  {What is it about men and fire?}

I think my favorite part of the property was that every where we walked there were these little vignettes set up.  No matter where you walked to, you'd find a table and chairs there for al fresco dining, or just sitting and relaxing and taking in the gorgeous views.

{How cute is this guy?!}

LMF

Cooking Italian at La Rusticana D'Orsa

Aside from Pacino's surgery {here}, I had such a fun weekend.  We're still celebrating Dan's mom's big birthday {as posted about here}.

At a recent fundraiser, Dan's Dad surprised Chris, his mom, by bidding on a 10-person cooking class given by the wonderfully talented Franca Colleta at La Rusticana D'Orsa, which we attended this past weekend.

The property is built so that you can imagine you're in Tuscany as soon as you've entered the gates.  It truly felt like we were in Italy.  {Property tour}  

Let's get down to the fun part, the cooking!

We cooked in this amazing kitchen, one that your Nonna might have, if you had a Nonna, which I don't.  But after this weekend, I may need to get one!

Each recipe had a cooking station set up with a cutting board, baking sheet, various ingredients and the recipe printed out.  They had baskets of fruits and veggies and fresh herbs grown on the property for us to choose from.  And while we minced and julienned and stirred, Franca's adorable grand-daughter Nica made us pizzas to snack on.

I helped make the Antipasto di Prosciutto e Fichi.  It was surprisingly delicious with so few ingredients.  And it was really easy and quick so I got to spend lots of time drinking wine and eating pizza taking photos!

Recipe:  Antipasto di Prosciutto e Fichi

 - 1/3 cup creme fraiche

 - 2 tsp fresh mint, julienned

 - 2 tsp lemon juice

 - about 2 tsp milk

 - pinch of salt

 - 12 fresh figs

 - 5 oz thinly sliced prosciutto

 - sprigs of fresh mint for garnish

In small bowl, stir creme fraiche, 1 tsp mint and lemon juice.  Whisk in enough milk to produce a thick sauce, you may not need all of the milk depending on the consistency of the creme fraiche (we didn't use any). DO NOT over mix or the sauce will be runny (but still good).  Stir in the salt.

Cut the figs in half lengthwise, wrap with a slice of prosciutto.  Arrange attractively on a shallow platrer.  Drizzle with the creme fraiche sauce, sprinkle with the rest of the julienned mine.  Decorate platter with sprigs of mint.  Serve immediately.

Everything was so delicious and fairly easy to make.  More recipes coming soon!

LMF

Smitten for Summer Series

I'm over at Debby's today sharing my summer favorites. 

If you haven't visited Debby's blog Inspired Design, you're in for some beauty.  

Grab a cuppa tea or some coffee and settle in.  You'll need a bit of time for all the gorgeousness.

Thanks for having me, Debby!

LMF

Planning a Nursery

A good friend at work just announced that she's pregnant (Eeeee!) I love when other people have children :)

After the obligatory conversation about when she's due (January), the sex of the baby (still too early), how happy her husband is (estatic!) we got down to the important stuff - how she's going to decorate the nursery! {We work at Resto, this is an important question.}

She has a few things in mind, which keep evolving the more we talk and shop online. :)  She likes the idea of red, white and navy, for a boy.  And something similar for a girl, but perhaps a bit lighter, like white, navy and coral. 

Just for fun, I scoured the internet and put together a couple of nursery ideas.

She's fallen in love with a super cute rocking chair from West Elm so I included that in both collections.

Just a few more weeks to find out the sex, then the real shopping begins :)

Update from Friday's post:  Pacino's doing much better from his surgery Thursday night.  He's a bit groggy from the medications, but each day he's a little bit more himself.  Thanks so much for all the love and prayers for him!

LMF

I had this really cute post with some really great news all set to go this morning.  But last night Dan called and told me he was at the emergency vet with Pacino.

Apparently he'd gotten sick a few times yesterday morning and had been lethargic all day.  Dan took him in that evening when he got sick again and still hadn't eaten anything.  He ended up having to go into surgery late last night to remove an obstruction in his GI tract.

I talked to the vet this morning and he's awake and a bit groggy.  They're keeping him all day today for observation just to make sure everything's okay.  It seems he swallowed some sort of rubber stopper from a toy or a door stop, they think.

Pacino's been at Dan's all week and I've stayed at my house so I haven't seen him at all.  And I really just want to go pick up my pup and let him know everything's okay.  

So please excuse this little love fest of photos.  I was looking through them last night when I was waiting to hear from the vet and couldn't be with him. (I do realize this is a lot of photos to see of someone else's dog.)

I'm not sure what I would do without this lil guy.  

LMF