In love with those plates from ecru. They are so perfect for Ramadan! Don’t you think?
Pretty Plates For Ramadan
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Tag Archives: entertainment
Life Lessons From The Halloween Queen Morticia Addams
Some may know the classic television program The Addams Family from the 60s, while others may know the movies based on the show that came out in the 90s. Whichever one you may remember or prefer ( I love the 60s version) you have to admit that this family was nothing less than iconic! However my favorite character in that show is Morticia Addams! I Love that she marched to the beat of her own drum. She thought that others were weird when they abided by the social rules. She lived her life exactly how she wanted to.
She was very intelligent and in my opinion the mastermind of her family. She may have been different, but I think that there are many ” life lessons” to be learned from her zany character:
Surround yourself with what makes you happy:
Morticia didn’t feel the need to sacrifice her happiness and put herself in situations where she was out of her element. She surrounded her self with the people who she most loved and created a home for her self that was her kingdom! She was so secure in who she was and did her own thing while just letting everyone else do their own thing including the kids. She constantly worked on new hobbies and interests in that spooky mansion of hers, made her own potions and spells, always improved on them and never settled for anything less than what she was satisfied with!
Never loose your cool in any situation:
I love that Morticia sounded a bit of a snob in many funny situations! She always controlled her temper and was always classy and put-together even in the most difficult situations. She exuded self confidence and ruled almost quietly in the background. Everyone turned to her when things went out of control (which they normally did) because she always kept her cool! She ruled her family with grace and careful tact. She always knew exactly what to say and what unorthodox advice to give!
Because of that calm and collected and self-control manner she was the glue that held her family together. She was the strongest and most intelligent member of that household and ruled just like a wise and regal queen!
It is ok to be different, belive in your own beauty:
Morticia was confident in her own skin. She was beautiful, and intelligent. She never changed who she was for anyone. She embraced her looks and never questioned her them. She didn’t put herself or her appearance down. She did’t seem to see other women as ‘prettier’ – only ‘different-looking’. She believed in her self, she believed that she is beautiful inside and out. Gomez fell for Morticia because she had a beauty inside her that she nurtured so it shone out. She didn’t look to Gomez to validate her beauty or intellect. She validated it herself. She was always quietly self-assured and although she so obviously loved and wanted Gomez, she didn’t need him. And that’s what made her so irresistible to him.
Family comes first:
Morticia valued her family. She loved her family very much and prioritized them. She always took the time to ensure that her children knew and respected their older. She encouraged the shared interests of the family. You never felt that her brother-in-law or mother were imposing on her life even though they were living in her house.. She was always loving and accepting of her eccentric kids. She raised them to be unique, creative, and honest individuals.
Morticia also made her husband a priority. They’ve been married for years yet still incredibly in love. They always made sure that they spent quality time together, from the occasional waltz to extravagant dinners and romantic evening strolls through the family tombs. She was devoted to him and supported him in all of his crazy ideas and didn’t mind cleaning up his messes. As a result of her loyalty and love to all her family members they learned to love and take care of one another. They always had each others backs specially when faced with outside forces.
Happy Halloween In advance 😉
Book of the Week: Missoni Family Cookbook
Francesco Maccapani Missoni, the son of Missoni’s creative director, Angela Missoni, has been collecting family recipes for some time. In The Missoni Family Cookbook, he shares those delicious, well-guarded family recipes. This book invites you right into their dinner parties which they are known for through the fashion circles especilly during fashion week!… I havent recieved mine yet… I cant wait to try a few recipies especially the Gnocci verde!
Via Assouline
Restored by the Fords: The Collins Family Home
Last week I started watching Restored by The Fords and couldn’t stop watching it till I finished the first season in 2 days…
The show follows siblings Leanne and Steve Ford as they restore houses around Pittsburgh, their home town, and transform them into design showpieces.
Leanne, the younger of the Ford siblings, is an interior designer who spent years working in the fashion industry (which you can see from the stylish way she dresses) . She splits her time between Pittsburgh and LA and is charge of creating the design and floor plans for the properties on the show. Steve, the older brother, is a licensed contractor (and the owner of Surf Pittsburgh) is in charge of executing Leanne’s designs and maximizing the functionality of those outdated properties while making sure that everyone is sticking to the budget.
The Fords spend at least two months on each property, with other projects going on at the same time. I can’t wait for season 2 to premiere in Jan. It will consist of 15 episodes; almost double the amount of season 1 which was only 8 episodes.
For todays post I decided to share one family home. It is one of my favorites from season 1 and will have a different post for my other favorite from the same season!
The home I’m posting about today belongs to the Collins family. This project actually consisted of 2 phases ( in other words 2 episodes). The Collins loved phase 1 so much they brought back the fords to finish the rest of the house. Phase 1 was the living room, family room and kitchen and phase 2 was the master bedroom, the kids bedrooms, the 2 bathrooms and the pool area.
Anyone who knows me knows my love and obsession for mid-century modern furniture and architecture. I loved this home even before renovations began. I thought that his house is extra special because the architect who designed it was one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s students. I was so worried that the renovation will completely take away the house’s identity and style but the Ford siblings did an amazing job restoring this home. They respected the history of this house, while turning it into a home that totally reflected its new owners!
I love this living room. It’s my favorite room in this house… I love that they kept the stone fireplace, and added carpet. I know that a lot of people hate carpets but I really love them!. I also love the wooden walls which I’m glad they kept. They did paint them though to make the place feel brighter and more spacious which I think was a good plan because it did. I love how that Vladimir Kagan sofa is so clean and sleek and how the wooden vintage console table behind it is so old. Nothing matches yet everything works so well together!
Can you tell that Leanne loves white and neutrals? I think her colour scheme (or lack there of ) really suited this house. Look at that white Carrara in the kitchen are, I love it! I also love those acrylic barstools… its added seating without looking cluttered. Talking about seating I love how Leanne used those Norman Cherner dining chairs with that old painted vintage dinning table.
Now, I know that a black pool isn’t for everyone … but I think that it works for this house. Leanne and Steve took a trip to visit Falling Waters House by Frank Lloyd Wright for some inspiration, and thats where the pool insperation came from. “I wanted to paint it black so badly… which turns out is kind of hard to do… but of COURSE we figured it out and brought the pool up to par with the rest of the beautiful space” Leanne wrote in her blog. I think she is right… painting that bright blue pool black almost makes the pool look like a pond rather than an added pool!. I love it because it works so well with the house… but also because it reminds me so much of the black pool at my grandparents farm house!
The master bedroom wall had “fake styrofoam style stone” on the walls which just looked so dingy and fake. They kept them for added texture and just painted them. I have mixed feelings about that… but it works with the house nonetheless.
The master bathroom spa! It looks like a spa and feels like a spa… Leanne put a bathroom island right in the middle of it! I love the way it looks but have mixed feelings about that too.. but it’s only because I like to be close to my mirror when applying creams etc!
I think this is my favorite kids bathroom of all time! The design is so smart. The floor tile was a budget friendly solution yet looks exxpensive. They used two different colors of hex to create some interest in there. Then used black fixtures and white concrete finish on the ceilings and walls… This is a bathroom that the kids wont out grow!
So what did you think of this house and what do you think of the Ford Siblings restoration of this place?
Pictures via leanneford.com
Charles Aznavour
The French singer of Armenian origins Charles Aznavour – often hailed as his country’s Frank Sinatra – has died at the age of 94.
I know that I said that I don’t want to make this place a place where I vent or be sad in!… But Aznavour (through his music) shared so many sad and happy moments of our lives.. so how can I not share his loss here?!
I am sure that most of you know that he was born to Armenian immigrants, sold millions of records and was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017. But did you know that Aznavour opened for Édith Piaf at the Moulins Rouge? I had no idea they crossed paths!. “I brought her my youth, my madness; she loved my whole jazzy side,” he told the Guardian in 2015. She advised him to have a nose job, only to declare, “I preferred you before” after the surgery! Isn’t that a funny story?
He was best known for his 1974 hit SHE but I thought I’d post one of my favorite of his… La Bohème
RIP Charles Aznavour and thank you for all those beautiful songs that are part of our lives today!
Traditional Dinner Plates!
I believe that a hint of traditional items here and there works very well in a modern minimal home… They add interest and charm to any table!
I think that these traditional plates from Pottery Barn are just perfect for this season …
…and just look at those Turkey salt and pepper shakers aren’t they just cute? They do so well with the dinner set! Don’t you think?
Victoria
The 2nd Season of Victoria has been released and I can’t believe that it has taken me this long to write about it!
It’s impeccably written and staged. Aimed at the same audiences that enjoyed Downton Abbey, and The Crown.
Victoria follows the young Queen from the time she becomes The Queen of England through her passionate courtship and marriage to Prince Albert. The TV series Victoria dramatizes the romance and reign of the girl behind the famous monarch. Jenna Coleman is absolutely perfect as Victoria, and there are strong supporting roles like Tom Hughes as Albert and Rufus Sewell as Lord Melbourne. I have to say that Rufus Sewell is superb in the role of Lord Melbourne. He managed to appear supremely noble, with just a hint of sadness and vulnerability lurking beneath the surface!
I’ve always been fascinated by the Victorian era and I love how the Queen and her Prince have changed the face of London to what we know it today! .. My favorite novels have been written in her era and yet I always imagined her as a sad lonely old woman!…..I guess it’s because she spent half her life in mourning the death of her beloved husband!
I can honestly say that this show made me look at her from a different light … I’ve gained a new admiration for the Queen! Here she’s been portrayed as an independent outspoken, and quite a determined young lady… Love that!
The Queen’s links with Europe’s royal families earned her the nickname “The grandmother of Europe”! She and Prince Albert had 9 children, 4 boys, and 5 girls … They had 42 grandchildren, of whom 34 survived to adulthood. Their descendants include Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Harald V of Norway, Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Margrethe II of Denmark, and Felipe VI of Spain.
The Crown
Anyone who knows me knows that I love costume dramas… So it comes as no surprise that I have been waiting for The New Netflix production to be released!…..Other than “Games of Throne” “Downton Abbey” has been my favorite TV costume dramas until now…. “The Crown” to me is just another level of entertainment! It’s my new addiction!
“Downton Abbey” was/is fun to watch but it is fiction, whereas “The Crown” is based on fact, with a far weightier dose of history and politics, including issues of constitutional duty and complex political issues. Writer Peter Morgan and the director Stephen Daldry — have succeeded in balancing the seriousness of intent against popular appeal, and for Netflix, which I think has already attracted a huge international audience!
This is not the 1st time that Mr. Morgan, the creator of the show, has written about the Queen…. He actually has extensive experience writing about her. His 2006 film “The Queen,” won several Academy Award nominations and the best actress award went to Helen Mirren as the monarch, facing public reaction to the death of Princess Diana. Then in 2013 came his successful play, “The Audience,” also starring Helen Mirren and directed by Mr. Daldry, which swoops through some 60 years of the weekly meetings between Queen Elizabeth and her prime ministers. And actually this experience of writing “The Audience” gave him the idea for “The Crown.”
Part of the pleasures of watching “The Crown” is its ability to offer glimpses of life at Buckingham Palace and other royal residences (The furniture! The objects! The clothes! The jewels!). But it also offers a history lesson in world events, politics and the social manners and mores of postwar British society, seen through the prism of Elizabeth’s reign.
For example, I was really surprised by the relationship between Winston Churchill and the young queen! I never thought the either one of them struggled in this relationship! Never thought that either one of them ever doubted themselves… until now!
I don’t want to say more and spoil it for those of you who haven’t watched it yet… but here are a few reviews I read about the series … Both +ve and -ve:
- The New York Times says it is “just an orgy of sumptuous scenes and rich performances” in its Review: Netflix Does Queen Elizabeth II in ‘The Crown,’ No Expense Spared.
- Vanity Fair’s review, The Crown Is Netflix’s Most Expensive Series to Date, and Worth It, says “A grand saga about the British royals begins with a sumptuous look at midcentury monarchy.”
- USA Today gives The Crown 3-1/2 out of 4 stars in its piece titled Review: ‘The Crown’ is sumptuous miniseries with the stellar cast!
- From the Maclean’s review by Patricia Treble, ‘The Crown’ on Netflix is riveting. And not completely true. “Unlike many so-called documentaries that are little more than rehashed tittle-tattle and gossip, The Crown’s fact-heavy fiction puts dramatic meat on much more substantial and accurate bones.“
Medici: Masters of Florence
I love historical dramas and have been waiting impatiently for this TV series to air this autumn! It is airing in Rai1 on 17th of Oct and although the series is in English, it will air in Italian. So far no dates have been set for the show to be aired on other networks!
Here are is the list of the incredible cast that you will see in the 8 episodes of season 1, the cast is composed by both Italian and American actors:
Dustin Hoffman – Giovanni de’ Medici
Richard Madden – Cosimo de’ Medici
Giorgio Caputo – Federigo Malavolti
Guido Caprino – Marco Bello
Stuart Martin – Lorenzo de’ Medici
Tatjana Nardone – Emilia
Annabel Scholey – Contessina de’ Bardi
I hate spoilers so I won’t mention anything about the plot, however, I thought of giving you a small background or a history 101 on the family to help you know what the series is about!
The Medici family have played an important part or I should say helped shape the history of Florence, Italy, from the 15th to the early 18th century (during the Renaissance).
They built their fortune from banking activities, rose to become the rulers of Florence with political intrigues and then became one of the most powerful dynasties in Europe. In the Medici family tree, there were countless Cardinals, two Popes, two Queens of France, and seven Grand Dukes of Tuscany.
The Medicies are remembered as somehow very open-minded people, and as the greatest art collectors in history, who ignited the Florentine Renaissance: among the countless artists working for the family, across the generations, are the names of Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Giorgio Vasari, and Benvenuto Cellini.
I have been lucky to have been to a few of their homes or rather palaces that have been converted to museums and I just can’t wait for the series to come out… I have a feeling that it won’t be a disappointment for those of us who love historical dramas!
Maria Callas The Exhibition
The Exhibition is the first major exhibition dedicated to the greatest soprano of all time Maria Callas. Curated by Massimiliano Capella, the presentation marks the 40th anniversary of the death La Divina. It includes costumes and props jewelry, Private clothes, especially those by Biki, the Milanese stylist who fashioned the ‘Callas look’ during the Milan years, as well as several opera costumes; there are personal treasures and stage jewellery; hats, wigs and glasses; telegrams, letters, newspaper articles and photographs illustrating the successes, the scandals, and her loves.
The exhibition is on display until September 18, 2016, in Verona and will soon begin its international tour, from Athens to New York, from Paris to Mexico City…. I don’t have information about the international tour yet but I’ll add it at the bottom of this post as soon as I find some!
The Curator Massimiliano Capella has used 2200 mannequins and has divided the exhibition into fourteen sections starting with America and Greece and ends in a small dark room with a video of Callas’s ashes being scattered on the Aegean Sea.
Here’s a quick background of her life for those of you who are interested:
I’m going to start from her “Milan years” because to me that’s where she rose and gave her greatest performances and, of course, it was at La Scala where she recorded many of the EMI recordings. On 17 September 1947 Callas had auditioned for La Scala with Casta Diva and O Patria mia, but the Artistic Director, Mario Labroca, didn’t think she was suitable. However, a substitution for Renata Tebaldi on 12 April 1950 in Aida launched a relationship that would continue for more than a decade. Between 1950 and 1962 she would sing 23 different operas, appearing on the Milanese stage 181 times.
Although critics and public were mostly enthusiastic about her vocal performances between 1947 and 1953, comments about her physical aspect were less favourable. Although she was quite tall at 1.73 meters (5’ 8”) she weighed almost 100 kilos (220 lbs); quite a large girl. In 1952 a tactless critic wrote, “It was impossible to distinguish between the elephants’ feet and those of Aida.”
So between the summer of 1952 and the spring of 1954, she lost 35 kilos, and in doing so – with the help of Biki – transformed herself into a style icon. Many of her outfits are reunited for the Callas exhibition. (The iconic portrait by Jerry Tiffany in New York for EMI in 1958 demonstrates how the transformation was complete).
In 1952 she made her debut at the Royal Opera House in London as Norma. London would later be the place of her last appearance in a complete opera, in 1965, and one of the dates of her final concert tour with Giuseppe di Stefano in 1973. But London was to also be the setting for a famous… infamous encounter.
In 1959, when Callas was one of the core members of the international jet set, a party was held at London’s Dorchester Hotel after the opening of Medea at Covent Garden on 17 June 1959. The event was held at London’s Dorchester Hotel after the opening of Medea at Covent Garden on 17 June 1959. The event was hosted by Aristotle Onassis. the picture above was taken at the event!!!! The next month Callas and her husband were already guests aboard his yacht Christina and the fatal relationship began.
Her relationship with Onassis ended in 1968 when he left her for Jacqueline Kennedy.
In 1969 she did interpret one of her opera characters again for Pier Paolo Pasolini’s film of Medea; though on this occasion she wasn’t required to sing. Piero Tosi’s magnificent costume for the film is part of the exhibition, so is the favourite black leather jacket that Callas wore during this period. Various documents on show illustrate the intimate nature of the friendship between the director and his leading lady.
The final rooms contain some of her hats, bags, shoes, turbans and other accessories which Biki so carefully labelled in the early years to help her young protégé coordinate the right hat with the right gown. Biki continued to dress her when she lived in Paris, as well as Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Hérmes and Alexander for her wigs.
In the early ‘70s she appeared at Juilliard for the legendary workshops, directed I Vespri Siciliani together with Di Stefano in Turin, and Di Stefano convinced her to join him on an around-the-world concert tour which finished in 1974.
27 November 1973: Maria Callas gives a farewell concert at the Royal Festival Hall.
In 1975, Onassis died in a Paris hospital, a few months later Pasolini’s murdered body was found on the beach at Ostia near Rome, and the following year saw the death of another friend and mentor Luchino Visconti, who once said that he’d only started directing opera because of Callas.
She died of a heart attack on 16 September 1977. She was 53.
Running In Heelz 