Olive Us

Happy Friday my dear internet cosmos!  Hope you had a fabulous week.  My Mr. just started a new rotation which means he's working part of the weekend (blech) but hopefully we'll find some time to have a little fun.

I've been in love with Ben & Gabrielle Blair's (yes, of Design Mom fame) video project, Olive Us, for quite some time now.  The series follows their six beautiful children through their everyday adventures and captures the magic of childhood to a tee.  The beautiful video production team, Tiger in a Jar, makes every video seem right out of a dream.

Their most recent episode, "Betty in Paris", is probably my favorite yet.  Is there anything more magical than seeing the world's most romantic city through the rose-colored eyes of a child?  I think not.

And make sure to check out the other episodes of Olive Us here.

I hope you all have a wondrous and awe-inspiring weekend,
MEL


Betty In Paris from Olive Us on Vimeo.

Lullabies for a Cause

Danielle DeCosmo

Hello my dear internet cosmos!  Today I want to share with you a beautiful project created by one of my dear friends and all-around brilliant musician, Danielle DeCosmo.

Danielle and I worked together in FL teaching music and soon started playing music together.  I have learned so many things from her and I am always in awe of her beautiful music and loving spirit.

In addition to writing, recording, and performing her own music (you can download her first album, All Good Things, here.  Seriously do it.  It's amazing.), she has been performing for patients at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida with the Arts in Medicine program.  Recently, she recorded this beautiful collection of lullabies, Little Dreamers:  Lullabies, as a gift to mothers in the neo-natal intensive care unit and as a way to raise money for the Arts in Medicine program.

I encourage you to go purchase this lovely album of lullabies at her Bandcamp page.  You can set your own purchase price and all of it goes directly to support the Arts in Medicine program at Shands.

I will certainly be downloading multiple copies for the special new mothers in my life.  I hope that you will do the same and by doing so, help give the gift of music to new mommas and their precious babies everywhere.

Enjoy!
--MEL

El Cosmico

So, I know I'll probably catch some flack for this, especially since all I've been doing since I moved here has been bragging about the perfect weather and how CO can do absolutely no wrong.  But it seems, every paradise has it's rough edges and CO is no exception.  Here's my issue:

I'M COLD.

Yes, I said it.  I'm freaking cold.  We'll have a week of temps that never get above 20 degrees and then we'll have a glorious reprieve of a few days in the 40's and 50's.  Which in CO is damn right balmy.  Right now is one of the wonderful sunny weeks in the low 50's which really is perfect, but I know next week we'll get another snow storm and another freeze and the cycle will start again.

I never thought I'd say it, but I think I'm ready for a winter getaway.

I've been dreaming of El Cosmico in Marfa, TX for a long time now and it's looking more and more necessary every day.  This dreamy lodging location boasts completely restored trailers (think streamlined, chrome, shiny bullets), safari tents, teepees, and camping, all in the meditative desert of west Texas.  They also have really fun events from time to time, like this upcoming culinary weekend featuring renowned west Texas chef, Lou Lambert.

I never thought I'd ever want to go back to TX to vacation.  But if any place can do it, El Cosmico is definitely that place.

(All images from here.)

  

New year, new you, new world.

Pinterest

Hello my dear internet cosmos!  I hope you all had a fabulous holiday season, filled with laughter, family, and gluttony.

Mine certainly abided by all of those guidelines and more.  Obviously, because I haven't been around here in way too long.

As the new year has come and gone and is now becoming a mere glimpse of a memory, it's easy to forget all the resolutions and fresh starts and promises that we make to have a better 2013, make a better us, have a better relationship, build a better life.  Honestly, I think forgetting all of those unattainable resolutions isn't all half bad.  Besides, you know you made a resolution or two that you never really thought you'd keep, but did so anyway just to feel a little more successful.  I know I did.

But as we slice our 14th piece of chocolate cake and try to erase the first 13, as we run a half mile less today than we had planned and tack it on to be made up later, as our butts find their favorite spaces on the couch again and settle in for another year, let's just be grateful.  Be grateful that you can make a resolution and not keep it.  Be grateful that you have more than you need, so much more that we make promises to rid ourselves of our excess.  Be grateful that you have holidays to celebrate your crazy families and your healthy waistlines.

Instead of resolving to change ourselves in 2013, let's resolve to try and change the world we live in.  I bet we'll get a lot more done if we resolve to give to others instead of just take away from ourselves.  Smile more.  Hold open a door a little longer for a stranger.  Get outside.  Cook good food and invite everyone you know to enjoy it with you.  Tell others about something beautiful you experienced.  Try something new and invite a friend.  Volunteer doing something that excites you.  And after you give of yourself, take time to give to yourself.  Eat another piece of cake.

Share the wealth of your bounty, and I bet 2013 will be a much fuller year than the last.

XOXO
--MEL

GIFTS: for your BFF...

Happy Friday, my dear internet cosmos.  Please tell me you all have festive weekend plans.  'Tis the season for partying!  Get after it.

'Tis also the season for gifting, as we established yesterday.  If you missed it, here's my round up of go-to gifts for the foodie in your life.

Today, I give you gift ideas for your trendy, silly, oldest best friend.  I mean the kind of friend who you wouldn't mind giving things to that you really want for yourself.  After all, she's the friend you often find yourself living your life vicariously through.  Here we go:

1- Heirloom seed kit:  She's always wanted to have a green thumb, but just can't seem to get it going on her own.

2- Homemade room spritz:  To make her home smell yummy all year long.

3- Octopus mugs:  She doesn't drink coffee, but who cares?!  These things are genius, and someone has to have them.

4- Taxonomy of rap names:  Because she's design savvy, and appreciates a good flow chart.  Plus, she'll stare at it for hours discovering new totally useful bits of knowledge.

5- Antique kilim coasters:  This is one of those things that you will get to use, too.  And every time you go to her house, you'll wonder why you didn't buy them for yourself.

6- Handwritten stationery set:  So she can write you notes to remind you of what an awesome friend you are.

7- Anthropologie's "Wish it, Win it" giveaway:  Enter every day to win all of Anthropologie's ultimate gifts from their holiday catalog.  That's over $16,000 worth of goodies from the store you and your BFF can't normally afford!  Gift one of your pretty winnings to her, and keep the rest for yourself.  Check out all the prizes here. 

Have a holly jolly weekend--

MEL

At D's Suggestion GIFTS!

Well, my internet cosmos, it's been a doozie of a few weeks.  Thanksgiving brought with it explosions at work, the flu (or it's first cousin...not quite sure which), and sadly enough, family tragedies.  Not exactly the season of thanks we were looking forward to.  Lesson learned:  don't put all your "thanks" eggs in one basket--spread 'em out around the year.  You never know when it may be your last chance to show your gratefulness.

All that being said, I'm so very grateful that I'm on the edge of normalcy again.  There is a light at the end of this tunnel and I can definitely see it.  And now, it's time to spread love and joy around in a new season of gifts!  Which I'm actually pretty stoked about. 

If you're ever in a bad mood, try giving something to someone.  A dollar, a TV, a bite of your sandwich.  Seriously, it makes everything better.

Speaking of sandwiches, here's my first collection of gifts to be given to the foodies in your life!  Here we go:

1.  Memorable spirits:  a delicious bottle of wine, that won't break your bank.

2.  Recipe cards:  Make sure they don't forget that super special ingredient that will make or break the whole dish.   

3 & 7.  Homemade bread:  Nothing says "I love you" like a warm, fresh loaf of whole grain basil bread or rosemary and orange-infused zucchini bread.  

4.  Honey jar:  A way more stylish alternative to the plastic honey bear.

5.  Chef iPad sleeves:  Because we all know how dirty you are in the kitchen.

6.  Cold-brew coffee:  No one has time to brew a hot pot of anything during the holidays.  Pull it out of the fridge and enjoy.

8.  Homemade cookbook:  gather your friends, compile your favorite recipes, call a photographer, pour yourself a hard drink, and strip down and throw on an apron.  Put all your hard work into a hard-bound keepsake for your loved ones.

Stay tuned for more gift ideas!

--MEL

The French Hostess

So, as anyone who follows me on Pinterest knows, I've become completely slightly obsessed with the unbelievably gorgeous foodie blogger, Mimi Thorisson.  I have been drooling over her dreamy blog, Manger, for months now.  She chronicles her life in the French country with her dreamy photographer husband, precious children, and billions of adorable dogs that always seem to be roaming freely through the magical woods, hunting for mushrooms and fairies.

Oh, and did I mention that this woman is a total boss in the kitchen?  (These chocolate meringues look particularly dangerous.)  How she manages to cook like a bonafide Frenchmen, and still look like an exotic goddess is beyond me.

I figured I'd be able to keep my obsession a secret until I ran across this interview with Mimi at Sous Style and it sent me over the edge.  She talks about her love for, "Duck fat, butter, cream, crème fraîche, garlic, eggs, and orange blossom water" and says she "once killed a huge furry spider, just by screaming."  I'm convinced she is magic.

Read the rest of the interview here.  And please go read through her blog here.

Have a beautiful, buttery, dreamy weekend--
MEL

(All images from here and here.)