C'est le 13 août.

I have had this little French calendar for years, and I thought it would be a useful tool in attempting to teach you readers certain French phrases. The sentence for today made me melt when I read it, there's something even more romantic about the phrase when it's spoken in a Romance Language! So I thought I would share it with you.




P.S. Please excuse whichever day of the week it says, like Sunday. For this was from several years ago!

The Art of Pin Curls.

The beautiful bombshells of the 1940's and 50's, from the glamorous actresses to the stay-at-home mothers, they all had a classic loveliness that is quite different from modern "beauty". Their modest circle-skirted dresses were always ironed, their lips painted red, and their hair always curled to perfection. The secret to their "always completed" look were their pin curls. Many women went to the salon weekly to have their pin curls set, although some put in their own curls nightly (like my Nana did). I had been wanting to try pin curls for years, but hadn't had the right moment until I my wisdom teeth were removed this past week. Out of school for the summer and off from work for recovery from my surgery, I finally had enough time one morning to experiment with pin curls. I thought I would share this experience with you.

I learned how to arrange and set the pin curls here:


I found these HERE.


The tricks I learned:

1. Set the curls when your hair is damp and towel-dried
   
2. Use a setting lotion that is right for your hair, ie hair gel or hairspray
   
3. Set aside PLENTY of time, this process took me two entire hours because I have so much hair!
   
4. For tighter curls, put less hair in each pin curl. For looser curls or waves, put more hair in each pin curl
   
5. The best time to set the curls is before bed, so put a scarf over your pins and sleep through the night!
   
6. Only take the curls out once they are completely dry
   
7. You can use a hairdryer to speed up the process
   
8. After the pins are taken out, break up each curl with your fingers or you can lightly comb through the curls with a brush
   

The preparation:


The result:

A Second Collaboration.

Remember the fabulously fun patriotic photo shoot from a few weeks ago? You can view it by clicking here. Well, the talented Mary Claire Roman, (view her flickr by clicking here) who was the wonderful photographer for that shoot, graciously asked me to model for her latest project. It was such a blast, and I feel so blessed to have been a part of it! Her photos turned out beautifully, and I would have expected nothing less from her. Some of her shots from this new shoot were also featured in the online magazine called AND (click here to view it). I thought I would share these with you!

Cooking with Wolfgang.

I love to go to the Mission Viejo Library whenever I have paperwork or classwork to do. It's just a beautiful place, quiet and serene. A bit ago, when Zachary and I were leaving the Library, we noticed a cart full of books with a sign that said, "free". We glanced through them and ended up finding an fabulous Wolfgang Puck cookbook that I absolutely couldn't deny! So I took it home and honestly read through every page in the cook book, front to back. It had some marvelous recipes that I couldn't wait to try. Here is the first recipe that I attempted, and it turned out wonderfully!



Grilled Salmon With
Garlic Cream and Tomato Butter






I would be more than happy to post the recipe if someone would like it. The taste was marvelous, but it was a bit time-consuming. The meal would be perfect for a special occasion with good family and friends! I wanted to share this with you.

The Cotton Exchange

I'm a big advocate for decorating with plenty of pillows. My friends often question why I have so many pillows on my bed all of the time. I just think that the right blend of fabrics can significantly add to the design of any room. So back in March, I began making some pillows for Zachary's mama. I enjoyed it so much that I made several others and decided to sell them on Etsy, an incredible resource for handmade and vintage items. I'm sad to say that after getting into my busy summer schedule, I don't have any time to keep up my Etsy shop that I had named "The Cotton Exchange," after a famous Edgar Degas painting. I still love making the pillows and I hope to have time to maintain the shop once my schedule opens up again. I thought I would share a few with you: