Cool libraries

Someday, I want a home with a beautiful room just for books and hours spent reading. I love these pictures of what other people have done to make literary sanctuaries. 

This one feels so cozy; I love the idea of a room within a room by sectioning off a corner. 

I don't know how you'd ever get so many perfectly color coordinated books, but if you had them, what a pretty way to display them! Though locating the one you wanted might be more difficult than if they were organized by type. 

I love the funky S-shape on this one. Of course, for all of these I'm pretty sure most people (or at least I) would need a ladder to get the top books. But, I've always wanted to go on one of those tall, sliding ladders you see in movies, so maybe that's a win-win. 

(Visit Shelterness for more.)

European travel

Citta del Mare

I've been slowly stockpiling places I want to visit when I study abroad in Florence next Fall, and this hotel in Sicily just  jumped to the top of the list. A Cup of Jo posted about this hotel this morning, and I'm already smitten. These water slides send you straight into the Mediterranean ocean! Although I'm not quite sure how you get back up to the hotel after flying into the sea. But I have to say I'm more concerned with if it will still be warm enough for this in fall; I can't imagine that I'll actually want to stop splashing around in the Mediterranean once I'm there. 

Another warm-weather destination I plan to visit (actually, I'm intent on going whether or not the weather's nice) is the Cinque Terre. Everyone I know who's been has raved about the charming five-island cluster. 

Outside of Italy, I'm dying to go to France. Obviously to Paris, since I've never been, but also to Colmar. This picturesque town looks straight out of Beauty and the Beast, and as a sucker for anything Disney, I've already fallen in love with it just from pictures. 

Finally, I've always dreamed of going to Santorini, Greece, where I've heard that the weather is actually ideal in fall. Although I'm not sure how feasible it is to get there from Florence, I'm determined to make it sometime in my life. The whitewashed buildings and shocking blue water look unbelievable. 

I have a lot of plans for my one-week fall break, and I'm starting to think perhaps I should try to think outside of my summer mindset (Nice, France, is another one of my top picks), as I've heard that Europe actually gets cold in the fall/winter, unlike Southern California. But no matter where I end up (I'm hoping Oktoberfest will be one of my getaways!), I think I'll be too giddy about being lucky enough to travel in Europe to care too much about the weather. 

Mama Day

I just finished reading this book for my African American Women Writers seminar, and it has just entered my top five favorite books ever list. I'm not actually sure what else is on that list other than Gone With the Wind, but this is truly one of the best books I've ever read. It's witty, heartbreaking, magical, real, poetic -- I love adjectives only slightly less than I love chocolate, so I'll stop there, but simply put, it's beautiful. After reading this masterpiece by Gloria Naylor I feel that anything I write will pale in comparison, so I'll just leave it at: read this book. As soon as possible.

Picnic

I am a notoriously picky eater (yes, another understatement). However, this means that picnics are perfect for me. So this past weekend I headed to Lake Anza in Tilden Park on a sunny, albeit chilly, day.

The perfect picnic fare, as far as I'm concerned, centers around cheese -- preferably Brie, although I've fallen hard for Irish Dubliner cheese lately as well. When you only eat about five things, it's important to be truly passionate about those categories.

I probably could and would eat this whole wheel if given half a chance.

Pair the cheese with some delicious, flaky, buttery crackers like Trader Joe's Social Snackers. They are possibly one of the most addictive snack foods ever. Add some grapes, focaccia bread, chocolate to top it off, and a refreshing beverage, and you have a recipe for the perfect summer meal.

The perfect picnic beverage.

Mother's Day

{materials}

I am not usually very crafty (understatement? Perhaps). But the one thing I do pride myself on is my homemade cards. To a person who actually does artsy things, they don't look like much, but to me, and anyone who knows me, they are a triumph. So since I'm not going home for Mother's Day, I decided to at least surprise my amazing mom with a handmade card (which apparently most people stopped doing around the 3rd grade. Who knew?).

I went to a craft store downtown and got bright yellow paper with embossed flowers, light green vellum, and a green ribbed ribbon (which sounds funny now that I write it).

{inside}

I proceeded to use fabric tape to secure the green paper inside the card (having discovered I was out of glue sticks after getting home) and cut out hearts to stick inside as well.

{outside}

Then I tied a ribbon around the outside (harder than it looks. Don't laugh) and pasted another contrasting heart on the back. Looking at it now (after it's sealed in the envelope, of course), it occurs to me I should have actually put something on it referring to Mother's Day. Well, she'll just have to figure it out. Luckily, she doesn't read this blog (like most of the rest of the world. But I sure do appreciate Kenda and Kyle!), so this won't ruin the (very small) surprise. 

On a side note, any kind of crafting always reminds me of big little week, which I now remember as only a blur of puffy paint and rhinestones. 

{baskets}

But I won't lie, I was pretty proud of how her baskets turned out. Mainly because I included lots of baked goods (in puffy painted tupperware, obviously), which is where I really shine. If only I could have mailed my mom a homemade chocolate cake with Cool Whip. 

Unexpected combinations

Before discovering Ben Heine, my favorite thing from Belgium was the waffles. However, after happening upon these photos by the Ivory Coast native/Belgian transplant, it seems the delicious breakfast treats might have competition. I can't stop looking at these unique, entrancing photo/sketch combinations. Their appeal seems to stem in part from the unanswered questions they provoke: namely, why? What made the artist, Belgian "painter, illustrator, portraitist, caricaturist and photographer" Ben Heine, come up with these, and why did he pick the pictures he did? And why such a surreal take in some, and realistic portrayals in others?

Even more puzzling, why include fire by actually putting some of the drawings to flames? The effect is certainly powerful, but how could he bear to destroy such beautiful work? Perhaps these drawings didn't take the time I imagine them to, as my lack of artistic talent means doing just one of these would take me weeks and never reach the level of these, but regardless, it just doesn't seem worth it to literally burn your own work -- maybe I have too strong an attachment to my own creations, but I can hardly stand to delete a sentence I like from an essay, let alone set fire to such a carefully executed drawing.

Regardless of his reasoning, the fire certainly adds to the mood of the pieces. Although all of these are beautiful, I can't help but feel there's an almost melancholy, cynical tinge to some of them, such as the panda holding a "Lonely" sign at a table by itself. On the other hand, some are distinctly whimsical and hopeful, such as the boy above or the Mickey Mouse "If you can dream it...you can do it" drawing. Still others are just extremely amusing; but I'll leave it to you to peruse the collection on your own.

They're all extremely original, but I was pleasantly surprised by the artists' inclusion of the hand itself in this one --- just when I thought I had the art form figured out, he threw a new curve. 

The carefree, summery feeling of this one puts it in the contenders for my favorite. You can see more of his work at his professional website. 

Dessert disappointment

So the cookie dough brownies did not live up to the hype. Maybe I was too excited, maybe we didn't get the ratio of cookie dough to brownie quite right, or maybe the recipe was simply not as good as it looked (I don't like to fault my own baking skills; much better to blame a faulty recipe). However, the fact remains, my freezer is now full of a pan of would-be delicious brownies smothered in an overly sweet cookie dough topping that overwhelms the brownies in a way that simply cannot be ignored.

But, I'm a firm believer that a failure just opens the door for an even greater future success -- or at least it will look better in comparison to the previous flop. So, this is my next plan:

{recipe}

Gooey, warm peanut butter cookie topped with melty chocolate chips and rich vanilla ice cream. I've tried making homemade pizookies before (no BJ's Pizza is one of the biggest downfalls of living in SLO) with little success, but this recipe claims to be foolproof. Now all I need is to get my hands on a ramekin, which apparently is what that little white dish it's baked in is called. I'll be honest, I kind of thought a ramekin was somehow related to a yarmulke before seeing this recipe. Who knew?

In other, non-chocolate related news -- but don't worry, still food -- I had penne alla vodka for dinner tonight for the umpteenth time. Not that I'm complaining, as it's undeniably delicious, but it did make me wonder if perhaps it's time to explore other recipes. Obviously, I don't want to stray from pasta, so my first thought was of this recipe I happened upon a couple weeks ago: pesto and cheese stuffed shells. Although I'm ambivalent about pesto, any combination of pasta stuffed with cheese is a winner with me, so I'm hoping to test out this recipe sometime in the upcoming week. Here's hoping it goes better than the cookie dough brownies!