The cutest thing ever

You'll die when you watch this.  It's so adorable.  The baby is going gaga over ripped paper.

My New Love

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I wanted to share with you my newest love: Giambattista Valli shoes.  How can you not look fabulous walking around with a bouquet on your feet?  The flowers are dainty and lovely. And, it's double the fun because they come in both a heel and a flat.  Perfect for tea parties, polo matches, or just pure fabulousness.  Now, I just need to find someone to invite me to a polo match....working on that.   

Mom and Dad :)

Happy Early Valentine's Day 

Keep Entering to Win

Eight days left to enter the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway.  Hop to it people.

Pretty Rings

These Kiel Mead rings are so delicate and pretty.  And perfect for Valentine's day.

Chocolate Indulgences

Daily Candy posted a selection of  Chocolate Indulgences So Decadent They Might Be NSFW.  My mouth is literally watering when I look at the pictures.   My favorite are the chocolate peanut butter macaroons.  They look out of this world. I seriously think I might need to order some when I get back to the US.  The Lilibits candy bars come in a close second.  They have flavors like pecan pie, s’mores, and PB&J.  Yum. Yum. Yum.  I'm also intrguied by the Salzon chocolate bars.  They are vegan dark chocolate bars with a sprinkling of sea salt. You can even get one with cracked black pepper.


I was thinking of spending the weekend in Paris, and now that I have chocolate and macarons on my mind , I think I'll definitely need to go if only for a trip to La Duree.  They probably won't have a chocolate peanut-butter flavor, but I'll take what I can get.

Sucre 7 Chocolate Peanut Butter Maracons

Liddabit Sweets

Salazon Chocolate Co.

Chocolate Liquor Cake

Nook in Color

I love, love, love my Amazon Kindle.  But I can't lie, I got a little jealous when I saw the new color Nook from Barnes and Noble.  Amazon is supposedly launching their color Kindle in August so they're way behind the band-wagon.  I haven't seen the new Nook up close and personal, but it looks pretty snazzy in this photo.  I will say that I'm a little suspect of how good the colors will actually look.   The best thing about the Kindle is the matte screen so you can read without glare.  I'm curious whether the color Nook really maintains the matte screen.  Since it's a touch screen, I'm thinking its functionality might be closer to the iPad than to the Kindle.  I tried reading on my boyfriend's iPad, and the reflection drove me nuts.  It was even worse than reading on a computer.  If the color Nook solves this issue, then it could be a nifty little gadget.  

Cheese Sampler for Beer

Daily Candy posted a list of Valentine's Day Gifts to Melt Hearts.  One of the suggested gifts for guys is a cheese sampler for beer.   Looks like quite a tasty alternative to the classic cheese and wine pairing.  For $65, you pick the type of beer you plan to serve (lager, belgian ale, Indian pale ale, wheat beer, etc) and Formaggio Kitchen creates a sample of tasty pairings.  

As an alternative, you could probably also google "chesses that go well with beer" and then stop by Whole Foods to pick up a selection of choices.  Either way, the idea is cute.

Bad Candle Ideas

I saw these candles in the grocery store last week.  Really?  Apparently, housewives/grandmas actually buy these, because there was only one Almond Joy candle left in stock.  The best part is sprinkle of "chocolate pieces"  on the top of the Almond Joy candle.

Grape Juice?

Yesterday, I discovered my new favorite drink in the Iberia lounge:  alcohol -free wine.  I've definitely heard of alcohol-free beer, but this is the first time I'd ever seen alcohol free wine.  Isn't this just called grape juice?  You can choose either red or rose wine.  It has 0.5% alcohol, and, comes in a can decorated with grape leaves...keeping it classy.   Do you think they produce alcohol free champagne too?

Layover in Madrid

My flight from the US landed 90 minutes late this morning (Iberia has no idea how to depart on time), and I missed my 8:45 AM connection to Zurich.  Turns out that the next flight to Zurich is at 4:10 PM.  Eeek!  

At first I was horrified, but this has actually turned into a good day and, suprisingly, a super productive work day.  The lounge is huge, and there's even a little fountain next to me.  I'm in a comfy chair, and I have unlimited access to olives and drinking cafe con leche.  Not a bad layover after all.