Rainshower Icon

Bath accessories can transform a regular bathroom to a luxe scape in seconds. Nothing like having the feeling of a spa in your very own home. So when I see items like GROHE's new Rainshower Icon, I have to blog about it right away. I am absolutely loving it! Sleek, dynamic and so colorful, I'm already jotting it down as one of the accessories I'll be installing in my future master bath.

The Rainshow Icon won the 2010 Red Dot: Best of the Best design award at the recent World Architecture Festival in Barcelona. And no wonder. The halo shaped shower head allows it to be hung on a simple wall holder, the nozzles are placed in such a way as to allow the perfect spray of water, and best of all, it features the unique Grohe EcoButton which, when pressed, reduces up to 40% of its water and energy consumption. Pretty and eco-friendly? I don't think it gets any better than this. The only problem is figuring out which color to get. I'm thinking a different color for each shower, so... I'll just have to buy a house with 6 baths. Problem solved!

photos: from here

Basic Cooking Course, Week 6... and Goodbyes

I thought I would be up and running by last tuesday, but as it turns out, when you have the nastiest flu you've ever had in your life, it can take more than a couple of days to feel normal again. Thankfully, by the time Friday rolled around I was feeling much better, since we had big plans for the weekend. My sis-in-law and her hubby were moving to Spain today, so we had some farewells to give out.

Here she is with Marcos, my adorable other half. Hi Ivi! Eat lots of paella for me over there! And learn how to make it so you can teach us when you come back! Ivanna's a doctor like Marcos, and she's going to enter into her medical residency in Spain in a few months. These past weeks she's been attending the cooking course so she could feed her new hubbie. For this week's class, we decided to throw her a little farewell party and prepare some yummy appetizers.

We decked out the balcony with banners and balloons. I love how festive the banners look. I actually made these with some pretty tissue paper I found in a party store one day. One of them had tiny cupcakes on it and the other one, the cutest birds you can imagine. I cut them up into triangles and then pasted them unto some regular white paper triangles, so you could appreciate the design on the white background. Then I just attached them to some streamers. How cute are they?

Some Aster Montecasino and pink Carnations for the table... I love how beautiful these Carnations look with the two different colors. The intense pink and then the delicate white rim. Carnations are the most under-appreciated blooms. I think people tend to forget them because they're so inexpensive, which makes them pretty commonplace, but to me that's part of their charm. They're so pretty and so cheap, you can have fresh arrangements of them in your home constantly. Just mix them up with different flowers or foliage to change things up a bit.

For the dinning table, my aunt had some fresh Eucalyptus and Alstroemerias (also known as Peruvian Lilies), which I casually arranged in a small vase. I like how the tall stalks look in the tiny vase, making them seem more imposing. Oh, and here you can see the apple pie I baked with hearts on it!

Some of the gifts we had for Ivanna, including a tiny typical mortar and pestle she could pack in her bag and remember the DR whenever she cooked.

We also had some yummy food. Little plantain baskets filled with beef (you make these with the mortar and pestle)...

Baked cream cheese with veggies and jalapeño...

Arepitas de yuca...

Tostones (fried green plantain slices)...

Tiny sandwiches...

And a cake! Turns out it was my aunt's birthday as well, so we ended up having one big celebration out of both. It was a wonderful afternoon. In just a few short weeks, we have made such good friends. Nothing brings women together as much as a shared love for cooking. Ivanna loved her party, we ate, we cried, we laughed. It was a special day in more ways than one.

Then on Sunday we went with the family to the Nautical Club for one last hurrah. Swam in the pool, searched for seashells, observed the sailboats pulling out of the harbor, slept in the sun and got brand new tans. What a perfect way to say goodbye. Well, not goodbye, more like See You Guys Soon. You can bet as soon as we can, we'll be hightailing it to Madrid! Olé!

Back in a Bit

Hi Guys! Sorry there are no pictures of this week's cooking course. I've been practically bed-ridden with the flu since last Friday. That meant no cooking, no flowers, no leaving the house and no wearing anything else but PJs ever since. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll feel a bit better and will come back, up and running.

Meanwhile, just thought I'd leave you with my fave song right now, "The Prayer" from the wonderful Andrea Bocelli and equally awesome Heather Headley. This video is from the dvd "Under the Desert Sky", filmed at the Lake Las Vegas Resort. I have the dvd and it is incredible! The concert starts out in the late afternoon sun and as it progresses, you can see how in the background the desert sky changes colors as the sun sets, orange, pink, purple, until night falls and colored lights come on. Beautiful!

Beauty Must-Haves Part 2

Today I'm back with the second part of my beauty must-haves list and I'm starting off with the greatest skin care product in existence: Dermalogica's Daily Microfoliant. This is not a hyperbole, trust me. I had been getting facials regularly, but felt that their effects didn't make that much of a difference in my skin and they didn't last very long either. So when I saw this in a magazine, I looked it up in Amazon. It had great reviews and I decided to give it a shot. People, by the second day of my using this microfoliant, my skin looked completely different. It looked fresh and clear and healthier! My mom even noticed, very much to her surprise. We couldn't believe that in two days, you could already see such a difference. I absolutely love this! You can use it everyday, once a day. It's basically made out of rice powder. You put a little amount on your wet hands, rub them a bit so it becomes a paste, then you rub it on your face until it disappears and finally you wash it off with warm water. Easy! Please try it. You won't regret it!

Almay Moisturizing Eye Makeup Remover Pads. I have very sensitive eyes, the smallest thing will make me tear up in an allergic fit, so I had a hard time dealing with eye makeup removers. Until I found these pads by Almay. I rub them gently on my eyes (sometimes while they're open, to remove eyeliner from my lower lash line) and... nothing! No stinging and no burning. They remove everything in one single swipe and then I just toss it in the trash.

The Equité by Christian Dior was the first makeup remover I had. My grandmother, a very classy lady to this day, gave it to me when I was about 14 or 15, so I would remove my makeup properly. Gotta say, she kinda spoiled me with the whole designer products from so early on. But seriously, great product. The milky lotion leaves your skin soft and moisturized. And it smells really good! (For those of you who wonder, my grandmother still has a major interest in all things skin care and makeup, probably more than some of my girlfriends. And she's 93. I will never live up to that.)

Neutrogena Lip Moisturizer with SPF. I love lipsticks and glosses, but sometimes I just want to go with my natural lip color. I picked this up at the drugstore on a whim and I am never living without it! In fact, I'm thinking of buying several at once and putting them different places (in my regular handbags, my makeup case, my desk) just so I always have one on hand. It conditions my lips and leaves them really soft and smooth.

So there you have it, my fave beauty must-haves. I hope this little guide is useful for you guys. If you've been looking for good products to use, I highly recommend all of these. I'd also love to hear which are your faves, so leave me a comment and I'll be sure to try them out!

If you missed Part 1, check it out right here.

The Nate Berkus Show

The Nate Berkus Show premiered last Monday and I just happened to catch it. I'm really glad I did! I thought it was pretty good, it had its funny moments and Nate was very charming, which lends the show a very down to earth vibe. The fact that it's the first design talk show hosted by an interior designer, is... huge! I believe it's a groundbreaking moment in design history and goes to show that now more than ever, people are interested in making their spaces beautiful and livable. Interior Design has such a great impact in the way we live our lives. It affects our emotions much more than we could ever imagine.

It was always very interesting to me how in those makeover shows, they would transform someone's image or give them tons of gifts like trips or cars, but when they revealed the transformations of their homes, their reactions were beyond anything they had ever experienced. The tears, the joy and the peace they felt seeing their new spaces was incredible. They knew their lives were going to be different from that moment on. So I'm very happy we finally have our very own talk show. It'll be interesting to see what this season will bring. As you know, Nate Berkus is an extremely talented designer. He was a special correspondent and guest on the Ophah Winfrey Show for many years, guiding people in their design choices and performing wonderful makeovers. You can catch The Nate Berkus Show on NBC at 3.00 pm ET. Meanwhile, I'll leave you with some images of his designs. Gorgeous!

photos: from here

Basic Cooking Course, Week 4

We are currently half-way through the cooking course and yet it seems like we have been doing this for a lot longer than 4 weeks. But in a good way! We have learned so many new things, including recipes, cooking tricks and most importantly, how to be the Virtuous Woman God has called us to be. (Proverbs 31:10-31)

This week we made desserts. Oatmeal cookies, Carrot Crumb cake and Carrot and Pineapple cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Messy but delicious! (I think those two words go together well when it comes to desserts, don't they?)

It was a sugar fest alright, and daisies were a fit accompaniment. I put some pinkish-mauve in a tall crystal vase and a little dark bouquet of daisies in a teacup for some contrast. Although I think the flowers took a backseat to the yummy treats this time. I don't mind. These oatmeal cookies were to die for. Crunchy, a bit chewy and really, really delicious! In fact, I had two of them the next day for breakfast... Oatmeal is one the most nutritious foods there is, you know? ;)

photos: Ana Elizabeth Hermida

Pretty Pillows

Whew! It has been one hectic week around here. Between organizing next issue's photo shoots and the different activities we were invited to by clients and friends, it's been a bit of a whirlwind. In fact, I can't believe it's already Friday. Before I sign off for the weekend, I wanted to leave with you a bit of eye candy. A couple of weeks ago while searching for cushions on etsy, I ran into these pretty things by Pillow Mio. Made from the fabrics of Amy Butler's Love Collection, how yummy would they look on your couch or even a little girl's bed?

Soft pinks...

Dramatic graphics...

This one with the pink roses is probably my favorite. See the front...

And the back! You get two pillows in one!

Let's do it again. Purple flowers on an aqua background on one side...

And purple paisley on the other side!

The same pattern in pink. Gorgeous!

Cushions are the easiest, least expensive way to transform a sofa, daybed or chair. You can switch them up each season and give your spaces a totally different look. These with the Amy Butler fabrics would be great for Spring, for a terrace or in a conservatory. See you Monday!

photos: Pillow Mio

The Light Experience 2010

On Monday night we attended the opening of the new Spectro Lighting store, which moved into a new, bigger space. Spectro Lighting has been known for their quality and innovative products for quite some time, but now they have added tons of new features to their store, making the process of selecting a lamp, a refreshing and exciting experience. For instance, they now have a Lighting Lab, where you can test different types of light and how they work with different materials, textures and architectural forms. So you can see how a certain light would work in your space before you actually buy it. Pretty cool, right?

To kick off this new venture, the owners came up with the idea for The Light Experience 2010. They invited several highly regarded experts in lighting and design from Spain and Belgium, and during this entire week they will be conducting different workshops and case studies. They will cover topics such as Museum, Commercial and Hotel Lighting, new trends, energy efficiency, LEDs, etc.

We took some pictures of the lamps on display and I can honestly tell you, I like them all. Specially this one above. I have a weakness for sparkly things!

These however, were my favorites. You can't appreciate it very much in this photo, but they're made of tiny crystals that sparkle like jewels. Beautiful! I'm going back on Friday to take part in some of the case studies, so I'll try to take some closer shots then.

It was a nice turnout, with many designers, architects and journalists in attendance. It's fun how at all of these activities you meet up with old and new friends, clients and the people you work with on a daily basis... So we can keep talking about design!

All the guests received a copy of Manuel Padura's new book World Architects Hotels, as he was one of the international guests invited for the event. Later this week, I'll show you a bit more of the book, it's really something. See you then!