Thursday, July 28, 2011

Birthday Getaway

This guy here, he arranged the most wonderful, amazing birthday getaway.
Great atmosphere

We jaunted over to Las Vegas and stayed at the beautiful Aria Hotel. I do love cozy boutique hotels, bed and breakfasts, tucked away treasures. BUT, I do also love me some crazy Vegas time. I truly do. And really, Vegas has somehow turned into cozy, boutiquey with tucked away treasures. At least the way we do it.

Sergio made sure everyone knew it was my birthday! :) This little surprise was in the room for us.
Sweet welcome treat

We shopped (the window kind only). The stores in Crystals are out of this world.

Kiki Montparnesse

The Assouline bookstore in particular was heavenly.
Assouline signageAssouline

Good morning Las Vegas.
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This is what waking up 34 looks like.
34 today!

We art appreciated. One of the best things about City Center is the fabulous art collection, strewn oh so ever casually about. At the valet, walkways, in between buildings. Like this crazy awesome Henry Moore. It reclines right outside Beso, between a shopping center (Crystals) and a casino (Aria).

Henry Moore Sculpture

Droog was located streetside in the Cosmopolitan. We actually walked into this gallery/store. We wanted to get up close and personal with these, especially the hand carved table.

Carved table

One of these would look perfect in a breakfast nook. Alas, not in our price range.
Milk Bottle lamps
Kitty pinball
Stack of drawers

We explored Bellagio a bit. Did you know, Bellagio boasts the world's largest chocolate fountain?
World's largest chocolate fountain

Painting with plants.
Plant Painting

A day of pool time gave me the best hair I've rocked in ages.
Good Hair

And then there was my birthday dinner at Sage. OH WOW. wowiewowiewowie. The restaurant itself is romantic and cozy. We opted for the early evening market menu WITH the wine pairing. Divine.

This here is the bread accompaniment. Lavender butter and Himalayan Salt. sigh.
Bread accompaniment

Creamy artichoke soup
Creamy Artichoke Soup

Duck Fat Roasted Heirloom Beets
Duck Fat Roasted Heirloom Beets

Shelton's Farm Organic Chicken
Shelton's Farm Organic Chicken

Crunchy Chocolate and Peanut Butter Tart - Before and After
Crunchy Chocoloate and Peanut Butter Tart
dessert carnage

And then, they gave us warm chocolate soup. On the house. It may sound like it's just hot chocolate but it was so much more than that. Light, a few spices, refreshing even -- if chocolate could ever be called that.
Chocolate soup

Here is a very happy me.
post meal Elsie

It was so sad when it was time to go home.
Party's over

Aria is our new favorite Las Vegas hotel. Aside from the front desk staff, the service was quite exceptional. It's beautiful, airy, warm, comfortable and relaxing. Lovely. What an amazing birthday present.

Grazie caro.

Click here to see full photo set of the trip!

Click here for more on City Center Art.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

turning 34 tommorow

Sergio stole me away! For a few nights, we're esconced amongst these twinkling lights.

Haiku for today.

The world at our feet.
I am happy as can be,

As long as it's us.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Mia goes rawr

There's a lioness in our midst. Her name is Mia.

MiaAFter2


Before

MiaBefore1

MiaBefore3

MiaBefore2


After

MiaAFter3

MiaAfter4

MiaAfter1

Aw. She's so cute.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Shadey time

I finally found shades for the two sweet lamps we procured from this Vintage Modern Sale. It was a collab between a bunch a rad ladies. If you look carefully in Morgan's photos, you can see one of Sergio holding the red lamp.

Owl1Owl2

RedLamp1RedLamp2

Not sure if the shades are staying forever though. We're going to live with them awhile and see how we feel later.

here's one more of that cutie owl:

Owl3

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Purple

Ch-ch-chaannge is a comin' to our vestibule!

This post is a tease of just the paint color though. Will post more when there's more of it to post!

Painting tools

We used Anna Sova food paint. (Half off at Jill's Paint!) It didn't smell like paint at all. In fact, it smelled vaguely of cookies and even honey at times.
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It made me hungry.

More later...

Monday, July 18, 2011

Circle in the corner

What's that I spy in the dining room corner?

Circle pot in the corner

It's our Circle Pot from Potted! If you recall, I finally planted it a week ago. It took another week to get it hung.
Circle pot

There are three different types of plants and a little buddy.
Circle pot planting

I hope those little plants grow super long and spill over and hang down like crazy! It's just barely cresting over both sides right now.
Circle Pot - under

Be careful if you ever come over and decide to hang out in that corner. It hangs a bit low - my head is still sore from when I bumped it pretty hard on the pot. But I want to try and keep it low so we can see it from outside in the backyard.

We are totally crushing on this tantalizing orange color right now. It's so happy!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Brunch at The Eveleigh

Soy Latte

After reading about The Eveleigh on Oh Joy!, I couldn't wait to try for myself. And when it came up on BlackboardEats, I didn't have an excuse to wait any longer. The chic yet comfy restaurant is beautiful! (Check out the real silverware.) And so is the food. Beautiful and delicious. We were there early and had the breezy patio all to ourselves for a while.

Soft scrambled eggs
Avocado Toast
Banana Bread

The banana bread came with a side of dark chocolate peanut butter marscarpone spread. Served warm with perfectly crispy edges, on a swirly bed of honey. mmmmm.....delicious.

And I just couldn't resist picking something out from the totally fun drinks menu. After consulting with our helpful waiter, I settled on the Morning Glory Fizz. It looks all lemony pastel and fluffy clouds but boy did it pack a punch! So yum.

Morning Glory Fizz

Going to The Eveleigh was totally worth getting this photo of Sergio:

Silly Sergio

Can't wait to go back!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Wine Tasting - June 2011

Elsie and Sergio

Last month we helped my sister and her hubby celebrate their anniversary up in wine country. Sergio and I had a fantastic time and came home with a surprising number of bottles.

The Wine Gang
The Director
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The Transporter
Chi is ready

The Italian
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The Documentarian
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The Good Times
We stayed at the just redone Hadsten House in Solvang and moseyed into tasting rooms all over the region. Solvang, Santa Ynez, Lompoc... I lost count of how many! One of the best meals of the trip was at Brother's Restaurant at Mattei's Tavern but I didn't have my camera with me. Thank goodness for Sergio's iPhone - I'll have to remind him to send them to me.

Palmina Tasting Room
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Olsen's Danish Bakery
Danish breakfast

Kenneth Volk Vineyard
My favorite of the trip!

Los Olivos Cafe
burger

Quicksilver Ranch
Tiny horse

Bridlewood Winery (That's Jenny and Chi up there!)
Chi and Jenny in the bell tower!

Me and my sis

I kinda want to go back already! That's the problem with vacations isn't it? They're always too short.

Click here to see the full set of photos.

Thanks for inviting us on the trip guys! And happy anniversary!
Jenny and Chi