Thursday, October 27

Beautiful Blogs :: carry me away

"always carried away"


A beautiful blog of snippets.
Photos (I assume from the internet)
Quotes
And simple blog entries.
Sometimes about life, love, work, or Mademoiselle Deva's personal life.
Beautiful images.
Often equally beautiful words.
I love that this blog doesn't require a lot of commitment or reading. 
Flip through this scrapbook-esque collection of beauty and life.
(With several different formats to choose from)

Let's love more.

I love LOVE.
I need love.
I breathe love.

I am LOVE.
I am realistic.
I expect miracles.

I believe in magic.


It's easy to get lost, 
and easy to become enamored.
Perfect for a daily dose of inspiration.


Finding Light when it's Dark Inside



sit outside in the sunshine, even on a cold day. close your eyes and let the sun soak into your skin.
sip hot tea by the window. don't think about yourself, just watch the world outside. watch the sky. watch the trees.
go for a walk when it's bright out. think of songs you love and pretend there's nothing else in the world. hum.
buy flowers for your bedroom. make your living room smell like pumpkin or apple spice or cinnamon in the fall. breathe. relax.
drink iced hibiscus green tea with honey. lie on the floor and watch sunlight on the walls. daydream.
light candles in the darkness and breathe in their warmth. remember quiet times of calmness and peace and simple joy.
lie on the carpet or bed and listen to quiet, beautiful music. let it seep into you and wash the rest of the world away.
eat chicken soup or chinese dumplings. let the heat and flavor roll through you. live in the moment of your taste and savor it.
dance to music that makes you feel alive. close your eyes and see the light of the music pulse as your body moves.
remember the sun. remember the light. remember that things always get better. not right away, but eventually.
find your light. hold on to it. don't let go.

Wednesday, October 26

Be Like Weetzie Bat - Glamour

Number 18 :: Be Glamorous 

"...choose to believe in your own myth
your own glamour
your own spell
a young woman who does this
(even if she is just pretending)
has everything...."

— (How to (Un)cage a Girl)

*Find idols. Audrey Hepburn. Marilyn Monroe. Nicole Kidman. Selma Hayek. Find someone that you admire for their look, voice, style, personality, or spirit. Don't imitate them, learn from them. Create an inspirational journal and paste pictures of them (maybe doing the things you love about them; acting, volunteering, fencing, cooking, whatever!) inside, along with your favorite quotes from them. Think of reasons why you admire them, then find ways to incorporate that information into yourself. Again, this isn't about imitation; it's about finding ways to become more of the you that you want to be.
*Be daring. Glamorous women are strong and independent and go for what they want. Never be afraid to try new things, go to new places, and explore the world around you in whatever way you please.

* Accessorize. When you see a classic, glamorous person, their style is almost always punctuated with accessories. Audrey's cigarette holder, Marylin's diamonds. Studded earrings, gaudy jewelry, elegant gloves, delicate tiaras. Find things you love. Wear them all the time.

*Feel beautiful. This has nothing to do with looks. In my RLS Bible, I made a list of all the things I did that made me feel beautiful. From having smooth legs and wearing strappy pumps, to laughing and just being happy, or even being a loving person. Do things that make you feel like a beautiful person, inside and out.

*Be glamorous to others. Polite. Gracious. Thankful. Helpful. Loving. Show others the best you at all times.

*And boys, men can be plenty glamorous too. My favorite examples are Carey Grant and George Clooney. Their classic look and demeanor make them the perfect example of ("masculine") male glamor, and the wonderful flamboyance of Eddie Izzard is a more gender-bending version that is wonderful.

"The next night I went back to the sea dressed in 1950s silk travel scarves – Paris with the Eiffel tower and ladies in hats and pink poodles, Venice with bronze horses and gondoliers, New York in celestial blue and silver. I brought candles and lit the candles, all the candles, in a circle around the lifeguard stand and put a tape in my boom box. I came down the ramp with the sea lapping at my feet and the air like a scarf of warm silk and the stars like my tiara. "
~Echo
Links/Inspiration:



Recommended Reading::
Legend: The Life and Death of Marilyn Monroe
The Girl's Book of Glamour (Guide to being a Goddess) --for fun

Recommended Watching::
Breakfast at Tiffany's (of course)
Nana

Monday, October 24

Worlds of Tastes {1}

Worlds of Taste
Food in the world of Francesca Lia Block

Part One :: Echo 
(Francesca Lia Block, 2001)

"her fruit trees bear lemons that taste like oranges and oranges the size of grapefruits." [2]

"She makes tamale pies, spinach lasagnas, Indian saffron curries, coconut and mint Thai noodles, grilled salmon tacos with mango salsa, persimmon bread puddings and lemon-raspberry pies, each one in minutes and without ever glancing at a recipe.
She can never duplicate a dish twice since she doesn't write anything down and is always too excited about what she will make next, so my father and I are sometimes left pining for a reenactment of the almond enchiladas or the garlic-tomato tart." [5]

"cakes so delectable as to be almost hallucinogenic-" [6]

"She is his unprecedented blossom, his chocolate-cherry-swirl birthday cake..." [8]

"She made brown rice and tofu and miso soup from a golden paste." [17]

"i went to all-night fast-food stands and ate burritos in my car in big gulps, squishing the beans and cheese out of the flour tortilla." [21]

"Sometimes instead of burritos I ate powdered sugar donuts with colored sprinkles. The powdered sugar cut and stung my mouth. The sprinkles reminded me of the lights of the city, shiny and sugary and fake and promising and nothing.
That summer tasted like a powdered sugar donut stinging my mouth." [21-22]

"He smelled of sea and salt and blueberries. I wondered if he tasted that way. My mouth tasted of blueberries when I was with him." [36]

"I attempted to make sweet green corn tamales but they hardened and stuck to the corn husk so I brought him cheese and apples instead." [36]

"She picked oranges and avocados when she was hungry..." [48]

"taught her about curries, the aphrodisiac properties of certain spices and how to make a mango yogurt concoction that was refreshing on the most burning days..." [50]

"his mother's secret recipe for risotto that shone in the dark." [51]

"window boxes of herbs and tiny vegetables." [54]

"She was sipping root beer in a state of bliss." [57]

"All summer we had looked out at the fruit-heavy plum tree and the honeysuckle vines..." [60]

"slurping coffee from huge cut-glass goblets..." [63]

"...all the Sunday croissants that soaked buttery stains through the napkins, the Kahlua and milks,..." [69]

"...I had dreams of chocolate cakes ascending stairs and smothering me in my my sleep." [71]

"I wanted Thorn to take me out to dinner and order brown rice and vegetables and white wine." [74]

"We built a fire in the shivery living room and ate our pasta in front of it." [79]

"...then they ate chocolates and kissed for hours..." [91]

"They had eaten curry and samosas at a restaurant shaped like a camera..." [94]

"...had a part at his glass house in the hills...champagne, sushi, coke." [104]

"...what if Smoke and I had made love, slept in, gone out for pancakes, walked in the hills..." [109]

"I bought some carrot juice and avocado sandwiches from the health food market..." [112]

"I picked some flowers from the garden and made green tea and lit candles." [113]

"Nothing to go home to except the canned soups and crackers she had started eating, the bottles of gin." [117]

"I made myself a salad for dinner and drank mineral water with lime." [132]

"'I live on fish and brown rice and vegetables..." [136]

"We ordered and the waiter brought carrot juice, miso soup, cold cold salads with grated vegetables, a basket of corn bread." [138]

""'Fish is the perfect food.' He squeezed a lemon slice, lifted a pink segment of salmon with his chopsticks. 'But he eats steak, too,' Nina said. 'Really bloody.'" [139]
"lick nonfat frozen yogurt, get our fortunes told..." [140]

"...we went out for sushi and sake. Mark ordered for us and we tried all different kinds of fish- translucent, firm, glossy pieces on neat beds of rice. Mark and Nina had a contest to see who could handle the most wasabi. They gobbed the pale green stuff into their mouths until their eyes teared. We laughed, sipping the rice wine that seemed to shine in our throats." [141]

"impossible to eat anything except a light vegetable broth. But I thought about food all the time. Muscles and bones and blood pleading: steak, sweet potatoes, buttery corn-on-the-cob quarts of vanilla-bean ice cream, pizza, pancakes, grilled pink salmon steaks." [148]

"Skye took a roll from under white linen, cracked the gold crust, buttered the soft inside, handed it to me over the red candle. My stomach was better. He ordered angel hair pasta for us." [153]

"Skye's hair smelled of smoke, corn bread and leaves." [154]

"We made chicken soup and potato latkes with apple sauce and sour cream. We made a large green salad and a side dish of peas, carrots, and pearl onions. Chocolate macaroons." [191]

"The book was full of mixed-up world cuisine-- Japanese burritos with fresh seared tuna, sweet rice and wasabi; Greek pasta with olives, tomatoes and feta cheese; Jewish pizza with smoked salmon and cream cheese." [192]

"I moved into the tiny room with the thirteen cats and got a job as a waitress serving blue corn tamales and kiwi margaritas at a Caribbean restaurant/gallery decorated with alters of roses and candles..." [195]

"I had taken myself to dinner at a Thai restaurant decorated in purple silk where they served rose petals in the salad, chunks of tofu with jasmine rice, hunks of sugared ginger, mangoes in coconut milk." [200]


~*~

Beautiful Foods {Recipes} :: Hibiscus Green Tea


Iced Hibiscus Green Tea
Healthy, sweet, simple.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ingredients:
Dried Hibiscus (also called jamaica flowers)
Green Tea (bagged or loose)
Honey/Sugar
Water
Ice

1. Boil Water.
2. Place small amount of Hibiscus flowers & Green tea leaves in mug. Or you can use a lot of both in a large pitcher to make a lot.
3. Pour boiling water over Hibiscus & tea, let steep for at least 5 minutes.
4. Strain liquid to get out the leaves and flowers (discard).
5. Add sugar or honey to your liking. Hibiscus is naturally tart.
6. Let cool.
7.  Once at or near room temperature, pour over a tall glass of ice.
8. Enjoy in the sunlight.

Notes: 
Add lemon juice for a hibiscus green tea lemonade blend.
If you have a Keurig or other drink machine, this is super-easy to make with one. Just get Green Tea K-Cups, put hibiscus flowers in mug before you place it under the machine, then let the tea pour right over the flowers, then let steep and follow instructions from there. I do this all the time. Just as good.