April Food Day 2010 is here!

Today is the 2nd annual April Food Day spearheaded by fellow bloggers Meg Fairfax Fielding of Pigtown*Design and Chris Cox of Easy and Elegant Life. 

While our heads are often in the clouds of gorgeous interiors and high end products, most of us really have our feet on the ground when it comes to those in need. With the economy, likely all of us have been experiencing some level of personal financial struggles, or know someone who has. If you've ever paused to decide between going grocery shopping or running the heat or putting gas in the car even once, then you know a little of what some people experience all the time. As tough as things are, if you're reading a computer screen and can even dream of beautiful interiors, then you, and I, are blessed and we need to "pay it forward".

April Food Day is our annual reminder to help out and asks that we all make a donation, no matter how small, to Feeding America. They are annually feeding 37 MILLION Americans, including 14 million children. This represents a 46% increase over 2006.  There is need, no question.

This year, in order to track the success of the April Food Day initiative, there is a special donation page that has been set up.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Thanks to Meg and Chris for making this great event happen. If you have any questions, you can email Meg here or Chris here.

Thank you.




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April Food Day 2010 is here!

Today is the 2nd annual April Food Day spearheaded by fellow bloggers Meg Fairfax Fielding of Pigtown*Design and Chris Cox of Easy and Elegant Life. 

While our heads are often in the clouds of gorgeous interiors and high end products, most of us really have our feet on the ground when it comes to those in need. With the economy, likely all of us have been experiencing some level of personal financial struggles, or know someone who has. If you've ever paused to decide between going grocery shopping or running the heat or putting gas in the car even once, then you know a little of what some people experience all the time. As tough as things are, if you're reading a computer screen and can even dream of beautiful interiors, then you, and I, are blessed and we need to "pay it forward".

April Food Day is our annual reminder to help out and asks that we all make a donation, no matter how small, to Feeding America. They are annually feeding 37 MILLION Americans, including 14 million children. This represents a 46% increase over 2006.  There is need, no question.

This year, in order to track the success of the April Food Day initiative, there is a special donation page that has been set up.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Thanks to Meg and Chris for making this great event happen. If you have any questions, you can email Meg here or Chris here.

Thank you.




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Travel Tuesday: A tale of two hotels

Okay, so, I recently had a interesting hotel experience. A few weeks ago, I attended an event in Boston at a hip new hotel. Said hotel is part of a world wide chain of hip hotels. I was excited to go to the event and brought my camera, good blogger that I am. And I took one photo. This hotel was so poorly done, so depressing and cheap looking, yet so pretentious, I was actually angry when I left. Angry I'd spent even $10 plus parking to attend the event, angry because it's the kind of hotel people ooh and ahh over. It was awful.  An evening in this hotel can run between $300 and $400 per night.

Now, onto hotel #2. On my recent trip to the Architectural Digest Home Design Show, I drove from Boston to Stamford on Wednesday night and stayed in a modest hotel. The original plan was to stay in the Hilton, but by the time we tried to book the hotel, the cheap rates through Hotwire were no longer available. Okay, so I wanted to do the trip on the cheap, I admit it. So, my friend booked us into a 2-1/2 star hotel and I figured, for $80, we'd likely only be there a few hours anyway, so why not, as long as it's clean . And it's true, we checked in at midnight and checked out at 7AM. Well, I can't tell you how surprised I was at the quality of the room design. Admittedly, the exterior and lobby were still quite dated and a tad shabby, but this chain hotel has been remodeling their rooms and I have to say it, bravo! The bed was totally comfortable, the style was slightly modern, yet warm and inviting. The patters and materials were fun and up to date.

So, quiz time, the 4-star hotel is:

A)

B)

And bonus points if you can guess the hotels.





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Travel Tuesday: A tale of two hotels

Okay, so, I recently had a interesting hotel experience. A few weeks ago, I attended an event in Boston at a hip new hotel. Said hotel is part of a world wide chain of hip hotels. I was excited to go to the event and brought my camera, good blogger that I am. And I took one photo. This hotel was so poorly done, so depressing and cheap looking, yet so pretentious, I was actually angry when I left. Angry I'd spent even $10 plus parking to attend the event, angry because it's the kind of hotel people ooh and ahh over. It was awful.  An evening in this hotel can run between $300 and $400 per night.

Now, onto hotel #2. On my recent trip to the Architectural Digest Home Design Show, I drove from Boston to Stamford on Wednesday night and stayed in a modest hotel. The original plan was to stay in the Hilton, but by the time we tried to book the hotel, the cheap rates through Hotwire were no longer available. Okay, so I wanted to do the trip on the cheap, I admit it. So, my friend booked us into a 2-1/2 star hotel and I figured, for $80, we'd likely only be there a few hours anyway, so why not, as long as it's clean . And it's true, we checked in at midnight and checked out at 7AM. Well, I can't tell you how surprised I was at the quality of the room design. Admittedly, the exterior and lobby were still quite dated and a tad shabby, but this chain hotel has been remodeling their rooms and I have to say it, bravo! The bed was totally comfortable, the style was slightly modern, yet warm and inviting. The patters and materials were fun and up to date.

So, quiz time, the 4-star hotel is:

A)

B)

And bonus points if you can guess the hotels.





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Blogger's Home Tour

 A big thank you to Emily Johnson of The Material Girls Blog for including me in her annual roundup of design blogger's homes - Unveiled! I'm honored to be included with: Patricia of Mrs. Blandings, Melissa, Cassandra, Leslie and Wendy of Chic Coles, Paloma of La Dolce Vita and Sarah and Alison of Matters of Style. Emily finishes up her tour next week with another great group of bloggers. So, bookmark it!



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Blogger's Home Tour

 A big thank you to Emily Johnson of The Material Girls Blog for including me in her annual roundup of design blogger's homes - Unveiled! I'm honored to be included with: Patricia of Mrs. Blandings, Melissa, Cassandra, Leslie and Wendy of Chic Coles, Paloma of La Dolce Vita and Sarah and Alison of Matters of Style. Emily finishes up her tour next week with another great group of bloggers. So, bookmark it!



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Megan Fox Joins Transformers 3

After all the bad buzz surrounding Megan's appearance in Transformers 2, it didn't seem likely the actress would return to the third film in the franchise.However, the news out of Hollywood today is that not only Megan Fox but Shia LaBeouf have both signed on to do Transformers 3. John Malkovich and Frances McDormand have also signed on for this one. Michael Bay released a lot of news about Transformers this week, and it seems like work on this project is moving full steam ahead.

I'm not the man eater

Hollywood bombshell Megan Fox regrets and says she is no man-eater in real life and is wrongly perceived in public.

The 24-year-old actress insists that thought of a one-night stand makes her sick, Harpers Bazaar magazine reported. Apart from her current boyfriend and former Beverly Hills 90210 actor Brian Austin Green, she has only ever been with one other man who was her childhood sweetheart.

"My childhood sweetheart and Brian. I can never have sex with someone that I don't love, ever. The idea makes me sick. I've never even come close to having a one-night stand," Fox said.

The Transformers star stays with her lover helping him raise his eight-year-old son Kassius and feels she is always misunderstood by the media who ignore her quiet life.

"I am a stepmother to the fullest extent. I have looked after Kassius since he was three and he has no memory of life without me. For some reason, no one wants to look at me that way, but I am responsible (for him) and I've never struggled with that, from bedtime stories to the school run," Fox said.

Brian gives me stability

Megan Fox has rekindled her long-term romance with Brian Austin Green after a brief split and says he is her "rock" and gives her the stability she craves.

The two met in 2004 on the sets of "Hope and Faith" and were engaged two years later. But they ended their relationship saying it was a mutual decision.

"During the shooting of 'Hope and Faith', I didn't know who Brian was but I liked him right away. Everyone was around the monitor watching a scene and Brian accidentally touched my leg. I remember literal electricity shooting through me and out of me from every direction. It was like magic," imdb.com quoted
"Since I was 18, I've been a lot of different people. I've grown up, I've regressed, it's been difficult. But Brian makes me happy. I feel safe and he is my sense of home. My rock. I need that when all is unstable."

Megan Fox: two-man woman

Megan Fox has only slept with two men.

The Transformers actress - who is regarded as one of the world's sexiest women - insists she has only been intimate with long-term partner Brian Austin Green and her first boyfriend as she can only have sex with people she loves.

She said: "I've only been with two men my entire life. My childhood sweetheart and Brian. I can never have sex with someone that I don't love, ever. The idea makes me sick. I've never even come close to having a one-night stand."
Megan - who has previously claimed she is bisexual - insists she is nothing like her sex siren image and is happy living a quiet life with former Beverly Hills 90210 star Brian and his eight-year-old son, Kassius.

The 23-year-old screen beauty told Britain's Harper's Bazaar magazine: "I am a stepmother to the fullest extent. I have looked after Kassius since he was three and he has no memory of life without me.

FHM Sexiest Women 2010 odds: Megan Fox fav without Cheryl Cole

With Cheryl Cole being a hot favourite to again top the FHM Sexiest Women charts, Paddy Power are betting without the defending champion and make Megan Fox odds-on to fare best of the rest.

The Transformers beauty was No 1 in 2008 and finished runner-up behind the Girls Aloud singer 12 months ago, so 8/11 for her in this market is a fair price.However, Frankie Sandford, of The Saturdays, is a solid 3/1 second favourite, has already picked up several other hot body awards and is very much the coming girl among younger voters.

I'd have thought Tess Daly would be a bit long in the tooth for this game but despite her advancing years and two children, she is just 8/1 to win or be second to Cheryl.

Even Intellectual Guys Prefer Megan Fox

Tina Fey isn't buying the idea of being labeled a "thinking man's" sex symbol – the "30 Rock" star says every guy – regardless of his intellect – would prefer to be in bed with Megan Fox.

"What I've come to realize is that when people say, 'The thinking man's whatever' — there's no such thing," Tina said in Esquire's April issue, where she appears in a sexy dress with a plunging neckline on the cover. "The thinking man also wants to f*** Megan Fox."
Tina revealed that she had a few stipulations about appearing on the cover of the men's magazine.

Antiques are way better than dodgeball!

Each year, the boosters of my local high school's athletic department hold an antiques show in the high school gym as a fundraiser for those sporty type kids. Okay, I live in a small town and that does sound kind of hokey. But, the Duxbury Antiques show, now in its 29th year,  is truly anything but hokey. Fifty regional antiques dealers gathered and transformed that smelly old gym into a shoppers heaven. Yes, I also attended the same high school and I was most definitely not a participant in school sports, I was in the theater/music crowd.  So, with visions of dodgeball still dancing in my head all these years later, I headed over to the antiques show yesterday.  Here are a few of my favorite finds:

I first heard of Bliss Farm Antiques on Toma Haines' blog The Antiques Diva.  It was actually Toma's post that reminded me of the antiques show right in my own town.  Bliss Farm has a great visual aesthetic and deals in the super hot grain sacks and vintagy items that are so popular right now.

She had a sweet collection of lavender sachets. I'd love to see the fabric that this beauty came from!

Totally loving these French poodle knife rests.

The Scrapbook from Essex, MA showed a beautiful collection of vintage 1920's cosmetics ads by Fred Packer. How could one not have not wanted to run right out and buy what they were selling?

If I had room for it, I would have totally brought home this cute little painted table from Kathleen Fortuna Antiques of Scituate, MA.

Of course, Quimper pottery is always a winner. These from Camille Buda Antiques of Marshfield, MA.

This Shaker cheese basket had some damage, but it's so pretty isn't it? From Ciel Glynn Antiques of Cambridge, MA.

Ciel Glynn also had this adorable barber's pole. How cute would this be in a little boy's room?

Here's a very rustic New England style drop from secretary at William Nickerson Antiques of Orleans, MA.  This isn't an example of high quality cabinet making, but the price was very reasonable (I forget what it was).

All right, everyone, say aww...  The teddy bear is resting against an antique candle mold.

This Folk Art piece is the riser of a step - how cool is this? A big improvement over my Rubbermaid plastic step stool. A little harder to drag around, I suppose. From Robin Lloyd and Wayne Barron, Cambridge, MA.

And the top of the step. Way too pretty to step on!

One of my favorite finds of the day is Painted Pretty Furniture based in Abington, MA. They take vintage furniture and restore them with a new coat of paint and upholstery. Mostly the pieces were small and not fine antiques, but their eye for color is fresh and the prices quite reasonable.

If you enjoyed these pieces from the Duxbury Antiques show, check out Toma's blog The Antiques Diva later this week. I have a guest blog post of other great finds from the show.




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