Twinkle, twinkle

Friday Roundup

 Happy Friday! And to my American friends, happy Memorial Day long-weekend!!! I’m just happy it’s finally stopped raining and that the sum finally decided to grace us with its presence. I’m looking forward to this weekend, the BF is getting home from a week-long business trip, so hopefully we’ll have a nice, relaxing weekend. Anyone have anything exciting planned? In the meantime, here is my roundup of all things Pinterest:

Cutest mutt

Best drink (Blood orange and gin)

Favourite laugh (and story of my life)

Favourite look

Best wall feature

Photo of the day

Photo found on Pinterest

Friday Roundup

Happy Friday guys! It’s a long weekend here in good old Canada, yay!! Although, the weather looks like it’s going to be crap, boo. Nonetheless I’m look forward to sleeping in, relaxing and catching up with friends. Hope all of you have something fun planned. I leave you now with the latest and greatest from the wonderful world of Pinterest:

Best quote

Unreal cuff (Badgley Mischka)

Yummy summer drink (Strawberry watermelon lemonade)

Favourite coffee table

Cute summer date idea

Photo of the day

Photo found on Pinterest

Travel Tuesday: Capri, Italy

Ahhh, Capri. Let me tell you…this place is magical, magical but expensive. I visited Capri for two days and one night on my Europe trip in 2010 (that was all I could afford, like I said the place is pricey). Capri is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town on the island shares the name. It has been a resort since the time of the Roman Republic. There are only two towns – Capri, just above Marina Grande, and Anacapri, the higher town. Both Anacapri and Capri have a range of hotels. Anacapri (where we stayed) appears to have more budget accommodations and is more peaceful at night while Capri is the main center and has more nightlife. Beaches are scattered around the island. Lemon trees, flowers, and birds are abundant.

What to See in Capri:

Faraglioni, rock formations, are one of the island’s natural wonders. The faraglioni make up the classic view one associates with Capri. On the shore, the Faraglioni beach is one of the island’s most beautiful beaches. There are several other unusual rock formations in the sea around the island, including a natural arch.

Anacapri, the highest town on the island, has splendid views of the harbor below. Near the central square there’s a chair lift to Mount Solaro and a street lined with shops, several of which offer limoncello tasting. Olive trees, grapevines, and flowers give it a Mediterranean charm. Take the chairlift ride called the Seggiovia by locals, it goes from Anacapri up to Monte Solaro. On a clear day the views over the bay of Naples from the summit are indescribable and there are some really pretty gardens and orchards underfoot on the way up the mountain (passing over private homes). The ride takes 15 minutes each way and is a remarkably peaceful break from the tourist crowds elsewhere in Capri.

Villa San Michele, in Anacapri, was built around the turn of the 20th century by the Swedish physician, Axel Munthe, on the ruins of the Roman Emperor Tiberius’s villa. Its gardens have panoramic views of Capri town and its marina, the Sorrentine Peninsula and Mount Vesuvius. The villa and its grounds sit on a ledge at the top of the Phoenician Steps, between Anacapri and Capri, at 327 meters above sea level. San Michele’s gardens are adorned with numerous relics and works of art dating from ancient Egypt and other periods of antiquity. They now form part of the Grandi Giardini Italiani. The story of the villa is recorded by Dr. Munthe in his book entitled The Story of San Michele, published in 1929. There have been numerous reprints since.

Capri is the main town of the island. Piazza Umberto I, often called La Piazzetta, is the central square that houses cafes and the cathedral of Santo Stefano. The piazza is filled with people both day and night. There’s an archaeological museum in the town.

Grotta Azzurra, also known as the Blue Grotto is known throughout the world for its size, the intense blue tones of its interior and the magical silvery light which emanates from the objects immersed in its waters. In order to enter the Grotta Azzurra visitors climb aboard small rowing boats, with a capacity for two, maximum three, passengers and, lying on the bottom of the boat, enter the low and narrow mouth of the cave. The light is filtered by the water which absorbs the red tones, leaving only the blue ones to pass into the cave. A second phenomenon creates the silver appearance of the objects immersed in the water. It is believed that, in the Roman period, under the rule of Tiberius, the interior of the Grotta Azzurra was used as a marine nymphaeum. There have been those who imagined the cave as the habitat of Nereidi or of Sirens or believed it to be the realm of devils who bewitched all who dared to enter.

 

Spring Showers

Us ladies all know what spring means. Shower season! Be it a bridal shower or baby shower a pretty, neutral dress can be dressed up or down and worn many times over with a simple swap of accessories. The perfect dress to look fresh and gorgeous this season!

Friday Roundup

Here are my favourite Pinterest finds this week!

Best dessert idea

Favourite casual look

New way to wrap wine

Beautiful vintage wedding dress

List of Italian cheese

The best and worst of Met Gala 2012

Often referred to as “fashion’s Oscars,” the Costume Institute Gala (Met Gala) held at the New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday night was an opportunity for A-listers to either shine or crash and burn. As usual, there was a plethora of beautiful people in beautiful creations and just as many in god-awful ones. I’ll never get the fascination with going so over the top to the point of ridiculous. What’s wrong with looking classic, beautiful and elegant. If you want an example of someone who does avant-garde right keep you eye on January Jones. She is one of the few women who know just when to stop, so that she looks both unique and gorgeous. What were your favourite outfits of the night?

The best of the night

Jessica Alba in Michael Kors

Lea Michele in Diane von Furstenberg

Jessica Biel in Prada and Justin Timberlake in Tom Ford

January Jones in Versace

Nina Dobrev in Donna Karen

Camilla Belle in Ralph Lauren (My favourite of the night)

Hilary Swank in Michael Kors

Gwyneth Paltrow in Prada

The worst of the night

Beyonce in Givenchy Houte Couture by Riccardo Tiscoi (No one needs to see your butt)

Shailene Woodley in Christopher Kane (This girl needs to get a stylist, she has been crashing and buring on the red carpet this year)

Kristen Stewart in Balenciaga by Nicolas Ghesquiere (The dress is bad enough…and then you see the shoes)

Lily Collins in Valentino Haute Courture (Too much dress for too young of a girl)

Elizabeth Banks in Mary Katrantzou

Florence Welch in Alexander McQueen (Not that I would expect anything better from her)

Coco Rocha in Givenchy (Seriously???)

Restaurant Review: Vivo

So, I finally made it out to Vivo this weekend. I have wanted to go for awhile, as I absolutely love Italian food. The restaurant is in an unassuming strip mall in Lessard, make sure you’re looking for it or youmight just miss it. The décor is typical of new restaurants, although a bit too dark for my liking. The concept at Vivo is family-style dining, meaning all the plates are meant to be shared. I would not recommend going here as a couple (unless you eat a lot in one sitting) as the sizes/prices are better suited to a group of four or more. We went as a group of four and we don’t need a lot of food to fill us so we found the half orders of all of the plates to be enough.

 The service was impeccable. Our server was very knowledgeable of the menu, ingredients and preparation and offered suggestions on sizes, dishes and wine. Be warned, that all groups of six or more will be automatically charged a 20 per cent gratuity.

The wine selection was fairly good, especially if you can afford to drink off of the reserve list. They don’t have many wines by the glass, however I did have a nice cabernet sauvignon from a boutique vineyard in Napa.

 To start we had the night’s special. It was in-house smoked duck salami with fresh BC pears, fresh baked fig and olive bread and an arugula pesto. It was all very good.  

 Next we ordered the caprese salad which was beautifully dressed with five kinds of tomatoes, and some half sun dried, the creamiest, most flavourful bufala mozzarella I’ve ever had and basil pesto. I’m not normally the biggest fan of caprese salad, as I usually find it a bit bland, but this was incredible. I would definitely recommend ordering it. We also ordered the beef carpaccio to accompany the salad (and although I did not have any I was told it was good).

 For our secondi dishes we ordered the risotto de mare, which was a creamy, tasty risotto dish with prawns, blue tipped mussels, clams, halibut and scallops. I really like this dish, but then again, I love shell fish! We also ordered the gnocchi dish with toasted walnuts. I was disappointed with this order.

                                                                                                                                The gnocchi was too mushy and the flavour very bland (and just generally not tasty). Wish we had just ordered a larger dish of the risotto.

 By the time we had finished all of this we decided we were to full to order a meat dish and thought we would just have some dessert. Again we were disappointed. They only desserts they had were fruity gelato, tiramisu and one more thing that I can’t remember. We were hoping for some sort of torte or chocolate. So we left without dessert.

 All in all, I don’t think that I will be going back to Vivo. While the service was fantastic, the prices are a bit steep for the quality of the food (also, the majority of their ingredients are not local). If you are in the mood for Italian I think that your money would be better spent at Corso 32.