Jul 26, 2016

How To Decorate With Your S.O. & Not Go Insane




So they would enjoy each other, and the meal she'd prepared in the awkward, homely kitchen with fresh flowers arranged in a plastic pitcher.
As beginnings went, this one had elements of both of them. Wasn't it interesting how one managed to complement the other?
"You know, if you made me a list of stuff I should have in here, I could pick it up."
She arched her brows, took the wine he offered, then pulled a little notepad out of her apron pocket.
"This is already half full. I was planning to wait until you were lulled into complacency by meat and potatoes."
He flipped through the notebook and noted that items were listed under specific headings. Foodstuffs, Cleaning Supplies—with subheadings Kitchen, Bathroom, Laundry—Household Necessities. Jesus, the woman was irresistible.
"Am I going to need to take out a loan?"
“Think of it as an investment." Taking the notebook from him, she tucked it into his shirt pocket, then concentrated on the potatoes. "Oh, by the way, I really like the art in your office upstairs."
"Art?" It took him a minute. "Oh, my girls. Really?"
"Clever, nostalgic, sexy, stylish. It's a great room altogether, which I admit was something of a relief to me, considering the rest of the house."


Key of Light



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By Daniel G. Wells III - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46112112



Moving in together is a big step — decorating should not be taken lightly. 




Deciding to move in with your S.O. is a big step. But, not just for the reasons you may think. 

What we really care about is how to seamlessly decorate with your S.O. Do you throw out your stuff in lieu of all new dΓ©cor? Do you deal with his or her penchant for dusty collectables? 

Well, we tapped Oakland-based jewelry designer Marisa Mason and husband and furniture designer Dave Bell of Jacob May Design to get the scoop







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" It's a kitchen. An actual kitchen."
He was getting it now, and the charge of watching her revel. She'd switched from the rhumba to... he wasn't sure 'what. But she looked really cute. "What was it before?"
"There is no name for what it was before. I'm so happy. I'm so grateful. You're the most wonderful man in the world." She caught his face in her hands and kissed him. "And I'm a terrible person."
"Why? Not the 'I'm wonderful' part, because, hey. But why are you a terrible person?"
"Because I wouldn't move in with you before you did this. I made the kitchen a kind of exchange. Remodel the kitchen and I'll live with you. It was selfish. It worked," she added, raining kisses over his face. "But it was selfish. You're doing this for me. I know I said I wouldn't move in until it was finished, and I even made snarky comments about the lamps up in the bedroom."
"Something about not being fit to light a cave inhabited by bats and blind spiders."
"Yes, that was one of them. Anyway, forgive me?"
"Okay."
"I know it's not quite finished. There's still the counters and the backsplash and, oh, a few more things, but I don't want to wait anymore. I'll move in tomorrow, and we can start, officially, living together."


Key of Knowledge

Jul 25, 2016

The Sense of ‘Mine’




Vanessa managed an answering smile. 
“Thank you. The house looks lovely. It seems bigger somehow. 
I’d always heard that things shrunk as you got older.”

Loretta turned off the radio. 
Vanessa regretted the gesture, as it meant they were left with only
 themselves to fill the silence. 

“There were too many dark colors before,” Loretta told her. 
“And too much heavy furniture.
At times I used to feel as though the furniture was lurking over me, 
waiting to push me out of a room.” 
She caught herself, uneasy and embarrassed.



Unfinished Business


__________________




By Daniel Thornton - CeljeUploaded by sporti, CC BY 2.0, 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27075869


People get attached to their stuff. Two-year-olds, for instance, have verystrong opinions about what’s theirs (MINE!”), and are suspicious about sharing, no matter what nonsense their adult caregivers spew about thiscaring thing. And although (most) people eventually learn to follow appropriate social norms, that relationship to stuff and things still matters throughout the life span, and even, in a way, beyond it — when you’re gone, after all, your loved ones will likely inherit your most prized possessions. If nothing else, at least your memory will live on through, say, a particularly nice set of dresser drawers you once owned.
People express their self-identity through their belongings, a notion that psychologists and neuroscientists are lately finding empirical evidence to support, though the idea itself is of course not a new one.




__________________



When she was awake and wandering the apartment, she’d stop to touch
something—the back of a chair, the side of a table, the round dome of a
paperweight. She would think, Mine. My things, my apartment, my country.


Three Fates

Jul 22, 2016

Brides around the World




She took his breath away. There was no other way for him to describe it. One moment he was breathing, thinking like any man, and the next, the moment he saw her, everything stopped. Even his fingers went numb. The nerves he thought he didn't have reached up and grabbed him by the throat.


Sweet Revenge



____________________




By Faisal Akram from Dhaka, Bangladesh - Maheer & Progga, CC BY-SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31632036




From India to Indonesia: 
Beautiful pictures of brides show how traditional wedding dresses look around the world



  • Many people associate weddings with white dresses and veils
  • However, wedding traditions are in fact very different in how they look
  • FEMAIL documents some of the most beautiful ceremonies and traditions
  • Some brides don colourful garments; others paint their faces and skin






Jul 20, 2016

the stories behind 25 celeb tattoos





“By the way, I like the tat.”
“Good-luck charm,” she told him. “If I wear the dragon, the dragon doesn’t wear me. How
about yours?” She walked around to tap the letters scrolled over his left shoulder blade. “Teine,”
she said.
“It’s pronounced ‘teen,’ not ‘The-ine.’ Old Irish for fire. I guess if I wear the fire, it doesn’t
wear me.”


Chasing Fire 


______________________







For some of these celebrities, the art on their bodies is more than just skin-deep.



______________________




And he saw, with a surprised jolt of lust when she turned to switch off the light, to leave only the candles and fire burning, the little tattoo of spreading red wings at the small of her back.
"Half the thoughts in my head just evaporated."


Northern Lights

Jul 19, 2016

Close




Escape? Was that a better word for what he’d come for? Perhaps,
Booth mused as he sailed over the choppy water. Lifting a beer to his
lips he let the taste race over his tongue. Perhaps he was escaping, but
he was no longer needed on the set, and he had finally had to admit
that he couldn’t work in the city. He needed a few days away from the
filming, from the pressure to produce, from his own standards of
perfection.
That was all a lie.


Dual Images


_____________



Ain't going backwards, won't ask for space
Cause space was just a word made up 
by someone who's afraid to get too...

Close





Jul 18, 2016

How To Be A Tourist In Your Own City




Stepping outside, Ariel took a deep breath of New York. She loved it—
had always loved it in a way usually reserved for tourists. Ariel had
lived on the long thin island of Manhattan all of her life, and yet it
remained an adventure to her. The sights, the smells, the sounds.


Dual Images


___________________


By Paolo Neo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons




No doubt about it, discovering other cities is an unbeatable experience - but a stressful one too (think traveling for hours before reaching your destination, packing your things or dealing with airport security). 
So why leave for another place, when there's so much yet to discover in your own town? 
Because staying at home doesn't necessarily mean you're not going to have a good time. 
Here are a few tips for spending a day exploring your hometown that will help you see it with fresh eyes!





___________________



He'd never pictured himself biking along the oceanfront—much less enjoying it. The fact was, Nathan rarely even came to this section of town. It was for tourists and teenagers. Being with Jackie made him feel like both. She was showing him new things not only about the city where he'd lived for nearly a decade but about the life he'd had more than thirty years to experience.

 Everything about her was unexpected. How could he have known that the unexpected could also be the fresh? For a few hours he hadn't given a thought to Denver or penalty clauses or the responsibilities of tomorrow. He hadn't thought of tomorrow at all.

 This was today, and the sun was bright, and the water was a rich blue against the golden sand. There were children squealing as they played in the surf, and there was the smell of oils and lotions. Someone was walking a dog along the beach, and a vendor was hawking nachos.

 Across the street, beach towels waved colorfully over rails, making a tawdry little hotel seem exotic. He could smell hot dogs, he realized, and some kind of colored ice was being sold to children so that it would drip sticky down their arms as they slurped it. Oddly enough, he had a sudden yen for it himself.

 When he looked up, he spotted the black-and-yellow colors of a kite shaped like a wasp. It had caught the wind and was climbing. A light plane flew over, trailing a flowing message about the special at a local restaurant.

 He took it all in, wondering why he'd thought the beach held no magic for him.


Loving Jack 

Jul 14, 2016

Nora's Power




Today on the train there was a man reading... not so rare... but I always have to know what people are reading... between his page's turn I saw it was a paperback. From Nora!

It's "From the Heart" that contains "Tonight and Always", "A Matter of Choice" and "Endings and Beginnings".



cover of the book in its Portuguese version


Times are changing when a man reads Nora Roberts, on a train, in a Latin Country. I told you of my ways in converting Dear Husband here and here. But still I don't see him owning a NR Novel in public... yet ;)

Could hardly refrain myself from congratulating the man (do you think an hug would be too much?! let's wait a few more men + Nora books before they understand the power of a Nora's Hug ahahahahah)  but then again I wouldn't be able to not start sharing what I thought of those books and spoiling the discovery for him... and the man was in a GOOD part of "A Matter of choice" - I managed to read: "Kasey studied Jordan for a moment as Harry fixed himself another martini." so Kasey is meeting Jordan and... life happens ahahahah)  besides my station was fast arriving... So I just stole a pic of the (proud, for me) moment.






I'm opening a new label here on the blog called "People reading Nora"... I'll be on the look out for more.

Jul 13, 2016

Activity That Instantly Relieves Stress




But the paintings, large and abstract, were explosions of bold and
restless color. Violent works, Kelsey thought, sated with passion and anger. And signed, she saw with a jolt, with a blood red N C.
Naomi’s work? she wondered. No one had mentioned that her mother painted. No amateurish works these, Kelsey decided, but skilled and capable and disturbing.
They should have unbalanced the steady dignity of the room, she thought as she turned away. Yet they humanized it.


True Betrayals


___________________




By Pedro Ribeiro SimΓ΅es from Lisboa, Portugal [CC BY 2.0 
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons




Have you ever watched in pure wonder at artists in full creative mode? It's as though they're channeling another force through their physical body. Their eyes, while fixated on the canvas in front of them, are merely vessels for translating the energy from within into a creative format we can all digest and enjoy. It's a beautiful thing to witness and, according to science, something we should all be doing too.





___________________




She walked to the canvas waiting on an easel, picked up her palette, and began to mix her paints.
Sun streamed through her windows. Several were open for the practical purpose of cross-ventilation, and for the simple pleasure of feeling the breeze. Music pumped passionately out of the stereo. What she intended to paint today required passion.
She could already see it in her mind, feel the power of it gathering in her like a storm.
She raised her brush, swirled it in color for the first stroke.
Her heart lifted. The magnitude of the joy was almost unbearable. She might burst from it if she didn't transfer it onto canvas.
The image was burned in her mind, like a scene etched on glass. With stroke after stroke, color blended on color, she began to bring it to life.
"You know this was always my deepest dream." She spoke conversationally as she worked. "For as long as I can remember I wanted to paint. To have the talent, the vision, the skill to be an important artist."
"Now you have it."
She switched brushes, glancing at Kane before she faced the canvas again. "Yes, I do."


Key of Light


Jul 12, 2016

Wedding Dresses For The Minimalist Bride




A dress, Branna thought, suited to the shower of sunlight and the
glimmer of the moon. Suited for a day of love and promises, and a
night of rejoicing.


Shadow Spell


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By White House photo by Shealah Craighead - The White House, Public Domain, 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4033354



Wedding season has just started and we are ready for it. If you are looking for some gown inspiration that doesn’t involve lots of volume and tulle, just keep scrolling.






Jul 7, 2016

qualities that make a person attractive regardless of their physical appearance




She thought for a moment, then spoke in a lazy Shore accent. "Old Mrs. Wilcox died—would've been eighty-nine come September. Came home from the market and had a stroke right there in the kitchen while she was putting away her canned goods. Too bad she didn't make things up with her sister before it was too late. They haven't spoke word one to each other in twelve years."
"That's good." Amused, Cam propped his chin on his hand. More than looks and brains, he thought.
There was warmth and humor in there, too. Once you tickled it out of her.
Seth was toast.


Chesapeake Blue


____________



By Quinn Dombrowski - Interlocking, CC BY-SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35723047




Some of us might believe that only beautiful people are attractive. But actually, we find people attractive based on other factors aside from physical appearance. In fact, the charm and attractiveness of a person are not always determined by their physical appearance. The main thing here is the magic of the attractiveness.
Bright Side put together a list of ten ‘magical’ qualities that the opposite sex finds attractive.




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Interesting-looking woman, though, he decided as he poked around a little. The hair that wasn’t really red, wasn’t really blond, the eyes of absolutely clear and perfect blue. Her nose tilted up a little on the end and sported a dusting of freckles, and a slight overbite made her bottom lip seem particularly full.
Long neck, he thought as he poured the coffee, lanky build with no rack to speak of.
Not beautiful. Not pretty or cute. But . . . interesting, and the few times she’d smiled? Almost
arresting. Almost.


The Search