Happy Fabulous Easter!!

I hope everyone has a great day for Easter! I am spending the day with my favorite Portuguese friends, and baking traditional Folar Easter bread! My friend's husband is a baker and updated the traditional heavier bread with a lighter brioche recipe, still including cinnamon, sugar and lemon zest, and finished with boiled eggs. We each baked a version and had a creative "competition" resulting in different looking loaves, that were all delicious!

My giant Folar!

The Baking Competition

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Another Year Older - Fabulous Birthday!

Spring time, and another year older! I had an amazing birthday, and feel lucky to have such fabulous friends!

Harlan Social - Stamford, CT

Bulgari - Rose Essentielle

Of Mice & Men - Broadway Show, NYC

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In the NYU Alumni Newsletter!

Fields of Vision -News & Views from the Department of Art History and Program for Urban Design and Architecture Studies at New York University

Stephanie Swinton (B.A. Art History/Urban Design & Architecture Studies, French Minor, ‘02; M.A. Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, Visual Culture: Costume Studies, ’06) sends this news:

“I recently returned to New York City following a month-long trip to Europe, where I was in Switzerland, France and Spain.  As a former Urban Design and Architecture Studies major, one of the highlights was visiting all of the Gaudi sites in Barcelona!  And, as a former Art History major, another place I find interesting each time I visit is Montreux, Switzerland — the “Swiss Riviera” — where there are always new public art installations along Lake Geneva.  I continue to work in Consulting for Luxury and Fashion brands, along with companies in the Arts, and have most recently been working in Strategy for Digital Marketing and Social Media.  Previously I was in LA, where two of my Europe photographs were part of the recent exhibition, Snap to Grid, held at the Los Angeles Center For Digital Art (LACDA). See recent photographs and follow my adventures on my blog! – How to be Fabulous. I also manage a fun tumblr called The Hipster Bakester – check it out!”

Skulls, c'est chic!!

Skulls... are always cool! Start with Alexander McQueen scarves, and then look all around you...

GIA - Luis Alberto skull gem carvings

SoHo - Skull scarf

Barcelona - Dragon window detail

Wooster St NYC - Skull scarf + sunshine

Barcelona - lady sculptures by the beach

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Progression of a Tulip

Sometimes it is nice to arrange flowers as a single bloom in an interesting or pretty antique vase. Here was a lone pink tulip placed in the windowsill for a party. The rest of its bouquet was scattered in other equally pretty vases throughout the room. This way you have more to look at as you look around! This tulip served its purpose artfully...

The First Day - The pink Tulip brings life and color to the room in contrast to the grey day outside.

That Evening - The Tulip provides a bright note to a white shade.

A Few Days Later - The Tulip still brings a colorful charm, although upside down by now...

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Recipe: Make your own Pan Con Tomate!

We had a wonderful rustic Catalan meal in the middle of olive groves just outside of Barcelona, after visiting Montserrat mountain. One of the most fun parts was making our own pan con tomate, or tomato bread, right at our table! It is so easy to do!

Rubbing the bread with a whole peeled clove of garlic.

Rubbing the bread with the cut side of a tomato.

Washing it down with local wine, directly from the carafe! This takes a lot of skill!

Tomatoes hanging from the ceiling rafters - they are so soft they would burst if left on a counter!

Recipe:

-extra juicy ripe tomatoes (the most juicy you can find)
-garlic cloves
-thickly sliced peasant bread, in large slices and toasted
-olive oil
-salt

Take a whole clove of garlic and rub vigorously on one side of the bread. Slice a tomato in half, and use the entire half rubbing against the bread. Sprinkle with salt, and olive oil. Enjoy with some red wine - especially if you can master the skill of pouring from the carafe to your mouth!

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