Design*Sponge at Home is here!

This morning I was so excited to receive the announcement from the amazing Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge that her book is finally here!

It looks like it's going to be amazing, full of projects and inspirational spaces in true Design*Sponge style. You can check out the book page here for more info and best part, it's available for pre-order! I can't wait to receive my copy and start pouring through the pages.

Design Sponge at Home (Official Book Trailer) from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo.

Congratulations Grace! It looks amazing!

Book images via Design*Sponge

Book Review: The Girl Who Played with Fire

I finished the second book in the series and was so into it that I jumped into the third one right away. This book ends rather abruptly, so when I finished the last sentence my husband heard a loud shriek of, "Nooooo! It can't stop there!", and I downloaded the third one as fast as my fingers could type...I'm a bit dramatic in case you're wondering.

Loved the second book, it was a nail biter from the beginning. Awesome twists and turns along the way and a lot of instances that had me at the edge of my seat. This book reveals a lot more about Lisbeth's past and explains her immediate distrust of everyone around her. Larsson also explored other characters that made appearances in the first book and introduced some new ones, like the illusive Zala. I'm currently reading the third and last book of the series, which immediately starts where the last one ended, thereby ending my initial hissy fit about the 2nd book's ending ;-)

What did you think about the second book?

To read my review of the first one click here.

Book Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

This week I finished Stieg Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and already can't wait to get my hands on the next book in the series. What can I say? I'm sucker for a book series ;-)

If you love murder mysteries, then you are definitely going to love this one. The story takes place in Sweden, which made the story even more interesting because you learn about the culture and country as the story progresses. The main character, Mikael Blomkvist, is a financial journalist and magazine editor who just suffered through a tough libel case at the hands of a financial giant and all around "bad guy". Blomkvist is hired by the head of the Vanger Family, a retired business tycoon in his own right, Henrik Vanger, so solve the 40 year old murder of his niece, Harriet Vanger. From there the story takes an endless array of twists and turns that had me reading every chance I had, especially when it came to the main female character, Lisbeth Salander. She is complicated and unpredictable, exactly what I love in my female protaganist. Lisbeth becomes the key to unlocking the mystery of Harriet Vanger's disappearance 40 years ago.

In Sweden they've already released the movie version of the novel. The trailer looks so good, I'm going to look into renting it:

I was beyond excited to hear that they are going to start filming the American version of the book this October. The main cast has already been decided... James Bond himself, Daniel Craig, will be playing Mikael Blomkvist... Robin Wright is playing Erica Berger, Blomkvist's business partner, best friend, and long-time love interest...

Stellan Skarsgard was chosen to play the role of Martin Vanger, nephew of Henrik Vanger and CEO of the Vanger Corporation... and last but not least, Rooney Mara was chosen to play the role of Lisbeth Salander. Some critics are a dubious as to whether or not she can pull off such a tough and complicated character. Personally, I haven't seen any of her work (however she's in "Social Network" which I'm thinking of checking out), but she looks exactly the way I pictured the character in my head. Of course she'll need Lisbeth's piercings, tattoos, and black punk hair, but I think they hit the money in terms of looks.

Have you read the book yet? What did you think?

Do you like who they chose to play the characters?

Do tell!!

Book image via B&N, cast images via Google Images

Eat Pray Love

This is a very long overdue post, mainly because it took me so long to finish this book due to the need to read annoying things like my textbooks, but in any case, I finished and I loved it!

If you haven't read Elizabeth Gilbert's amazing story, Eat Pray Love, then as your buddy in the blogosphere I demand that you do!

Her story is such an amazing journey from utter hopelessness and sadness to strength and joy. What I learned from this book was that you have the power to make yourself happy or unhappy... so choose the first one. I absolutely loved how she took the time to explain all three cultures: Italian, Indian, and Balinese. I admired how she could completely submerge herself into all three and how open she was about meeting and including new people in her life.

I hope to one day be that open to the world and people around me.

Now, I am eagerly awaiting the movie! Yey!

The lovely Julia Roberts was chosen to play Elizabeth and I love their choice for Felipe, even though he doesn't really look the way he's described in the book...who cares? It's Javier Bardem!

Are there any books you've read that have changed your perspective on things?

Please share!

Image via Elizabeth Gilbert's official site

Cookbook Reads

On those lazy weekend afternoons when Mango and I are just strolling about town, we like to pop into our local Barnes & Nobles and spend hours reading books in a little corner drinking steaming hot lattes. This weekend we decided to start in the cookbook section and stumbled upon John Besh's latest cookbook...

My husband fell head over heels in love with the amazing photography and the recipes. He spent the entire time looking through the book pointing out dishes he remembered eating when he grew up in New Orleans. We ended up putting it back on the shelf, but as we walked out he kept talking about that cookbook and how he would love to try some of those recipes.

So, yesterday I ordered it for him! Shhh! Don't tell. It should be getting here this week, perhaps this weekend we'll be cooking up some shrimp creole!

Rules and Tidbits

Today I discovered this adorable blog called 1,001 Rules for My Unborn Son via Simple Lovely. It's filled with fun little tidbits of wisdom that one can only learn from time, photos that make you laugh, and music tracks that make you smile. The author is actually comming out with a book which I have a feeling is going to be my top gift pick for those mommies expecting baby boys. I might even pick up a copy for myself and save it for when we have our own little mini-Mango running around the house ;-)

Enjoy!

Shakespeare's Fairies

"The course of true love never did run smooth"

- A Midsummer Night's Dream

One of my favorite plays by William Shakespeare is A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's filled with love, angst, intrigue, and...fairies. My favorite characters were always Titania and Oberon, the king and queen of the fairies. While the human characters were running around the forest in confusion, Titania and Oberon were playing a coy little game of hard-to-get filled with wicked schemes and witty sayings.

I had always wished that one day someone would stumble upon an unpublished manuscript by Shakespeare where he wrote the love story of Titania and Oberon. In the play, they were already king and queen, but I would have loved to have seen how the smooth Oberon won over the tempestuous Titania.

I wonder how they became the king and queen of the fairy realm with a court filled with fairies with names like Mustardseed and Cobweb. Perhaps there was a quirky little back story to how Puck became Oberon's sidekick of mischief.Shakespeare might have had these little musings floating around in his head...at least I'd like to think he did.

Photos by Elizabeth Messina via The Bride's Cafe

Pages.

Just popping in to say...

There are two books on my mind lately that I can't wait to get a hold of...Design*Sponge announced that in Fall/Winter 2010 they will be coming out with a 400+ page book featuring amazing spaces, DIY projects, and my favorite, the before & afters. I am patiently waiting to get my hands on a copy, when I read about it I started jumping up and down in my chair with the same excitement as when Domino came out with their book. I have an inkling that this book will be amazing.

The other, artist Amy Sioux's amazing guide to Paris. She asked 50 Paris residents to draw a map to their favorite places in the city and then photographed that spot. I love seeing how different people decided to sketch their map and it makes me wonder why these places are so special to them. The book can be ordered here.

We've slowly been collecting books that we love and find inspiring, these two would be an amazing addition to our collection.

The Book

As if reading his blog religiously wasn't enough, I know have the book, and it is wonderful! I popped by my local bookshop this weekend to pick up a copy and read it from cover to cover the moment I got home. More like looked at it because it is filled with amazing photos!

If you are a fan of The Sartorialist, I highly recommend you pick up a copy. It's such a great book and I can't wait to look back at it years from now and see the images that inspired me.

Of course, if your feeling extra fancy you could pick up the amazing hardcover Bespoke Edition!

Summer Reads

Nothing makes me smile more than stacks and stacks of great books just waiting to be read...hence my obsession with bookshelves. Summer is the perfect time to dig in and read some of those books that have been winking at you from the bookshelves, everything from the classics to those fun beach reads.So you can imagine how excited I was when Sarah from Where the Sidewalk Begins asked me to be a part of her Blogger's Summer Reading Corner this week! If your looking for something great to read this summer, head on over to her blog and check out what bloggers are reading. A lot of these sound so interesting that I'm adding them to my list of summer reads. Next up on my list is The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. It's such a classic and I've never read it, so I figured now would be the perfect time to snuggle up on the sofa and enjoy a good read. Another great reading list that I plan on slowly working my way through is Vogue's Top 10 Summer Books, I'm especially interested in their last recommendation, sounds like fun.So what's on your reading list this summer?

Images via here, here, here, and here.

My Current Read: Martha

Yes, this is my current read, the book that keeps me up late at night or instead of watching TV I'm reading this on the sofa, Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook. My mom gave me this before I got married, she had a copy of her own that I occasionally perused, and decided that it would be prudent to bestow upon me my very own copy. For the record, we are both lovers of everything Martha, so I was very excited when I saw the book, however the homemaker "newbie" in me put it on the shelf and thought nothing more of it, deciding to try things "my way".

Over the weekend I grabbed my book while searching for the answer to a little household emergency and was so amazed at the plethora of information at my disposal. Why hadn't I read all this before? So now, I'm going through it page by page, in the hopes that it will help me streamline "my process" of keeping our home clean and in order (I've learned my lesson). The book gives some great tips on everything you can imagine and even has some helpful checklists to make sure you don't forget anything. For lack of a better term, it's the Homekeeping Bible.

Happy reading!

*Update:

Since this book is, well, huge, I have a feeling I'm going to be reading it for a while. Every week I'm going to post a helpful tip on the side of my blog. I figured if it made me have an "Ah Ha!" moment, maybe it will help someone else out there in the blogosphere.

It's on the way!

I finally ordered my own copy of the Domino book! I'm so excited!
If you haven't gotten your copy yet, Domino Magazine is offering a 35% off discount through Barnes and Noble, and if your order is $25 or more, they throw in free shipping! Since I had just finished my current read, I decided to order a copy of Confessions of a Shopaholic, I can't wait for the movie! I love Isla Fisher, she's too funny, the scene in the previews when she cracks open the block of ice to get her credit card is priceless. Anyone else excited to go see the movie?

Influence

I left work early on Friday to head over to Sam's Club to get my tires rotated for our trip (in case you didn't know, if you buy your tires from Sam's they will rotate them for free). So, since I had an hour to kill, and didn't need to do any shopping, I did something I had never done before at Sam's Club, hung out in the book section.

*Side note: They have great deals on books!

Okay, I'm back. Anyways, I pulled my basic Barnes and Nobles routine and went through the books pulling any one that caught my eye and then quickly headed off to a quiet spot to read (this meant the sofa and recliners aisle). One of the books I picked up was the Olsen twin's new book Influence. I had read about it in different magazine articles and blogs, and decided to check it out for myself. I must say, I loved it. It was filled with interviews personally conducted by each of the girls, some of the interviews would veer off course into these odd little ramblings between an Olsen and the subject of their interview. Personal letters or random photos are posted throughout the book. My favorite interview was of Lauren Hutton, I started chuckling when I read her comment saying, "I'm always looking for a man my size...mentally that is." Another interview I loved was of Diane Von Faustenberg! Up until now, I've always been familiar with appearances on ANTM and Project Runway where, while brilliant, she's brutally honest. After reading the interview, I realized why, the woman created an empire all on her own...and while raising a family. It made me see her in a whole new light, plus I loved all of the old photographs of her while she was just starting out. If you haven't picked up the book yet I highly recommend that next time you are at the bookstore you sit down with a cup of coffee and read it, it's a lot of fun.