Year: 2012

boutique hotel pick – Hôtel La Résidence De La Pinède -St. Tropez, France

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St. Tropez is a destination I include in  every trip to France. Although it is  very difficult and time consuming to get to the small fishing village from most anywhere in the world, it is truly a wonderful place to experience when daydreaming about the high life. I normally stay in Nice and take a train to Saint Raphael and then a bus to St. Tropez, totalling approximlately 2-3 hour travel time. It is the most ecnomical way to get there but also the longest, especially if there is traffic during the high season (May-Sept/Oct). There are also ferrys leaving from Nice and Cannes and Saint Rapael, but I have found those to be an inconvinience due to their unpredictable schedules (plus I cannot deal with motion sickness very well) There is also driving along the Riviera in a rental car and without traffic you can reach St. Tropez within an hour and half from Cannes. Of course having your very own personal yatch also helps, but that is a story for another day.   The most …

olympic fever – london 2012

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For more reasons than one, I planned several years back to be at the Summer olympics in London. But, as usual life dictated otherwise, so my trip to the UK has been postponed for exactly a month after the Olympic games are over. In the meantime, I am spending my evenings catching up on the highlights instead of my blogs.  So, I promise to be right back in the next few days to continue discussing most anything and everything inspiring that I could think of. 🙂

photography in motion: train ride to the suburbs

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I love travelling by train while vacationing  throughout Europe, so I figured it would be nice to do the same on Amtrak (USA) while escaping to the suburbs this past weekend, to visit one of my favorite gals on earth. So,  I bought a round trip ticket and after work on Friday, I took the bus  in San Francisco to the train station in Emeryville,( just past the Bay Bridge)  for my trip to  Sacramento. The only problem with Amtrak is that, while it stops in most metropolitan cities, getting to the neighboring towns is really difficult unless there is a person picking you up on the other end or there is a connecting bus which is available to drop you off somewhere close to your destination. Anyway, I got sidetracked. But the reason for this blog entry is to share with you some of the photographs I snapped while the train was in motion (about 50 MPH to be exact) on the way to and from Sacramento. But after I uploaded the photos unto …

boutique hotel pick – hotel yountville – napa valley, california

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I realize that most hotels I picked in the past  are ones I want to escape to outside of the US, but I had forgotten about the ones I don’t mind escaping to even for the weekend and those I want to recommend to my foreign followers. I don’t need to sell Napa valley to anyone visiting the great state of California, but I do want to remind those not familiar with the region, Yountville is the place to consider when choosing a hotel to stay in,  while visiting one of my favorite wine regions in the world – Napa Valley. Lucky for me it’s in my back yard.  The hotel is called   Hotel Yountville, and is ideally located almost in the center of Napa Valley. There are several restaurants to choose from for your dining pleasure and plenty of shops and boutiques and an outlet to keep you busy. There is also a golf course directly across the freeway from Yountville for those not interested in indulging in our California wines. While in Yountville, be sure to dine at my favorite …

interior decor: visions of simplicity

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On occasion I contemplate owning only the simple things in life and although I have downsized quiet a bit since my move back to San Francisco, I am really considering maintaining a streamlined and simple approach to decorating my next home. This could very well be just a phase, but for now check out what I am leaning towards:

healthy eating: roasted eggplant sandwich

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Eggplant is definitely one of my favorite vegetables but I am particular on how they are prepared.  Although most restaurants and delis pride themselves in offering eggplant sandwich on their menus, often times I find how they have prepared them isn’t  pleasing to my seasoned pallete.   I think the key to serving a successful eggplant dish or sandwich is  slicing them thin enough to cook or roast properly and so they absorb the  flavor they are often times soaked in. Of course, my eastern european culture offers many vartiations of preparing eggplants, but I think I am going to only share a favorite sandwich of mine from here: Roasted Eggplant Sandwich Eggplants and onions are caramelized in the oven then refreshed with a sprinkling of lemon juice and chives. For a gourmet spin on this roasted veggie sandwich, slather the bread with pesto* on one side and rosemary cannellini bean spread* on the other INGREDIENTS •2 medium eggplant, quartered & cut into 1/4 inch slices •2 red onions, quartered & cut into 1/4 inch slices •1/4 …

interior decor: in-home office space for the creative writer

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I crave for an in-home office space of my own just so  I could lock the outside world out while I work on my novel and postings for my blogs. I never realized how important the space was until I sold my home a few years back. Nonetheless, while I strive towards having my very own in-home office (again), I have begun to compile photos of  my favorites to incorporate into my very own style. I  do believe that a creative writers space should be warm, inviting, colorful, comfortable, inspiring and as unique and different from the rest of the house as possible. The room should give you a sense of escape from the uniformity of every day life and traditional office spaces both in the home and at work and should be one, which can only be used by you.