ciao! newport beach: 2018-01-28

February 3, 2018

candy hearts and pink tulips

Here’s a little

pinteresting and fun flowerscape

I put together for

Valentine's Day

and all you need to pull off this look is

a bag of conversation hearts,

a pretty bunch of tulips and

two nesting glass vases.

I spotted this idea on pinterest

a few years ago and thought it would be fun

to recreate!

Place one cylindrical vase inside another

and just make sure you have a nice gap

inbetween the vases for filling with candy hearts.

One package of candy was all I needed

for this eight inch vase.

ciao! fabiana

candy by Oriental Trading

flowers by Trader Joe’s

February 2, 2018

conversation heart cookies

Say what you mean, and mean what you say…

That attitude is perfect when making these

Conversation Heart Shortbread Cookies!

Have you ever made shortbread?

It’s soooo easy, and they have a

nice sweet, salty quality to them.

They’re really good with tea and coffee

or a nice glass of cold milk.

What makes this recipe especially fun

are the endless options of phrases

that can be pressed into the cookies…

I chose words like

ciao, Hugs, Amore, Be Mine, BFF, Kiss and

Wink Wink.

Valentine Shortbread Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon salt

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 small packet red food dye

1. Wisk together flour and salt. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add sugar, and continue to beat until pale and fluffy, occasionally scraping down the sides of bowl, about 2 minutes more. Beat in vanilla and natural red food dye. Add flour mixture, and mix on low speed, scraping sides if necessary, until flour is just incorporated and dough sticks together when squeezed with fingers.

2. Turn out dough, forming into 2 disks; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out 1 disk to a ¼ inch thickness. Cut out shapes using heart cookie cutter, and transfer to prepared baking sheets. Reroll scraps. Repeat with remaining disk. Indent cookies with desired stamps. Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes. Bake until firm and golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes about 2 dozen small cookies.

Adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe.

Natural food dyes are the perfect option for making any colored cookie, cake or frosting. I found this brand at my local Mother’s Market (also available on Amazon).

I love that they use vegetable colors only.

Beets, carrots, turmeric and cabbage make the most beautiful colors. Keep in mind that they won’t be as bright as the artificial colors, but I really like their soft tones. (Here's another option by McCormick).

Here are the cookie cutters I used.

They come in four great sizes that aren’t too big,

and I love the option of having fluted edges too!

To get the perfect typeset for the words I pressed into the cookies, I used this set of alphabet & number stamps.

When using these, you’ll need to separate each letter before you start baking. I used scissors to trim them all, so they fit into the purple holder nice and straight.

These cookies were really a lot of fun to make!

How would you personalize your conversation heart cookies?

ciao! fabiana

February 1, 2018

black and white all over... the floor

You know the old saying,

everything old is new again…

well, I’ve been seeing more designers and celebs

choose these “elegant” old school

black and white marble floors for

their homes.

I especially like them in the entryway

and am slightly tempted to pull off

this look in my own home…

what do you think?

Although, this pattern may work better in my home,

I still love the bold look of the marble checkerboard pattern!

The photo above is the foyer of
Kyle Richard’s new home in Sherman Oaks.

And these two photos are from Kyle’s former home in Bel Air.

You may recognize it from the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

She must really love this look!

This flooring is also the style of choice for Victoria Beckham.

And here’s cozy space from the home of my fellow Newport Beach blogging pal Janice from the Fig & Twigs blog.

Isn't this look so cute on her porch?

ciao! fabiana

photo credit:
1, 8 Elle Decor
2 - 7, 9 Pinterest
10 - 12 CMLS
13. Victoria Beckham
14. Figs & Twigs

January 31, 2018

destination: sherman library gardens

For a fun little outing on a pretty winter’s day,

stop by the Sherman Library & Garden

in Corona del Mar.

Sherman Gardens is spectacular all times

of the year, but winter brings out some special blooms.

Make your adventure here in Orange County

a true garden lovers field trip and stop by

Roger’s Gardens and the Laguna Nursery too

two of my other faves!

Roger’s is just up the street from Sherman’s,

and Laguna is just a short drive down

Coast Highway.

These steps plated with succulents between the risers

is my favorite spot in all of Sherman’s Gardens.

The cactus garden is phenomenal too!

This is just a little peek…

there’s much more too see

at this quaint garden.

Café Jardin is a charming restaurant located inside the Sherman Gardens, but you may have to call first for reservations and hours.

There is a $5 entrance fee at Sherman Library & Gardens for a walking tour, so make sure you spend enough time enjoying every corner of this garden, lol.

ciao! fabiana