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Jonathan Adler Annual Upholstery Event

Jonathan Adler Annual Upholstery event is going on. You can snatch amazing furniture for 20% off!

Dream! Image: Jonathan Adler

Move 2 Denver!

Since we moved to Denver, we have started a campaign to get all our family to move too. Not only this is such a happy, bright place, we think we should share with everybody how life changes if you live in a place that's not cold and dark all year-round (take that New Jersey!).

Yesterday I was driving around with the sunroof open, 60 degrees out and the sun shining strong! It's February, for God's sake. Do you know how impressive that is for someone who spent 10 years in the dark of the East Coast?

Not only that's a place that makes you unhappy and depressed but it promotes bone loss. And I'm not kidding. During my last visit to the doctor, we found out I - in my 20's, I must add - have bone loss in my knees and in my jaw. I have to take Calcium (pills and chewable) and Vitamin D everyday to prevent it to become worse. When I asked how that was possible, the doctor blamed it on New Jersey! All those year without any sunshine can really hurt you!

Here is a comparison on how the average temperature in Denver is usually higher than NYC all year long:

This was one of the biggest selling points for us, before deciding to move.

What we didn't know?

That Denver has more than 300 days on sunshine in one year - that's more than San Diego! That I would forget what's wind and windy weather, that I would not suffer with humidity anymore (my hair is very thankful), now we suffer with dryness - which is unbelievably more pleasant. That I would go more than six months without seeing any rain! In other words: a dream!

Denver does not have a world of things to do compared to New York. But in New York, for most days it's impossible, and very unpleasant, to be out and I'd choose to stay at home, comfortable, than to be miserable outdoors, therefore missing on a lot of opportunities to have fun. Here, there isn't much to do, but I can be out all the time. I'm able to experience the little available and all of it and I never choose to be at home anymore.

It's just a huge change of lifestyle.

Denver has a huge influx of people from other states. You just need to drive around to see the amount of car plates from California, for example. It's a similar lifestyle, the weather is amazing all year round, it's a very free state and way cheaper to live than California!

For anyone who decides to move to Denver, I'd recommend the folks at Move2Denver , they are super helpful and can walk you through the path to find your dream home. Right now, they are holding a beautiful house open, it's located by the 9th Street Light Rail Station (which means a huge investment because of the new trends of bye-bye car culture, hello mass transportation!).

I've been posting on their Facebook Page for the past month about tips for new, young couples to find their dream home and interior design/home decor tips and it has been a blast!

You can like Move2Denver on Facebook by clicking here!

I have received a load of home/furniture stores catalogs this week and will spend the weekend going through them and doing research on new home design trends and share it with you soon!

In the mean time, let me go out and enjoy a little sunshine!

;)

Follow @Move2Denver on Twitter!

It made my week

Oh, my beloved Friday! I missed you! This was a long and, for the most part, miserable week. I had multiple panic and anxiety attacks with all the crap that happened and I could not be more thrilled it’s Friday! Oh, the dreams of freedom (a.k.a. weekend)!

What was interesting this week if that I noticed I’m a little bit promiscuous when it comes to color. Let me explain:

I develop a serious love story with certain colors. At a specific moment, not long ago, I loved mustard. I loved mustard so much that now I have a wardrobe that's filled with mustard pieces. The problem is, when that love is gone, I have all the reminders of that color that, now, makes me sick.

That's probably what's happening with the green and yellow at home. Yesterday I received a few of the pieces I got at the Crate & Barrel sale. They look great and today I'm completely in love with them. But I can already see that in a few months I'll not be able to stay inside my own home and I'll disappear with these pieces. Because, then, my love will be for the color peach!

Here are a few things that made my week:

- Crate and Barrel delivered lovely, beautiful yellow and green pieces this week. I need to finish up the living room this Saturday and next week I’ll be posting pictures of my inspirations and the results.

[Bamboo, green and yellow plates + green wall clock]

- Unknown was the movie of choice for our, now traditional, Thursday Movie night. I always fell bad for Liam Neeson, he lost his wife, remember? So I support his movies in return! Hehe! Just kidding. I love that he is super bad ass in all his movies.

- 5280 Best Breakfasts in Town issue. It was a delight to receive the magazine this week. Right way we opened it and read the whole Best Breakfasts in town feature, specially because I’ve been dreaming of finding a place like Urth Café in Colorado and despite this been one of the most fit states in the country, all breakfasts joints are a little lame and tend to be he-men and not healthy places with freshly squeezed orange – carrots – beats juice!

I can't wait to try all the good Breakfasts places in town!

Plans for the weekend?

I’ll have a very busy and interesting time to make up for the misery of the week that passed. So, I’m attending the Rooney concert tonight at a new (to me) venue – The Marquis in Denver. Tomorrow I’m working on making our place pretty the whole day because we will – for the first time – host guests for a pizza party. I love to entertain, but in back in the East Coast I did not have the space and here in Denver, I don’t have the friends just yet. So, I invited a couple of people from work and we will bake pizzas and drink caipirinhas all night. On Sunday – I have not decided if I’m hosting an Oscar party for two! Hehe! Let’s see what surprises the weekend brings!

Have a happy and full of movies and good food week!

Restaurant Week is Here!

Restaurant Week is here and it made me forget about everything else in life! All I can think about now are the wonderful new restaurants in Denver I’ll be trying over the course of the next two weeks. (Why Restaurant Week - singular - if it is for two weeks?). We have received our 5280 Best Restaurants in town issue and will be cruising Denver with it in tow so we can try them and create our own reviews. And, the best part is that I get to try a few new Brazilian places as well, which hopefully have authentic food.

What is curious is that they create pre0fix menus here that cost $26.40 per person, so a couple would be spending $52.80. Isn’t that super clever?

Here are a few of the places we cannot wait to try:

Ribs atThe Village Cork

Tapas at Ondo's Spanish Tapas Bar

Bruchetta at Osteria Marco

Moqueca at Café Brasil

Creme Brulle at Aria Restaurant

Follow the Heat

While on my search for the perfect summer attire for my upcoming vacation, I found an old magazine from Brasil with lots of fashion features – all showing the styles of Brazilian women at the beach. I thought it was the perfect inspiration for this moment:

Lots of color, different cuts and textures, but I got admit, the jewelry is what I loved the most in this shot shoot.

To finalize it: the gorgeous actress Juliana Paes

Images: Revista Criativa

Beach love - Part 1

One of the most challenging tasks that a girl has to face in the spring – because it’s spring time in Denver already! \O/ – it is to choose decent swimwear! And the best time to do that is approaching. As a rule, it’s a very bad idea to buy swimwear before Spring Break. Let the children go and buy expensive swimwear so they can head to warm locations and have crazy fun. After that’s done, we (mortals), can head to the swimwear stores and benefit from tons of great discounts.

Basically, that’s how I shop for anything really. I wait until it’s incredibly off-season and buy from patio furniture (in the winter) to winter jackets (in the summer). It’s always more affordable and you’d have had lots of time to think about the topic and make your decisions. That’s what constitutes a smart purchase!

Since I’m heading to Maceió, located in the most northeast coast of Brasil, in late April – six weeks away, baby! – I’m on a hunt for good, decent, proper swimwear and here is what I found so far: