Dessert Love - Bottega Louie

If you are ever in the need of a Parisian fix and you are near downtown Los Angeles - be sure and visit Bottega Louie. http://www.bottegalouie.com/

Entrance with Macaron case and Macaron pyramids.

Every flavor (and hue) of Macaron that you can imagine - from Vanilla Bean to Salted Caramel.



Tarts galore

Mousse, Cakes and Cream Puffs, oh my!


Everything is exquisite in this Restaurant / Gourmet Market. Starting with the packaging.

Side of box

Graphic tissue paper.

Artful cappuccino!

Bottega Louie Cupcake - complete with a miniature Macaron on top.

When we visted we had brunch (and pastry & macarons to-go), which I would reccomend. Can't wait to visit again (Paris & Bottega Louie)!

Eiffel Tower - July 2010.

Glitter Easter Eggs

Still getting ready for Easter. Today I glittered some Paper Source Easter Eggs and embellished with glitter and stickers.

                                     Glittered and embellished eggs / eggs and bunnies

                                       
                   Yellow paper egg and chocolate bunny made to look like the sugar eggs.

                                   Pink paper egg with Martha Stewart border stickers.

Blue paper egg with Martha Stewart border and stickers. This one is my favorite.

                                  Blue and yellow paper eggs with Martha Stewart borders. I am thinking about puching holes in these eggs and making big Easter Egg tags out of them.

                                    Crafting supplies - Martha Stewart sticker borders. They have so many cool designs (flowers, butterflys, birds, cupcakes, birthday), jewel tone glitter and stickers.

Easter Baksets are starting to take shape - candy in cellophane bags, stickers, bunny everything.

Hippity Hoppity...

The Easter Bunny made his way to my house today.

Paper Source Bunny garland. I used the glitter bunnies on the mirror. Still trying to figure out where to put the rest of the bunnies. I am sure they will hop up somewhere soon.

Easter is one of my favorite holidays...wait, maybe all of the holidays are my favorite!

Close up of the mantel.

Lily of the Valley and Bee tag.

Glass cupcake stand with Steiff bunny, chicks pretending to be bunnies and candy.

Steiff chick and candy with a photo bombing chocolate bunny in the background.

Weck canning jar "snow globe" with candy and chocolate bunny.

Wooden bunny ornament.

White Ranunculus.

Centerpiece 1 & 2. I think I like the one on the right that is jam packed. In addition to the ranuculus, I picked up some Bells of Ireland and added them to the ranuculus.

Curio cabinet fun. I combined some of my smaller Easter collections with my dog and toy kitchen collection.

The Easter Bunny was considerate enough to drop of some basket goodies for my niece and nephews.

Day Tripping - Ojai

Today it was overcast and foggy in Santa Barbara so we decided to go to Ojai, hoping that we would catch some rays.

The weather was really beatiful and spring like.

Post Office - Ojai Avenue facing Signal Street.

Ojai is a charming town that is north of Ventura and East of Santa Barbara, situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, orange and avocado groves. There are a lot of art galleries, jewelry stores, wine tatsting rooms, spas, restaurants and gift stores to entertain.

HumanArts - 246 East Ojai Avenue

http://www.humanartsgallery.com/

Kingston's Candy Company - Ojai Avenue

Large selection of hard to find / nostalgic candy

Love Heals Jewelry - Ojai Avenue. Neat charms and necklaces.

http://www.loveheals.com/

Farmers' Market - http://www.ojaicertifiedfarmersmarket.com/

Sunday's 9-1 behind the Arcade

Very impressive market - lots of different items in addition to fruits, veggies, flowers, honey and nuts: cheese, meats, tamales, baked goods, organic chocolate, entertainment

Ojai is full of hotels, Bed & Breakfasts and Spas

And then over the hill to Ventura for lunch...

Brophy Brother's in Ventura.

Beautiful view of the Ventura Harbor

The original Brophy Brother's is in the Santa Barbara Harbor. It is a Santa Barbara institution. I have been going there for over 20 years and has a real east coast feel. Menu includes all seafood favorites and fresh fish specials. I personally love the clam chowder. The Ventura location has been open a few years and is probably 3 times the size of the Santa Barbara location, so it is much easier to get a table in Ventura with the wait time generally being 30 to 45 minutes in Santa Barbara.

The Easter Bunny is on his way. Posting Easter decorations next week...

Butterfly Love

"All you need is love...and paper"

Glitter Carnival Love Letters and Butterflies

Martha Stewart Crafts butterfly border stickers +

Mounting tape for 3D Effect. Stick one layer of the butterflies down on the paper and then put mounting tape on top and place another layer of butterflies.

Butterfly tags