New Mor Products arrive at Romancing the Home

Mor Cosmetics has just introduced a yummy new line of body cremes, lotions, hand soaps and soap, that smells so good you want to eat it! I am not sure if the Neroli Clementine, Basil and Grape, Honey Nectar or the Black Current Iris is the best, but all the scents are delicious. The body creme is a luxurious thick consistency that instantly makes winter hands feel like you have been in the tropics. The packaging is bright and a great mood enhancer as we go through our dreary winter days in Chicago. Lot's of new products are arriving daily to help you enjoy being inside your home during our cold winter days.

Cameos and Chocolates

Cameo's - so feminine, so timeless , so elegant and when made of chocolate- so, so sweet! We are starting to plan a few parties for our Romancing the Home customers and I saw this article in Country Living about chocolate cameos. So I ordered the molds and spent yesterday creating these lovely ladies. I am not sure what their end use will be - maybe on a cupcake? The larger ones are actual chocolate boxes and would be divine containers for a raspberry mousse with fresh raspberries. The faces are so translucent and it's hard to tell the difference between the real cameos and the chocolate ones. While time consuming to paint the faces, the results were worth the 2 hours I spent making them. They would be perfect for Valentine's or Mother's Day. Pink and chocolate - a match made in heaven!

Look What's Coming to Romancing the Home

Just got back from a 8 day trip to Atlanta for the January gift show! After much delay due to the winter ice storm, we finally made it - via standby on Delta , the Marta, and 2 very nice guys from Kentucky that rescued us and our luggage from the train station and hauled us up the hill to our newly found accommodations, as we couldn't make the final last miles to Lynda's house due to the awful ice on the roads. What a trip! But in spite of the terrible weather, new merchandise was purchased and is on the way back to Chicago! These pictures are just a peak into the delicious new things that Jill and I purchased at the Atlanta Market. We a planning a pale oatmeal, blushy pink, and slate blue palette for one side of the store, and the other will be filled with richer colors - brown, red, black, anchored with tasty new Jan Barbaglio dinnerware and home decor. Jan has debuted beautiful etched glass dinner plates, with a crest, and layered them on a nickel charger. Perfect for large ottomans, we ordered a new line of over sized trays in blacks and reds. This trip was particularly good for artwork- we love the four panels of the map of Florence and purchased many similar pieces of artwork- great crests, black and white portraits, and a fun rendition of the 3 monkeys. And as one of our biggest selling categories, we are bringing in several new candle lines for the season, in addition to new scents for our old favorites. We found additions to our imported line of French foods - a basil olive oil - to die for- and a Chocolate Candied Orange Peel spread, and let's not forget the flavorful Truffle Sea Salt. We purchased many new lines for the store and are especially excited about the new dinnerware lines and table linens. Overall, it was a productive trip, with lots of new things coming to inspire us! The jewelry has already arrived and as usual, is priced right and trend right- come take a look!

The Royal Treatment

Black and white graphics are very popular decorating motifs, especially busts of famous people and french writing. We just changed our front windows to black and white transferware, parchment covered books with portraits, and a great toile printed chair. The combination of all the black, grey and creme tones look great when mixed together. Mercury glass votives add sparkle and a warm glow to the setting. Containers of dried white hydrangeas provide a soft romantic touch. All of these soft colors create a serene, calm environment.

Reflections of 2010

I really cannot believe the year is ending. It seemed so quick- yet it was a tough year- but not without it's rewards. Economically, it was the toughest of my professional life, but I learned to just push through it and go on with daily routines. Some of our greatest accomplishments were this past year, including the publishing of Romancing the Home Entertains, a collection of cherished recipes and entertaining moments, the first annual Lake Bluff Christmas Tour, and the wedding of Katha's daughter, Jessica, to Jason. My niece, Morgan, married her sweetheart, Jason. ( Two Jasons married in one year! ). My husband turned 60 and all the children flew in for a birthday surprise. We flew to Virginia for a surprise birthday party for my husband's sisters 70th birthday! Lynda and Jill's dads,Penny's mom and my husband's dear friend of 35 years passed away. But my children all flourished in their careers and each found their own way. Grandchildren continued to grow and everyone came home for Christmas. Friends stayed loyal and healthy - a special gift on its own. Customers were loyal and generous to our business- I am lucky. As I ponder 2011, I think about how to improve and deliver more excitement to our store -always give the customer something to smile about, develop a friendship and just add value to their lives.

May 2011 bring you and your loved ones a glorious life - Happy New Year everyone! And make this New Year's Resolution - Always enjoy your meals by candlelight!

Santa Surprises the Cook!

Having cranberries left over from my floral displays, I decided to make a cranberry sorbet for our Christmas meals. Bringing a simple syrup of half water and half sugar to a boil, I added the fresh cranberries to the pot and cooked them until they popped. After cooling for about 15 minutes, an immersion blender was used to puree the cranberries and then they were strained through a mesh sieve and put in the refrigerator to completely cool. Fresh Market has this wonderful product in their bulk area, a sweetened dried orange slice- they are to die for- scrumptiously good! I chopped about 3/4ths of a cup into smaller pieces and added them to the cranberry mixture and froze the mixture in my ice cream maker. The color was vivid red and the taste and texture was delicious- a little tart, then a little sweet- the perfect dessert or palette cleanser for a heavy holiday meal. As one of the biggest surprises of the year, my husband gave me the set of beautiful compotes from a local antique mall. He and I were shopping together for presents for Christmas ( a rare occurrence) and spotted these exquisite sherbets. Being way out of my price range, I passed them up. He, however, made sure Santa went back to get them for me- I am a lucky girl! I love the way the sorbet and kumquats glisten in the cream bowl - making a festive holiday treat!

Winter Beads endure the Season!

These opulent dripping beads - so beautiful to decorate with- have so many uses. I love them tucked into trees, tucked into chandeliers and just simply tucked into this garden urn. A bouquet of white roses is magical with stems of these iridescent beads added to the arrangement. Imagine the soft glow that they would impart with many candles burning. While they were ordered for Christmas decor, they are simple enough to enjoy the entire winter season.