Olive Oil Gelato-Yum!

A few months back I was in NYC attending a little house party that my sister hosted and little did I know that night that one of the guests would be bringing my newest craving, olive oil gelato! Yes I know what you are all thinking, what a funky combo right? That' s the thing though that if you really think about its a dreamy combo, because the smooth texture of the olive oil pairs beautifully with the silkiness of the gelato, and then you garnish it with fresh pressed olive oil and some sea salt and its a cravers delight, believe me!

Here's a shout out to a fellow blogger who posted the reciepe for this gelato if you dare to make it. If you are like me and aren't at that level of expertise yet you can always enjoy the stuff that Mario Batali has crafted up in his kitchen, although this would require a visit to NYC.

Smooches,
Leigh-Anndra

The Quest of a Lifetime

Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without.

If you don't start with that, what are you going to end up with?

Fall head over heels.

I say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back.

And how do you find him?

Forget your head and listen to your heart.

I'm not hearing any heart.

Run the risk, if you get hurt, you'll come back.

Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this.

To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all.

You have to try.

Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived.



- William Parish, Meet Joe Black

Smooches,
Madame K

Elton John and Billy Joel: The Concert of a Lifetime

This past weekend I was one of the lucky ones that scored a ticket to the ulimate in rock showdowns...the "Billy Joel and Elton John concert". Legends in and of themselves, combined they are simply a symphony of bliss, that of which I wish never ended although they did play for 4 hours, I could have listend for 10..15...20..forever ever :)

Some lyrics that spoke to me by Billy...
"I said I love you and that's forever
And this I promise from he heart
I could not love you any better
I love you just the way you are."

-Just the Way You Are

"I don't need you to worry for me cause I'm alright
I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home
I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life
Go ahead with your own life and leave me alone."

-My Life

"She's got a smile that heals me
I don't know why it is
But I have to laugh when she reveals me
She's got a way about herI don't know what it is
But I know that I can't live without her anyway..."

-She's Got a Way

"You may be right I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for
Turn out the light
Don't try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right."

-You May Be Right

The Making of My Chinese Qipao Dress

So I just returned from my amazing trip to China and I wanted to share the story of how I got my Chinese qipao dress made. It was a darky and stormy night in Shanghai, just kidding, actually it was a beautiful and airy night in Shanghai and Whitney and I were strolling down the streets of the French Concession area when we stumbled on row of traditional Chinese qipao dress shops. After hearing about how amazing Whitney's customized qipao dress was that she had made in Beijing I had really wanted one and now, here in Shanghai with only 3 days to go before I left, fate brought me to this street--yes life was was good!




So we choose this one store to go in and the rest was history...I choose the red and gold traditional print after seriously considering this print with the geishias (which are Japanese by the way). I communicated in English and my dress makers in Chinese but somehow all this worked as I explained to them that I just wanted the frog clips at the top of the dress and also wanted it to fall just below my knees.

I went in the next day to get my fitting so that everything was perfecto and I was lucky enough to have my friend Sunny with me, who is Chinese and could assist me with the language barrier. Overall I was very impressed about the workmanship of the dress and during the fitting was pretty amazing how they could turn this dress around so quickly. Geesh this would be incredible to have a dress-maker like this in states, can you imagine how much fun it would be do pick out your own fabrics and have everything customized to your body? Oh well I guess I will have to be rich and famous to have this here but alas I will have always have China to fall back on.




















The final result, an amazing customized qipao dress, now I have to figure out where to wear this thing? LOL!


Smooches,
Madame K

A Hankering for Katz

So in my adventures to NYC this weekend I was lucky enough to indulge my craving for a savory pastrami sandwich, cornbeef stacked reubin, and homemade matza ball soup. Don't worry I didn't eat all of that food by myself, yikers, who could with the huge slices of meat they give you-Dan and Cheryl were there to help out on this challenge.

Was it worth the hour wait and bouncing around from line to line to get this meal, you betcha, although I could have done without the supreme bloated feeling the next day from all that sodium in the meat, oh well you only live in once!

Dan was a super trooper posing for me...LOL!

Stacks O'Meat

Smooches,
Madame K

Jenny's Amazing B-Day Gifts!

So my friend Jenny is pretty much one of the most creativity, quirky, and smart people I know who is 101% amazing at finding the perfect present...case in point can you believe she found this chocolate smooch bar for me? I mean what is the probability of finding such a thing--and its HOT PINK, with my signature lips on it--I heart it!



She also snagged me this amazing "Lolita" martini glass that a recipe for what else but a "flirtini" on the bottom of it--to dye for baby!



So the shout out of all that is "smoochtastic" officially goes out to Jenny this month for purchasing the most prefecto presents of all! You make dreams come true....

Smooches,
Madame K

Frozen Yogurt and Sea Salt-I LIKE!

So this week I made a wonderful discovery upon indulging my frozen yogurt craving one dark and stormy night after yoga class. The revelation is this : sea salt and frozen yogurt are awesome together! Yes I know what you are thinking, this sounds outragous but just trust me and try it, its tangy, sweet, salty and just amazing (especially if you are craving all 3, LOL)! I strolled on over to Mr. Yogoto's frozen yogurt joint on P Street on Tuesday night and discovered this new topping..you see I was rather intrigued after receiving my cup of original tangy yogurt with strawberries and fruity pebbles (my favs) at then I looked around to see all of the other random toppings that were on display. I mean everything from cumin to sea salt and paprika, can you believe people are putting all of this stuff on their frozen yogurt? Oh I should also mention here that I did drizzle some honey on my frozen yogurt after adding the sea salt. It mixed beautifully with the sweetness of the strawberries and fruity pebbles and cut into the salt rather nicely.

Needless to say this girl was "one happier camper" and I am looking forward to experimenting more with random toppings on frozen yogurt, perhaps the next time around I will try a little basil and thyme combo with grapefruit, who knows?

Smooches,

Madame K

I Heart Rosie!

So I came across an article this morning in ElectWoman.com entitle "When There's Trouble in the World, America Turns to Woman." This article talked about the recent election of Hilliary Clinton to Sec. of State, Susan Rice as the Ambassador of the United Nations, and Janet Napolitano, as Sec. of Homeland Security. It highlightened the leadership positions that these woman have recently been elected to. I was intrigued to read more about what it is about woman and how they lead that the US feels comfort in appointing them instead of men (since I thought this was the point of the article), but alas this article didn't answer this question at all. So I thought it was a big tease and then I starting thinking about the impact of woman in leadership positions and how perhaps subconciously we as a people are attracted to electing them in trying times becuase of the connation that woman have with putting care in how they lead. We talk about care and being mindful alot in my graduate school classes as often as the "soft skills" that most woman are more amp to display in a professional environment as its more a societial "norm" for them then for men. So factoring this in I am wondering will men in leadership position? Can something good come out of this whole mess?

I think there does lie alot of opportunity in chaos and that heros are born and found in the most surprising places and in the most inpredictable times for that matter. Just look at Rosie the Riviter, she was the symbol of strength and female solidarity in WW II. I love this picture of the action figure I that I posted up here because I think we need to bring her back, to give us hope and faith that we need as a country rightnow. "We CAN do it!"

Smooches,
Madame K

Feathers

My sister Cheryl has tapped into her creative talent and has been crafting up these beautiful feather head pieces lately. Regularly priced at $45 for a clip at Urban Outifitters Cheryl thought that this was way too expensive to buy something that she could make for half the price. (For most of us this would be hassle but for Cheryl it was an adventure). So luckly for her living in NYC everything is at her finger tips so she went off shutterbugging around to get the supplies and then back to the workshop to weave up the magic. I love this one that she is wearing, its very 20s throwback and has that peacock feel to it with all of the reflective colors...very ciao bella!

Smooches,

Madame K

Spring Flowers

So the weather outside is still frightful and its April but I must say that the flowers have been making a galliant effort to bring on the spring :) I was wondering about the city and caught some petals that really spoke to me, their colors, shape and sometimes just the way they hit the sunlight just drew me to snap away. I can easily understand how artists, designers, writers etc. can get their inspiration from flowers, just look and see what I am talking about..its a whole world of vibrancy to embrace


The Hot Pink Burst

Purple Passion

Smooches,
Madame K

The Story Behind the Funtini

Greetings and welcome to by blog, "the Funtini of Life", I would love to take credit for this creative name but alas my sister pulled through on this one and gave me the funtini name--thanks Cheryl! This all came about when I was talking to her on the phone at a happy hour and telling her about how I was catching up with some fabulous femme fatales and drinking dirty martinis (my fav). I told her I would send her a picture of the scene and low and behold I send it along and she texted back the most perfect word for this event: "funtini," brilliant! I liked it so much I decided to name my blog after this for I want this space to serve as a creative outlet for me to express thoughts, imagines, quotes, music and overall just moments that inspire and make life FUN!

"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change."
-Buddha

Smooches,

Madame K