The Box

As in the telly, gogglebox, the tube, idiot box. I love watching television. There, I've said it. Sounds blasphemous, I know, but I really do, even though I will never, apparently, become a millionaire because of it. You see, millionaires and uber successful people in general do not watch television. Boring!

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I am a child of the eighties and TV was a big part of my growing up. It was truly a window to the world, albeit a very special one. TV was where all the earth's flora and fauna lived (Survival, Bellamy), where the Greek myths unraveled before our eyes, secrets of ancient Egypt and pharaohs' tombs were explained and few but very good quality children's TV shows provided indispensable information about the world we were growing up in. Oh, and the obligatory cartoon at 19:15h every evening. A pretty simple fare, as you can see.

The nineties brought the atrocities of civil war in the ex-Yugoslavia live on the small screens and into our homes. I swapped the grim reality for MTV as it once was, with Ray Cokes shows and cool videos, making my growing up all about the Seattle grunge, a perfect backdrop to the angst of the world and the angst of my teenage years.

The nineties also honed my taste for TV shows - a good mix of crime and thriller with a sprinkling of a documentary. Feature films - not so much, at least TV is not my go to medium for these. I much prefer the cinema. As you can imagine from the above, I gorged myself on Sherlock, Poirot, NYPD Blue, Law&Order, Homicide: Life on the Street, Inspector Morse, etc.

Of course, as any teenager, I also devoured shows such as Beverly Hills 90210, My So-Called Life (a clear favorite) and Dawson's Creek. Many a night was spent dreaming of Jared Leto as Jordan Catalano and me wishing for Angela's (Claire Danes) cool hair color and haircut.

The noughties and the onslaught of stupid reality TV didn't affect my choices much. I just learned to filter, so no Big Brother for me. It was more CSI (in all its incarnations), Midsomer Murders, The Medium, NCIS, and the like. But the noughties also brought us the holly grail of chick TV - Sex and the City, which for me goes on a par with any of the famous sleuths whose adventures I religiously followed.

It is during the two pregnancies and the ensuing maternity leaves that I've spent many an (odd) hour in front of the box. Cooped up with the baby (both were born in the fall which meant I spent the better part of their first four months indoors), it was one of the things to do without interrupting much of their habits/behavior. The TV also provides constant noise, chatter, illusion of something important happening which saved me from going crazy with a newborn more than a few times.

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Interestingly enough, I turned my attention to reality TV in these periods of my life. The first time around, I loved Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, while these days I'm more about How Do I Look?, Dress My Nest, Say Yes to The Dress, What Not To Wear and Love It or List It Vancouver. These shows are really only light entertainment but bring with them a good story and a touch of  interior decorating magic (e.g. Dress My Nest). Some of the presenters like Stacey London (What Not To Wear) and Tom Filicia (Dress My Nest) I've grown to really appreciate and like for their wit, insight and useful advice.

I want to be Claire Underwood when I grow up!

Recently, it was Homeland, new Sherlock and The Silent Witness, as well as two political dramas - the Danish Borgen and the House of Cards - that rocked my TV boat. I can't wait for the 5th season of Homeland (will the Clare Danes/Rupert Friend thing take off, or will there be a new guy for Carrie?), as well as the follow-up to the House of Cards - Francis finally made it to the White House and who wouldn't kill for Claire's wardrobe and that haircut?!?!?!

But what I'm really looking forward to is the Sherlock New Year special which will see the detective and his trusty sidekick go back in time as the original Arthur Conan Doyle heroes. Martin Freeman grew a mustache for the role, while Benedict got himself married and with a newborn - that must have softened those steely eyes a bit, right?

In the meantime, summer days are spent enjoying the latest season of Bones (hello David Boreanaz, you will always be the Angel to my Buffy....er...I haven't mentioned Buffy the Vampire Slayer, have I? Uh, guilty pleasure ;) and Castle. With a healthy sprinkling of the Sex and the City reruns - it's summer in New York and Carrie is cheating on Aidan with Big - my favorite episodes.

Candy

To say that I have a sweet tooth is a serious understatement. I LOVE sweets. I love chocolate first and foremost. I love cakes and I enjoy making them. I adore all kinds of creamy goodness associated with cupcakes, lava cakes, fruit tarts, filled puff pastries, caramel-flavored anything, and I could go on and on . . . Baking soothes and calms me, there is a method to it, exactness and a sense of controlling the process leading to yummy results.
I started doing it as a kid with my grandma and my mom, I was in awe of their egg breaking and yolk - egg white separation skills and I wanted to get in on the secret. I loved the smell of vanilla, grated lemon zest, cherries, ground nuts, melted butter, cinnamon and chocolate. But what I loved the most about the whole magical undertaking was the moment when the dough/cream/filling was finished and dispensed from the bowl to the pan/onto a cake, whatever. That meant that there was creamy goodness left in the bowl that was mine for the taking. It was the most solemn of all childhood rituals, licking the sweet stuff and feeling good about it!
There is a Serbian superstition that says that if you lick the cake bowls than you'll have rain on your wedding day. Now, there is no rational explanation in my head at least how these two are connected - I suppose this was devised as a deterrent for girls, preventing them in enjoying too much of the good stuff and therefore appearing unseemly and overflowing on their all-important day - but the superstition appeared to be oh so true on my wedding day. It was June 3rd, it was only 12 degrees Celsius and we had heavy, grey, overcast skies and rain falling from heaven and earth. It stopped only - how conveniently - for me to throw the bouquet and it went on and on and on for the day.

Regardless, I completely agree with the picture below:

My daughter seems to be following in my footsteps as she awaits the bowl for the licking with the same keen excitement that always melts my heart ;)













My love for macarons - an all important sweet in the culinary world - came only later and coincided with my first visit to France. It was love at first sight though - me venturing into Laduree and having a go at this melt-in-your-mouth heavenly treat - it could've only ended as a love affair. That is why I was exceptionally thrilled to find out that there is a Pierre Hermes macaron with my name! Come on - how cool is that! And a raspberry-mint taste to boot.

Tasty!











Speaking of sweets, here's another kind of candy that gets my pulse racing these days:

'nough said!

Friday Favorites

I know, two posts in one day - I don't recognize myself any more! But, this merits special attention. Apart from my new shoes, this cannot go unnoticed: Caleb Followill and Chris Martin, jamming all together at Glasgow Green! Dear Lord! To be a fly on the wall in that backstage!

Both Kings of Leon and Coldplay get my blood pumping faster than usual - I just love their music, it's so what good music should be about, guitar riffs, solo piano parts, and mind blowing lyrics. The fact that the two are easy on the eyes, at least in my book, helps too ;)

It's official - I'm a Cumberbitch!

I just finished watching the three episodes of Season 3 of Sherlock on the sly and all I have to say is - hot damn Benedict Cumberbatch! Never mind that these three trump all previous episodes, never mind that the dynamic duo - Holmes and Watson - unfolds with such delicate complexity and unstoppable emotion before our eyes, never mind that they finally have a female character that is a match for both, what marks a distinct and profound change for me is the fact that now when I hear Holmes I think - Benedict, not Jeremy Brett any more! And I thought that would be impossible! Seriously!

Apart from his acting skills and that voice, here's proof undeniable that Benedict Cumberbatch is one good looking sleuth!

Sexy Sherlock
Photo Shoot

My personal favorite:

OMG!

I had to share this the moment I saw it - sgt Brody in action on a Vogue photo shoot - smokin'

In other breaking news

Damian Lewis won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Sgt. Brody in the Homeland. Woo-hoo! And looked hot doing it, see below:

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And I renewed my winter wardrobe with this beauty on sale:

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It should keep me toasty for at least two-three seasons, I think!

I so want this one!

Trawling the internet in the past few days has yielded numerous 'ahh's and 'ohhh's and 'I want this!' urges, but what has caught my attention the most is this particular beauty:

This, peeps, is a part of the Sherlock Holmes Jewelry collection made by Jezebel Charms quite charmingly entitled 'Come Watson, The Game is Afoot'. I mean, how cool is that? For a closer look at all its charms see here.

All things Sherlock Holmes strike a particular cord with me. I'm a huge fan of all Arthur Conan Doyle's stories involving Holmes and the trusty sidekick Watson. I love reading them and I do it over and over again, but I also love the TV screen versions.

Jeremy Brett will always be THE Sherlock for me, but the recent portrayal of the famous detective by the young Benedict Cumberbatch is almost as equally impressive. At first I thought I'm not going to be such a huge fan of modern, cell phone texting Holmes, but the spirit of Holmes was well and truly preserved in all the mannerisms that Cumberbatch so meticulously presented. He's ingenious, he's quick-witted and whimsical, but we also see his more emotional and softer side.

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Benedict Cumberbatch

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Jeremy Brett












I also recently acquired great insight into Conan Doyle's life and his problematic relationship with the detective he created, as well as his own sleuth propensities in a book by Julian Barnes called 'Arthur and George'.

A quickie

Again, ton of stuff at work, no time to breathe, I feel I'm submerged most of the time in a never-ending stream of e-mails and documents.

Combination of the day: my mom's blouse from the 70s, I love it and have been wearing it since high school, a ZARA cardie and a Swatch necklace, all geometrical and fun, a present from a dear friend.

We have a minty nail situation going on here the whole week ;-)

Photo courtesy of http://bourbonandpearls.blogspot.com/

I just adore men in uniform and this particular picture of the young Prince Harry is . . . um . . . hot!


















Plus, I've found a super secret hush-hush website that let's me watch second season of 'Homeland' on the sly! Yaaaay! It's so exciting and dramatic and Carrie is way better that in the first season, while sergeant Brody (now Congressman Brody) is smokin' ;-)

That's it!

XOXO
Mimi

Breaking news

Damian Lewis, Claire Danes and 'The Homeland' won the Emmys! Woo-hoo! I just love that show, it's all American patriotic bs on the one hand, I know, but it is all dark and troubled and moody and dramatic on the other, and both Damian Lewis's and Claire's characters are amazing. It also means that 'Mad Men' have finally been ousted from the top spot after four consecutive years - that should speak about the quality of 'Homeland' for sure.

Plus, it helps that Mr. Lewis is easy on the eyes.

Exhibit 1:

Photo via phineasandferb.wikia.com

Not convinced?

Exhibit 2:

Photo via bestof.provocateuse.com

You need more persuading?

Brace yourselves for exhibit 3:

Photo via bestof.provocateuse.com

I rest my case. Plus it is a know fact that gingers will steal your heart ;-)

The perks of having a personal blog: you can lust after your favorite actors and have no one b**** about it!

XOXO
Mimi

Secret celebrity crush

To end this Friday on a lighter note:

Chris Martin, Coldplay

Photo via Coldplay Facebook page

Super nice guy, I love all the lyrics he comes up with, and I have a particular weakness for men playing pianos ;-)










Barry Pepper

Photo via thefilmcynics.com

I loved him in 'The Flags of Our Fathers' and in 'Saving Private Ryan', I just love this guy and I think he is incredibly sexy! And I don't think any of my friends know I have the hots for him, so here you go!