Varykino!

If anyone is a fan of the movie/book Dr. Zhivago... you might remember... Varykino....

I'll set the scene...

After two years, Zhivago trudging through the deep snow to Yuriatin, and finds Lara.

After six months, Lara reveals a letter from Tonya, in which she tells Yuri that she, her father, and Sasha have been deported to Paris, and had met with Lara while searching for the long-lost Yuri.

One night, Komarovsky arrives and informs them they are being watched by the CHEKA due to Lara's marriage to Strelnikov and Yuri's "counter-revolutionary" poetry and desertion. Komarovsky offers Yuri and Lara his help in leaving Russia. They refuse. Instead, they go to the isolated Varykino estate, where Yuri begins writing the "Lara" poems...

  
Varykino...

The inside of the estate as they arrive to take residence...

I think this Winter.. Varykino has nothing on Chicago...here is my window in my office this morning in a balmy 1 degree!

Another view of another window...yes that is ICE my friends!

 The view out the window of our upstairs landing onto the deck....the snow is the deepest it has ever been in 10+ years...

 

This month on the upstairs deck...

This Summer...needless to say...I prefer Summer!!

Although I normally appreciate the beauty, stillness and activities of Winter and I'm not one to normally complain...the coldness and length of this Winter has been grating...and it is only mid January!

Sometimes I feel like Yuri and Lara...restless, claustrophobic and a bit bored...a little like a gerbil in a cage!



So what is my recipe for coping? I am making an effort to find the beauty and make a little fun in every day....like my friend Mademoiselle M who visited the beach on a recent weekend morning...

I bundle up and ski whenever the conditions are right....

 

 

I am also having fun cooking new recipes, catching up on great television programming, visiting new restaurants and places around the city of Chicago and of course...hanging with those I love! I refuse to get a case of the Winter Blahs...I'm fighting hard this year! I also wrote myself a prescription.... that involved the following...lol...

 

 

These warmer destinations...and some old fashion Midwestern grit will get me through! That and daily doses of  imported South African Rooibos tea, with coconut milk and honey! Thank you Mademoiselle D...my South African friend and "sherpa" on all things yummy!

 

 

(Merci': Popular MEchanics.com, www.lassothemovies.com, tamaracincik.com, themuseumofdyinggrants blog, pinterest.com, newcom.mn, caneton.fr, bywaterbnb.com)  

 

XO Emily

Into...Out of... Africa...

 
One of my favorite movies of all time is Out of Africa starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. It is such a beautiful film based on a period within the life of author Izak Dineson when she lived there and tried to run a farm basically on her own.

I just love every aesthetic within this movie.....the setting, the costumes, the music, the entire production was just perfection! It is a love story...but the true love story is between Izak Dineson and Africa!

Since I have close friends from South Africa and I get to experience through them the magic of the place this post is a nod to their wonderful friendship and their love of life there...one day I hope to visit Africa with them...and maybe feel what Izak Dineson did so many years ago....

One of the most sensual scenes ever filmed....(in my opinion)

 

 I know a song of Africa.....

of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back,

of the plows in the fields and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song of me?

Will the air over the plain quiver with a color that I have had on,

or the children invent a game in which my name is, or the full moon throw a shadow over the gravel of the drive that was like me,

or will the eagles of the Ngong Hills look out for me?"

- by Isak Dinesen.

I have real porch, house and land envy when I see these pictures.....

I think the accomodations while on safari...are just fantastic, don't you?

For those who have seen the movie remember when they go flying together and she reaches up to hold his hand mid air because the moment is so special for her? LOVE!

and the poetic ending.....

and here is the essential "Out of Africa" travel "tool kit".....

 (Merci': MoviePoster.com, DamesMercury, Google)


Have a wonderful weekend! If it is raining where you are this movie will be a delightful way to spend a couple of hours!  

Mad for Mad Men!

Just when we had to give up Downton Abbey for 2012 along came the new season of Mad Men....just in the nick of time for moi! Why is it that the shows I love are so short-lived and then take a year or more off between seasons? What is your must-see T.V?

In case you are not a fan here is a fun little clip from a recent party at the Drapers!

(Merci': dailymail, gb93,infinitydish, mydailynews,joerocco,cfnews13,minutebuzz, tvguide, KROQ, the coast)

Downton Abbey Blues!!

My television obsession over the past couple of years has been Masterpiece Theatre's Downton Abbey. I am not alone. It has taken the television community by storm and has the largest audience of any production done on PBS in the last 30 years!

For good reason.... let me warn you now though...once your in your IN! It is the fabulous story of a great English house beginning pre-World War I. The character development of all the characters... servants, visitors to the estate, extended relations and the family itself...three daughters and the parents, Lord and Lady Grantham.... is superb!! As my one friend... who is equally charmed... described it..."you just don't want to leave their world"! The costumes, the settings....are sublime!

Now is your chance to catch up before Season Three begins in January 2013!

                                 (Merci': Sheridan Road)

                                 (Merci': LA Times Blogspot)

(Merci': HearandNow)

                                (Merci': TheCourierJournal)

                                (Merci': TDN.com)

The problem is now that I also have to wait for Season Three!! I believe the lucky Brit's can see it earlier as they begin filming it this Summer.

                                  (Merci': PBS)

                                                                 (Merci': USAToday)

                                (Merci': ElizaMagazine)

                                                 (Merci':PBS)

What will we do with our Sunday nights? It is something our entire family looks forward to every week! That is the best and worst thing about great television....

All I can say is Mad Men better come off  it's  1/1/2 year hiatus!!


Click on Five Things You Don't Know About Downton Abbey!