Valentina

One Day On A Titanic | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

17 Aug 2020 10 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #OnBoardOfTitanic, #StoriesOfTitanic, #Titanic, #TitanicExhibition

A few of the astrologers I follow say this year is a time for morphing into something new. Dictionary.com defines morphing as “undergo or cause to undergo a gradual process of transformation”. I am sorry, this sounds too contrived and forced on all of us. Perhaps it is happening, but for right now I like to think of a transformation that needs a little adjusting.

Part of my transformation has been to eliminate all things no longer serve a purpose. Every day, I take an area of my studio and my house and edit it heavily. Today I was into photos, the types we used to print on paper, that filled up either boxes or albums. I have mine in albums very neatly categorized and dated. Many will be copied and put on my computer, and many will be burned this winter in my fireplace.

I found a peculiar ticket, a Boarding Pass to board the famous Titanic. This was a nice story I lived in first person.
One day the exhibition of the Titanic came to San Francisco, I decided to go with a friend.

Titanic Boarding Pass

As soon as we boarded the ship, we were given a pass each with the name of a real passenger on the back and a short story of why that person was on the ship.
The back of my boarding pass said it was for Mrs. Elisabeth Hocking (Eliza Neads) age 54 from Cornwall, England. She sailed from Southampton on April 10, 1912, to reach her son George who emigrated to Akron, Ohio, where he found a nice job and wanted his family to emigrate there as well. After the death of her husband, Eliza decided to make a change in her life, and at the time she was traveling with a few members of her family. She was in the second class of the Titanic.

Titanic Boarding Pass Back Side

Everything was recreated as if we were boarding the famous ship.
We saw the real luggage people took on board, the real dresses of survivors, the dining room was recreated to perfection, the grand stair, the rooms in various classes, the sounds, voices, and music on board of the Titanic were spread all over the exhibition and felt real.

The atmosphere was pleasant, especially hearing over speakers, people eating at dining tables and some of their conversations acted out by actors. It was pleasant to hear the rustle of beautiful women’s dresses walking or dancing at the tune of Waltzer.

We read many stories published at that time about the “unsinkable ship”. Apparently, the builders saved money by using less expansive steel.

The narrator told stories of some of the passengers, what they did in real life, and how they spent their last hours, some of them bickered the whole time, some fell in love.

I admired the décor of the salons, the woods, the stained glasses, the chandeliers, the silver tableware, and the entire style of the turning of the century. Well decorated and high style surrounded people in that era.
We even had a taste of a few foods prepared for the voyage, but something in the air was not quite right, we went to visit a tragedy… It was hard to enjoy it without thinking of the fate that awaited those passengers.

I had the boarding pass of Eliza, she survived and made it to Ohio.
The person named on my friend’s boarding pass did not make it.

Exiting the exhibition I had an odd thought. I came to America as an immigrant too, and even in a fantasy exhibition like this one, I was given a ticket for a survival female. To these days I am thinking of that. Ciao, Valentina
Amazon Author’s Page

Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer, author of 5 published books, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. She has conceived a few new books of various subjects to which she is working simultaneously. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking, and travel. She never gives up trying new things and doesn’t fear failure. Some years ago, Valentina became a TV producer/host producing shows under her label: Valentina Design Universe. The goal of her shows is to entertain, inspire, and inform, while she is living her passion. Her books are on Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Color Me Yellow | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

09 Aug 2020 12 Comments

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #ColorCombination, #FashionColors, #WeeklyColorChallenge, #YellowColor, #YellowColorScheme, #YellowVibration

I’ve been wearing a great deal of colors this year, I am more obsessed with colors than ever. I have been wearing all hues mostly from yellow, gold, pink, lilac, and violet/blue, two or three of these colors at a time in various combinations. I feel the world has gone grey this year. It doesn’t seem people have any desire to smile anymore, and that grey patina I see in people’s small facial areas left uncovered hurts me. My eyes, my soul, and my body need nourishment, to be exact color nourishment and protection against all of that. I am sure a lot of other people feel the same as I do, I find my support in the colors of nature, I don’t know where others find their support. We are connected to earth and planets, that’s the answer. In the morning I get up in the colors of planets I was born under. I feel aligned with the universe and I get up always happy to be awake again.

I am feeling the yellow a lot, the color of the sun, the only planet that gives life to earth, without the sun nothing would exist. Without the sun we wouldn’t write books, we wouldn’t cultivate tomatoes and lemons, we wouldn’t visit the Colosseum or ride a gondola in Venice. Yes, the yellow color of the sun is a universal battery energizer, it is there for the good, the bad, and the ugly people…

I heard someone on a Facebook group saying that she bought a yellow jacket for her birthday at age 57 and was the first time in her life she wore yellow. She was afraid of yellow, she said when I asked her why.
I wondered if she had been living in a dark box for 57 years, not liking yellow is like not liking the sun and not liking life. I understand people who have a pinkish tone skin don’t look good in yellow, but for them, it’s OK to wear it at the bottom part of the body or simply as accessories.

Green-Yellow-Berry-Gold

There has never been a time when I have not put on a stitch of yellow or gold, or not surrounded myself with yellow. Take a look at my picture to understand I live in colors.
My weekly color challenge for this past week was yellow-gold, green, and amber. I challenge myself and others just to see how they interpret colors.

From time to time each color has a job to do, its wavelengths have magnetism, which turns into energy. One can change the whole life around with the knowledge of colors.
For this week I used green for interior peace, I am wearing it in one form or another and I eat it as well. Yellow and gold for manifesting my goals. I don’t have any amber clothes, but I have amber rings and I am wearing them all week to balance emotions, clear the mind, and release negative energy. That was the work these three colors had to do for me this week. Ciao,
Valentina
Amazon’s Author Page

It’s my hope that through my writing and my stories I am enriching your aesthetic sensibility towards design, style, and inspiring you to live in beauty. I love to encourage my clients to show their personality through their home décor, or the clothes they wear. I have loved my profession as an interior-fashion designer since 1990. I am here ready to offer consultations on-line if you need it. Check out one of my books on the subject of colors, ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors, Second Edition.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Bxhq08
Barnes&Noble: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Reblog Book Cover Reveal | Valentina Cirasola

02 Aug 2020 3 Comments

by Valentina in Books Blog Tags: #BookCoverReveal, #BooksbyAuthorJamesCudney, #BookWorms, #MysteryBooks, #MysteryNovels, #ThrillerBooks

It’s COVER REVEAL day.
I am pleased to announce a cover reveal for my friend and author’s next book, Hiding Cracked Glass, by James J. Cudney IV, which is the sequel to the debut, Watching Glass Shatter. He says: “I still can’t believe it’s my ninth book in three years…” Believe it, it’s real. You are so prolific.😊❤️
https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/102837542/posts/2837888769

Book Cover – Hiding Cracked Glass – by James Cudney IV

In the words of the author:

“This contemporary fiction family drama is the sequel to Watching Glass Shatter and part of the Perceptions of Glass series.

An ominous blackmail letter appears at an inopportune moment. The recipient’s name is accidentally blurred out upon arrival. Which member of the Glass family is the ruthless missive meant for?

In the powerful sequel to Watching Glass Shatter, Olivia is the first to read the nasty threat and assumes it’s meant for her. When the mysterious letter falls into the wrong hands and is read aloud, it throws the entire Glass family into an inescapable trajectory of self-question. Across the span of eight hours, Olivia and her sons contemplate whether to confess their hidden secrets or find a way to bury them forever. Some failed to learn an important lesson last time. Will they determine how to save themselves before it’s too late?

Each chapter’s focus alternates between the various family members and introduces several new and familiar faces with a vested interest in the outcome. As each hour ticks by, the remaining siblings and their mother gradually reveal what’s happened to them in the preceding months, and when the blackmailer makes an appearance at Olivia’s birthday party, the truth brilliantly comes to light.

Although everyone seemed to embrace the healing process at the end of Watching Glass Shatter, there were hidden cracks in the Glass family that couldn’t be mended. Their lives are about to shatter into pieces once again, but this time, the stakes are even higher. Someone wants to teach them a permanent lesson and refuses to stop until success is achieved.

Hiding Cracked Glass will be available for pre-sale very soon. It will officially be published on October 8th, 2020, which is the three year anniversary of Watching Glass Shatter, my debut novel. If you’ve never read that book, now’s your chance to catch up!”

Ad Maiora, James, your book will be a success.
Valentina

Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer, author, and a blogger of many years. She has conceived a few new books of various subjects to which she is working simultaneously. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking, and travel. Some years ago, Valentina became a TV producer/host producing shows under her label: Valentina Design Universe. Find her books on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and Goodreads.

Reblog From Campbells World | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

30 Jul 2020 3 Comments

by Valentina in Books Blog Tags: #AuthorPattyFletcher, #AuthorValentinaCirasola, #CampbellsWorldBlog, #RedAVoyageIntoColorSecondEdition, #ValentinaCirasolaDesigner

Valentina-Books-Photo-Collage

It is so nice to wake up in the morning and find someone talking about you, isn’t it? I am honored to be featured on Campbells World Blog. Author Patty l. Fletcher was so kind to interview me yesterday about my life and in general about my character as a designer and author. Dorothy Atkins, an artist and one of my followers on Facebook said: “very interesting interview. I got a real sense of your drive, creativity, and love of life”.
I am very shy if I have to talk about me, actually, I don’t like it at all. Some people follow me because I show beautiful things in life we can all do to have harmony and serenity in our days but would like to know more about me as a person other than what I do in my work. However, I get interviewed often in various forms, then it comes out I am a strong, disciplined person, my business made me even stronger as I had to deal with difficult and demanding people, and having my family on the other side of the world, made me realize I only have me to lean on and a few close friends.
Enough of me, here is the interview – https://campbellsworld.wordpress.com/2020/07/29/wordpress-wednesday-featured-author-of-the-week-meet-valentina-authorinterviewdesign/

Read about Patty here – https://campbellsworld.wordpress.com/about she an amazing woman who lives her life with a seeing-eye dog and a caring family. She is a writer/author and owns her marketing company supporting authors in their writing needs, as well as offering other networking services.

Patty Fletcher

Please visit Patty L.Fletcher, she will be delighted to see your comments and check out her books while you are there.
Thank you Patty L.Fletcher for this interview, I am so very grateful and happy I met you. “There are no strangers only people you haven’t yet met” -William Butler Yeats- Ciao,
Valentina
Amazon Author’s Page

Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer, author of 5 published books, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. She has conceived a few new books of various subjects to which she is working simultaneously. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking, and travel. She never gives up trying new things and doesn’t fear failure. Some years ago, Valentina became a TV producer/host producing shows under her label: Valentina Design Universe.
Check out her books on Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Dinner In The Renaissance Style | Valentina Cirasola | Designer and Author

29 Jul 2020 4 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #FlorentineRenaissanceCustom, #RenaissanceTableManners, #RenaissanceTableSet, #RenaissanceThemeDinner

Finally, I have reunited with some friends again! Months of lockdown will be a memory soon. Some of my friends missed my theme dinner parties and I did too. I called some of them to ask if they were up to a Florentine Renaissance dinner and they were almost at my doorsteps the moment I hung up the telephone. If it was winter, I would have asked to come dressed in a period costumes. Theme dinners are things for tourists, some would argue. Well, I am a tourist in my life. I was a native only once in the city I was born, all of the other places I have lived, I have been a tourist, trying to absorb the culture and learning as much as possible of what is offered to me. People who are invited to my theme dinners, get a plot in advance or a subject I want to base the evening conversation, and plenty of time to research or to get prepared, just in case they are not familiar with the topic.

For the Florentine Renaissance evening, I prepared on the subject of table manners of that time period. I wanted a light and fun subject that everyone could follow and maybe add their own interpretation. The theme dinners turn into an evening of culture.

Today we set dinner tables more or less all the same way, a charger plate at the very bottom of the stacked plates that will be used during dinner, then a series of glasses situated according to the progression of wines/water served, tableware on both sides of the plate, the napkin can be a floating item, meaning it can be placed at the left side of the plate, on the plate, or in a glass, depending on how creative the host is. The center of the table usually is decorated with a centerpiece and the addition of bread/crackers, wines, and water. Some people display these items on a side cart and not on the table. Some people go to the extreme of setting a table with paper plates and plastic glasses, just to have a simpler cleaning up time afterward.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Renaissance Table

In the Renaissance, a dinner table looked much different than what we are used today. In the most affluent homes, the table was covered with a fabric that diners used as napkins to clean food oils from their hands. The plates called the “trenches” were pieces of levigate wood on to which food was served. The men took out the knives concealed in their britches, cut pieces of meat, and nibble at it from the tip of the knives. They also cut pieces of meat for the woman sitting next to him as a good table manner. The hands were the best tools, diners used them to eat and touch food until Catherine de Medici invented the fork. Pewter goblets were largely used for drinking vessels, for both water and wines.

The food of the entire dinner was propped on the table at one time, for people to choose what they wanted without following a progression of food as we would do today. Dogs and animals circulating around the dinner table received bones and leftovers from the diners. As far as the body needs after drinking and eating, it was acceptable to use the corners of any room away from the dining area. Wow, at least they had a bit of decency!

The stories of my Renaissance evening went on pleasantly, corroborated by the original de Medici House’s music played in their courts. I have an infinite music collection to satisfy the ears of any music lover.

To stay in tune with the background music, I set out appetizer dishes printed with musical notes. I did not want matchy glasses, but I wanted large wine glass goblets. In the center of the table, I put a set of three antique spice containers for the aromatic salts I make and I encouraged the guests to use it. They tried all the salts and were very impressed. On my table, there is always a bread basket, sometimes filled with different types of bread. The textured cover was a rough Shantung fabric I often use as a tablecloth.

The food in the gallery sums up the dinner, some were in the preparation mode, some were already made.

Italian charcuterie, raw fava beans, tomatoes, Irish cheese, German beer

Lambchop, chili peppers

Bread mixed with red wine

Baked Mini Loaves. covered with pancetta

Mixed fresh fruit with nuts and Cointreau liqueur

At the end of the dinner, guests left with a small gift of my aromatic salts.

Aromatic Salts

I hope we can all pick up the social life we had before the lockdown and I hope to inspire others in designing a beautiful life, made of moments to remember and talk about. It is so very important, now more than ever, to add whimsy in our life, laughs, good food, wear colorful clothes, and read books made from the heart. We are here now, life exists, let’s make something extraordinary. Ciao.
Valentina
Amazon’s Author Page

Wild Elegance | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

25 Jul 2020 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #AnimalierStyle, #AnimalPrint, #AnimalPrintAccessories, #AnimalPrintCoffeeCups, #AnimalPrintHomeDecor

I remember not too long ago, visiting wealthy people’s homes, where the main attraction in the living room was the floor covered with a leopard or a tiger skin, the whole head attached, glass eyes, mouth open and sometimes even the paws were still attached. It was the trophy of their hunting games, the golden glory of past customs. Fortunately, people’s taste has changed, being aware of our natural environment, and caring for the wildlife have raised our conscience to leave nature alone as it was created.

I don’t know when I started to love animalier style, I know it started with fashion, then that attraction got transferred to home goods and home décor. I do find a certain beauty in a home that shows some wild elegance in a more modern, eco-friendly way. I would gladly walk on this rug without the guilt of having killed a beautiful animal. Add a low pile, synthetic zebra rug in a room decorated with white or cream furniture for everything to lose starkness and pick up a little wild effect.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Wayfair Rug

Thinking of making a great impact effect in the room? This 3D wallpaper will do it. I can’t take my eyes off of this photo, it looks so real, the leopard is resting in the water and looks as if he is listening to the conversation.

QDH-Wallpaper

I believe every home needs to have an element of quirkiness. This funky high heel chair comes with useful storage. This type of accessories fills up an empty corner and makes a playful statement.

Overstock-High Heel Storage Chair

These zebras are on a wall decal, they decorate a wall today and gone when one gets tired of them. It’s an easy solution to decorate with whimsy.

Wayfair-Wall Decal

The lion finial holds the curtain and the rod in a fierce way. I will buy myself a pair of this finial for my studio, I think they are so cute and will match my switch plate I already have.

Touch of Class – Lion Finial

Cheetah Print Light Switch-Etsy

Even in the morning, I treat myself with animal print espresso coffee cups and my muffins, strickly made by me with ricotta and espresso coffee.

Muffins Ricotta Espresso Coffee

Animal print is fun when is limited to one or two accents, just don’t overdo it. With this, I leave you to feel a bit of that wild elegance I like so much. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in interiors and fashion. Her extensive training and knowledge in both fields led her in both directions successfully. She is well-known for designing custom furniture and personalized interiors without the “cookie-cutter” look. She cares to make spacious and functional pieces, but she doesn’t forget to introduce the element of surprise, whimsy, sinuous lines, attractive shapes, and colors in the style fit for each of her special clients. She also focuses on color psychology to transform people’s life. She is the author of ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors, Second Edition. Check out her books on Amazon and Barnes&Nobles

Summer Lazy Play | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

14 Jul 2020 10 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #GardenDecor, #GardenDesign, #GardenSolutions, #SummerBrightColors, #SummerTravel

Thank goodness for Summer. It is the only season that allows us to be lazy. The middle of summer is a perfect time for humans to slow down and recharge the batteries. We spend most of the spring working long hours, rushing from pillar to posts, facing challenges, raising the stress levels, and pushing our body to perform. Some people don’t or can’t take a vacation and do this grinding year after year without any rest. Europeans are very good at taking a yearly vacation, in fact, workers in any position are guaranteed a paid vacation, at least two weeks per year, some companies, and factories even close the month of August.

I am giving myself permission to be lazy, with or without the virus, Summer is a season to live slowly, go away, hopefully somewhere nice, soak the sun energy, and work smartly. We cannot be productive by working all the time without the proper rest, and I don’t mean the weekend relax.

Since social distance is still required, actually here we are on half lockdown again, most businesses are still closed, people have vanished, matter as well take care of my exercise. I am taking 3-4 miles long walk every day at various parks, where usually I am in total solitude, with occasional ghosts looking like people.

During my walks, I get to think a lot about the design program I am writing for online consumption and the days I am spending in my cozy garden, how I can improve the land to work for me more, and how I can design extra vignettes with cute furniture or accessories. Gardens are supposed to be playful and humorous.

I found at Grandinroad this bistro table and chairs made of weather-resistant teak. The advertisement says: “Beauty for seasons entertaining”. The carved tropical flowers caught my eyes, I think the set is attractive and versatile, I would use it even as a breakfast set in the kitchen, or near a window, after the summer is over.

Merano-Teak-Trestle-Table-Grandinroad

From the same company, I found floral snack bowls and stands in different shapes and colors I would like to add to my collection. There is nothing more I want to see besides colors. They are helping me at this time keeping a high spirit.

Floral Snack Bowls and Stands – Grandinroad

What’s new in your Summer? Are you doing something special? Most of all, are you resting enough to reset your organism? You will be thankful when September comes and have renewed energy to face the rest of the year.

This past half of the year has been very stressful for everybody. Now, more than ever, we need colors, rest, and healthy food. Ciao,
Valentina
Amazon Author’s Page

Valentina Cirasola transforms and creates spaces realizing people’s dreams in homes, offices, interiors, and exteriors. She infuses your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away a comfortable living. Valentina is well-known for finding creative solutions. She offers online design consultations through Skype or Zoom and the traditional in-house consultations, helping people with their design challenge anywhere in the world. She is the author of five books. Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Positivity Weekly Color Challenge: Light Green | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

29 Jun 2020 7 Comments

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #BenefitOfColors, #ChakraColors., #ColorAtmosphere, #ColorEmotions, #ColorsandPlanets, #ColorTheory

The color challenge I developed for my Facebook group this past week was light blue, with light green, gold, or silver. Getting dressed to me is a ritual, I just don’t put on anything that comes along. I follow the color theory. Colors are my lifeblood and have a reason to exist. They help me go through challenges, I use them to set goals, I manifest things I want; with colors, I find my harmony, adjust my mood, or I get my energy.
I use colors that reflect the colors of the planets I was born under, it’s all about being in tune with Nature. I use my power colors to balance mind and spirit; my archetype colors relate to my origin, they make things easier when I use them. Colors are so very powerful, however, some people think it is a frilly subject and don’t take it seriously. 😀

Valentina-Green Hat

According to one healer and astrologer in my circle, the entire world at the moment is under a transmutation and rebirth period. The Merriam-Webster dictionary explains the word transmute: “to change or alter in form, appearance, or nature, and especially to a higher form.” This period is not a simple transition.

A transformational two-year journey began in early 2019. Saturn and Pluto aligned at the beginning of 2020. We have seen what happened to the world as a result of that, a very powerful force buzzed around us that magnified with the alignment of Jupiter and Pluto around March and April. It didn’t stop there, we had the Solar Eclipse on the day of the Summer Solstice June 21st and Jupiter-Pluto aligning again at the end of June. Their energy is powerfully feisty and affects humans on Earth. Most people out there don’t give a flying fig about the alignment and the revolution of planets over our heads, the meaning of it, how it affects us, and what color to wear or be surrounded to counterbalance the fighting effect. Just like the Moon phases affects the movement of the seas, the crops and vegetation, the same way all planets affect the behavior of humans on Earth.

That’s the reason I am helping myself and challenged the group with light blue, light green, gold or silver.
Ligh Blue is for communicating and creating the new person we are going to become; Light Green is to calm down the emotional heart; Yellow or Gold is for setting goals and manifesting the new transformation on all levels, which some people might not even perceive, but it is happening and silver in place of gold, if you feel the Moon movement with the feminine power attached to it. This past week, these colors have illuminated me.

I read a quote by an anonymous: “You are the painter of your own mood. Your days are only as grey as you allow them to be.” Well said. Ciao,
Valentina
Amazon Author’s Page

Amazon and Barnes&Noble

What is it? Valentina Cirasola | Designer

24 Jun 2020 7 Comments

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #BeetleJewelry, #CharmJewelry, #EgyptianJewelry, #Lariat, #ScarabAmulet, #VintageJewelry

A week ago author Teagan Geneviene was talking about beetles and scarabs, the amulets ancient Egyptians used for good luck charms, and to protect them in the next life. Read her here https://teagansbooks.com/2020/06/17/a-delta-pearl-extra/
Her novel The Delta Pearl is based on a Victorian Era steampunk riverboat adventures.

Reading the Delta Pearl Extra episode, it reminded me of the beetle on this lariat here in my picture. What is it, a beetle, or a scarab? Is it a necklace or a lariat?

From WikiDiff the “scarab is the species of beetle, sacred to the ancient Egyptians while beetle is any of numerous species of insect in the order Coleoptera characterized by a pair of hard, shell-like front wings which cover and protect a pair of rear wings when at rest”.

My client’s entire home remodeling was coming up in a week’s time, she felt overwhelmed, the house had to be emptied out, the content of all the drawers and closets had to go in boxes with labels, furniture and accessories moved to storage. She was getting depressed by the day, to speed up the process, I decided to give her a hand in doing that chore. I never knew so much treasure was going to come up into the light, so much stuff she didn’t even remember having. She asked me to open a tall and slender dresser. The shape was odd but intriguing, it had drawers and doors, the interior concealed more doors and secret drawers. I opened it up and my eyes bulged out.
I saw the most beautiful custom jewelry, nothing very new, every piece was a work of art, and clearly from a different era.

The piece of jewelry in the photo jumped at me for the strange shape, it looked like a long string of beads and not a necklace. What is it? I asked her. She told me it was a lariat. I had learned a new word that day. A lariat is a long light rope (hemp or leather) used with a running noose to catch livestock, also called lasso.
This lariat dates back circa 1915-20s. It was part of the collection my client owned before she gave it to me. It’s made of chocolate pearls, river pearls, and glass beads. The beetle, on one end of the lariat, at least I think it’s a beetle, functions as a closure.

Beetle Lariat

She gave me a few other pieces and I wear them all. I am asked often what I am wearing on my neck. People who appreciate antiques or vintage will make a lot of comments that will strike a conversation, maybe someone in their family had a piece of scarab jewelry they remember and will talk about it, instead, people who are into trends will turn their nose up. Oh, well, the world is made of colorful people.
My client wanted it back the first time I wore it with my modern clothes. Change the angle, change the perspective, I learned it from actor Robin Wiliams. Something old worn with something new, it appears visually a new thing. She had no chance to get it back. It has been mine for 10 years already.

My client and the boat were the best parts of that project. She lived on a man-made lake. Every household on that lake had a boat docked at their backyard. All the boats looked the same, I think people rented them from the city. The boats really looked like the garden tubs for kids, baby blue on the exterior, painted white in the interior, with wooden bench seats inside, a white canopy over the top, a white boat rudder, and sidelights looking like glass canning jars for night riding. They were nothing fancy, on a hot day it was refreshing to ride over the lake. Often at lunchtime, we left the house project and went to eat at the nearby restaurant docking at their back yards.
It was fun, the client always drove it, the wine effect showed up on the way back and everyone knew about it, the workers smiled and we did too.

My design projects often resembled play and not so much like work. I have been blessed. Ciao,
Valentina
Amazon Author’s Page

Valentina Cirasola is a designer, author, TV producer and a storyteller by nature. Stories told through shapes, lines, forms, and colors are very important to her design career to convey ideas that contribute to the making of a personalized home, reflecting the life’s experiences of people living there. As an author, she writes non-fictional books, about practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, travel, and cooking. Get copies of her books here:
Amazon and Barnes&Noble

At The Café des Poètes | Valentina Cirasola | Designer and Author

19 Jun 2020 9 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #CafeDécor, #CafeLife, #DeadPoetSocietyFilm, #FreeSpirit, #FreeThinkers, #PoliticalCorrectness

It is so uncharacteristic of me to write a post like this, but I want to continue on the idea from James Cudney’s Blast From The Past – Inoffensive (read him here) with my own experience, a memory of the past as well.

In my Italian native town, there was the Café des Poètes, owned by a Francophile, a boisterous painter, who attracted a lot of similar people to his coffee shop, artists, writers, university students, philosophers, literature professors, free thinkers, penniless people, but full of ideas and beautiful words. The place was not too big, decorated in the shabby French style with many vintage articles from Provence. The air was smoky (everyone smokes in Europe even today), dark, lit by candlelight and some table lamps, the fireplace was always on, the sofas and comfy chairs came from people’s home who discarded them for better quality, more modern furniture, and a lot of unknown paintings covered the textured walls, purposely maintained decrepit.

Too bad I don’t have a photo of the Cafe’. At the time we didn’t go around with expensive phones taking pictures of every little thing we saw, only photographers captured any moments. There was always a bike or two parked outside the Café des Poètes, this photo of an anonymous French cafe’ reminds me of that.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Bike with a Veuve Clicot bottle.jpg

The Café des Poètes was very friendly, everyone knew everyone and when one of the habitual customers didn’t show up for a week, we started to question the whereabouts of that person. This was not just a cafe’, it was a meeting point of tight net friends, a hub where to create and develop new/old ideas while eating beans and sausage cooked in a clay pot in the brick oven, it was a poor dish served with a lot of toasted bread and a winner dish on the house menu. The menu didn’t exist, the man behind the counter asked us what we wanted and he brought instead what he had, beans and sausage dish was always available.

The Bohemian environment of the Café des Poètes was one of the attractions of the place, however, the heated up discussions we had in there were epic and how we were so very vocal with our opinions was almost at the verge of legality. That freedom to say what we wanted was the real attraction of the place, we did not know how to be politically correct, that phrase had not been coined yet. We didn’t destroy, we built. Our thoughts became actions for the next generation. It didn’t matter how much we disagreed on certain issues, it didn’t matter how much we screamed at each other, at the end of the evening we were still friends.

Years later, when I watched the film with Robin Williams “Dead Poet Society” I relived those same moments I had known so well at the Café des Poètes. In the film, students of a prestigious university snuck out of the school every night and secretly met in a cave to contemplate life from a different perspective. Their goal was to rebel against the conventionalism of society and to encourage everyone to think outside the box as individuals.

Fast forward many years later, here I am commenting on a post from James Cudney, telling the story about how difficult it has been to keep everything bottled up inside for an unbridled outspoken person like me. When I moved to the States, I found it difficult to keep the same tones I was accustomed to in my native land. Here speaking my mind created a desert around me and it would have made me a lonely wolf if I had continued. I was in disbelief, all those discussions in the Café des Poètes never compared to the indifference I found here or maybe the lack of passion for conversation (everyone is on the computer and phone), or even worse the unwillingness to make waves. Yes, it is easy to make friends when agreeing with everyone, it’s also the best way to fall in the trap of brain unification, in my opinion.

In the film Dead Poet Society, the teacher Mr. Keating (Robin Williams) shows Tom, one of the students, how to share what was closed inside of him starting with the sound of a loud “Barbaric Yawp”. What a scene!
I learned to yawp loud and clear to the walls of my home and then I talk to them. They don’t react and don’t attack me, as people would do, I am still my own individual, and I can keep close to those few people who call themselves “friends”.

Do you want to Yawp on my blog and tell your open opinion, go right ahead, you are welcome to speak out here. Ciao.
Valentina
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