Valentina

Au Revoir Holidays | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

06 Jan 2014 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ChristmasFood, #ChristmasGifts, #EpiphanyDay, #ItalianLifeStyle, #ItalianTableCustom, #RedVoyageIntoColors

Last night, I closed the holiday season celebrating Epiphany day, which falls on Jan. 6.
Epiphany Day in my native Italy was the day when kids received their Christmas gift, note I said a gift in the singular form and received nothing for Christmas day. Christmas was only a religious celebration, a time to spend in holiness, reflecting on spirituality, with family cooking, laughing, loving and enjoying one another.

On the evening of Jan.5th, my parents told us kids to go to bed earlier than usual to allow the Befana (Epiphany) to come down through chimneys or other ways if there was no fireplace and leave one gift for each kid of the house. They also suggested leaving a little something to eat for the Befana. Flying on a broom from home to home, delivering gifts, made the old woman very tired, thus she needed to replenish her strength. A reminder of possibly receiving black charcoal at the Epiphany Day instead of a gift loomed over our head during the year, it kind of forced us to be good kids all the time. Black charcoal was only a chunk of sugar colored with black food coloring, but still, receiving it, was such an ordeal.

We went to bed early than usual, but we stayed awake listening for any noises indicating the Befana was in the house. In the morning, the food we left on the table for her was gone or half eaten and the gifts we found were exactly what we asked in the letter we wrote in December and gave to our parents to send to the Befana. It was so sweet, innocent and gratifying, because the Befana listened.

Until one day, I was eleven years old, I peeped through a keyhole and saw my parents arranging the gifts for us three kids in the usual place in the kitchen. The next day, we opened the gifts and of course we were very happy to receive just what we had asked. Then I told my father that I saw him and mom putting the gifts in place the night before. His answer was: “Oh yes?! Then you are too old to get gifts.” I never received one more gift at Epiphany Day, only some clothes for Christmas, a sweater, perhaps a pair of shoes, a skirt, but not all of them together, only one, until I was eighteen. Nothing else after that. I started working and gave them a gift instead.

Befana – Found on http://solidarietatv.altervista.org/tag/villaggio-solidale

Bell Peppers Medley

Fava Beans and Dandelions

Roasted Vegetables Tart

The night of Jan. 6th was for a fun day for the adult too. They invited a bunch of friends with kids and together we took down all the chocolate decorations on the Christmas tree. It was another occasion to celebrate with food, a lot of love and laughter, or an excuse to organize the first party of the year. Kids plaid with their new toys.

Yesterday, as I do every year, I celebrated Epiphany Day my way, took down my Christmas decorations and cooked all bunch of food to share with a few friends. Reflecting on what really Christmas means these days, I don’t look forward to the holidays stress and spending. We should call the Christmas Season the “Stores’ Season” instead. In this part of the world, everything we do in the last three months of the year is about increasing stores sales, alleviating our bank account of a few thousand of dollars and stir ourselves crazy trying to enjoy the holidays in a frenzy way. People never receive gifts in their wish list, or receive useless gifts with no meaning, thus recycling the gifts received for the next occasions, or the next Christmas is a thing to do, while some other people pay their Christmas debts all year around. This is not the way to enjoy Holy Day, only a backward way of doing things!
During the holidays enjoy spending time with people you love and care about as long as they last, share food and fun with them. That’s the best gift.

I can officially say Au Revoir to the holidays. No resolutions for me, only continuing living life in colors and doing the best I can for others and me. I hope you have a splendid 2014. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been in business as an interior designer since 1990 improving people’s life by changing their spaces. Often people describe her as “the colorist” for a reason. She lives in a colorful world, wrote a book on colors ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors and loves to color her clients’ environments by creating the unusual. Her deep interest in food led her as an autodidact in the studies of food in history, natural remedies, nutrition and well-being, then finally she wrote two books on Italian regional cuisine. Find Valentina’s three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Yellow Freesia | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

03 Jan 2014 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #2014PantoneColors, #2014SpringColors, #MyPersonalAToZChallenge, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #YellowFreesia, #YellowFreesiaWeddings

Welcome to my personal A to Z Challenge on the subject of Home. The goal, in a year time, is to elaborate and dissect topics regarding the Home not as containers of stuff, but as a cocoon for the soul, mind and heart. I will touch on decorations, style, trends, history of the home and sometimes technical information. On Jan. 14, 2014, my challenge will be over, I am almost ready to reach my finishing line.

This year 2014 is based on balance. We must balance work and play, soul and emotions, body and mind, food and drink, sleep and time we spend awake. This is a year to spend in colors, balancing hues, tints and tones, pastels and bright colors. It will be a playful game. The spirit of this year is to be refreshed and revived, but not everyone will look good in pastel colors. Not to worry there is a choice for everyone, pastels will give you light, the bright colors will give you energy and the neutrals will bridge them all. The colors of this year can be mixed or they can stand on their own.

Yellow Freesia is part of the energy palette of this 2014 year, it is tropical, flowery, warm, and spicy, it has illumination like the sun. Yellow is the “make you feel good” color because around yellow the brain releases more serotonin, which is the chemical that makes us feel good. Rooms exposed to North benefit from yellow on the walls. It will appear as sunshine has parked in the room day and night. Yellow is not a provoking color, but it stimulates the nervous system, thus around people who suffer hypertension can provoke anger (from my book ©RED- A Voyage Into Colors).

To tone down yellow freesia, whether you will be wearing it this coming spring or redecorating your home, look at the Pantone palette and choose the nearby cool colors:
Yellow Freesia with Grey Paloma, or Yellow Freesia with Green Hemlock. Sand will keep Yellow Freesia balanced.
If your skin has a pinkish tone don’t wear Freesia around the face, wear it from the waist down. The bluish and greenish colors will be better on the upper part of the body, especially if you have blue or green eyes.

If you are getting married this spring, what better color to decorate your wedding reception and start your new life in a luminous color than Yellow Freesia?
(Photo credits are given to Pantone and respective owners)

post-milestone-20-1x

This sticker with a number 20 marks my 20th post of my A To Z Blogging Challenge. I have six more letters to cover with the subjects of Home. Thank you WordPress for being such a good blog host. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer working in the USA and Europe since 1990, specializing in kitchen, bath, wine cellar, and outdoor kitchen designs. Often people describe her as “the colorist” as she loves to color her clients’ world and loves to create the unusual. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. Author of three published books, the latest ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors is on the subject of colors.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

2014 Chapter | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

02 Jan 2014 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BerniniBaldacchino, #GratitudeDay, #NewYearCelebrations, #PopeFrancis, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #StPeterBasilica

My native homeland is ever so distant especially during the holidays. The turn of the year arrives in Italy nine hours before it happens in USA. To feel a little closer to home, I follow their events on the Italian TV and celebrate with the first bottle of champagne at 3:00 pm, midnight Italian time. While waiting for 2014 to arrive across the pond, I watched a replay mass from the Vatican in Rome. St. Peter’s Basilica was stunning as ever and full of faithful.

(Photo: Wikimedia Foundation)

Pope Francis spoke from the altar under the magnificent Bernini’s Baldacchino. His words of love rang out in the world strong and decisive. He said every new year is a new book made of 365 empty pages onto which we can write our life starting on the first of January. I had never thought of it that way.

Last year I started a kind of gratitude jar with notes of every highlight of my days that I would read at the end of the year. I filled it with notes of people and events that mattered, made my days and taught me something. Reading the notes on the 31st of december was like seeing a sweet movie on slow motion.

I will start my 2014 chapter with a thank you note to my top commenters on my blog, as WordPress says in my annual report:

http://tbmarkinson.wordpress.com

http://bluebutterfliesandme.wordpress.com

http://shareandconnect.wordpress.com

http://terry1954.wordpress.com

http://greendoorhospitality.wordpress.com

Also, I would like to thank all my readers and followers from different parts of the world, 133 countries, and wish you all a splendid 2014. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.valentinadesigns.com

This is my 24th year in design business and I am not showing signs of wanting to quit. I will be evolving in different directions, while still helping people realizing their dream spaces in homes, offices, interiors, exteriors and improving restaurants or cafés. Check out my books on

Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

HAPPY NEW YEAR And A WORD FROM RUDYARD KIPLING

01 Jan 2014 7 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #EndOfYearCelebrations, #EndOfYearSpecialFood, #HolidayFood, #NewYearWishes, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

To my friend Josephine, I will add my words. It is true, on Dec. 31 we celebrate the death of one year and the birth of a new one and we celebrate it with food. Food feeds the soul and brings people together. In this new year, please bring good food into your life and not diets, “good food to put you in the mood” as Josephine says.

In this end of the year, don’t forget to wear something RED and to make a wish at midnight, it will be the one to come true.
Thank you all for reading me and for sharing your life’s experiences with me. It’s a load of fun and learning. Happy New Year, wishing you all a splendid 2014.
Valentina

My Home Food, That's Amore

The hour is drawing nigh here in Italy … girls and boys are dressing up and looking forward to a roaring “vigilia” (eve); a lot of them wearing red underwear for good luck and some of them already brandishing what will be very noisy New Year’s crackers (“i botti”) and/or fireworks that are so frowned upon because they can be dangerous and because they frighten dogs. I remember when my father and my uncle used to draw out a hunting gun (sorry, I can’t remember what brand it was) and shoot a few rounds after midnight (yes! from the balcony of an apartment in the middle of a town!) and we all thought this jolly good fun. All that incredible overwhelming display of emotion via boom boom boom extremely loud crack crack crack ta ta ta ta ta noise. There is something orgiastic about New Year’s eve and we shouldn’t…

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Queen Ann, Queen Of Ordinariness | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

27 Dec 2013 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #CabrioleLegs, #CabrioleLegsFurniture, #HistoryOfFurniture, #MoroPigatti, #MyPersonalAToZChallenge, #QueenAnnChairs, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #WalnutWood

Welcome to my personal A to Z Challenge on the subject of Home. The goal, in a year time, is to elaborate and dissect topics regarding the Home not as containers of stuff, but as a cocoon for the soul, mind, and heart. I will touch on decorations, style, trends, history of the home and sometimes technical information. On Jan. 14, 2014, my challenge will be over and I am feeling the heat.

Of all the furniture styles ever designed Queen Ann’s style has been the style that has passed the test of approval through the centuries. In my experience, I have always found details of Queen Ann furniture in most houses I have visited in North America. This style, also called “late Baroque” refers to the historic period (1702–1714) during which Queen Ann Stuart reigned Great Britain.

Queen Ann Polymer Plastic By Moro Pigatti – Italy

Painted Dresser-http://www.nationalfurnituresupply.com

Cabriole legs accent table-Appaloosa

Écritoire

MacKenzie Childs

Queen Ann desk

http://www.furniturelandsouth.com/shop-furniture/drexel-heritage-gentry-side-chair-850-725

Queen Ann was considered the quintessence of ordinariness, often described as vulgar in taste and a drinker. She received a limited education similar to that of an aristocratic girl: music and languages but had no knowledge of military matters or civil laws. Perhaps her ordinariness brought her to simplify the ornaments of furniture while putting the emphasis on lines and forms. Skilled British craftsmen brought this classic simplicity to the American colonies and ever since the style had its appeal in traditional and country décor.

Today Queen Ann’s style is considered formal and very elegant. I don’t see anything ordinary about it. Keep in mind a few simple elements if you want to decorate in this style.

Woods: walnut and burr walnut veneer, cherry, maple, and mahogany are the woods that will give Queen Ann style a formal, sophisticated look.

Chairs are padded, smaller, lighter, and more comfortable than the predecessors William and Mary Style. The back of the chairs is shaped like a yoke and the seat takes a horseshoe shape.

Furniture is curvier and structured with designs of C-scroll and S-scrolls shapes. Shells on relief, scallops, or acanthus leaves represent the limited ornamentations.

The signature of Queen Ann’s style is cabriole legs with pad foot that replaced the ball foot. The claw foot resisted for a while, somewhat common to find it in this style.

We use tables with drop leaf or tilt top as space savers, they were made for the Queen and it’s hard to believe she needed space in her palace.

A room decorated in this style has at least one comfortable desk often made in a round shape with écritoire accessories.

Today, even the most conservative style as the Queen Ann style can be reinterpreted in a whimsical way to decorate a colorful room for young people or young at heart. Italian company Moro-Pigatti produces Queen Ann style chairs for indoor and outdoor in eco-friendly recyclable linear polyethylene (plastic) at a “snip” price of $895.00 per piece. Accessories such as champagne bucket and ottomans made of the same material make good pairs with the chairs.

As far as architecture, Queen Ann style homes in the true sense of the word are no longer built, we can only enjoy the lavish examples left through the years, especially the years of the industrial revolution (1880-1890), when bankers, new capitalists, rich merchants, and industrialists built their homes in great excess to be showy. It didn’t matter if many architectural details didn’t belong together, in this hodgepodge style was important to accumulate interesting look. A Queen Ann home might have half-timber details typical of the Tudor period, or gingerbread typical of the Victorian era, but at the same time, it might have columns typical of Italian Palladian villas, turrets and round towers typical of castles. Large porches, verandas, bay windows, dorm windows, and balconies might be found altogether in one Queen Ann style home.

Don’t we see the same details in our modern homes? We either want more for our money, or we got accustomed to impurity. I love to help you in finding the right style for you. I am available through Skype. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

My Design Success Story http://youtu.be/pOKI6LkOkkA

Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in fashion and interiors. Her extensive knowledge of colors and materials led her in both directions successfully. She is well-know for designing custom furniture. She cares to make spacious and functional pieces, but she doesn’t forget to introduce the element of surprise, sinuous lines, attractive shapes and colors in the style fit for each of her special clients. She is the author of ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors, Check out her books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Vanity | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

23 Dec 2013 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #GlassVanitySink, #KokolVesselSinkVanity, #MyPersonalAToZChallenge, #PowderRoom, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #VanitySink, Vanity

Welcome to my personal A to Z Challenge on the subject of Home. The goal, in a year time, is to elaborate and dissect topics regarding the Home not as containers of stuff, but as a cocoon for the soul, mind and heart. I will touch on decorations, style, trends, history of home and sometimes technical information. On Jan. 14, 2014, my challenge will be over. I have 9 more letters of the alphabet to cover. Will I make it? I am feeling the heat.

What is vanity? It’s the pride we should have in our qualities, abilities, and achievements we make through life and the pride we should take in our appearance. That’s one kind o vanity, but what is the vanity I am writing about?
Before the invention of indoor plumbing, a bathroom was equipped with a chamber sets called vanity. It was a bowl and a pitcher on a wood stand with towel bars on each side and a mirror attached at the top. It was kept in the bedroom, as the bathroom did not exist yet. Warm water came from the kitchen and poured into the pitcher. That was the ritual of daily ablutions between weekly or monthly baths. According to beliefs of past centuries, “the bark stayed better on the skin”, therefore frequent baths were not a common practice just to prevent diseases from penetrating a clean skin. Imagine that!
Those vanities today are highly collectible at a high price, but their functionality has been relegated just to add charm in a modern bathroom or bedroom.

Wash Stand-Sally Weigand-Fine Art America

Kokols-Wall-mount-Bathroom-Glass-Vessel-Sink-Vanity-Combo

Grape Vanity-Horchow

Italian made (Unknown)

Vessel sinks with modern material and designs are reminiscent of historical bedroom washstand vanities and sit above counter again. However, in designing a modern vessel sink, once must take into consideration the height of the vessel and lower the height of the counter to make it ergonomically suitable. The tap usually is mounted on the walls, but if you choose a tap to sit on the counter, make sure the water goes directly into the drain of the vessel, otherwise, there will be water spillage all over the counter. Vessel sinks are generally used for powder rooms because there are cuter than regular bathroom sinks and are eye candies for guests.

The second photo in the gallery is the Kokols Wall-mount Glass Vessel Sink Vanity Combo. Find it at Sears for $283.00. One of the many vanities I designed in my career was fabricated of marble tesserae (small mosaic pieces) incorporated in the entire wall design.

The vanity sink designs today are endless. You don’t have to have a huge budget to make a pretty vanity, just need a little fantasy to build one with the most unusual material and show off your personality. These vessels are always paired with a mirror. The important function is not only to let them stand pretty in your home but to never make you lose pride in your appearance. Go on, stand by that vanity and take one more look at you before you leave the house. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been in business as a designer since 1990. She has helped a variegated group of fun people realizing their dreams with homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She is a designer well-known to bring originality to people’s homes. As an Italian designer and true to her origins, she provides only the best workmanship and design solutions. Check out her books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Message In A Kilim | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

19 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #KilimRugs, #MessageInKilimRugs, #MyPersonalAToZChallenge, #OrientalRugs, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #TurkishKilimRugs

Welcome to my personal A to Z Challenge on the subject of Home. The goal, in a year time, is to elaborate and dissect topics regarding the Home not as containers of stuff, but as a cocoon for the soul, mind, and heart. I will touch on decorations, style, trends, history of the home and sometimes technical information.
On Jan. 14, 2014, my challenge will be over. Will I make it covering the subject of HOME with all the letters of the alphabet? The beat is on.

Anatolia, a peninsula that makes up most of Turkey is supposedly the area where kilim rugs originated among nomad tribes. Although historians for lack of firm evidence have had a difficult task establishing kilim’s dates and places of origins. The making of kilim rugs started as utilitarian coverings and much less as decorative coverings, made with elementary weaving looms, when weaving surpassed the practice of primitive people to cover their bodies with animal skins. With the weaving loom, early population of the Middle East felt the need to add colors to suit their soul and express feelings or thoughts. This prehistoric textile seems to have entered Egypt in the middle of the second millennia B.C. via Turkey and the Middle Eastern countries.

The knowledge of textiles Sumerians had (people of Mesopotamia, modern Iraq) was directly related to the knowledge of farming the right kind of sheep, goats, and lambs whose pelt was suitable for spinning, coloring and waving. With various colors and designs, each kilim has its own language or message, which varies from weaver to weaver. A married weaver might add into the kilim symbols of her discontent with husband or mother in law, but a message from a girl’s weaver might be love, hope, desire for a strong man and good fortune.

: https://www.enjoyistanbul.com/category/apparel–accessories

: https://www.rugstoreonline.co.uk

The design of each kilim is not casual, ancient tribals weaved their beliefs into the threads in the form of symbols, such as stars, dragons, eyes, combs, running water, or fertility. Today modern people respond well to this primitive art, because they are colorful and very versatile for any décor, but also because most human races have affinity in the same beliefs of life and death, fortune and misfortune, cycles of the moon and sun, water and drought, family and friends, spiritual and unnatural.

Decorating with kilim rug is not just enough to match colors to the interior décor, one must take into consideration the meaning of certain symbols. Ancient tribes thought birds as raven, eagle, and owls bring bad luck or attack human beings, while doves, nightingales and pigeons symbolize good luck and bring love. Knowing symbols will help bring in the house an all-round harmony. Kilim rugs are versatile enough to use in modern and traditional interiors. Their designs are well used for covering chairs, making draperies, bedding, and pillows, or are as beautiful as wall hangings.
Fashionable kilim shoes and bags are timeless. I had the most exquisite kilim sabot pair of shoes for more than ten years that I ran to the ground, worn them with jeans, leather pants, shirt, and oversize sweaters. I wondered often where the fabric of my shoes came from. Kilim bags and shoes are made from the best parts of old hand-woven, which were used as floor coverings, tent pieces, wall hangings, curtains, or blankets.

I am here ready to help if you like to find a kilim rug. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Inspired By A Photograph | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

16 Dec 2013 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BaroqueChristmasDecorations, #BaroqueChristmasTable, #ChristmasDecorations, #DesigningWithRed, #RedChristmasTable, #RedVoyageIntoColors

It’s not uncommon in my world of art and design to see an art image and think of something else that has nothing to do with the painting subject. I have a great admiration for people’s art and visions of art. Looking deeply into the artist’s color selections, or interpreting the artist’s thoughts often put me in a state of transcendental thinking, wandering in the maze of my imagination that creates more images and more ideas.

This is what happened when a few months ago I saw this photograph on Google+ by photographer Chris Lord http://chris-lord.artistwebsites.com/featured/caster-oil-plant-chris-lord.html

Chris Lord gave me the permission to use his photograph for my Baroque Christmas dinner table composition.
I created a board to express my thoughts. Now it is easy to copy it, the work has been done for you if you want to decorate your Christmas table with these colors. My Baroque Christmas table is rich and classic with a twist.

Choose a simple, plain red tablecloth as a base, overlay in diagonal a brown chocolate shimmering fabric. Depending on your Christmas menu, stack two or three glass plates with some golden details, use crackled golden glasses to match the golden plates.
Burgundy Damask napkins with rich burgundy tassels as napkin rings will go very well with golden plates and glasses.

To make interesting combination, a modern flatware with flair of primitive rusticity made of a safe golden alloy with twigs metal handles will make a good entry. I want the food to get the attention it deserves, thus I prefer the centerpiece very simple, only glass candle holders to add sparkles over a dark shimmering fabric. Cover the glass of the candle holders with natural twigs and insert beeswax candles (they are safer for your health than paraffin candles). Around the room, disperse some Baroque decorations, but keep it simple, orbs of greenery and pinecones, with a few grouping of glass balls will be sufficient to create an elegant ambience.

Share your Christmas table, I would love to see how you will decorate it. I hope you have a splendid Christmas, Ciao.
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer working in the USA and Europe since 1990, specializing in kitchen, bath, wine cellar, and outdoor kitchen designs. Often people describe her as “the colorist” as she loves to color her clients’ world and loves to create the unusual. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. Author of three published books, the latest ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors is on the subject of colors.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Things I Miss | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

15 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ItalianCafe', #ItalianEatingCustomes, #ItalianFood, #ItalianLifeStyle, #ItalianRestaurants, #RedVoyageIntoColors

This video has circulated in a group of Italian women I belong. The video is all about the best most common Italian food. Many women in the group commented that the video made them cry. I know, we the expatriates, miss our mother land, we get very emotional and like them I miss it too, but Italy is not all about food.
Thanks to the proliferation of food lovers, importers have made possible for us expatriates to find all kinds of Italian food even here in the USA making the distance from home more digestible. Prices for imported real Italian food are outrageous, but they know we bend to their wishes and our tables are always a bounty of food from home that manage to astound our friends and silence our pain.

What I miss about Italy is not the food. What I miss is a life of subtle emotions.
A. I don’t see the swallow birds and their sweet chirping announcing the coming of Spring. Instead, I see black, scary and ominous crows. Their sound reminds me of Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s film “The Birds”.
B. I don’t hear the church bells ringing at midday marking Italian lunch time break. How sweet to go home and eat with the family.
C. I miss my neighbor knocking on my door to ask for a cup of sugar, a lemon or a hand full of parsley, which often is an excuse to get a cup of coffee together.
D. I miss my girlfriends calling at 11:00 at night just to shoot the breeze and tell me about the happenings of their day. In the US nobody calls anymore but everybody text. Texting takes more time to write word by word than to say the same thing verbally. Voice travels faster than typing and the voice doesn’t betray emotions. Through voice we can detect if a person is sick, sad, happy or lying. Texting is cold, calculate and abbreviated.
E. I miss the salty water smell of my Adriatic Sea and the transparent waters of Gargano and Salento. Just taking a simple walk around the Lungomare (along the sea) in the downtown area of Bari my hometown is invigorating, healthy and relaxing.
F. The grocer in my hometown, when he received a new product, a new wine or something he knew I would appreciate, always put it aside for me, or called me to tell me about it and if I didn’t show up in the store for 3-4 days, he would send someone at my home to check that everything was fine and didn’t need any help. In the American grocery shops I am one of the millions shoppers without a face or name.
G. I miss taking long walk with friends, talking, laughing and watching shops’ windows without buying anything.
H. I miss going to restaurants and café for fun, leisure, pleasure, not for conducting business as people do in the States. It gives me indigestion to sit in front of food at all hours of the day and talk business with people I might not see again. I eat breakfast in the early morning, lunch under the sun rays and dinner under the moon rays. I don’t miss any meal because of work and I don’t eat and drink at all hours of the day either. Having a glass of wine at 3:00 in the afternoon, just to share some business ideas, doesn’t cut it for me and end up either changing the appointment to a more convenient time for me or turn it down all together. In Italy we have apéritif after 6:00 pm, when the day is over and we can enjoy friends, colleagues, or business associates as people.
I. I miss my neighbors sticking their nose in my business. There was time I thought they were such a nuisance, but if I got sick, they always came around with soups and cooked food. Now in the States, I live in a very private neighborhood, it’s so private that if I leave for month, no one knows I was gone and if I am sick nobody brings me anything, because nobody knows I am even sick.

Perhaps some of my northern friends in my Italian group will disagree with me. Perhaps the North of Italy is very much like the US, but I come from the South of Italy, where each one of us has a weight in somebody else’s life, friendship is real, family ties are strong, promises are promises and contracts are still done with a handshake. “I see you later”, really means later in the same day, or “I call you later”, really means that person will call again in a few hours. You have no idea how many times I waited for someone to call or to come, when I first arrived in the States and didn’t know any better.

One of the comments of my group of women said we must be in peace with ourself and accept the new place as it is. There is no one living in a foreign country more in peace as I am. I made a great living in a foreign land without anyone’s support and without a family. I am very thankful to have experienced a new life and new customs, but the things I miss, I will always miss and if I think harder the list could be longer. Pardon my lament, it’s so uncharacteristic of me to write a post like this one, it must be the corny Christmas time. Wishing you all great holiday seasons. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola, is the principal designer and owner of Valentina Interiors & Designs. She is a trained designer and has been in business since 1990. She works all over the world via Skype line and in the traditional in home consultations producing concepts for remodeling, restoration of historical dwelling, upgrading, décor restyling and home fashion. Vogue magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15 and interviewed on various Blog Talk Radios. Author of three books all-available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Eco-Friendly Nights | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

14 Dec 2013 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BambooBedding, #BambooFabrics, #BambooSheets, #BambooTowels, #EcoFriendlyHomes, #MyPersonalAToZChallenge, #RedVoyageIntoColors, Bamboo

Welcome to my personal A to Z Challenge on the subject of Home. The goal, in a year time, is to elaborate and dissect topics regarding the Home not as containers of stuff, but as a cocoon for the soul, mind, and heart. I will touch on decorations, style, trends, history of the home and sometimes technical information.
On Jan. 14, 2014, my challenge will be over. Will I make it covering the subject of HOME with all the letters of the alphabet? The beat is on.

The environment is our concern and our responsibility to keep it as natural as possible. Many industries using dyes, spill their waste products in our seas and navigable waters killing flora and fauna. A few years ago, I stayed at a dear friend’s home and slept on something so incredibly soft that it gave me the impression of being on clouds. The next morning, totally relaxed and refreshed, I asked my friend what I slept on. She only uses sheets and bath towels made of bamboo and I fell in love with the product.

Bamboo http://hd4desktop.online/10271-bamboo-tree-nature-HD-Wallpaper

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Piece-Set-Hotel-Comfort-1800-Series-Organic-Bamboo-Bed-Sheets-/380990377249

The bamboo plant is a woody perennial and part of the grass family. It regenerates quickly and doesn’t need pesticides, fertilizer nor a lot of water to grow, to the contrary of cotton which takes almost 1/3 of a pound of fertilizer to grow 1 pound of raw cotton. Plants that regenerate quickly don’t require much agricultural management, reseeding and energy expenditure. Bamboo fabric is biodegradable, meaning it dissolves easily when disused fabric goes in nature with the garbage. To create fabrics only the pulp of bamboo is used, thus the fiber dyes very easy with minimal use of water. The fabrics that don’t dye easily are treated with chemicals and a lot of water, which results in environmental damages.

Did you know that bamboo resists to bacteria, mold, dust mites and mildew? Bed sheets made of bamboo are ideal for people with allergies, hay fever or have highly sensitive skin. In my opinion, the softness and luxurious feel of bamboo sheets, towels and fabrics are superior to any cotton or any thread count, especially because its thermal insulating property keeps the skin cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Bamboo fabric travels easy, doesn’t require much care and it’s machine washable. Bamboo products are available for babies as well, start them early with the appreciation of nature and good things that comes from it.

The only house we have is the world we live in, save the environment while giving yourself relaxing nights. Ciao,

Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

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.  She offers design consultations on-line through Skype and the traditional in-house consultations, helping people with their design challenge anywhere in the world. She is the author of three books, all available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w