Friday eye candy

I´m head over heels for this necklace above that I found at a jewelry store here in Sao Paulo

This an unofficial Saturday eye candy for all of my lovely readers who, like me, are committing a sin by blogging on a beautiful Saturday morning.  If by any chance you have absolutely nothing more fun to do and happen to be cyber sauntering during  the weekend then this is for you.  Bom fim de semana!

Nothing more relaxing than walking barefoot at the beach. 

Another shot of a home store.  I suspect I´m in big trouble!

Pure Glam!

My coffee standards are way too high.  All I have to say is that I was pretty happy with this one above.

All photos by me via my instagram.  If you would like to follow me via instagra you can click here.

Quick check in and Thank you

After a long and fantastic weekend, reality is coming quickly to meet me and bother me in my comfort zone.  This morning we´ll have an interview at Lucas´s future school and hopefully (cross fingers) everything will go smoothly so he can start school soon.  Kids like it when there is a routine that gives them a sense of security and safety.  We are still in a hotel while we make arrangements for a few security issues in the apartment (all windows and the balcony needs safety netting) are taken care of before we move in.  We won´t be able to have our stuff for the next two months because there is a security number we need to get and the whole process is very long and bureaucratic.  So, I´m afraid things won’t be as easy as in the US but, we´ll take whatever is thrown at us.  Of course that´s a saying...
I wanted to thank all my fantastic Facebook friends and my lovely bloggers friends for your beautiful wishes for my birthday this weekend.  It means a lot to receive all your beautiful thoughts and kind words.  Have a great week!
photo above of Enseada Beach in Guaruja, Sao Paulo, Brazil by  me.

My Weekend and a project brief Sneak Peek

It's Tuesday already but I'd like to share with you a brief sneak peak of a project and snippets of our weekend, which was all about relaxing and walking.  We visited a family member who just had a baby boy.  What a cutie! And then it was all about hanging around and spending some time for myself while enjoying a bubble bath.

I'm often low in iron so there is always the perfect excuse to have an open burger.  Bobby Flay makes the best ones. 

Images of a project I've been working int he City where we decided to use Ringwold for the bedroom (above) and Renaissance for the entrance. 

Wearing that room

This weekend I snapped this picture of my Michael Kors boots at The Greek and Roman Art Gallery at The MET.  I love the color of the leather and the brass button on the sides, a perfect pairing to the fabulous library designed by Will Wick for Elle Decor San Francisco Showhouse.  Isn't that room crazy hot?

This room means a thousand words to me.  That leather sofa screams comfort and cuddling and the Klismos brass chair says settle down now.  This sofa may have convinced me to let my husband get himself a leather...something. 

This thing, perched inside an antique secretary, is Taylor, my friend Cathy Lerebours's cat and he is a sweetheart.  He comes to greet me every time I go there and he likes to be pampered.  I couldn't resist taking this picture of him. 

Love, love this building in the UWS.  It's just stunning!

Looking for the perfect red nails. These are still not it, yet. 

2 image via Elle Decor, rest by Belle Vivir

Wearing that room

I went for a stroll around my favorite neighborhoods in the City on Sunday.  The weather couldn't have been better and the city felt perfect also because the streets were quiet.  Many seemed to be out of town for Easter or perhaps in Church.  With our move outside the country coming soon I seem to be eager to experience New York as much and as often as I can.  While standing in this spot, my hubby took this picture of me and after coming home and looking at it I thought it would be fun to find a room that would interpret my outfit to maybe start a new series.  I remembered Kathryn Ireland's home which had a very bohemian vibe just as much as my outfit, the same that consisted of Zara skinny trousers with zips at the hem, JCrew white shirt, a vintage fur vest and a pair of Brazilian flats I got in Sao Paulo.

Random Weekend: "The best makeup primer"

Sometimes I seem to have little fashion sense or better said, I favored my common sense.  Like over the weekend, when we went for a brunchy-bite at Pastis in the Meatpacking District and literately sabotaged my cute, Century21-find, Valentino flats with a pair of unattractive gray socks.  It was cold!  I much rather enjoy running errands on a pretty cobblestone street, even when aesthetically unmatched, than not doing so at all.  Like that, I went ahead and took care of a few things we needed to do, among them, replacing our router which apparently was getting old and visiting Kiehl's.

My husband has an obsession for stacking up on things.  "Stack up sweetie pie.  Get more." he oftentimes says, to which I always reply "Why? Should we be getting ready for a famine that I don't know about".  But this time though, I did stack up on Midnight Recovery Concentrate.  Because I don't only use it for it's over-night recovering effects but also as "the best make up primer" ever.  It really is that good!  I've had a longtime love and hate relationship with makeup, afraid that if using too much it will make my crow feet stand out.  But when I go out at nights or for important events I use this Kiehl's product under tinted moisturizer and what it does is that makes the makeup run as smooth as a kid sliding down a snowy hill and not to mention the glow it adds.  If you can, go to a Kiehl's store get a sample and try it.  You'll see what I mean. 

This blog has never been contacted by Kiehl's, nor have we been asked to review any of their products. This is simply my personal experience.

Do you girls watch Football...?

Every year my husband goes through the same ritual of playing fantasy football and me rolling my eyes at just the thought of it.  I'm so bad that two weeks ago while he was selecting his players (to form his fantasy football team) the only name I was able to recognize among the 17 players was Tom Brady.  I mean, can you blame me? And let's clarify that I didn't even know the guy before he married Giselle...  So last night, after having the TV on for the entire afternoon showing lots of big men colliding against each other and me reading the paper, Evren told me "oh, there is a football game tonight, we should watch it".  I gave him a kind of "are you talking to me?  kind of look and all he said was, This is serious stuff Julie!  You think it's a joke, you are the only woman in America who doesn't like Football!  I was in shock when he said that!  There is no way he can really believe this.  He is a big joker to the point that I don't even know when he is serious anymore.  To prove him wrong I have to throw this question out there.  Do you women watch Football!?

Tom Brady

When Traveling, dress accordingly

Before I go on and talk about my fantastic weekend and how I celebrated it.  I have a confession to make, sometimes and only sometimes I love McDonald's french fries so when I called my hubby, whom had taken Friday afternoon off in occasion of my birthday and asked him to treat me to french fries he said, Sure!  I had no idea he had gotten me a present earlier that afternoon since earlier in the week he had gotten me a make up vanity as the official present.  More on that, another day.  So, imagine my surprise when I went to open the bag looking for my french fries and saw this unmistakable orange box smiling and waving at me.  Hurray!  I was beyond excited!

I have said here before how lucky and blessed I've been to have met my husband.  He is the most considered, thoughtful and sweet person I have ever come across.  I joke sometimes saying that he is the answer to my many years of prayers.  I come from a family where you start getting the pressure of getting married as early as the ridiculous age of 20, so considering the fact that I got married after 28 that's where the joke comes from.  I always used to say "It doesn't matter how long it takes I know that when it happens, the longer it takes, the better it will be.  When I marry it will be to a fantastic man."  and that's exactly what he is to me.  I'm sharing this with you because if you're single, over 40 (that is the new age to get married) and dreaming of getting married, know that like in everything else in life the longer things take the better and greater they usually turn out to be.  With every month or year it passes, it only gets closer.

That was not the only surprise he had for me.  I had been meaning to go to Locanda Verde  in Tribeca and Evren surprised me with a reservation (the food was delicious).  So after trying on half of the clothes in my closet I went with a very chic Sea black mini dress with a half open back that I got at Barneys earlier this year, fishnet stocking and my Chanel classic flap bag.   Whenever I go out or go traveling, I try each and every one of the outfits I'm going to wear, including bag and shoes.  Sometimes I even try to put my hair the way I'll use accordingly.  I also do this when I buy clothes. After I bring them home I go and put them on and kind of do a little fashion show for my boys.  It's funny I've been doing this since I was a teenager with my sister.  Every time we went out shopping we would come back home and model everything for my mom to see. 
I also like, when I travel, to look for clothes that would relate to the place I'm going.  Not obviously just for the weather but also to fit into the culture.   For my first time visiting Istanbul last year I came across this clothing line called Eskell made here in the the US.  The clothing line evokes a fusion of old and new with sophisticated prints that for some reason I associated with Istanbul.  So since it's Fashion week I thought it would be fun to take this week and dedicate it entirely to fashion.  Today I'll start with posting these images below of our most recent trip and what I wore. 

To go to Dave's Grill in Montauk I wore a J. Crew striped top, white jeans, Roger Clergerie sandals and accessorized with a navy blue Balenciaga bracelet and a two tone Cartier watch.   These huge hydrangeas were so beautiful I couldn't help stop and smell them. 

The American Hotel in Sag Harbor is considered a very bohemian place but it's also old school and non-pretentiously formal.  I couldn't think of a better outfit than a gray silk jump suit from Barneys, a Miu Miu red belt, Pierre Hardy platform wedge and a tailored blazer from Zara.  That's an outfit I considered traditional and formal in a very laid back modern way.

To go to the North Fork and visit a few wineries I wore this Armand Basi dress I fell in love with, flat sandals, and my J. Crew panama hat.  Little did I know that my husband was going to decide to go into every little country road looking for, according to him, an undiscovered beach.  God mercy! Lucky for me at least we were driving my car and not his!  We all have our give and takes in Marriage, don't we?

images by me

While in Turkey