Most Amazing Hot Chocolate at Marie Belle... (Via Made By Girl)

I went back home to NYC a few years ago to visit my family & I visited a little cafe called Marie Belle on Broome Street in Manhattan. I had NO IDEA what this place was about, but my experience was quite a PLEASANT one! I met one of the managers & they served my best friend and I Aztec hot chocolate in a small espresso cup. I looooove chocolate (especially dark) but when I saw this hot chocolate in that tiny espresso cup, I realized it was VERY thick!!

I had NEVER seen hot chocolate that thick & smooth looking in my life! I was anxious and curious to taste it....so I sipped it and it was AMAZING! I got instant chocolate EUPHORIA (which I get from really great chocolate) I felt so relaxed...

Do you know that feeling?? A Chocolate high some people like to call it...ever felt that??!?

Well, ever since I arrived back home from the NYC, I regretted not buying a container of Marie Belle's Aztec Hot Chocolate. I had been contemplating buying it online but never did....finally I walked into William Sonoma yesterday & to my surprise, there it was sitting on the shelf with my name on it. (Not really) So, I went for it even though it's $25 for a 20 oz container, the taste is worth it.

As for making it, I make mine European Style...its thick and you can even top it off with a bit of whipped cream!

images by jen ramos

image above via pretty little mess

Design Confidential: Brooklyn.... via Traditional Home

Traditional home featured some Brooklyn homes in a piece they called Design Confidential: Brooklyn. I immediately had to check it out...because as many of you know I have a passion for BROOKLYN, (especially Williamsburg) where my best friend lives. The last time I was there I strolled around and stopped at VARIOUS cafe's and neighborhood furniture stores. I love their sense of community, you can SERIOUSLY feel it the minute you walk into a store or coffee shop! I absolutely recommend that if you visit NYC, you must go to best parts of Brooklyn...see their gorgeous brownstone-lined streets and then stop & have a cup of coffee with a bagel. 


The homes below were featured on the Traditional Home site, and in my opinion, there weren't enough of them. I REALLY do hope they add more!


Have you visited Brooklyn? How did you like it? Where did you go??

images via traditional home



P.S. One of my last trips to BROOKLYN actually inspired this Brooklyn print in my shop!

Dreaming of Suvalsky

Andrew Suvalsky is a designer out of New York City that I just adore! He's done lots of work in places like designs Puerto Rico and Chicago to name a few. I hope you enjoy his site, which I found to be extremely easy to navigate through. Good job!

I love NYC and Miles Redd

Miles Redd has designed many NYC apartments. He's been featured in many of my favorite publications such as New York Magazine, Vogue, House Beautiful, Elle Décor, House & Garden, W, and Country Life. I always find it interesting how people make their start and with Miles, his tiny East Village apartment became a laboratory for his particular brand of cozy glamour: he painted the floor in an emerald green harlequin pattern and stacked books to the ceiling! Amazing, just look at those ZEBRA print doors!