my favorite deal for cyber Monday

I have my Christmas gift list ready for cyber Monday and the first stop I will make will be to log on to Stella & Dot.  That way, I can treat myself to a little something too!  They are offering this cute Avalon Bracelet Clutch in black for only $9.95 {with a $50 purchase}.  This clutch is the perfect size for holding my wallet, lip gloss and cell phone while running errands!  Click here for details.

ciao! Fabiana

an interview with Kim Rodosky of 503 found

503found is one of my favorite, go-to  shops for home furnishings and accessories. They offer unique décor made by artisans from all over the world and here locally in Orange County. It's also fun that they incorporate vintage finds to their store, which I love. Interior design services, large and small, are also offered at 503found to help you create an eclectic, timeless, and functional home. 

I was so happy to interview Kim Rodosky, one of the founders and talented designers of 503found.  I am so impressed that this mother of six can pull together a gorgeous home for her own family and also run a successful business.  Here are some of her insights for creating a gorgeous home.

Kim Rodosky
photo by Ryan Garvin

1.  What's an unexpected place to display one-of-a-kind, personal finds?

“I think a unique, unexpected place to display one-of-a-kind, personal finds would be in the guest bathroom. You always have people coming in and out and no one really expects to see anything unique in a bathroom. Very unexpected! “

2. Do you have suggestions for filling vacant wall space?

“I always recommend filling with art and family photos. I love blending the two to make a gallery wall. Art, mirrors, family photos - you can take up a lot of wall space with those elements.” 

3.   My favorite vintage scores are ...

“Art! I've found amazing vintage art pieces scouring finds for 503found. They are usually really affordable and are some of my most treasured pieces. “

4.  One design rule you always break?

“I don't follow a lot of design rules, but I guess I always break mixing patterns. I love mixing unexpected colors and patterns! “

5.   Best place to spend $500 on decor?

“503found in Newport Beach of course! We have great accessories, vintage art, tabletop decor, candles, turkish towels, pillows and more - all under $500.” 

Ciao's favorite picks from 503found:

503found

located in Cannery Village

503 31^st Street

Newport Beach, California

(949) 877-0147

ciao! Fabiana

the house in my dreams

There is a house that lives in my dreams.  It is a very large house with elegant Victorian details, secret rooms that have been long forgotten and an abandoned, untouched aura about the rooms.  It is located in my hometown, a hilltop in Italy or a misty parish somewhere in England, I’m not sure. The location is always different but the house is the same. 

 This would be my view

and the entry into my intimate courtyard

 that leads into a sunken colorful garden

fancy shutters are a must on the windows

 a private courtyard for entertaining my friends

I can even feed my pet giraffe 

from my bedroom window

 now we may enter through the front door

 jewelry tiebacks accent my windows

 and of course, there are plenty of hidden doors

 that lead to my inner sanctuary 

a wardrobe built-in to the wall leads to different rooms  

 of course there’s a chandelier in my favorite color

 a place to relax

 and another cozy nook for reading

 there’s always a grand staircase in my dreams

  like the ones from Gone with the Wind

the staircase does not lead me to Rhett, 

but to long unexplored rooms

 like this one

 this one

  this one

or this one

 then I could just slide down

to another secret garden

Do you ever dream of 

visiting the same unknown place?

ciao! Fabiana

the ultimate turkey sandwich

Black Friday for me and my family means munching on all the yummy Thanksgiving leftovers.  This year, the folks at Oroweat® asked me to make my version of the ultimate turkey sandwich using their Oroweat® Organic Sandwich Bread.  Anyone who knows me knows I only buy organic food and that I love all the Thanksgiving dinner menu items, so it seemed like the perfect challenge for me.  Made with organic ingredients and whole grains, NEW Oroweat Organic breads are the delicious way to feel better about eating better.

Not only that, but Oroweat® is offering my readers a chance to win three (3) coupons, each valid for a free loaf of Oroweat® Organic bread, and a $25 Visa gift to help you create your favorite sandwiches (a $40 value)!  That means a very easy giveaway for all my readers, see below to enter.

Here’s how I created our family’s favorite sandwich, the Bacon Guacamole Turkey Sandwich, or the “BGT”, haha!

I started by lightly toasting the Organic

 Oroweat Grains and Seeds sandwich bread.

Found in my local grocery store.

I cooked my bacon and let it crisp up on a paper towel.

 I like using guacamole for this sandwich because it has the creaminess 

of the avocado with the added flavor of the tomato, onion and cilantro.  

Recipe for “Martha’s Guacamole” below.

 I start with slathering the guacamole on the first piece of bread.

 Next I added the bacon

 Then I layered thick slices of our Thanksgiving turkey.

{White meat only for me!}

 Just a touch of mayo and black pepper. 

And that’s it! 

Martha’s Guacamole

·         2 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted, and lightly mashed

·         1/2 cup minced onion

·         1 jalapeno chile, minced (remove seeds and ribs for less heat)

·         1 plum tomato, seeded and diced

·         1/4 cup chopped cilantro

·         2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

·         Coarse salt

In a bowl, combine avocados, onion, jalapeno, tomato, cilantro, and lime juice. Season with salt, and mix to combine.   (If you make the guacamole several hours ahead, keep it in the refrigerator. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic directly onto the surface of the guacamole to prevent discoloration.)

Enter the giveaway here:
Ciao Newport Beach Oroweat giveaway

and  leave a comment at the end of this blog post

Ciao Newport Beach is responsible for the giveaway and Oroweat® is providing the prize.  

“The coupons for free product, information, and gift card have been provided by Oroweat® so that I could try the product and share my thoughts and information about Oroweat® Organic bread. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect the opinions of Oroweat®.”

ciao! Fabiana

Parmenter Customs

Two 7'10"s for the Great White North. The camo spray pintail is a Sunset mini gun style deal, straight up speed line action for the beautiful cobblestone points these guys surf. The other is a bit of a mind bender, a Makaha Machine with some of the most elegantly subtle shaping tweaks I've seen in a while. Felt great under the arm, totally intuitive rails and foil, and serious V in the nose? Loved it, surfboards are magic sometimes and the ones Parmenter has been sending through are a class above. There's still the single fins for sale if you want one for christmas, both the channeled V-6 model and a MP disc (although be quick on that one...)

UPDATE
Too many 7'10" boards = a deal for someone else. That 7'10" Makaha Machine? It's been ridden, but only a couple of times and it may well be available to a discerning enthusiast of the longer ride. info @ foamandfunction.com for more details.....

Gold traps

I will start todays blog with a question, and give you the answer at the end of the blog. 
What is the best clue to the area shown in this photo being a gold trap ?

Hard packed sand on the lower beach, helps to trap gold in place for beach hunters. 
I saw two gold traps on a local thanksgiving day beach hunt,  an eroded section of upper beach with a three foot cut and a hard packed shell area close to the waters edge. 
I knew from experience that my best chance of finding gold was using an east west directional search pattern, from the base of the cut down to the hard packed sand next to the water. 
The cut appeared to be a couple of days old and was not very productive, but the hard pack sand towards the waters edge held many deep targets. 
Lead fishing weights were a good sign, and so were the encrusted "Greenies" in the area.  
Green encrusted coins and lead, are often the best indicators to a beach hunter that gold is also trapped in place. 
It was not long before an 18K gold bracelet came out of the area, followed by a 14K ear ring. 
Luckily for me, there are more water hunters than beach hunters at a majority of the local beaches I like to search. 
I class myself as a water hunter too, but I would never ignore gold traps on the lower beach caused by rough surf, the same rough surf that has caused water hunters to stay away from the beach. 
I could not imagine ignoring the lower and upper beach, especially gold traps like the ones I saw on thanksgiving morning. 
Hard packed sand and shells on the lower beach,  are often the strata where heavy objects settle or get trapped after sinking past mushy sand during sanded in conditions. 
When one area closes ( the water and water hunting) another area of the beach opens up, if you know what to look for and when to take advantage of it. 

The answer to my question at the beginning of todays blog is my size 10 dive boot print.  
Anytime you walk on a hard packed section of a recently "Sanded in" tourist beach and you barely leave a boot print, get ready to recover gold. 

wishing you a happy Thanksgiving!

ciao! Fabiana

The CTX wiggle

I love searching trashy beach sites, where patience, persistence and perseverance are the keys to finding gold jewelry. 
If I have a hunch gold is the area, I will resort to wiggling gold,  standing still and slowly wiggling my search coil in short sweeps in a full circle around the area I am standing. 
I listen patiently for low tones, while ignoring high tone coin signals and the obvious blanking of ferrous targets using the CTX 3030 in my modified preset Beach Mode. 
The secret to using this search technique is to keep your search coil moving slowly but not to step away from the search area until you have detected in a full circle around the area you are standing. 
It is very rare to see a beach or water hunter not moving, the majority of beach and water hunters keep moving, especially when they run across an area stacked with pennies and bottle caps. 
When you know what gold sounds like, and you know there is a good chance gold is in the area, why move away? 
I wiggle in a circle,  step away and wiggle in a circle again, only stopping to scoop low tones using my CTX 3030. 
The majority of low tones using the CTX are either aluminum pull tabs, can slaw, nickels or hopefully gold. 
My slow wiggle search technique helps me to avoid target masking at trashy beach sites,  gold being masked by both iron and larger non ferrous targets. 
The short slow wiggle aids recovery speed,  your recovery speed is the time it takes your metal detector to detect another target after the last target was detected. 
The day I found this 22K raw emerald pendant while water hunting with my CTX 3030,  I could have easily walked away because of the high volume of targets in the area. 

Instead, I decided to spend a full two hours wiggling around for gold close to the very trashy beach entrance.
Notice how my CTX was able to detect the thin gold wire holding the raw emerald. 
When you go to the beach to metal detect, there are no written rules to beach and water hunting. 
As Jack Sparrows mate would say "More like a set of guidelines!" 

my Thanksgiving table is all set !

 

Heirloom china, gold accents and orange tulips were the inspirations this year for my Thanksgiving table.  We have a small group gathering this year, but our hearts are full!  As our tummies will be with our traditional menu of 

Roast Turkey

Buttery Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes with Mini Marshmallows

Sauteed Haricot Vert

Ginger Cranberry Sauce

Mushroom Ciabatta and Blueberry Stuffing

Sweet Corn Cake

Homemade Gravy

Fresh Organic Pumpkin Pie

And yes, I am making it all!  The stuffing, sweet potatoes, pie and cranberry sauce are already finished!  Now I can relax until tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. 

ciao! Fabiana