New Starts

Hello everyone and Happy New Year! My apologies for staying silent so long. I’ve been very busy during these past few months preparing for the release of my new book Coming Home, which will go on sale in March (more updates on this exciting event to come.)

I’d like to talk about the new year and the opportunity for new beginnings. Renovating a living space is one of the most potent ways to wake our sluggish minds from their winter slumbers. “Home” is the space where we begin and end everyday and we often forget how much of an impact the atmosphere at home can have on our psyches.

Cleaning and rearranging our home space can help us become more dynamic and vital. It doesn’t take much. Here are some ways you can make your own small, new beginning at home:

Instead of tackling the entire kitchen, make a commitment to clean out and reorganize your refrigerator. Or your silverware drawer. Or the “junk” drawer. Or your pantry shelves. Give yourself one small project at a time that you know you can finish in one go. Afterwards, not only will your home be a better space, but you’ll also feel a sense of accomplishment.

Try out a few new recipes. Refresh your repertoire by adding a handful of fresh, healthy and seasonal dishes to the rotation. For inspiration flip through your favorite cookbook or visit your favorite food blog. I love Tastespotting for the gorgeous food photography. What could be more inspiring than the pictures of delicious meals?

When it comes to decorating our living spaces once we find a place for something it usually never moves again. We might occasionally add a new item here or there, but rarely do we take items away or swap them out for something else. Designers, however, do things a little differently...rotating their décor according to the season. I’m not talking about Halloween decorations in October or Christmas lights in December. Rotating your decor can be as simple as changing the centerpiece or tablecloth on your dining room table. Maybe that means a simple, delicate runner for the spring with a vase of fresh blooms. Or a rich, heavy tablecloth for the winter. Accompanied by a pair of dramatic candlesticks, like the ones in our Dauphine line.
Or maybe you place a few special items in your foyer that correspond with the season. A pumpkin and a lantern for the fall? A big bowl of ripe fruit for the summer?

Varying our home aesthetics, even just slightly, makes a huge difference. Don’t underestimate the power of some small new things to combat the monotony of the routine.

My new book Coming Home is a great guide to seasonal, mindful living filled with more ideas like these. Sometimes, all it takes is a little nudge to make a subtle change that surprises us with its big impact.






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Spring Is Here!

Spring is here! What a relief, after such a dismal winter. The arrival of Spring is an instant balm to the weary soul. The sun shines. The plants sprout and the flowers bloom. Nature is telling us that it is time to wake up and recognize the changes in the environment. The new plants and the birth of new life signals a change. The changes in nature offer us an opportunity to change old ways of doing things. Spring presents an opportunity to evaluate our own lives and see how we can "freshen up" old patterns of behavior. Have you noticed how everyone changes in the Spring? How one's attitude about life becomes more hopeful and positive. Take advantage of this magical season. The rebirth in nature can echo a rebirth within ourselves. Start a yearly tradition of doing something new to effect change in your life. Here are a few examples of how to "freshen up" your life.

*Change your menu...lighten it up. Eat vegetables that are in season. eat less meat and try to eat only local produce and food. You will be amazed at the difference in taste. It is good for the body and environment. See my favorite Spring pasta recipe, made with fresh Spring vegetables.

Pasta Ortolano (Green Grocer style pasta)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lb organic spinach, washed and chopped in long 3 inch pieces
1 lb very skinny asparagus (chop off the ends, about 2 inches, and discard) cut the rest of the asparagus in 2 inch lengths
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 lb Spring Peas, shelled
1 tsp sea salt
1 box Penne Rigate Pasta
1 oz Parmesan Cheese, grated

Directions:
Bring the oil to a med-high heat. Put all the ingredients in a low pan and saute, stirring constantly until the spinach is wilted and the asparagus is soft, but not wilted, and the peas are tender but not mushy.
Cook the pasta until al dente (with a little give to the pasta, about 12-15 minutes.) Make sure to boil the pasta in salted water with 1 tsp of sea salt.
Drain pasta.
Save the pan that the pasta was cooked in. Put 1/2 of the vegetable mixture at the bottom of the pan. Then pour in all the pasta and pour the remaining cooked vegetables on top. Toss the pasta and sauce, adding a grinding of sea salt to finish.
Grate fresh Parmesan cheese over the top and serve with a light sparkling white wine like Italian Prosecco.

*Do a light Spring cleaning. Clear out excess furniture and things that crowd your living space. The Victorians changed their decor every season to be in tune with the environment. Pare down and keep the interior light and clutter free. Bring in fresh flowers and plants from the outdoors. Make small displays of living, flowering plants and the lovely branches of freshly bloomed fruit trees. The effect is uplifting and positive. It will make you feel fresh and invigorated. Living in harmony with nature creates a sense of well being and balance.

*Go outside. When the weather is nice go outside and enjoy the sun. Let the vitamin D permeate your skin. The body needs vitamin D for many reasons. Vitamin D helps keep bones strong and protects against hypertension (high blood pressure), cancer and several auto-immune diseases. Only 10 minutes per day of sun exposure is enough to give you the vitamin D you need. Besides letting the sun keep you healthy, nice weather encourages exercise and walking. If you cannot run or bike, simply walk around your neighborhood for 30 minutes. Keeping active is very important for a healthy state of mind a fit body. Being outside helps you connect with people in your neighborhood.
The Spring makes connecting with people a natural way of life. Enjoy the outdoors, It is good for the body and soul.

*Play music. Some of my favorite CD's are oldies from the 60's & 70's. The Beatles, James Brown, Al Green, Marvin Gaye. The soul of these artists comes through in their amazing music and makes you want to dance. If you feel like it, dance. It does wonders for a sense of well being.

*Listen to children at play. One thing I love about Spring is that children are back outdoors and playing. I open my windows and listen to the laughter of children at play and I know all is right in the world.

*Be cheerful and smile. Smiles lead to laughter and nothing makes you feel better than a good laugh. Follow the lyrics of the song "Don't Worry...Be happy."

I hope you enjoy my favorite springtime pasta recipe!





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Rosanna Gift Registry!

Springtime rings in Wedding Season. Fortunately, Rosanna dishes make perfect wedding gifts for a couple that is just starting a life together. As such, we've responded accordingly by adding a new Gift Registry feature to our online store. This feature makes it much easier for your friends and loved ones to let you know which designs you prefer.

To register, just add the items you like to your cart by clicking "I'll Buy It." Then, click on your cart (on the left sidebar of the page) and select the option "save to gift registry." We've also made it easy to search for others' registries. You can enter first name, last name, or e mail address.

Some of my favorite collections to give to newlyweds include:

Cin Cin!
Mondo
Dinner Party Place Settings--always a classic choice

Congratulations!





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Nesting

Last weekend I had an irresistible urge to clean. As a result, I devoted two days to straightening, refreshing, and brightening our home.

These activities, ironing the linens, reorganizing the pantry, clearing away cobwebs, were wonderfully therapeutic. I wondered why I felt so good after accomplishing these relatively simple feats until I realized what I was doing: nesting.

"Nesting" is what we do to make our homes comfortable and happy to live in. Nesting is something I tend to always do in the springtime. A number of activities fall under this umbrella term: cooking, cleaning out the cupboards, donating unwanted things, moving the winter clothes out of your closest. Basically anything that represents a fresh start falls under this category.

I'd like to mention that nesting doesn't necessarily entail a complete overhaul. Start with small things; spring cleaning doesn't have to be top to bottom. No one has the time to take on such a project that large anyway!

I find that my whole family benefits from this seasonal ritual of mine. It's also very gratifying on a personal level to take control of my life by making my environment aesthetically pleasing and welcoming to others.


-Place bouquets of fresh flowers around the house
-Put new candles out and change your table cloth or runner to something bright and springlike
-Change out your daily dishes for a lighter set
-To add a little variety, redesign your mantle displays seasonally








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Joy In Nature

Finally, the first hints of spring are in the air! To celebrate the world's natural reawakening, this past weekend my daughter Francesca and I took a walk through the new springtime sunshine.

As I wrote in another post, I try to begin every day with a walk through my neighborhood. Sadly, I find that I'm so used to "my territory" that I sometimes forget to be mindful of my surroundings.

So, on this particular walk with Francesca, we made a concerted effort to pay attention to the changes that are happening all over in the natural world. Once we took the time to look, it was amazing what we were able to find. We saw two baby eagles and a bright red woodpecker. We stopped to observe the emerging flora in its first bloom now that the weather is beginning to warm.

Spring is an exceptional time of the year that truly reveals the wonders of our planet. Taking the time to appreciate the beauty of new life is a simple delight that takes next to no effort to enjoy. All you have to do is pause. Then, look and listen to the organic symphony of the spring.


1. Project for a child: Choose an area in your backyard. Observe it for 3 months. Report on the changes. You'll find they are surprisingly numerous!

2. Take a walk through your neighborhood or a large community park.

3. Gather the first blossoming flowers from your garden and bring them inside to infuse your home with fresh new energy.





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Mexican Glass

Exciting news! Our Spring 2008 collection is now available on the Web! I am very proud of the ingenuity and hard work our designers put into these lines, and I encourage you to visit our website and explore all of the new items we have to offer.

There are five lines in particular I want to tell you about, all made from raw recycled glass. These pieces are mouth-blown out of recycled Coke bottles in a Spanish colonial town in central Mexico. We recently visited the factory where the owner took us on a tour, showing us how the artist's make these pieces. The process is extensive and involved! All of the designs are hand-etched on to each piece after it's blown. Seeing the process in action, I have such great respect for the artistry and painstaking attention to detail that goes into each new piece. I also love our Mexican glass because it is a sustainable, beautiful product with soul and integrity. Already, the lines have sold enormously well in Europe and America. We hope the glass will continue on this trajectory because already our commerce has created 25 new positions at the factory in Mexico. We would love to employ as many people as we can through the production of these lines.

Now, without further ado, here is our beautiful new glass!

Madre Terra is the purest of the organic genre. These pieces maintain the original color of the coke bottles they're made from. They feature lovely renderings of birds and butterflies that gracefully swoop and flutter across the clean surface of the glass.

Mondo Glass is currently our number one seller. The designs for this line were inspired by traditional motifs from six countries around the world-- India, Spain, Africa, Greece, Bali, and Morocco. They compliment our Mondo dinnerwarebeautifully.

The Beach Cottage Glass tumblers and votive holders were also designed to be paired with another line. Match them with our Beach Cottage dinnerware for a beautiful table setting perfect for enjoying meals in the midst of burgeoning nature.

Cin Cin! (which means "cheers" in Italian) is a versatile line that can to be paired with a range of collections from our classic green Dinner Party Place Settings to our more festive Pasta Italiana lines.

Lastly, we have our whimsical Darjeeling Glass in a gorgeous turquoise jewel tone that provides a striking contrast to simple white dinnerware, and makes an already opulent table setting even richer.

I certainly hope you enjoy our new Spring Collection as much as we do. We also love to hear back from you about lines you feel especially love, and, of course, about the traditions you create through our tableware.

Warmly,





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