Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION.

Art, Architecture, Culture, Girl Who Would be King

Feel-good Friday: Film Fest

It’s that time of year again!

The 36^th Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF). Otherwise known as movie marathon mayhem. Well not really; because I’m planning to pace myself to no more than three movies per day. Actually that will only happen one day, because a few of my weekly evenings are tied up with other commitments. And it could not come at a better time as I’m really looking forward to losing myself in this years most anticipated international films, new discoveries, special presentations, documentaries, contemporary world cinema, and a spotlight on French filmmaking.

And after having carefully leafed through the VIFF guide and marking down my choices, I’ll be happily sharing my thoughts about each film. Stay tuned…(especially if you’re a film buff).

VIFF takes place from September 28^th to October 13^th 2017. For more information and to purchase tickets please visit:

https://www.viff.org/

Girl Who Would be King, STYLE

Style + Beauty = Balmain

A look ahead to…

BALMAIN SPRING 2018 FRANCE INSPIRED shoe/boots:

These high heeled boots were designed with a Sexxxxy lace up front.

Going for Baroque...The swirls on some of the uppers were inspired by the baroque interiors of France’s great palaces. The same swirls also found their way to the mini handbags.

Where oh where will I wear these?

By times we must look beyond the practical. And for many women, this IS their practical. Unless they have little french poodles please tell me they have NO dogs!

Always be comfortable in your own boots

Food + Drink, Girl Who Would be King

Food: high end fine dining

These ~~tree~~ three restaurants will take your dining experience to a brand new level. If you’re a foodie and they’re not already on your bucket list, maybe they should be! When you’re ready to take a break from the same old, same old…keep these places in mind.

SONEVA KIRI

IN A TREE: KOH KOOD, THAILAND

Anyone with a fear of heights need not apply to the Soneva Kiri, where diners ascend 16 feet into the branches via a “treepod,” a booth-and-table structure that’s hoisted up to overlook the Koh Kood rainforest. And please be sure to tip your zip-lining waiters (even if a water refill takes a bit longer than usual)… Seriously, they actually fly down to your table via cable and harness to deliver your meal. Now that’s service.

IN THE EIFFEL TOWER: PARIS, FRANCE

Although tourists flock to this famous landmark, only Le Jules Verne reservation holders get a chance to wine and dine from inside the tower. Although it’s not too difficult to get a reservation, we hear the prime window-adjacent tables can be a tough score, so you may want to book a few weeks in advance and make a note of where you’d like to sit. Boasting an esteemed Michelin star, it certainly beats the half-eaten baguette you’ve been toting around all day.

IN THE MOUNTAINS: SCHILTHORN, SWITZERLAND

Take in the sweeping 360-degree views of the Bernese Alps as you dine at Piz Gloria. Yep, not only is it literally on top of a mountain summit, but it spins around as you eat steak and goulash soup that’ll warm you right up. Don’t worry, no climbing required. Just hop on board the longest aerial cable car ride in the Alps to the tippy top, where you’ll immediately need a martini—shaken, not stirred. After all, this was a shooting location for the 1969 James Bond flick, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Talk about elevated dining and service!

Source: Roberta Fiorito – Wow Travel

Art, Architecture, Culture, Girl Who Would be King

Monday Mood Board #10

The beauty of MONET

I was craving an ART day, so recently spent the better part of an afternoon gazing at Claude Monet’s Secret Garden collection at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Which by the way is coming to a close at the end of September 2017 I’ve seen Monet’s works before at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris among other museums on my travels, but was delighted to witness some of his great earlier works in my home city.

This exhibition traces the arc of Monet’s career beginning in the late nineteenth century during his involvement with the impressionist group of French painters.

AFTER ART: The Gallery Café is a favorite Vancouver bistro especially on a nice day. Grab a table outside on a stunning patio, listen to classical music while dining on delicious Westcoast dishes. It’s Perfect!

I only know that I do what I can to convey what I experience before nature and that most often, in order to succeed in conveying what I feel, I totally forget the most elementary rules of painting, if they exist that is.” – Claude Money, 1912

Photos: d. king

FUN, Girl Who Would be King

Feel-good Friday: lighten up

Chanelling Anita Pallenberg

For those of you not familiar, she was the original ROCK CHICK!

Anita Pallenberg, Actress and Longtime Paramour of Keith Richards who passed away in June of this year at the age of 73. I bet she had some good stories to tell being that she was the ‘It’ Girl to the Stones. Why has she not written a book?

How blonde can you be?

You know those blonde jokes…well I think this is as far as I want to go!

Feelin very rock ‘n roll in these photos taken by my hairdresser (who decided to make me even more unnaturally blonder than before) because he felt I needed some lightening up.

Enjoy your weekend!

beauty, Girl Who Would be King

Beauty: the quick fix

Let’s face it – masks are messy.

Masks of all kinds are a relaxing ‘must’ in every woman’s weekly beauty regime. It can get confusing trying to choose only one. Which leads me to this:

When Sephora dedicates a whole counter to sheet masks you know they’re “a thing” even though Asian women have been using them for decades. I first saw them in Japan and thought “what a great idea.” I even bought a kleenex box full of sheet masks.

Apparently there is a trend for taking selfies wearing sheet masks.

Not sure why. I’ve tried it myself (just for fun of course…not to post obviously).

I cannot believe how popular they’ve now become here in North America. With the abundance of different choices available you can refresh, hydrate, brighten, tighten, lighten and treat your skincare concerns.

my recent *under the sheet* experiments because “**I’m Real**“

Simply, they get the job done in a matter of minutes. Try different ones to suit your mood or skin condition of the moment (because as you know it changes with the season). No chance of getting bored. They’re so reasonably priced, great for travelling or when you have limited time. And you can pick them up almost everywhere. What’s not to like?

Have fun! Have a favourite?

Girl Who Would be King, STYLE

Style: warming up to Fall

An artistic viewpoint: Winter is an etching, Spring is a watercolor, Summer is an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all – Stanley Horowitz

Fall is a chance to get cozy again. Pull out your sweaters, booties, scarves and fedoras.

Here are a few street stylin women whose simple comfy style appeals to me right NOW.

(Photo by Edward Berthelot/Getty Images)

A little leopard never hurts. AND check out those BOOTS!
(Photo by Edward Berthelot/Getty Images)

What’s your favourite FALL STYLE?

Food + Drink, Girl Who Would be King

Food: Homemade Herb Pesto

When it comes to pasta sauces I cannot think of any I do not enjoy, although pesto is not at the top of my list of favorites. But that was before this.Recently I made an absolutely delicious pesto by accident (kind of) out of herbs I just wanted to use up and the freshest and/or best ingredients possible. The next time I make pesto I’ll be looking for this exact combo.

Basically I used three large handfuls of a fresh mix of :

Watercress, Dill, Basil, Cilantro, Parsley and Sage. Seems like a lot (or an odd lot) as you can just use basil, but this combo really rocked.

Two large garlic cloves (market fresh russion river garlic)

1/3 cup walnuts

½ cup parmesan cheese (I buy a block of Parmissimo Parmigiano Reggiano and roughly grate it myself)

½ cup organic cold-pressed olive oil

Fresh squeezed lemon (to taste)

Hot pepper flakes (to taste)

s+p

In a food processor chop the garlic with the herbs. Then add the walnuts and parmesan. Lastly while blade is still running, slowly add the olive oil until everything is finely mixed together (I prefer pesto slightly chunky but oily). Then you can squeeze some lemon, add pepper flakes and salt/*pepper to taste.

Make your favorite pasta according to directions, drain and put back into pot the amount you need. Then add pesto sauce and turn on element to gently heat the sauce with the pasta.

I’ve been making (but not from scratch obviously) my own country pepper spice mix using Tellicherry black peppercorns, chopped onion, garlic, chilli pepper + italian seasoning. It’s fabulous!

I should really bottle and sell this but it’s too much work!

FUN, Girl Who Would be King

Monday Mood Board #9

Recent Random Photos

Say Goodbye to:

The Party’s Over! The very last sunny summer day – Friday, September 15th

Say Hello to:

Outside Heaters if you’re lucky (at **Lift,** Vancouver)

Hearty Dishes (this is Tavola on Robson, Vancouver). *Whole Seabass & Gnocchi*

Girl Who Would be King

Feel-good Friday: Furry Friends

I would like to introduce you to our new little furry female family member, a one-year-old sheltie named LAYLA.

Big brother Jia Jia is thrilled to have her and considers Layla his dog.

She brings some sunshine to our days following the one month anniversary of Don’s passing. We are still grieving and Jia Jia was very depressed and moping around. Now he has come back to life. Layla too for that matter. It’s a bittersweet story of how we got her.

Don was the instigator because he started sourcing breeders when we were last in Palm Springs. He located a breeder in the Kootenays (British Columbia) and asked me to make the call. It was a husband/wife team. They were expecting a litter in May but I told them we would be fine with an older female for our male sheltie. They had a female who they were planning to breed and would be happy to let her go after she had a litter. We decided to take a trip in June to see her. Believe it or not, Don drove most of the way there and all of the way back. The dog was Layla. Jia Jia and she immediately hit it off. We saw the puppies too, which as you can imagine, were totally adorable. They were not ready to let her go as she was coming into heat at that time. So we went on our way and said we’d be in touch.

We got the call early August that she did not get pregnant as planned, so they were going to have her spayed so that she’d be available for pick up. I asked Don what to do as his health had deteriorated to the point of not being able to look after himself at that time.

He said “go for it.” He met her and loved her. Said she’d be great company for Jia Jia and good for me too. So I said okay. I made plans to pick her up in Summerland early September where they were headed to a dog show. It was also half the driving distance to where she lived.

Then about a week after Don passed away the breeder called and told me that Layla was very sick. She had been spayed but didn’t come out of it so well. She stopped eating for several days and seemed to have a possible problem with her esophagus. They would not be able to sell her and they thought they might have to put her down. I was doubly devastated now. This was the dog that Don, Jia Jia and I made the trip out to see and now not only can we not have her, but she might not even make it. I asked them to please keep me posted on her progress nonetheless. Hoping that they would at least be able to keep her should she survive.

Fast forward two more weeks. I received an e-mail that Layla was eating again and x-ray showed that all was fine. Clean bill of health from a terrible scare. It was just an alarm and she had a bad reaction to the anesthesia. She was available once again. So I made a quick decision to pick her up the very next day in Summerland where the breeders were showing one of their dogs. They were not even planning to take her. And I was lucky to get a hotel room because everything was booked for either the dog show or a classic car show.

NOW – getting acquainted with her new HOME and adapting amazing well

She’s a very sweet, smart, playful little girl. It took her all of one day to get settled. My only disappointment is that Don not be here to witness how well the two of them get along together. But he is responsible for finding her and he did meet her (above photo). I’m very thankful for this gift from Don. At least this story has a happy ending. I absolutely adore her!

Have a Happy Weekend!