Shocking, i know.  That I could possibly mention a European locale other than France….BUT these past few months I have periodically been watching installments of the PBS program SPAIN! ON THE ROAD AGAIN, which I purchased on iTunes when it first came out.  I have finally managed to squeeze in each of the 13,1  hour-long episodes and am A) quite hungry and thirsty for wine but B) certain my next european venture will be to this beautiful locale.

The program featured American Chef Mario Batali, Gwyneth Paltrow, Spanish actress Claudia Bassols & NY TImes food critic Mark Bittman road tripping throughout all of Spain and taking in the culture as well as LOTS and LOTS of great indigenous foods and wines.

It’s truly a visual feast and has me craving some Paella !!!  

IF you need a break from winter, I recommend renting this for a virtual vacation…or even better i suppose, would be to actually GO to spain!

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New to ROOM SERVICE (not yet on web, will go up later today when i get into the store) are these Scandinavian-designed pieces.  I LOVE the nut bow/game, what a clever idea and a GREAT gift idea for someone from the workplace, your boss even.  Below the game are two different sets of cafe mugs, one set has photographic images of a city skyline with a sun and clouds drawn in and the other with a photographic image of a windmill, birds and a tree.

Nut bowl game is $24.99

set/2 mugs with gift box are $22.99

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i don’t even know what to say about this.

puppies (click this link for live stream of puppies mostly sleeping, but otherwise being puppies)

(found here.)

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MADE IN THE 216 fall 08

MADE IN THE 216 Fall 08 was awesome!  Thank you all so much for supporting ROOM SERVICE and nearly 20 different Cleveland-based designers.

It is all kind of a blur to me still.  Friday was SO crazy and fun!!!  Saturday was a bit like friday but substitute alcohol with coffee.

It was really rewarding after months of planning the event to see how lovely everything looked in the space and how well received it was by everyone.

Many Many more products, great housewares and kitchen gadgets, jewelry and more to come for holiday at ROOM SERVICE, but I was so thrilled by some of the items at this event that you may see them at ROOM SERVICE a bit longer than just this weekend!  So if you missed the event, a portion of the products from that show will still be available.

Thank you to all designers that participated and if you or anyone you know designs anything and would like to be considered for the next MADE IN THE 216 event, which will be held in spring, submissions are accepted through EMAIL only…email info@roomservicecleveland.com and in the subject, write “216″.

To continue support of all the designers who participate in my events, I would like, even though I still sell many of them at the store, to support them by giving you MORE info on them via the designer’s websites or etsy sites…if i have them:

The Bubble Process 

WRATH ARCANE

Red i jewelry

super industrial love

Oceanne

Claire Teschel

Minno

Little Korboose

Small Screen Designs

BCTZ

Studio Dog Face

Buzz Buzz Designs

Rose Marincil

Matt Burke

Anni Nanni Purses

Laura Kushnick

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So, the other half of my “sweet sweet Sunday” was a visit to Lilly Handmade Chocolates, so that I could buy a gift for someone with a custom selection of flavors that they personally enjoy.  

These kind of places are what make our town so dynamic.  Be sure, this holiday season to shop independent!

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SNAPSHOTS: Mireille Sjoblom-Kious (Yeya)

This next SNAPSHOT is of my friend Yeya.  I was intrigued by this tall Swedish beauty immediately upon meeting her and was charmed by her endearing sense of humor and genuine character as I have gotten to know her this past year.

I love the SNAPSHOT series idea because I believe that there is so much more than meets the eye with each and everyone of us; And I thought this series would allow me to gain a sneak peak at the different paths, experiences & opinions of my own peers.

SNAPSHOTS:

Name: Mireille Sjoblom-Kious (aka Yeya)

Hometown: Stockholm, Sweden

How long have you been in Cleveland?: 3.5 years

Top things you love about Cleveland?: The people (and their desire to change and be progressive), Ohio City, the restaurants (in particular in Ohio City and Tremont)

Top things you miss (besides family) about Sweden?: I miss Swedish food, being able to walk everywhere, the proximity to water and it’s surrounding beauty.

Top 5 things your hometown is known for?: Stockholm (or Sweden as a whole) is known for H&M, Ikea, Volvo, Absolut Vodka, the Noble Prize, the invention of matches and dynamite (!), ABBA, Midsummer celebrations, the Smorgasbord, Crayfish parties in August.

Image to the right of a traditional Swedish Crayfish party.

Right-click (Windows) or control-click (Mac) this sound file:05-shoo-shoo-baby1 by Alice Babs to open in another window so that it can play in background while you read this page.

Take me on a tour from wake to slumber of a perfect idealized day in your hometown:

Eating a healthy breakfast-often muesli and “Fil” a fefir yoghurt type thing and a cup of tea.  Then going for a long walk along the water towards City Hall and stopping at one of the many coffee shops on the way for admiration of nature’s beauty and coffee and a cinnamon roll - called a “bulle” in Swedish.

What languages do you speak?:

I speak Swedish, English, and Spanish because I was actually born in Venezuela…Can make myself understoon in French too.

Favorite magazines, writers, artists, websites or stores from your hometown:

My favorite magazines from home: “iForm” - a health magazine and “Skona Hem” - home decor. My favorite author is actually Norwegian, her name is Asne Seierstad - she’s a journalist that was very politically active in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has become even more known through her provocative political books.  I also very much enjoy the Swedish author Herman Lindquist, a journalist turned author as well with very, very funny books.

Some of your favorite Swedish websites:

designtorget.se - innovative Swedish designs just entering the market

efvaattlingstockholm.com - my favorite swedish, hand-made jewelry

filippa_k.com - some fun clothes, although rather expensive Swedish design

svenkttenn.se - interior design shop, more traditional Swedish, rather pricey

orrefors.com & kostaboda.se - Swedish crystal, always elegant and innovative

nordichotels.se - my favorite chain of hotels downtown with a great ice bar in the lobby

icehotel.com - just like the ice bar, but an entire HOTEL made of ice every year, way, way up north…

Some of your favorite Swedish music:

Rebecka Tornqvist - Young jazz musician 

Monica Zetterlund - jazz

Alice Babs - jazz (she also happens to be my mother’s aunt- check her out on iTunes, she used to sing with Duke Ellington

Cornelis Vreesvijk - Traditional Swedish folk music

Kent - alternative

Timbuktu - Hip Hop (an Ethiopian/Swedish man rapping in Swedish - really cool)

DESIGN RESOURCES I FOUND ON THE SWEDEN.SE WEBSITE:

http://www.scandinaviandesign.com/

http://www.scandinaviandesigncenter.com/

Sweden in brief - check out these fast facts about Sweden that I pulled from the sweden.se website.  note the daylight hours part of it!

Facts:

• Area: 450,000 km² (174,000 sq mi), the third largest country in Western Europe
  Forests: 53%
  Mountains: 11%
  Cultivated land: 8%
  Lakes and rivers: 9%
  Longest north-south distance: 1,574 km (978 mi)
  Longest east-west distance: 499 km (310 mi)
• Capital: Stockholm
• Population: 9 million inhabitants
• Languages: Swedish; recognized minority languages: Sami (Lapp), Finnish, Meänkieli (Tornedalen Finnish), Yiddish, Romani Chib
• Form of government: Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy
• Parliament: The Riksdag, with 349 members in one chamber
• Religion: 80% belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden
• Life expectancy: men 79 years, women 83 years
• Most important export goods: Electronic and telecom equipment, machinery, passenger cars,  paper, pharmaceuticals, iron and steel
• Most important imported goods: Electronic and telecom equipment, machinery, foodstuffs, crude oil, textile products, footwear and passenger cars

Average temperatures

 
Daylight

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Ever since posting the lousy francophile I have had my love of france (lousy or not) on my mind and have even since made plans to once again start seeing a French tutor (lessons commence this Monday!).  So with that, there will no doubt be the recurring theme of France and French things I enjoy or am learning in many upcoming posts.

For instance, 

CIA’s Cinematheque has always shown French films (as well as many other independent, foreign or obscure films and documentaries)..This fall some I have never seen and others I LOVE are on the schedule. Just a few of the many that I am excited about:

BAND OF OUTSIDERS - sept. 18 & 19 ( I thought I had seen all GODARD, but I have not yet seen this one, and i LOVE Anna Karina, so this is on the calendar!)

1960s Godard

BAND OF OUTSIDERS

BANDE À PART

France, 1964, Jean-Luc Godard

Legendary film critic Pauline Kael called this lyrical tragicomedy “perhaps Godard’s most delicately charming film.” (The movie’s French title inspired the name of Quentin Tarantino’s production company, A Band Apart.) Anna Karina plays one of three reckless young people who plot to plunder a suburban villa, but their plans go awry during execution. Subtitles. 35mm. 95 min. rialto pictures

ALPHAVILLE

1960s Godard

ALPHAVILLE

ALPHAVILLE, UNE ÉTRANGE AVENTURE DE LEMMY CAUTION

France/Italy, 1965, Jean-Luc Godard

American tough-guy actor Eddie Constantine plays gumshoe Lemmy Caution in this Godard film that marries film noir and science fiction. Caution travels to a futuristic, technologically-advanced city (actually 1960s Paris) where a tyrannical scientist and his all-powerful computer have suppressed love and individuality. With Anna Karina. Subtitles. 35mm. 98 min.

Show Times

BEFORE I FORGET (I have not yet seen this, but as aging is a subject that with a 93 year old grandmother i have been thinking of a lot more in recent times, I think I may put this on the list, but only if I am feeling really good that day, I have a feeling this could be heavy).

AVANT QUE J’OUBLIE

France, 2007, Jacques Nolot

One of the most acclaimed foreign films of the year! Writer-director Jacques Nolot stars as a 60ish, HIV-positive, gay gigolo who suddenly finds himself little more than a poor, ailing, lonely old “homo” when his long-time benefactor dies after 30 years of lavish support. “One of the loveliest, most direct and most devastating pictures about aging that I’ve ever seen.” –Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com  Cleveland theatrical premiere. Subtitles. 35mm. 108 min. www.strandreleasing.com

Show Times

 BREATHLESS

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Water Painting

My friend Matt just sent this to me!  Amazing, check it out!

Posted using ShareThis

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 I am a francophile.  Those who know me well can attest to this and I would venture to guess that even those who do not actually know me but have been in my store would not see fault with this statement.   My heritage is French…perhaps that is the genesis of my francophilia (oooh, i don’t know if that word works here, it sounds far to creepy to be applicable to anything having to do with lovely France!).  

I took French all through high school, My first French teacher, Miss.Foley, who acted far too zany to have us believe that it was JUST coffee in that mug of hers, would depress her index finger to one nostril and say “nasal….bon…..nasal…..bon….nasal…” in an attempt to convey proper pronunciation.  Then there was one of my French teachers at Kent, it was her first overseas teaching position, she appeared to be more of a peer than an elder and in her native tongue waxed on about her childhoods in Bordeaux…her unhappiness with being in Ohio was palpable. (but relatively speaking, even i could not blame her).

Upon my return to Cleveland 5 (maybe it was 6, i don’t even remember) years ago, I hired a French tutor, Bridgette, to tutor me one-on-one twice a week.  Bridgette was working on her Masters in French and we had a really great system going, where on Tuesdays I would meet at her house for an hour and we would work on several different types of lessons, from reading and interpretation, to pronunciations, to vocab lessons.  On Thursdays however, we would meet at the wine bar in Ohio city and upon entering the bar, English was no longer allowed, she would absolutely ignore any of my attempts to just sneak in one or two little questions or comments in English…if it was not spoken it French it may as well have not been spoken at all. This left the conversations to be quite simple but I appreciated the exercise very much.

Bridgette left after 6 months for California, from where I had just returned and with that came the end of my lessons.  I admittedly do not have a great retention rate for a foreign language, that is if it never gets put to use…  

I had, while financially constrained in my first year living in LA, adopted a system of virtual travel, realistic travel not being in the budget at the time, I would rent travel dvd’s and turn off the phone and computer and everything else and cozy up to a TV and travel through France with Rick Steve’s or take a train ride through Europe…i am nerd, i know.

So with all this Love for France, what makes me such a lousy Francophile you ask? Because I have NOT been there…save for in my dreams.  I certainly could have at some point or other have prioritized my disposable income to go,  fulfilling a life long dream…but I haven’t.  I don’t know why.  I really just don’t know why.

With opening a store this year, it is even harder to imagine getting away for too long any time soon, and i have no intention of making my first trip there a long weekend, no, its going to have to be a bit longer than that…so my goal at this point is to go in 2010.

until then…I will continue to travel there vicariously through the travels and blogs of others, like this AMAZING blogger’s recent trip there…Pia Jane Bijkerk’s blog is already a favorite, but her entries of Paris strike a special chord with me, especially her SOUNDSCAPES, remarkably moving…be sure to check these out by clicking here…until then, à bientôt!

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well maybe not like the kind of vacation where your going to collect seashells and a sunburn (although from experience i know the latter to be more than possible) but the kind that for dinner you go to a great seafood restaurant on the water with amazing views and a fresh, amazing menu.

where is this modern tropical oasis?  PIER W….that’s where.  I will let my friend Michelle tell you about the food, as I am CLEARLY not the foodie, having referred to a filet of salmon as a “slab” of salmon in front of 12 of my more sophisticated friends…but as usual, i digress…

This restaurant has been off of my radar for awhile now, but while recently writing the Cleveland design guide for design*sponge, I started thinking about all of these places again & remembered what a fantastic experience my friend Gina and I had here when we played hookie (how do you spell that?) from work one day a couple of years ago,   and so when i started planning a birthday dinner for Russ I thought this would be a surprising pick.  And as it turned out, none of the 12 people invited had been there at all or in recent years and I think everyone shared in the positive opinion of the experience. It is a PERFECT dining destination if you are entertaining out-of-towners.

Recently renovated, the clean, modern decor has a distinctly west coast feel to it, causing me to feel nostalgic for ocean-side restaurants I frequented and the subsequent memories of birthdays and girls nights and visiting family….

From the entrance to the table you will forget your in the midwest completely and be transported to vacation land!  enjoy!

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