Yes, yes, I will be offering prints in the Besotted Brand shop, indeed.  I wrestled with this decision to offer my photographs because I didn’t feel I had a cohesive body of work, once I felt comfortable with what I was going to offer I had the daunting task of finding a professional printer that would put up with my compulsive nature. I couldn’t leave it to just a big business printer, I needed a master printer that understood why I needed to try different papers and be willing to experiment.  I found a small shop that is as obsessive as I am and we will happily be driving each other crazy through this launch (and hopefully beyond).  When I had my Etsy shop, I did offer my art prints (never photographs) and I have had many requests to bring them back. I was weary to, worried about quality and end price but my solution is to offer limited edition pieces for budding art collectors to assist in building a collection.  I will also be working with a handful of artists on collaborative projects, but of course I will need to go through the rigorous test prints to make sure that the limited edition prints hold up to the Besotted Brand fine standards and meet my discerning clients highest expectations. Many of the artists I’ve chosen don’t even consider themselves artists which makes the project even more special and dear to my heart. The prints may not be included in the soft launch, but they will be there shortly as I stock the shop.

I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, I have said on many occasions I have more of a savory tooth.  I do like a great granola though to sprinkle atop my Greek yogurt in the morning. Something about the nature of granola makes it feel less like a treat and more like a ‘it’s good for you’ food.  The problem I found in the past with homemade granola has been that I was never able to achieve clusters, what’s a great granola without crunchy clusters?  It might as well be muesli. Not to knock muesli, but if you wanted to make muesli you wouldn’t be on an obsessive hunt for crunchy, clustery granola recipes now would you?

I am happy to report that the buzz amongst the internet food cognoscenti about cluster rich granola being achieved via a recipe from the Baked cookbook is no fallacy. The granola came out crunchy, golden and with the perfect balance of sweet + salty.  I daresay that it is the best granola I have ever had the pleasure hit my taste buds  As you can judge from the photographs the granola does not last long in ones household, so be prepared to bake a batch a week or don’t make this recipe at all (as the family will go through major withdrawals). Here’s the recipe for those that are insistent on getting hooked and the rest of the Baked book looks like a winner as well. I’ll have you know that the oil I used was grapeseed, it was what I had on hand (it’s great at high temps), I don’t know if it made a difference (I’d like to believe it did).  I also substituted dried cranberries for the cherries because I am no dried cherry fan.

P.S. The ‘handmade’ stamp featured above is part of the Besotted Brand line up, it’ll be perfect when you bake so many batches of granola that you won’t know what to do with yourself except put them in vintage glass canning jars and dole them out as gifts, you gourmet you.

Ah,  I am feeling in rather good spirits, you? The Besotted Brand shop is nearing its opening date and I think I may implode with anticipation. This week I shall reveal some of the offerings and I am hoping the soft launch will happen very soon.  I want to work some of the kinks out before the official grand opening, you do understand don’t you?  Those kind enough to sign up for the launch announcement will be privy to a little treat, so what are you waiting for?  I promise I won’t send you unwanted emails and you can unsubscribe at your whim, there’s nothing to lose and only loveliness to gain…

I have so much to write and absolutely no idea where to start.  I can tell you, much to my fiancee’s chagrin I fell madly, head over heels in love with a platinum blond male living in one of the world’s most coveted real estate locations in the world–Central Park. His name is Gus and it was love at first sight, I’d like to think Gus felt the same way about me, but the Fancy thinks that maybe he kept sidling up to me because  l look like I would be ridiculously delicious. Perhaps. I am choosing to not sully my love by analyzing motives, whether Gus thought I would be a great snack or had real feelings for me is to be determined. For now though I will always hold a special place in my heart for an oppressively hot day in the middle of July and I will wish you all a happy Monday…..

I start the grind on Monday, which should be every bit as taxing as I anticipate it being.  Don’t get me wrong I am always very excited to meet with the editors of my favorite interior design magazines (tomorrow’s line up includes Elle Decor, Veranda and Traditional Home, eek!) but I do get very nervous and trying not to be only seems to exacerbate my condition. My Godmother likes to tell me that it’s just a case of the vapors, breathe into a bag and all will be good.  I don’t think I can actually be breathing into paper bags during these meetings without being branded as ‘that lunatic publicist that breathes into paper bags during meetings’.  So I just quietly let my nerves rage an internal war and I smile, try to be as pleasant + polite as possible and answer every question as if my life depended on the correct answer. No sweat right?

It is my hope that this is my last NYC trip as a publicist, I had hung up that hat a long time ago but I do happen to keep being dragged back in.  This time though I really feel confident that this is my last hurrah and of course that makes this trip even more nerve wracking. I don’t think I will have much time to update my blog this week so I started a Twitter account for the duration.  I can’t promise I will keep up the feed as much after the trip (I really don’t do/say anything exciting enough to) but I am hoping to take you all along with me this week while I traverse the city streets.  If you were following me,  you would have seen the above photo, which I caught with my Iphone at a street corner–very surreal. More hijinks to come….