I was delighted to find golden raspberries at the grocery store yesterday! They taste a bit sweeter and less tart than regular raspberries, I find.

What shall we do with our last week of February? Spring is coming slowly, and it’s not yet time to put away winter.

QUICK THINGS TO DO TODAY:

• Make menu plans for the week and create grocery list as needed.
• This morning I threw away some vivid green eyeshadow that I remember buying for a specific event. The event occurred in 1999… Do you have anything similarly old you can throw away today too?
• Take inventory of your firewood, fireplace matches, and kindling supplies. It’s still cold at night – wouldn’t your family members like to come home to a cheerful, cozy fire tonight?
• How are your supplies of coffee, tea, hot cocoa, hot cider mix and other warm wintry beverages?
• Are you hosting any upcoming parties or festivities? An Oscar party, perhaps a Mardi Gras party? If so, time to get out a pen and paper to make notes and lists and get your party organized!

TODAY’S PROJECT: Party Prep

I’m throwing two parties this week: a dinner party on Wednesday night and a spring brunch on Saturday afternoon. Besides making sure my house is clean and tidy for the parties, I need to do some party prep ahead of time to make things go smoothly.

So today I’m planning menus; cleaning out the refrigerator to make room for new groceries for the parties; creating my shopping list; selecting the dishes I’m going to use and washing them; getting out vases for the copious amounts of pink tulips I’ll buy for the Spring brunch; and ironing the tablecloths I’ll use at both parties.

I’m also struggling with a couple stubborn pet stains on the living room carpet (sigh), deodorizing the carpet, Febrezing my curtains, and doing other tasks to freshen the house before my parties. I just remembered to charge my camera batteries, too, as I want to be better about photographing my friends at parties.

LOVELY BLOGS: The Makeup Mole

I don’t usually make time to read beauty or fashion blogs. They’re fun, but I tend to prioritize cooking and food blogs for my Internet time instead. So I’m enjoying catching up on interesting things in the world of cosmetics, beauty and fashion at Makeup Mole. She posts makeup reviews, info on current beauty trends, cosmetics related videos, and interesting info on new products. She’s recently posted about facial oils, the new Nars collection for Spring, and a review of Becca’s shimmering skin perfector. I learn a lot every time I visit this blog!

http://www.makeupmole.com/

LOVELY BOOKS: Encyclopedia of the Exquisite

“An Anecdotal History of Elegant Delights.” I was so thrilled when I discovered this book at Anthropologie. For some reason it really hit me emotionally. I actually teared up in the store and clutched the book to me tightly the entire time I browsed around before checking out. It was just so lovely, it seemed written just for me and girls like me. (I might be 41 so “middle aged” but I still think of myself as a girl when I’m out shopping and finding beautiful things!)

Among this book’s intriguing entries are boudoirs, carousels, Nepal’s living goddesses, lightning, painted ladies, saffron, whistling, pillowbooks, shabby chic, and even more disparate topics.

I’m keeping this book, beautiful and elegant with its red foil stamped cover, next to my bed. I read an entry every night just before going to bed. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s well-researched entry on champagne.

Encyclopedia of the Exquisite, on Amazon

LOVELY SHOPS: Tokyo Pen Shop

If you’re a longtime reader of Lovely Living, you likely know what a stationery and office supply addict I am. I try to control myself because I really, truly don’t need any more pens to write with. What I need to do is actually USE my pens to write more letters than I actually do.

But here I find an extremely tempting store full of lovely ballpoint pens, highlighters, and gel ink pens from Japan. They make it so easy to obtain Japanese stationery supplies for people who don’t live near an Asian market or don’t have time to fuss with buying things on eBay. They even sell notebooks and pen cases.

My only hesitation here is I don’t see a Paypal logo – I wish I knew what forms of payment they accepted before I fill up a shopping cart and register for their site.

http://www.tokyopenshop.com/

LOVELY TV: Ice Brigade

This new Food Network show premieres on Thursday, March 3. Not a cooking show, this showcases the ice carving work of Randy Finch and his team. They create things like furniture, pool tables, grand pianos, punch bowls and entire bars out of ice. I’m excited to see the parties showcased in these episodes, as well as the ice art.

Ice Brigade, at Food Network

Ice Brigade, on Facebook

LOVELY LINKS FOR TODAY:

Baked Apples Stuffed With Mincemeat (Wartime Housewife)

Candied Orange Peel (The English Kitchen)

Cooking With Winter Greens (CHOW)

Fast Weeknight Dinners (Epicurious)

Kids’ Winter Crafts (Martha Stewart)

Rosemary White Bean Soup (Celebrations at Home)

Russian Cupcakes (Octoberfarm)

Slow Cooker Comfort Food Recipes (Martha Stewart)

Tangerine Pudding With Citrus Yogurt (Worth the Whisk)