Hello, friends… I’ve just returned from a fun few days in Baltimore and it’s nice to be back! I hope you have all had a great week! Here’s this Sunday’s seven in wine, food, style, design and travel:
Gotta start with my favorite food — CHEESE! This read gives us the lowdown on navigating a French cheese selection as well as some good cheese spots to stop by when in Paris. Fun fact: did you know “farmstead cheese” is made only with the milk of animals that live on the farm that produces that specific cheese?

I love taking a little virtual house tour! This midcentury home is located in the suburbs of Reykjavík, Iceland, first designed in the 1960s by Guðmundur Kr. Kristinsson, one of the first post-war architects in the area. This showcases the post-renovation work from new homeowners.

Since denim is so versatile therefore personal, here’s a cool little video guide of how 12 different women plan to wear their denim this spring. You can click on each square for more into each video portrait. Despite being created by Gap, therefore technically an ad, I thought it was a really innovative way to market the brand.
A few weeks ago when we were at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville we saw them setting up for the Chihuly exhibition. A team of engineers and artists worked for weeks to install, arriving with six 53-foot tractor-trailers filled with tens of thousands of carefully packed pieces of glass. Based in Seattle, the Chihuly team has created site-specific exhibitions across the world — Jerusalem, London, Chicago, the Netherlands, Phoenix, Naples, Atlanta, and New York, often in parks and botanical gardens. But “there’s never been a setting quite like this,” said Britt Cornett, director of exhibitions for Chihuly. Visits to the show in May will be different from those just a month later, and by early fall, the living palette will have changed dramatically around the Chihuly pieces. (The exhibition ends Oct. 7) More about the exhibition, and pictures here.
People always ask me if I drink beer and I do, mostly when at a brewery, which we have tons of in Charlotte. I found this interesting read about wine-beer hybrids – making the best of two worlds. A new wave of craft producers are combining brewing and winemaking to create unique beers perfect for wine lovers, i.e. a cab franc pale ale. (Hey, I’m not really sure, but I’ll try it!)
I’m really into the idea of a river cruise and I’ve done a bunch of research trying to find the right one (Sidenote: If anyone has recommendations I’d love to hear them!). This is a quick list of some river cruise experiences available today — from Africa to Panama to Peru. I think that Viking may still be king…
Last but not least, I’m always looking for new brunch spots for weekend trips, and there are so many good places to eat in NYC that it’s hard to keep up! This is a list of interesting 12 brunch spots that have opened in NYC this spring — everything from a Korean family-style feast to classic french toast. Have any of my NYC readers tried any of these? Let me know, if so!
I hope everyone has a great rest of your Sunday! I’m off on a walk and then to test drive a new recipe…
xx — BB
We just tried The Loyal on Bleeker and it was really nice. I’ll have to check out some of these others, too. Thanks Bree!
Cool, thanks Tyler, good to know!
Thx for the info on Chihuly at Biltmore! We have two beautiful Chihulys in Columbia-one in Art Museum and one in new Law Center at USC. I’m a fan!
Oooh you’re lucky to have them so close! I’m a fan, too! I definitely want to get back up to Biltmore before it ends on Oct 7 so I can check out the exhibition. Maybe a little bit closer to October – Biltmore isn’t air-conditioned 😬