Combining and Creating

Europe has a lot of cathedrals...why not inject some art deco with stained glass lighting?

My fiancee comes from a sunshiney, beautiful European Meditteranean city. The sea is marble blue, the cobblestone streets are narrow and filled with crumbling, characteristic white buildings and sprawling cafes. My fiancee is a deep believer in easy European living. She works hard but plays hard as well, placing family, friends and leisure above the slavery-inducing tactics of Canadian and American materialistic work. Work, work, work. No, a nice cup of Turkish coffee and a cigarette on a Sunday morning is life for her. Nothing else matters--not the bills, not the clothes on mannequins in gaudy stores and not the hurried people passing by in her window.

For me, a West Indian girl, I'm partial to a lot of bright colours and spicy food. I like my life spicy and interesting, not dull and lifeless. I want my house to be a tropical jungle with flavor and vibrancy. I want everything and everyone to be alive. I want light. I'm fine with anything brightly coloured. My favourite colour to wear is yellow. My fiancee's is black. I told her I wanted a lime-green lazy chair and she nearly choked back on her fifty-cent hot dog at IKEA. Was I insane? Would her laid-back espresso fine, laid-back living and my brightly, chipper lifestyle be able to become one? My lively flair and her sophistication? Jazz music and Michaelangelo? Why not.

"Wild Jazz by Debra Hurd". My penchant for jazz and blues music is strong.

There is something so European about a butcher's block. It makes me think of Pavarotti. Perhaps it was because he enjoyed food so much. Food is integral to the family life of the European and central to the Mediterranean lifestyle. You know, it's like : hey, there's a wedding (let's eat). Hey there's a funeral (let's eat). Hey it's noontime (let's eat). Hey, it's a nice day out (let's eat). I'm angry (let's eat). With no exception, my fiancee is an aggressive carnivore and the injection of a butcher's block in the kitchen is not only functional and adds an authentic European element, but it adds to her own personality. What better way to let people know your life revolves around food than a big slab of wood to butcher your food in your urban kitchen? Quite contrasting compared to her HDTV.

Butcher's blog is also a great place to store pots and pans and your wine.