Moroccan decor: and a tale of Peacock Pavilions in Marrakech

Thought I might share a little of my own home-grown prettiness.

 Peacock Pavilions guest house in (where else?) Marrakesh.  Made with love from scratch.

Ceiling hand stenciled to spec by *amazing* Melanie Royals and the beloved Peacock Painters. Based on a Kyrgyz embroidery design. Vintage bedspread from Rajasthan India with added blue velvet border, vintage Moroccan rug from Taznakht. Medina Pavilion.

Great room in the Peacock Pavilions Atlas Pavilion. This has an amazing Cleopatra style pyramid roof that Architect Husband Chris and his crew wrestled to build (so worth it!).  It also has a super cool catwalk with hand embroidered low seating.  Hand drilled lanterns from Egypt, Moroccan poufs made from groovy vintage blankets, patchwork carpet bought in Istanbul, lacy sculpted enormous plaster fireplace filled with vintage glove molds (Hands are believed to fight off evil genies in Morocco, who love lurking in fireplaces).  Oil paintings by Moroccan and Iraqi artists.  Vintage decorative Moroccan metalware from Fez. Red molded plastic furniture from Morocco's hipster 1960s. Down filled couch.  Coffee table made from an old Moroccan window grill.

Beautiful staircase designed by Architect Chris, inspired by blowing grass.  Stairs stencils of Moroccan henna designs by the uber-talented Melanie Royals and executed by the wonderful Peacock Painters .  

All images by former Peacock Pavilions intern Sarah Winward (We miss you, Sarah and husband Dave!).  See more pictures of Peacock Pavilions right here on Sarah's lovely blog.

PS Check out my new stock of Moroccan wedding blankets and Moroccan Beni Ourain carpets right here.  Dreamy.

Morocco, Libya, Bahrain, Iran and, really, the world: A tale of Persian Love Cake

In these times of turmoil, of tumult, of turbulence.  Yes, in these times of upheaval, of unrest, of uproar. Oh, in these times of clamoring, confusion, and commotion, I thought I would offer you this:

Persian Love Cake.

Persian Love Cake is made with saffron, cardamom, cream and rosewater. But it's also made with love. Other useful ingredients are concern, restraint and doing the right thing. I advise firmly whisking in hopes for peace, moderation, and tolerance. Then baking until lightly golden.

The candied rose petals are optional, of course. But helpful when wishing for rose colored glasses to see the world around you.

If you are wondering what this post is about, I suggest watching the nightly news, followed by a brisk read of Like Water for Chocolate.

PS The rest of the recipe for Persian Love Cake can be found on Epicurious right here.  My Persian mother would be so proud.

Marrakech: And a tale of a vanilla Valentine

She saw him in a crowd.  

She almost didn't speak to him. But then she thought....I've only one life. So she bumped into him accidentally, on purpose.

Hello, she said.  Hello, he said. Coffee? she said.  Yes, he said.

They talked. They talked some more.  She called him. He called her back.

Soon, Oh soon, it felt like this............

Here's hoping you are spending your Valentine's Day with someone you love.  And if not, that you will be very soon...........

*

PS Read about my true tale of meeting Architect Chris in the Land of the Broken Hearted here.

PPS Here's a little recipe I made for homemade vanilla extract. Yum! 

Marrakech: and a tale of organized soap (or something like that)

Dear friends, 
Things have been a bit confusing around here.  From uprisings and marches for freedom in the countries where I work, to uprisings and demands for no homework at home.  Add to that that some very pressing deadlines, and it's controlled chaos at best.  

I find when things get that way, it's good to organize.  I use a time management technique that has been so helpful to me that I wanted to share it with you.  It's called the Pomodoro Technique. You can learn more about it right here.  

And then there are my drawers.  Take a peek here.

These are actually my lingerie chest drawers.  There are other pretty things in there, but, ahem, I thought it might be wise to show you the soap drawer.  (This is a PG sort of blog, after all.)

But I would love to hear about your organizational tools and techniques.  What do you have for me?  

Love,

Maryam in Marrakesh

PS There are still three more slots waiting to be filled in my upcoming retreat at Peacock Pavilions in Marrakech in May.  Please come!  We will have so much fun!  Find out more about it here.

PPS  And if you haven't already, could you, would you, might you, vote for this My Marrakesh blog in the 2011 Annual Weblog Awards in the Africa category.  Mentions on Facebook and other blogs would be very gratefully accepted (and please do let me know about them so that I can thank you, properly).  I've been a little fragile lately, and so your support would be such a nice thing:-)