Chesapeake Home

Baltimore’s forecast this weekend is rainy and cloudy–perfect weather for cuddling up on the sofa with a good book. What’s that, you don’t have a bestseller nearby? Well you’re in luck because the Baltimore Book Festival starts today and ends Sunday in Mount Vernon.

Unfortunately, I’ll be out of town this weekend, but I took a look at the schedule of events for the festival and there are plenty of great events taking place for all of you book lovers out there. This year’s author lineup includes Terry McMillan, the bestselling author of “Waiting to Exhale” and “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” rapper-turned-actor-turned novelist Common, Chef Aaron “Big Daddy” McCargo Jr. of Food Network fame, and many more.

The Baltimore Book Festival also includes book signings, readings and cooking demos. There are also events for kids, live music and street theater…essentially, something for everyone. And the best part? It’s all free! For more information about the festival, please visit baltimorebookfestival.com.

Last weekend, I bought a pair of peacock feather earrings. I’ve always liked the latest feather trend and thought earrings would be a nice, subtle touch. Imagine my surprise then when I later found out peacock blue is one of the “it” colors for the home 2012-2013.

Earlier this week, I attended a lunch and learn sponsored by Vertical Connection/Carpet One for American Society of Interior Designers (or ASID) members. Emily Morrow, director of color, style and design for Shaw Learning Academy, presented a vibrant slideshow highlighting some of the popular colors in fashion and home, courtesy of Pantone, the leading color authority.

Peacock blue runs the gamut from deep cerulean blue to teal. An intense color, peacock blue looks best when paired with other blues, as well as oranges and browns; however, a peacock blue shag would look great in a stark white living room. The options are really endless. Do you plan on incorporating any peacock blue into your home décor?

Growing up, I visited the National Aquarium in Baltimore at least once a year for school field trips. In college, I made a point to take my out-of-town friends to this Inner Harbor treasure. And now, I’m happy to share that one of my favorite local (and tourist!) attractions is getting even better…and better for you.

Famous for its dolphin shows and award-winning habitats, the National Aquarium in Baltimore recently opened Harbor Market Kitchen, a farm-to-table eatery. Operated by Sodexo Leisure, Harbor Market Kitchen uses sustainable and local products including seasonal produce, artisanal cheeses, grass-fed beef, humanely raised chicken, sustainably-harvested seafood, and shade-grown coffee.

Arnold Farms, a family-owned business in Chestertown, Maryland will deliver cauliflower, corn, cantaloupes, and tomatoes for the fresh market salad station, while Toigo Orchards in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania will provide beefsteak and Heirloom tomatoes, apricots, plums, raspberries, and peas produced in pesticide-free greenhouses.

For meat lovers, hormone- and nitrite-free hotdogs, cage-free, hormone-free free chicken and grass-fed beef are also available at the Harbor Market Kitchen. Healthy alternatives such as sweet potato fries and all-natural hotdogs are available for those who prefer traditional favorites.

Be sure to try the Chesapeake Farm Salad, complete with fresh lettuce, local spring peas, butter radishes, potatoes, asparagus, and grass-fed flank steak tossed with a green onion vinaigrette. Or if you’re craving a taste of a hometown favorite, try the sustainably-harvested Blue Crab Chowder with smoked bacon, potatoes, tomatoes, and sweet Chestertown corn.

For more information, please visit aqua.org.

The Maryland Historical Trust, the State Historic Preservation Office, is compiling information about damage to older and historic buildings throughout Maryland from the earthquake on August 23, 2011. If there is a building in your community that has been damaged, please click here to share that information:

mht.maryland.gov/earthquake.html

This information will help the Maryland Historical Trust understand and prioritize reviews for tax credit, easements, and other programs they administer, as well as develop plans for dealing with future natural disasters.

Rosemary Williams at Easy Street gallery.

The 2011 Annual Art Walk is a free arts event held in Annapolis once a year, the third Thursday of August. Presented by the Annapolis Gallery Association, the “walk” is this Thursday evening, August 18th from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm and includes most of the downtown area galleries, spread out over an easy-to-navigate three-block area of town. Participating galleries include personal favorites like the Annapolis Marine Art Gallery, La Petite Galerie, and McBride Gallery and over 20 others featuring everything from oil and water color paintings to sculpture, art glass, wood turning, pottery, and jewelry in styles ranging from traditional and classic to contemporary and abstract.

At the event you’ll find new art exhibits as well as artists on site demonstrating their skills in various media. There will also be musicians around town, and the galleries will be serving light refreshments. Yellow balloons and a yellow banner designate each of the participating galleries, and maps will be on hand to help with navigating your way around.

Click here for general information and here for specific events at each gallery.

If you still haven’t made plans for this Saturday, August 13, there’s still time to register for the second annual Charm City Garden Tour. This year’s tour will explore the gardens of Baltimore’s West side. Participants can choose from either a bicycle or charter tour bus option.

A post-tour garden party will be held at Whitelock Community Farm with locally-resourced refreshments, entertainment, and games.

Registration begins at 1:00 p.m. and tours will run from 2:00 p.m. until 5 p.m., with the party immediately following. To RSVP, please send an email to charmcitygardentour@gmail.com. For more information, please visit the Charm City Garden Tour website.

If you’ve always wanted to learn how to design the perfect room, then this special event is for you. On Thursday, September 15, Vertical Connection Carpet One in Columbia, Maryland, will host a “Design a Room” seminar. The event will benefit Neighbor Ride, a non-profit organization that provides rides for senior citizens in Howard County.

Join special guest speaker Sally Morse, director of creative services for Hunter Douglas Window Fashions, as she discusses the art of designing the perfect room.

The evening begins with hors d’oeuvres from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m. and is followed immediately by the seminar. The event includes free gift bags and giveaways. Space is limited to 50 guests. To RSVP, please send an email to info@verticalconnection.com. The requested donation is $10. The event will be held at 8895 McGaw Road in Columbia. For more information, please call 410-730-7423 or visit VerticalConnection.com.

In addition to writing and dancing, eating is one of my favorite activities. Note that I said eating, not cooking. I am far from becoming a five-star chef, but I am trying to learn how to cook…slowly, but surely. In the meantime, I enjoy visiting different restaurants and discovering new foods. What better opportunity than Baltimore Restaurant Week!

This summer, Baltimore Restaurant Week will take place from Friday, August 5 until Sunday, August 14. For one week, you can visit more than 70 participating restaurants, such as local favorites Petit Louis Bistro in Roland Park and Chiapparelli’s Restaurant in Little Italy, and enjoy a prix fixe three-course menu for $35.11. Some restaurants have lunch menus available for $20.11.

Additionally, restaurants participating in this year’s Baltimore Restaurant Week have committed to support The Journey Home, Baltimore City’s 10-Year plan to end homelessness. For more information about Baltimore Restaurant Week, please click here. Reservations are strongly encouraged. Bon appétit!

For IKEA fans around the world, this moment is like Christmas in July. Last night, I had the opportunity to attend a special preview of the 2012 IKEA catalog–a moment employees and customers alike anxiously await each year. The new catalog, available in stores August 5, features plenty of space-saving ideas, which would have been extremely useful back in my college days.

Many of the ideas featured in the catalog and in the in-store showrooms encourage customers to think outside the box when designing their own homes. Effectively maximizing space requires some ingenuity, but using furniture with more than one function and finding hidden spaces can help your smaller rooms feel (and look) bigger.

One of the rooms in the catalog challenges the idea that a sofa is necessary in a living room. Instead of the traditional couch along the wall, designers incorporated two chaises in the middle of the room, which allows more space for storage

In addition to great ideas, the 2012 catalog also has lower prices on some favorite products, such as the Poäng armchair. This year, the chair will retail for $69 as opposed to $89 from last year. The stainless steel Stockholm bowl is $19.99 compared to $29.99 last year.

No matter what size your space is, the 2012 IKEA catalog is full of inspiration and great products to help you furnish your home. To view the new catalog, click here or visit ikea.com to order your copy.

If you love outdoor art, then the Plein-Air Easton Competition & Arts Festival is sure to please. This year, the annual festival will celebrate its seventh anniversary from July 18-24 in Easton, Maryland.

Plein Air–Easton! is at the forefront of the modern plein air movement, a 19th-century style of painting outdoors. Most events during the festival are free and open to the public.

With hundreds of artists and a wide variety of artwork to choose from, this weeklong art festival offers art collectors a unique opportunity to select from a huge inventory of reasonably priced paintings.

For more information, including a full itinerary, artists’ bios, ticket sales, galleries, and more is available at pleinaireaston.com. The Plein Air–Easton! Hotline can be reached at 410-822-7297. During the festival week, obtain official festival information, programs, artist locations, and more at the Plein Air–Easton! Information Center located at Coffee Cat, 5 Goldsborough St. in downtown Easton.