boutique homes dispatches

Spending time in the great outdoors is one of our favorite things, if you couldn't tell from the articles we've written on glamping, tents, and ultra-chic campers. A quick look around the web shows that we're far from the only ones who've fallen in love with all aspects of camping, especially when it comes to tent design. The humble tent has gotten a designer upgrade and now comes in all shapes, sizes, colors, and styles. Here are some of our favorites.

This may resemble some sort of hovering alien spacecraft or high-end treehouse, but it's really a tent.

As you see here, the Tentsile Stingray tent only gives the illusion of floating above the ground. It's is suspended from adjacent trees with heavy duty rope, almost like a hammock but with all the privacy and security of a tent. A rope ladder is included so you can, you know, get into your tent at night.

Want something super luxe? Upgrade from tent to dome as at Ecocamp in the heart of Torres Del Paine National Park in Patagonia.

A stay at these deluxe glamping acommodations–no kidding, some of the domes have bathrooms and terraces, and the hotel itself offers a restaurant and bar—includes a number of cool outdoor excursions such as hiking, cycling, and safaris.

We profile The Cave below, the precursor to this inflatable tent. Called "The Wedge", the tent keeps the sturdy inflatable frame but upgrades to a sleeker design for increased wind stability.

A perfect tent for bookworms.

Riddle us this: how many clowns fit into the big top tent?

A cheeky message for peeping toms.

This tent reminds us of the blanket forts we used to make when we were very young.

All of these above tents are the work of FieldCandy. Check out their website for even more cool, creative tent designs.

Here's a classic: the iconic VW Camper Van as a tent. What's not to love?

Recognize this beautiful camper? It's Opera, the incredible camper-trailer we wrote about in 2011. This is hands down the most luxurious camper we've come across.

This chic igloo is another classic from our archives. BubbleTree, a French company, delivers and inflates these totally transparent igloos to the camping site of your choice. Learn more here.

Is a plastic igloo a little too flimsy for you? Check out I-gloobox designed byGeorgi Djongarski. This super sturdy tent is made of waterproof materials and has thick padding to keep you warm through even the harshest winter.

Not a winter person? Here's a tent that will keep you cool in the heat of the Mojave Desert. Strawn.Sierralta is a mobile structure modeled on the Joshua Tree plant. It's made out of recycled PVC pipes.

Meet the Cave Tent. The frame for this tent is made up of "air beams" that inflate in under a minute.

Tent design has been tending towards the eco-friendly in recent years. Orange's Solar Concept Tent certainly fits the bill. It was designed with the Glastonbury Festival in mind, so it's equipped with WiFi connectivity, photovoltaic fabric panels, and a light-up function should inebriated festival-goers forget how to get back to their tent (it happens!)

This isn't a traditional tent, but a very chic gazebo/canopy by design firm Pircher. This one's called "Fall in Love" and is meant to accomodate 2-people.

A sporty and portable reef tent designed specifically for surfers.

We're not quite sure of the story behind these tents, but we love the design all the same. Leave a comment below if you've got the scoop! We hope you've enjoyed this short guide to cool tent design. If camping's not your bag, don't forget to check out our collection of modern vacation rentals and small hotels. We're always open. 

How Much Do They Earn

Beside for being known world-widely, the actors or better say the movie stars enjoy not only the fame, but also great amounts of money as they are very well paid for most of their roles. This is the case especially if they are making trilogies. So, I guess you've all asked yourselves, at least for once, how much do they earn? Undoubtedly, I can say they earn so much that most of us have never seen that money in our entire life. Of course, the directors and producers are those who take the biggest piece of the cake, but we'll talk about them in some of the following posts. For now, let's just focus on the actors, like Kristen Stewart, Elijah Wood, Matt Damon, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Leonardo di Caprio.

1. Kristen Stewart

You know her as Bella Swan in the Twilight Saga trilogy (2008-2012). Besides that, her most representative role was in The Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). Though lots of people think (and I can't agree more) that her acting in the most cases is poor and it is speculated that she made it to the big screen just because both her parents are working in the filming industry, she made herself quite a salary. As for her role in theTwilight Saga she earned $2 000 000 for the first movie, $12 000 000 + 7.5% of the gross for the second one (Breaking Dawn Part 1) and  $12 500 000 + 7.5% of the gross for the third and the last one (Breaking Dawn Part 2). And to be honest, during all of the movies, she smiled about 5 times... As if Steven Seagal is her father. And for, according to many, a better movie - Snow White and the Huntsman she earned $34 000 000!!! Even if she stopped with here career now, she wouldn't have to do anything else in her life and she'd be able to live in full commodity.

2. Elijah Wood - best known as Frodo Baggins

Though the expectations of the amount of his salary, having The Lord of the Rings trilogy in mind, would be very high, this actor wasn't that much paid, at least in the beginning. Beside acting since his early childhood, in movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Sin City his earnings improved with Lord of the Rings, you could say the role of his life. But, unlike Kristen Stewart who made a treasure out of 4 movies, this guy made "only" $2 000 000 for the Fellowship of the Ring, $5 000 000 for Two Towers and $10 000 000 for theReturn of the King. It is told that he got some bonus after all and that now he is worth about $18 000 000 but nevertheless, it's a pity Elijah earned less the Kristen for enormously better movies than Twilight Saga.

 

3. Matt Damon

This naturally talented actor, best know for the roles in Ocean's Eleven, Talented Mr Ripley and Bourne trilogy, also earned a lot. Some of his most-paid movies are Talented Mr Ripley - $5 000 000, Ocean's Eleven- also $5 000 000, All the Pretty Horses - $5 500 000, The Legend of Bagger Vance - $7 000 000, Bourne Identity - $10 000 000, The Brothers Grimm - $10 000 000 as well, Bourne Ultimatum - $20 000 000. This is what is known about his salary, but there are also movies like We Bought a Zoo and other "Ocean's" he also get really good paid for.

 

4. Nicole Kidman

This actress made quite a fortune I can tell. According to imdb her payments were almost never under the amount of one million dollars. She showed her extreme talent in many movies, and in my opinion she is one of the actresses who deserved to be paid much. Her most paid movies are Bewitched and The Interpreter for which she earned about $17 000 000 each. After that - the movies that brought her about $15 000 000 each are Birth, Cold Mountain and The Stepford Wives. For the movies like Moulin Rouge, The Others and The Hours she mad $7 000 000 each. For one of the best movies with her ex-husband, Tom Cruise, With Eyes Wide Shut she made $6 500 000. Summarizing the amount of money for all other movies she acted in, along with these mentioned here, her wealth (just from movies) is about $259 750 000.

 

5. Tom Cruise

The ex-husband of the previously mentioned actress Nicole Kidman, could be among the richest actors in the world. He is known for movies like Minority Report, The Firm, Vanilla Sky, Jerry Meguire, Top Gun, The Interview with a Vampire and especially for The Mission Impossible movies. So we can assume he made money lots of people can't even imagine, so to support that claim here are some known facts - for the Minority report he was paid $25 000 000, Vanilla Sky brought him $20 000 000 + 30% of profit, as well as Eyes Wide Shut and Jerry Meguire. His best paid movie is Mission Impossible II for what he earned even $75 000 000 and Mission Impossible I - $70 000 000!!! He could just make those two movies and quit his career and spend the rest of his life enjoining wherever and with whomever he wanted. Interview with the Vampirebrought him $15 000 000 and for Top Gun he made "just" $2 000 000. Quite a career and quite a salary, you must say.

 

6. Leonardo di Caprio

Lets skip Cameron Diaz, who now has about $90 000 000 and Eddie Murphy who earned $118 000 000 just from acting career, and talk about Leo di Caprio's salary. This magnificent actor, recognized as very talented since his first appearing in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (along with also young and magnificent Johnny Depp) where he performed a mentally ill younger brother, made quite a career in movies like Titanic, Catch Me If You Can, Inception... Well, let's start from the movie that brought him less money is Basketball Diaries from 1995, that brought him a million dollars. After that, there was Titanic - $2 500 000 and J. Edgar - $2 000 000, and that's it about less than $10 000 000 movies. Now let's talk some real money - The Gangs of York brought him $10 000 000 + a certain percentage of the money this movie made world-wide. Then there are Catch Me If You Can, The Beach and Aviator that brought him $20 000 000 each, as well as The Departed and Blood Diamond. His best movie according to many - Inception brought him fantastic $59 000 000!!! And not to mention Shutter Island... Excellent actor deserves excellent salary, isn't it?

 

Well I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little dizzy from all these big numbers, so I'll just stop for now. It gets a little depressing when you realize that lots of people around the world are either starving, or hardly making a month out of their salary, while some other people, thanks to their talent and some strings and connections and of course a lot of luck, are making these enormous amounts of money.

Get Your Teeth White In Only 1Min

Everyone like bright white teeth because it is part of your personality. It gives you confidence and boost your cute small.

 To have beautiful white teeth just brush your teeth with your toothpaste usual but when you rinse your mouth sprinkle some baking soda on your tooth brush and scrub your teeth for 1 minute.The taste is a bit salty. Nothing better than a good mouthwash after! I tried guaranteed result of the first use!

The fast food that's killing us slowly

Let's dispel the misconception; there is no difference between “fast food” and “junk food”. Fast food is junk food served fast.

Years ago cattle were usually slaughtered between four and five years old. Today, the same cattle are slaughtered between fourteen and sixteen months. The cattle of old were traditionally fed grass and were allowed to graze and fatten gradually. Given the demand for beef, today's cattle are exposed to a diet of corn, protein, antibiotics, and growth hormones so that they will reach the 1200 lb slaughtering weight in record time. Cattle are not genetically predisposed to digest corn, the antibiotics ensure that the cow will be relatively healthy while growing. Without the antibiotics, the cattle would die. 
Despite the antibiotics, there are still a myriad of health conditions that effect a great deal of cattle. However, we're not here to argue the ethical treatment of the animals slaughtered, rather what needs to be examined is the health effects consuming these animals has on you, the consumer.

A genetically engineered hormone known as rBGH is given to some cows in the U.S. to increase milk production. A by product of this hormone is the meat produced by the cows has been, in some cases, found to be carcinogenic. Residues of rBGH have been found in hamburgers sold at well known fast food chains.

Exposure to such carcinogenic meats is cause enough to rethink eating it, but an even greater reason may be found in the fact that consumption of such antibiotic laden beef has led to bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics, or if you prefer the “superbug”. In the name of consumer satisfaction we have exposed ourselves and our children to powerful bacteria, e coli, increased cancer risks, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, to name but a few.

So, feed the kids the chicken nuggets, right? Ah, maybe not.
The problem with fast food chicken nuggets is there is at least another 25 ingredients other than chicken in the nuggets.

There is bread, yeast products, dextrose, sodium phosphates... the list goes on.

The french fries in most fast food restaurants in the U. S. are fried in a corn based oil, considered the worst oil for human consumption and linked to heart disease. In America we enjoy our fries so much we consume over seven billion pounds of frozen french fries annually.

And skip the soda pop. All the popular soft drink products amd juices found today contain high fructose corn syrup. This devil's brew is 80% fructose and 20% glucose, or if you prefer, twice as dangerous for you than cane sugar. High fructose corn syrup is very sweet, very soluble and cheaper than somewhat healthier natural cane sugar sweeteners. HFC robs the body of copper in the diet leading to weaker structures of collagen and elastin in growing children-the compound that literally holds the body together. HFC is also found in breads, condiments, and salad dressings. This hidden danger is all too common and has also been linked to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/article/the-fast-food-that-s-killing-us-slowly

The 10 most expensive burger in the world

And The  most expensive burger is at Fleur de Lys in Las Vegas! At such a price, you have the right to enjoy a fabulous dish decorated with foie gras and truffle sauce and served on a brioche.

The burger “Kobe Beef and Maine Lobster”, 777 dollars.

In this sandwich steak Kobe and fresh Maine lobster. Add to this caramelized onions, brie, crispy parma ham. Served with a bott

le of champagne.

Shower the burger, 666 dollars.

Consists of a steak Koob Beef stuffed with foie gras, this burger is covered with melted Swiss cheese and champagne, lobster and caviar. To enjoy in 666 new york street

Burger ridiculous $ 499.

Weighing 185.6 lbs (84 kg), this sandwich holds the record for largest burger, entering the record book Guinnessdes in 2009.

Serendipity burger, $ 295.

In this exceptional burger there is such a slice of beef

, grated truffles, quail eggs fried.

The Burger, $ 200.

“The” burger consists of a slice of Wagyu beef, of white truffles or pata Negra ham.

Richard the new burger, $ 175.

Composed of Gold leaf  25 grams of black truffles, a foie gras pad just typed and refined cheese, the burger Richard put your tastebuds.

DB royal dual truffle burger, $ 120.
This sandwich is stuffed ribs braised in red wine, foie gras, a mix of vegetables and black truffles.

The Million rupiah burger, $ 108.

It is covered with a slice of foie gras, portobello mushrooms and korean pears.

The McGuire’s great burger, $ 100.

The steak is filet mignon, served with champagne.

 

Brilliant Colgate Advertising Campaign

Very cool ad campaign.

Top 5 ways to burn fat fast

By: Sarah Cowell

Regular exercise is the best way to fight the flab but it is easy for a mundane fitness routine to plateau and for good living to start piling on the pounds. If you need a new lease of life to kick start your usual healthy living plan then follow these tips.

Work out more

Whether you exercise or not, you may be surprised to know that most of us hardly exercise at all. Remember, the only way to lose weight is to burn off more calories than you are consuming; this means you have to move around more. Aim to do four to five cardio workouts per week. Try two 20-minute sessions, one 30–45-minute session and two 45–75-minute sessions. If you struggle to fit long sessions into your working week, do short sessions instead of skipping the work out altogether. A little is better than nothing at all.

Push yourself

Notch the levels up on the treadmill, work harder on your road run, increase the resistance on the bike. Lift a slightly heavier weight. The smallest increases will make all the difference. It will feel hard at first, but your body will adapt after two weeks when you should implement another change. Keep your body guessing and the rest will look after itself. Make sure you have two days of rest from exercise per week to avoid injury and muscle strain.

Lift weights

I know I always end up talking about this, but strength training should be done by everyone – yes, even women! Three 15-20 minute sessions per week of weight training will make all the difference to lower back strength, bone density, the amount of calories you burn when you’re not working out and, the factor we all care about the most, the look and feel of your body.

Eat sensibly

To maintain a healthy weight and BMI the best way to eat is with a low GI diet. Foods with carbohydrates that break down quickly during digestion and release glucose rapidly into the bloodstream tend to have a high GI; foods with carbohydrates that break down more slowly, releasing glucose more gradually into the bloodstream, tend to have a low GI. In basic terms it is about the quality of the carbohydrates, rather than the quantity. A low GI food will cause a small rise in blood glucose level, while a high GI food will trigger a dramatic spike in blood glucose level. Most fruits and vegetables; legumes/pulses; some whole, intact grains; nuts; tagatose; fructose; kidney beans; beets; chickpeas are low GI. Basically, look for fibrous foods when shopping as they digest more slowly in your gut and release energy gradually, keeping you fuller for longer.

Don’t diet

This is another tip I cannot stress enough to my clients when we discuss diet and fitness. In basic terms, diets do not work. You end up depriving your body and ultimately failing at achieving what is usually an unattainable goal. Healthy eating does not have to be boring. Save treats for the weekend and eat sensibly and in moderation during weekdays. Really think about the type of food you are eating and make the switch to ‘cleaner’ food, so more fish, less red meat, unrefined products, such brown rice and brown bread, eat plenty of fibre and drink lots of water for a cleaner gut.

By : MSN HOME PAGE