Unexpected Blessings

Since the release of Coming Home I’ve been on an extended adventure around the country known as a book tour.

Though I’ve done many “dish signings” and public meet-and-greet events, I’ve come to realize that book signings are something special. It’s been a surprising and gratifying experience. I am touched when people approach me to tell me how the book has touched their lives, inspired them, and how they used the suggestions inside to make their lives more satisfying

I’ve been consistently delighted to bump into people from my past at these events. At one book signing I reconnected with a woman I knew as a toddler and young child in Portland, OR. I love these moments of unexpected connection with people after many years of silence, in some case 50-plus.

I am most proud of Coming Home for its ability to serve as a point of reconnection. It is a wonderful gift to rediscover people I never would have seen again had I not written this book.

www.rosannainc.com

What I Learned From My Daughter...A Voyage From Childhood to Graduation From Brown University

I am very excited. On Thursday we are flying to Providence, Rhode Island to see my oldest daughter Alessandra graduate from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She is a creative nonfiction writer who wrote a thesis on style in nonfiction writing, and will graduate with honors. Needless to say, I am very, very proud of her.

Motherhood has been full of wonderful surprises for me. When I gave birth to Alessandra 22 years ago, I had no idea that my child would teach me as I raised her! What a great boon that we, as parents, learn and go new places through the endeavors of our children.

Raising Alessandra has been an amazing journey. I’ve watched her academic achievements grow more impressive with each year of her life, and taken such delight in watching her interests grow, an occasionally take me to places I’d never traveled—like Oklahoma City for the national mock trial championship competition. I had been a lucky spectator at countless plays from 6^th-12^th grade in which Alessandra had starring roles, and later watched plays Alessandra directed at university. I’ve reveled in her prose, and spent time with her friends, vivacious young adults full of promise and potential who reinvigorate and inspire me.

This moment is both a time for celebration and a time for reflection. As I think back, all I can see now is a little curly-headed blur streaking across my memory. Clearly, Alessandra’s energy as toddler was an early sign of the dynamic young woman she has become today. I am so excited to see where she will run next.

www.rosannainc.com

Rosanna @ Fireworks

In a world increasingly characterized by perfunctory relationships and hectic schedules, the warmth of the personal connection is largely lost, rendering rituals hollow and meaningless when they are observed at all. Noted dishware designer and author Rosanna Bowles seeks to reverse that trend with her book Coming Home: A Seasonal Guides to Creating Family Traditions.

Drawing from her childhood and the tight knit community of siblings, relatives and neighbors with whom she grew up, as well as her experiences as a mother, wife, and designer, and the lessons gleaned from the country villages during her family's yearly visits to Umbria, Italy, Bowles shares her memories and offers advice on creating new moments and taking advantage of existing opportunities to engage family, friends, and neighbors in forming stronger, healthier bonds—over meals, over coffee, over the fence during a chance encounter in the afternoon.

Organized by seasons, the author addresses the common tasks facing all kinds of families, placing the activities in the context of history, tradition, and the moods of the weather, towards the goal of establishing new and lasting traditions, while deepening and expanding existing ones.

Acknowledging the strong custom of bonding over meals, the book presents over 50 recipes geared with modern sensibility towards healthsome, fresh, organic ingredients, coupled with entertaining and decorating ideas to complement the meals. Much more than a book of recipes, Coming Home is a recipe for life, a life more emotionally fulfilling. Hardcover; 183 pages with full color photographs; measures approximately 11¼″ × 8¾″.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Since beginning her successful dishware company in 1982, Rosanna Bowles has received a number of awards for her designs, including the Gift of the Year Award, recognizing excellence in the giftware industry. Her designs have been highlighted in the New York Times,Country Living, Family Circle, O magazine, Real Simple, Harper's Bazaar, and other publications. She currently resides in the Pacific Northwest.

UNIVERSITY VILLAGE

2617 NE Village Lane
Seattle, WA 98105
206-527-2858
Monday-Saturday 9:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sunday 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

A perfect Mother's Day gift for Mothers of all ages - Coming Home: A Seasonal Guide To Creating Family Traditions

www.rosannainc.com