Let There Be

Wishing you a fabulous + peaceful 2010

Is Bean Back?

Valet was one of the first to report the return of the Norwegian Sweater.  It's a love/hate thing -- heavy, hot & bulky -- but I could never resist one smelling of wool & bourbon & cider & woodsmoke at the fairest college.  Perhaps better news is the upcoming launch of L.L. Bean Signature...

{model + head designer Alex Carleton}

Seems to have taken Bean about a quarter century to repond to J. Crew's pillaging of its customer base.  It will be interesting to see how it all works out.

Happy Christmas to All

and to All a good night.

Home for Christmas?

A bit of 'weather' along the East Coast has added some complexity to our travels,

so we're waiting it out in front of a warm fire (sort of like this)

and counting the hours until we're home for Christmas (exactly like this)!

Haute Haute Haute

If you're South of the Mason-Dixon and looking for something fabulous to do with family & friends during the holiday season, take in The Art of Affluence: Haute Couture and Luxury Fashions 1947-2007 @ Charlotte's Mint Museum of Art. This exhibition features selections from the Museum’s holdings of haute couture and luxury garments complimented by wonderful accessories that reflect the creativity of numerous fashion designers of the second half of the 20th century and first years of the 21st century.

2 thumbs up.

Lou Lou

I think I would have shut up and sat down if the kid's table looked like this when I was 6.

Currier & Ives

When I saw this shot in Country Living, I knew I had to have it. Lots of it. I immediately began to amass a rather significant Homer Laughlin Currier and Ives Red collection, piece by piece. And now, with so much china my butler's pantry is ready to explode, I need to clean house.

Find it all at estate @ Sleepy Poet Antiques in Charlotte.

TGIF

Lonny #2 is out!

G.P. Schafer, Architect

Most everyone recognizes Gil Schafer's work as beyond beyond, so no surprise that the Greek Revival he built for himself in the Hudson Valley is equally fabulous. Take a peek...

{love old Hitchcock chairs with a farm table]

{Colefax & Fowler's 'Bowood' is brilliant under the eaves}

{i could live here}

Flower Power Deux

Hello Gorgeous plugged me into EmersonMade.  Such flower fabulousity I have never seen...

Thanks, Gorgeous.

Why?

I'm having another 'God I miss Domino' moment

The Lure of the Western Boot

My last pair of cowboy boots, hand crafted in Texas of rough-out leather and purchased at Renton Western Wear, served me well for most of a decade until I was caught in a Seattle downpour and they were ruined. If you could have seen the patina they'd achieved, you'd have been crying along with me in that huge puddle on Second Avenue.

Here's the good news. This morning, after my mother and I spent the better part of a 4 hour phone call searching Lucchese for a new pair from Santa, I think I finally found the perfect replacement...

She thought so too.  Luckily we live 1,000 miles apart.

Decorating This Weekend?

Have fun.

Snow(Globes)

Yum

{Courtesy of Hello Naomi}

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

This wonderful gilded gesso mirror found at auction will be @ estate in the new year...

What to Get The Person Who Has Everything

20 Gray & Smoked Salt Caramels

{Fran's Chocolates}

Red & Green

 Ho Ho Hotel Plaza Athenee anyone?

The Perfect Winter Blanket

In Northport, Maine, a group of craftspeople hand-dye & hand-weave the most beautiful wool blankets I've ever seen. They use only the softest fleece, hand-dye the yarn with all natural materials, weave by hand, and finish the edges with silk threads. Each Swans Island Blanket is then wrapped around cedar planks and placed in a linen storage bag. While all of this care & attention is not inexpensive, I think you'll find it's worth every penny.

A Festive Affair

Have some fun at Polyvore and put together a festive set

Need a Little Christmas?

Still in the midst of a tryptophan-induced, post-Thanksgiving fog? Here's something sure to get you in the holiday spirit...

{find it here}

Happy Thanksgiving

Don't you miss Addie Mills?

Petit Dejuner @ King Arthur

Yesterday morning we escaped the housekeeper and headed to King Arthur Flour in Norwich --  where you can shop an extensive selection of fine ingredients, learn to bake the perfect baguette, or just sit & enjoy wonderful pastries with steaming hot coffee...

I poured a mug of Omar's Organic Blend (shade-grown & fair trade) and headed over to the case, where I ordered the prettiest morning pastry I could find. Although it was called almond danish, 'danish' seems too pedestrian a term for this creation. Its tender, light crust was more like a croissant, a delicious, not-too-sweet almond paste was wrapped within, and the entire flaky confection was topped with honey-glazed, toasted almond slivers.

Heaven.

Celebrating

my 100th blog!

{lavender champagne courtesy of Martha}

Vintage Adirondack

Today I found an unbelievable piece of Americana -- an antique & very rustic birch bark basket.  It is quite large and in remarkable condition. Completely hand crafted, probably in the early 1900's, with a hardwood retaining band that is whip-stitched to the bark with its original leather strap.  Can't wait to fill it with winter greens.