Love Notes

Dec 07, 2025 • #dinner party #recipe

String of Pearls 11/11/25

Cecil Beaton took this photograph - what do you notice?  All but one of these Swans (that being the tiny ingénue in the center) has chosen to wear her pearls.  There's a reason for that.  

"The pearl is the gem of queens and the queen of gems."

Grace Kelly

Try this the next time you're getting dressed:  put a pearl earring on one ear, and an earring without a pearl - a diamond, gold, whatever is your favorite - on the other.  Then turn your head from side to side, gazing at your lovely reflection in the mirror.   The pearl lights up your face, right?  Something about the way it ties together the whites of your eyes and your smile - it just give you an extra little glow.  And for a turbo shot, add a pearl choker.    READ MORE

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Oct 10, 2023 • #dinner party #fall #Tablescape #Tablescapes

Home and Hearth 10/9/23

Notice anything odd about my Autumn table above?  It needs some plates!   I've been plate shopping (actually, when did I ever stop plate shopping), and I have some fun finds for you today, along with some clever trickery for Autumn entertaining with simplicity and aplomb.   READ MORE

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Oct 13, 2021 • #dinner party #fall #shoes #Tablescape #Tablescapes

10/11/21 Mr. Rabbits' dinner party

When I was a little girl, my favorite book was "Old Man Rabbit's Dinner Party", wherein the long eared protagonist foraged with abandon through Farmer Brown's field, and when his larder was fully stocked, he declared, "I have lots of food.  I will give a dinner party for all my friends."  

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Jul 26, 2021 • #cocktail #dinner party #photography

7/26/21 - Adieu for a bit - Greatest Hits

August is always special for me - we head to Maine for a much needed recharge.   I'm going to take a break from the Love Notes for the next few weeks (perhaps even a wee bit longer), but I'll be back with a collection of fantastic fall fun for you.

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Jun 09, 2021 • #dinner party #lemon #peony #pink #shrimp

5/10/21 - Pink Peony Dinner Party - with shrimp & grits and lemon tart

After I was first married and before I had children, I liked nothing better than a rainy Sunday spent pouring over a paper copy of the New York Times, then a stack of Gourmet magazines and a pile of cookbooks, dreaming up menus for dinner parties - some of which I had, some of which I only dreamed about having.  My brain was younger then, but I could probably still do pretty well in a trivia contest based on "Gourmet Entertains" menus.   (Other trivia categories today ... errr probably not so good).   One image that is indelibly stamped in my brain is "Pink Peony Dinner Party" from Martha Stewart's "Menus for Entertaining". 

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