Love Notes

Turns out I had so many bits of coral dancing in my head last week, I decided to split them into two notes instead of one.   Let's pick up where we last left off, and step lively into our parade of the prettiest shades of pink into coral into sherbet-y orange. 

Remember me nattering on about the joy of walking into a manicure appointment with my new Rose Baltique nail polish from Hermès (a splurgy gift from a dear friend)?*    Naturally, a hunt soon ensued to find a signature shade to paint my summer toes.  My vision:  the perfect coral-y pink, not too mauve, not too orange, not too neon.  Wouldn't you know that I came up blank, after multiple trips to CVS, Walgreens and even Duane Reade?  Expanding my horizons, I hit the internet, where I found this dream-manifested-into-reality shade from Chanel:  Première Dame.  Well, that wasn't quite the term I was envisioning to describe the look I was going for, so I decided I better check it out in person.  As I was in NYC two weeks ago for garden club meetings, I was determined to squeeze in a quick visit to the Chanel boutique on 57th Street.   And, as I happily trotted up to the signature black doors in my best garden club lady outfit, I was greeted by, "Do you have an appointment?"  Wait, what?    READ MORE

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People think of Bermuda as a honeymoon destination, an island of coral sand populated by men in retro shorts and dark socks, a whirlwind away from the mainland.  It may be all those things, perhaps even with a of touch of the Mad Men era, but it's also a spectacularly easy and fabulously fun weekend getaway.  My friends and I had such a ball there a few short weeks ago, we are already plotting our return.   

Here's the trick: Bermuda is about two hours non stop from many major East Coast gateways.  That's easier than getting to Nantucket or the Vineyard, especially when you factor in fog banks eating into flight schedules, or the crazy advance planning needed to secure a ferry reservation.

June into early July is an ideal time to visit Bermuda, with weather not unlike what you'll find on a summer road trip closer to home.  Daytime temperatures in the mid 80s await, with evenings dipping into the 70s, often enough with a gentle breeze trickling by.  Better still, the warm ocean water hovers around 80, a spa like counterpoint enticing one to take a break from lounging on a chaise beneath a striped umbrella on one of their heavenly coral sand beaches.  READ MORE

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June is certainly a welcome month, isn't it?  I myself am wholly ready for softer schedules, later sunsets and a refrigerator oozing with summer produce  ... would you like to join me in a dish of watermelon for dessert?  How about starting your morning with a juicy peach dripping down your chin into the kitchen sink?   I'm dreaming of guilt free afternoons spent sipping peach iced tea with mint while reading a book on a beach or in my garden.

But my day planner has other ideas - it's telling me, "We're not quite done yet here sister".  I'm actually on a train to NYC for garden club meetings as we speak.  I really do love New York in the summer - you can get into restaurants, museums are less crowded and the weather can be lovely for walking.  More on that below.  READ MORE

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How was your weekend - besides wet?  I've been thinking about all the families out there who packed their cars, hauled the coolers, organized the kids and the long handled shovels and the pool noodles, and are looking at a scene like this one above, with a traffic filled drive home not yet in their rear view mirror.   Memorial Day is one of only two precious long summer weekends that American life still grants to our working folk with limited vacation, and to have one with constant rain just seems unfair.  My heart goes out to everyone in this scenario.

And yet I must confess, this steady gray drizzle has felt like a welcome home gift to me.   I returned late Friday night from the Museum Store Expo in Philadelphia where I was showing my custom line of scarves, bangles and valet trays based on my paintings of bespoke places and collections.  Exhibiting at a wholesale market is a LOT - three days in a dreary windowless convention center, setting up a 10' x 5' booth which you hope will communicate your dreams.   But if just a few of the interesting conversations I had with amazing non profits on my dream client list come to fruition, I will be doing cartwheels on the beach like a second grader.  So cross your fingers for me.   

Remember those family vacations when your mother let you bring a friend along?   READ MORE

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Isn't this a fascinating concept?  How to blur the line between interior and exterior spaces through thoughtful design.   Are you like me, feeling the urge to throw open every door and window?  I think we are craving permeability, air, light, movement.  This spring especially, we're inviting the birdsong and breezes to drift indoors.

Today, we're taking a look at steel casement doors, garden rooms and loggias.  Rooms that breathe the outdoor air, houses that invite the garden in.  Let's wander together over vanishing thresholds, as butterflies drift by, seemingly oblivious to boundaries between inside and out.  READ MORE

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