Strands of Pearls

All Aboard! Marc Jacobs for LV Takes the Paris Runway on a Romantic Ride

2012-03-11T09:35:00.000-04:00

I have one big wish-to sit front row at Paris Fashion week. This year I watched, with my bunny slippers on, all the shows from NYFW through to Paris.

Oscar de la Renta

I loved Valentino, Chanel, Balmain, Dior, McQueen, Oscar de la Renta, Nina Ricci, Burberry, Marchesa...luxurious fabrics,bejeweled pattens and elegant drama at every turn... but stop the train---Marc Jacobs brought the Grand Finale to the Autumn/Winter 2012-13 Fashion Weeks.

I adore Runway-maybe because I adore fashion and theatre and nowhere do the two meet as on the runway. Most shows are often a parade of new looks but this week Marc Jacobs pulled into the station and left the others in a cloud of locomotive steam.

The train arrived onto the temporary LV station at Cour Carrée du Louvre which was edged in iron and adorned with a massive train clock, a-la Hugo, that glowed throughout the show as the locomotive blasted steam to set the mood.

As the train made its stop on the runway the models one by one descended the carriage. Each was greeted by a white gloved porter who carried their LV luggage and bags. As they circled the tracks music evocative of the pace of a train taking you along on a magical journey set the pace- enchanting, romantic and memorable--all that a runway should be.

“I thought, ‘No girl will carry a bag this season,’” said Jacobs. “It will be carried for her.” -Marc Jacobs

This week's amazing RTW Fall 2012 runway/station show at Paris Fashion Week by Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton was elegant theatre- romantic, dramatic and unforgettable! Through a cloud of steam emerged exquisitely dressed first class passengers/models wearing towering hats with feathers, three quarter coats with ankle length skirts and pants, Mary Jane- esque pumps, luxe fabrics and patterns reflecting the classic LV checks embellished and bejeweled with crystals and oversized ornate buttons. The clothes were nostalgic - Mary Poppins meets Downton Abbey and even The Mad Hatter all aboard The Venice Simplon Orient Express. Reminiscent of an era when traveling clothes were essential to any well dressed woman's wardrobe, a time when train travel was elegant and all about luxury...Come Visit The Shopping Bag Chronicles

...and how do you travel without bags??-the show was as much about the bags as the clothes...

For me this show from start to finish was simply about the romance of travel, a bygone age- luxurious,sometimes mysterious,elegant,dramatic and alluring. An era often captured on film and in literature and now by Mr, Jacobs on the runway. Come Visit The Shopping Bag Chronicles and Applause!

Watch the Show-a Great Ride!

The show made me think of some of my favorite romantic, fun and fashionable train images and posters-Come Visit Applause! Enjoy!!

Audrey Hepburn, Funny Face

For the Birds-Signs of Spring at Pottery Barn

2012-03-04T09:32:00.000-05:00

We have not had much of a winter around here and though a dusting blew through yesterday my bulbs are popping, the climbing hydrangeas are all a-bud and the birds are singing spring!

I'm ready for Spring and walking through the Spring Pottery Barn catalogue all I want to do is go play outside. In the meantime, I have bulbs forcing and branches of Pussy Willows and Quince. I love bringing Spring inside and this season Pottery Barn has gone to the birds -and the butterflies -Crazy about the crewel pillows

and anything birdcage!

For more Visit A Well Appointed Life...Come on Spring!

Where Oscar Lives-Movie Homes to Move Into

2012-02-26T10:22:00.001-05:00

The Nanny Diaries 2007

How many times have you sat in a dark movie theatre watching a film when a fabulous house comes on screen- You forget all about the plot and concentrate on the wallpaper--well at least I do!

The Nanny Diaries via Traditional Home

So often the homes that a movie is set within can be as important to that movie as any actor or actress-The Holiday (2006) centers around the storyline of house swapping and how the women who exchange houses actually transform the spaces they move into to reflect the changes they go through.

With Oscar Night here I decided to visit some Movie Sets from Oscar Winning films---now most of my favorite movie homes were never in the running for Oscars so it was interesting to look through Oscar history to see where Oscar lives-very often rooms and places that not only expressed the personality of the characters in the script, but also locations that became key characters in their films--Can you imagine Downton Abbey without Downton Abbey

or Rebecca, Best Picture 1940 without Manderley?

,Here is a sampling of wonderful sets from Oscar winners-Grab the popcorn and enjoy Come Visit A Well Appointed Life to see them all---and Happy Oscar Night!

It Happened One Night-Best Picture, Best Actor Clark Gable, Best Actress Claudette Colbert, Best Director Frank Capra, 1934-It may not be the most glamorous set in film history but it is certainly one of the most memorable and key to the story line and one of my favorites.

The Awful Truth -Best Director Leo McCarey, 1937-I love this film and all the sets

Mrs. Miniver-Best Picture, Best Actress Greer Garson, Best Supporting Actress Teresa Wright, Best Director William Wyler, 1942-This wonderful film about a family shattered by war has at its center the warmth of the Miniver home which would also become a victim of war.

All About Eve-Best Picture,Best Supporting Actor George Sanders, Best Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1950

Roman Holiday-Best Actress Audrey Hepburn-Of course the city of Rome is the true set for Audrey's debut.

My Fair Lady- Best Picture,Best Actor Rex Harrison, Best Director George Cukor 1964

The Sound of Music- Best Picture, Best Director Robert Wise 1965

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner- Best Actress Katherine Hepburn, Best Screenplay 1967-Ninety percent of the film was shot on one set-the Drayton family home in San Francisco--this set/house remains one of my favorite Movie homes ever -I was surprised to discover that it was for the most part created on a sound stage

Out of Africa-Best Picture, Best Director Sydney Pollack 1985

Moonstruck-Best Actress Cher,Best Supporting Actress Olympia Dukakis, 1987-So much of this movie comes back to that kitchen table

Driving Miss Daisy, Best Picture, Best Actress Jessica Tandy, 1989-The sets of this house captured the Southern style of the late 1940s and also the changes taking place not only within that house but also within society

via Le Beau Paon Victorian

The Queen -Best Actress Helen Mirren 2006-a castle for for The Queen of course-

The King's Speech -Best Picture, Best Actor Colin Firth, Best Director Tom Hooper 2010

Great Sources on Movie Interiors:
Cote de Texas
Hooked on Houses
Silver Screen Surroundings
AMC Filmsite

The Beauty of Bassman-In Appreciation, Lillian Bassman

2012-02-19T10:51:00.001-05:00

Barbara Mullen in a gown by Irene, New York. Harper’s Bazaar, 1956

She literally blurred the way fashion photography was seen. Lillian Bassman, a self-taught photographer took her camera and lifted fashion imagery to an art .

"Tunic Suit," model Sunny Harnett, suit by Charles James, 1955 (Harper's Bazaar). Reinterpreted 1994.

Her dreamy attention to grace and elegance, reflecting a painter's eye for form and pose, would forever alter how fashion models were photographed and would reinvent her art. She wanted to "...take the hardness out of photography”.

Lisa Fonssagrives, 1961

Lillian Bassman was a magazine art director in the 1940s at Harper's Bazaar as the protege of Bazaar art director Alexey Brodovitch . In that role she would design innovative layouts showcasing the works of photographers such as Richard Avedon and Robert Frank sparking her interest in photography. On her lunch hour she would frequent the darkroom at Bazaar and "play" with different techniques for printing-“I wanted everything with soft edges and cropped.” ... she wanted to create "... a new kind of vision aside from what the camera saw.” and that she did.

Black and White Coat,1950

"I didn't bring you to Paris to make art; I brought you here to do the buttons and bows," Harper's Bazaar editor Carmel Snow told her during a fashion shoot for the magazine in the late 1940s, but Lillian Bassman saw beyond buttons and bows. She pushed the edge and turned the standard of how magazine fashion was shot.

Barbara Miller, Paris, 1949 Harper's Bazaar

Richard Avedon, who would describe Bassman's work as making "...visible that heartbreaking invisible place between the appearance and the disappearance of things..." , let her use his studio and her self-education continued. By 1948 she had left art direction behind and before long she landed her own accounts with lingerie companies. Her unique and innovative approach highlighted the art and elegance of the models and products she shot. Her lingerie work is renowned as she redefined how lingerie was photographed-emphasizing form not function. Bassman's work revealed more of a woman's "secrets" through her use of shadows and light.

The Dressing Room, 1951.

Bassman quickly became sought after by advertisers and editorial directors alike. As women photographers were rare at that time she was able to establish unique relationships with her models- such as Dovima, her muse Barabra Mullen, and Suzy Parker.

The V-Back Evenings, Suzy Parker, 1955

She had been a dance student, it is reported that she danced with Martha Graham, and had an understanding of the grace of female movement that, she said, "usually passes unnoticed in everyday life...I always look for a woman's beauty through her gestures, her movements, her hands and her neck", she said. . "I asked the models that posed for me to tell of their beauty through their hands, as if those hands were holding a special, unique moment. I was always interested in an immediate way of communicating, and the hands do just that."

Barbara Mullen, Paris, Dinner At Nine, 1949

With her models and her camera Lillian Bassman would create some of the most memorable and exquisite fashion images-dreamy and ethereal at times, edgy and striking at others-helping to define the era of grace, glamour and style of the 1940s and 50s and forever changing fashion imagery.

Model in Gloves, 1950

Bassman's early studies as a painter helped define her signature style reflecting great masters and using the camera and the darkroom as a paintbrush- "I spent my life in the museums studying the old masters,.. Elegance goes back to the earliest paintings. Long necks. The thrust of the head in a certain position. The way the fingers work, fabrics work. It's all part of my painting background."

Margie Cato, 1950

.

Lillian Bassman died this week, Fashion Week in New York, she was 94. For more on Lillian Bassman and her extraordinary work Come Visit Applause!

"Barbara Mullen, Blowing Kiss" 1950

A Kiss is Still a Kiss? Maybe Not...Looking for THE MOMENT

2012-02-13T23:39:00.001-05:00

Roman Holiday, 1953

"You should be kissed and often, and
by someone who knows how.”

Rhett Butler

An Affair to Remember, 1957

"I wasn't kissing her,

I was whispering in her mouth" -Chico Marx

Lady and The Tramp, 1955

“I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses
that last three days.”
Bull Durham,1988

Have you noticed kisses don't mean as much anymore. When you watch a film these days how often is THE KISS just expected, ho-hum, gratuitous, superfluous and simply an "is what it is " non-event. I think it is sad that romance has disappeared---we know what's going to happen and it is rarely worth the ticket price when it does. Maybe we have become jaded by too many kisses, too many scenes that are throw-aways, kisses that are just filling space. Where's the spark, where's the heat, where's the witty dialogue, where's the soaring music, the anticipation, the drama, the MOMENT. I want THE MOMENT!

Summertime, 1955
So this Valentine's Day I am celebrating with some of my favorite on-screen smooches and some of the best kissy quotes --

Ball of Fire, 1941
"I'm gonna show you what yum-yum is. Here's yum...
And here's the other yum...And here's yum-yum."

Hollywood listen up--take a lesson from classic films and don't just toss those kisses in wherever and whenever...save them, make them special... and give us back THE MOMENT! Come Visit Applause and have a Happy Valentine's Day!

To Catch a Thief, 1955

"I've been waiting all day for you to mention that kiss I gave you last night... "
"...Not only did I enjoy that kiss last night, I was awed by the efficiency behind it."
"Well, I'm a great believer of getting down to essentials."

How to Steal a Million, 1966

The Way We Were, 1973

Princess Bride, 1987
“Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. The End.”

A Good Lesson-An Old Schoolhouse Gets Re-Educated

2012-02-03T12:32:00.002-05:00

Living in a 19th century caretaker's cottage I can totally understand and empathize with anyone who takes on the restoration of any antique home. I could never live or be happy in a cookie cutter space so whenever I spot caring and creative restoration and reinvention I smile and applaud...especially a cottage.

When I saw this fabulous Catskills Cottage on Hooked on Houses I had to share. Originally an 1840s Federal style schoolhouse, the neglected property was rescued for $30,000 by a magazine editor and a decorator who quickly scooped up the 900 square foot relic and spent a year breathing life into what would become their "Monkey Cottage".

No closets, ceiling so low you couldn't stand, burst pipes and layer upon layer of paint and wallpaper were a few of the challenges Jason Oliver Nixon and John Loecke had in store-I can relate to all that!

I love the happy colors and every inch nook and cranny made useful

...and when they were done a magical weekend retreat was their reward! -For more schoolhouse chic Come Visit A Well Appointed Life-Go to the Head of the Class Guys!

Hooked on Houses via Country Living

Time to Cowl Up!

2012-01-28T01:02:00.000-05:00

via beautifullife4me

February is a strange knitting month for me. I am looking toward spring but not quite ready to cast on just yet and at the same time I am ready to move on from the bulkies. What's an itchy sheep to do??? Cowl Up!


via fernibook

Quick, loopy,wrappy, happy and oh so useful--even on a warmer day when I may not wear a coat I pop on a cowl.

via Zsa Zsa Bellagio

The other thing I love about cowls is no matter your knitting mood you can cast on and be done quickly-

You can choose to KISS (keep it simple ...)

Gap-Tastic,Jen Geigley

... Play with Stitches

State Street Cowl,Pam Allen

...Toss in Some COLOR

World's Fair, Cathy Carron

...STRIPE it Up

Ships and Seaside, Tiny Owl Knits

...Open it up with graceful LACE

Imogen, Carrie Bostick Hoge

...or Get your CABLE on!

Millwater

Cowls of course are also a fabulous way to use up some stash--you know my stash theory-make a hole in it--go fill the hole :) For some of my Favorite ways to Cowl UP-Come Visit Winding Yarn

via Americo Originals

Popcorn Chic-The Thomas Crown Affair,1968

2012-01-21T15:25:00.000-05:00

"You do live very well don't you?"

"No complaints"-Thomas Crown

This week I ran across an article celebrating Faye Dunaway's 70th birthday. Included of course were images from her role in director Norman Jewison's The Thomas Crown Affair, 1968 . A sparkling sexy and stylish film about a bored playboy millionaire who lives for the thrill, an uncharacteristic but yummy role for Steve McQueen. Thomas Crown pulls off a bank heist and the banks' insurance investigator, Faye Dunaway, goes after her man.

McQueen and Dunaway have a chemistry that film legend is made of , the air simply crackles between them.

Their chess game is perhaps the most talked about scene but for me it is their early morning stroll on Beacon Hill.

Go for the story, and Steve's eyes of course, but stay for the style...and of course the clothes

Come Visit Applause!

photos from IMDB

Color Me Happy! - Design Seeds

2012-01-14T09:39:00.000-05:00

Ever since I can I remember I have been drawn to color. To this day nothing makes me smile more than a HUGE new box of Crayolas...except perhaps wheels and wheels of paint chips...or maybe bolts upon bolts of fabrics...then of course sitting pouring over wallpaper books is a perfect rainy afternoon activity for me. Whenever I want to cheer myself up I head to a yarn shop--not simply because I love playing with skeins of cashmere, mohair,alpacas and cottons, but also because a really good yarn shop has cubbies of color and anyone who has seen me at play in a shop knows I am always in search of just "the right" shade of...and I can be seen carrying around a skein just because I want the color!

This week I fell into the digital age's version of a Crayola Box- Design Seeds. This glorious playground of everything color was made for me to move into--gorgeous "mood" boards coupling wonderful images with color chips that demonstrate how colors play and work together.

Each board is a new inspiration and I found myself digging through my yarn bins to pull skeins to match some of my favorite palettes discovered on Design Seeds.

The site is a joy at every click. I love that you can search for palettes by color value-find a chip and slide the R G B arrows to intensify or cool the chip you love then click on it to see wonderful inspiration boards using that color, pairing it with colors that play happily with your color choice. My favorite way to search on the site is by Theme--explore the color palettes by seasonal inspiration, celebrations of the everyday or by nature, travel, edibles, crafts, vintage... there is color at every turn in our world and design seeds celebrates that in such a wonderful way!

Of course we see color in our gardens and nature...

For me,however, no matter the weather or where I wander I view the world through a color wheel-even the quiet has depth and tones.

Spend some time on Design Seeds and I promise you will see everything around you in colorful new way!

Pillow Talk-John Robshaw

2012-01-07T09:09:00.001-05:00

“By producing my textiles abroad, I get to become a minor character in the lives of the people I work with, and I can take inspiration from what I see and do there. I go to their weddings, celebrate their festivals, I get sick with them, I develop relationships with the people who are teaching me. When you look at my textiles, its like you’ve been on the world tour along with me.” John Robshaw

I adore a room filled with fabulous pillows--Pillows as comfort we all know about but pillows as design and art can help define a room.

I first saw John Robshaw's fabrics at Calypso St. Barth and immediately wanted to pack my bags to discover the inspiration for the crisp colors and bold prints. It is John Robshaw's painted pillows, however, that I want to collect like jewels and toss on any drab chair or sofa I encounter.

The painted pillows are inspired by his travels to India and Asia, where he now produces his fabulous block print textiles, are just the type of pillow tosss I love. Each is pillow is handpainted in Jaipur on cotton linen fabric and no two are alike.

Hop on your favorite elephant and Come Visit A Well Appointed Life for more of John Robshaw's Pillow Talk.

Make it a Fashionable Start!

2012-01-02T00:15:00.000-05:00

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman

What a strange week the first week of the New Year is! You have to plug your brain back in from months of Holidaying and deal with all that you said would get done "After the Holidays". January means literally tossing the old year in the trash. I sent 2011 and all those days of appointments and meetings and the "everyday" into the recycle bin. With the 2011 datebooks and calendars gone so is another year of my life and I cannot help asking..."What did I do with all those 365 days I was given?" "What can I do with a fresh batch of days, how can this year be different?" Hitting the restart button on your life is the definition of the month of January. January itself doesn't help much! It is cold, it is bleak, it is snowing, it is icy ...The news can scare us back into our pajamas, and rather than a revolution in our life we just need a hug! How to balance the opportunity of the New Year with the inclination to stay under the covers??? Baby Steps! January can actually be useful, but you cannot ask too much of a month that is the month with the number 1 in front of it, so use these days to make an EASY transition...and try to do it with style!

I love calendar shopping...I often don't know what day of the week it is as schedules pile up and the blur begins but I can stop, breathe and look at it all one day at a time, week at a time, month by month and realize OK, I have my bearings-now move forward! Of course Calendars with Style are on my wall ---Come Visit The Shopping Bag Chronicles for Calendars that help slip into 2012 with a fashionably well dressed look at a whole new year! You have 365 days after all to get it right...Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T08:07:00.000-05:00

2011-12-24T20:50:00.004-05:00

It's the Thought That Counts-Really!!

2011-12-18T08:36:00.001-05:00

I know! I know! The clock is ticking...you cannot find a parking space...every store is out of wrapping paper and scotch tape...everything looks picked over and depressing...the check out line is out in the snowbanks...you cannot find the size you want... and you need an Advil! STOP...Close your eyes, and BREATHE! Now slowly open them and take a hard look at what you have in your hand and ask yourself 3 questions..."Do I like this?" " Would I want to receive this?" "Does this say Thank you...I Care...Happy Holidays, or does it just say I need to get this done"????...take a sec and give it some thought!

My philosophy about Gift Giving has always been ..."Think Before You Wrap!" It is easy in the Holiday crazies, especially as THE day gets closer, to "just do it", to buy ANYTHING to be done. I really do believe that it is better to give nothing, or to just send a card, than to give a mindless or useless gift that will end up in the bottom of a drawer or worse a trash bag...how wasteful and really how insulting. How do you feel when you open a thoughtless gift? STOP! SLOW DOWN! Sit Down...and THINK!

Now I can fill a shopping bag better than anyone,and I definitely get caught up in the "just one more gift" crazies or the "one for him, three for me" routine, but sometimes the care gets lost at the bottom of the bag. We live in an overly consumed consumer age...and clearly it has taken its toll, and we all are paying the price. I have found myself of late popping in and out of stores thinking "why is all this stuff here"...so much out there that is just "stuff". Where is the Wonderful? Where is the Beautiful? Where is the Special...?? If I see one more box of peppermint bark...well let's hope I don't!

Truly I am NOT saying Don't Shop... My Gosh! I would be put to bed if that ever happened! What I am saying is- Shop Smart, Shop Carefully, Shop with your Heart and your Head. Put some thought into it! Care about the money you are spending, and care about the gift you are giving! Come Visit The Shopping Bag Chronicles for some thoughtful tips on giving well! and be sure to Visit Redefine Christmas and Changing the Present and Wrap Up the Holidays in a better way!

Happy Birthday Jane! Still Waiting for My Captain to Return...Are you a Lizzie or an Emma?

2011-12-17T09:36:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Jane! 236 years of good reading!!

Since Persuasion, Emma and Pride and Prejudice are my favorite Austen reads it only makes sense that my results for this fun quiz was a mix...a high dose of Anne Elliot with her good sense, lots of dashes of Emma with her determined spirit and lovely frocks, and a cup or three of Elizabeth Bennett, so independently ahead of her time and who always spoke her mind!

Yes, I am still waiting for my Captain to return! but if Darcy or Mr. Knightly were to show up ...OK by me!...Which Austen Heroine are you??

Take the Quiz here!

Come On Cookie...Let's SWAP!

2011-12-10T09:35:00.000-05:00

A Little Sussy

Did you know that the broken off feet or arms of a Gingerbread Person have absolutely ZERO calories!! So NO Sad faces!

This week I started to gather my thoughts for Cookie Season. The first place I search is in one of my most beloved and dog eared recipe books. This book has spatters and splatters of batter and as I turn the pages poofs and puffs of flour and confectioner's sugar dust fly out at me. I even have to unstick some pages that are smeared with melted chocolate and have marked many of the pages with pieces of torn paper towel so I can find my recipes and clean up!

I have owned the original Wellesley Cookie Exchange Cookbook

forever and I would never part with it! Next to Nana's recipes this is my resource for all things Yummy this time of year---from rolled cookies to drops, icebox, thumbprints and tea breads. The Wellesley Cookie Exchange is perhaps one of the most famous Cookie Exchanges there is and my favorite Cookie Book...
Grab the Cookie Sheets and the confectioner's sugar and Come Visit Oven Mitts!

Send Me a Card!

2011-12-03T10:58:00.005-05:00

I live my life surgically attached to an email box. I think at last count I have 10 email addresses that actually get used everyday! I truly get dizzy hopping from one to the other,checking and emailing and deleting, and sometimes I forget which box I am in and why on earth I am there. A very strange life for someone who loves all things paper.

Art Institute of Chicago

I know! I know! We need to save our trees (there are wonderful cards on recycled paper by the way...) but I love getting REAL mail...knowing that someone cared enough to take the time to select a card and write me a note of hello, address the envelope, place a pretty stamp on it and send it off.

Receiving a card in your postal box is always a treat - romantic and nostalgic in this day of three letter texts. Yes, there are some fun and lovely e-cards available -I am a fan of Ojolie- but can you tie an e-card in a ribbon and keep it for years?? I still have the very first Birthday, Holiday and Valentine cards I ever received. I have cards from so many who are no longer with me but I will always have their notes and their love in an envelope forever, can't get that with an email!

Paper Source

I adore Holiday Card shopping and my favorite spots include Museum Shops...Whimsical, Creative, Elegant Letter Press, Artistic and always special. Don't forget to hop into Etsy and a new discovery Rifle Paper Co does it so well.

Love the Photo and Personalized Cards from Minted!

VIA: Paper Source, Etsy , Rifle Paper Co ,

Art Institute Chicago, MOMA Minted

The loveliest way to send a card this time of year is through the many many charitable organizations that offer Holiday Cards with proceeds supporting their cause -My favorite stop for charitable holiday card is Cards that Give

Visit for some wonderful greetings that Give Back!

Champagne Maker

VIA: Dana Farber/Jimmy Fund, The Humane Society, Parents Project Muscular Dystrophy, New York Public Library, Alexander Youth Network

Come Visit The Shopping Bag Chronicles and Pearls of Grace for Cards that say more than Season's Greetings...and send me a card!

Forget Black Friday-I have an Orange Crush!

2011-11-24T09:42:00.001-05:00

I am not inspired by a day called Black Friday--how much fun does that sound? Last year I focused the day on making it all about PINK- but this year...I have an Orange Crush!

This all may have started on a recent trip to Tuscany, the coast of Italy and Provence

Everywhere I turn now I Spy ORANGE and I love it--

I even had to cast it on the needles!!

and clearly I am not alone in my Orange Crush...

Kate Spade is celebrating color too!

I know we usually associate Orange with October and Halloween but as the days grow grey and the dark I need Color and you have to smile when you see a pop of Orange!

so come on let's give Black Friday an Orange Crush

The Art of the Stroll--Pausing in St Paul de Vence

2011-11-20T08:28:00.001-05:00

Enter by the walls

Follow the walkways

Take the stairs

Peek through doors, windows and around each corner...

Have an Artful day and leave your heart in St Paul de Vence!

Come for a Ride-Venice Awaits!

2011-11-12T08:19:00.001-05:00

First, find yourself a ride...

Now simply sit back...

Venice Awaits!-Come Visit The World at Your Feet

Embroidered Tales

2011-11-05T08:47:00.000-04:00

It may be a bit early for Holiday Wish Lists but when I saw the fabulous covers of Penguin Classics- Penguin Threads series I knew I wanted them on my shelves. For the debut of the Threads Series Penguin selected three of my favorite stories to re-release, Emma, The Secret Garden and Black Beauty.

In honor of Penguin Classic's 65th anniversary, Penguin's Art Director Paul Buckley commissioned artist and illustrator Jillian Tamaki to create these magical covers. Her whimsical illustrations would have been special enough but then she hand embroidered each one to fancifully express the tales that lie beneath each cover.

Created over just two months Jillian Tamaki's covers were printed and embossed all around and have french flaps-I love the surprise as you open the flap--the back of Jillian's embroidery!

The three covers are not only a joy for those who adore fiber art but they also capture each of the classic stories in such magical detail that even if you have read and re-read them a hundred times you will want to sit right down and crawl into the tales again.

"Collectors Edition" has become a publisher's overused marketing tool as they struggle to create attention and interest in "real" bound books, but in a world where books are supposedly becoming dinosaurs how wonderful to see that Penguin has celebrated print on paper in such a unique,sorry Kindle fans, and endearing way. I want them all!

Which Witch???

2011-10-30T11:47:00.000-04:00

Are you a Good Witch or a Bad Witch??

Well...we ALL have our moments don't we!!??

"A person should choose a costume

that contrasts her own personality."-

Lucy Van Pelt

Endora and Samantha

Too many Bad Hair Days! and my morning "Mirror Mirror on the Wall" go a long way toward confirming my next career-

Haunting Houses!

Alexander McQueen, Bergdorf Goodman

This Halloween I want to celebrate my favorite Good Witches---

... if I'm going to be a Witch I might as well look to a few role models who with a twitch of a nose,a wave of a wand or a ride on a vacuum cleaner ( like The Wednesday Witch) Make it Work!

Professor McGonagall

Samantha

Kim Hunter,Bell Book and Candle

Lena Horne, Glinda The Wiz


Wicked

Hermione,Harry Potter

Veronica Lake, I Married a Witch

So, if I must be a Witch then why not take a wand

from the Best Witches...

Best Witches to all!

I Have Never Relied on the Kindness of Strangers-Suddenly A Damsel in Distress

2011-10-23T12:49:00.001-04:00

I am fiercely independent. "I Can Do It Myself" has always been my rally cry. Frustrating for parents and teachers throughout my life no doubt, but I have always been determined to figure "it" out on my own and not ask for anyone's help-ever!!!!! I choke on the words actually if I have to say "Can you Help" This week,however, I found myself in a situation which required that I had to shout the H word and hope someone was listening--and you know what, I learned every so often it is OK to ask for help and to rely on the kindness of strangers.

While flying home from Europe I had a delayed flight in Rome which meant that I would not make my connection in Frankfurt to get home. No one in the Rome airport, amidst a mass of humanity, cared whether I got home or not but a lovely young man overheard me scrambling to make sense of the lack of information I was getting -as a "techie" he had multiple phones to get to our airline and try to get through the red tape... unfortunately we missed our connection, but my new friend Michael helped carry bags for my Mom and stayed with us as we went up and down stairs, on and off buses, and finally onto a plane that essentially was going nowhere for us. His company was so welcome and he single handily changed my view of a "cold cruel world".

Once in Frankfurt the movie "The Out of Towners" became reality as thousands of stranded passengers were trying to figure out exactly what was happening--what to do next??? In one of the many many many lines I was standing in- with people yelling in multiple languages- I met a girl who was trying to get to Rome for a romantic weekend with her boyfriend. As she stood in the line to nowhere her boyfriend was on his phone with the airline. She took me over to him to use his phone, as my global service decided that this was the moment to lose connection. I was on his phone for a good half hour---delaying them I am sure but their generosity was so kind and I so hope they made it to Rome and had the most wonderful weekend ever!

The woman on the phone at the airline could only suggest I stand in yet another line---I was through with lines and I just started wandering and hitting every counter I could for some direction, some answer--I was sent to the left, I was sent to the right, I was sent for miles through terminals, and I was done with all of it!. Finally, I stumbled upon the Special Needs Office at Lufthansa. In probably a pathetic whimpering voice I explained to the gentleman at the entrance that I was traveling with my Mom and could not drag her and our baggage another inch. He took me in and the process began to get us home. Several people worked to get us out of Germany as quickly as possible but the earliest flight was over 24 hours later. Not only don't I ask for help easily I also don't take "No" for an answer--ever! So I kept at them and eventually I got to a wonderful man who oddly enough was an ex-pat ---he spent 2 hours going from supervisor to supervisor to secure us a flight home earlier. He went out of his way to make sure we were comfortable and arranged for a hotel and sent us on our way with a sweet escort to the Taxis outside to take us to the hotel. Having never visited Germany I had no clue where we were, it was dark and cold, and after 18 hours of sort of traveling we arrived at the German version of Holiday Inn. There we found a warm welcome and the next morning we returned to the Frankfurt airport and were literally escorted through the maze of terminals, customs and security to our gate.

Alls well that ends well. Home safe and sound. I know so many travelers got through this every single day but for me this wasn't about a delayed or missed flight. It was about discovering that there are lovely people still in this world and sometimes you can rely on the kindness of strangers. Thank you one and all!!

Get a Boyfriend!-Borrowed from the Boys

2011-10-08T11:28:00.000-04:00

OK, your love life aside this Fall you need a Boyfriend---

Mario Testino

Yesterday morning the temps were frosty and for the first time this season I had to grab a sweater---I was late so I reached for an old baggy pullover and was reminded how much I love that 'Boyfriend" look.

Maybe it was Audrey in the crisp white men's shirt that started the classic style of borrowing from the boys but every college campus has a football game sweater that you have to envy--now the Guy sweater is all "dolled up"!

The "Sloppy Joe" Sweater is everywhere this year and I am loving the look that Stella McCartney does so well!

It seems everywhere I look on every page I turn there is another fabulous floppy comfy pullover borrowed straight from a boyfriend's closet but with a feminine sexy style...

Alexander Wang

Atlantic-Pacif

Classic, often elegant and always scrumptious with Super simple stitches and gorgeous yummy yarns-I have to have one!...so of course I am running for the needles! Maybe I can knit the Boyfriend too!!

Still "That" Girl!

2011-10-02T10:03:00.000-04:00

“‘That Girl’ threw a hand grenade into the bunker, and all the other female characters walked right through.” Bill Persky, co-creator That Girl

45 years later she is still “That Girl”-Ann Marie, the first “girl” on television to live on her own, in New York City no less, chasing her dream to be an actress and doing it with great style—never could figure out how she could afford such a fabulous wardrobe, but I know I wanted to be her one day—still do :)

In the rear view mirror Ann Marie was a little ditsy, and she did dream of an engagement ring from boyfriend Donald as much as she did a starring role, but she was full of enthusiasm and unwavering optimism about her life and her dreams. She always picked herself up and would never settle for ordinary. Before Ann no girl on television had her own place in a big city, let alone her own thoughts and opinions. I was a very little girl watching That Girl in reruns but I saw something different in Ann Marie.

No doubt I loved her clothes, and I had the That Girl Paper Doll books-there were That Girl dolls and McCalls dress patterns as well! Sure she had her share of "Lucy-esque" escapades but I worry about young girls finding role models that show them the "Yes I Can" image most girls need to help them believe in themselves and to pursue their own dreams. I don't see a lot of that on television, sure there are professional women portrayed but are they really people girls can look to for inspiration as I did with Ann Marie, Mary Tyler Moore and later Murphy Brown, Ally McBeal and Carrie Bradshaw? The original That Girl, Marlo Thomas sees reason to hope:

"...the young women watching today will not only be entertained by these "girls", they'll also think, "Hey, that's me!" Or, " Wow, that could be me!" And that is one of the best things television can do: give people a chance to see themselves transformed. And to let ideas and characters come from below the surface and say, "I am here! See me!"

Thank you Ann Marie for pushing open a door that let all those other characters take the screen and help so many girls think-"I can be her!"