We all know how One Little Thing can change our lives, but making it happen means practicing it. Daily, every day. “Did I mention daily? Or so asked a fellow named Jerry Posner, whom I heard speak a few days ago at Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires. Boy am I […]
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An Easy, Elegant Seating Plan You Can Make in an Hour
Seating plans, like most forms of etiquette, have their origins in thoughtfulness and practicality. If it is a large seated affair it’s terrible for a guest to be lurching around the room in desperate search of his place card. If it is a smaller party – even for 8 or […]
The Perils and Pleasures of Thanksgiving Decorating
Doing something for the first time can be daunting, even if it’s something you know how to do. This is as true in decorating and entertaining as in anything. I will never forget the feeling near terror as I faced decorating the great room at Rancho La Zaca last year […]
(Last) Postcard From Havana-Part 4: Sketchbook
Here is one last look at Cuba, in my simple, scribbled drawings. If you said your 5-year-old could do this, you’d be correct. It doesn’t worry this “artist” (liberal use of the term) in the least. For years I have kept little sketchbooks of my travels and I find they […]
Postcard From Havana-Part 3: Vicente Wolf and Hemingway’s House
One of the most memorable meals of my life was with a small group of friends years ago at the restaurant Georges, atop the Beaubourg (Centre Pompidou) in Paris. It lasted from 2 until 7 – or was it 1 until 8? – and went through I don’t know how […]
Postcard From Havana-Part 2: Vicente Wolf Weighs in
It occurred to me I really should speak to renowned Cuban-born New York designer Vicente Wolf about Cuba – how it has influenced him as a designer and how Cuba has inspired him. Graciously he obliged. His answers, which might have surprised me before I went there myself last week, […]
Postcard From Havana
Am just back to the ranch with jet lag and a cold, but what a fascinating four days we spent in Havana, frayed and falling apart as she is. The people are friendly and warm, and the vibe is energetic and lively. There’s a burgeoning contemporary art scene, and the […]
Great Gift Ideas, Personal, Practical, and Pretty
NEW YORK-On-the-ball go-getter that you are, you’ve already made your Christmas list and have started shopping. I’m always in the hunt for gifts that are both personal and practical. But finding them ain’t easy, and you do need to start early. Here you go… I had lunch at Doubles the […]
A Sauce That Will Rock Your World
As promised, a beautiful green sauce of herbs, capers and olive oil that will rock your world. It could also profoundly enhance your Thanksgiving – or at least your Thanksgiving leftovers – and it’s certainly not too soon to think that. Good gracious, here it is November already! First referenced […]
The Ultimate Status Pumpkin
Not quite meant for Madison Avenue but but can’t help grinning at my friend designer Tom Samet’s take on the ultimate status… pumpkin. Meanwhile, cruising through The Daily Beast yesterday I was stopped in my tracks by some other pumpkin carvings, those by artist Ray Villafane. The Beast says the […]
Weekend in the Country
MILLBROOK, NY-Wow, talk about timing. It’s a good thing our 2nd Annual Duck Shoot and Lunch was last weekend and not this slushy old messy one. And what a beautiful weekend it was. Spending time with friends; stomping around the countryside in all its autumn glory; shooting some ducks (which […]
Katie Ridder’s ROOMS
Katie Ridder’s new book ROOMS, is just out. If you want a breath of fresh design air, be sure you get this one. Funny I say “breath,” because that is one of the things about Katie’s work you aren’t conscious of…until you are: Her rooms breathe. It isn’t that they’re […]