It’s summer’s end and if we’re lucky our farm stands and gardens are full of tomatoes so ripe and full you can slit them with your fingernail. I defy you to tell me what’s better than one of those tomatoes sliced warm from the garden on two pieces of white bread with homemade mayonnaise and… Continue reading The Divine Tomato Sandwich With “Homemade” Mayonnaise (shhh… they’ll never know)
Month: August 2012
Edit Your Rooms, Calm Your Life. Really.
Anyone who’s ever even picked up a design magazine knows the edict: Edit, edit, edit. But rarely have I heard it so soulfully articulated as from lovely Houston designer Jane Moore in the September-October issue of Veranda. We both think it was the second time I’d interviewed her but we couldn’t be sure… I have… Continue reading Edit Your Rooms, Calm Your Life. Really.
Flowerful Aspen and People From Texas
I knew Aspen would be pretty in the summer but I was surprised by how pretty. There are flowers everywhere, spilling over sidewalks, billowing from containers, bordering lawns, bursting from window boxes. We nipped out here for a short while to catch up with my Cowboy’s good buds from all over and to have a… Continue reading Flowerful Aspen and People From Texas
Southern Episcopalians
Seeing how it’s Sunday, and in case you missed this t-shirt, or if you have no idea what this t-shirt means or why it is funny, you’ve come to the right place. We are traveling, so I missed church this morning. I had a Mexican omelette instead. It was close to a religious experience but not… Continue reading Southern Episcopalians
Designer Megan Yager on Chinoiserie Chic Blog
Let’s hear it for the local talent. So yesterday I get this email from my friend Mary (Dede) Wood, a talented designer here in the Santa Ynez Valley: Not bragging but my girl’s stuff is pretty darned good…XO Dede Well she is too bragging and well she should. Dede’s daughter Megan Yager lives in Texas now… Continue reading Designer Megan Yager on Chinoiserie Chic Blog
Always Do Right
“Always do right. This will gratify some and astonish the rest,” said Mark Twain, who needs no embellishment, and certainly not from me. If anybody has anything to add to this, though, we’d all be happy to hear it. Perhaps it is the arrival of four beautiful, strong, smart, wonderful young girls and their kin… Continue reading Always Do Right
Fabulous Rooms – the Green Room at Winfield House
As we say goodbye to the Olympics in London (and well done old chaps!), and pursuant to my modestly athletic post last week on Winfield House, the U.S. ambassador’s residence in London, here is more on its spectacular Green Room, a fabulous room if ever there was. When Hollywood decorator Billy Haines re-modeled Winfield under… Continue reading Fabulous Rooms – the Green Room at Winfield House
Luscious (and Easy) Lemon Pudding Cake
Cue Porgy and Bess! Now playing on Broadway in a Tony-winning revival! Summertiiime … and the lemon is eeeeeasy… Not exactly how the lyric goes, but I have been waiting all my life to write that. Okay all morning. This Lemon Pudding Cake is as classic and certainly as old as the beloved Gershwin tune.… Continue reading Luscious (and Easy) Lemon Pudding Cake
Winfield House in London – The US Ambassador’s Residence
Are you still watching? How about that little Gabby Douglas? And Kayla Harrison? And Michael Phelps? I’ve never needed a reason to be proud of my country, but these young American athletes are sure making it easy. Elsewhere in London, the U. S. ambassador to the Court of St. James does us proud in the… Continue reading Winfield House in London – The US Ambassador’s Residence
How to Buckle a Seatbelt
Once I was on a plane late at night and the punchy flight attendant said, “…and for those of you who have not been in an automobile since 1965, here’s how you buckle a seat belt.” On Virgin America, which I’m on right this minute on the way back to California, the pre-recorded announcement says,… Continue reading How to Buckle a Seatbelt