Soooooo excited to be shooting with @deborahllewellyn for California Cooking with Southern Style, my next book, with recipes by @chefstephvalentine This photo is a template for a menu page, and I just love it. Book due out next year from @skyhorsepub Will keep you posted… .
#rancholazaca #californiacookingwithsouthernstyle #californiacookingandsouthernstyle #santaynezvalley

Just a pretty moment. I love having flowers—even a few humble zinnias—on the center table in our great room because the light from the skylight catches them just so at certain times of day and it catches the eye from clear down the hall and is just the loveliest little surprise. Begining hectic but fun week of photo shoots, and it’s good to have these little reminders to stop and breathe. .
#rancholazaca #prettylight #zinnia #zinnias

Just when you’re about to lose hope of manners, and gratitude and graciousness… I came back home to the ranch last week to a barage of thank you notes, including, inexplicably, a handpainted whale. But then 4-year-old granddaughters do not require explanation. And all these notes were not for the same thing—it was this house guest, that dinner, this gift. These tokens of thanks were great gifts in themselves, and the power of gratitude—and manners—never ceases to amaze. It is a reminder, too, on this Labor Day, to say thank you whenever we can, and to be mindful of its joy when it is least expected. Thank you @djpipertini1016 @abdittmer @briecromer @rosestoryfarm @ajrhoda @benbourgeois

Moving in day for NYU freshman! So proud of our baby Dorothy Isabel! Her terrific mom and credit card I mean dad at left. Blessed with perfect weather and miraculously no snafus (that a quick trip to Bed Bath & Beyond wont fix anyway). #nyu #nyustern #rockstar @duvallfuqua

Beautiful light in New York in these waning days of summer. #stpatrickscathedral #lebleu #newyorkcity #streetscape #dusk

Aretha Franklin #queenofsoul thank you for sharing your amazing gifts with the world, and for being a symbol of strength and inspiration to women everywhere. What an enormous treat it was to see her years ago in NYC in a private performance for a friend’s birthday. She rocked it like she always did. Rest in peace, #naturalwoman #respect 1960s era Photo via @entertainmentweekly

A snippet of last night’s recital featuring budding stars #GeoffreyHahn and #DorothyGal accompanied by the incomparable #JohnChurchwell @stmarksinthevalley Such a special evening! And Geoffrey is the son of my darlin’ fabulous friend @rosestoryfarm

Dinner after the recital… omg did not sit down until 9-something. This is like 3 in the morning in the Valley…like New York time! people said. And yet we managed… wonderful night celebrating wonderful talent. .
#rancholazaca

Posies for the powder room, courtesy @rosestoryfarm … .
#roses #rosestoryfarm #bouquet #rancholazaca

This beauty – a 1962 Lincoln Continental (I think) – was parked at Rancho la Zaca today for the annual meeting of the Feliz Noche Wine Club. Im not really a car person, as you may have surmised, but this one was a show stopper that also brought back happy memories of the navy/white version my uncle had, and sadly the assasination of President Kennedy, who was riding in this same model car in the fateful Dallas parade. .
#rancholazaca #lincolncontinental #lincolnconvertible #1962lincolncontinental

Zinnia time… weekend flowers… company coming to #Rancholazaca .
#bouquets #flowerarrangement #zinnias #dahlias #summerflowers

The simplest centerpiece… a few friends for dinner… #californiacookingandsouthernstyle #rancholazaca #santaynez #losolivos #dinneralfresco