We're Havin' a Heat Wave...

Our brief and wonderful fall-like weather has left us and will return soon enough. I loved her visit and welcome her back in the very near future. The cashmere cardi and jeans have been put back upon the closet shelves... Baby it's hot out there! And summer is back...

Thinking cool thoughts...

Unleash your inner child!

Seek shelter from the sun...

Care to join me for a dip?

Or would you prefer a refreshing cool glass of something sweet?

If all else fails you can always try this!
Bottoms up!

Saying So Long to Summer....

Let's get this party started!

Ooooh that's a long way down!

Make a wish!!!

hAPpY BiRtHDaY gIRls!

I, on Design...

Laura Ashley Interiors

In the late 1980s I became an interior designer of sorts. First at prep school in the UK and then at college in Boston. When I lived at home I lived in the home that my mother owned and designed. She has a fabulous sense of style (which I would like to think I inherited!) and I had a wonderful, dreamlike childhood bedroom. On the 9th floor, my bedroom was in the back of the building (no views of Central Park pour moi!) and the sun shone in all day long. Each wall was painted a different pastel color, yellow, pink, lavender and green. The ceiling, of course was painted a pastel blue. I had two high four poster beds which were dressed in a large checked pattern that was carefully and painstakingly chosen. It pulled all the colors of my walls on to the print. I had a white bamboo-trimmed dresser and a white wicker love seat and coffee table. My childhood bedroom was a little girl's dream. Sometimes I pretended that I lived in a dollhouse and sometimes I pretended that I lived in a large multi-colored block.

As I entered my pre-teen years I told my mother that I wanted to redo my room. We were in the midst of the wild and crazy 80s. Big hair, Disco, glitter and rainbows were tres en vogue with my age group. I had envisioned a large rainbow stripe painted horizontally across all of my walls. It would be bright and bold and so not baby-ish. My mother, having spent all of adult life establishing her career and making a name for herself in public relations in the art world was pretty understandable to my needing to express my creative needs. She was totally on-board with my Rainbow Project. Until the very last minute when I decided to change my mind. Back out. Chicken out. It wasn't so much that I was afraid of change, but that I really, really did love my pretty room. I had grown sentimental over it over the weeks. In the end I had my room repainted. It was nothing big or bold or brash like the 80s. It was simple and calm... tranquil... even if not a little boring. I picked a pretty sunshine yellow. It was a very happy color. Yet as soon as the walls were all covered, I really did miss my childhood bedroom. Admittedly I was sad. I thought I had made a huge mistake. I never said anything though.

A few years later I would be in prep school and I would be able to choose my duvets and sheets and pillow cases and all the wonderful posters that I would be allowed to hang on my walls. Finally! I was not allowed to hang "junk" of any kind at home in New York!

It was during this time that I discovered and fell in love with all things Laura Ashley. Princess Diana wore the big, pouffy, flouncy and frilly dresses all the time. (This was years before she discovered haute couture!) I loved these dresses too. Large floral prints, over-sized collars, sailor tops. They weren't the most flattering dresses but we loved them nonetheless!

In college, in September of my Freshman year I would meet the tall, beautiful blond girl that would soon become one of my best friends over the next few years. We were registering for our courses. She was the preppiest thing in a sea of  very preppy girls. We talked a bit and introduced ourselves. Her name, she told me, was Laura Ashley!

I was also happy to discover the Laura Ashley store in the nearby Chestnut Hill Mall. We all went mad there. We bought what would be our bedding for the next four years. I mixed and matched mine. I remember loving the Emma pattern the best. Like her dresses, the Laura Ashley bedding was frilly, flouncy and very floral.


After I graduated my tastes changed. I was looking to furnish my apartments to reflect my more mature and sophisticated self. (Yes, all at 21!) Influenced by my mother and her mother, La Jolie Grandmere, my tastes became more simple and stream-lined. There was no more need for frou-frou in my life. My not-so-flattering Luara Ahsley dresses made way for suits and other, more appropriate, business attire. Laura Ashley passed away and I didn't much like what happened to her products or her company.

So fast forward about 20 years and I see this ad as I'm flipping through Real Simple Magazine.

Laura Ashley Ad Campaign, Real Simple Magazine

 The ad caught my eye and I had to find out more!

Photo Courtesy Laura Ashley

 How Dramatic... I love it!

Photo Courtesy Laura Ashley

Photo Courtesy Laura Ashley

Photo Courtesy Laura Ashley

Photo Courtesy Laura Ashley

Photo Courtesy Laura Ashley

Photo Courtesy Laura Ashley

Photo Courtesy Laura Ashley

Photo Courtesy Laura Ashley

 I loved what I saw! There is a hint of the old Laura Ashley and a definite familiarity. But it seems that the frill and frou-frou of years past have made way for simple, sophisticated, classic certainly, and dare I even say a little bit edgy? Laura Ashley edgy? I might say!

I love the clean and crisp lines. The classic traditional English pieces have been updated and modernized. I love the classic look against some of the more modern tones and hues of the rooms and the bright modern fabrics are fun, flirty and yet when pulled together as they have been, have an understated elegance. Laura Ashley seems as comfortable in the middle of LA as she does in the English countryside.

Do you like the new look of Laura Ashley click here to view their catalog?

Dishing it Out: Transitioning Your Table from Summer to Fall

I was perusing the web looking for inspiration for a blog post. I hopped over to one of my favorite websites, ElleDecor to see if there was something that might inspire me. I have been talking, and thinking, a lot about fall. We have had a few lovely cool and rainy days that allowed me to temporarily pull out the denim and cashmere. How nice it felt to slip into a pair of soft and faded jeans that hugged my body and curves in just the right places. How nice that soft sweater felt! Shortly we will be transitioning our wardrobes to reflect the colors and temperatures of fall. I will do the same with my home. (Lilly Lemontree and Housewife Bliss will be my guests here shortly with there expertise and exceptionally wise ideas.)

Today our New England temperatures will rise a bit. We'll not be sweltering like our sisters in the South or in Texas, but we'll don our shifts and sundresses again. As my wardrobe needs to transition seamlessly from summer to fall, so should my home. Bright citruses and pastels seem oddly out of place as we approach September.

My initial thought was the color orange. As many of you know, and I have written about my love affair with orange in the past, I am passionate about this color. Orange, and it's many hues, seems to be the perfect color to transition us from the hot summer sun to the cool, crisp autumn breezes.

This was the color scheme I had in mind.

Really, is this not the perfect fall palette?

And so I started scouring the internet for ideas as to how to perfectly transition my dining room and dining room table...

I saw this plate and thought, how perfectly autumn! (From 101 Plates, Sunset Blvd.) This plate has that above-mentioned color scheme that I so love and I think is so perfect for this time of year.

So I perused the web some more, stopping here and there at the Hermes website to oggle and drool a bit. Oh what fun I had! How sad to have the tastes of a billionaire and yet no income!

This setting could transition seamlessly from Spring to Summer to Fall... 

I'd love to have you all over for dinner. I will bring out my finest china for you!

We will begin with a light, warm soup from this elegant terrine along with a perfect crisp and crunchy baguette. Immediately after...

We will go ahead and enjoy a nice salad. I'll have picked some fresh arugula from the farm down the road coated lightly with a dressing made with oil and lemon and some freshly shaved Parmesan to grace the peaks.

And then dinner. We'll have perfectly roasted cage-free, grass-fed hens served with fingerling potatoes lightly sauteed in fresh herbs, garlic and sprinkled with just the right amount of sea salt. I'll serve my famous roasted Brussels sprouts. Please do not turn up your nose until you have had them! I cook them to perfection. Lightly coated in olive oil, salt and pepper, I roast them until they turn brown, slightly crunchy and deliciously sweet. You'll ask for a second helping!

After dinner, you will have to make room.

I'll bring out these smashing teacups. Since I am dreaming I won't have minded paying close to $350 a pair! I will fill them with a nice strong espresso for your pleasure.

And then I will complete our gastronomic adventure with the most wonderful apple pie around! It won't be homemade, though mine is quite excellent, I am told. It will hail from another farm about a mile down the road. And while I am there picking up their scrumptious apple pie I will decide, on a whim, to pick up the most amazing boutique vanilla ice cream showcased in their freezer. There is no other quite like it! 

After dinner has been served I will carefully slide the apple pie from it's tin container onto the beautiful plate above... On second thought, no I wouldn't. I couldn't bear to cover up that beauty and dirty it with crumbs and ooey-gooey apple pie stickiness. No, that is quite something I could never do. Instead I would hang it on my wall so that all could enjoy the view!

I would be lying if I didn't tell you I got a little distracted along the way. With my little eyes I spied the perfect fall accessory for my family room... It would look lovely hanging over the rich chocolate leather couches... It would look even lovelier hanging over my shoulders!

In the corner, over by the fire place, I'll hear my cell phone ring. I left it in my bag. I reach into my absolute most favorite bag and retrieve the phone and listen to the message. My good friend wants me to join her and some other girlfriends for a glass of wine. Can I go? I jump up, fold my blanket back up and head upstairs to freshen up, brush my hair and put on my jewelry.

The watch is the perfect fall accessory. Looks wonderful with my camel-colored cashmere cardigan, faded denim jeans, and the orange bag, of course!

Before I leave, I quickly toss my Hermes Leica camera into my purse. You never know when a picture needs to be taken!

I'm just about done with my post and my wonderful reverie when my eye catches sight of this wonderful and perfectly fall place setting... I could let my imagination go on and on and on but decide not to.

And what sparked this delightful reverie in the first place?

This place setting...

Right from the ElleDecor website.

This easy and elegant table setting comes from no other than JCPenny!
For just $45 The 16-piece place setting won't break your bank account either.

With many thanks to Hermes in letting me indulge in a little daydream!
And Alice, you were in my thoughts the entire time I wrote this! XOXO