June 22, 2010
June 16, 2010
Beachy Orchids
The elegance of orchids and the laid back casualness of the beach seems, at first, like an odd pairing. At Topiaire in Southampton last week, they perfectly paired rustic beach signs with an abbondanza of orchids.
Conrad the man/boy left for three weeks of sailing in the Caribbean. We shopped for the perfect board shorts for weeks. Unfortunately, I didn’t discover these until yesterday. I wonder if he would wear these amazing beachy-chic board shorts from Shortomatic?
I found Shortomatic via Style.com and think it’s the most brilliant concept. Upload your own graphics and design your own board shorts. A wonderful spin on my love of all things personalized. The shorts come in sizes to fit both men and women. For the effort, I don’t think that any design I could come up with would please me more than these white and hot pink shorts emblazoned with variegated phalaenopsis.
The beach + orchids = my new favorite flavor!
June 14, 2010
Steven and Jack
I was travelling all last week. It was my favorite sort of big, adventurous road trip and for those of you who know me, it’s not uncommon. The original travel plan was to take me to New York City and then on to Boston. All business, mind you. However, I’m easily lured by temptation and while I was in New York I received and accepted an invitation to Southampton for a little fun with friends. Boston, you will just have to wait.
On Saturday, when it was time to head for Chicago, the day dawned perfectly bathed in brilliant sunshine. I have the most amazing adventures when left to wander as I please, and thus, decided to take the long way home. My first stop was a Jack Rogers trunk show in Sag Harbor to see my friend Steven Stolman.
Sag Harbor exudes pure Americana, and Sylvester & Company is perfectly suited to the locale and to hosting a trunk show. Located on Main Street and billing itself as a contemporary general store, it offers home furnishings and houses a wonderful coffee bar that serves up thier their own special “Dreamy Coffee”. Steven contends that if you haven’t tasted Dreamy Coffee, you really haven’t tasted coffee at all and I concur.
Exquisite chocolates in the goodie case called to me with their siren’s song but I resisted.
Steven and I met at a private sale in Boston years ago. The sale itself wasn’t much to talk about but the friendship I fell into there certainly is. Steven Stolman beacame the first, and still the best, retail customer that QoC ever had. Six years later, I am lucky to count this extremely talented man amongst my friends. He is generous, gracious and is the embodiment of sprezzatura. So, when I saw that invitation announcing the Sag Harbor trunk show, I knew where the road would take me.
Steven is now the Creative Director for Jack Rogers. Who could better update the look of Palm Beach chic that brands this label? Not another soul, really. And he has done a stellar job. The line is true to it’s original DNA but completely modern and elegantly simple. I’m crazy for the guipure lace tunics that incorporate the signature JR roundel. When is the next cutting, Steven? I’ll take two — black and white, please.
I have been wearing Jack Rogers classic sandals since high school but everything was so fresh and great looking that I couldn’t help by a pair (or two, or three). You can find these shoes on www.jackrogersusa.com and the bedazzled style at www.saks.com
I bought these
And these (in white)
and these
May 21, 2010
This Brand Has Gone To The Dogs
On Tuesday, while strolling along the Rue St-Honoré in Paris, I came across Goyard. The brand has maintained shops there for-absolutely-ever. I remember them from my first forays into Parisian shopping. I was about 14 at the time. This was well before the Barney’s and Bergdorf fueled renaissance which brushed the dust off their stodgy image and raised the glam factor significantly.
There are two Goyard shops. You can see the main store in the reflection of the glass storefront of #352.
The sign on the facade of #352 lets you know it’s distinctive from the mothership across the street.
The entire first floor is dedicated to canine follies and indulgences — le chic du chien. And you know how I feel about my petite follie, LouLou, ne c’est pas?
There were custom collars galore. All bespoke and personalized according to the master’s taste and inclination.
There were doggy travel bowls made portable in Goyard signature cases. Perfect for our Queen of Cashmere road trips.
There were custom dog carriers which in my universe is referred to as a ”sneaky-bag”. My current bag just isn’t cutting it. LouLou and I have been discovered many a time and been thrown out of the very best of places. All Goyard dog carriers can be made to order and completely customzied which means the sneak-quotient can be upped considerably. Embarrassing removals could become a thing of the past.
Below is Joseph who offered to make a harness to fit LouLou if I sent him one of hers for sizing. He is extremely charming and accommodating. Anything for LouLou that my heart might desire can be had. 
Later, The Consort asked, ” How much was a harness?” He hates it when I don’t ask the price of anything. In his eyes, it’s my gravest failing. I promised to work harder at reform in the future.
May 18, 2010
Ciel Bleu
Tonight, over dinner at Le Divellac to celebrate The Consort’s birthday, I’m going to try my best to persuade him to stay in Paris just one more day.
Oh, volcano, where are you when I need you?
May 14, 2010
Word Of The Day: Bucolic
From Merriam Webster
Pronunciation: \byü-ˈkä-lik
Function: adjective
Date: circa 1609
1 : of or relating to shepherds or herdsmen : pastoral
2 a : relating to or typical of rural life b : idyllic
2 a : relating to or typical of rural life b : idyllic
Allow me to illustrate:
February 9, 2010
Lotto Fantasy- Snow Day Dreaming
It’s another monster snow day here in Chicago. The forecasters have said this is going to be an “extended duration event”.
Once again, I’m dreaming of a snowy escape. It’s not the snow coming down on the salty street in front of my apartment which I can see through winter-grime laden windowpanes. Unfortunately, Daniel, the window washer who boldly hangs on hooks outside the building, wont be back on call until April.
I’m dreaming of heavy pristine snow. Colorado snow in the kind of setting that makes one sigh and think that they really are a winter person after all. In the kind of place that makes one wish for dinners for two (or twelve) before a roaring fire.
While I was in Beaver Creek two weeks ago, I picked up the Real Estate Update a big, luxe glossy aimed at making you covetous of the good life. Instead of reading the newspaper at breakfast, we perused the real estate listings.
Of course, Conrad the man/boy picked out the houses in the $12-13 million price range. Like this one with the Gothic, red foyer whose interior architecture literally screamed my name.
I don’t think that Conrad realizes homes like that need a staff including a major domo. My son is a lot like my father, a man of impeccable taste who always had the nicest house on the street, the newest luxury car and the biggest boat at the dock. Ernie lived large and Conrad is a lot like him. Let’s hope he finds a way to fulfill his grandest desires and take care of his loving parents in their old age!
On the other hand, I am a bit more realistic even in the fantasy arena. However, I’d still need to win the lottery to make my downscaled dream come true. Now I do know of several people who have actually won a lottery jackpot. One couple held the single winning ticket for a $40 million landfall that netted them $18million. Nice, huh?
Tonight the Illinois Mega Millions jackpot is $32 Mil. That would be sufficient, thank you very much. As I write this, Rom has been sent to the store for some snow day provisions and a winning lottery ticket.
I always say that the fantasy of spending the winnings is well worth the dollar price tag of a ticket. This is my dream for this week. How perfect is this charming chalet? And I might add it’s a comparable deal for a mere $2,850,000.
The interiors would need a little tarting up though. Inside it was all so brown making every room look like the furniture aisle at Costco. Obviously, the owners didn’t spend much time drooling over the design blogs or paging through the shelter magazines. The things I could do. Oh, another cool million would cover it.
If you came into a $32 million jackpot, where would you go? This is an exercise in fantasy so cut loose. Have fun.
It’s only a buck to dream big.
February 2, 2010
Snow Day Delight
It isn’t always possible to pack your bags and run to the other side of the world for a soul recalibration as I did in 2007. This year, a three day break was all that our schedule would allow.
Conrad the man/boy finished his semester finals and deserved a little fun. He loves to snowboard so we packed up and headed out toward the Rockies. Our destination? Beaver Creek where the motto is “Not Exactly Roughing It”.
We stayed at the Park Hyatt where the wilderness has been utterly tamed. There is a great spa, an amazing restaurant and almost anything else one could wish for. S’mores Happy Hour at the fire pit, anyone?
I do ski but a physical ailment precluded me from taking to the slopes this year. Admittedly, as my husband and son headed out without me, I cried a little. To miss skiing with them just seemed a bit cruel. However, I’m never one to be waylaid for very long.
Quiet and pristine wilderness was what I craved and a small dose would do it. So I booked a guide, headed out of town to the Tennesee Pass and strapped on my snowshoes where the pristine trails went for miles.
My guide Pam and I enjoyed the quiet, shared some wonderful Rooibos tea with lavender honey and paused long enough for discussions about ayurvedic healing and panchakarma. It seemed like we were a million miles from civilization. In the couple hours that we were out, we saw only a few other people on cross country skis and snowshoes.
If my entire winter could be like this, who needs spring?
January 28, 2010
Winter Runaway
I’m a city gal born and raised. Although I love Chicago, the city in winter is a harsh picture rendered in salty black-and-white. It grinds on even the hardiest of souls. Around this time of year, I long for a getaway as far from the big city as I can get.
Right on cue, three years ago at the end of January, I decided to bolt. Craving an experience that would be life altering, therapeutic and authentic, I found myself an ayurvedic clinic on a hilltop in Tamil Nadu. Yes, India. I wired almost $4000 to a retreat that I hoped would really be there when I got to the end of the road. My husband, always the skeptic, was aghast.
One week after I had found the retreat online, and two days after I kissed my family goodbye at O’Hare, I climbed out of a 4×4 in the middle of the a chilly, starry Indian night. My leap of faith began to pay off in spades.
The retreat, set in the middle of the rolling tea plantations of Coonoor, was made up of round buildings. This architecture corrals the positive energy and keeps in within the retreat. Looking down the path from the yoga studio toward the center of the retreat you can see the tea bushes that paved almost every hillside for miles. Let me say now that this was not a a five star, western-style spa. Far from it. Thankfully.
We were awakened every morning at 6 am for our ayurvedic tonics and the first of our three daily yoga classes began thirty minutes later. Sun salutations were begun just as birdsong announced the sunrise over the mountains. The retreat is perched on a mountainside 6,000 ft above sea level so mornings were cold and the yoga studio was heated by 2 wood-burning fireplaces.
The kitchen was completely vegetarian. We all gathered in the garden for breakfast which was my favorite meal – the organic fruit came from the retreat’s farm and was accented by healing coconut chutney. I’ve dined in some of the finest restaurants in the world but nothing tops the memories of this. I also lost 20 lbs in a month!
Neela, Vimli and Lali administered my treatments. Billed as healing “massage” (oft times that was a misnomer) the treatments involved a lot of oil while being laid out on the teak table called a droni and abandoning your modesty for a muslin loincloth. Chanting in Hindi emanated from the box on the wall. Ohhhmmm, shalla walla, ohhhhmmm.
The steam pump you can see in the lower right hand corner attached to a sweat-box. Almost comically, you sat in it with your head sticking out while they increased the heat until you couldn’t stand it any longer. Many times, the best part of the treatments were when they were over!
During the day, between the yoga the aryurveda treatments, we would hike through the hills, feed the local monkeys the kitchen’s leftovers or read books in the garden. The month I spent at the retreat was idyllic, mind expanding and life changing. In a quest for that same sense of peace and well-being, I would go back in a heartbeat but think that my impulsive journey is beyond replication. The constraints of my current western life and responsibilities make a return trip but a dream.
Namaste.
Next post: Small dose. What to do when a voyage to the other side of the earth isn’t possible.
January 26, 2010
Personal Rx For Winter Survival
This post started out to be about my winter survival kit featuring the products that I use to beat back the ravages of a harsh Chicago winter. My current obsession, and part of the formula, is a line of handmade, Italian products which happen to smell like cucumber. Light, fresh and hydrating. Ahhhh.
photo Leonardo Martins
Two key products of my winter remedy are a body cream and companion spray oil that are created at a charmingly romantic, 250 year old villa in Italy. The line is so obscure that I couldn’t find images online so I called the Italian offices.
via Ben on Flickr
Allora, the exclusive US distribution rights are held by a company big enough to be a household name. Yes, you would definitely know the corporation.
My US contact was a woman named Mia C. Our conversation went like this:
- Mia C.: “No, we don’t have images. I can send you some product and you can take your own pictures.”
- Me: “Great! That’s so nice. After I take the pictures, I will use the products for a giveaway on my blog.”
- Mia C.: “No, you can’t do that.”
I’m a little slow on the uptake. Mind you, I wasn’t soliciting a freebie, what I was really in search of were images and I crawled the internet and called from Italy to Arizona to find some. I wanted to tell the world (my little slice of the blog world, at least) about their products. And the bounty of a freebie? That was going to be passed on to my followers. It took me a minute but this BIG national company wanted me to return the two bottles of moisturizer after I photographed them, gave them free buzz and told my readership where to buy.
Does this strike you as mean and stingy? Yeah, me too. Cut the music and bring up the lights — ZERO blog love for them.
And then I got to thinking…
Let’s be honest. I use different products in the winter but I don’t use them to get me through the winter. Instead, my M.O. is to run away in search of a life changing experience. Every year, it happens. The itch. The urge. Like clockwork, it starts around Christmas and reaches a crescendo every February. Sometimes, like last weekend, the cure is short and sweet. Sometimes, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime, other-side-of-the-world adventure.
So, tomorrow, the first in a three part series: Coping with Winter Caron-style.