“I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” but 1st…

Article Posted on Monday, December 12th, 2011 at 9:00 am

:: Listen ::

Every year we decorate our tree while watching one of 2 movies: White Christmas or Holiday Inn. This year, I had to replace both DVD’s (I’m really thinking about never loaning anything out ever again.) and totally lucked out with footage we’ve never seen before of White Christmas! New or original cut, you can’t go wrong with either movie. Also, as a side note, I’d *love* everything Rosemary Clooney wears for Christmas please!

:: Read ::

One of my very *favorite* finds when it comes to Christmas books. Niall Edworthy’s The Curious World of Christmas is just a book I picked up solely based on the cute cover a few years ago and now find myself re-reading the quirky facts and stories of Christmas past again and again. It’s very amusing and makes a fun little coffee table read.

:: Dress ::

This time of year you should never be without that *perfect* shade of ruby lips. I am a huge fan of Mac because it stays on so well and feels great. My color? Russian Red with Brick liner!

:: Live ::

Get out of town! We are so excited to be heading to Chicago this week and the timing couldn’t be more perfect! Feeling a bit overwhelmed with buying gifts, sending cards and visiting family. Why not take a quick jaunt to your favorite city? Booking last minute, we found an *amazing* deal on tickets and a hotel this time around so how could we pass up the opportunity to take a quick escape?

Mid-Week Random Links

Article Posted on Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 at 1:23 pm

Hello & Happy Wednesday to you and yours! Today I thought I’d share a few things that have been capturing my interest around the interwebs lately. Hope you enjoy!

1.) This article in the New York Times offers a fascinating question. How much “authenticity” is too much? How should art meet the consumer? What does it mean when everything becomes handmade and nothing is left to just be?

2.) I could not be more excited about this collaboration between one of my favorite food journalists: Michael Pollan and one of my favorite illustrators: Maira Kalman. They have offered a brand new, illustrated and updated version of Food Rules, a book which I have shared with friends and family since the first edition came out. My favorite new food rule? “Place a bouquet of flowers on the table, and everything will taste twice as good!”–a Southern Belle rule if there ever was one!

3.) Are you in the market to buy a house? For a mere $3.75mil, you can live like Jenna Lyons! Do you think if I add this to my Amazon wishlist someone will buy it for me? This Belle is ready to relocate to the big city, and I think this may be just the way to do it! (P.S. Alaina Kaczmarski has some really interesting angles of the house posted on her blog that I’d never seen before. I also had no idea how large it is… 7 bedrooms and a terrace off the master?! My goodness!)

4.) Husband and I are huge fans of Charles and Ray Eames, and now I just can’t wait to see this documentary due out later this month…

5.) It is no secret that I am a huge fan of Martha, and I found this interview she did with Google fascinating.

Happy 111th, Margaret!

Article Posted on Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 at 11:20 am

Today marks the 111th ‘birth anniversary’ (as they’d say on NPR) of authoress Margaret Mitchell, a sacred day for Belles everywhere. Not only was Ms. Mitchell responsible in many ways for shaping the picture in many minds of what the quintessential Southern Belle was during the era of the Old South, but she was also quite the scandalous, Southern heroine herself. Leaving college after her mother’s death to take care of the house, taking a job as a journalist in a time when that just wasn’t ‘done,’ performing a sensual European dance at a charity ball to cause a stir among Atlanta society, and separating from her 1st husband after a matter of months only to marry his best man a few years later… things like that may seem commonplace in an era of The Real Housewives of Atlanta but not during Mitchell’s day! And to think she did all of that and won a Pulitzer Prize to boot! To this day, Gone with the Wind remains one of the best-selling novels of all time selling 30 million copies at last count. If you haven’t read it before, perhaps you should this month in honor of Ms. Mitchell! Or, at the very least, watch the beautiful film adaptation…

A *little* Happy Birthday Tribute

Article Posted on Wednesday, October 5th, 2011 at 10:15 pm

Do you know what today is? It’s the 50th birthday of the release of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. It’s such a beautiful film that I couldn’t resist a little post. Think of it as a little, virtual birthday card…

No. The blues are because you’re getting fat and maybe it’s been raining too long, you’re just sad that’s all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you’re afraid and you don’t know what you’re afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling? … Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany’s. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that’d make me feel like Tiffany’s, then – then I’d buy some furniture and give the cat a name!

. . . . .

You could always tell what kind of a person a man thinks you are by the earrings he gives you. I must say, the mind reels.

. . . . .

I don’t want to own anything until I find a place where me and things go together. I’m not sure where that is but I know what it is like. It’s like Tiffany’s.

For further reading…

Capote’s classic //  I got this book as a birthday present from my art school Husband!
VF: Article by Christopher Cerf (the son of B@T’s publisher)  //  HB: Article by Sam Wasson

Hello, Gorgeous!

Article Posted on Monday, September 26th, 2011 at 10:05 am

:: Listen ::

The latest thing to get downloaded onto my iPhone? This new album from the CSO: Chicago Symphony Brass Live. The very first piece is Crown Imperial, a favorite around the Slaugterhouse, but the rest of the album is completely goosebump-inducing as well. Each December, Husband and I make our annual trek to Chicago… it’s always a magical time as we absolutely adore being in our favorite city during the holiday season, but the highlight of every trip usually turns out to be the Chicago Symphony Brass Live concert. I feel I must admit, on Saturday I bought tickets to the concert and that’s it–no hotel reservations, no plane tickets or any other plans for that matter but, one way or another, we will be in the Chicago Symphony Center at 3 pm on December 14th.

:: Read ::

On Sunday afternoon, as on most Sunday afternoons, I found myself reading the New York Times when I came across this completely delightful article on Mindy Kaling, the writer/actress behind some of my *favorite* episodes of the office. (Which reminds me–How completely delighted are you that James Spader is back on weekly television? Because I am thrilled!) Anyway, she has a new book coming out called Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and Other Concerns), that I will absolutely have to get but in the meantime, I’d recommend reading this article and then following her on Twitter. She’s such a hoot!

:: Dress ::

Last week something was definitely up with my fashion-mojo. I don’t know if it was the fact that I had a couple big projects goingor the fact that I had to give a big presentation to the ‘Big Wigs.’ Either way, what better way to feel empowered than to steal something from your beau’s closet so you can wear it and think of him and  remember that, no matter what, one person on this earth thinks you’re awesome all day. So that’s just what I did. I stole his tie and sent an apology picture to him after the fact, which you can see above with the awful face I made at him mostly pinked out. And you know what? The presentation went great. And the people on the front row loved the tie!

:: Live ::

Last weekend was a cleaning extravaganza around the Slaughterhouse. We managed to remove most of the leftover dust from our A/C installation, we mopped the walls, Husband even handwashed our living room rug! (Oh how I *love* Dash and Albert!) But perhaps my favorite part of the cleaning frenzy is our bedroom. It’s so nice and calming now with 2 nice & neat dressing tables. I believe mine will grow accustomed to fresh flowers, the Egyptian alabaster jewelry tray I picked up here and a candle making everything smell cozy.

5 Random Things

Article Posted on Thursday, September 15th, 2011 at 8:46 am

I admit, I have been a bit absent this week. Blame it on Birthday Week. or work. or fun outings with friends. or cleaning the house. or whatever other number of things there are. However, today I have quite a few fun Random Links to share so here goes…

1.) We have been cleaning like maniacs trying to get our house back in good shape after the dust storm that was our AC installation. So when I saw this on Valet last week, it was a good reminder to share a tip: Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap is one of the best products ever. I started using it as face wash when I stopped using ProActive this Spring with great success. It is gentle enough to use on our old wood floors and also strong enough to get off that grime that builds up around the stove from splattering oil. Every Belle has a trick or 2 up her sleeve, and Castile Soap is mine. If you haven’t tried it, you must!

2.) This week Sweet Paul’s Fall 2011 issue was released, and I am totally in *love* with the feature called Black Halloween. I also can’t wait to try some of the recipes. Fall seasonings are just the best!

3.) Kiel James Patrick just released a collection of belts perfect for Fall called the Peyton Heritage Collection. The fabrics used inside and out are beautiful and would be perfect for you or your sweetie. I’ve got my eye on a couple myself.

4.) I recently saw the work of Becca Stadtlander somewhere around the interwebs and completely fell in love. There’s a tension between a feeling of old warmth and a sort of untouchable moment in time in her paintings that I really enjoy.

5.) I saw this list of the 100 Best 1st Lines put out by the American Book Review, and it has added a few novels to my reading list.

What’s your favorite 1st Line?

Hello, gorgeous!

Article Posted on Tuesday, July 26th, 2011 at 10:01 pm

It has been such a busy summer, but regular posting will commence soon… promise!

:: Listen ::

Around this time (July 25th to be exact) in 1788, Mozart finished his Symphony No. 40 in G minor, one of my personal favorites. I was listening to it on WUOT while driving to work yesterday, and it’s just so uplifting–the perfect thing to listen to first thing in the morning!

{This light, mod poster above was created by Iskra Print Collective for the 2010 Vermont Mozart Festival. I hope they have an extra copy laying around somewhere because it really would be the perfect addition to my new office.}

:: Read ::

I enjoy buying books as souveneirs when we travel instead of meaningless tzotchkes and on one of our last trips I picked up a copy of The Selby book. It’s full of great inspiration. My 2 personal favorites? Karl Lagerfeld’s large room of books and the humble (*note sarcasm) abode of Simon Doonan and his husband, Jonathan Adler.

As a side note, if you have an extra minute be sure to click over to the NYTimes website and read a lovely editorial written this weekend by Mr. Doonan about the day he wed Mr.  Adler. So sweet.

:: Dress ::

This week, in honor of Grace Kelly’s gorgeous baroque costume you see above, put on a little touch of gold. While I personally don’t have any all gold outfits in my wardrobe, after watching To Catch a Thief this weekend I’ve been reaching for the gold bangles for days! Something else to try? Gold nails… the perfect match for sunkissed skin.

{Also, keep your eyes peeled here tomorrow for a To Catch a Thief Style File!}

:: Live ::

While we’re in a *golden* state of mind, I just had to post this picture of our mirror (or at least the corner of it). When I was little, my parents inherited this chintzy gold mirror, and I totally fell in love with it. It was just so over-the-top! Well, a few weeks ago while he was busy redoing our house, Husband painted it purple… and it is super cool!

Literary Still Life

Article Posted on Friday, June 17th, 2011 at 9:36 am

The other night I was flipping through flickr, hoping to get a little inspiration, when I happened upon the most beautiful, surreal photography. The most surprising ____? The subject was a book, or perhaps I should say a story. You see, photographer Juliette Tang starts with a book and then picks objects to represent different parts of the text. The result is perfectly dreamy photography for any avid reader…

Visit Juliette’s website //  her tumblr //  and be sure to follow her on Twitter & say hello… she’s super sweet!

Julia Denos’ *new* Shop!

Article Posted on Wednesday, June 15th, 2011 at 9:00 am

I have told you before how much I *adore* the illustration style of Julia Denos. (I believe the 1st time was gooshing about this beautiful Audrey Hepburn biopic.) I’ve also found her to be quite a *lovely* lady thanks to the wonderful world of Twitter. As a result, I just couldn’t resist sharing that Julia’s opened a new online storefront! I’m going to be picking up some of these notecards for sure. I also think this limited edition (never before released) print called Audrey and the Children is simply beautiful and, if you’re interested, Julia is kindly sending 50% of the proceeds to The Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund!

Also as an added treat, if you want some office inspiration, check out Julia’s studio. I may or may not have gone a little crazy on Pinterest last night with the “Rooms I Want to Be In” category… it looks like the perfect place to work.

*Swoon* :: “Do the Charleston” in the June Vogue

Article Posted on Monday, June 13th, 2011 at 10:30 am

In the latest issue of Vogue there is a unique feature called America the Beautiful featuring styles from around the country, and I just couldn’t resist sharing the flowery dresses from here in the SouthEast. The short 4-page feature is on Charleston, one of the South’s most romantic getaways and begins with a reference to the ultimate staple in every Belle’s library…

…Rhett told Scarlett he was going back to Charleston seeking “something left in life of charm and grace”…