{hotel: SoHo House, NYC}

I was in New York with my husband two weeks ago looking for a new apartment, and we stayed at the SoHo House again. I blogged about it here and showed pics of that room, which was the same layout, different furniture and design than this room- but I loved the decor of this room so much more.

The bar area is designed beautifully, but I have no pics.

Entry to sitting area and dining table

View to bedroom and loft bath

Love this loft bath!

The furnishings are amazing. This hide rug and industrial glass wall say it all.

Don't you love the mix of clean steel with the baroque headboard?

These pull out drawers in the bathroom are stocked with necessities in such a chic way!

*and p.s. the service was great this time. I think the last time I was there they busted me with my little dog and I had to send her to a friends house. Ugh, I was pissed!

{chef: Michael Rueggeberg}

We have a yearly trip to Aspen, CO. that has become something we absolutely look forward to. One of the many reasons we love that trip is because we are so lucky to have daily meals prepared for us by chef Michael Rueggeberg.

In Aspen he is known as the local celebrity chef, and for good reason! His food never disappoints and he is a lovely and lively person. I hope to experience many more meals with him!

Michael has a new cookbook out that you can purchase on Amazon. It is filled with gorgeous ideas for your own dinner parties, incredible recipes, and inspiring tablescapes. This book is a must read for the avid chef/entertainer. *

He even sets a beautiful table for each meal. Incredible!



Michael and his lovely apprentice for the day.

* More about the cookbook:

All author's proceeds are donated directly to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation founded by its president, Evelyn Lauder, of the Estee Lauder family.

{artist: Dale Fairbanks}

Another beautiful piece by one of my favorite artists, Dale Fairbanks. I not only love her work, but the stories she tells about each piece. Wonderful!

Flight of the Ridleys
Price: $12,000.00
Size: 96″ × 60″
Date: 2009
Medium: Oil on Canvas

The Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle is one of the smallest of the sea turtles and the most endangered. Under strict protection, the Kemp’s Ridley turtle is struggling back to recovery battling its primary enemy: the human and his activities.

Kemp’s Ridleys nest off of the coasts of Mexico, but one of the major habitats for this species is in the waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico, especially the Louisiana salt marshes.

The Kemp’s Ridley, the Loggerhead, and the Green Sea Turtle are all found in this area I call home. The Gulf Islands National Seashore fills our back-porch view across Santa Rosa Sound, and we join many in the grand effort to protect and safeguard these sea turtles who come to our seashore to nest in early May.

This painting has been brewing for several years…I am pleased the scrambling hatchlings brought it home.

http://www.dalefairbanks.com/

Click Here to see an older post about Dale's works

New Work: See Dale's online portfolio for details.

{shop: Sur La Mer in Spaces Magazine}

Thank you Spaces Magazine for the wonderful feature in your magazine!

{travel: beautiful Aspen, CO}

I just spent an amazing week in Aspen. It's our fourth March in a row, and the skiing and town just get better and better. The town is so progressive, and such a breath of fresh air (literally). Their FREE transportation to and from the mountain resorts are on Hybrid buses. The town is filled with great restaurants, designer shopping & adorable boutiques, lots of art galleries, and the spa at the St. Regis is amazing. It truly is one of my favorite towns.

Snowed in on March 26, 2009

S. Galena Street looking out to Durant Ave.

The next day, same view.

We rented a townhouse on Galena Street that was filled with bronze Remingtons. You can see the deer on the mantle, but also the parrot on a branch to the back left.

{book: Villa by John Saladino}

ABOUT THE BOOK
John Saladino's powerful new book is nothing less than a master class in interior and garden design. Villa focuses on the stone ruin in Southern California that Saladino painstakingly refashioned into his dream house, and it shows how his principles and passions guided him through the five-year process of reconstruction, restoration, and decoration. With the aid of plans and drawings, as well as numerous photographs of the house — how it looked in the 1920s, shots of when he bought it, and snaps taken during reconstruction — Saladino traces the architectural work involved. Then, in a superbly illustrated tour of the house and grounds, he proves that he practices what he’s preached for more than 30 years. Juxtaposing light and dark, old and new, classical and modern, monumental and miniscule, hard and soft, Saladino creates the serenely timeless interiors and gardens that are his hallmark.

About the Author
John Saladino is a graduate of Notre Dame and the Yale School of Art and Architecture. He worked in Rome with the architect Piero Sartogo before returning to New York where he opened his own architectural and interior design practice over 35 years ago. It is now known as The Saladino Group Inc. In 1986 he started his own furniture company. He has won numerous interior design and furniture awards (including the prestigious Daphne Award) and he is on the Board of Directors of the John Soane Museum in London. His interiors regularly appear in international magazines including House Beautiful, House and Garden, the New York Times Magazine, Architectural Digest, Vogue Decoration and the World of Interiors.

You Absolutely Want To Buy This Book CLICK HERE

{charity: Wish Upon A Hero}

Did you ever make a donation to an organization but wonder who it went to or if it ever made it to the people in need? Well, this website lets you help individuals who have wished for something as small as some vegetable seeds or as large as a new home.

I think this is one of the greatest ideas I have seen in a long time!

Click here to check out this incredible idea, and make someone's day.