The clock's almost up. Another year comes to a close. Here were some of our bright spots along the way. To start, how about a Pomegranate Prosecco cocktail courtesy of The Times?
After a boozy brunch at home, it was off to high tea in Atlanta, where sixty of our favorite Southern bloggers like Layla, Rhoda, Patti, Erika, Tami, Jen and Mary Kay, joined us for an afternoon of beauty and inspiration at framing company Larson-Juhl, hosted by CEO Steve McKenzie. But even if you didn't get a chance to join us, there are plenty of videos online from the talk I gave. Here's a tip on playing with the scale of artwork over a bed.
It was Larson-Juhl moulding, too, around that abstract print in our window for the Big Window Challenge, representing ELLE DECOR. Talk about a roller coaster ride: One day up; the next day down. In the end, we beat two excellent competitors, and we couldn't have done it without you!
But the celebration didn't last long. An editor from The Nest had called midway through the competition with a couple in need of a budget bedroom makeover. Here's what the room looked like before we began.
And here's how it turned out! Click twice to enlarge.
From there, it was off to Kansas City to set a spring-inspired table at Halls, celebrating twenty years of Dining By Design. Remember the 14 dozen eggs I drilled, skewered, blew and glittered, all in our room at the Raphael?
What I do for drama.
Here again is how it all came together.
After a workshop on etching hurricanes at Creative Candles with Lara, Patricia, Suzanne, Karena and others...
...followed by a spin with readers through the Rose Bowl flea market in Pasadena...
Jaithan and I headed back to New York, where spring had burst into bloom.
But we weren't home long before it was off to Savannah for SCAD Style, a series of events on style and design at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Here again is the table we set for a special dinner, hosted by President Wallace, for visiting artists and their guests. The linens, you might recall, were custom silk screened by the students of Working Class Studio. Their hard work, talent and creativity inspire us now more than ever.
Back in Greenwich, what better way to follow an elaborate dinner for 30 than an intimate Mother's Day brunch for six, published in Serendipity?
After a practice run at Linie's house, wowing her friends with time-saving tricks for easy entertaining with style...
...we took the show on the road, all the way to Chicago, where Debra filled a sold-out house of a hundred for an entertaining event of epic proportions. Think I'm exaggerating? Here's a progress shot of the edible landscape Michele, Jaithan and the rest of my tireless crew created, using hosta leaves in concrete vessels from Debra's store Scentimental Gardens in Geneva.
And here it is all done!
There's that drama again. If it looks like I was going a little crazy, I was.
Just in case you couldn't join us, here's a fun recap courtesy of our friend and budding filmmaker, Gracie Engle.
And finally, to round out the first half of 2010, here's our favorite table of the year, a lush, peony-pink setting for A Date with a Plate, benefiting the Noreen O'Neill Foundation for Melanoma Research.
Ah, those hot pink chairs!
Back soon with Part 2 and until then, Happy Almost New Year's, everyone!
