Tree-tific

Arbor Day is 24 hours away and I'm ready to celebrate.  

Send a Give a Tree card from the Arbor Day Foundation to a nature lover and a tree will be planted in their honor in one of our national forests in dire need of trees from forest fires devastation. 

$5.95

Or just join the Foundation and get 10 FREE flowering trees! 

 $10

Buy a candle scented at the forest floor.   Who can resist based on this description, "notes; wet dirt mingled with rain soaked ferns, damp wood, stems and green leaves. Mossy overtones and heady damp garden soil."  

$14

Bring the trees indoors with Ferm Living Shop's wallpaper. 

$110/roll

Invest in a table by George Nakashima, an American furniture trail blazer, who custom made each piece based on the "soul" of the tree that he used.   

Live large, 

Frances

Royal China

While not really into the Royals, it's hard to not wish the young Will and Kate well in their new life together.  So in honor of the union covered around the world tomorrow, check out Wedgwood's limited edition china featured this month at tabletop market. 

There's a limited edition commemorative plate for $95...

A limited edition trinket box for $95...

and my personal favorite, a mug for $55 ...

With a 4am kick off start time for us Americans viewing the royal nuptials, we're all going to need a cup of Joe.  And even better served in our themed mug.  Hopefully, the wedding will last as long as the almost impossible to break china.  

Live large,

Frances 

Searching for Summer

I'm in Toronto for work and it's grey and raining. Hum.. sound familiar?  It's been The Longest Winter with an endless overcast Spring.  To perk myself up, I'm looking at the Target summer preview to dream of front porches, back patios and outdoor living. As usual, Target kicked the tires and offered high summer style for summer fun.   Here's a taste...

Now, this is my kind of surf board....

Doesn't this make you want to host a pool party?  (Note: First get the pool.)

 Host outdoor cookouts with summery stripes. 

Replace last year's worn out pillows with new fresh ones. 

Live large, 

Frances 

Easter Baskets

What a beloved tradition... a beautiful, colorful basket full of Easter goodies for children to hunt for come every spring.  Mom use to fill eggs with $1 bills when my sister and I lost our vigor for the search of the Easter egg.  If I was in charge for putting one together this weekend, here are a few things I'd put in a basket for grown up kids....

Gorgeous paper plate for dish washing FREE parties!  Plum Party

Unusual dark chocolate bars that are so pretty it'd be hard to eat them ...shop Terrain

A pretty new towel to style up the kitchen. 

Elderflower is on every drink menu this spring.  Include on in the basket in hopes of some lovely spring cocktails. 

You didn't think I would forget the bunny, did you???

Maison du Chocolate does it well. 

Happy Easter!

Live large, 

Frances

Eggin' on Easter

Easter is days away and I can't wait.  It's a beautiful holiday with put the pressure of gifts like at Christmas or  forced visits with distant relatives like Thanksgiving Day.   Easter hits right as everyone is getting a bit antsy with winter and ready for spring break.  It always overlaps with Passover so the city is alive with a festive feeling.  

Armed with family recipes to execute on a counter top almost as big as a postage stamp, I dream of a proper kitchen.  With a kitchen so small that two is a crowd, I dream of folks piled into something like this....  

Day Dream Kitchen...

Day dreaming continues....

And after a few hours of fun in the kitchen, we'd retire to a poppy dining room with a wonderful food and conversation to follow.  Sigh.  

Dream over. 

It's more like Easter lunch served on these.... 

In an 8x8 den area with little wiggle room.  

Back to day dreaming...

Tabletop pieces are gorgeous .... 

and linens are sunny florals like these Liberty of London napkins.

And the day is topped with a big, fat, luscious coconut cake. 

Please don't wake me from this dream!

Live large, 

Frances

Hang it up!

Vivianne West may have made her fortune in fashion but her wallpaper through Cole & Sons is something to sing about.  Having made a life out of punk fashion with a Vogue Rolodex, the lady isn't afraid to show some personalty.  Good news for the rest of us who might not be as bold.  The patterns are all based on signature designs from her fashion collections like iconic Squiggle print.  

One of my faves is her take on the magnolia flower.  Comes in a few colorways but black is the most dramatic. 

V's been a champion of tartans for a while.  It's classic and colorful and masculine.  

Thanks for all the beautiful inspirations, V. 

Live large, 

Frances 

5 new reasons to love CB2

CB2, Crate & Barrel's version of IKEA, sits almost on the border of SOHO and Chinatown in New York. It's the sort of store that you enter, needing nothing yet buying $100 worth of stuff.  Like their big sister chain, Crate & Barrel, they send out catalogs and have a cool website but like most things, it's always better in person.  Was in there last week and fell in love with 5 new cool things, adding to the growing reason to keep this store on your radar.

Super cool ceramic lanterns start at 19.95.

Small space dwellers rejoice!  The max mandarin ottoman pulls open to a twin bed.  Guess there is room for that crazy college friend to visit after all. $499

For those lucky folks looking to spruce up their outdoor spaces, the new twin side tables pack a punch at $59 for a set.

And how ADORABLE are these planters?  Equally adorable? Their sale price of $10.95. 

Bill Blass said, "When in doubt, wear red."  I think the same is true in the home.  A hit of red adds a bit of "oomph" to an interior.  (Not to mention extra storage).

I know.. .we've all "seen the tubs".. in Pottery Barn, Target, Crate & Barrel.. blah blah.  This one hits my design fancy and at $24, seems like a nice replacement to the Coleman cooler for future picnics. 

Side Note:

Last night I attended Blue Note's Jazz Benefit for Japan night and was blown away by the talent that performed. The event was extended for performances tonight too.  GO!  To be able to see heavy hitters like Madeleine Peyroux, Karrin Allyson, Sonny Fortune (played with Miles!), Janis Siegel, Regina Carter, Paquito D'Rivera, etc. for a mere $45 was amazing. Hearing Renee Fleming sing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah was worth the price of admission alone.  With CNN reporting death tolls reaching 14,000 and radiation still at dangerous levels, the Japanese need us.  

I heart NYC, Jazz and Japan. 

Live large, 

Frances

Desk love

For anyone who has spent time working from home, especially from a small apartment, the desk clutter can take over.  My apartment got so bad it was one step from Hoarders.  I got worried about friends dropping by because the amount of papers "filed" in piles on the floor basically made the floor impassable. enough was enough. So I started rooting around for storage and desk ideas.  

My fav?   This yummy look feels warm and personal but not still good functioning.  Great color combo with the peach walls, gold velvet chair and a hit of teal.   Couldn't you write bills here?

Love both these ideas on how to turn Staple's two drawer storage units that are in every office across the country into something really special.  One adds wallpaper just to the front face (top image) while the second one applied chic wallpaper to the whole kit and kaboodle.  

Looks like a good weekend project to me....  

Live large, 

Frances

Tablescapes

Diffa, a terrific event raising money for AIDS, has an annual event where tastemakers create different tables.   They all are visual teaspoons of sugar. While most of these tables are bigger than my apartment, they offer up some inspiration for ideas to steal in smaller ways. 

They popped the color with fabric squares as backdrop.  

I like the way paint was used to create wainscoting and the baroque chair that keeps it from dwell magazine photo shoot.  

 And if all else fails, go all white.  It always seems to work. 

A wacky use of colored packing tape. 

The Polo table played into the Hampton "gone country" feel minus NASCAR and outdoor plumbing. 

And my all time fav table wasn't actually a table but a woody turned bar. It was so chic and well done... you can follow it on followthewoody.com.  It'll be hitting the polo tournaments around the country.  

Live large, 

Frances

Spring Fling

Not to harp on the weather or anything but it's raining (again) and gray all day (again) but I am focused forward. Hometown fellow expats in the city are coming over on Sunday so I'm making my grocery list and making my plan.

 Number 1 on my "must serve list"? Bloodys!

 My all time favorite Bloody Mary mix is a game day concoction that Uncle Wally (who isn't my real Uncle) makes up.  His has a serious kick and a lethal level of booze and is oddly delicious.  My mom took left over mix one day and put it into a mold to serve as aspic on Sunday. One bite could kill a cat.  Sunday morning aspic made from left over Saturday bloody mix is a terrible idea.   But McClure's served midday with cheese straws, laughing with friends is very, very good one.

Step 1:  Serve delish Bloodys from McClure's Mix.

Add some fried chicken, devil eggs and ham biscuits and call it a day.  

Food-CHECK!

Step 2:  Distract from dusty apartment with stunning daffodil arrangement.  Not sure if this will work but if I serve enough McClure's it definitely will.   One large mass of daffodils stops traffic.  At least when I am driving.  

 Flowers-CHECK!

Step 3:  Add a little something something to the placesetting.
Write names on eggs then drop in egg cups.

Instant Placecards-CHECK!

Step 4:  Add the tunes.

Mumford & Sons seems to be on repeat these days.

Music-CHECK!

Live large,

Frances

Party Perfect

If God is in the details then God would love my new fave party site, Shop Sweet Lulu.  Full of colorful, cheerful packaging, I get giddy thinking about buying them out.  For you folks putting together Easter baskets or spring parties, get a load of this:

Over sized balloons make an instant party. 

Festive cupcake liners that come in a range of colors.

Food cones that would also be pretty filled with party favors. 

Ice cream cups... Love. So. Much. 

Long candles that kick the pants off the supermarket variety. 

Gingham bags, I mean, how CUTE are these ??? 

But if you aren't a gingham gal, then consider the solids. 

Paper straws in huge range of colors.  Again, how CUTE are these?  

Live large, 

Frances