girlie weekend (with hank of course!) at THE BROADMOOR! x0x0xx

March 12, 2024 in family, hank, holiday, travel

(how PRETTY is this hotel nestled into mountains?)

there are few places i like to visit as much as the broadmoor. my heart just soars when i am there and i feel kind of giddy. set against some group of colorado mountains and centered around a big, beautiful lake, it is unbelievably scenic. the interior spaces are so detailed and intricate and layered you are always discovering something new. on this visit, i really started noticing all the swans. aside from the actual swans who live on the lake, there are swans throughout the resort painted on the walls, tiled into floor mosaics, featured in oil paintings and even edible meringue swans available at the little patisserie. i HAVE been watching “the feud” featuring truman capote and his swans obsessively, so maybe that’s why i was so drawn to them.

hank looks like a SUPERMODEL! x0x0x

March 05, 2024 in hank

(just LOOK at the waist on him… it’s even smaller than his neck!)

like all ICONS, hank is always a little ahead of the curve. after being (gently) admonished by his doctor a few times about his weight, he started intermittent fasting. (also so he could start having his dinner earlier.) when he first joined our family, he would take his evening meal about 5:30 pm. slowly he started asking for it earlier and earlier… he currently dines around 3:30 pm. i thought this was a little crazy until our last visit to the vet where we learned that hank had lost THREE POUNDS… nearly 10% of his total weight. i was super PROUD and very impressed. since i have been frustrated by the fact that i never seemed to get rid of all the extra coronas i gained during the pandemic when i was having cookie dough for breakfast (other mothers were posting home chalkboards detailing all the home schooling and art projects they were doing with their kids during lockdown. we took a more practical approach and now my kids know how to make kick ass cookie dough that is so good you probably won’t even want to bake it. THAT is a skill that will serve them well for the rest of their lives. unfortunately, all of that practice DID have consequences that were not so easy to diminish now that i am in my fifties.) i FINALLY decided to join hank in his intermittent endeavors… a late adopter (after also consulting my colorist who is an expert in this and just about everything else.) we stopped sharing an early morning banana and began waiting until later when our eating window had commenced. we started drinking more water and eating a lot less candy. hank has been a terrific support - except he still won’t go on very long walks. while i haven’t had the epic succcess hank has enjoyed, my jeans ARE a little looser. i am so GRATEFUL for my determined bulldog! x0x

TRASH THE RUNWAY tomorrow night at 7 pm! x0x0x

February 28, 2024

(the close of last year’s spectacular show!)

trash the runway is a design competition created by the creative lab at common threads in boulder, colorado. middle and high school students design, actualize and model super creative, high fashion looks made entirely of found and hard to recycle materials. the garments range from elegant to whimsical and have been created out of the most unexpected “trash”: discarded dog food bags, bubble wrap, gum wrappers, wall paper samples… the competition “aims to propel young people toward environmental and social responsibility and to inspire their confidence, creativity and critical thinking skills for the benefit of the greater good.” last year i was so honored to be a judge and really get a behind the scenes look at the design process and see all of the hard work that went into the garments up close. this year i am so thrilled to be a sponsor. following are some looks from the show last year. you can purchase tickets here for this one of a kind experience! x0x0xx

TWO houzz 2024 awards: DESIGN and SERVICE! x0xx

February 20, 2024 in commercial interior, residential interior

i am so honored to have received BEST OF HOUZZ 2024 awards for both DESIGN and SERVICE! as always i am so grateful for the opportunity to do creative, stimulating work with such an array of talented, engaging people. THANK YOU to all of the vendors, builders, photographers, architects and clients who make this work so rewarding. winning a prize just never gets old for me! x0x0xx

happy, happy valentine's day! x0x0xx

February 14, 2024 in family, hank, holiday

we’re sending you all so much LOVE on this valentine’s day! x0x0x

photo: heather knierim of HBK photography

my winter park project was included in an article on houzz! x0x

February 06, 2024 in art, dining room, family room, living room, office, residential interior

the mudroom of my winter park project was featured in an article on houzz called “To-Dos: Your January Home Checklist” i LOVE this because it’s all about new year’s cleaning and organizing, one of my very favorite activities. THANK YOU to laura gaskill for the write up. and THANK YOU again to the winter park team:

architect: scott munn of ma studios

builder: zane bishop of bishop built construction

kitchen design: sanctuary kitchen design

photographer: kimberly gavin of kimberly gavin photography

photo stylist: natalie warady

and my super special clients! this was such a fun project! x0x

we will MISS the beauty and creativity of the incredible LISA HUNT!

January 30, 2024 in art

lisa hunt’s journey to becoming an artist was full of serendipity and bravery. she was brought up in a family flush with creatives… her mother was from roxbury, massachusetts, just outside of boston and lisa’s grandparents and great aunts and uncles all resided on different floors of the same brownstone. when visiting, lisa and her sisters would go from the flat of her grandfather and his second wife, affectionately called aunt muriel, who were frequently listening to calypso music up to the flat of her great aunt edna, a commercial artist - each room of edna’s apartment was painted a different jewel toned color - the art studio, which housed a large drafting table and myriad jars of colored pencils, was a deep blue. finally, the girls might end up in the flat of her adored aunt kaye for a big family dinner. lisa’s mother, asha, having spent many years of her childhood in the brownstone where there was so much appreciation for beauty and the arts, was inherently creative and included lisa in her painting, drawing, sewing and crochet projects.

and POOF! just like that theo is EIGHTEEN! x00xx

January 27, 2024 in family

(the photo we used on theo’s baby announcement… he was only six weeks old)

theo was born january 27, 2006 in amsterdam, the netherlands. overnight i was transformed from a regular person into a MOTHER, which is something else entirely. i am so grateful for that (despite the fact that i have never really slept properly since, my belly feels like memory foam, i am always at least a little bit worried [will he fall into a canal? will someone convince him to get into a white van? will he join a weird cult? will he start eating raisins? - which are DISGUSTING, of course! will he be a good husband? WHAT will he tell his therapist about me in his forties?] i am frequently exhausted and i have been dreading this birthday since the day he arrived.) it felt like he was a baby for a LONG time - maybe because he was not a good napper and we spent A LOT of time together.

aloha! x0x

January 23, 2024 in family, holiday

since theo is a SENIOR this year (honestly, it is HARD for me to even write that as i am already torturing myself with anticipatory grief when i should probably just be enjoying him) we are trying to do all “the things” before he goes to college. so we went to hawaii over the holidays. i have not been in at least thirty years and the kids and first have never been so it was pretty exciting.

our BIRTHDAY QUEEN! x0x0x

January 17, 2024 in family, pet

miss rosie is SIX YEARS OLD today! i cannot emphasize enough how much JOY she has brought to all of our lives. we just cannot imagine our days without her. HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY darling rosie! wishing you a year full of sunny walks, steak snacks, cuddles and naps… we LOVE you so! x0x0x

PRAISE JESUS we made it to january! x0xx

January 09, 2024 in family, holiday

(artwork: lesik aleksandr)

i DO love the holidays and thank goodness because we do them ALL: thankgiving, sinterklaas, hanukkah, my birthday (i DON’T love this one as much!), christmas and new years. i love baking the cookies, making the gingerbreads, lighting the candles, driving around to see the lights, putting out our clogs, decorating the tree, hanging the stockings, eating the latkes (i DON’T like making them - too messy!), hiding the shelf elves and their reindeer friend, going to the parties, delivering the cookies, sending the holiday cards (although this is always a loaded task!) receiving the holiday cards (much more FUN!), giving the gifts, enjoying my mother’s sticky buns, finding out who got the monkey and spending time with family. but i am always EXHAUSTED by the time we get to january and so grateful to bunker down and have a super quiet month (after i have VACUUMED up all the pine needles, which is my absolute favorite post-christmas task.) wishing you all a quiet, restful month with lots of sleep and TV! (my recent favorites: lessons in chemistry, black cake and the gilded age.) x0x0xx

HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR! x0xx

January 01, 2024 in family, holiday

wishing you all peace, happiness and beautiful experiences in 2024. x0x0xx

REPOST: the monkey

December 25, 2023 in family, holiday

(even at 15 my grandmother seemed to know exactly what she wanted)

my paternal grandmother was fierce. she lived the way she wanted and you pretty much just went along. she liked things a certain way and if something wasn’t to her choosing she would wave her hand, say, “oh FISH!” and carry on as she deemed appropriate. you didn’t really want to get in her way.

HAPPY, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my darling parents! x00xx

December 22, 2023 in family

this year marks the FIFTY-EIGHTH (i think) year that my parents have been married. that is longer than my whole life and while i recognize that that is the typical way of things (“first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in the baby carriage”) i still find it absolutely staggering. CONGRATULATIONS my beautiful parents on lives well lived and finding and sharing the love, support and humor to reach this wonderful milestone. x0x0xx

REPOST: gingerbread houses

December 19, 2023 in holiday, family

* i am feeling really SAPPY and a bit gutted because this is the last year theo will be home to help with the gingerbread houses before he goes to college… i have no idea where the time went and i kind of can’t wait to be a grandma so i can share this tradtion with littles again… x0x

my birthday twin! x0x0x

December 12, 2023 in holiday

(anne marie and me on our fiftieth birthday! )

today is my FIFTY-FIFTH birthday! i am stunned and quite horrified to be associated with this GIANT number that is odd to boot (i really prefer even numbers.) i am not sure how to process this milestone and realize i need to start thinking of myself as SIXTY because that’s what happens when you round up and time seems to be moving at warp speed (theo is GRADUATING this spring and hopefully going to college in the fall - HOW did that happen??) so i need to be prepared.

HAPPY SINT! x0x

December 05, 2023

* today is SINTERKLAAS the dutch winter holiday. it actually starts in early november when sint arrives in amsterdam on a yacht from spain. there is a big parade after he debarks and he rides through the canals on his giant white horse, trident. this parade is the only time you can catch a glimpse of sint… unlike american santa he does not ring bells on street corners for the salvation army or sit in photo booths taking christmas present orders or show up at holiday parties. he is tall and lean (like most dutch people) and chic. he wears long robes and a pointy hat like a bishop. for me, this holiday marks the beginning of the holiday madness… from sint we will move on to hanukkah, christmas and finally new years. i LOVE celebrating all the holidays but am always grateful for the quiet of january. x0x

the "baby" pine street cottage! x0x

November 28, 2023 in dining room, hank, living room, pet, residential interior, sofa

(the baby guest house of my pine street project)

in the spring of 2021 my pine street cottage project was featured on the cover of 5280Home. it was so EXCITING! this darling house has a calm, neutral palette with lots of texture and dimension in the textiles, pillows, throws and wall art. at that time, the family was remodeling the guest house, which i was so happy to furnish. so now there is a baby cottage!

REPOST: raisin-free cranberry sauce

November 21, 2023 in holiday, family

* something really interesting happened to me a few weeks ago… i tried eating blueberries and i LIKED them! previously, i have only enjoyed them in eggos and i’m pretty sure those aren’t real blueberries. hank really likes them too so we have just been scarfing them down. my kids were wondering if i might give raisins another try… of course that is just ABSURD! which is why i am reposting my favorite raisin-free cranberry sauce recipe in anticipation of thanksgiving… ENJOY! x0x

* theo went to a “friendsgiving” the other night and brought my cranberries and they were a bit HIT with the teen crowd! x0x

braces!

November 14, 2023 in family

(8th grade was the epitome of awkward for me!)

i got braces the summer of 1982, right before my 8th grade year started. for some reason, i also chopped off all of my hair. this was a super unfortunate combination. my children are both delighted and horrified by my school photo that year. my daughter also got braces during the summer before 8th grade. she has them on the top and the bottom. i don’t really understand why she needed them at all because her teeth were perfectly straight before (unlike mine, which were seriously wonky on the top AND the bottom, although the ortho only braced the top.) i think it has something to do with her bite and how her teeth will work in the future. anyway - she is pulling them off far better than i did (to be fair, she did NOT cut off all of her hair) but no one will ever even see her braces because she has perfected the closed mouth mona lisa smile and we don’t have any photographic proof that she has braces at all. despite my best interests, i am incapable of smiling without showing every single tooth i’ve got, braced or crooked. lucy’s generation has been practicing their angles and learning about their “good sides” with selfies for years so you will not catch them in an unflattering photo.