Archive for August, 2012

August 7th, 2012 No Comments

tuesday’s tabletop: tomato placecard holder & corn grit votive holder

Personalizing a lunch or dinner for friends can be very easy and not so overwhelming. Here using the colors in our tomato color palette this week, all I did was take a toothpick, a piece of paper cut into a flag shape with my friends’ names and poked it into a cherry tomato as a place card holder. This could be an easy lunch or dinner for friends and family. I used fresh vegetables along a cutting board as the centerpiece and served corn soup with cherry tomatoes and crackers as the starter. I took dry corn grits and filled … Read more

August 6th, 2012 No Comments

this week’s color palette: red & yellow tomato with herb sandwich

I love this photo that my friend, photographer Sang An, took for Body & Soul magazine. It’s an heirloom red and yellow tomato sandwich with herbs, tofu spread and sea salt. Tofu is not my personal favorite so I think I would personally change it to a mozzarella cheese. These first weeks of August are always the time my Dad’s tomatoes are fully ripe and we enjoy tomatoes and corn- any which way! I especially love fried green tomatoes. And just like in the movie “The Help” – Crisco is the secret to frying green tomatoes…coat them in flour, put … Read more

August 4th, 2012 No Comments

Trove Wallpaper, by Jee Levin and Randall Buck

Trove, founded in 2006, has risen quickly with many awards under their belt already as well as two patterns being included in the permanent collection at Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. Trove pushes the limits of scale and repeat with most patterns 12 feet high and 3-6 feet across. They mix traditionally recognized design elements with non-traditional application and eco-friendly materials. One of their newest patterns is called “August” (featured above). As part of Trove’s science inspired Spring 2012 Collection, the August pattern portrays past queens from Denmark, Japan, Romania, Italy, Greece, Prussia and India. Though the queens have their … Read more

August 3rd, 2012 No Comments

friday shopping: lynn’s picks for black and white

Thinking ahead to some romantic cool fall nights by the fire- treat yourself to some much deserved luxury! Herringbone Cashemer Throw, $470, by Hugo Boss, available at Bloomingdale’s,  Velvet Robe, by Kumi Kookoon, La Ligne De Chanel Professional Eyeliner Duo, Noir-Lame (for that sexy, smokey eye), $45, from Chanel, Mens’ Beveled Polished Black Carbide Ring, $169, from Tungsten (makes a great gift for him!).

August 2nd, 2012 No Comments

Black & White (and a bit in between)

My latest purchase of a hardcover design book was “Black and White (and a Bit in Between): Timeless Interiors, Dramatic Accents, and Stylish Collections” by Celerie Kemble. I highly recommend it for your reference library. It’s full of beautiful inspirational photos and useful design information and resources. There are countless ways to combine black and white in your home interior and Ms. Kemble surely deliveries with this book which focuses on the classic color palette.

August 1st, 2012 1 Comment

wedding wednesdays: wendy kromer’s cakes

This black licorice cake is one of my favorite cakes. I thought it was so creative to use the string licorice to make bows. Wendy Kromer, a Contributing Editor for Martha Stewart Weddings, made this cake. Wendy has made hundreds of cakes for Martha Stewart Weddings magazine, many of which you can see collected in her book she co-authored with Martha called “Martha Stewart’s Wedding Cakes”. I had the pleasure to work with Wendy while I was an editor at Martha Stewart Weddings. She is so genuinely kind, so talented and loves what she does. She also opened … Read more