Goodbye to a Favorite Author

I was sad to hear about the death today of one of my favorite authors, Dominick Dunne. Oddly enough, I had visited his website for the first time today and had left a post of encouragement on his message board, regarding his battle with cancer.





I very rarely leave any sort of message as a fan, but I had just finished reading his book, " The Way We Lived Then" which is a sort of pictorial memoir about his life and the many famous people that he met along the way.



Mr. Dunne led a fascinating life among the Hollywood elite for many years before events in his life brought him to a serious crossroads and a period of self-examination. From there, at age 50, he began to write and embarked on a second career as an author and journalist, often covering high-profile murder cases, such as the O. J. Simpson trial.





He wrote several best-selling novels and was a columnist for Vanity Fair. I enjoyed watching him host the show, "Pride, Privelege and Justice" on TruTV.

Dominick Dunne was 83.

Mise En Place (Or Be Prepared)

I confess, I'm a foodie! I love to watch cooking shows of all types. Top Chef is my favorite reality show and the new season has just started. I always learn something when I watch this show. I am seriously thinking of learning French just so I can understand some of the often used culinary terms.

This week's favorite French term is "mise en place", which means "everything in its place." It is used in professional kitchens to refer to ingredients and components set up and prepared in advance of the actual cooking of the dish. Ingredients are measured, washed, chopped and placed in individual bowls. Utensils and equipment are also made ready for use. The purpose is to cut out wasted time when the chef is ready to cook the dish.

The mise en place competition on Top Chef is always fun to watch. The contestants are divided into teams and must tackle each task in a relay race, tasks such as chopping veggies, shucking oysters, beating egg whites, etc.

It's like watching a sporting event, but with food! What could be more fun than that? For a foodie like me, not much!

photo by wickenden

To the Emerald City!

I attended a lovely wedding this past weekend. In place of the traditional Bridal March, the bride's entrance was accompanied by the playing of "Over The Rainbow." It was beautiful and it made me nostalgic for one of my favorite movies of all time. I found some wonderful things on Etsy while searching for "The Wizard of Oz"!



I love this limited edition art print by Robert David Bretz! It can be found in the Etsy shop, PaintAllNightStudios.

This primitive hand-painted sign from SawdustNStitches takes you back to a simpler time, and of course, to a place that is "over the rainbow"!

I always loved Glinda, The Good Witch, and imagined her as my very own godmother! This cross stitch pattern is available from Glenniz on Etsy.

These finger puppet characters from Weeknit are so cute, and would provide lots of storytelling fun!

I think it's time to schedule a family movie night and watch this wonderful classic again!

CottonColors Is a Lovely Etsy Find of the Day!

CottonColors is featured as the Lovely Etsy Find on the blog, Lovely At Your Side! There are some beautiful dresses featured today as well. Visit this blog for some handmade loveliness!

Bring on The Cool Days and Hot Colors!

The vivid colors of Fall!

Each season, Pantone surveys the designers of New York Fashion Week to identify the 10 most directional colors. These are the colors in the Pantone Fashion Color Report for Fall, 2009. I love deep, vivid hues and the diverse palette shown here. American Beauty is gorgeous, saturated and lively! I adore the rich, dark shade of blue that is Majolica Blue. For neutrals, I am most drawn to Iron and Honey Yellow. This is a really beautiful palette, although a little light on the greens for my taste.

I am looking forward to seeing how these colors will show up in both fashion and home decor this fall. It looks to be a colorful season ahead!

Filling a First Apartment with Love and Style!

I've been spending a lot of time helping my daughter furnish her first apartment. She has her own ideas and tastes, not necessarily what I would choose, but some of her style is growing on me. We have been really doing some bargain-hunting to make her place look great on a college student's budget!

We've made great discoveries in some of the local re-sale shops, like these candlesticks. Very ornate and they are in like-new condition!

These mirrors are the perfect size to hang together on one wall in the bedroom. They are from a re-sale shop too! The mirror came off one of them, but she was able to glue it back on.

This gorgeous lamp was on sale at Hancock's! I think we paid about $35 for it.

And finally from another re-sale shop, these cool wall plaques with a beautiful aged relief pattern and fleur de lis!

All told, I was out less than $70 that day for these finds and I think they will make a great statement of her style. Now, if I can get finished with the throw pillows, pillow shams and curtains she has requested, she will be all set! I'll post photos of the finished room soon.

Stay tuned.