Author: Frances

‘Tis Iced Tea Season — Here’s the Best and Prettiest

It is always iced tea season at my house. After noon and sometimes before, there is a glass within reach. My mother was the same way. Genetic research supports this, particularly in the South. But have you been to Paris lately? Iced tea has become popular there as well. (I swear those French, always copying… Continue reading ‘Tis Iced Tea Season — Here’s the Best and Prettiest

Thoughts on High School Graduation and Growing up so Dang Fast

It was the most beautiful weekend in Atlanta, as our family watched two of my sister’s babies graduate high school. WTF? I remember like yesterday standing in her door holding John Rex in my arms and blowing on his forehead, which he seemed to like. I would not try this now if I were you.… Continue reading Thoughts on High School Graduation and Growing up so Dang Fast

The Wondrous Worldly Designs of Tom Britt – What the Magazine Won’t Show

The May/June issue of Veranda trumpeting “American Classics” is especially fab and I am tickled to have written about a house in the Hamptons designed by Tom Britt and Valentino Samsonadze because, well, Tom is an old friend and a HOOT. Britt’s work is famously infused with a fascinating array of influences from all over the… Continue reading The Wondrous Worldly Designs of Tom Britt – What the Magazine Won’t Show

(So Good You Want to) Slap Yo’ Mama

The last time I was in LA for meetings I spied this food truck parked along the street. It must be good. A hundred years ago when I was working for Style Weekly in Richmond, I laughed out loud reading a restaurant review by the brilliant and adorable George Stoddart – no longer with us,… Continue reading (So Good You Want to) Slap Yo’ Mama

Fabulous Rooms #2: Victorian Writing Room at the Greenbrier

This second Fabulous Rooms post is in response to the first (Living Room at Lyford Cay), wherein I solicited favorite rooms from readers. Paige Ward wins a nickel* for submitting the Victorian Writing Room at the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia. Originally decorated by the legendary Dorothy Draper and carried on today by her protege… Continue reading Fabulous Rooms #2: Victorian Writing Room at the Greenbrier

Desert Blooms, a Labyrinth, and a Little Dust-up

The last few weeks have got me discombobulated and now back in hectic New York, where workmen are hanging on a scaffold outside my office window and apparently in the process of drilling the building into kingdom come. So I’m calming myself–and you too, maybe–with a walk through the Sonoran desert in Arizona. Can it… Continue reading Desert Blooms, a Labyrinth, and a Little Dust-up

Now THIS is a tag sale… Nina Griscom’s gowns? Carolyne Roehm’s cast-offs?

Count me in. My only regret in attending the tag sale of the century–Elizabeth Taylor’s jewels and Albert Hadley’s One King’s Lane loot notwithstanding–is that most of the clothes will be of a size that would barely fit around my leg, let alone the rest of me. But hey, pocketbooks, scarves and shoes don’t care… Continue reading Now THIS is a tag sale… Nina Griscom’s gowns? Carolyne Roehm’s cast-offs?

Wisdom from Mae West

You only live once, but when you do it right, once is enough. And to this I would only add words from the great Austin Powers: “Yeah, baby.” Here’s to doing it right, right now. Happy weekend.

Furniture Market Finds and High Point Highlights

It’s been fun these past few days reviewing fellow bloggers’ notes on their favorite finds, fads and trends from the High Point furniture market, and one is eternally grateful for not having had to go one’s self. High Point is a big deal in our industry, of course, not to mention in my home state,… Continue reading Furniture Market Finds and High Point Highlights

Dream Kitchen Has Great Ideas for Yours

For anyone working on a kitchen just now, House Beautiful includes a “kitchen of the month” in every issue, and they’re always full of good ideas, even for those of us working with what we have. For the April issue – off the newsstands but now online – I interviewed New Jersey designer Nicole Hough… Continue reading Dream Kitchen Has Great Ideas for Yours

When a Friend Dies

Apologies for my absence. Regular posts will resume next week. The phone call came last Sunday. My sister, her voice broken, “Have you heard about Robert?” Not family, but same as. My throat constricts and my body fills with cold stones. Car accident. There was a memorial service in his hometown of Raleigh on Wednesday… Continue reading When a Friend Dies