For the Love of Linens

Designers
April 1, 2014

Last week when I was in New Orleans, Lindsay of The Pursuit of Style recommended that I go to visit the Leontine Linens showroom. I was not disappointed. The space was beautiful, and the product? Well let’s just say I was in heaven. Between coverlets and shams, napkins and placemats, it was a full linen sensory overload. We had just come from an amazing lunch at Lilette, and ending our lunch outing ogling over beautiful linens was the perfect accompaniment. We had the pleasure of meeting Jane Scott Hodges, the woman behind Leontine Linens, and she couldn’t have been more fun, welcoming, and happy to chat, despite the fact that her book, Linens for Every Room and Occasion, hits stores today. The book is being published by Rizzoli, and has a foreword by Charlotte Moss. I was lucky enough to check out a preview copy at the shop, and I cannot wait to get my hands on one of my own. The book is available through Amazon here and Barnes & Noble here. After an experience like this, I will be hard pressed not to be ordering some napkins and a coverlet! The question is, how do I choose? Jane Scott and I have similar taste in china, she loves Herend Fish Scale like I do, and we agreed that the chopstick font (shown in the second picture) in green might be a great accompaniment to our Herend Fish Scale and Meissen Ming Dragon II. Any thoughts?

Insta New Orleans

Architecture
March 31, 2014

As most of you who follow me on Instagram know, I was in New Orleans Wednesday through Sunday. I apologize for not posting while I was away! I wanted to do a little recap of our NOLA trip through Instagram. For those of you who follow me, this photos will be familiar, but you will get a little more information on what we did … Started off the trip by checking into Soniat House, and immediately strolling around the French Quarter, finding ourselves at Hotel Monteleone’s famous Carousel Bar. We headed to dinner at Sylvain for a Champagne Cocktail, Southern Antipasti Plate, Seasonal Market Salad, and Gulf Shrimp Pirlou. The Southern Antipasto Plate had a black eyed pea hummus that was to die for. The next morning, we had breakfast at Stanley on Jackson Square, and while WWB did some work I took a tour of the Old Ursuline Convent. I felt as though I had stumbled into a piece of 18th century France in Louisiana … it is no surprise since the building was commissioned by Louis XV of France. The views of the French Quarter from the interior of the Ursuline Convent garden were magical.
Later, we headed out to the garden district. We had lunch at Lilette, which was by far the absolute best meal we had during the trip. We started out lunch with 1/2 dozen oysters and a salad of Shaved Hawaiian Hearts of Palm. It sounds simple, but I could eat that salad with parmesan and olive oil every day. We followed up with some Alaskan King Crab Claws with passion fruit butter … yes passion fruit butter … and some mussels in a curry sauce with eggplant bruschetta. This was all along with the most amazing cocktail made called the Lillete Rouge, which tasted like a sparkling sangria. Then it was straight to Leontine Linens, where we met the amazing Jane Scott Hodges … look for more on that tomorrow. Dinner was at La Petite Grocery, where I had Turtle Bolognese! How does one not order that? Dinner was followed by drinks at Bouligny Tavern, which was the chicest midcentury bar (note the light fixture in the window), where I had an Aperol Fizz. Yummm.Friday it poured with rain almost all day. We took refuge at the Beauregard Keyes House, made famous by the 18 months that Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard lived there. The palmetto frond wallpaper in the hallway was a favorite part of that visit. We followed that step back in time with a lunch at Galatoire’s, and dinner at Commander’s Palace. Even in the pouring rain we managed to hit some of the best places in old New Orleans. Saturday morning, after a coffee and a buttermilk drop at Petite Amelie, we did more strolling around the French Quarter, looking out for buildings for me to fall in love with, such as this one. Then it was on to the wedding at Immaculate Conception Church, a traditional Second Line parade around the French Quarter, and a reception at the Opera Guild Home. A big congratulations to Liz and Colin who tied the knot this weekend! It was a wonderful trip, and I’m so glad I can finally say I have been to New Orleans. Until next time NOLA …

Easter Bunny Coming Early

Entertaining
March 25, 2014

If you’re anything like me, and you’re hosting Easter, you have already started brainstorming your Easter table. I tend to do this with holidays, and I get really excited about decorating a table perhaps a bit too early than I need to. I’m hoping that we have good weather in Charleston because I would love to host Easter in the garden, as I did last year. Above is the Minton China I just scored from my parents basement. I am absolutely in love with it, and feel like it just screams, “use me for Easter!”. I want to pull the colors from the plates and incorporate them into other pieces of the Easter table.Next, I’m seriously considering a Roberta Roller Rabbit tablecloth in the Jemina print. I want the table to look bountiful and have lots of colors and textures – so I like the pattern of the plates atop this block printed favorite.If I go with the Roberta tablecloth, I think I might have to jump for these Trimmed Napkins from Wisteria. Currently the only color napkins we have in our drawer are blue, and as Easter signifies spring, I want green to be an overarching theme of the table.Now I am not usually a big fan of napkin rings, but since I am going for the bountiful table look, I really love these Queen Anne’s Lace napkin rings from Crate & Barrel. I’m sure a lot of you are better at floral DIY projects than I am, and might take it upon yourself to make real Queen Anne’s Lace napkin rings, but I am not that crafty. And I could see these becoming a tradition at the Easter table in our house. Can’t have a table in my house without adding an accent of blue somewhere! I really love these tried and true Fleur-de-Lys Tumblers from Anthropologie. These glasses pull the blue from the china pattern, and are a great contrast with the bright green of the napkins. Flowers … I’m flirting with the idea of lilacs. I’m not quite sure that we will be able to get them, but I just love the smell and their generally floppy nature. If you look at the china pattern, there is the slightest bit of lavender in the pattern, and I would love to get that to pop. I’m thinking these lilacs could do the trick. What are you thinking for your Easter table? Would love to hear about it!

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