Buy Nothing Day

I've always hated the crass commercialism of the after Thanksgiving day sales. People running out like rats to the sewer to find the best scraps and fight over them. WalMart was open on Thanksgiving day to suck in any early sales they could - shame on them!. Macy's and other stores opened at 5:00 and 6:00 am to try to beat the competition. They even have a name for it now. "Black Friday". I think the name fits it nicely, it's a black mark on our society and it casts a dark stain over the holidays. We have lost touch with the true meaning and spirit of these special days. Please read the insightful post of More Ways to Waste Time in which she talks about Buy Nothing Day. She is much more eloquent than I am in describing our societies decent into uber-consumerism.

Thanksgiving in New York

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I am thankful that you continue to stop by everyday and read my blog and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! I'm actually staying in the city this year and look forward to bringing you some fun holiday posts. But I think I will stay away from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and watch it on TV like everyone else! I have no desire to to get trampled by people trying to see the Snoopy balloon! Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Kelly Wearstler!

Everyone's favorite hair crimping interior designer extraordinaire turns 40 today! I hope we're all that thin and fabulous when we turn 40!

Life is a Banquet!

In honor of the upcoming holiday, I thought it might be appropriate to recommend a movie that will make us all feel better about our own crazy families, Auntie Mame, based on the book by Patrick Dennis. The most famous tag line of the movie comes from Mame Dennis herself, "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!" And she certainly lives life to the fullest!

One of the best parts of the movie and the reason so many creative people love it is the interiors! George James Hopkins was nominated for an Oscar for his set decoration and if you've ever seen the movie, you'll know why. They are integral to the story and sometimes, completely over the top. Two weeks after her nephew Patrick Dennis comes to live with her, Mame has redecorated. Out goes the over the top Chinoiserie and in comes the pale blue walls and modern art.

Mame's outfits and hairstyles are also ever changing and worth watching for. They too become an extra character in the movie!

The most hilarious decoration comes courtesy of her decorator Yule Oolu and I won't ruin it for you but it's very modern. I wish there were more photos available online since these are only a small glimpse into the chicest movie. I will warn you that Rosalind Russell's voice can be at times a little grating and it is almost two and a half hours long but it you love great design, this movie is for you. It will also make you realize how normal your family really is! Happy Holidays!

Thaw Out That Bird !!!!

I usually don't like to eat anything that has even a vague resemblance to what it once was. This applies mostly to fish and other seafood. I like to live in denial and prefer to think that my food originates in it's edible form. I really hate it when I am reminded that I am a brutal meat eating carnivore! It seems so uncivilized when you think about it. My sister and I vowed to become vegetarians in high school. We stocked up on vegetables and carbs and went at it with gusto. I think we lasted about four days before we hit McDonalds for a Big Mac.

So, inevitably, I am defrosting my bird and my family is looking forward to my Thanksgiving standard menu. I have one dish that I learned from my ex mother-in-law that my family raves about. It is one of those ridiculously easy things to make that people swoon over and demand the recipe for so I thought in the spirit of Thanksgiving I would share it with you.

Corn Casserole

3 cans Green Giant Creamed Corn (don't ask me why but it has to by GG)
3 cans Niblets ( also Green Giant)
1 pkg Progresso Bread Crumbs (unseasoned)
3 sticks butter cut into 1/4" slices which are then cut in half to make dabs


In a medium sized oven safe casserole layer your ingredients as follows:

Begin by sprinkling a light layer of bread crumbs into the bottom of the casserole
Add a layer of creamed corn about 1" thick
Add a similar layer of Niblets
top with layer of butter cubes about 6 or 7
Add second layer in the same order.
Continue until the ingredients are used up topping with bread crumbs and dabs of butter

Bake in oven 350' for one hour or until bubbly on top.

Variations: Add thinly sliced green pepper or if you're daring jalapeños for a nice kick.

I guarantee your family will love it - even the kids!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

New Blogger Friend

I remember when Ronda at All the Best first profiled my blog, she said felt like she had stumbled on a kindred spirit in the blogging world and that's how I felt when I stumbled upon Maison21! Christian May started his blog just like all of us to give himself a place to discuss all of his obsessions so as not to continue to bore his friends any longer. I know everyone will be glad that he did. His blog is witty and informative and if you need to know how to clean chrome, Christian is your go-to guy.

"I'm just a interior decorating obsessive with a lifelong vintage furniture shopping addiction (seriously, when I got my drivers license as a teen, my very first solo driving expedition was to the salvation army). I went back to school (product design) as an adult and took an internship with a high end residential design firm which led to getting hired and leaving school. I've been fortunate to work on some incredibly fantastic projects while working for other designers, a few of which have been published (one of my first projects as an intern was to design a mantle surround to showcase a giant Dubuffet painting. I had to pinch myself). Now I mostly sell the tchotchkes and do the occasional design job, indulging both my passions. I get to work surrounded by pretty things every day, who could ask for more?

Christian sells fabulous antiques on eBay and out of his garage that I must say looks better than the inside of most people's homes. He also recently sold a bunch of blanc de chine-esque and brass pieces to David Hoey, Bergdorf's display guru, and he thinks some of the items might have made it into the new Tony Duquette inspired holiday windows. And if that's not enough to impress you, he also once attended a private birthday party at Dawnridge. Even though most of the original furnishings were gone by that time, he said it was still amazing and memorable. See, I told you you would like him!