Thank you Keith Olbermann

...and thanks to my sister, Samantha, and Uncle Beefy, at The Bedlam of Beefy, for the heads up about this articulate, fearless and intelligent commentary from Keith Olbermann from msnbc! It's almost Friday!

The Allure of Underwater Vases

Last summer I was on the hunt for oversize, giant brandy snifters, both of my grandmothers would use them as "rose-bowls" and float a single cut rose in them. I looked at flea markets, thrift stores, garage sales and then finally resorted to eBay. While I was perusing eBay, I stumbled upon a listing for an underwater vase. I’d never even heard of an underwater vase. I decided to bid on it and won it for 5 bucks. That same weekend, we ventured over to the East Bay to the Alameda Flea Market, and through serendipity I found two more underwater vases from two different vendors. I guess I never noticed underwater vases before, or I just didn’t know what they were used for.

The underwater vase looks like a big, clear glass bowling ball with a flat lid and comes in various sizes.

The lid has a built in frog that holds the flower stems in place. The lids can be plastic, metal (almost like a mayonnaise jar lid), or rubber. The frogs can be metal spikes or simple rubber holes. After you attach the flower to the frog, you carefully place it into the water filled glass globe and screw the lid on. My first try at placing a flower in the underwater vase was a disaster. After I flipped the vase onto its flat lid, the flowers became detached and floated to the top. I also didn’t fill the water to the brim and a large air pocket rose to the top. After some practice, I became an expert at underwater flower arranging, without any air bubbles or detached flowers. I used these underwater vases at a couple of dinner parties and people are always fascinated by the simplicity of a flower submerged under water in a glass globe. It’s very surreal and reminds me of a giant snow globe. Over time, the flower doesn’t discolor that much either, it just fades a little. I left one arrangement for 3 weeks and it still looked good, and the water wasn’t even sour when I opened the lid— I guess because it airtight. After I got bored with the novelty of the water, I began using the vases to display other things. Here’s some examples of what you can use them for—besides just as an underwater vase.

I like to put just leaves in them, without any flowers at all. I think the autumn leaves look really striking.

Seashells look beautiful in the underwater vase too. I bet you have a jar of seashells stashed away, this is a great way to display them.

It's also a great way to store all the buttons and memorabilia on your dresser! Keep your eyes peeled and maybe you’ll spot one at your local thrift store or flea market—or maybe we’ll be bidding against each other on eBay!

Pure Style and Grace—Jeremy Hackett

Jeremy Hackett, founder of the quintessential British menswear store, Hackett, is a true gentleman icon. Mr. Hackett not only embodies style and grace, he’s quite a handsome chap too. He was adopted at age six and as a child wasn’t a very good student. By age 16, he began working at a tailor’s shop, dreaming of having his own store one day. In 1983, he opened his first Hackett shop in England. The first shop sold second-hand clothes, and eventually sold his namesake apparel label, Hackett. My favorite pair of khakis I’ve ever owned were from Hackett! By 1992 the store had become a must-stop shop for classic menswear and Mr. Hackett sold it to the luxury goods group Richemont. He’s still the chairman of Hackett and wrote a column called, Mr. Classic, for The Independent, and is considered an authority on menswear. The book, Mr. Classic, came out a couple years ago, it's a collection of his best newspaper columns, which were all about Mr. Hackett's take on mens' style. The book is chock full of beautifully styled photographs epitomizing Mr. Hackett's taste.

Jeremy Hackett’s witty take on monograms is one of my favorite images from the book.

I also love this tweed jacket with buttons and a Union Jack decorating the lapels.

Mr. Classic is a prerequisite for any gentleman’s library. You can buy it here.

BESTOW gifts on your loved ones

Looking for the perfect gift for the ladies and gents in your life? Well look no further. Bestow, a beautiful online boutique, recently opened. Bestow has assembled an amazing selection of candles, barware, jewelry, books, intimate apparel, bath items, and some tasteful provocative notions. They have a section called "Occasions" with thoughtful gift suggestions for birthdays, weddings, romance and more. There's something for every budget too. Here's just a few of my favorite items from Bestow.

I love this silver horse head bottle opener, and it's a bargain for only $12.00! It would make a great host/hostess gift for the holiday season.
How chic would this over-size leather duffle be for your next holiday trip or long weekend to Palm Springs?
This gorgeous horn magnifying glass would sure come in handy on my desk right now!

This round hunt club trophy vase has alot of personality, and would bring instant charm to any decor.

This clever jeweled zebra pill box is perfect for hiding little secrets.

I love the regal crown on this velvet pillow embellished with rhinestones and lurex threads. It would add a touch of whimsy to a modern interior.

And how sweet is this legs teapot, imported from England, with gold leaf detailing. There's many more unique and wonderful things to you'll be drooling over, click here and visit Bestow now.

Confessions of a Dish Queen

Okay, okay... I admit it, I’m a dish queen! I would buy a plate or teapot here and there, and “hide” them from my partner (“…why do we need another plate?")...that is until I had him read this article from the New York Times. You can be straight or gay, male or female and be a dish queen. I can trace my dish obsession back to when I was a toddler. Whenever we stopped by my paternal grandmother’s (Opal) house, she would let me drink Cambric Tea out of “my own” special porcelain demitasse cup and saucer, while I would sit in my high-chair. This demitasse cup and saucer wasn’t just some plain ordinary throw away piece of porcelain either. The saucer had a scalloped edge that I loved to run my little fingers around, with a circle of basket weave texture and a ring of hand-painted flowers with a cream color background. The cup also had scalloped ridges running around the perimeter, and a ring of basket weave texture with painted flowers. FYI: for you fellow hard-core dish queens, the pattern is SIM6 by Simpson Potters Ltd, from Cambridge, England, circa 1940's.

The demitasse (above) that started it all! The cup is only 2.25" high x 2"diameter, and the saucer is 4.5" diameter. I remember even as a child, thinking how much I liked this little cup and saucer, and how special I felt drinking out it. I always carefully placed the cup down onto the saucer and would listen for the delicate “clink” the cup made when it came to rest.

Here’s a few of my favorite black and white plates from my collection. The provenance or cost (cheap or expensive) of the china is irrelevant to me, but it's mandatory that I adore each piece and be able to use it. I don’t want pieces that are too precious or fragile to use. Yes, I’ve had a few broken casualties, but I usually find something better as a replacement. I’ve severely edited my collection over the years to just white porcelain, and black and white porcelain. I consider each piece of china to be like a work of art.

This French rebus salad plate, one of six different versions, I found at Williams-Sonoma years ago. It says, "quand le coeur est bon, tout peut se corriger," which means "when the heart is good, all that is good will follow." I love that!

Another Williams-Sonoma plate, features the Satirical Art of William Hogarth (1697-1764). There are six different bread and butter sized plates in this set and I like this one the best. Sometimes Williams-Sonoma carries dishes that aren't featured in their catalog and are only available in limited editions at their larger stores, so you kinda have to dig around when you're at the store—you might find something special.

And of course I love Piero Fornasetti! This vintage salad plate is one of four different birds I own. I think these Fornasetti plates inspired the D.L. & Co. Love Bird plates.

This vintage transferware luncheon plate was my grandmother LaViolette's plate, and she got it from her mother, Pearl. The pattern is Palestine from Adams China, I think it's from the 1920's or maybe earlier.

This Italian dinner plate, is one of four different styles. I purchased them at Bloomingdales, when I lived on the Upper East Side in Manhattan around 1994.

I know the memento mori trend has run its course, but I still love this dessert plate I found last year at Urban Outfitters. The housewares at UO are really cute and at a great price point. I wish I would have purchased more of these babies. Stay tuned, over time I will share more of my dish collection.

The Comfort of Cambric Tea

Nothing beats curling up on the couch on a rainy (or sunny) Sunday afternoon with a warm pot of Cambric Tea. What’s Cambric Tea you ask? Cambric Tea is an American term to describe a hot drink made with milk, water, sugar and a dash of tea. The name is taken from a lightweight fabric called Cambric, which is white and thin—just like the "tea." As a toddler, my mom would make me Cambric Tea by pouring a small amount of good old Lipton Tea into a cup and adding lots of milk and a spoonful of sugar. I really wanted coffee, but I’m allergic to it (and all legumes), so I would just pretend my Cambric Tea was coffee. I make my Cambric Tea now by steeping Earl Grey in a mixture of hot lowfat milk and water. You can make it with whole milk or half and half for a more decadent and yummy drink. Here’s my recipe:

Cambric Tea for Two
2 cups milk
2 cups water
2 Earl Grey teabags
2 or 3 teaspoons of sugar (to taste)

Place the cold milk and water in a saucepan and bring just to the boiling point. Be careful and watch it, so it doesn’t steam up and boil over the pan. Then add the teabags and cover with a lid. Let it steep about 5 or 10 minutes. Remove the bags and stir in the sugar. Pour into a teapot and enjoy your Sunday!

Fifth Grade Embroidery School

My maternal grandmother, LaViolette, taught me how to embroider and needlepoint when I was 10 years old. In the fifth grade, and I don’t remember exactly how it came about, my teacher, Miss Mallander, allowed me to work on my embroidery and needlepoint projects during class. So whenever Miss Mallender was lecturing or reading, or I had a lull in my schoolwork, I was busy stitching away at my desk. Miss Mallander didn’t allow anyone to make fun of me either, and surprisingly no other kids ever teased me about embroidering during class. Thank you Miss Mallander! And the funny thing is, my first project was a needlepoint kit of a big pink elephant (how gay is that?), that my mom let me pick out on my own at the sewing shop. I still enjoy embroidering, however, I don’t needlepoint—it’s just too boring doing the same stitch over and over. There are so many different stitches in embroidery and it's fun. I’m particularly fond of French Knots.

Here’s my latest embroidery project. I used sailor tattoos and nautical ephemera as my inspiration.
There’s anchors, sailing knots, swallows and of course a merman. What do you think?
My grandmother, LaViolette, embroidered this pillow in the early 1970’s. I love the color palette she used and the shapes. She used mostly the chain stitch to create the entire piece. This pillow is currently in my home and I think it’s even more stylish today than in the 1970’s.