Design Today, June 2009

It's here! Our new digital edition of Design Today, produced by our staff in collaboration with Home Accents Today, Furniture/Today, Casual Living and Home Textiles Today... click HERE to read.

Memorial Day, Lake Gaston

Mothers Day in Chapel Hill

Nothing could be finer ... congratulations to my oldest tarheel, Sophie Pyle

New queens, nine pounds of newbees, the sound of a swarm

BEFORE TIM DEPARTED ON A HONEYBEE-SHOPPING TRIP to Brushy Mountain Bee Farm (Moravian Falls, N.C.) today, his two new queen bees arrived. They're delivered via U.S. express mail in the little queen cages shown at right, with about half a dozen "nursing" bees to clean, feed, care for them (since these ladies don't seem to know how to do ANYthing for themselves except mate and maintain the buzz level throughout the hivehousehold).

TIM BROUGHT THE TWO NEW QUEENS OUTSIDE so I could get a picture and as you can see they were immediately "found" and hit upon by some of the homeboys. In the photo above left, Tim is unpacking today's cargo, including three hives, with three pounds of bees each, shown up close in the photo below left. I had to take these pics FAST as we've learned the bees HATE the electromagnetic fields emitted by digital cameras and cellphones... .) I SHOT THE VIDEO BELOW WHEN ONE OF THE HIVES BEGAN TO SWARM (or so we thought) on a very warm morning recently... the loud whooshing/humming sound you hear in the background is the bees. Eventually, they all settled down and bee-haved.

Dressed for Guess, Nest & Fashion Fights Poverty

LOVE the photos that arrived this a.m. of Sophie and Jane Pyle with Blonde Charity Mafia ladies at last night's opening party for the new Washington, D.C. location of Guess. The fashion brand joined forces with Teen Vogue and Fashion Fights Poverty for the event, with a portion of proceeds benefitting Nest. As I understand it, Fashion Fights Poverty works within the fashion, textiles and design industries to identify, support and raise awareness about initiatives dedicated to the eradication of global poverty. Nest helps women artisans in developing countries obtain micro-credit loans to create sustainable entrepreneurial businesses. Some of Nest's funding comes from apparel and home accessories produced exclusively for the organization by well-known designers as well as recipients of Nest loans. SOUNDS LIKE a good organization... and reminds me of what Vici International is doing in South Africa (beautiful Thornvale embroidery and textiles) to empower rural craftspeople; and Silkroute is doing in Afghanistan ("One Rug at a Time") to provide sustenance for war widows. In the latter instance, the weavers, if they have children, must complete the rugs at home and provide school progress reports to prove their children are attending school. Similar goings on behind the scene at the Design South Africa Home Lifestyle showroom at the Atlanta market, where we met Esther Mahlangu. (right, sophie pyle at the South African Home Lifestyle showroom at AmericasMart, Atlanta 2007)

While we're on the subject of nest-dressing...

I snapped this photo of our art director/style blogger Wes Kennedy with Thom Filicia, of the Style Network's Dress My Nest at a party at the High Point Market this past Sunday night. Wes and Thom, at right in the photo, are standing in front of Thom's new rugs for Safavieh. Dress My Nest is produced by PB and J Television, the same company producing Blonde Charity Mafia...

The fragrance of these lilacs...

... from Tim's backyard today, reminds me SO MUCH of my little girls circa 1995.
Photo right, l-r, my Janey ("I want to be the PINK Power Ranger"), Olivia and Sophie Pyle, seated in a vintage 1960 tub chair, reupholstered in a strawberry red raw silk that blended with every color of PopTart filling. Also, from the backyard a few minutes ago, Tim and I watched this big healthy honeybee from one of his hives go after the ajuga...

UNC Tar Heels wear Alexander Julian's lucky argyle

More on the Tar Heel basketball uniform design and "argyle nation" from Alexander Julian's talk at the Fifth Annual Design, Arts & Technology Symposium, March 6, 2009, High Point University, High Point, N.C.:

“It was the weightiest design decision I ever made, because if I screwed it up I could never go home again! The colors were already chosen and yet I changed them. The team had gone to what is known as TV blue because of the color television transmittal. (True) Carolina Blue came across as light grey, so they had gone to a heavier version of Carolina Blue which had nothing to do with Carolina Blue -- more teal than anything else. And the NCAA gives you four inches on the sides of the uniforms to decorate and I didn’t know quite what to do.

“Dean (Smith) is a brilliant coach, but he’s not as comfortable with design issues and he involved all of the assistant coaches and the entire team in the decision. Now, all of you who have tried to get one person to understand one design know exactly what I mean. When you complicate it with two people you’re trying to convince, it’s four times harder – it’s exponential. And here I had 30 people to convince.

“So I tried psychology. And my psychology was named Michael Jordan. Michael was relatively popular at the time. This was 1991, and he was in Chicago, on top of the world. I called Michael and asked him to be my sounding board for the designs...

For the full story, go here: www.homeaccentstoday.com/blog/240000224/post/320042632.html

Five girls, Four Corners, three generations, two moms, one beautiful day

Day one of spring break with my girls: our drive to the beach takes us right through Chapel Hill! Here, (from left), Olivia, Janey, me, Sophie and my mom on a sunny but chilly Saturday on Franklin Street following our lunch at Four Corners. UNC v. LSU: made it to my sister's beach house in time for the tip-off!

YES WE CAN

Our smart President, Barack Obama, thinks Tar Heel Ty's toe trauma will improve... and has picked the UNC Tar Heels to win the tournament: http://tinyurl.com/d6pq8c Tim and I look forward to watching their first round game tomorrow afternoon at Dean Dome West: the Greensboro Coliseum.

HOPE he's right...

Gulf Branch Nature Center rally pics, Arlington, Virginia

Sophie Pyle shared childhood memories of pioneering playdates and muddy shoes at the March 14, 2009, rally to save Arlington, Virginia's Gulf Branch Nature Center... video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJfQ6hNuBXA

Sophie joined her Uncle Cary and Aunt Sarah Moore of Arlington for the rally, which brought out close to 300 supporters. More of photographer Kevin Borland's rally photos can be viewed here: http://tinyurl.com/cjuxpk











Save Gulf Branch Nature Center Petition link: http://poprl.com/M5f

Barbie's Malibu Dreamhouse and Birthday Party

WELL, HERE ARE the pics I snapped at Barbie's very fun, very pink 50th birthday party last week in Malibu... saw lots of familiar faces... and a lot of tiny lost plastic high-heeled shoes all over the place.

(Early) APRIL FOOL'S! Actually, my friend Julie Du Brow sent a link (http://tinyurl.com/amehkv) to a great story and pics that ran in BizBash Los Angeles. Guess my invitation got lost in the mail.
(pics by Line 8 Photography)

Green Chic: the nation's greenest living quarters

...more from today's IFDA luncheon at Greensboro's Proximity Hotel and Printworks Bistro, the nation's only Platinum LEED-certified (greenest) hotel . Wes Kennedy explains the architectural stuff here: http://www.homeaccentstoday.com/blog/1940000394/post/800041880.html

My lunch consisted of swiss chard-wrapped farro in a tomato-mushroom sauce, with a side salad of smoked pears (ALL locally grown and harvested) and goat cheese from one of my favorites, the Goat Lady Dairy. Wes had the salmon something-or-other. Lovely, peaceful place. The pics say it better than I can:

Happy Birthday Barbie!

http://www.homeaccentstoday.com/blog/240000224/post/1850039785.html

Where's Peanut?

Valentine's Day on the farms(s)

LAST SATURDAY, we started our Valentine's Day with a drive to Rising Meadows Farm for the spring sheep shearing -- Rising Meadows is in Liberty and down the road from the famous Goat Lady Dairy in Climax, maker of the most wonderful goat cheeses and yogurts on the planet. Last spring, we sampled a variety of their cheeses at one of their wait-listed Sunday brunches, and walked off the calories with a tour of the farm, the goats and those beautiful little "gourmet hens" with the wild feathers and colors (forgot what they're called, but my former sis-in-law Lucy Rhame Von Raab raises them on her farm in Charlottesville and once brought me some of their multi-colored eggs). ANYWAY, the last time we were at Rising Meadows was when we took Olivia there for the apple harvest in 2005 (photo, right). This time, we met up with our friends Scott Manring and Louise Grape (founder of the Hirsch Wellness Network), then followed them back to their farm where we were joined by two more couples... and the guys cooked a delicious dinner for the gals! Most wonderful Valentine's Day I've ever had! I've just started a new knitting project with yarn spun from last year's shearings. The yarns (photo, bottom right) are dyed except for the brown, which is wonderful natural colored Corriedale. Louise and I even discussed the possibility of buying a little spinner and spinning our own yarns... on second thought, as a writer I get to do enough yarn spinning every day at work!

My Mardi Gras babies

Yep. Their dad and I really did meet at Mardi Gras: Fat Tuesday 1981, corner of St. Peter & Bourbon Streets. In the photo (1998), tiny Olivia & striped-shirted Sophie at left, Jane in yellow pants at far right. Here's my Mardi Gras scrapblog:

http://www.scrapblog.com/viewer/viewer.aspx?sbid=620142

Hank is home from the vet...

...but only after spending three nights at Cobb Animal Clinic recovering from something that tried to rip him in half the other night. A raccoon maybe? Fortunately there's no organ damage, the vet sewed him back together; but he sure hates that Victorian collar:

Las Vegas after hours; nix on the houndstooth

Las Vegas Market after hours: candles, massages, dancing girls & delectables: http://tinyurl.com/c8zb2y

AND, WHY I'M HANGING THE HOUNDSTOOTH JACKET IN THE BACK of the closet: Aside from seeing it on every other person in the form of a hat, scarf, purse, stockings, skirt or jacket this week, it's the first time I've ever matched my hotel room:

Fun with furniture

Does this limited edition push and store wood cabinet by Chung-Tang Ho/Tong remind you of anything (like the pin thingy in the photo at right)? There is no end to the fun you could have with that thing. More from the Amsterdam design house of Droog when it opens in NYC later this month... wish I could make it to the opening. Read about it HERE.

A night on the green-town...

at the Lindley Park Filling Station (same owner as Emerywood Fine Foods), made even more special by the fact that I was joined by my good friend and favorite blogger, Wes Kennedy, my favorite and only sister, Sherry Clinard, and my favorite Greensboro designer and winner of this year's ART* Award for Product Design (the equivalent of the academy awards for home furnishings), Mark Abrams.
***ART (The Accessories Resource Team) sponsored the great working retreat Tim and I went to in Charleston this summer...

Barry Dixon's rug collection for Mergerian; more pomegranates for Jane

Earlier this month, Virginia designer Barry Dixon unveiled his new handwoven wool rug collection for Mergerian Rugs at the Atlanta rug show, in the company's AmericasMart showroom. The Mergerians approached Barry a couple of years ago, having become acquainted through the Tomlinson/Erwin-Lambeth showroom where Mergerian's rugs, and Barry's licensed furniture line, were displayed. Barry also used Mergerian rugs in some of his interior design projects. John Mergerian (shown with Barry in the photo at left) approached Barry after joining the family business in 2006. The result is a beautiful merger of Barry's design sensibilities with the Mergerian family's techniques for using environmentally-friendly vegetable dyes extracted from plants native to the Armenian highlands, assembled by artisans and skilled weavers whom the Mergerians support with things such as health benefits and educational scholarships for their children. During the launch party, the Mergerians and Barry exhibited some of the dried flowers, barks, grasses and nuts used to make the subtle color changes in the dyes, including lots of dried pomegranates. In addition to being my Janey Pyle's favorite fruit (I've even included a couple in care packages mailed to her at boarding school), I learned from the tagged dried pomegranate I received as a party favor that the cultivation of the pomegranate has a long standing history in Armenian culture and tradition, and that the fruit symbolizes abundance, hope and fertility.

Barry also just published his first book, Barry Dixon Interiors, which I brought home in my carry-on luggage (along with a fistful of dried pomegranates). I guess I still had pomegranate stains on the brain when I went to Costco Saturday and ended up bringing home my first jug of pomegranate juice, touted both as an antioxidant and an edgier alternative to cranberry juice as a mixer (pomtinis!) The 2-liter container cost almost $7, but I guess it's pretty hard to squeeze all that juice from those itty bitty little seeds... AND I just remembered this photo I took of a live pomegranate tree two years ago outside the El Greco Museum in Toledo, Spain. I was there covering the FARCAMA show... and the nicest thing about blogs is that I don't have to retell that whole wonderful story. I can just link to it HERE!

Obama Decorama: Chia heads, lava lamps, Gnomes for Obama...

...are just a taste of what's cooking in the creative minds of vendors everywhere as the nation celebrates a new administration and welcomes a new family to The White House. If you haven't gotten your Obama Patriot Time for Change Chainsaw, Yarmulkas for Baramulka wall clock or First Lady cheese tray yet, go HERE for more info.

Mama's Day in Chapel Hill

(l-r) OLIVIA, SOPHIE AND GRANDMA Clinard (my mom) this afternoon, after a big Sunday lunch of fried chicken & gravy, chicken & dumplings, bbq ribs, mac & cheese, baked apples, fried green tomatoes, green beans, yeast rolls and buttermilk biscuits at Chapel Hill institution Mama Dip's country kitchen (my #1 destination for comfort food in 1979-82 when I was at UNC -- Dip's was in a much smaller locale across Rosemary Street). Only thing missing was my Janey Pyle.

"Time for Change" at Home Accents Today, too

THIS MONTH'S EDITION of Home Accents Today has been refreshed with several new formats and ideas. We've added a new Color page; recast Design Directions as Style Setters, with a retailer focus on best selling home decor instead of new products; and added a rotating Retailer-to-Retailer column which this month features my friend and D.C. area designer/retailer Lynni Megginson. Also in this issue, my annual In & Out list, a compilation of retailer picks and pans (what's selling now)... and product editor Tracy Bulla's Sketchbooks that offer a look at what's warming up the winter market showrooms (and a preview of what's going to be selling six months from now). Pittsburgh's WeissHouse is my retail profile for January, run by second generation shopowner/shopper/curator Stacy Weiss; and I interviewed designer/manufacturer Mina Peykar about her transition into Nourison Home in my January Portrait profile. I'm showing it all off here, beginning with Editor in Chief Jenny Heinzen York's column discussing our new look in detail... so take a look: click HERE for my GoogleDocs version and use the sidebar to scroll through the pages, or visit the Web site at www.homeaccentstoday.com. The purse strings may be tighter right now, but we can still window shop!

Balmy yule-tides

HIGHLIGHTS from Christmas '08: Olivia, Sophie, Jane, Peanut and I enjoying unseasonably warm temps at the beach... my best fossilized sharks tooth find to date, not only for its size (2" x 1 3/8") but it is absolutely unblemished and perfect in form... and, just having everyone together on Christmas Eve, including the grandparents Clinard and Dickenson...

A White House of many colors

My friend and co-worker Wes Kennedy wrote about and snapped this pic of Mike Farrell's cool crayola-constructed White House: http://www.homeaccentstoday.com/blog/1940000394/post/1500038550.html

Deliciously unseasonable weather

Yay! I'm about to spend another couple of hours on the beach hunting sharks teeth with Olivia and Peanut -- this unseasonable Carolina weather (sixties today, but we've reached the seventies this week) is the best Christmas present of all... also, of course, spending the holidays with my girls talking until late at night, cooking, baking, watching Summer Heights High, walking on the beach (and in Carolina Beach State Park to see if we might catch a glimpse of any of the Venus flytraps that grow only in this area of the country) and shopping the post-Christmas sales.

Blonde Charity Mafia set to debut on the CW

Yep - just heard the official word... the misses Sophie Pyle, Krista Johnson and Katherine Kennedy will be launching their new show on the CW... and, just about as exciting -- GE's finally found a way to wrap those annoying little CFL curly bulbs in glass so that in another couple of weeks we'll be able to make our favorite lamps energy efficient! They'll be in Target stores starting December 28th. Click HERE for details and the youtube video about the new technology... and WE are off to a party at the Earltons!

Christmas in Washington TV show at National Building Museum: 1996 vs. 2008

Last night, as I was channel surfing, I landed briefly on this year's production of Christmas in Washington on TNT and must admit I was surprised to learn that it still lives on. I was a seat-filler for an early production in the early 1990s, and we took Jane and Sophie to the taping in 1996, when Faith Hill opened the show (which was taped at the National Building Museum), the Clintons attended and the hosts for the evening were the cast of 3rd Rock from the Sun (sorry Olivia, honey, you were just a wee bit too young and so we had to leave you with a babysitter). We sat directly behind Senator Joe Biden and his guests and I remember trying very hard to keep little Janey Pyle from kicking and pushing the senator's seat so as not to disturb his enjoyment of the show. THIS YEAR, it was hosted by Dr. Phil and Robert McGraw (whoever that is) along with musical guests Julianne Hough, Kristin Chenoweth and Darius Rucker (don't know any of them either). Anyway, I couldn't get past the opening song and channeled forward to Turner Classic Movies' Death on the Nile . The 1996 Christmas in Washington taping was actually quite a wonderful event , though - NBC hosted, NBC knows how to host, and so we went to a pre-taping tea at the Four Seasons, an after-party at the Building Museum, and another after-party back at the Four Seasons. My favorite memories: when Third Rock star Jane Curtin, one of the original great ladies from the early days of Saturday Night Live, stooped down to eye level to share Christmas cookies and a chat with another Jane: my 6-year-old Janey Pyle who, along with her sister Sophie Pyle, was very enaging but more concerned about meeting Joseph Gordon-Levitt from 3rd Rock (at left, as he looked back then) It was a LONG night, though, and I saved the wonderful dancing Christmas duck 6-year-old Janey doodled on her program while she spent several hours squirming on my lap...

The littlest angel is about to turn fifteen

In December of 1993, the last time that the full moon got as close to the earth as it did earlier this week...I was busy getting Christmas preparations out of the way (i.e. shopping for American Girl Dolls and Barbie stuff) so we could focus on the scheduled Dec. 20, 1993, arrival of a new angel by the name of Olivia! She's the beautiful blonde shown on the far right of the preschool choir in the photo at left. And while we're on the subject of dolls, here's an article I wrote a few years ago about the perils of package-opening... especially Olivia's Bratz dolls

From Carolina Parent, December 2004: My shopping is almost done, and I can't help but smile when I think about the strategy I used to pare down my children's wish lists. I purchased only gifts that could be removed from the package in 10 minutes or less without the assistance of knives, tools or metal objects. Last year, it was late January when I noticed my 10-year-old Olivia still hadn't found the time nor patience to open two of her biggest Christmas gifts: a Bratz Doll Formal Funk Limousine "with 3-in-1 Smoothie Bar, Primpin' Station & Cruisin Lounge" and a Bratz Formal Funk Limited Edition Prom 2003 Jade doll with "super-stylin' accessories." It wasn't that Olivia was bored or overwhelmed by the double dose of toys and games she received as a result of having a birthday that falls within five days of Christmas. Nor was she too busy with friends, homework and afterschool activities. She just couldn't get the darn things out of the packages. Each offer of assistance I gave was met with rejection; she preferred to play outside with her friends instead of devoting the amount of time it would require to help me remove plastic, wires and those strange strips that sew the dolls' long hair into the cardboard insert... (click on the article page if you'd like to read the rest)

Raymond Waites party; High Point's Big Bureau

Went to a great party last night at designer Raymond Waites' house, hosted by the Carolinas chapter of the International Furnishings and Design Association... rather than repeat myself, I'll direct your attention to the words and photos HERE. Earlier in the week, my party pals (Home Accents Today co-staffers Tracy Bulla and Wes Kennedy) joined me for a fun time at High Point's Big Bureau building for a party in the drawers - check out the photos and read about it (the building, not the party) at this BIG BUREAU link. Tracy and Wes are shown in the photo from Raymond's party above right. Wes is the one wearing the chandelier on his head... can't take him anywhere.

National Christmas Tree, Pageant of Peace circa 1990

Tonight, in Washington, D. C., the National Christmas Tree was lit. Here, a 3-year-old Sophie Pyle attends the Pageant of Peace and Lighting of the National Christmas Tree in 1990. Click on the photos to enlarge. Right, the oldest of my three girls, today in a photo from Fashion Washington (the red velvet dress fits a little differently but the dimples are still there!):

Studio Photography, Visual Whiplash in High Point

Next year marks the 100th year since the High Point furniture market made its debut as the Southern Furniture Market. Along the way, a strong studio photography base took shape as a result of the need to advertise and photograph the casegoods and upholstered pieces designed, manufactured and/or shown here -- thus the reason the Piedmont Triad is now such an important photography center. In an article for the Greensboro News and Record that ran a couple of days ago, writer Richard Barron gave a good description of "furniture" studio photography: On a recent October day, when the studio was still busy photographing furniture introduced at the recent market, workers, carpenters and photographers built sets and took pictures. The sets produce visual whiplash: picture a sleek nighttime penthouse across the aisle from a sunny Southern kitchen.

I love that "visual whiplash." My Home Accents Today editorial colleagues and I cover High Point and the major biannual markets -- Atlanta, Las Vegas, Dallas, New York and L.A. -- where the juxtaposition of styles, colors, textures and tastes in showroom after showroom after showroom is, at times, overwhelming. (photo right, is one of Greg O'Neal's installations for Revco and Candice Olson's furniture line - Greg won a showroom design award at the October High Point market)

Tribuzio Hilliard creative chief David Christenson, who is interviewed in Barron's article and ran a catalog advertising firm in New York City for 25 years before coming to High Point, told a reporter in a 2004 News & Record article, "It's my opinion that there's more studio space in High Point than in New York City." One of the nice things about having all those studios here is that a lot of times the photographers go on location in a local neighborhood to shoot a catalog page for a retailer or manufacturer. This happened a lot when I lived on West Parkway in High Point. A house gets a nice quick paint touch-up, suddenly blooming spring flowers appear in late summer, and then the lights, camera, food truck, crew arrive.

One balmy spring night, I took a walk around the block and came upon a winter snowstorm -- and the first giant inflatable snow globe I'd ever seen - a set for a catalog shot. A couple of the homes on Parkway ended up on the Lowes Home Improvement circulars and fliers that arrived in my mailbox. My friend Ken recently had his backyard oasis in Greensboro restaged as the backdrop for a Lowes Canada catalog shoot. In recent years I've had the pleasure of working with a few local photographers at the High Point market (Scott Crowder) and the Greensboro News & Record (Nancy Sidelinger - Nancy's the one who took Tim's billboard photo). And I love watching a retail profile or market daily issue take shape a la Wes Kennedy, our talented art director at Home Accents Today.

But my first exposure to the world of "furniture" photography happened when I was a 6-year-old Brownie Girl Scout. One of High Point's oldest photography studios, The Alderman Co. (founded in 1896), invited our Troop 52 to model in a kitchen set -- 16 little Brownies baking -- for a magazine ad. I remember our mothers being there to dress us in our uniforms, and an assistant who came around passing out snacks. I also remember being very bored after just a few minutes of "posing."

Redecorating and interior design ideas for the Obama White House; Barack Obama Advent Calendar

Great advice for President and Mrs. Barack Obama and their two young daughters as they prepare to move to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. Several insightful members of Home Accents Today's Designer Insight Panel share their thoughts on redecorating the White House, cabinets, carpet and all! See what my friends Sandra Espinet, Brant Williams, Mark Schomisch, Dorian Webb, Greg O'Neal, Randy Ouzts have to say in this fun read at http://www.homeaccentstoday.com/blog/1950000395.html

Little Red Cookbook

Just in time for Thanksgiving, I posted our favorite recipes (click on the little red cookbook on the right side of the web page.)

The Washington Sophie Diary

Adam Comar and Sophie Pyle, left, photographed by Jonah Koch for Washington Life magazine, November, 2008, at Teotro Goldoni for the Fabretto Foundation (article by Edie Vanhorn).

So sue me. I'm a proud mom... and I got the scanner in the divorce settlement.

Brady girls

A big hug for my Sophie Pyle and my niece Natalie Freeman who sent beautiful birthday bouquets! Natalie left NYC for a couple of weeks in September to join Sophie in D.C. for the filming of "Blonde Charity Mafia."

Stayed home today with a strange stomach bug but it gave me a chance to recline all day and read Maureen McCormick's (Marcia Brady) autobiography, one of my birthday gifts from Jane and Olivia. Interesting read, and brought back a lot of memories from the late 60s and early 70s when television consisted of three main channels, each of which needed adjusting with the turn of a big knob connected to the metal antenna on top of the house. Couldn't resist sharing this photo of the time I talked Sophie, Janey & Olivia into dressing up as Marcia, Jan & Cindy for a swim team pep rally ("but nobody will get it, mom")...

Sunday Harvest; Barclay Butera, Archipelago

Cold weather is finally on its way to us (not that we're looking forward to it) so today Tim harvested the final bounty (though we've still got tomatoes and banana peppers on the vine) of the season from our backyard. His peppers, basil and green beans were added to our Sunday soup (this afternoon it was a sinus-opening hot and sour soup with Chinese dumplings), and the roses, salvia and eucalyptus made a nice aromatic bouquet. Combined with a beautiful profile snapshot of Peanut, I present my "Susan Dickenson Lifestyle" vignette... inspired of course, by the just-ended HighPoint Market, but also by my friend Barclay Butera's gorgeous new book of his interior design work, Living in Style by Assouline Publishing. My biggest question with regard to BB is, is there any style that he doesn't do? Each fall, I look forward to his fall introductions in IHFC's Interhall, knowing he'll be taking me to a completely new place with his furniture, fabrics and accessories. This time it involved the inspirations resulting from his new licensing arrangements with Hearst Castle/San Simeon, and the lifestyle presentations in his new book -- some of which draw from his (former) residences which include Desi Arnaz Jr.'s (preteen heartthrob o'mine) Beverly Hills home, Frank Sinatra's (preteen heartthrob o'mama's) Twin Palms estate in the desert and a cottage Bette Davis owned by the sea. I first learned of the book, and the five lifestyle themes (Beach, City, Desert, Mountain, Town and Country) in a press release I received just a few days after Tim and I returned from the ART Conference in Charleston this past August. The release announced BB's new line of candles, made by L.A.-based Archipelago, the co-owner of which (Gregg Corzine) sat to my immediate right during the big 1920s themed dinner-dance on the final night of the ART conference (the world just keeps getting smaller and smaller). Back to the book -- if ever there were a human design sponge, BB is it - his ability to absorb every detail of every interior he inhabits, impress his own flair upon it, and then put it back out there for all to enjoy and own is beautifully documented in this collection of photographs and interiors that is so purely Barclay Butera... Thanks, BB, for the beautiful book, the inspiration, the sweet note and your insightful contributions as a member of my Designer Insight panel at in the magazine and at http://www.homeaccentstoday.com/.

p.s. to my olivia, jane and sophie pyle -- we saw another great win in Chapel Hill yesterday, OVER Boston College and UNDER late-clearing Carolina Blue skies!

High Point Market; CA Boom

The Fall 2008 High Point Market just ended -- among the highlights and surprises: the new CA Boom East design show at Cisco Brothers' LEED certified renovated showroom (former Highland Yarn Mill factory) where first time High Point exhibitors such as Blank Blank, Bevara Design House, Ku Ambiance Japanese lifestyle, Berndt Woods, Obleeek Object, John Derian's first furniture collection... and many others debuted their collections. Also, another great round of evening entertainment and celebrations that kicked off with CA Boom's ribbon cutting Sunday night, followed by Raymond Waites' New Vintage Gallery party and silent auction benefiting the new IFDA Raymond Waites Scholarship Fund... followed Monday morning by a great breakfast and press briefing at Noble's, and Monday night our Home Accents Today tent party at Market Square. We ended the week with a tag-team presentation of our product editors' trends report (preceded by Jenny's discussion of the consumer survey we did earlier this year with HGTV).