Look Up! Look Down!

I'm making a point to watch more classic flicks, and that includes Thunderball, the fourth film in the James Bond series released in 1965. Although I can't exactly relate to Bond's smooth spy tactics, I can relate to the dreamy landscape, the full-figured female physiques, and just love the jet-set wardrobes, cocktail couture and lost notions of allure and romance...it's good to be Bond.

Sophia & Carlo

Sophia Loren and her film producer husband Carlo Ponti exemplified that wild, passionate romance we all yearn for...I love a black and white narrative.

'Party Like a Southerner'

One of the very first stops I make when I'm in New Orleans is Leontine Linens on Magazine Street. Jane Scott Hodges' shop is an absolute jewel box full of beautiful, finely crafted monogrammed linens. Each piece is cut and sewn by an artisan to the specification of the client and with an array of intricate stitches, you will swoon at the mere sight of such couture. There is something just so wonderfully old-fashioned about coveting these pieces in an everyday modern fashion. Perhaps it's a modern nod for keeping the old-world romance alive. In Garden & Gun's October/November issue, they point to Jane Scott Hodges who makes a case for the garden landscape as the main stage for celebrations. Above, is the home of her Aunt, Ruthie Frierson, an avid gardener and a well respected activist in the New Orleans community. The women and their families have enjoyed many parties among the greenery and Jane insists that enjoying the outdoors is quite often more desirable than hosting indoors: “There’s a freedom to entertaining in an unconfined environment, in discovering lily pads and vines instead of appreciating furniture or finery,” she says. “It allows for an intimacy you can’t have in a living room.”

Jane's new book, 'Linens for Every Room and Occasion' was released last spring and remains on my list of must-haves for my expanding collection of coffee table books.

40 Under 40: Words of Wisdom

Fortune just released their 40 Under 40 list and while such a list often comes with speculation and a few jealous naysayers, I find these sorts of lists rather intriguing. The magazine asked their class of their 40 Under 40 what they would tell their 20 year old selves. Here are a few replies I personally connect with at present in my life: It was the same advice that I gave myself when I was 20, which is, any time you have a difficult decision, imagine yourself as a 90-year-old looking back at this moment. What decision would you wish that you would have made? Go forward and look backward.   Nick Woodman, Founder & CEO of GOPRO

Construct your own definition of success, don't let the world do it for you. Just because someone puts a carrot in front of you doesn't mean you have to chase after it.         Michael Patterson, Partner, Highbridge Principal Strategies

I would tell myself that life is going to be really, really unexpected and not to be easily discouraged about whether or not I picked the right class. You never know where you’ll end up and just have to keep moving forward.                                                                 Vijaya Gadde, General Counsel, Twitter

Visit your mother more often.                                                                                             Nate Morris, CEO, Rubicon Global

Keep up that relentless determination but couple that with some faith. You’ll find that you spend less time managing your anxiety and fears and more time getting things done. Tristan Walker, Founder & CEO, Walker & Co.

Photographs Above: Vogue China's May 2010 Editorial staring Liu Wen via.