A Louisiana Weekend...

...An old invitation I keep in my memento box. Found this in my Grandfather's library after his passing. My Grandparents were very social creatures who loved getting gussied up and especially loved New Orleans. It's fun to think about them attending this event (in 1973!).

I'm Moving In.

This Hollywood Hills home graced the cover of the 2012 December/January issue of House Beautiful and remains to be one of my favorite interiors. Behind the design is Mark D. Sikes who is one of my favorite figures in the design community and also happens to have a fantastic blog. I especially love the way he works with texture, whether it's with a velvet leopard pillow, rattan roman shade, woven jute rug or black lacquered walls, he then layers with a sentimental objet or stack of books. His designs give you a sense of ease and intrigue, all the while looking pulled together in an organic yet sophisticated fashion.

I am drawn to the bookcases that are inhabited with stacks of magazines that seem to look like prized literature. In my room at home back east, I have an antique shoe rack that houses hundreds of magazines I've collected over the years, I think it secretly drives my Mother insane.

As the Roman philosopher, Marcus Tullius Cicero has said, “A home without books is like a body without a soul.”

AERIN

AERIN LAUDER keeps pulling out all the stops. The latest: her collaboration with Lee Jofa on a collection of fabrics, rugs and furniture. I'm currently dreaming of drapes for days in her green "Mirasol" fabric (above) and outfitting a loveseat in her fun leopard "Talmage" fabric. (See the collection here). I can't wait to get my hands on her new book, Beauty at Home now available for pre-order.

About Town: Mason Pacific

Highly recommend this little gem on the cable car line after enjoying a cozy meal last Saturday evening. The neighborhood restaurant was highlighted in 7x7 as a "must-try" suggesting it's the "latest date restaurant" in San Francisco. I particularly enjoyed the Bernard Baudry Chinon ‘Clos Guillot’, a 2010 Cabernet Franc from Loire, France, which paired quite nicely with the butternut squash ravioli with black truffles I ordered for my main course. With the cooler evening temperatures in the city as of late, it was the perfect meal.

Photo credit: Nick Vasilopoulos