#preach

The below is a closing prayer I listened to at church Sunday evening. It particularly resonated with me. I'm not a habitual church-mouse but when I do go, it reaffirms just how good it can be for the soul. I hope it resonates with you also:

Disturb us, O Holy One,

when we are too well pleased with ourselves;

when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little;

when we arrived safely because we have sailed too close to shore.

Disturb us, O Holy One,

when with the abundance of the things we possess,

we have lost our thirst for the water of life.

Stir us, O Holy One,

to dare more boldly, to venture on wilder seas,

where storms will show your power;

where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

Stir us, O Holy One,

push back the horizons of our hopes

and push us into future in strength, courage, hope and love. Amen.

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.