Have your cake and eat it too!

Attention: buyers, designers, architects, and artists.. .2008 -2012 will be a Rococo Revival. Here is something you can take to market! Occasionally, I get a call from a certain magazine editor asking me to give her a heads up on the next "big" trend. I may be a "has-been", but I still have a idiot sevantish-ability to predict trends 1 - 2 years in advice. Several times I have thought I no longer possessed this ability, and somehow it always hits me when I least expect it. This time; however, I am going to publish this so all of my designer friends can profit off of it since I no longer have the energy to so.

From late 2008 stretching all the way to 2012 the main trend in design, fashion, and living is DECADENCE. Very Baroque, Rococo, Louis XIV furniture upholstered in lots of red, pink, and gold large-scaled damask. Just for the heck of it, indulge in fine chocolates and pastries that your have ordered from France even though they look way too beautiful to eat. You know that gold flat wear that you ostentatious aunt may have owned? It will be way hot! It is going to be perfectly acceptable to indulge a little and enjoy the finer things in life. How about forgoing a video rental and splurging on tickets to the opera? We may only have until 2012, right?

Ahoy, It's Yachting Season!

Its time to drag out my black and white nautical shirts and accessories and attempt to squeeze into my white linen pants. This is a great 60's fad, that will forever be en vogue. I have not found a source to buy these in the US lately other than Restoration Hardware's sale catalog; however you can peruse http://www.brittanyboutique.com/ or http://www.bretonshirts.co.uk.

KISS MY..... BLACK SATIN NAILS!

I recently made a business trip to Pennsylvania to meet with the Dutch and they sucked the life out of me; hence no recent posts. The only thing that has gotten me through is the subliminal message that my black satin nails send. They give me power; similar to that that a certain finger gesture, but in a non offensive manor. Bob would be proud. This great fad is sooooo 60's and soooooo reminiscent of UTOPIA. I just need to find some some pink frosted lip stick.

Oscar Town

Marfa took center stage this year at the Oscars for No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. In this little corner of the earth where nothing ever really happens except for a earthquake in 1993, a secession from the United States in 199o something, or maybe a train derailment yesterday, this is BIG NEWS!

Super Bowl Soiree?

First of all, I must begin by saying this was this was the second Super Bowl that I have attended since 1989. I swore them off after my gay-cowboy boyfriend drove me several hours to a desolate ranch in the flat, ugly party of New Mexico for his family's annual "party of the year". Keep in mind, it was the 80's...I sat on a wagon-wheel sofa and chatted with a fifty or so big hair wearin women... one in particular was a lady with a bird on her cowboy hat that introduced herself as PECKERHEAD.

Last week, we were invited to our neighbors home, La fourche, to watch the Super Bowl and I gave it another shot. La Fourche is a reproduction of one of the Louisiana plantations on River Road. The owners, one of which is one of Houston's great architects, even commissioned a reproduction of Napolean Crossing the Alps by David. Why Napolean you ask? Well, he was French and apparently if he was alive, he would have gifted them with a French bathtub or something like that. Once they give me the go-ahead, I will feature their home in a post; however until then, enjoy the photos of their party. We had a wonderful time. By the way, I no longer have Super Bowl party anxiety,and I am filled with anticipation about next year.

one of the 2 kitchen islands .... one is for cooking (soapstone) and the other is for baking (marble)

Garett preparing dinner

Derek & Baby Henry

p.s. Before you email me, I have nothing against big hair, wagon wheel sofas, or Gay Cowboys; however, If you introduce yourself as Peckerhead...

Little Girl With Tap Shoes

Yesterday evening I received proofs of an oil painting that my dear friend Marion Wood has been working on for three years. This masterpiece is so special to me because my daughters posed for this in our first home in front of our piano with Princes Inga, my late father in law's kitty cat.

If you have ever taken an art history class, there are four crucial things you must know: artist, period, title, and date. If you are a true historian of art; however, you know who, what, when, where, and why. I imagine this painting in an art history book a hundred years from now or more realistically hanging above the fireplace in my great-grandaughter or grandson's home. What story about this moment in 2005 will my descendants tell to their friends, children, and hopefully grand-children? Will it be referred to as Jillian & Elise, or will the names be lost and will they call it, Little Girl Playing Piano for Sister in Tap Shoes?

On the late summer day in 2005 when this moment was captured, I was in the height of being a d-list celebrity. Hours before I had attended a fund raiser for Clothes off our Back with W Magazine. Like an absolute fool I hugged the editor of W out of nervousness and made a boob out of myself...I will blog about that later. I had even shared a cocktail with Tommy Lee. (That is for you groovy girl) I flew in to Houston and went straight to the floral market to pick up day lilies per the request of Marion, because they represent rebirth. I don't quite remember dinner, but I do know Marion stayed the night with us and she studied the angle of our great room for hours. At about 7am she popped out of bed and said something like, "by golly, I got it", and she started sketching like a mad woman. Jillian and Elise posed for a couple of hours. At first it was exciting for them, and after about 10 minutes they had had enough... much like our 2005 Christmas Card... Iwill post later.

The tap shoes on Elise; however, will always be a mystery. Did I brain-lapse, did I intentionally put the tap shoe on Elise because that is all we could find, or did Elise put them on herself? At any rate or as I quote Kurt Vonnegut, "so it goes", the tap shoe makes history and this moment in time was immortalized.

Bean's Room

I was visiting a popular blog today and I ran in to one of my close friends from college. She entered her gender neutral nursery in a design competition. I think you can still vote for her. I hope she wins, and her prize is something really great like a house in Tuscany for a month and she invites us. She and I, along with her husband, were art majors. He is now a highly coveted graphic designer. Back in the day, he did all of my graphics and website. I will blog about that later. Until then, enjoy. It reminds me of the large-scale floral interpretation that Painted Groove blogged about recently.