Hot Style In The City

Grit mixed with glamour.  Icy cocktails in inky noir bars.  Art in unexpected places.  Markets held in dark of night.  Rugged jewels and bookshelves of shoes.  We're dashing off into a month of city chic, girls.  Get your walking heels ready.

Nicole Kidman / Chanel campaign ... still one of my favorite ads ever.

Ah, get ready for the Spa! Lavenders Giftaway goes to ...

Get ready, Lee of Madness, Mom & Me, soon you'll be wrapped in this robe and enjoying a Warm Java Scrub and massage at Lavenders Body Care Clinic.  As the owner of multiple businesses and founder of a charitable organization, I know you could use a little relaxation and rejuvenation.  You've also given so much support to Style Maniac's sites over the years -- and immediately showed your enthusiasm for Lavenders Facebook Page, that we are pleased to name you the recipient of the first Style Maniac Giftaway.  Thank you to Lavenders owner Vera for offering this lovely treat.  And thank you to ALL readers for showing your enthusiasm.  Stay tuned, more Giftaways to come! Stop by often -- you never know when a stylish goodie will be coming your way.

Photo by Doreen Creede / Style Maniac.  For more info on Lavenders Body Care Clinic visit the website: www.lavenders-tlc.com.

THE BEAUTY of BULGARIA: Guest Post from Maria of Design Elements

One of the best things about the internet is how it can take you to faraway lands without leaving home.  Especially ones you know little about.  Such as Bulgaria.  Until seeing some vacation posts about the country on one of my favorite blogs, the stunning and smart Design Elements, I had no idea Bulgaria offered such beauty and mystery, from pristine lakes to snow-capped mountains to glowing ancient towns.  To cap off our May "Home & Away" theme, I asked Design Elements' charming creator Maria to focus her impeccable taste on this crossroad between Europe and Asia.  Maria writes about design and destinations all over the world with warmth and passion, but she has a special place in her heart for Bulgaria, her native country. Here, narrowed down from a long list, are four of her recommendations for beautiful places to visit in this sunny land by the Black Sea.

4 Beauties of Bulgaria

by Maria of Design Elements

Veliko Tarnovo, an ancient capital of Bulgaria.
I love walking there near the Zarevez burg (above) and watching the sunset.  
The burg [walled fortress and castle] was built in 2000 B.C. 

Travel, Clothes & Money

"When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money.

Then take half the clothes 
and twice the money."

-- from the Tepper Jackson website

No matter what the calendar, summer really starts (at least in the United States) this Memorial Day weekend.  Where do you plan on traveling to this summer -- and what will you be bringing?

Always on Memorial Day, amidst the barbecues and summer social planning, I take a moment to remember what the day is really about:  honoring those who served. 

Photo courtesy Bluebirdsandteapots.

A HOME FOR ART: Inside the spectacular new Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia

The Barnes Foundation's new Philadelphia campus on Opening Night.  Photo by Doreen Creede.

Imagine you've been invited to the new home of a famous art collector.  In a few days thousands will come to see the place at a round-the-clock open house, but right now you're one of a small group invited for a private tour.  Controversy and litigation have swirled around this building for a decade, and you've had some mixed feelings about it yourself.  When you arrive protestors stand at the curb, polite but angry still; car horns blare; a bus storms by. The million things you should have done today clatter around your brain as you step inside the gates, round a steel totem and begin a walk down an allee of red maples beside a reflecting pool.  And, step by step, the outside world falls away, and a serene calm washes over you.

Entryway on Opening Night.  Photo by Doreen Creede.

By the time you pass over a bridge to the entryway you're smitten.  Inside the warm modernism continues: an entrance hall scaled to welcome, not overwhelm; a "light court" that soars but does not make you feel small; a dramatic terrace that juts into the city's parkway yet has the feel of an outdoor room, complete with fireplace.

Inside the Barnes Foundation Philadelphia galleries, Media Day Preview.  Photo by Doreen Creede.

Then you arrive at the galleries.  Here the art has been hung in wall collages, an arrangement you see all the time now on decorating blogs.  Except in these wall collages the art's by Matisse, Cezanne, Renoir, Picasso, Glackens, El Greco, Modigliani, van Gogh, Rousseau.  And the arrangement has been created by a man who spent his life collecting, curating and arranging the 3,000 works with intense deliberation, purpose and originality, all with the goal that you see, truly see, each painting. And you do.  With astonishment and wonder, you do.

A legendary collection displayed in arrangements nearly as famous as the art.  Photos by Doreen Creede.

That man was Dr. Albert C. Barnes and the building is the new Philadelphia home of The Barnes Foundation. In his will, Barnes bequeathed his collection (which in its entirety numbers 9,000 works, including post-impressionists, early modern, African sculpture, Native American ceramics, Pennsylvania German furniture, wrought iron objects and old master paintings -- possibly the most stunning individual collection of art on earth) with the stipulation that the works remain as arranged at the time of his death in 1951.  In the 1990s Foundation trustees and Philadelphia civic and city leaders decided that to save the Foundation financially and to better share this collection with the world, the art should be moved from suburban Merion to center city Philadelphia.  A contentious legal battle ensued.  Press materials from the foundation state that the will dictated an intact arrangement, not a geographic location (a point I'd never heard while following the decade of controversy surrounding the move) and in 2004 they won their case.

And last week, in a full day Media preview on Wednesday and then an evening at the Friday night Opening Gala I got an advance peek inside the Barnes' new Philadelphia campus, met its architects Billie Tsien and Tod Williams, and landscape architect Laurie Olin and took a guided tour from the foundation's executive director, Derek Gillman.  If that sounds amazing, it was.  Most amazing, though, was that at several times during these visits I was, with the exception of a security guard, the only person in a gallery room, completely surrounded and saturated by masterpieces of such depth that even a van Gogh gets stuck in the corner slot.

How to Get Spa-Like Stress Relief At Home {plus a Spa Giftaway from Lavenders Body Care Clinic}

There's lots of great things about owning your own company.  And then there's Tax Day. This year I was so stressed after transferring chunks of our bank account to the IRS that I made a pot of coffee -- and neglected to put the coffee pot on the burner.

Fortunately, soon after I had a different kind of experience with coffee grounds -- mixed with coconut butter and slathered on me during a Warm Java Scrub & Massage courtesy Lavenders Body Care Clinic in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.  The stress relief was immediate.  After floating back down to earth, I knew I had to let you, dear readers, share in the delicious relaxation.  So I asked the spa's owner, Vera Kosabutski, to share her tips on how to create a spa experience at home. Then Vera and I concocted another goodie:  a treat for one of you to enjoy the spa itself in the first ever Style Maniac Giftaway.  

Caftan, Take Me Away

In the depths of winter I came upon this Natori caftan and thought, wouldn't it be pretty paired with bejeweled flip flops for a resort evening in the islands?  Since no such trip was happening any time in my near or distant future, I kept flipping through the racks.  Then this month I came upon it again, 40% off at Saks. Having just written a guest post* about living with style every day I realized my own loungewear (mostly faded sweats) left something to be desired.  So home with me the caftan came, and this little touch of luxury has been delighting me pretty much every evening since. Something about the vivid tropical print, silky softness and easy fit make me feel I'm on vacation even while curled up on the sofa at home.

How about you?  What little luxury takes you away from the every day?

p.s. *Thank you all for the warm response to that guest post for Design Chic, and welcome to so many lovely new subscribers.  I'm making my way to visit each of your sites and look forward to a continuing conversation about style ... and life.

This May we're talking about Home & Away.  Awai Embellished Caftan by Natori looks and feels like silk but is made of practical polyester.  Photo by Doreen Creede.

Visit Style Maniac at Design Chic

Today Style Maniac travels to Design Chic, where I am delighted to be guest posting for stylish mother-daughter blogging duo Beth and Kristy as part of their "In Good Taste" series.  Their blog, with its pretty multi-photo decorating essays, is one of my favorite daily reads and a continual source of inspiration.  Come visit and see the hostess gift I brought to their online home (it involves gold, leopard, and easy ways to live with style every day) and while you're there check out their rich archive of eye candy.  Thank you, Beth and Kristy for inviting me over!

Above: a recent image and the logo from the Design Chic blog.  

Destination Decorating: Marrakesh By Design

Sometimes you bring home a souvenir from a destination ... and sometimes you want to turn your home into that destination. In her new book Marrakesh By Design, Maryam Montague gives you the context, inspiration and resources to do just that.  Compiled from knowledge gained while creating her own Moroccan home/boutique hotel, Peacock Pavilions, and documented in her blog My Marrakesh, the book delves into the layers of history and meaning behind this exotic yet inviting look, offers room-by-room decorating tips and DIY projects, and concludes with a guide of global shopping sources for those truly interested in achieving the more is more is more effect in their own homes.  It also provides plenty of pretty pictures for those interested in just a magic carpet ride. When my review copy arrived from Artisan publishers on a chilly spring day last month, one touch of the textured cover and a quick flip through the color-saturated pages had me dreaming of genies and souks, cardamon-scented coffee, cool mosaic patterned walls, fountains gurgling in shaded courtyards and dusty alleys with woven treasures revealed behind billowing curtains.  (Hmm, maybe it is time to do a little redecorating.)


Marrakesh By Design by Maryam Montague (Artisan Books)

SILK GRAFFITI: A New Kind of Art from Aubrie Costello {and a new Stylish Sponsor}

Fluttering silk, slightly tattered, scrawled across the wall in curving ribbons, spelling out phrases unique to each space and time.  Words you can touch, art you can read, tagged on the wall in a way that will only happen once.  Silk Graffiti, a new kind of art from Aubrie Costello.

And also, I am delighted to announce, a new sponsor of Style Maniac.

I first encountered Aubrie and her art while writing a story for Style Maniac, and have since experienced it at several locales, each evoking a different feeling and effect.  In your own home it could be a funny quote in the foyer, a milestone statement behind the sofa, an intimate saying in the bedroom.  Aubrie selects a silk fabric to enhance both the saying and the site, and helps you delve into the process of choosing the words.  A process that, I am finding out, can be quite a revelation.  Aubrie will be tagging my wall soon and we'll be sharing with you a peek at her process, which takes a feminine approach to a traditionally masculine medium, mixes luxe with raw, delicate with bold, perfect with imperfect.  "Like a fine wine, the installations only get better with age," notes Aubrie.  "Natural elements, like the breeze from an open window running through the silk strands, help to further deconstruct the Silk Graffiti into a more dripping, tangled web of silk and nails as it matures."

The result is art that moves and changes almost like a living thing, evolving with and marking the passing of time with mystery and beauty.

Silk Graffiti
by Aubrie Costello

Installations begin at $200.  
For a detailed quote contact Aubrie at aubriecostello@yahoo.com

More info at www.aubriecostello.com