HOLIDAY MUST HAVES!!!!!!

These are cool... literally. The little X's are trivets  to keep your hot pans off the table but are nice enough to serve off of. LOVE.
Find @ Switch Modern

These gave me a laugh. I have no idea who needs these, but I would totally use them.
Find @ Amazon

I adore this little XMAS ornament. My Mom once gave her girls a box full of gorgeous ornaments to help begin our own collection. It's still one of my favorite gifts and of course I use them every year.
Find @ Papyrus 

Another clutch for all those fabulous nights out.
Find @ Anthropologie

For the person who has everything. Well then of course they need an Etch O Sketch with "10,000 dazzling, handset sapphire Swarovski crystals"  I am not adding prices to my gift guide, but this one just threw me for a loop. $1500. So then that begged the question "who is going to buy this?" I called FAO and the nice woman on the line said "We've sold tons of these, their great!" WHAT?? Well this is for you big spenders out there.
Find @ FAO

Who does not love themselves a wee bit of decoupage? John Derian does. He has made his fortune by bringing this lost art back to life. I adore decoupage and even have a few plates my Mom made as a child. These make great gifts.
Find @ John Derian

It's NOT  a rug it's a TOWEL. How cool would you be with this little number at the beach next summer.
Find @ Neiman Marcus

LOVE LOVE LOVE
Find @   Graf & Lantz or Neiman Marcus

Find @ Kendra Scott

For the man in your life who likes to drive way to fast. This is an experience where you drive shotgun with professional race car driver going over 160 mph. A wonderful and quick rush.
Find @ xperiencedays (they also offer numerous other adventures)

If you don't have a piece of Longchamp in you luggage collection you must! I have two totes and they have been with me for over 7 years and have never failed. Plus they come in tons of fun colors.
Find @ Longchamp

Handmade wool scarf with hood. Gorgeous!
Find@ TVKSTYLE - ETSY

OH Mr. Kors how I love thee.
Find @ Piperline or Michael Kors

BLING for your phone?
Find @ Blythaholic ETSY

What's Christmas without a sweater. I adore this little number.
Find @ Ralph Lauren

This came out last year, but it was such a fun toy for adults and kids alike I wanted to include it.
Find @ Staples or Brookstone

Okay, come on this is awesome!
Find @ UncommonGoods

Frida Kahlo Her Photos
Find @ Amazon

Not an Iphone carrier myself, but thought this was fun.
Find @ Amazon.com

ART
To me there really is no better gift. For budding art collectors I always tell clients that photography is sometimes a good way to start. It's tends to be less expensive then paintings, but no less dramatic or wonderful. This is Bonnie Edelman, an artist The Summer House hosted several years ago and with great success. This is one of my favorites.
Find @ BonnieEdelman.com 

OH Good Lord, if you haven't had these ridiculously delicious croissants you are totally missing out. They come frozen, but take out what you want to eat the night before and next morning bake them and I swear you will think you in France. They are a little pricey, but who cares they are worth it. These are a great gift to send to people because they can use them over the holidays. SOOO WORTH IT!
Find @ www.williams-sonoma.com

Monica Rich Kosann designs these gorgeous, yet delicate lockets perfect for keeping your loved ones close to your heart. Her photo frames are designed after antique Italian cigarette cases...they are stunning. Besides the fact that she is a friend, since I worked on her house, she's also wonderful and talented woman. These pieces are for the true collector of everything fabulous.
Find @ www.monicarichkosann.com OR Neiman Marcus

For your personalized fanatics out there...and you know who you are Felix Doolittle has  what your looking for.
Personalized cards, recipe cards, return labels etc etc all with fabulous hand painted pictures to fit your style. These make great stocking stuffers too!
Find @ Felixdoolittle.com

WHAT?? You hate to sweep? Well not after putting your hands on this hand crafted number. Justamere Farm
hand makes these the old fashion way. AAAAAND of course The Romanian broke into a story about the old country and
how their brooms worked better than "ours" because they are handmade. WELL here we go. They make a cool and unique gift.
Find @ Justmere Tree Farm

Twister Trax 253pc Glow in the Dark Flexible Track w/2 Cars

I found these one day when I was channel surfing and landed on QVC. First they come with 2 cars, an awesome glow in the dark track you can manipulate into different shapes and the cars run FAST on the track. I scooped this up for my nephew. 

Find @ QVC

These SUPER hard to find Metallic and Pewter Boa Snake HUNTER Rain boots  take this to DIVA level and I adore.
Find @ Nordstroms




THE BEST GIFT

The best gift is giving to those in need. Heifer International is an amazing organization who's mission is simple "End Hunger and Poverty on Earth"
There are many way to help, but one of my favorite is to buy an animal or help buy an animal for a village. You can read about how those animals will contribute to making their community that much better. Plus you will feel awesome helping out. I have given ducks and a goat before. I am thinking pig this year...oink oink.
find @ heiferinternational.org

Kindle Can't Do This

I will sadly admit that I am one of those people that sometimes buys books on my ipad. I try to justify this by saying I am saving a tree or many trees, but in reality it's easy. However I do miss the smell of the pages, the weight of a hardcover and the sound of turning the page. I always tell The Romanian I want tons and tons of book shelves for all my magazines, art books, journals and of course my collection of old date books. AD had a collection of private libraries that rival some of the best public libraries. Get inspired to read, think or just wish one of these rooms was yours. 

This little beauty is located in my home town of Washington D.C in Georgetown.

Diane Keaton's house

 

Insperation

I love to be inspired by things I see around me, new ideas, or old ideas I have totally forgotten about. These two come from a fellow designer and store owner Jeff West of Jeff West Home in Rehoboth Delaware. Every year Jeff and his partner Henry host a Thanksgiving Oyster Party at their house and this year I am sharing two ideas that I thought were so fabulous. Enjoy!

THE SUMMER HOUSE IN NEW CANAAN

It's been almost 3 months exactly since I handed over the reins of my store, my baby, to the new owners Margaret and Megan. When I was in the middle of the sale it seemed like it was going on and on and getting away from lawyers and contracts couldn't have come soon enough. But then the day finally came when I closed down the computer for the last time, turned off the lights for the final night and all the memories that came with starting, building and growing a store for the last 6 years began to sweep over me.
    As a store owner you sacrifice A LOT of yourself and your personal life to run a successful business. You spend nights, literally all night, awake in bed worrying about money, inventory, clients and the list goes on and on, but in the morning you get up and head back to that store because it's yours and like a child it depend on you to feed it and love it and you do, until you don't have to because it's no longer yours.
    The weeks after I sold the store I did things I hadn't done ever really, I relaxed! I hung out in bed, I cleaned the house daily, I made elaborate meals, I worked out mid morning followed by coffee with my sister, I shopped, I played secretary for my husbands business. Basically I did what my clients do, it's not a bad life for a short while. However what was hard after those few "vacation" weeks, was not getting up  to find my most stylish outfit for the day and heading to work. Now I was working out and then heading to my home office to work... Adjustment !! It took a lot of adjustment for the whole family actually and one we are still working out the kinks, but it's getting easier.
 As for the store it also went through an adjustment period. The "girls" aka Margaret and Megan had one of the hardest jobs, taking a successful store with an out spoken and camera ready owner and making it their own. The one thing I said to them from the beginning was "make it your own" and they did! They changed the store logo and colors almost right away...THEY LOOK AWESOME. Slowly, Margaret got more confident with inventory and Megan found a hidden talent for display. I have been into the store numerous numerous times since they took over, but last week really grabbed me and for the first time I thought "They got it." I have been proud of them from the beginning for both their tenacity and love of The Summer House, but I was really blown away when I walked in and honestly felt they had made their mark.  It seemed fresh, chic and fabulous. So this blog is dedicated to the girls who I adore and their amazing style. Enjoy!!!

White feather Christmas Tree- I just had a client get this tree in Hot Pink for her kids play room. However, this soft white would be gorgeous in a dining room or foyer. LOVE.

Olivina- I am a believer after trying the FIG. The Romanian likes it!! That saying a lot.

These fabulous leather chairs with kilim ottomans are so perfect for a library or the ski house.  FYI- the chairs are SO SO  Comfy.

Love the teal woven floor pillows. I was actually with them when they got these from market. Every house should have at least 2 floor pillows. Around the tree is a silver grey sheep skin throw rug..purrrrrr.

They just got these amazing soy candles  made from plants and flowers native to Australia.  

Owner Megan and Margaret, Tyler Taylor (in her sweats :( and Kathleen TSH manager