palm beach on acid

I was trying to think of the right song to illustrate this post, and The Girl from Ipenema immediate came to mind. But lo and behold, it's the stage set that got me - it's SO Jonathan Adler!



Are you sorted? Is it playing? Speaker turned up loud? Good.

It all began with an invitation from India Hicks to a party she was throwing for Jonathan Adler, to launch his first UK shop, on Sloane Avenue.



No, let me back up. It began at the beach house, many years ago, when my parents were opening a present from my brother, a lamp or a vase or a pillow, I can't remember what the first one was, and it was from Jonathan Adler, and that's when he was first telling me how amazing his work is.



No, sorry, it goes further back than that: for me, it really begins when I was born. Because from the first home I lived in - in Salt Lake City, Utah - but especially, in our childhood home on Long Island.. every item, every end table, lamp, the whole aesthetic, is SO FREAKIN' JONATHAN ADLER! I mean, in the beach house, we have these three stacking tables with inlaids that I love so much, and the closes I can describe it is the design, below:



So when I got the invitation, and told them what a fanatical fan my brother is, and how excited I was that he's coming to down, then said 'would you like to meet and interview him?'

Halfway into our half hour interview, I realised I wasn't letting him speak, because everything he was saying was making me want to interrupt and say something. Let's face it, I am no Barbara Walters. But what he did manage to fit in was so rich, so inspiring, so thought provoking, that I've realised I'm going to have to deconstruct my experience into a series of posts.

Starting with: 'palm beach on acid.'

Or rather, number 13 on his MANIFESTO. 'We believe in Palm Beach style: Louis chairs, chinoiserie, Lilly Pulitzer, The Breakers circa '72.' I grew up with that influence: all the trips to Florida, the images of Jackie Kennedy, those fabulous Palm Beach women that are not just too rich and too thin, but also, let's face it, too tan - when I started streetstyle shooting, I spent a few days snapping them - they still exist. I love that whole aesthetic: it is the original bling. I remember a school friend named Pam, her bedroom in the family's MacMansion was the size of most people's houses, two walk in closets, one for just her shoes, and it was top to toe hot pink and acid, neon green.



What my brother, uncannily said a few hours after I met Jonathan, is that there are two distinct sides to his work - and the fit uncannily well together, in his two level shop that feels like a suburban home in the late sixties. There's the side that my family homes reflect: the taste of my brother's homes now, of what my husband and I love. And then, there's that.. Palm Beach on Acid, there's no other way to describe it. If you've seen the amazing Tom Ford film, A Single Man, (and if you haven't, why haven't you??), I'd describe the two sides as Colin Firth's character's home - rustic, minimal, beautiful, simple, masculine - and his friend and one time lover, played by Julianne Moore. Her home is spot on that aesthetic.



I was inspired by a post from Lili&Mae, on the relationship between interior design, and fashion. In a period where I'm trying to avoid press days, so I don't bore you guys with shots of merchandise (let's face it: do you really want to see the canapes I've eaten, and how good, really, can one make some clothes on a hanger), what is inspiring me much more is this experience, this store.



The distinction between Jonathan's two styles, two natures, as he explained it to me, is 'unapologetically fancy', and his crafts style. He is, at core, a hand crafted potter. That is his poet's soul side. But the unapologetically fancy side, especially this time of year when we're facing winter and darkness and cold - and Christmas - to me, manifests in glitter and sparkle and yes, a bit of bling, like Chloe's sequin top, or Starrett's Prada shoes.



All photos by me, shot at the new Jonathan Adler shop on 60 Sloane Avenue: during the day, and during the amazing party that night. Thank you to the lovely girls at TCS: Jess, Molly, Emma, for arranging this. But especially, thank you to Jonathan - no, to his parents, who sound like they've raised him with that wonderful spirit, and joy for life, to create with enthusiasm, and abundance. He's like a manufacturer of happiness.

limey

The summer I was 12, I went to my first summer-long sleep away camp: Camp Birchwood, of West Goshen, Connecticutt, with my good friend Linda, who to this day is one of my closest friends. I can remember exactly what I wore to Grand Central Station, where my parents took my sister and I, to take the train with our new bunk mates. It was a very bright green, very sharp looking culotte dress - like one of those rompers, but not frilly. It had a really neat geometric check on it. I've got a phone somewhere - I promise I'll show you when I find it - with my camp counsellor, Patti, who was just the most beautiful 16 year old I had ever seen in real life. She had a blonde bob with streaks. She had a great figure and a boyfriend and she promised my parents she'd take good care of their daughter.



The first night, she and the other counsellors thought it would be fun to do every prank on us that we could ever consider, just got get it out the way and we'd know how cool they were. So they did the old trick where you put shaving cream on the palm of a sleeping person (me) and tickle their nose and they're meant to scratch their face, and get shaving cream all over them.

Except: I didn't wake up. I just mashed the shaving cream into my face, clogging my mouth and nose, and continued to sleep. And dream. I dreamt I was trapped in the shower - which I had already seen, and it was pretty scary, a white metal contraption that looked like a refrigerator - and that I was being suffocated by lime. When I did eventually wake up - they were shaking me and poking me - I was surrounded by the faces of my friend, my new bunk mates, my beautiful counsellor Patti and the other counsellors, laughing their heads off. They were ready to call 911, as they couldn't tell if I was breathing.

Turns out the shaving cream was lime scented, and I didn't even touch lime lifesavers after that.

Now of course, I love lime. I am lime obsessed. I always have several fresh limes at home, I ask for wedges of lime with tap water whenever I'm out, and I've yet to find anything, sweet or savoury, that is not enriched with a squirt of fresh lime. Perhaps tomato sauce - but I haven't tried that yet.

So when the people at Coty sent me a press notice about PHILOSOPHY's new fruity bath and shower gel range, I did something I rarely do: I asked them to send me a sample to review. And they did! And I love it! It's a sweet but not too sweet, has a really thick concentration to make lots of foamy goodness (I bet it would be great, actually, for pranks at camp), and it's good fun. I love the packaging - it really brightens up the bathroom - and I use it with abandon.





I've noticed by the way, that bright greens - emeralds, all shades of green - are the party colour of the moment. I shot these at the fabulous Jonathan Adler launch the other day (more about that later) and I'm telling you: wear green, wear that same shade that no one uses any more in Christmas decorations, and you'll stand out in the crowd. In a good way.

All photos by me, by the way (I can't keep on doing those logos all the time - you're not going to copyright infringe me any more, are you?) and the Philosophy LUSCIOUS LIME shower gel was meant to launch 26 September, but I can't find it. But you can find other good flavours here. And you can't beat the Philosophy: savour life's luscious moments.

back to basics

It's been a long time, far too long, since I've been to any yoga class, let alone our friend and teacher, Arup Sen. I'll be missing his class again today, because it is the only time I can see a friend I haven't seen for a while, but I will also feel his influence.

Arup is one of the most spiritual people I have ever met.

My husband told me how one time, he was walking down the street and saw, from a distance, a man attaching a chain to his bicycle wheel. He told me, after, that even from that distance, everything about this man, his body language, everything, showed the concentration and focus of a man chaining his bicycle. As if, were you to read the thought bubble above his head, it would read 'I am attaching the chain to my bicycle now.' When he got closer he realised that was Arup, about to teach the yoga class.

Among the things that Arup does, he builds bicycle wheels. He can teach you how, for free, or he can build one for you. He used to charge £10, years ago, but he now charges £20. Or a discount rate of £35, for two. I guess it's his idea of a get rich quick scheme.

I have a lot of goals in life, but my main one is to quiet my mind. I want a mind like a nice clean white room, with a view of the sea.

I want to simplify my life: less clutter. Less friends. Just keep the good ones. Less clothes. Simple clothes. It's funny how, while some of the food at the Aqua Nueva brunch (aqua nueva: new wave) was quite complex to prepare, the presentation was so clean. And while I don't normally eat meat, especially pork, there was something so beautiful about the simplest dishes at the brunch: a perfect fresh crusty roll. A slice of good Spanish ham. Perfect green olives. Soft, fresh almonds. Crisp cold champagne, on ice.



I want to celebrate being alive, being here now, with the people I love. And not wanting any more than that. I want to be present, in everything I do. And above all, I strive to be kind to everyone around me. It's a simple plan, but hey: it's time, for me, to get back to basics.