Happy Pig Year!

Last night, while billions of Chinese were celebrating the Year of the Pig, so were a group of friends and I. The hostess has been collecting pigs throughout her entire life, so she had plenty to choose from for the table decorations. After a blind tasting of several wines, I amused myself at dinner arranging her napkin rings and photographing them.

I was thinking about two previously discussed themes here: Asian influences and collecting. I think that the Asian influences are more easily understandable, they're a culture who've been around for several millenia and their art and artifacts translate into good design. We were at a store a few weeks ago and there was a mirror surrounded by copies of anciant Chinese coins which would have looked at home in both a traditional and a contemporary environment.

One of the most fun places to visit in New York is Pearl River Mart on Broadway in Soho. It used to be housed on two floors above the hustle of Canal Street and you had to search for the entry to it. They've moved into a posh new quarters, but you can still find many of the old favourites like silk-covered notebooks (I swear by these), teapots, bamboo, Buddhas, clothing, silks, housewares and much, much more. In fact, they're expanding even further in March.

This lunar year is the year of the Golden Pig and is thought to be especially lucky for those born during it. I hope your Year of the Pig is nothing but lucky!