Weekend at Reggie’s

Have you ever met someone with whom you click right away? You have common cultural references, you like the same things, you read the same books, you laugh at the same jokes… That’s the way it was with Reggie Darling when I met him and his partner Boy Fenwick last summer when they were in Baltimore. And that’s the way I felt all over again when I spent the weekend with them at their house.

I drove to Upstate New York on Friday, a beautifully clear and sunny day, all while listening to my friend Mary Kay Andrews’ new book “Ladies’ Night” on CD. It made the miles just fly by and I loved the book.

After getting hopelessly lost on the small country roads, I finally met Reggie and Boy in the town near their house, which was just as charming as could be!

We had a lovely home-cooked dinner and talked well into the night! Every topic imaginable was brought up, examined and then moved on from, only to find another equally fascinating topic.

We rose at the crack of dawn-ish to make our way over to Trade Secrets, about which I’ve written. There was so much to see and buy at the show.  After a disastrous, but fun lunch during which our waiter managed to break a glass and tip over a jug of soy sauce letting us clean it up, disappear for long chunks of time and manage to draw out our lunch for three plus hours, we headed to do some drive-by shooting, specifically of Carolyne Roehm’s house, Weatherstone. Like a lot of houses we saw, it had the most magnificent lilacs in front of it as a hedge. Truly magnificent, especially when you realize that this house had burned to the ground several years ago.

There were lilacs almost everywhere we looked, which was great because they’re amongst my favourite spring blooms!

This stunning arrangement graced the kitchen table and lasted the entire time I was there. I can never get lilacs to stay fresh more than a few hours! And these smelled amazing, too!

We stopped in a small town on the way home to visit a shop that Reggie and Boy thought I’d like, which I did! It’s called Hunter Bee and they were also at the Trade Secrets show. The shop was filled with unusual objects both large and small.

They had an interesting range of items, including some fun china that I really liked.

They’d taken plain china and added engraved transfer prints to make a fun new piece!

We headed back to the house to prepare for an elegant dinner, featuring this luscious cake for dessert.

The table was beautifully set with crystal, linen, china and lots of silverware!

Of course, the star of the weekend was the adorable Pompey, who’s full of personality and a variety of funny expressions!

I wouldn’t mind cleaning up from a dinner party, as long as I got to look out at this view whilst doing dishes!

It was a great weekend with old and new friends. Thanks again to Reggie and Boy, and of course, darling Pompey!