Happy Halloween!

This is the first year in ages I haven't carved a pumpkin. My best intention was to go to the farmer's market on Sunday morning, but since I had gotten home from that Housewerks party in the wee hours, pumpkin shopping went by the wayside. When I lived in Wales, we got pumpkins for the children I lived with, but they lost interest in carving them in about 30 seconds. Since their father is an artist, his was way better than mine.

I am amazed by how competitive pumpkin carving has become, and how intricate pumpkins are carved. I will miss the wonderful smell of pumpkin seeds roasting in the oven with a tiny bit of butter and sea salt after I carve the pumpkin.
There are some great-looking pumpkins around the web. My neighbours have the "puking pumpkin" and every time I walk the dog, it just cracks me up!

Halloween Treat

Continuing with the original content theme this week, I thought I would show you all some pix from the amazing Halloween party I went to last night. It was held at Housewerks, our local architectural salvage store. Housewerks is in a Victorian-era gasworks and it the perfect venue for a Halloween party... or any party!

The hallmarks of this party are the creative types who attend, the unique entertainment and Guti's goulash cooked in a cauldron by a dear friend. Lots of old friends are always at this party, so that makes it especially fun.
My costume was "Nightmares in My Kitchen" and I donned a chef's toque, jacket and pants. I decorated the jacket with clip art pictures of rats, roaches and ants that I'd fused on with t-shirt transfer paper. My friend, Mr. Big, went as a pirate (he's a top yacht racer in our fleet). We had a great time fixing his make-up to reflect his pirate status!
The entertainment this year was two hoop dancers, three belly dancers and a fire dancer! They were all great, especially the fire dancer. As usual, the costumes were creative and clever. They included a disco ball, a lego, a deviled egg, Braveheart, Blueman, a shark attack, a gecco, several prom queens, Elvis, Anthony & Cleopatra, Bjork, Willie Wonka and many more!

Braveheart

Belly Dancers with Cherub in Background

Bjork and Willie WonkaFire Dancer
Cute Aussie Gecko!

Great Party! Thanks Antony & Cleopatra!

Original Content Week

The wonderful blog, Decorno (decor + porno) has declared this week to be "Original Content Week", so I am going to give it a shot. I don't usually scan pages of magazines, but I do grab things off the interweb to illustrate points I am writing about. My foodie blog is mostly original photos, except for the other night when the restaurant was too dark to even read the meny, so I do try.

When I lived in the UK, I got in the habit of carrying my camera everywhere, because I never knew what amazing thing was around the corner. I've kept that habit and try and shoot pictures wherever I can. So, I thought I would show you some of my favourite photos.

I love the way this photo is framed by the trees, the viaduct and the lawn, all leading your eye out to the Bristol Channel in South Wales where I lived. This is taken from the verandah of an amazing guest house outside of Cardiff.

This was taken on my last day at the castle where I worked. I was sad to be leaving and the sky matched my mood. This is the dry moat and the front portcullus of the immense St. Donat's Castle.
Mount Clare Museum House, near where I live is always a great place to take phtographs. You would never guess that I-95 runs about a half-mile from here. I like the solidness of the pillars and the organic shape of the tree behind it.
This is another shot from Mount Clare. They had an exhibit of 300 years of Wedgwood. The bowl is Wedgwood and is about 100+ years old. It was used in a dairy. The light in this picture reminds me of a Flemish still-life, and all of the elements, except the apples, are 100+ years old.
I love blue willow china. I love fresh Maryland corn. I love, love, love my wonderful French Ivory-handled cutlery that I have collected piece by piece. I really like how the handle of the fork echoes the colour of the corn. Last but not least, a pig picture. I went to a dinner to celebrate the year of the pig, and the hostess collects pigs. I put my camera on the table, turned off the flash and set the timer to take a lot of pictures in candle-light with the sparkle of fine crystal reflecting what light there was. Oh, and we drank about six bottles of wine that night.

*** UPDATED*** Another Book Thing Bonanza!

I love book stores, but especially the Book Thing. It's such a crap-shoot as to what you will find and when I went yesterday, it was looking bleak. Not really anything in the design/decorating section... oh, but what's that old book back there? Another copy of Decorating is Fun by Dorothy Draper. I've got a copy and have a home for this one.

On to the humour section... Oh my gosh! It's a copy of Blandings' Way, the sequal to Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. If you haven't seen the wonderful blog Mrs. Blandings, hop on over there and check it out. She's got great taste and an even better sense of humour. I didn't know that the house that Mr. Blandings builds is a real house. Read this article to see the back story. Funnily enough, the Washington Post reviewed Mr. Blandings Builds... this summer in an occasional series they do on overlooked books. Amazingly, I was back at the Book Thing on Sunday, October 28, and they had the original book, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. Unfortunately, it didn't have its cover, but it is a first edition. This will also end up in the library of Mr. & Mrs. Blandings of KC, Mo.
Cruise around to the maps/geography section to find an old Baedekers book on London with its distinctive red cover. I have some of my father's collection of old Baedekers guides to the UK.

Nothing in biographies that I was inspired to get, but I did find some early copies of the magazine Budget Living, a great little magazine that had a three year run. Click here for an interesting article about it and its demise. It was sort of a precursor to Blueprint mag.

Van Day Truex

I was shopping for some books for my niece, who turns three later this month. I got a selection of pig-themed books, although I realize that she might not understand the significance. While I was at the bookstore, I was browsing their design selection and found a book on Van Day Truex (1904-1979), titled Van Day Truex: The Man Who Defined Twentieth-Century Taste and Style. Albert Hadley wrote the preface to the book. This isn't a gossipy, tell-all book, rather a text on classical design in the mid-20th century, as well as on the society of the day.

VDT was the president of the Parsons School of Design and later the design director at Tiffany & Co. He also lived in Paris between the two world wars. Early in the book, VDT's design mantra is revealed: Control. Edit. Distill. I am still working on all three! There's not a lot of information about VDT around, so this book will be a great learning tool.

One of his best friends was Baltimorean Billy Baldwin, and was great friends with Albert Hadley. When he met Bunny Williams early in her career, he told her that kitchens should only be white.

Interiors speak! Rooms emphasize whether one exists or lives, and there is a great difference between the two! ...Van Day Truex, Interiors

The Envelope Please...

(and it's an envelope from Mrs. John L. Strong, of course)

And the award of the House in My Head goes to... The House of Beauty & Culture. Mwah! Mwah! Kiss! Kiss! You are wonderful, darlings!

Thanks, Style Magazine

I also write a foodie blog, where I mostly review restaurants. Pigtown Pigout was mentioned in Baltimore's Style Magazine along with 15 other local foodie bloggers. Take a look at the review here. Style is a great local magazine, and I used to ask my mother to send me copies when I lived in the UK. Thanks, Style!

Restoration Hardware

I went up to the Restoration Hardware warehouse sale outside of Baltimore on Saturday. Resto Hardware only has two warehouses, one in Maryland and the other in California. The sale used to be held twice a year, but they've recently been holding them one weekend a month because they have a surplus of inventory. Good for us, bad for them!

They had a lot of their summer furniture on sale, as well as loads of beds and sofas. Things were generally marked at 40% to 60% off their regular prices. They also had sort of a Christmas Market, with lots of their decorations on sale. I picked up a bunch of small ornaments, and votive glasses to give as hostess gifts to give out at holiday parties. They told me that people come from all over the east coast to come to this sale. If you love their look and want good prices, this is worth the trip.

A Celebration of Grace

From Sotheby's:

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the passing of Her Serene Highness Princess Grace. In commemoration of the life of the Oscar-winning Hollywood star and style icon, an unprecedented exhibition, The Grace Kelly Years, will be held at the Grimaldi Forum Monaco from 12 July to 23 September.

Princess Grace remains one of the most beloved women of the 20th century, and this exhibition offers her legions of admirers the opportunity to enter her private world, through many unseen personal belongings such as her letters, clothes, fashion accessories, sound recordings and film clips. Many of these items will be exhibited at Sotheby's New York from 15 to 26 October.

A very select number of items will be offered in a live auction at the 25th Anniversary Princess Awards Gala on October 25, 2007, including two outfits that she wore: a Givenchy-designed green sleeveless dress with matching jacket worn on an official 1961 visit with Prince Rainier to lunch at the White House with President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy, and a Helen Rose ball gown worn by Grace Kelly in 1956 musical comedy High Society.

Click here to view the tribute to Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace.

Don't Forget

If you want the copy of The House in My Head, post a comment on the post below and tell me why by midnight on Friday!