WSJ Magazine Publication Schedule

If you’re like me, and are a big fan of the WSJ Weekend, and especially their “Off Duty” section and the WSJ. Magazine, you’ve been frustrated by their erratic publication schedule. Is it monthly? Is it seasonal? There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to when it’s published.But, a little Molly-bird at the WSJ’s PR firm told me that the next issue is due out on February 26th, as the March issue, and then monthly after that, except in July/August. So we can look forward to 10 issues of WSJ. Magazine each year!Any magazine that publishes an article about Bryan Ferry’s London digs, has me for a big fan! I can’t wait to see what’s in store in the next issue!

I {Heart} This!

I was looking through some old photographs at my mum’s house today and came across this picture of the dining room at St. John’s, the house where I was raised. I loved this room so much. It was classic and elegant and it held so many happy memories of huge Christmas parties, small birthday parties, regular dinners with silver and linen and lots and lots of lively conversation. But there were also some unhappy memories of sitting at the table for hours while refusing with all of my might and main to eat Brussels sprouts, which I do eat nowadays!There were three large windows in this room – the two that you can see, and one to your right. There were large pocket doors, which we rarely closed because they stuck. The paneling around the room was about five feet high and there were channels on the top to hold plates. At Christmas, we lined up all of the cards along the rail.

The wallpaper in the dining room was handprinted,and the curtains had been printed to match, but in a different colourway. The top picture is about 10+ years earlier than the lower picture, and you can see that the dining room table has changed, and a rug has been added. Undoubtedly, the flowers on the table in the top image came from our garden. We had hundreds of daffodils and jonquils on the hills in front of our house and throughout our gardens.

There was a contact sheet of some other pictures of our house and one is the only picture we have of the full fireplace in the living room. The chimney breast was made of mahogany panels, which have since been painted. You can also see a little of the beamed ceiling in this picture. We never found out the story of the carved heads, as the man who built the house disappeared before the house was finished, and was never found. The door to the left of the fireplace leads to the library. It was mahogany on one side, and oak on the other! The final image is looking from the dining room across the hall into the living room. The fireplace shown above would have been to the right. This room was filled with light, as you can see, and a window seat spanned the length of the windows. There was nothing better than curling up with a book there, or taking a little catnap in the sunshine during the winter. Originally, there were valances that matched the beams on the ceiling, but the previous owners took them. Our family lived at St. John’s for nearly 30 years and it was just the most amazing house to spend a good portion of my life in.

Classical Glass

Anyone of a certain age will remember the instrumental song from the 1960’s called Classical Gas by Mason Williams. If not, click here to listen.

For a few years, I have collected classical glass – glassware designed to look like classical Wedgwood Jasperware patterns, right down to the Greek, Roman, Egyptian and even Chinoiserie motifs, as well as the colours and details. It is generally referred to as Hellenic ware, even though it’s not all Greek motifs. This glassware was made by the Jeannette Glass company which was founded in Pennsylvania in the early 1900’s and went out of existence in the late 1980’s.

The colours of the glassware range from a pale bright Wedgwood blue, to a darker blue to the lovely green. All of the pieces have white figures on them, just as the Wedgwood Jasperware pieces do, and much of the glassware has hand-painted gold rims, although many glasses’ rims have faded over time. The Hellenic ware comes in a huge variety of shapes and sizes as you can see here. All of the themes are classic, more than 2000 years old!  You could find a Greek, Roman or Egyptian vase in any museum with nearly the same figures in the same poses.The glassware is very detailed, with the motifs covering nearly the entire piece. I have listed a number of these glasses sets on my Etsy site and they always sell.  This set is Egyptian. This set has an Indochine motif. This set is Chinoiserie. I think these classical glasses are lots of fun. What about you?

David’s New Chair

My über-talented friend David Wiesand bought a chair the other day and when I was visiting him yesterday, I had a chance to test drive it. Zoooooom!McLain-Wiesand already makes some great chairs, and David and I were contemplating what we like and what we don’t about this chair. We thought about getting rid of the rosette on the front and substituting a sunburst in inlaid wood. Maybe a wood that’s a little lighter in colour, and a different upholstery? What would you do to change this chair?

What a Weck!

I’ve just discovered the most amazing jars, if you can believe that! I hate putting my food in plastic when I am storing it or reheating it. It makes me uneasy about what chemicals are leaching into my food. So I have started collecting old Pyrex glass storage containers, and recently, I came across a cache of Weck jars.These jars are made in the US, but were originally German-made. Their shapes are so much more elegant than regular glass jars, and their rubber ring seal and glass lids are pretty much chemical free.  The lids are held on by little metal clamps.

I like the fact that they can go from the fridge to the microwave, and I don’t have to worry about chemicals. They’re available through Heath Ceramics on-line, but if you order through Weck, it’s all via snail-mail. Or you could make light fixtures out of the Weck asparagus jars, like the Delancey Restaurant in Seattle did.

Clogs and Stockinged Feet

My brother sent me the Welsh proverb “bad news goes about in clogs, good news in stockinged feet” or newyddion drwg yn mynd am yn clocsiau, newyddion da yn stocio traed in Welsh, in an e-mail today and I thought how apropos this is in our world of social media, digital news and reviews and certainly blogs.This weekend, I had a horrible experience at a local restaurant, which we’ve always loved. It’s recently changed hands and the service, food and staff have really gone downhill. When I got home, I looked at the restaurant’s Facebook page, and discovered that we were not the only ones unhappy with our recent experience there.

What really surprised me was that the restaurant had not refuted any of the comments nor had they deleted them. It actually looked like they had set up the new FB page when they took over the restaurant, but have never checked it since. So, anyone looking for information on the place only saw very negative comments and no one defending the restaurant - not even the owners.In an age where image and brand are your currency, it is essential to keep control over the message that is getting out about you, your company and your name.

If you don’t do these few things already, you should try them:

• Google yourself every few months. Use different iterations of your name. See what’s out there about you. See what other people have written. Check what information of yours is public knowledge. If you have a blog, check that, too.
• Look for your name on Facebook. There was a recent story on Salon.com about a writer who wanted to start doing some PR for a new book and discovered a fake and offensive profile of herself. The profile had been up for about six months before she discovered it.

If a customer has a great experience, they will tell a handful of people. But if they have a bad experience, they will tell up to 40 people. When you add social media to the mix, the audience potential is impossible to calculate. Even more concerning is the fact that customers (or potential customers) are likely to trust their friends’ Facebook posts more so than any other third-party review.

Customer service is paramount if you own a business, large or small. I am sure the restaurant where we ate the other night will not be open in six months. But it will be their own fault.

Book’em!

I was poking around somewhere and discovered a treasure trove of Piero Fornasetti wallpapers from Cole & Sons in the UK.  Piero Fornasetti was a Milanese painter, sculptor, interior decorator, engraver of books and a creator of more than 11,000 products.  In terms of variety of decoration, Fornasetti’s production of objects and furniture is one of the largest of the 20th century.

There is a collection of wallpapers full of books, which would make a fabulous backdrop for a room. It comes in several colourways, and if you were cheeky, you could mix and match them!  I’d probably get out my set of Sharpie markers and start adding titles here and there. 

There was also a great paper of Vivienne Westwood’s iconic Union Jack. I’d love this for a wall in my house! While I am not a huge fan of many British wallpapers – I’ve seen and lived with too many really bad ones – I do like these.

Year of the Rabbit

Happy New Year! It’s the year of the rabbit in the Chinese calendar. Most of the time, I love rabbits, but they are garden pests as evidenced in the wonderful Beatrix Potter books. Somehow, I don’t think that fuzzy little Peter is who the Chinese were thinking of… People born in the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind. A rabbit year is quiet, giving respite after the year of the tiger!

We can only hope!

Groundhog Day

Well, thank god that the fat little groundhog didn’t see it’s shadow today, because I could sure use an early spring this year. It’s only the 18th time he hasn’t seen his shadow, but with all of the TV lights around him, who can really tell?

We’re gearing up for the Annual Groundhog Day Party to benefit the Baltimore Architecture Foundation on Saturday. There are still some tickets available here.  There are some great items up for auction, which you can see here.

I found a cache of vintage costume jewelry today in my travels, and bought a couple of pieces so I could have something to choose from to wear to the party. I don’t own very much jewelry anymore since a robbery at my house just after I moved in, so I am replenishing slowly and not spending tons of money, because I am still freaked out.

Here are two of the pairs of earrings I bought.

I am wearing a black wrap dress with a ruffled collar. Which do you think I should choose?

Turgot Plan de Paris on OKL – OMG!

Are you a member of One King’s Lane? It’s one of my favourite places to shop for unique items. Tuesdays are the Tastemaker Tag Sales at Twilight, and they always have fabulous things on offer.

I did have to gasp out loud when I saw the original price of this Turgot Plan de Paris! Even the reduced price is rather eye-popping, especially since it’s only 48” x 2” x 50 inches, framed. If you’d like a slightly less expensive copy of the map, that you can print out all by yourself in easily framed pieces, just click here.

For less than a third of the price, you can buy the map in three scrolls, here. Or you can get the massive version in 25 sheets here. This one is only $60 and the shipping is free! You can read about my adventures hanging the map here.