The Essentials of Fabulous

I just returned from a ‘fabulous’ six days in New York. It really is a special time at Christmas with all the lights and excitement…..more of my adventures in a later post. I just wanted to share with you a must-get book for Christmas gift giving. I have just placed an order for a dozen to have on hand for last minute gifts for all the fabulous girlfriends, guyfriends, relatives, and for all the fabulous people you haven’t met yet.

“No one is born fabulous,” author Ellen Lubin-Sherman writes. “You have to decide to do it—to transform yourself into one of those amazing creatures that infiltrate our lives and ignite our dreams with their swagger, energy, pizzazz, and soigné charm.” The Essentials of Fabulous guides you to set yourself apart in this “whatever” world by paying scrupulous attention to detail. It shows you how passion, enthusiasm, attitude, superior manners, and a terrific personal style will catapult you right into the fabulous pantheon.

So I recommend that you definitely get a copy for yourself and while you are at it get as many as you can for all the fabulous people in you life.

Happy Fabulous to all of you!!

PATRICIA GRAY INC is an award winning interior design firm in Vancouver. Here we write about lifestyle and
WHAT'S HOT in the world of interior design, architecture, art and travel.
2011 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™

{style inspiration: of books & vintage silk scarves}

"scarves have expressed the constant evolutions in style, representing every major decorative arts movement over the past century and into the present one"





. . . as books are always on the very verge of overtaking the place, there is nothing to do but to give in, and certainly one more couldn't hurt, could it? . . . and especially if it is the recently published, scarves, by nicky albrechtsen and fola solanke, positively filled with hundreds of beautiful designs and patterns, from balenciaga, to christian lacroix and yves saint laurent . . .



{p.s.} at home, current favourites are both french: one vintage & the other, hermès

......................................................................................................

{images: from the book, scarves, from thames & hudson, by nicky albrechtsen and fola solanke via kevin sharkey, discovered through a lovely being}

2011 Your Best Year Yet

For those of you wanting to make 2011 Your Best Year Yet, I highly recommend this book Write It Down, Make It Happen. I have bought my favourite, a brand new Moleskin notebook and I savoring writing in it with my yellow Lamy fountain pen all the wonderful things I want to happen in my world in 2011. Make 2011 your "Best Year Yet" by getting clear about what you want to happen – it really works! 

Moleskin is the legendary notebook used by Van Gogh, Hemingway, Matisse and Céline.
There is a whole Blog devoted to the "Moleskin. You can check it out here. 

Wishing you all the best for 2011, and may it be a year filled to over flowing with all the good you desire!!! 

Patricia Gray Inc is an award winning Interior Design firm in Vancouver who blogs about Lifestyle and WHAT'S HOT in the world of Interior Design.
2011 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™

Wrapping up 2009

I always revel in the week between Christmas and New Year as a time diverge from routine, and welcome the New Year in with a change in what I usually read throughout the year, which are books on Interior Design. One of the ways I make a choices on what I want to read, is to leaf through several books and read the jacket covers or page through the book randomly to see if anything speaks to me. That is how I choose, What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. I had previously read his book, Tipping Point, and then saw him interviewed on a talk show on his third book - Outliers. While paging through his most current book, What the Dog Saw, I was immediately hooked on his article entitled: The Ketchup Conundrum. This book, What the Dog Saw, contains Malcolm Gladwell's favourite pieces that he has written over the last several years for the pages of The New Yorker. "Good writing," Gladwell says in his preface, "does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head."  It is a fascinating read.

   

Another favourite way to choose a book is to ask people what is their favorite book they have read. Usually they are so enthusiastic in recounting the highlights of the book that it gets me excited to read it. The outcome of my most recent enquiry was - the New York Times Bestseller by Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog. This book is set in Paris, which immediately attracted me, but the real focus of the book is about a woman who is a concierge at a bourgeois building in a posh Parisian neighborhood. She (Renee) has a secret: she is a ferocious autodidact who furtively devours art, philosophy, music, and Japanese culture. Renee hides her true talents and her finest qualities from a world that she suspects cannot or will not appreciate them. It is a story about living out her life in obscurity to hide this fact about herself, and how she reconciles herself to owning her brilliance. 

Last night on Charlie Rose I watched a fascinating interview with the brilliant Orhan Pamuk, a Turkish novelist and winner of 2006 The Nobel Prize in Literature, on his new book: The Museum of Innocence. The story, which takes place in Istanbul between 1975 and today, is about obsessive passion and the great question: What is love, really?, as well as a look into the minds and culture of the Turkish society. I am off to purchase this book tomorrow to wrap up my reading for these last few day left of 2009.

What is your favourite book that you have read lately?
Please leave a comment here, and let me know.

Patricia Gray is an award winning Interior Designer in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada who blogs about "WHAT'S HOT"
in the world of Interior Design: New and Emerging Trends, Contemporary Design, Modern Architecture and Travel,
as well as how your surroundings can enhance the world around you.
© Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™ 2009

Santa Baby - Get a Head Start on Christmas

Good Books Make Great Gifts

A brand new book is slated to hit the bookstores just in time for Christmas - The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging
with a Section titled: THE BLOG REVOLUTION IS HERE! (but we know that already)

 
This book refers to Blogging as "the advent of a new form of human communication - one that is more
interactive, more democratic, and just more FUN than what has come before."  But we all know that 
Blogging and Blog Surfing is  fast, interactive, and totally cool.....and I will add that it is also extremely
informative.  News, Ideas and inspirations take mere seconds to share. And to prove that Blogging travels
at the speed of lightening Liberty Post has also just talked about this book on her Blog.

 

Patricia Gray writes about Interior Design inspirations, emerging trends, and the world of Design. 
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The Divine Law of the Great Chair

The excerpt below is from a wonderful Blog by Carrie and Danielle. It totally ties into my love for chairs and also the spiritual aspect of surrounding yourself in your homes with things that you love. Carrie and Danielle are also authors of the best selling book: Style Statement: Live by your own Design

Here’s a radical notion: what if you really liked, even outright adored every material thing in your own life? What if the quality, shape, color, function, and feel of the things you owned gave you satisfaction, pride, and delight?

Enter, The Divine Law of The Great Chair.
When you let go of things you don’t love, you create space for things that you do love to show up. EVEN IF: it’s “useful”, it’s filling an “empty” place, it was a gift, it was inherited, expensive, imported, exotic, or you truly loved it once upon a time -– if you don’t like something in your space, it’s dragging you down. This isn’t about old, or new, or what you can afford – this is about how STUFF makes you FEEL.

THIS WEEK: Identify the “old chair(s)” in your life that you’re making do with, and get rid of it. You may have to sit on floor cushions for while, but you’ll be dwelling in possibility – instead of compromise and regret.

Photos
Top: Thomas Pheasant
Top Row: B & B Italia, Vicente Wolf, unknown
Second Row: Bertoria Chair, Andrew Martin, Ghost Chair
Third Row: Knoll Eero Saarinen Womb Chair, Knoll Brno Chair, Knoll Warren Platner Chair
Fourth Row: Barbara Barry, B & B Italia, Barbara Barry
Fifth Row: Madeline Stuart, Thomas Pheasant for Baker
Sixth Row: All Oly
Seventh Row: Oly, Blanchard UK, John Saladino
Eighth Row: Chapman Radcliff, Baker, Jayson Home
Excerpt above from Carrie and Danielle The Divine Law of the Great Chair

Patricia Gray writes about Interior Design inspirations, emerging trends, and the world of Design.
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New and Hot Interior Design Books

"You are the same today that you are going to be five years from now except for two things:
the people with whom you associate and the books you read."  -- Charles Jones

Check out some of the new books on Interior Design below in the new Amazon Widget at the bottom of this post. I am a lover of books and images and I can hardly wait to receive a new batch of books hot off the press. I am most excited about Michael Taylor Interior Design which hasn't been released yet but is available for pre-order on Amazon. I have done a post on Michael Taylor's work, which you can read here: Michael Taylor - Good Design is Timeless.

The James Dean of decorators is how Diana Vreeland described West Coast designer Michael Taylor.

I was a student in Design School when the picture below of Michael Taylor's work was published in Architectural Digest . I was totally in awe of his work. Nothing had been done like this before. It was revolutionary and very fresh. I became totally mesmerized by all things "Michael Taylor".  He is still a big influence in my work.

Consistently denouncing the cluttered and pretentious, he had a simple ethos: "When you take things out, you must increase the size of what's left." This spawned the widely emulated California Look, which in the latter part of his career was characterized by oversize furniture and signature elements, including Yosemite slate and fossilized stone; plump geometric cushions; logs; wicker; and lots of mirrors, all against a muted backdrop of white on white or beige on beige.

This is a room Michael designed circa mid 1950's in Modesto, California

Syrie Maugham, the British decorator who helped create the all-white look popular in the 1920s, provided another source of inspiration to him which can be seen in the above picture of a living room Michael Taylor designed. "Schiaparelli sofa"

 

 

Taylor rivaled the legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland in his use of maxims - "Red and green should never be seen!" was one of his favorites. "If in doubt, take it out!" was another. Taylor believed that white was the most efficient color for capturing natural light.

 

"I cannot live without books."
Thomas Jefferson

What books are you going to be reading??

 

 

Patricia Gray writes about Interior Design inspirations, emerging trends, and the world of Design. 
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VENICE - Bauer Palladio Hotel & Spa, Giudecca Island, Redentore

 

While in Venice I will be staying at the Bauer Palladio Hotel & SPA. It is an amazing building designed in the year 1500 by the world-renowned Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. It is one of his 18 surviving villas of the Veneto.  Here are a few books if you want to read up on the architecture of Palladio

 

It has a private garden (a rarity in Venice) 

                                                      

and breathtaking lagoon views (this is where I will be view the fireworks display on Saturday night.  Read more about that below)

 

Public areas have Venetian terrazzo floors, original open-brickwork walls, and antique furnishings; trelliswork stencils and Murano-glass lanterns.  It is located on the Giudecca Island just across the canal basin from Venice.

Map of the location of the Palladio Spa across from the main island of Venice

The Palladio was designed by Andrea Palladio in 1500

The Palladio today in 2008 

I will reach the property by taking the hotel's innovative B-Mare, a solar-powered shuttle between the main Hotel adjacent to Piazza San Marco, a mere 10-minute blissful vaporetto ride.

Setting an unprecedented example in eco-friendly efforts, the BAUER, Venice's first luxury hotel and one of the most prestigious family-run properties, has purchased a revolutionary energy-efficient nautical system for its new
Hotel Palladio. 
B MARE shuttle boat.

Created by Posidonia Srl and MW Lugano, leaders in Europe for their electric propulsion and solar-energy MW Line™ of boats, this electro solar powered system allows the B Mare vaporetto (Bauer of the Sea) to operate with no pollution, no noise, and no waves between the Bauer's main hotel near St. Mark's Square and the new Bauer Palladio Hotel & Spa on Giudecca Island, just across the lagoon.

Bauer Hotel Chair & CEO, Francesca Bortolotto Possati, is the first in Venice to make a substantial effort in providing clean-energy water transportation. Bortolotto Possati is a passionate Venetian who works tirelessly to maintain her birthplace and home as a top travel destination, and to prevent Venice's disappearance. "I feel it is my duty to help maintain and preserve the architectural integrity and atmosphere of this unique city for years to come," says Bortolotto Possati. "My family has lived in Venice for many generations and it is my goal to keep our city preserved to every extent possible."

There are 7 rooms on the second floor all with spectacular views of the lagoon, the Doge's Palace, and St. Mark's Square.

 

http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll/qscr=dspv/htid=1510712/crti=4/hotel-pictures

   

I thought this meeting room was interesting.  It is a little hard to see, but those are rows of Philippe Starck Ghost Chairs, a whole room of them!!!

 


I have just found out that I have an extra treat in store for me on this visit to Venice - I am there juring the Redentore, one of the Venetians' most treasured festivities which culminates in a spectacular firework display in the evening with the unbeatable backdrop of Saint Mark's Basin. A play of lights and reflections produce a kaleidoscope of colours with the silhouetted spires, domes and bell towers of the city behind.

All of which I will be able to view from my room across the Giudecca Canal!  I don't think it gets any better than that.

The origin of the festival was to celebrate the end to the plague, that raged through the city in the three years between 1575 and 1577.  Aided by the high density of the population, the disease spread through the city, causing terrible losses. Almost 50,000 died, which was more than a third of the city's inhabitants.

On September 4, 1576, the Senate decided that the Doge should announce the vow to erect a church dedicated to the Redentore (Redeemer), in return for help in ending the plague.

On July 13, 1577, the plague was declared definitively over and it was decided that the city's liberation from the terrible disease should be celebrated on the third Sunday in July.

The Redentore today
At sunset the well illuminated boats, decorated with boughs and coloured balloons, begin congregating in Saint Mark's Basin and the Giudecca Canal. In the boats people eat traditional food, waiting for the firework display, which begins at 11.30pm and lasts until after midnight.
The weekend ends with a Gondola Regatta


A few of the sites to see in Venice

The Rialto Bridge

St Mark's Square Campanile

Venetian Palace

Canal Scene

The Zattere: A Spacious Waterfront Promenade

The Zattere was constructed in 1519 as a landing stage for timber, but is now a waterfront promenade lined by a series of notable buildings and monuments.

The Zattere runs along virtually the entire southern shore of the Dorsoduro district of Venice. It offers superb views of the spectacular Palladian architecture on the island of Giudecca (That's where my Hotel is located)immediately to its south.

photo Wai Heng Chow - FOTOLIA

The westernmost point of the Zattere, known as the San Basilio, is named after a church, long since demolished, which was once located there.

The yellow-fronted Scuola dei Luganagheri, a few doors along, was formerly a sausage maker’s guild, but is now a restaurant, the only remaining evidence of its previous use being the two marble tablets either side of a statue of Saint Anthony.

 

Dorsoduro is one of six sestieri or districts of central Venice, and is located on the south-western side of town. It includes the long southern shore of Venice which faces over the water to the Giudecca.

It houses some of the most picturesque canals and palazzi, and some of the town's great art showcases, without the pretension and tourist traps that you might expect. It's a studenty area, home to Venice's Ca' Foscari University, and has more late-night drinking bars than the rest of Venice. The general vibe is artistic, youthful and relaxed.

Dorsoduro highlights

Accademia - Venice's great art gallery
Peggy Guggenheim Collection - modern art in an unusual palazzo on the Grand Canal.
Santa Maria della Salute - this church dominates several of Venice's most famous views.
Ca' Rezzonico - a museum of the 18th Century in the Grand Canal palazzo where Robert Browning died.
San Sebastiano - a colourful church decorated almost entirely by Paolo Veronese, who is also buried here..
The Zattere - a long promenade along Venice's southern shore, facing over the water to the Giudecca.
Church of the Carmini - large church with paintings by Lorenzo Lotto and Cima da Conegliano. The adjacent Scuola has a ceiling by Giambattista Tiepolo.

 

Very Cool Google Map of Venice

This is a fascinating Google Map of Venice and the surrounding vicinity, that I found on the Internet.  It is an overlay of photos.  Just click on the photo and you can see what that area looks like at ground level.  Click here to go to this amazing web-site.

  
My reading on the plane is the novel on the life of:  Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy
This book was recommended to me by Albarosa, a reader of my Blog.  She recommended novel written by the author Maria Bellonci, but all I could find on short notice was by the author Sarah Bradford.
(BTW I wish the fashion of wearing a jewel on our forehead would come back into style)

Lucrezia Borgia who was married to Alfonso d'Este (Prince of Ferrara) in 1520.  You can read more about her
here. 
"Several rumors have persisted throughout the years, primarily speculating as to the nature of the extravagant parties thrown by the Borgia family. Many of these concern allegations of incest, poisoning, and murder on her part; however, no historical basis for these rumors have ever been brought forward, beyond allegations made by the rivals of the Borgias.  It is rumored that Lucrezia was in possession of a hollow ring that she used frequently to poison drinks"

"Lucrezia's father was the powerful Renaissance Valencian who later became Pope Alexander VI. Lucrezia's family  came to epitomize the ruthless Machiavellian politics and sexual corruption alleged to be characteristic of the Renaissance Papacy. Lucrezia was cast as a femme fatale, a role she has been portrayed in many artworks, novels and films."

Her life and the times she lived in makes for Juicy reading!!!

 

Portrait of a Woman by Bartolomeo Veneziano, traditionally assumed to be Lucrezia Borgia 

 

ciao