Memoir: Wait for Me!

With great excitement I picked up a package from Barnes and Noble.com today. The long awaited new memoir by 90 year old Deborah Mitford, Duchess of Devonshire finally arrived! I am so looking forward to the treat ahead of me.

On the whole, I enjoy reading memoirs as people have the most fascinating lives. It shows that not everything exciting need be fiction.

Deborah Devonshire has led a very full and interesting life. Her family was larger than life. Each sister distinguished herself through writing, politics, beauty, scandal and a stoic determination to follow what they believed in. Deborah experienced significant events in history from the front row and was constantly surrounded by fascinating people.


The youngest of seven and now the last living of the famous Mitford sisters, Deborah was born in 1920. She married Andrew Cavendish in 1941, during the height of the war. After the death of his brother, her husband inherited the title Duke of Devonshire and a large estate burdened with taxes. Through hard work, inventiveness and determination, Deborah restored a beautiful historical home to working productivity.

Wait for Me! looks to be a wonderful read and I look forward to entering Deborah Mitford Devonshire's world this weekend.

Rainy Evening Blueberry Muffins

The best way to spend a rainy evening? Baking blueberry muffins from scratch!

Now we have to test them and make sure the recipe was good.

San Luis

Last weekend we took a trip to Mendoza and enjoyed a couple of days of wine tours. The last stop for lunch was at a charming summer home belonging to an old Argentine family that had fallen on hard times. The house was aging and needed work, but beautiful and set in lovely gardens. It looked like something out of a Disney movie.

We enjoyed lunch under an old tree, swatting away flies and drinking cold white wine from a nearby vineyard.

The house was surrounded by flowers, including those on a charming tile nameplate on the front of the house.

On the opposing wall was a poem or blessing, also painted on tile.

More Fab Home Decor

I was so excited to stumble across a fab home decor/fashion blog filled with photos of wonderful interiors. Check out Elements of Style!

The pink couch in the photo above is great - the black velvet piping tones down the girlishness of it. Also, pale grey/blue walls are elegant and show off the black frames to perfection.

Perhaps what is best about all of these interiors, along with the coordination of color and use of elegant pieces, is a lack of clutter. It is very difficult to maintain an immaculate home with no keys or mail or magazines covering the surfaces. But this maybe my new year resolution - put everything back in its place.

Interior Design Delight

These pictures of a small apartment in Brooklyn are gorgeous! I love how fresh and clean it looks. The decorating was done by a mother and daughter duo for the daughter's first 'adult' apartment. The mother previously worked for Martha Stewart Living and now writes a blog with her daughter.

Good Bones, Great Pieces

Hotel Faena

The Hotel Faena in Puerto Madero is a modern luxe hotel housed in a renovated grain warehouse. Phillipe Starck did the interior design and it is worth a wander through the lobby to see some of the quirky splendid touches he added. For example, the tea room has white plastic unicorns on the walls. The bathrooms were all grey veined marble, mirrored doors and faucets made of silver swans.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2011!! 2010 was an amazingly happy year for me; my love and I moved back to Washington, we learned a new language together, had a beautiful wedding surrounded by friends and family, and moved together to a wonderful, exciting city. There have been thorns in our path, but we have smoothed them out and grown stronger from the experience.