Newsletter Archive

Oh, bed! Oh, bed! Delicious bed! That heaven upon earth to the weary head. -Thomas Hood A luxurious present to yourself that will provide sweet dreams night after night, and delight your eyes day after day, are exquisite, bespoke bed linens! From the moment I first walked past the eye-catching windows of the two Lori Jayne stores on S. County Road in Palm Beach ten years ago, I was smitten. Lori Bernstein has created a charming paradise for anyone who appreciates beautiful linens… and sooo much more! You will discover not only elegant linens, but also extremely attractive gifts, which can be personalized, custom made, monogrammed, engraved, designed, and are always “presented” elegantly. Lori Jayne is where you go when you want to get EXACTLY what you want. Timeless, tailored, and oh, so much FUN! Hearing that Lori created a new line of linens with custom embroidery designs named after the charming

Glory be and alleluia!  Finally, it is a new year that brings with it the promise of a new beginning with renewed hope. I was inspired to reach out to a few dear friends to learn how they were planning to celebrate their own private debut of 2021.  In consideration of the guidelines that Covid has forced us all to respect, I wanted to be inspired by their vision of bringing in this rather peculiar new year and share it with you.  I posed the simple question: How will you be spending this New Year’s Eve? Bettie Bearden Pardee, the creator of Private Newport, is a precious friend who is exceptionally accomplished in ALL aspects of lovely living.  If you are ever offered an invitation to visit Parterre, her glorious house and gardens in Newport… go! She is a fabulous cook, too. Tim Davis is the number one real estate broker

The Episcopal girl’s school I attended in Richmond, Virginia, has this motto: “What we keep we lose; only what we give remains our own.” Giving gratitude is one of life’s most important goals; do you agree? So, besides a handwritten note, make an effort to show or comment on how you use or will use the gift, what joy it brings to you, or why it is so meaningful to you. This will translate into a meaningful, heartfelt level of sincere gratitude to the gift-giver. On my website, I have several MMM titles about “how to write a thank-you note.” But the topic today is how to recognize gifts beyond the required, de rigueur, thank-you note. A further gesture of thanks, especially for those especially appreciated gifts, is to acknowledge them in another way, at another time. It is a gentle gesture to share how much you appreciate the effort

Magical Christmas traditions for children! The charming Christmas moments that you create for your family are precisely the traditions that will carry on and become cherished memories for your children. Most likely, you still cherish and implement traditions that were passed along to you by your family when you were a child, right? We shall all miss being with our loved ones this year, but thinking about holiday memories, while dreaming of creating even more next year, brings a sense of comfort to me, and hopefully, to you too. Perhaps, a few of these ideas may become traditions for you to embrace when our families are finally able to gather once again to celebrate this joyous holiday season. Every Christmas Eve, we all dress up and gather around the Christmas tree for drinks before dinner. While there, one of the men in the family, usually my husband, quietly disappears… and

As we embrace and celebrate this holiday season before us, I believe that 2020, a most challenging year, has opened our eyes wider and made us more grateful for our health, and life on earth, than ever before.  We also cherish our precious loved ones even more, especially when we cannot be with them. In the words of Norman Vincent Peale, “Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” Have you ever considered creating a few “petite vignettes” on tabletops as a quiet nod and serene gesture to decorating for the holidays? A Christmas tree that fills the room or one that touches the ceiling is also oh, so joyful and majestic! Yet, discovering a few little, almost secret, treasured festive displays sprinkled around the house is a tender tribute to the magic of the season with a hint of innocence …

Several darling subscribers inquired about how to enhance their new WFH (work from home) office. If you have space to dedicate as your WFH office, have fun with it! Allow your new “office” to reflect your personality, passions, and interests in the same way that you would treat the interiors of your house. Quietly adorn the background for a Zoom meeting in a classic and timeless way. Perhaps a Christmas wish list for a few goodies to enhance your WFH office is in order?! It is imperative to create a dedicated workspace that reflects you, makes you happy, and maintains the distinction between work and play… yet, it does not have to be all work and no play, right? Create a place you want to spend time in, yet structured enough that you will work! My daughter-in-law, Karen, and I are designing a stunning workspace for a very notable CEO,