The Gloriousness of a Decorating Book that speaks to you...

Happy Halloween!

Here is the truth: I suck at Halloween.  I pretty much gloss over the whole event, and in our neck of the woods, we only get 6 or 7 trick or treaters, so that's easy enough to do!  I will shower them with the little chocolate bars I've bought so I don't eat them all.  My willpower is very poor these days, although I am a faithful visitor to my treadmill...

Anyway, come late fall I start looking around for a few books to ask for from the big man (Barry, no Santa, although they are interchangeable really). This year, three books top my list:

1) Modern Mix: Curating Personal Style with Chic & Accessible Finds by Eddie Ross

I follow Eddie on Instagram and I love him!  And I have thumbed through this book at Chapters and I love, love, love what I've seen!

He has such an eye and he just bubbles with joie de vivre!  This is an expensive book (in Canada) but worth every penny I think.  I see this as a bit of a bible for the likes of me!

2) French Chic Living: Simple Ways to Make Your Home Beautiful by Florence de Dampierre                              

I just got back from France as you know and I still miss it.  I adore France. And when I saw this book at my local book shop, I knew it would be on the top of my list this fall!  This book is beautiful, from the pictures to the little "secrets" and tips.  I swoon just looking at the cover....

3) House Beautiful's Pink

                              

I am definitely in a pink mood these days.  I adore the colour and used sparingly (or daringly!) it can be such a wonderful thing in a home!

To be honest, I did scan through Ellen DeGeneres' new style book, but it wasn't for me - too modern - although there are beautiful pictures and she definitely has great talent in renovating and decorating houses!

Finally, if you didn't buy it last year after I slagged it to death, Novel Interiors by Lisa Borgnes Giramonti still tops my list for a book that I turn to again and again and again!

How about you? Any home décor books on your wishlists this year?  Do tell!

xoxo Wendy
                          

The jumble after Christmas

Well, I have eaten, drank and played endless games of Heads Up as I make my way through Christmas week.

As was to be expected, the day itself was grand: the goose was not overcooked, the desserts divine, the sides sublime.

Good Lord, it had a long neck....

Walking around the house on boxing day I was met with utter chaos.

The remains of the day....

It seems I embrace Christmas chaos.

the piles of chocolate pushing up against the Amaryllis!

our newest game?  Find the top of the sea captain's chest?

I know there are some, like my lovely friend Jen, who are happy to toss the tree on the day after.  I understand that sentiment, But I am not in that camp.  I will likely keep mine up till at least next Saturday and Sunday, and perhaps even till the Epiphany.


I like the homeliness of the Christmas mess - the odd piece of wrapping paper jammed under a cushion, the socks left in a jumble (those are mine in the corner above).

Very rarely do I feel so queen-like, lying about in my robe, eating chocolates until my stomach is distended, reading a smashing new book.

Gin, John Wayne, and an Indy toy, cheek to jowl
with a batman action figure and Mr. Bean.
Really, it's like a fantasy, isn't it? 

Of course, now it's the 28th.  The in-laws have been visited, we are picking up and cleaning a bit, as the beloved GetFresh arrives tomorrow for our next night of frivolity (God I hope she likes Heads Up!).

I've waited over a year for this and it did not disappoint!)

In one of my favourite Christmas gifts, Novel Interiors, author Lisa Borgnes Giramonti says:

Don't tidy up too quickly.  "The table, strewn with napkins and wine-glasses, had a derelict air as they left it." So writes Virginia Woolf in The Years about the scene after a particularly fabulous evening.  I whole-heartedly agree.  When your guests have finished eating, let the dishes linger.  Oftentimes, when you clear the table, you sweep the mood away right along with it.

And thus it is with the jumble of Christmas.  January will come soon enough, with its pale newness, its promise of tidiness, its resolve towards all things organized and possible.

In the dying days of 2014, I live in shambles, my own version of Miss Havisham, seeing the old year out in the flotsam and jetsam of the year past!

Where's my iPad?  I need to play Head's Up!  Pip!!!!!!

Have a wonderful Sunday!  xoxo wendy

Wendy's Christmas Gift Guide for those for whom money is an object!

Taking a cue from my friend Tabs' recent Christmas list, I decided to take pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and share a list of things that I think would be fabulous to find under the tree* this holiday!

* editorial aside - this list is no hint to Barry.  I have already given him a list.  Be prepared, I say!

And since there are so many high end lists (Gwynnie will likely have hers up soon), I felt it might be fun to share what I consider to be um, more moderately priced gifts.

Unlike other gift lists, which categorize "things for her" "things for the pet", this list is best described as "things for yourself because dammit, you're worth it!"


1) The Book I want most for Christmas:

I have a serious girl crush on Lisa Borgnes Giramonti.  I discovered her blog, A Bloomsbury Life, several years ago and I have "be invited to Lisa's for supper" on my bucket list.  (she probably has "get a restraining order against Wendy" on hers).  She is fountain of amazing book, art and travel advice and her annual list of books to give or get is a must-read for me.

So you can imagine my excitement when she announced that she'd have a book coming out this fall.

And given that she is such a talented, interesting woman, I have no doubt this book is going to be divine!

Read the description:

For those who have ever lost themselves in the stylish worlds of novels like Sense and Sensibility, The Age of Innocence, Wuthering Heights, The Picture of Dorian Gray and countless others, this design book embraces the fantasy of time and place, showing you how to bring some of those elements into your own home.

Lisa Giramonti inspires a new approach to decorating: by teaching us through the lens of worlds we may already know and love. With gorgeous photographs by World of Interiors photographer Ivan Terestchenko, aspirational quotes, and tailored reading lists, Novel Interiors reveals the essence and details of interiors mentioned in great literary works. This is a stunning, photo-driven book that shares enchanting and timeless ways to live more elegantly.

I mean seriously, doesn't that sound amazing???  I see me, champagne, and chocolates all curled up together on Christmas afternoon with this book!

2) A cookbook

I was going to ask for the amazing A Kitchen in France for Christmas, but I know I can't wait that long!

I follow Mimi's blog, Manger, and always getting good ideas.  When I skimmed through this book at Chapters I was drooling.  

So because I can't wait, this is the cookbook I want to see under the tree this Christmas:

I adore Stanley Tucci.  Those of you who love movies about cooking will recall the eponymous Big Night, about the making of an italian feast.  Tucci wrote a cookbook after that movie that was full of family stories.

Now he is back, along with his new wife, Felicity Blunt (Emily's sister) serving a wonderful cookbook of family favourites.  Some of you may recall that Stanley's wife died tragically of cancer several years ago and he happily remarried this past year.  I like a happy ending, I like Stanley and I KNOW Stanley can cook, so I am all over this cookbook.  I always need new recipes for when y'all drop over.

3) Things you didn't know you needed until I told you about them...

Last year I left it too long to talk about the Unemployed Philosopher's Guild.  I won't make that mistake twice.

Because they have come out with the niftiest things that we MUST have!!!!

There is nothing so lovely as lighting a candle and having a meditative moment.  Ah, you say, but some of us do not believe in God, Buddha, Mohammed (insert your own God here), some of us believe in other powers.  Well folks, the Guild has you covered with their secular saint collection!!!






Virginia Woolf, Einstein!  Frida!  Noam Chomsky!  Freud! Vonnegut!  Think of the inspiration you will find as you channel your own secular saint!

How about Betty Frieden? Darwin?




They're all just waiting to impart their wisdom!

You know I adore their finger puppets!  My new favorites include Sylvia Plath, Rosa Parks and Andy Warhol:







And how about the original Calvin and Hobbes, available on a T-shirt?

4) Things to play with on Christmas Day

Sure, you are serious 364 days of the year, but a game or something of the same ilk is always a fun thing for Christmas afternoon.

How about table top tennis before you set the table for the big feast?

Get yours here

 or Rock em Sock em Robots?

My personal favourite is always a racing set.  A crowd pleaser!

5) Pretty things for Pretty girls

Because I am obsessed with cosmetics (the part of me who loves to play with pretty things, including myself!), how about something inexpensive but a good time?

Too Faced's Beauty Wishes and Kisses

or Under the mistletoe:

Or Urban Decay's Naked on the Run?

Or Pixie's Fairy Dust?

I have the silver and I adore it!

6) Happiness

And finally, because this is my blog after all, I would like us all to be able to buy a little peace:

An eclectic list for sure, but nothing fancy nor expensive.  Just a whole lot of fun!!!!

Hope this has given you a few ideas for your list!  HoHoHo!

xoxo wendy