SPRING
This is the time of the year when I love the fragrance of hyacinths.....they always say "Spring is just around the corner". This year, the weather has been perfect for my camellia tree as well. I think they are the most perfect flower I have ever seen and they are so rare where we live.
 
WHAT'S NEW AT JAN SHOWERS
When we were In Paris last fall, we found so many exceptional lamps. Finding great antiques has as much to do with luck as it does with having a good eye. Lamps are such an easy way to change a room instantly AND one of the least expensive ways as well. I have seen rooms completely transformed by simply adding new lamps. One of my favorites is the pair by Bagues pictured below. They are gold plated with white opalescent glass from the 1940's. The other lamp shown is also opalescent and is the most delicious green. It is Venini from the 1930's.
 
NEW YORK
We have lots of news from New York since we've been there to install the window display at the D & D and to do final edits on "Glamorous Rooms". The window looks fresh and crisp with a definite hint that spring is around the corner. With the walls covered in John Hutton's Spice of Life in Cumin, which is a wonderful golden yellow, and four of our favorite pieces from my furniture collection, the window is a standout in the main entry of the D & D. The pieces are from left: The Leland Drinks Cart with a Venetian Series # 2 Moonstone Lamp and other fun bar accessories and glass; the large Claudette Bench in warm silver leaf upholstered in white cowhide sits in front of the Helen Mirror which is my favorite mirror in the Collection with its gold eglomise Greek key border; and the Daphne Chair which has a great modernist vibe but mixes in any interior. I have one in our living room in Dallas.
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While in New York, we had enough free time to go to several special shows at the Guggenheim, The Met as well as The Winter Antiques Show. We also had a truly memorable evening when amfAR honored our friends, Cindy and Howard Rachofsky for their tireless work and dedication to the Two X Two event in Dallas
for the past 10 years.
The Guggenheim show "The Third Mind" is interesting and often stunning. We were blown away by the James Lee Byars installation piece. It is the size of a two car garage lined in gold leaf. Absolutely mesmerizing!
We love to have lunch every Friday when we are in New York at La Grenouille. Jim and I enjoy the food, the people who work there and most of all, the amazing flowers all done by the owner, Charles Masson. He brings many of the huge branches in from his estate in Maine. There is not one time of the year that they are not breathtaking. I would love to see Charles actually putting them together. They are so beautiful that at book has been published, The Flowers of La Grenouille. I am a big fan of their cheese soufflé and Little Neck Clams Corsini. Jim always orders their Dover Sole. If you don't have time for a two hour lunch, then step inside to the small bar so that you can see the flowers. It is the last of the old school great French restaurants in New York with La Caravelle, La Cote Basque,Lutece all gone. Of course, Daniele Boulud's restaurants are wonderful so there are good new French restaurants, but Grenouille is a treasure not to be missed!
 
The Carlyle is our favorite hotel in New York. It is so typically New York and when we arrive, it is as though we were only away for a few days. The staff is incredible and they love our dog, Sweetie. It is managed by Rosewood and they do a superb job. Bemelman's Bar is the best bar in the city with murals painted by Ludwig Bemelmans who is famous for his illustrations in the Madeline children's books.
 
GLAMOROUS ROOMS
We are in the final editing stage of my book. It will be available in mid October. I think the cover is dynamite thanks to the talented people at Abrams. The readers of my Notebook are the very first to see the cover image---Michael Kors, my talented friend, is writing the foreword.
BOOKS
Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thompson---if you love art and are interested in the art world, you will enjoy this book. It covers every aspect of that world from auction houses to art fairs to the Venice Biennale, and is very well written.
Netherland---this book of fiction by Joseph O'Neil has been compared to Scott Fitzgerald's Gatsby and there is some truth in that assessment. This story is about a Gatsbyesque character placed in New York after 9/11. It was on almost every critics Top 10 list in 2008. --- A great read by a great writer.
DOMINO CLOSES
We are all saddened by the closing of Domino by Conde Nast. All of the girls in my office have been in mourning since we heard the news as have both of my daughters. I know several of the young, bright editors and thought they were doing a terrific job filling a niche that wasn't there before Domino. I know that all of them will be successful in whatever they chose to do.
The dean of decorating, Albert Hadley, called it "the new decor bible for how we live today" and I completely agree. This morning I read the last issue (March) with my cup of tea, and was inspired by so many things ---- "Great Style at Any Age" is wonderful, a 1972 Vogue picture of a model preparing to board a plane at Charles de Gaulle back in the days when one dressed for air travel (p. 53) was a smart lead into a modern travel story. Buy the last issue and weep.
 
COMING UP... WESTWEEK
We will be in L.A. at the David Sutherland Showroom for Westweek. It starts on March 24 but we will be there preparing our new display the week before. Westweek has become THE market in the interior design world. Editors, buyers and manufacturers from all over the world come to see what's new and fresh. We all need inspiration and Westweek is a great place to do just that. My next entry will have photos of our new space in the front window with all of our new JS Collection pieces... as well as lots of new design ideas from other manufacturers and showrooms.
FINAL NOTE
Many thanks for all of the lovely emails I received from people who enjoyed the Notebook. It's fun to write, and, as promised, we will have new entries each month!
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