Chef Dali

How did I not know that Salvador Dali wrote a cookbook? And threw "lavish dinner parties" with his wife, Gala?

Well, I know now...and I also know what I want for Christmas. Taschen is publishing Dali's 1973 cookbook, Les Diners de Gala...and I want a copy. It sounds insane and fabulous and exactly like what you'd imagine Salvador Dali's cookbook + 1973 would, could and should be.

Buy it (for me) here.

Marimekko @ Target

There is only one way for this to end. With me, disappointed and tired. Maybe I'll have spent money on something I'll never wear, or maybe I won't even have found anything at all to buy. Either way, a Target collab this high profile will almost surely not meet my expectations.

And yet...on Sunday the 17th of April, I'm sure I'll find myself lined up outside the Target doors, all excited about what's inside. I so love Marimekko. Danish Scandinavian + colorful is my kryptonite.

I mean...look at that table. How could I possibly resist it? How can I resist anything that pairs so well with a summery cocktail?

See the whole collection here.

Wear This, Eat That

Fall is upon us, which means it's time to think about...spring clothes. New York Fashion Week just ended, London is underway, and I can't stop looking at clothes I will never buy.

As I was flipping through Vogue runway slideshows yesterday, I also started getting oddly hungry. I've written before (almost a decade ago!) about the intersection between fashion and food, and what one has to do with the other. But yesterday, my thinking was more literal. Sometimes, clothes just look like food, and vice versa.

Here are a few of my favorite examples of that, from this season's shows so far:

First up: it's all about the texture. I love it in my food and I love it on my clothes.

Wear Carolina Herrara, eat coconut cake:

 coconut layer cake (via Martha Stewart)

I love this dress, which you can see, if you look closely, is covered in fabric flowers that pop off the surface.
It's so fun and summery. 

So...wear Michael Kors, drink blueberry margaritas:

blueberry margarita (via Food and Wine)

Dixon loves - loves - black and white cookies. A couple years ago, he confessed to our friend Audrey that he thinks of them as "rich people" cookies, which obviously cracked me up. 

So if you're feeling flush...wear Zac Posen, eat black and white cookies. 

(Really, if was feeling flush, I really would wear Zac Posen. I love his clothes so much.)

 black and white cookie (via Epicurious)

Look at that cape! It's as regal and serious and awesomely sophisticated as the darkest chocolate mousse, right? 

Wear Sophie Theallet, eat chocolate mousse.

gianduja mousse (via Food and Wine)

How fun are seahorses? Very fun. You know what else is fun? Parties that serve shrimp that you don't have to peel yourself. 

Wear Holly Fulton, eat shrimp cocktail.

 shrimp cocktail (via Martha Stewart)

Kate Spade is kind of my spirit animal. I struggle to not buy all the things, all the time, and by the time next spring rolls around, I will probably have lost the battle vs. my willpower when it comes to the brand's new rockstud knockoffs (even though I work in my kitchen). You know what else I love and indulge in too frequently? Pasta. 

Wear Kate Spade, eat cacio e pepe - with lemon, because it's brighter that way.

 cacio e pepe with meyer lemon (via Martha Stewart)

And finally. Sometimes Tory Burch's clothes skew slightly too bohemian for me. That is not the case with her spring 2016 line, though. I love it all, including this shimmery dress, which has "elegant June poolside cocktail party" written all over it. And what do you drink at that party? Champers, bien sur.

Wear Tory Burch, drink champagne with a twist of lemon.

champagne with a twist (via Food and Wine)

(All runway images from Vogue.)

So Many Aprons. So Little Time

I am powerless in the face of a slideshow like this one. Twenty seconds after I started clicking through, I'd already gotten myself to the West Elm site, where I bought the arrow apron in the picture. Even if the apron alone hadn't gotten me, the arrows would have. (I am a sorority girl at heart.)

But back to aprons. I love them. As anyone who has been to my house near dinnertime knows, I wear one every day. I am wearing one right now.

But here is something I don't understand: who wears half aprons? Why would you even do that? I mean, this one is adorable...but it's also $88 and I would still end up with crap all over my shirt. Who are these people who are able to cook and only  mess themselves up below the waist? I do not understand how they operate.

Stop It With This Kitchen

Jenny from My Favorite and My Best finds the best rooms. I mean:

Even though I have some concerns about temperature/humidity control and all that wine...this kitchen makes me melt. I want it.

On the "Nice" List

No posts for two weeks?!? Not intended, I can assure you. I've had a crazy couple of weeks and posting kept slipping farther down the list.

(I realize that's a common excuse around here - so common that I decided to make an early New Year's resolution to stop complaining about my schedule/stress, since a) no one cares and b) everyone is busy. It is...challenging. I'm way better at complaining than at not complaining.)

Anyway, I'm working on a large-ish post but in the meantime, here are a couple things I've been into lately:

1. Becket Hitch. 

Visiting this Greenspring Station shop, originally conceived as a pop-up, is like touring the inside of my brain. it's full of things I desperately want - or already have, from books to hostess gifts. I'm in love.

2. Frederick.

Sarah G's hometown is adorable - I've known that for a while. But after interviewing over a dozen shop-owners for this Sun article, I really feel like I need to spend more time there. Every person I interviewed was so passionate and interesting and friendly. Even Bryan Voltaggio, who might have a few other things to do besides talk to me on the phone.

3. Chefs and Holidays.

You know what else is fun? Talking to chefs about holiday recipes. Writing this Sun magazine article was an absolute blast. I got to talk to some of the city's most creative and talented food people about the holidays and what they love to cook and eat.

When I see an article like this one, or the one about Frederick, in print (or, more realistically, online), I remember that my actual job involves talking to people about pretty, cool and delicious things that they love to make and sell. Could I be any luckier?

4. Alexa Pulitzer.

A few weeks ago, I came across New Orleans-based Alexa Pulitzer and I could not get enough. She makes stationery, cups, coasters and all kinds of adorable things - including the plastic "hunting crest" cup pictured above. I now own about 50 of those. I couldn't resist! It's so Pollard.

It's a good problem to have, finding so many things interesting and cool. Even if it does make me busier and busier!

Want: Bulls Bay OYRO

Garden and Gun just announced the winners of their 5th annual Made in the South Awards and, as usual, I am drooling. Especially over this:

It's the Bulls Bay OYRO, a wood-fired oyster cooker designed and built by a man named Oliver Thames who lives in McClellanville, South Carolina. And it is amazing.

As soon as I saw it, I emailed my family. Oysters are, after all, the food that connects us most.

From the time we were little kids, stealing my dad's smoked oysters wrapped in bacon, my brother and sister and I have thought of oysters as the best kind of family treat.

We have them at nearly every family event (during the "R" months, even though, yes, we know that's no longer an issue). We eat them raw, grilled, roasted, plain, or topped with our special family recipe.

For my dad's 50th birthday, my mom threw him an oyster roast at their neighborhood beach. The beach has a bunch of big stone grills - they used those to cook the oysters, while we all stood around slightly shivering (it was March) and loving it.

Basically, oysters are the Waskoms favorite food. I mean, we love crabs, too, but oysters? They belong to us.

Which is why, as my sister mentioned, it is absolutely crazy that Cooper and I don't already have an oyster cooker in our backyard. It doesn't have to be the Bulls Bay cooker...though I wouldn't say no to that kind of gift. But even something more haphazard, something homemade.

I think it's the right thing for us to do.

Pretty Boozy

Minimalism + Deep Color + Information + Cocktails?

Oh, Nick Barclay. You had me at hello.

Caftans and Dreams

I would wear this every single day.

Caftans and Dreams is, by the way, one of my favorite blog names/themes I've come up with after it was too late, since I went all in on Mango and Ginger. (Others include the chef gossip blog Creme Melee - everyone knifes each other - and the monogrammed gun blog The Preppy Prepper.)

Alternate blog histories aside, I still love caftans. Which means I really love this slideshow of fabulous ladies in caftans. And by "fabulous" I mean everyone from Queen Elizabeth to J. Lo. It's good.

Want: Saucy Wallpaper

I just saw this on Kiel James Patrick's Tumblr:

 

And now I want to build a small powder room on our main floor,

just so I can hang it there.

 

(You can buy it here.)

Gift Guide Season

I can't remember what Christmas shopping was like before the internet.

But I know one thing is certain: In the past year or two, the number of

pre-Christmas "gift guide" emails has ratcheted up considerably. 

And I can't resist them. You have gift suggestions for me, retailer?

OK, I'll take a look.

In an effort to make all that online browsing feel a little useful,

here are my recommendations for the best of my favorite gift guides -

my 2012 Gift Guide to the Gift Guides:

Sources (the brand name links to the gift guide, the description links to the gift):

1. C. Wonder: Monogrammed jewelry box in jade ($78)

2. Jonathan Adler: Santorini Persephone bowl in yellow ($110)

3. C. Wonder: Black watch wool easy tote ($98)

4. Tory Burch: Sydney hinge bracelet in amethyst ($145)

5. Lilly Pulitzer: Middleton palazzo pant in bright navy reef madness ($148)

6. Garden and Gun (2011 list): Holmestead Company reclaimed fencepost cutting board ($40)

7. Garden and Gun (2012): "Sideboard" package, including 8 food and food-related deliveries over the course of a year ($335)

8. Kate Spade: Paper gem coasters ($20)

9. Kate Spade: Tequila Is Not My Friend bag ($248)

10. Terrain (Open Road Gift Guide): Chalkboard map ($168)

Trendy: Cute Paper Placemats

Maybe they've been there all along, and I'm just noticing, but recently, wherever I go, 

I have spotted the cutest paper placemats. Including these, from Mark and Graham,

a monogram-happy website Cail just sent to me:

They're so perfect for the holidays, aren't they? And at $25 for 50 placemats,

they are seriously cost-effective.

Not that paper will ever replace linen. But...so cute! So wrinkle free!

I'm Ready to Throw a Party

A few times a year, I get an uncontrollable itch. A party-throwing itch. 

I have one right now and this picture isn't helping calm it:

I want to own those glasses, but more importantly, I want to throw a party

that involves those glasses. And those trays.

It would be so fabulous, I can barely stand it.

[Picture via MFAMB.]

Ropes & Metal

If anyone is looking for a gift for me, you know, just for being me...this tray would do it:

I love - LOVE - those handles.

Keep Calm and Carry On, Version 2.0

It's a sentiment I can get behind. Buy here.

Want: Champagne Label Invitations

Crane & Co. just posted a Facebook link to this gorgeousness:

The invitation was designed by St. Gertrude Design & Letterpress, out of Brisbane, Australia, for a client's 30th birthday party (and the red script says "thirty is the new twenty" en francais). The whole story, plus more pictures, are at Oh So Beautiful Paper.

Oh so beautiful is right. Champagne labels are so fabulous - I can't think of anything else that fills me more with anticipation. Anticipation of what? Oh, the kind of elegant night out that I never really have. But that's not the point now, is it? 

Want: Menu Design in America, 1850-1985

A Taschen coffee table book on American menu design? Yes, PLEASE!

(via the Tory Burch blog, where they've pulled some pretty choice visuals from the book)

The Heat Makes Me Crazy

But it also makes me make delicious drinks - like Planter's Punch from the Peninsula Grill in Charleston (courtesy of Garden & Gun):

I made myself one of those yesterday and it was perfect - refreshing and also as tropical as the crazy steamy weather.

Today, I'm thinking about making one (or two, or three...) of these:

That's the Barefoot in the Park cocktail from The Surrey's rooftop bar (as seen on Tory Burch's blog). It sounds amazing and I'm pretty sure that I even have a bottle of guava nectar lying around here someplace, so I should be able to whip it up without breaking a sweat.

Cocktail-making in the heat isn't really all that crazy. It's practical - staying hydrated and all. What IS crazy, though, is how much the heat makes me want to shop. Right now, I am actively holding myself back from buying a new dress. I don't need a new dress - I have a trillion summer dresses. But it's so hard to remember that when I'm faced with the Milly website. I mean, just look at this:

And this:

It's so hard to say no.

But it is so, so much less spendy to stick to buying ingredients for summer cocktails. I just have to remember that, no matter how much the heat goes to my head!

Want: Fancy Fill-in Invitations (and Fancy Dinner Party Plans)

As a society, we've gotten away from formal correspondence - we have so many very convenient communications options that calling cards and expensively produced invitations to dinner don't just seem old-fashioned, they seem ridiculous.

Even though I'm not an evite fan, I mostly get why correspondence has evolved. Really, I do. But in some cases, I think we ought to make the effort to bring some of the old school back. The fancy dinner party, even when it's just with your friends, is one such case.

For instruction on how to invite friends or acquaintances to a dinner party, I turned to one of the grandes dames of etiquette, Emily Post. In her book, Etiquette (published in 1922 and helpfully reproduced on Bartleby.com), Post explains everything anyone would need to know about the wording and structure of formal invitations.

She states that invitations should be engraved and she indicates that, for the most part, flourishes aren't welcome. Straight text, simply stated, is best. For the busy entertainer, she recommends having a set of fill-in cards produced. Something simple and clean, like this Vera Wang card:

This card makes it easy to fill in the name of the people being invited, as well as the location, date and time of the event. Those can all be handwritten.

Is it a little affected, if you're a regular girl (or guy) living in regular America? Sure. And is it expensive? Oh hell yes, especially if you go the proper engraved route. But is it the kind of throwback nicety that would bring a smile to the face of nearly every recipient (especially if that recipient is your grandmother)? It really is.

Party Places: The Becher's Party Barn

This is part of a cattle barn that sits on the property of Jim and Betty Becher's weekend farm in North Carolina:

Part of a working cattle barn. This space takes up a big chunk of the barn (it's about sixty by fifty), but there's still some room leftover for actual cattle. I'm amazed and I'm jealous.

The Bechers, who are briefly profiled in this Garden and Gun piece about their barn, completely renovated a portion of the barn using, among other things, an entire barn from Gettysburg that was slated for tear-down. And they did it all at the speed of light - in just a few months they completely redesigned and renovated the space (with help from Carolina Timberworks and architect James Meyer). All so it was ready for a big birthday party for Betty.

That, my friends, is commitment to a party.