Love Notes

May 12, 2024 • #flower arranging #Mother's Day

Mothering Sunday 5/6/24

Sometimes I don't know what to write here. Sometimes it seems there is too much to encapsulate into this little space, and I, the eternal optimist, am poorly equipped to feign with my usual, "Isn't this lovely" epistle. Mother's Day is such a time. I am overly lucky, having been dealt the world's nicest mother. But for some, the holiday can be packed with a kaleidoscope of emotions. I'm thinking today about the young women in the throes of IVF treatment and their sisters in the universe who have lost a child. We are ALL with YOU and those pretty tulips above are for you. Then there are our friends whose mothers were, well, just not that great. You didn't deserve that hand. READ MORE

May 12, 2024 • #pink #poetry #virginia #Yellow

Dogwoods, Wiggles and Giggles 4/30/24

It's been a busy week! We had a great response to last week's bangle drop - and I'm now talking to some fantastic clubs and other institutions about custom designs for their iconic places, which is soooo much fun - hope to share soon. THANK YOU. And, we sold out the Marie drops once again, (please send me an email if you missed out and would like to be on the wait list). I played a little hooky on Friday, and traveled with some friends to see the Historic Garden Week tour of the Middle Peninsula. So much fun. More of that, please. READ MORE

Apr 22, 2024 • #architecture #boca grande #golf #interior design #washington

Magnificent Places, Beautiful Spaces 4/22/24

We talked last Monday about classic style. Yet we just scratched the surface. Let's pick up again with classical design. A friend of mine wrote a book about the physical response you get from seeing beauty, “Feeling Beauty”, by Gabrielle Starr Harpole. While I can't do justice to paraphrasing the neuroscience she lays out in exquisite detail, I do intimately know the physical feeling she's describing. You walk into a magnificent building or a beautiful room, and your involuntary response seizes control - you take a pause, an audible deep breath, then emit a sigh, while a smile takes form.

One of my favorite spaces in Washington is the National Building Museum. I get that pause/big inhale/sigh/smile every time I walk in. READ MORE

Apr 22, 2024 • #architecture #charleston #travel

Classically Lovely: CHS edition 4/15/24

I spent last weekend in Charleston combining a myriad of favorite pastimes ... a visit to see my younger son, a visit to fabulous gardens, a girls trip with a dear friend, time spent with a wonderful new friend, all amidst rich American history and exquisite architecture. And of course, no trip for me is truly fabulous without really good food. And we had plenty of that. And I gained four pounds.

Charleston, I'm in love. READ MORE

Apr 10, 2024 • #gardens #Lilac #spring

Glories of the Garden 3/8/24

Sometimes I feel as if our merry band of Love Note readers is essentially a support group for those of us who longingly await the birth of spring, and might need a little help in so doing. I am grateful for you holding my hand, as I am clearly one of those in need, (I founded the support group, after all).

Today, I sit at my desk, watching a steady rain fall over my border resplendent with Angelique tulips, one of which rewarded me with a blue ribbon at this week's garden club meeting. Behind me, a Carolina jessamine has robustly climbed up, over and around its trellis, this week reaching peak bloom. My smile is wide, as a robin repeatedly visits the spines of our patio umbrella, in what I hope is a final housing inspection. Please oh please build your nest right here. READ MORE