That’s a Wrap!

Or is it a scarf?

An oversized scarf is so versatile.

The perfect solution for those of us who are hot one minute & cold the next!

I used to grab a coat every time I left the house but just as quickly as I got in the car and buckled up for safety, I unbuckled and got back out! 

Can you say hot flash in a straight-jacket!?!

Lately, though, Mother Nature has been gentle on the Bluegrass.

I’ve still been able to wear a few classic blazers passed this way by my stylish mother-in-law paired with my favorite cashmere scarves that feel like a warm hug from my mom.  Grab some driving gloves in the morning and I’m good to go! 

  Oh to be young again!

I have to tell you though – well, maybe I don’t have to tell you - I seem to be slow to catch on to these things – my favorite combination this season is a wrap or long relaxed sweater & a scarf!  It’s a formula that is casual and modern, but trendy? Not so much.

Like I said, a beautiful long scarf can be so versatile.  Use it as a blanket on long commutes or pass it to a friend who suddenly catches a chill.

Been there.  So thankful.

            

It’s good to know that classic silk scarves never go out of style. 

Hermès

Always thinking about my dear friends & family out in SoCal. 

May the Santa Anna’s calm your sails soon!

Hermès

This is for you all. 

A fashion short, featuring the legendary Hermès scarf.

Cut & Paste with Patricia Gray

Patricia Gray is an award-winning interior designer who garners respect from some of the most formidable names in architecture & design.

Her work has been featured in many prestigious publications, including Architectural Digest.

Patricia received her training at the Parson's School of Design in Paris and, more recently, at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Ferrara, Italy.

She is a member of the Inter-Society Color Council of New York, the National Council for Interior Design, the Interior Designers of Canada and if that's not enough, she's also a certified Feng-Shui practitioner! 

Though Patricia's portfolio includes unique and award-winning interior design projects all around the world,  Vancouver, British Columbia is where you'll find her at home.  Here she entertains friends & writes about what's hot in the world of design, architecture, lifestyle, and travel.

It's her signature warmth & personal approach to her subjects that makes Patricia Gray Design Blog one of my daily reads.

I subscribe to Patricia's blog in order to keep up with her and it's always interesting, no matter what!  I told her a long time ago that she always makes me feel so smart, so in-the-know!

I'm particularly fond of her story about a trip to Palm Springs where Patricia's father took her on an architectural tour of Screen Block Houses. 

Afterward, they headed to the Viceroy Palm Springs for late afternoon cocktails.

One of my favorite posts!

   Just yesterday I read her post titled, DIY Grace Kelly Hermes Bag.  I couldn't believe that Patricia was suggesting that we get out the scissors & glue & start cutting & pasting one together!

Well, she was, so here we go!

Let's

to

and  

That's right.

Visit

  Just download, cut & paste. Here's a perfect example. 

I told you she always keeps it interesting!

Thank you, Patricia. xo

All photos & art courtesy of Patricia Gray & Hermes

On Safari with Hermès

Life is a journey.  Life is a safari.  Life is a pilgrimage.

Pathfinders.  Prospectors.  Pioneers.  Explorers.  Pilgrims.  Poets.  Sojourners.

Women of spirit.  Women of substance.  Women with style.  Women who have lived the questions.  Women who are ready to embrace the answers.

Women who look great in hats.  That's why we wear so many different ones.

Women who seek what is sacred in the ordinary.  Women who seek mystery and madness.  Women who seek love and passion, wholeness and authenticity.

  There are vast worlds awaiting exploration.  Worlds within and worlds without.

Sometimes the path is rocky.  Sometimes the slope is steep.  Sometimes the jungle is thick.  Sometimes the water is deep.

Don't hurry the journey along.  Better that it lasts for many years.  Longer than you can ever imagine.

Are we there yet?  Not quite. How will you know when you get there?

You'll know.

Hermès has uncovered a couple of remarkable pieces of bespoke luggage in its archives, made for famed Danish Out of Africa author Karen Blixen, aka Isak Dineson, in the 1930s. The Art Deco tobacco-colored crocodile skin cases, one ordered in 1930 and the other in 1935, contain every conceivable article an aristocratic author could need on an arduous journey to Africa.

Karen Blixen's desk, Nairobi, Kenya

"I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills."

This is how Karen Blixen starts her famous novel Out of Africa. It’s her account on living in – and falling for – Africa for 17 years.  

"When in the end, the day came on which I was going away, I learned the strange learning that things can happen which we ourselves cannot possibly imagine, either beforehand, or at the time when they are taking place, or afterward when we look back on them." – Out of Africa, 1937

Karen Blixen

Written under her well-known pen name Isak Dinesen, Danish author Karen Dinesen Blixen-Finecke's stories place her among Denmark’s greatest authors. She was born on April 17, 1885, the daughter of a wealthy landowner, adventurer, and author.  In 1914 she went to Africa, married, and bought a coffee plantation.

The farm was 100 miles south of the Equator, at an altitude of over six thousand feet. As she would eventually learn, this proved too high an altitude for coffee to thrive. 

The farmhouse where she lived from 1914 to 1931

The years in Africa were the happiest of Dinesen’s life though, for she felt, from the first, that she belonged there. Had she not been forced to leave, she wrote later, she would not have become an author.

Karen Blixen, 1918

In the dark days just before leaving, she began to write down some of the stories she had told her friends among the colonists and natives. She wrote in English, the language she used in Africa.  Much of these stories are told in detail in her collected Letters from Africa, 1914-1931.

Karen Dinesen Blixen-Finecke, 1961

Sadly, Blixen died in 1962 after a long illness.  Her home in Nairobi is now a National Museum and is maintained for visitors in its original condition.

Decades later, her literary reputation and the Hermès cases remain, impeccable and Out of Africa was made into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. Remember the scene where they are sitting in the middle of the stream and he is washing her hair.....ahhhh. 

In doing my research for this post, I remembered that Julia at Hooked On Houses did a wonderful post with scenes from on the filming of the movie. You've got to check it out!

And of course, the stunning pieces of her luggage belong in a museum, but the luxury goods house Hermès will be glad to make you some just like them should you be adding them to your wishlist and possess the necessary funds.

Luggage photos via The Classicist at Luxist.

Speaking of wish lists, I had mentioned a couple of days ago that I would be publishing one tomorrow. However, last night was one of those nights (we have all been there) when you find yourself working like a frantic little elf till the wee hours of the morning and suddenly half of your post just completely disappears... then you re-write it... and it disappears again!  I hope you will check back, it's a good one & it should be ready on Saturday : )