Tuesday Tip

Tips on how to clean your goddess...or other stained marble.

In the spring, I did a post on busts with the intention of showing you mine and promptly forgot until now!

The owner from a favorite shop holding the bust for me to view all sides.
 Even though he said he had already vacuumed and wiped her down, she was still such a dirty girl!

This is how she looked in the shop after being outfitted with her new iron stand. The original marble pedestal
that surely once held her form was not found when she discovered in the celler of an estate in Europe by the shop owner. I actually didn't mind her sepia patina, but felt I needed to try and capture her original appearance.

I honestly didn't have a plan on where/how to start and just plunged in with what seemed reasonable and safe. Which ended up being mild dish detergent, baking soda, and lots of scubbing with soft tooth brushes and soft rags.

Though my cleaning method was working, I panicked halfway through and searched google for tips!
 It seemed this was okay. I also read suggestions to use hydrogen peroxide and chalk.
The hydo seemed to work a bit, the chalk was useless!


Add equal parts time and patience. And voila!

When the sunlight comes into the room in the morning, she glows!
 There is still some staining and discolorations, which doesn't bother me at all.
 Based on their location, I suspect she may have resided outdoors at some point.
She needs a proper name, but in the meantime I'll keep referring to her as the goddess.


Dear readers, if any of you have additional tips on cleaning marble, please share them!

When HomeGoods is Jolly Good!

Yesterday, I stopped into HomeGoods. I was in desperate need of a new non-stick skillet.

Initially, I was distracted by some beautiful copper cookware. For those of you who cook with or collect copper, they had many pieces under $100.  I found a great skillet (not copper) for $39.99, but I also found a few other things...

William came home with me.

Inside



So did Jane.



Is that Mr. Darcy?

These big books would look great on the coffee table, in your library, not to mention under under the tree! Both the jackets and the cloth covers are beautiful, especially for $19.99 each!

Merry Click-Mas!!!

While I don't participate in Black Friday, this year I'm finding Cyber Monday hard to resist. It seems everyone is pushing out coupon's and deals today, even my local tile shop!!!

As soon as I take my daughter to school, I plan to grab a cup of coffee, sit down with my Christmas mouse and start clicking away to such sites as Etsy (me, friends), J Crew (the teens) and Amazon (Mr. A&A).

How about you?

Marie Antoinette's Secret: Black Jade

I've mentioned before that I have a weakness for beautiful perfume bottles. I can't imagine life without fragrance. There is rarely a day I don't wear perfume. The new scent out by Lubin, the French perfumer that was established in 1798, is my newest obsession.




The top is a beautiful aqua colored jade.

 Most of us from our history lessons (or perhaps the 2006 movie starring Kirsten Dunst, which I've yet to see in full ) will recall that Marie Antoinette was the charming and beautiful young woman born into Austrian royalty in 1755. She married married Louis XV in 1770 and became the Queen of France.


Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette

History also records her as being decadent and most extravagant in her needs. One such area was her need for the best perfumes. The royal courts perfumer of the time, Jean-Louis Fargeon, created a scent just for her inspired by the roses from her garden at La Petit Trianon. Marie Antoinette kept the  perfume with her at all times in a black jade flask, including during her imprisonment in the Temple Tower. It is here, she secretly passed it to her closet confident just before her execution in 1793 at age 38.


Portrait of Marie Antoinette by Lebrun 1783. Notice the dress color she chose for this portrait, was it her favorite?

 However, during it's initial formulation a young apprentice of Fergeon named, Pierre Lubin, paid very close attention to the components needed to formulate this scent. Until now, it was a well kept secret know only as jardin secret in the House of Lubin.




The beautiful shape of the bottle reminds me of the corseted queen. I wonder if that was the intention?

It has been reinvented and made it's 21st century debut under the name Jade Noir or Black Jade and was released last week to select retailers and exclusively to Lily. I was fortunate enough to purchase a bottle last week at Lily in Charleston SC. They had their launch party on Bastille Day (July 14th) to unveil this intoxicating fragrance with it's rich history and opulent packaging that would surely have made the lavish queen smile.



Besides rose there are notes of Bergamont, Cardamon, Jasmine, Galbanum,
Cinnamon, Indian Sandlewood, Patchouli and a few others.

Lily is located in the antiques district on King Street in Charleston, South Carolina. The owners, Lin and Kevin relocated from New York over 20 years ago and have all the charm and friendliness this southern city is known for. Lily is always a must stop on visits to the city for me. It's the kind of shop that not only has wonderful merchandise, but just has great atmosphere. I fantasize about moving in....maybe turning it into my own private retreat complete with a large soaking tub and Recamier....something fit for a queen of course! Kevin always has a few minutes to chat and I just loved the story about how this perfume came to be.

I spent the major portion of my day running errands. It was the typical day after vacation: unpacking, stocking the fridge, picking up a over a weeks worth of mail and a dental appointment for my daughter. To save myself from the let down of "back to reality" mode, I sprayed myself with Black Jade just before I headed out the door. I had two ladies and one gentleman ask me what fragrance I was wearing. Even my teenagers mumbled a "you smell good Mom."  Perhaps, I will spritz some on while doing the mountains of laundry waiting for me tomorrow...

Oh, unless you will be in France anytime soon, contact Lily to purchase your own bottle of this beautiful and historic scent. It comes in 2 sizes. Be sure to mention that you are an A&A reader to receive free shipping in the US!!!

How Far Would You Go?

Few things in life are more annoying than rude people and bad customer service. We avoid them both whenever possible.  Recently, we came to the conclusion we needed a third car. With our son home from college and working, juggling schedules with just two vehicles quickly became unmanageable.

So last Friday morning, my husband and I drove three hours south to Williamsburg,Virginia to buy another car. There are about 50 dealerships within a twenty mile radius of our house. You would have to practically give the car away for us to consider stepping foot in one of these places. I don't know about where you live, but in the Washington, DC area buying a car is about as appealing as thoroughly cleaning a rest stop bathroom and takes far longer! Very slimey. So we decided it made perfect sense to just go our favorite dealership. It's owned by two brothers and the salesman we purchased our last car from, nine years ago, is who we called on again for this purchase. When we arrived, he had the cars we wanted to test drive ready to go. After my husband made his choice (our son will now have one of the old cars to drive) we signed the papers and left a few hours later. I hugged our salesman and said "thanks so much, see you soon". Yep, it was that pleasant.

And, since we were already in one of our favorite southern cities, might as well make the most of it and spend 2 days enjoying a little R&R. Even though I've been playing catch-up this week, it was a small price to pay for a little hiatus!

We visited old friends and new....


I had to stop by to see the horses. When I lived in Williamsburg, I would visit them every week.



This girl stole my heart. We just met and she gave me a nuzzle. If my dog was a horse, she'd look just like this!



Sheep are so cute, don't you think?


Did a little shopping....


I really wish I had a place for these bug prints. Guestroom?



This shelf came home with me. It was suppose to go in the laundry room, but it's 3 inches too long!
Any suggestions???



This would be fun in a beach house.



How about an aqua and lime green rug?



 

Or maybe orange and cream geometric?

And, dined in favorite restaurants....

If you are ever in the area, I recommend the BTB. Oh, and you'll need a reservation,
sometimes they are booked weeks in advance!

All photos, except the first image, courtesy of A&A

Merry, Merry Inspiration...

Two weeks ago I did a short post on my visit to Lucketts and then promptly forgot to show the rest of the photos!  For those of you who dislike retail shopping, this may be just the thing for you. I have exchanged "old stuff" with a close friend for years and it is one of the highlights of the gift giving season for me.




These came home with me.

  A little junking, thrifting and holiday inspiration, just in time for the weekend!



All photos courtesy of A&A





Sleigh Ride!

On Friday, Mr. A&A announced he was taking the day off and I didn't have anything pressing, so down the road we headed, a bit into the country to scour around one of our favorite places. The Old Lucketts Store. The OLS has been around about 15 years and is in a big green building located in what used to be an old post office. About 5 years ago the owner Suzanne purchased the nearby white house and turned it into the Design House, which is open the first weekend of every month. This past weekend was their Holiday Open House event.

The Design House is in the background

I have so many things from furniture to accessories to Christmas ornaments that I have purchased over the years, some from that very first year, from the many vender's who occupy space here. This includes the Beekeeper's Cottage that sits in an old yellow house between these two buildings. If you are ever in the area, make a point to stop in the tiny town of Lucketts, especially if you love junking or thrifting, I can almost guarantee you will find something unique or interesting at a great price!

Later this week I'll show you what I purchased and a few more pictures of their amazing wares and holiday displays!

Restoration Hardware,Ohh Nooo!!!

Over a decade ago I set foot in the first Restoration Hardware Store in the Washington, D.C. area. It was located on King Street in Old Town, Alexandria, Va.  At the time I had an office close by and I was meeting a friend and colleague for lunch. It was one of those odd moments I've remembered for whatever reason. My cell phone rang and the conversation, best I can recall, went like this:

Friend:: "Where are you?"
Me: "I am in the most amazing store.
Friend: "You're shopping?!"

Me: "No, I am falling in love with a hardware store."

Friend: "You're joking?
Me: "In highschool, I hated home economics and loved shop class."
Friend: "Really...a hardware store?
Me: It's much more than that.
Friend: Should I order for you?"
Me: No, get sandwiches to-go and meet me here."
Friend: "Are you serious?"
Me: "Yes, or you will have to eat alone."

My friend, Marc,  fell in love too.  It was probably more than an hour later that we sat outside eating those sandwiches talking endlessly about all the fantastic things we had just seen, both saying how we couldn't wait to bring our spouses to the store.

I lost contact with Marc years ago when I left the corporate world, but the love affair with RH continued. I have purchased  many items over the years for myself and in more recent times for clients.  I fell in love with a concept that was rooted in early 20th century designs that had both a modern and vintage vibe.  It had an industrial edge, but was also classic and traditional. Men loved this store. I never had to convince my husband to stop in. We even shopped every year for stockings stuffers. Fun retro stuff. It became a tradition.


Mr. Bill knows that without a Belgian linen suit & European vacation, his time at RH is over!


But, the relationship has changed. Someone decided to get a complete overhaul.  Not even a reinvention of sorts. To quote, in part, RH Chairman and Co-CEO Gary Friedman "We've destroyed the previous iteration of ourselves". Why get a facelift when Botex gray paint is all the help needed with the parts that are causing you to lose market share? Why does RH want to be only European? The entire catalogue is slathered in references to Belgian, French and Italian designs to describe the style of a particular reproduction piece. What's wrong with American design mixed with European influences? I know I would like and relate to that version. Just a slightly tweaked version of RH or at least one that I would recognize and could continue to embrace. Actually, I'd settle for a mere trace of it's original American roots aka Eureka, California.

For some reason, it reminds me how football star Tom Brady is sporting the teen boy hair style these days. Tom Brady is already handsome. So why is trying to look like Justin Bieber? Isn't the addition of Gisele Bundchen and baby Benjamin enough of an enhancement to maintain interest?






Imagine my surprised when I saw a near identical version of my pair of Aiden Gray long wall sconces that I purchased from one of my favorite local shops, almost 2 years ago, show up in the latest RH catalogue? Some of you may recall my issues earlier  this year.

 

Illuminating a comfortable chair 

 

Aiden Gray

RH

Ohh nooo!!! Yes, Mr. Bill it  happened again this past spring. RH rolled out their version of these zinc spheres that came from my friend's shop. It seems they also have a new found interest in antlers!


A&A library Christmas 2009




RH

 It seems RH, you are pulling a Brady and trying to be a Bieber. Trying to imitate what you may perceive is the desirable "hot" thing! Are you, readers,  able to look at many of their newest items and identify the inspiration copied source too?

Certainly, it can be a bit disappointing that things I thought were unique and interesting are now going to be greatly imitated and mass produced. But, I succumb to this possibility every time I make a purchase of something that is not hand made or antique.  But, more importantly,  it saddens me that shop owners, some of whom are friends, will now have to compete with you over merchandise they had the talent to spot and insight to fill their shops with long before you put out your game changing mission statement. Stephen Gordon, your original mission was good.  



Knock on limed-oak wood some of the enhancements, although not original in thought, are beautiful and interesting.  And, there are still a few things on the web that are from the good ol' days.  But, I'd be lying if I didn't admit to having concerns over your midlife crisis makeover RH. What if this "look" doesn't work out? What happens when interest wanes? Who will you try to be next?

Images via Restoration Hardware web site, Aiden Gray, Getty images, Whyfame and A&A