Newport Living: Meg Braff Edition

I spent Memorial Day weekend in lovely Newport, Rhode Island.  Between the mansions along the famous Cliff Walk and a wedding reception on the grounds of the bride's family beach home, I saw some serious real estate-- but only from the outside, which was SUCH a tease!  So I came home and looked through the portfolios of some of my favorite designers who embrace the Newport vibe... East Coast Prep at its best!  Not surprisingly, I found these images from a Newport home in the portfolio of Meg Braff...

In my opinion, there is nothing better than a WASPy beach town along the Eastern seaboard!

Meg, a Southerner making her mark in the NYC design world AND mother of four boys, is such an inspiration!

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend too, break out your whites, summer has begun :)

I Hope Your Memorial Day Weekend...

...is full of this...

and this...

and this...

and these...



printables via

and NONE of these...

The Prince and I are headed to Newport for a wedding, some beach time, and some mansion-touring...

But not before I head to the beauty parlor today for a Brazilian Blowout... and yes I know they're controversial, but toxic fumes outweigh a summer of looking like this...

Have a great holiday weekend Countess fans, we'll talk next week!



Shut the Front Door!

all images via Pinterest

Living in an apartment building, sometimes I long for a front door with character, as found on the beautiful brownstones around town.  Then again... I'm in no rush to give up our doormen!

Tray Chic

At my recent bridal shower, I recieved quite a few trays as gifts, and I am already displaying them all over our apartment. 

First up, these two Tilly Maison trays from my mom.  I had seen these chevron and lucite lovlies all over the blogosphere, so I sent the link to my mom as a hint, or as she called it, my "personal registry." Well I love them as much as I knew I would!

I've got the larger one on my bedside table displaying some of the baubles I wear regularly...

And the smaller one on the jewelry shelf in my closet.

Next up, from our real wedding registry, a beautiful chinoiserie tray from the line of accent pieces we chose for our china... china and accent pieces by L'Objet.

It was given to me by my mom's bestie, and major fashionista, Jane.  It is too pretty to put away, so I'm using it to display my perfume collection. 

And finally, this elegant inlaid bone cheese tray from fellow Countess Alexis...

Also too beautiful to come out just for eating cheese, so it holds this supposedly odor-absorbing flower (thanks Megan!) in my living room, on top of some of my favorite design books. 

Speaking of my shower, I was a good bride and had all my thank you notes written, stamped and dropped in the mail three days afterwards.  Or so I thought.  Yesterday I had this weird feeling that I had accidentally dropped them in the junk mail slot in our mail room, which happens to look eerily similar to the outgoing mail slot.  A few emails to local friends confirmed that no one has recieved a thank you note to date.  So my suspicion was correct, and today I will be re-writing thank you notes :(  How embarassing.

On a totally unrelated note, I am devestated that CNBC anchor Mark Haines died last night at the young age of 65... I'd worked with him professionally and enjoyed hearing him deliver business news each morning with his dry wit.  My prayers to his famly. 



Obsession: Sheridan French

I've never met a tunic I didn't like, and Sheridan French is doing the boho-chic thing like no other.  After cultivating her aesthetic throughout Europe (including a stint in Prada's London office), Sheridan is now back in her hometown of Fort Worth, TX, and between raising a young family, serving as Fashion Editor of Fort Worth Magazine (and let me tell you, a Fort Worth woman knows her Manolos from her Choos), Sheridan also launched her eponymous line, and I am obsessed with it. 

Any All of these should be accompanying me to Nantucket this summer!

Sheridan's website does this great feature showing how she wears her own pieces... isn't she a knockout?! 

Fellow tunic lovers-- rejoice!

Erin Fetherston Apartment Envy

Vogue's latest APT with LSD features designer Erin Fetherston's Tribeca Apartment...

Erin and I grew up in neighboring Bay Area suburbs, and I met her back when we 18-year-old debutantes in San Francisco.  I remember the summer before our freshman year of college, while the rest of us were footloose and fancy-free, she had already secured important internships in NYC and Paris.  Clearly, all her hard work has paid off...

I can't believe those doors came with the apartment--

the perfect entrance to the romantic space that awaits behind them.

She added the vintage silk flowers to personalize the Holly Hunt candle chandelier.

This closet holds important pieces from her past collections rather than her everyday clothes. 

Check out her view...

Her bedroom looks airy and relaxing..

And I remember seeing that bench in her old apartment in Paris...

Because thanks to Domino, I'll never forget that perfect space...

It's been a delight following Erin's success... and swooning over her drop-dead gorgeous homes.

An aside: If you're not following The LSD on Twitter, you're missing out on some of the most profound wisdom!

In My Mind I've Gone to Carolina

I'm wishing I was on my way to Wilmington, NC, right now for a weekend away from this never-ending bad weather in NYC.  My 3.5 year old Goddaughter Olivia lives there and has her very first dance recital on Saturday!  She's on the left in both of these pictures yesterday at dress rehearsal...

Olivia is the daughter of my college bestie, and I love going down to visit them.  They just welcomed baby Henry last month as well, and I have yet to meet him.  Wearing my sad face right now. 

They have the most darling house in the historic district of Wilmington...

It's for sale if any North Carolinian readers are looking.  They need a bit more space for Princess Olivia now that Henry is here. 



I always have the best time when I'm in Wilmington... good living down there in the coastal Carolinas I tell you!  We usually enjoy some shoe shopping at Monkees, a ladies lunch at Elijah's, some antiquing at The Ivy Cottage, and end the day with a sunset {booze} cruise on their boat followed by some mixed grill prepared by her FILF of a husband.

If I were there this weekend, we'd also stop by the barn sale some of my favorite bloggers (and high school classmates of college bestie), Birds of a Feather, are hosting...

With finds like these, it would have been a good day.

Wilmington, I miss you!