Lydia Leith

I was in bed this morning watching CNN when should appear before my eyes but my QEII mould.  CNN was showcasing some of the many collectibles available for the Queen's Jubilee.

Alas, CNN was remiss in not mentioning the creator of the mould.

YES, I too, was remiss in doing such.  In my defense, I carefully removed the tag before using and promptly lost it.

The genius behind this mould and many other fine creations is Lydia Leith.  Check out her collection at www.lydialeith.com.

Countess de Castiglione and the Joy of the Blog

As I have stated before, I love blogs.  I love them because they connect you to people who share your obscure interests.  Before blogs, one simply suffered in silence when they found themselves with no one to talk to about say...Countess de Castiglione.  Now, one finds a loyal band of like-minded folk across the globe.

No matter how much one might think they know on a subject, there is always someone out there who knows more, or who has a different take on the info at hand.  The added plus is being able to link your readers right up to their posts, eliminating your own redundant research.  (That was the Huffington Post joke at the Correspondents Dinner -- That she won the first Pulitzer Prize for linking.)  I, too, love thought of an exponential expanding of a collective knowledge...but I digress...

Over at Cookbook Of The Day, I offer up short reviews and recipes from some the the thousands of cookbooks I own.  They are short and sweet; a mini Cliff Note on the cookbook at hand.  I love cookbooks and culinary history and books in general.

One of my favorite books is La Divine Comtesse: Photographs of the Countess de Castiglione by Pierre Apraxine and Xavier Demange, which features nearly 400 images of the Countess de Castiglione.

Recently, I stumbled across the blog lostpastremembered, another lover of the obscure and the culinary. (Of course, now everyone is going to ask why I had not been reading it before "recently"!) 

Unlike my Cliff Note cookbooks, lostpastremembered offers up a virtual dissertation of fun facts and recipes including this recent post on Countess Castiglione, Masion Dorée and Chicken Bordelaise.  It was such a zippy post I thought my head might explode. 

Thankfully it did not.   


If you haven't bookmarked this lovely blog, do so now.  You won't regret it.

Where Have I Been?

I was in D.C. for several things but mostly to attend Emily Evans Eerdmans lecture:

"Mirror, Chrome, & Gin Fizz: Art Deco in Britain"

Presented by the Royal Oak Society and the Institute of Classical Architecture.

The good news is, I remembered to bring my book to get it signed.

The bad news is, I forgot a camera so I have no pictures of Emily, just the National Trust building where the lecture was held. Not only was it lovely to hear the lecture and to finally meet the lovely Triple E in the flesh, but there were other bloggers in attendance.


I also got to meet in the flesh Stefan from ArchitectDesign™, which is a definite "must read" and of course "must see." You will be happy to know that Stefan remembered to bring HIS camera.

Also in attendance was Janet from...

... which is always filled with just the tidbits of info to keep one on the road to erudition.

What do bloggers talk about?

About how reading a blog is like knowing someone... but you don't really know them... but you do.

I think about people reading my blog and thinking I am cooler than I am in person! Having spent part of the day running errands and not getting back home in time to spiff up for the lecture, I went in my barn coat and tennis shoes -- business casual in West Virginia.

It was a joy to meet everyone. Lets do this again!

Character Approved

I am the first to admit that "commercial" blogs rarely work. Anyone who actually blogs on a regular basis know that a blog grows out of the things the blogger loves and that kind of love rarely seldom translates to that commercial level.

USA (the Network) has recently started a blog based on their ad campaign "Characters Welcome." Since USA's prime time offerings feature some fairly strange characters, they set out to celebrate the characters in everyday life. Last year and this year, they have selected a group of "characters" who are celebrated in their field. For the most part, their choices are already celebrated - chef David Chang, director Kathryn Bigelow, designer Narciso Rodriguez, and artist Shepard Fairey to name a few.

They are a bit different in that they have a category for giving, which features a humanitarian or philanthropist. It is nice to see that component amid the the art , food and movies.

Several months ago, USA launched a web site, The Character Blog, featuring architecture, art, design, fashion, film, food, music, technology, writing and social giving. They enlisted a bunch of blogger to actually write the stuff, so I am hoping it will be interesting.

Slow Love Life

Dominique Browning has started a blog called Slow Love Life. The blog harkens back (or perhaps forward) to the title of her new memoir, Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put On My Pajamas & Found Happiness which drops in early May.

I find Dominique Browning to be a fine writer. Her collection of essays, Around the House and in the Garden, is one of my favorites.



She is also a fine editor (despite that incident with House & Garden). I am totally enamoured of church architecture and Houses of Worship: Sacred Spaces in America is another fave of mine.

While closing House & Garden SUCKED, I am looking forward to reading more from Browning on her blog. You should, too.