Hope your Weekend is...

...filled with sweetness!

photo credit: Mary Ruffle

Ahhh...Luxury Gifts

I flipped when I saw these custom-made Goyard trunks specially for made for Assouline. Each trunk houses 100 of Assouline's signature Memoire books on art, fashion, design and architecture.
Price tag: $20,000 (now that's not too much for a decadent holiday gift, right? What recession?)

I wouldn't mind one in white with the red and navy stripes...and all of those books...simply gorgeous...

What? Oh my...a quilted black leather Chanel luxe slipcase adorned with a metal Chanel logo, produced exclusively for Assouline by Chanel. The slipcase includes 3 memoires celebrating her revolutionary style: Chanel Fashion, Chanel Fine Jewelry, and Chanel Perfume. price tag: $550 (a girl can dream, right?)

You can check out all of Assouline's fabulous books & gift items here.

photos from assouline.com

What's Next?

I'm sure by now many of you have heard of the sudden closing of these four magazines from Conde Nast. So sad for the employees, and of course, the loyal readers. Gourmet magazine was established 68 years ago and has one of the largest followings. Here is what blogger Freckled Citizen has to say about it.

I just read that 80% of magazines' revenue comes from advertising. Okay, we're in a recession and that accounts for a lot of this. But, recently we've lost so many wonderful print magazines; House & Garden, Domino, Blueprint, Home Companion, to name a few. I love going to my mailbox and seeing stacks of new magazines awaiting. I'm a bit of a magazine whore hoarder...

photo from One Pretty's Things

There's nothing better than curling up with a magazine, flipping through the pages, earmarking them or tearing them out. Stacks of magazines all around. I shutter to think of sitting on an airplane reading a magazine from a computer screen.

So, what's next? Do you think that one day there will be no print magazines? Are some just being weeded out because there are too many? What are your favorite magazines? What can we do, if anything, to support them?

R.I.P. Gourmet, Elegant Bride, Modern Bride & Cookie...

Antiquing with Anthropologie!

Ever wonder where Anthropologie finds all of their antique and unique goodies? Well, starting this Wednesday, October 7th, the Sundance Channel is airing an 8 part series called "Man Shops Globe." Keith Johnson, the antiques buyer for Anthropologie, travels from flea markets in Paris to remote villages in India, in search of fantastic and unusual decorative objects, furniture, and textiles.

I'm really looking forward to this show!! If you don't live in the US or have cable, I have a feeling they may air the episodes on their website. I'll be sure and let you know!

(above) Man Shops Globe, UK

videos courtesy of the Sundance Channel

Paris Hotel meets The Paris Apartment

Once upon a time, long long ago, there were two girls located on the opposite sides of the US, who by chance met on eBay. Paris Hotel had purchased a glistening chandelier from The Paris Apartment. One day the two were chit-chatting on the phone and The Paris Apartment Girl mentioned that she was coming to California to take photos of homes for an upcoming book. Paris Hotel Girl was very excited to meet this "faceless" person from the internet. So, The Paris Apartment went to Paris Hotel's home (in her fancy pink & aqua Paris Apartment van) and they hit it off immediately! The Paris Apartment took lots and lots of photos of Paris Hotel's home.

Fast forward 10 years or so, and Claudia (The Paris Apartment) and I are still friends. Claudia never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday she blogged about my home and included some of the old photos that she had taken all of those years ago. I had never seen them. Oh my, she floored me. Claudia has nothing but generosity to spread around. Aside from being a trendsetter in the design world, more importantly, she is a kind and selfless person with a huge heart. A person you definitely want to know.

Thanks Claudia for the lovely post, which you can read here. Please do visit her website and blog. And congrats to Claudia for her recent spread in Travel & Leisure magazine!

first photo: Lisa Kettell
#2 & 3 - The Paris Apartment

I Can't Knock Twitter

I don't mean to trump my earlier post about the launch of Lonny magazine, but had to share this...

Yesterday I posted about Twitter and asked what you felt about it. Thanks to all for the great comments. Very well put with excellent points. Today I checked my Twitter, only to find a congratulatory "tweet" about Paris Hotel Boutique being featured in the LA Times Home section blog. Perhaps I would have found out eventually, but it took Twitter for me to get the news!

Thanks to the fabulous Lizzie Garrett for the nice spread. You can check it out here.

photos from Paris Hotel Boutique via The L.A. Times

LONNY is here!

Today is the official launch of the much-anticipated online magazine, Lonny. If you miss the (sadly) defunct Domino magazine as I do, this may fill that void!


Michelle Adams, who served as the Market Editor of Domino, along with photographer Patrick Cline, are the forces behind this decorating and lifestyle publication. Michelle is also founder of the textile line, Rubie Green.


Tonight I briefly browsed through Lonny and it looks amazing. Brilliant photography and useful decorating tips. And you can zoom in to see the fine detail. Gorgeous!

Currently Lonny is only viewable online, but you never know...

I wish the Lonny team great success! Now go and check it out here!

photos via ma-belle blog