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Hello, friends! Here’s what’s been happening in 2018 so far at FROM THE RIGHT BANK HQ.

In January, as I’m sure you’ve heard by now, I lost all of the content here when I switched web hosts (I swear this is the last time I’ll whine about it) and that that instigated FROM THE RIGHT BANK 2.0.

In February, I launched the monthly lifestyle newsletter, Notes FROM THE RIGHT BANK, which is full of the things making my life right now (with no ads). If you haven’t signed up, you can do so here. This month’s issue is almost ready to go out.

And now it’s March and here I am back on the blog! I really want to share more of my ideas and thoughts on living la belle vie so while posts may be sporadic, the blog is back! Like today, I just wanted to share this quote even though I’ve shared it in the past because it’s the perfect encapsulation of la belle vie and it’s my mission to help you live it.

Have a beautiful day and I’ll see you soon!

There are actually only a handful of things I consider a must-have for la belle vie and at the top of the list are fresh flowers. They instantly beautify a space, elevate a table setting or vignette, and lift your mood.

Growing up, my mother had Friday Flowers, something to enjoy over the weekend when we spent more time at home. My pattern has been more Weekly Flowers which are picked up whenever it’s most convenient. I sometimes make an arrangement of several varieties but more often than not, I go for a single type. Nothing could be simpler. Here is how I arrange a single variety bouquet as seen on Elle Decor a while back. This was published a while ago but the advice still holds water. Sorry. #cheeseball

Directions 

1. Fill a clean vase or other vessel 1/3 of the way with room temperature water. Tulips last longer in shallower water.

2. Gather all the flower heads together in the shape you desire.

3. Hold the stems next to your vase or vessel to gauge the length, then trim ends at a 45-degree angle to fit.

4. Remove any leaves that grow beneath the water line.

The article talked specifically about tulips but this method can be used for virtually any flower. Even humble carnations from the grocery store are beautiful when bunched tightly together. So go forth and make an arrangement!

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Spring is here and that means spring cleaning. I know. Cleaning doesn’t sound like a very belle activity but it is a necessity for a beautiful and comfortable home. Think of it as an opportunity to set the right tone for the season ahead.

For me, seasonal cleaning means all the big tasks that aren’t done as part of my daily/weekly cleaning routine. That’s why I find most cleaning checklists to be too much; they seem to include everything under the sun. As adult humans, I think most of us have a general idea of what needs to be done on a regular basis so if you’re like me and just need a basic outline for the big seasonal clean, I came up with this checklist.

SUPER SIMPLIFIED SEASONAL CLEANING CHECKLIST

Entire House

Dust. Dust everything that normally doesn’t get attention such as light fixtures, tops of doors and bookcases, under appliances, etc. Clean air vents. Change all filters (HVAC, hood fan, etc.)

Walls, floors & ceilings. Shampoo rugs, mop/wax floors, wipe down walls, molding, baseboards, and doors, including doorknobs and light switches.

Windows. Dust/clean/wash windows, window screens, window sills and window treatments.

Additionally, By Room

Living Room. Wash/dry clean slipcovers and pillows, beat couch cushions.

Bedrooms. Wash/dry clean duvets, blankets, and pillows. Vacuum, flip and rotate mattresses.

Kitchen & Laundry. Deep clean all appliances. Wipe down cabinets. Wash trash cans and recycling bins.

Closets. Purge anything you don’t ever wear. You know what those are.

Like with many tasks, sometimes the thought of it is often more overwhelming than the actual thing. Seasonal cleaning is a lot but I hope this helps make it feel less daunting.

And while you’re in the thick of it, just keep thinking about how nice it’s going to feel to kick back in a beautiful, clean house with a nice cup of tea (or adult beverage) and soothing music in the background….. Good luck and happy spring!

[Art: Yerres, the Aviary in the Ornamental Farm, Gustave Caillebotte, c.1871; My Room at the Beau-Rivage, Henri Matisse, 1918.]

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I have some exciting news to share today! Please allow me to introduce to you….. La Belle Vie Show!

La Belle Vie Show is a podcast my best friend Kristen and I created as a place to discuss what it means to live a beautiful and meaningful life. You may remember I used to write a series here called Living La Belle Vie. But more and more I wanted to share the conversations Kristen and I had been having about things like finding your purpose in everyday life, the importance of beauty, practicing mindfulness, and creating….. well, la belle vie. So for the past couple of years, we have been slowly building the show, finally launching it in February. It then took me a couple more months to work up the courage to go public with it!

The show is part self-improvement and wellness, part philosophy, part spirituality, and part other things….. all from the perspective of two women who greatly appreciate both beauty and meaning, who aren’t defined by specific societal roles, and who aren’t 21!

If this sounds like your cup of tea, you can find all of the episodes and info on our site. And if you do enjoy what you hear, I would be so grateful if you would subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave us a rating and review so other people can find us. With a million podcasts out there now, it’s the only way we’ll get discovered(!)

Thank you so much for your support as always! I’m going to go hide now…..

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Food is such a huge party of la belle vie, am I right? One of the joys of any season is the food and I’m so looking forward to indulging in all of my favorite summer foods……

Fresh peaches picked from local orchards eaten straight off of the tree, baked in pies, and  grilled and tossed in salads…… Flatbreads on the grill drizzled with olive oil, topped with cheeses, and hopefully, plenty of vegetables from our own garden (which is coming along!)…… My most favorite summer dessert: Eton Mess……  A crab feast (with plenty of Old Bay). “Maryland is for Crabs,” you know……

A paella party is a summer must-do as well……  And to start off the summer party season, we’re hosting a big fourth of July BBQ at the farm. #grillingandchilling

When it comes to day to day meal prep in the summer, I want fresh, light food and uncomplicated recipes. Okay, I want that all year round but I especially want it easy breezy in the summertime. These recipes fit the bill which is why they’re in my repertoire year after year. (I’ve also included a paella recipe which I wouldn’t consider an everyday dish but it’s the perfect thing for a casual summer dinner party. It’s a little more involved but not difficult at all.) I hope you’ll try some of these recipes and like them as much as I do. Please let me know if you do!  Happy summer and bon appetit!

FAVORITE SUMMER RECIPES

Traditional Andalusian Gazpacho from the New York Times

Serves 8-12

INGREDIENTS
About 2 pounds ripe red tomatoes, cored and roughly cut into chunks
1 Italian frying (cubanelle) pepper or another long, light green pepper, such as Anaheim, cored, seeded and roughly cut into chunks
1 cucumber, about 8 inches long, peeled and roughly cut into chunks
1 small mild onion (white or red), peeled and roughly cut into chunks
1 clove garlic
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar, more to taste
Salt
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more to taste, plus more for drizzling

Combine tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion and garlic in a blender or, if using a hand blender, in a deep bowl. (If necessary, work in batches.) Blend at high speed until very smooth, at least 2 minutes, pausing occasionally to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.

With the motor running, add the vinegar and 2 teaspoons salt. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil. The mixture will turn bright orange or dark pink and become smooth and emulsified, like a salad dressing. If it still seems watery, drizzle in more olive oil until texture is creamy.

Strain the mixture through a strainer or a food mill, pushing all the liquid through with a spatula or the back of a ladle. Discard the solids. Transfer to a large pitcher (preferably glass) and chill until very cold, at least 6 hours or overnight.

Before serving, adjust the seasonings with salt and vinegar. If soup is very thick, stir in a few tablespoons ice water. Serve in glasses, over ice if desired. A few drops of olive oil on top are a nice touch.

*The traditional version calls for no garnishes but a little chopped tomato and chives never hurt anyone.

Ajo Blanco (Spanish Chilled Bread and Almond Soup) from Serious Eats

INGREDIENTS
1 cup blanched or Marcona almonds
3 cups cold water
1 to 2 medium cloves garlic
1/2 pound fresh, crustless rustic bread cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
Kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sherry vinegar, plus more if desired
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish and for serving
Green seedless grapes, crushed toasted almonds, and thinly sliced fresh mint leaves, for garnish

In a blender, combine almonds with water and garlic and blend at high speed until milky; you may need to stop and scrape down sides of blender jar once or twice. Add bread and blend until very smooth. Season with salt, then blend in vinegar and olive oil. If using a less powerful blender, you may want to pass the soup through a fine-mesh strainer at this point; with a high-powered blender, that won’t be necessary.

Transfer soup to a sealed container and refrigerate until very well chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.

To Serve: Cut up grapes into smaller pieces and toss with almonds, mint, and just enough olive oil to coat. Season garnish with salt. Shake or stir soup well. Check consistency and thin with cold water, if desired. Adjust seasoning, adding more salt and/or vinegar, if desired. Pour into chilled serving bowls. Spoon grape garnish on top, lightly drizzling more olive oil onto each serving in a decorative manner. Serve.

Arugula and Peach Salad with Creamy Chive Vinaigrette from Bon Appetit

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

2 large ripe peaches
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons whipping cream
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh chives
12 cups (loosely packed) arugula (about 6 ounces)

Wash peaches, rubbing to remove fuzz. Cut in half; remove pits. Thinly slice peaches. Place peach slices in large bowl. Add 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice; toss. Whisk 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice and olive oil in small bowl. Whisk in cream, then chives. Season with salt and pepper.

Add arugula to bowl with peaches. Add dressing and toss. Season with more salt and pepper, if desired, and serve.

*If the grill happens to be on, I like to grill the peaches in quarters before slicing them.

Couscous Salad with Peas and Mint  from the Washington Post with a few tweaks

Serves 8

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups plain (uncooked) couscous
Salt
1 1/2 cups fresh peas (or 8 ounces frozen)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint
3 tablespoons  lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil, or more as needed
Freshly ground black pepper

Optional: feta*

Prepare the couscous according to the package directions. When it’s ready, transfer it to a large bowl, fluffing it with a fork to break up any clumps.

Meanwhile, bring a 2-quart pot of lightly salted water to a boil and prepare a bowl of ice water. Add the peas to the boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Pour the peas into a colander and immediately transfer them to the ice water. Let them cool for 5 minutes, then drain in the colander, shaking off any excess water.

Add the mint, lemon juice, and oil to the couscous, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix to thoroughly combine. Taste, and adjust the seasonings as needed. If the couscous is too dry, stir in more oil, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add the blanched peas and stir to combine. Serve immediately.

*Top with cubed feta if desired.

Paella a la Marinera (Fisherman’s Paella) from Saveur with a few tweaks

SERVES 6-8

INGREDIENTS

25 threads saffron, crushed (a heaping 1⁄4 tsp.)
1 lb. boneless monkfish (or other firm white fish) filets, cut into 2″ pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 extra-large head-on shrimp in the shell
1/2 lb. cuttlefish or small squid, cleaned and cut into 1″ pieces
1 tbsp. smoked paprika
4 medium tomatoes, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, cored and chopped
1 small onion, minced
7 cups fish broth
2 1⁄2 cups short-grain rice, preferably Valencia or bomba

Put saffron and 1⁄4 cup hot water in a small bowl; let sit for 15 minutes. Season monkfish with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 16″-18″ paella pan over medium-high heat. (I use a cast iron pan.) Add fish and shrimp and cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 5 minutes; transfer them to a plate and set aside. Add cuttlefish, paprika, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, and onions to pan and cook, stirring often, until onions are soft, about 6 minutes. Add reserved saffron mixture and broth, season with salt, and bring to a boil over high heat.

Sprinkle in rice, distribute evenly with a spoon, and cook, without stirring, until rice has absorbed most of the liquid, 10-12 minutes. (If your pan is larger than the burner, rotate it every two minutes so different parts are over the heat and the rice cooks evenly.) Reduce heat to low, add reserved fish and shrimp; cook, without stirring, until rice has absorbed the liquid and is al dente, 5-10 minutes. Remove pan from heat, cover with aluminum foil, and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Eaton Mess from Nigella

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
4 cups strawberries
2 teaspoons superfine sugar*
2 teaspoons pomegranate juice
2 cups heavy cream
4 small meringue cookies

Hull and chop the strawberries and put into a bowl. Add the sugar and pomegranate juice and leave to macerate while you whip the cream.
Whip the cream in a large bowl until thick but still soft.
Roughly crumble in 4 meringues nests – you will need chunks for texture, as well as a little fine dust.
Take out about ½ cup of the chopped strawberries, and fold the meringued cream and rest of the fruit mixture together.
Arrange on four serving plates or glasses, or in a mound, and top each one with some of the remaining macerated strawberries.

*I’ve used regular sugar and it worked fine but if you want to do it properly, you can just blitz the sugar for 30 seconds in a food processor to get superfine sugar. Add an extra teaspoon or so if you do to get a full 2 teaspoons.

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I’ve had a lifelong love affair with hotels. They evoke adventure and a boundless world and embody the romance of travel. Some transport us to another era, others just invite us to live a lifestyle different from our own for a short while, and many inspire us long after we’ve checked out….. I could wax poetic about them forever…….

Well, I’ve had the good fortune to have collected some truly incredible hotel experiences all over the world and while I’m always asked for hotel recommendations, I’ve never compiled any kind of official list. Until now. I thought it was about time I put it all down in one place.

There are quite a few hotels to cover so I’ll break up my list into a few parts. To start, let me share with you my favorite grand dames as well as other hotels housed in historic properties because they tend to be my all-time favorites. I will follow up later in the year with my top resorts. All of them combine beautiful design, a special location/setting/atmosphere, and exquisite service to create magical, special environments that have long stayed with me.

For the record, none of these hotels were comped so you’re getting my 100% unbiased opinion. And a note about the top three: All of the hotels on this list are wonderful properties that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend but the top three really stand out in my mind as having impeccable service. (I’m not high maintenance but I am a stickler for service – there’s a difference! –  so there are many beautiful hotels that didn’t make the cut at all because service was lacking in some way.) Okay, so without further ado, I give you…….

FTRB’s Top Hotels: the Historic Edition 

Number 1. Aman Venice
Venice, Italy

Number 2. Lake Palace
Udaipur, India

Number 3. The Connaught
London, UK

*****The rest are in no particular order.*****

Amangalla
Galle, Sri Lanka

Gresham Palace
Budapest, Hungary

La Mamounia
Marrakech, Morocco

Palacio Duhau
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Copacabana Palace
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Samode Haveli
Jaipur, India

Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme
Paris, France

Augustine
Prague, Czech Republic

Governor’s Residence
Yangon, Myanmar

Hotel Grande Bretagne
Athens, Greece

The Gritti Palace
Venice, Italy

Palais Jamai
Fes, Morocco

The Victoria Falls Hotel
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Hotel Maria Cristina
San Sebastian, Spain

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Personal style is complicated. It could easily be dismissed as shallow and inconsequential. And sure, it’s not going to save the world but that doesn’t mean it’s not important.

Above all, it’s one of the key ways we tell the world who we are. Whether intentionally or not, we are communicating something about ourselves through how we look. It’s also a fact that when we look better, we feel better. So knowing our personal style and having confidence in it enhance our overall self-confidence which in turn, impacts how we move through life.

This inevitably leads to the question how do we find our personal style? If you’re just starting down this path, it’s helpful to first soak in as much as inspiration as you can and discern your likes and dislikes. Luckily, we live in an era where there’s no shortage of sources. Then, in order to hone in our true personal style, we have to take it a step further and look inward at who we are, our values, and even our aspirations.*

At this point, I want to note that one potentially troubling aspect of a personal style quest is that it can lead to mindless consumption. For most of us (particularly those of us who love fashion), our styles are always evolving and we want to regularly update our looks. But as we get more clear on our personal style, it becomes more fine tuning rather than big, dramatic changes so it’s not about having an entirely new wardrobe year after year. To help keep myself in check, I developed this shopping strategy over the years and it has really served me well.

1. Invest in key pieces: bags, shoes, jackets, and coats.
2. Add a few updating or trend pieces per season.
3. Comfort is the number one criteria with any item.
4. Everything must be suitable for my height, weight, and shape.
5. Consider when, where, and how often a piece will get worn.
6. Declutter regularly.
7. Support companies that employ sustainable practices as much as possible.

Finally, expressing ourselves through style is a wonderful creative outlet. It can even be a tool to help us better understand ourselves. I’ve recently started documenting outfits on Instagram as a way to chronicle the continuous evolution of my own style and to have a record of what is being conveyed through my style choices. (This is a fascinating topic I want to explore more in a future post.)

So I dare say presenting ourselves to the world in our true, authentic style can be transformative, cathartic, and even illuminating. And that can make la vie that much more belle.

*If you need help or guidance on finding your personal style, updating your closet, packing for a trip, etc., I am available for one-on-one consultations. Please see this page for more information.

One of the very best things about fall is the new crop of design books and the abundance of beautiful ones this year is off the charts. Here are five of the very best for fresh inspiration. And with the holidays upon us, they would make perfect gifts for the design enthusiasts in your life, too.

City of Angels by Firooz Zahedi makes me want to pack up and move West for sun and surf. It takes us into thirty unique residences of the creative class across Los Angeles. Designed by world renowned architects and designers, there are beach houses and apartments as well as artists’ studios and pool houses representing contemporary, midcentury, and even Beaux-Arts styles . With this breadth of locations and styles, City of Angels offers an unparalleled glimpse into enviable L.A. living.

I have been a huge fan of Isabel López-Quesada and her sophisticated yet casual style ever since I first came upon her work several years ago. So I was more than excited for the publication of At Home which tells the story of her two homes, an old wax factory in Madrid and the other, an old farmhouse in Basque country. Both in the city and country, she took her time, collaborating with artisans, collecting pieces over the years, and thoughtfully transforming both into warm, inviting homes. Photographed by the incomparable Miguel Flores-Vianna, At Home, was worth the wait and I’ll be drawing inspiration from it for my own homes for years to come.

Note: It’s been over five years since I designed these leopard parsons chairs and they are still the thing I get the most emails and DM’s about so I thought they deserved a blog post. I pieced together this post using archives and backups. The original posts were published in 2013 and 2017. 

For newcomers to the blog, the short story behind these chairs is that I had always wanted some leopard print chairs. I has also always wanted some Parsons chairs. (I have a thing for chairs.) And back in the summer of 2013, I spotted a pair of vintage Parsons chairs  in the waiting room of my auto body shop (you read that correctly!) so I made the owner an offer – as you do – and brought them home in the auto that they had just worked on. (I know.) As soon as I had them in my hands, I decided they would also be the leopard chairs that I had long desired. After a lot of deliberating between fabrics, I ultimately had them reupholstered in Braemore Jamil Natural and the end result was this…..

Not to be completely obnoxious, but I would call them a bonafide hit. They got featured on numerous websites and blogs, got pinned and re-pinned, and many readers found vintage chairs and made their own versions. I loved getting emails with photos of leopard chairs all over the country. Thank you everyone for your emails, links, and credits!

A big thanks also go out to my friends and readers who would send me emails and messages every time they spotted my photos without credit. Fabric stores were using photos of my chairs on their sales sites, an etsy seller did the same, and vintage stores even began producing their own versions of the chairs, using my photos in their catalogs. I couldn’t believe it.

Then it got even more incredible.

I spotted these on 1stdibs…..

That price made my eyes bug out of my head. Mine were not cheap but whoa…..

Then came the Elle Decor cover…..

And finally, mass production by Ballard Design (although it looks like they have since gone out of production)……

I could never have imagined. They had officially become a thing.

Now I’m going to tell you a little secret. Right around the 1stdibs sighting, I was getting a little tired of the chairs. Shocking, right? It wasn’t the chairs. It was me. I have a bit of a contrarian personality so if I see too much of something, my automatic response is to dislike it. And by the time we started organizing for our last move, I seriously considered selling them. But in the end, I just couldn’t do it because as #theOriginalLeopardParsonsChairs (as I started tagging them on Instagram), they’ll always have a special place in my heart.

So the chairs have moved with us to the new house but I knew I didn’t want them so front and center like in our last house. After trying them out in a few different spots, they landed in the master bedroom……

So for those of you have followed the story of the Original Leopard Parsons Chairs (some from birth! haha) and wondered where they ended up, this epilogue is for you.

Thank you so much for all the love you’ve shown them over the years!

Welcome to the second installment of FTRB’s Top Hotels. This edition is dedicated to resorts that made a lasting impression on me. What they have in common are their very special and unique settings, beautiful design, and wonderful dining which is important when staying in isolated resorts where you are taking most, if not all, of your meals on the property. If you missed FTRB’s Top Hotels: the Historic Edition, you can find that here. Again, no part of my stays at these hotels were comped or sponsored.

 FTRB’s Top Hotels: the Resort Edition

Titilaka
Lake Titicaca, Peru

Alila Ubud
Bali, Indonesia

Inle Princess
Inle Lake, Myanmar

St. Regis Bora Bora
Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Bayan Ulaan Yurt Camp
Lake Khuvsgul, Mongolia

Tambo del Inka Resort
Sacred Valley, Urubamba, Peru

Eagle Island Lodge
Okavango Delta, Botswana

Soori Bali
Bali, Indonesia

Moorcroft Manor
Drakensburg, South Africa

Oberoi  Rajvilas
Jaipur, India

Auberge du Soleil
California, USA

SALA Phuket
Phuket, Thailand

Palacio Nazarenas
Cusco, Peru

Blackberry Farm
Tennessee, USA