Wendy Whelan Farewell

This past Saturday night Wendy Whelan retired from NYC Ballet after 30 years.  Even as a newbie to ballet I knew how special it was to watch her on stage and I was so lucky to get to be there Saturday night. I lost count of curtain calls. As she took her final bows she was presented with so many bouquets she had to lay them down, the stage was filled with admirers and the audience could not stop clapping….no one wanted to let her go.  I was also  lucky enough to be asked to do flowers for her the week before leading up to her final performance. When I realized the order places for specific colors that  would coordinate with colors of her costumes, the adoring geek in me had to put together these little collages because I was having so much fun filling the order. Finally I was excited to see the last image by Erin Biano showing Wendy with one of the bouquets I sent.

Photos of ballets from around the web . Ballets represented Polyphonia, Nightingale and the Rose, Morphoses, After the Rain.

One arrangement

Each season brings its own gorgeous flowers and some flowers are shared between seasons but we get new varieties within a species. These dahlias almost feel like peony they are so lush. Then there are all the gorgeous details like the cotinas, the corylus, clematis,  the silver brunia…

Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland

I like to write about all things beautiful but do tend to lean toward flower related tops.  After seeing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for the third time last night, once in London, once in Washington DC and now in my very hometown, I need to write about it for the second time. Among some of the most beautiful things in the world I believe is a Christopher Wheeldon pas de deux. Alice has its beautiful share, along with so many other incredible scenes; the flower scene is so gorgeous you will feel like you took Alice’s mushrooms as you are transported to a dreamlike state just watching, the cat above, the caterpillar, the maze garden, the QUEEN OF HEARTS ..so much to enjoy.

Genius plays a major roles with the music , Joby Talbot, the imagery,  Bob Crowley , the dance, Christopher Wheeldon, it takes you over and you are lost in a magical place for an evening. I am transformed again to a 6 year old who is certain she wants to be a ballerina when she grows up. I was not alone as the very dignified ( 70 plus?) year old woman in front of me reading W at intermission yelled ” GO ALICE” near the end of the show.  But the show ends and I realize there isn’t enough green juice in the world that will make my new dream come true to be a ballerina ( at 25 plus years old) , so I’ll just keep enjoying  these incredible productions.

Google the show there are so many images saturated with colors its really hard to chose. I wanted to use images I hadn’t used before, one is a repeat.

 

Click on image below for video

Flowers and Food

Always a natural combination in so many ways, from the centerpiece in the middle of the dinner plates,  to  what’s growing in the garden side by side, to flowers in your food or vegetables in your centerpieces. The combo of the two never ceases to enchant me.

   

 

 

 

 

Happy Sunday

 

 

Summer Recap

Pains me to admit, but summer is drawing to an end and as homage to all things beautiful this summer I put together this collection of summer beauties.Some of this we we can still enjoy thru early fall but I am very fond of a recap …espeically when it means beautiful photographs. Here goes:  Gelato on a hot day, cafe au lait dahlias at a wedding ( we have more time with those) , blueberries and summer tarts, violas from the green market in cocktails, tomato with zucchini past and basil,  sunflowers and viburnum ( more of that to enjoy thru fall) , straw hats ( she’s about the cutest thing ever) , bunches of Fresh herbs from the market, white zinnia, garden time, growing strawberries, aperol spritzers ( seem better in the summer), lush green gardens, warm bike rides, buddlea and butterflies, big bunches of basil, eggplant steaks from Stone Barn garden, tall delphinium arrangements, Charles James at the Met, massive orange dahlias at home, nasturtium in salads, Flash mob picnics in the park …diner en blanc…cheers to a great, safe Labor Day weekend. 

 

 

 

Summer Entertaining the Lighter Side

The last summer entertaining entry was working off the fashion influence of black and white stripes, this one is much more laid back. Your food can be much of your decor.

Above and below is a recipe I saw from Food 52 from Martha Stewart, one pan easy peasy and colorful. I reduced my pasta and added zucchini out of my spiralizer. It its pretty amazing when you can get a lot of this from your garden if you are lucky enough to have one

Recipe Here: One Pan Pasta 

I have the paderno spirilizer available at Williams – Sonoma

I have a colorful platter with something for everyone options. I prefer romaine lettuce ends as my ” chips” over chips but some still want those cheese straws or chips!  I added spinach to my humus because more green is always better and topped it with an organic extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled some cumin on top.

Drinks frozen organic edible flowers which add color to your g & t or use Aperol or Campari for added color. For me Campari is bitter but I still like it with Cointreau, fresh squeezed orange juice and flowers of course.

Down the center of the table use pots of thick herbs wrapped in burlap , potted in terra-cotta , tin or wood, use them in your next meal or plant them later.

For linens with a meal from the garden I love a raw simple linen like the ones below from Charvet Editions I saw at John Derian ..one of my happy places.. or if on a wood table fun summer stripe napkins  from Les Toiles du Soleil ( new location in the Hamptons!)

photos by Dorothy Pfeiffer and Brand websites

A ( Mostly ) Very Green Summer Day

Starting out with my green juice, photo provided by Organic Avenue, than onto Kykuit for a high light tour, because I of course, wanted mostly to see the gardens. I didn’t want to leave but just live in the gardens, they are some of the most beautiful this country has to  offer and just walking thru  the gardens feels incredibly fulfilling. The tour of the gardens did end so we stayed as close as possible by heading to  Blue Hill at Stone Barn for another  incredible meal. They wonderfully accommodated my vegetarian leanings with a great eggplant steak.

A perfect summer day.

Photos from Organic Avenue and Me ( Dorothy Pfeiffer)

Summer Colors

While the fashion world turns to fall I am just not ready for it!  We are only 1 month into the 3 month long season, so I am fully enjoying summer colors in all their glory. Of course for me that is mostly in the form of flora.

Below:  Dahlias ,  Aperol Spritz cocktail at Montmartre, heirloom tomatoes from Union Square Market, salad with edible flowers from Union Square, bike ride along the Hudson on a perfect day, blue polish I wouldn’t wear any other season with Farrow and Ball color card, ageratum from the River Garden @ Union Square, and Greenhooks Gin and T with fresh Viola in my Garden . Summer on!

 

Photos by me

Impromptu Summer Party – Black and white stripes

While we just got done with a weekend of parties here in the US we always want more. Summer is so often about last-minute get togethers ….which often turn out to be the most fun. Here are a couple of ideas to put together and have a smart look, easily done with a visit to a local nursery for centerpieces. While not detailed to death to stress you out these boards are meant to make it easy to put together with a few calls.

Black and white stripe cloth, black charges, black and white polka dot napkins with shock of pink geranium for the table . The near rusty-brown hurricane base puts together one of my all time favorite color combos, black white and browns.

Black table cloth with black and white striped napkin, Bellini modern chair, black bubble glass hurricane and a gorgeous mix of ferns for lots of texture * a  lovely note to your guests that both compliments and suggests!

Black and white toile tablecloth, black and white ticking stripe for napkin and IN BLOOM NOW  a series of lavender plants and black glass candles for tabletop.

Health, Wellness and … Flowers?

As some of you who know me already know, I have been working hard the last year and half on health. A former assistant sent me a movie to watch, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead , since I had a similar condition to Joe Cross in the film. Well, I started juicing and thinking more about  plant-based diet and then along comes potential client Ana Zaharia, a holistic nutritionist looking for a florist for her wedding. Once I saw her website and what she did we became each others clients. Ana’s recipes were so delicious and easy, with the  juicing I started from watching the movie and Ana’s recipes and guidance, supporting what I learned in the film, I soon started feeling so much better. As Ana’s wedding rolled around I felt  very inspired and excited  to incorporate what she taught me into the decor. With greens being the most important part of my new regime I had that thought to make flowers out of some of the gorgeous heirloom lettuces floating around the green market and insert them into her centerpieces. I may very well have been more excited about the idea then she . Well they were a hit, so when I was asked to do flowers for a luncheon for Kathy Freston for her book on vegan lifestyle a form of this  design seemed perfect and met with rave reviews. So you never know where inspiration is coming from!

And Ana and Chris are living happily ever after!