Tag Archives: Neo-Trad of the Week
June 4, 2010
Name, Age, Location
Frances M. Fontaine, 24, New York, New York
My cliff-note autobiography…
I grew up on a small farm in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Born the second of four to a nurse mom and boat designing dad, I had an atypical youth that involved lots of joy and laughter and a void of cable tv. Both of my parents were definitely neo-traditionalists of their own generation (or maybe just hippies) and we spent lots of time sailing, ice pond skating, cooking, and tending to the animals. They both encouraged all of us to take care of the earth and people around us, to look for the good in all things, and most importantly, to laugh! It was truly ideal. Though life on the farm was full of simple pleasures, I always dreamt of the big city. I ended up spending a summer and spring semester in Paris, where I was exposed to the most beautiful stationery, food, flowers, fashion, and people. Craving to extend that life of urban glamour, I moved to New York shortly after graduation from Boston College. After dabbling in publishing and events, I recently began working at a small interior design firm in Chelsea and do a bit of my own freelance work on the side. In my spare time I tend to our little french bulldog, Yoda, love to bake, go for walks, and rummage for vintage treasures.
Five things that make my heart flutter…
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Rilke, La Meme Histoire by Feist, The Kiss from The Last of the Mohicans soundtrack, Coming home from work to my boyfriend and Yoda, striking the match to light a Diptyque
My dream dinner party…
It would have to take place in my most treasured location- Le Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, on the great lawn. Since this is a dream and nothing has to be practical, the long rectangular tables would be covered in Pierre Frey velvet linen in Bartolo Ivory- my all time favorite fabric. Napkins would be a burnt orange linen. For flowers, heaping lilacs in giant, marble urns. Guest list would include my closest friends and family from every chapter of my life. It would be sunset and the park would be closed..if guests had children there would be mini tables set up around the fountains, also covered in burlap, but the centerpieces would be silver mint julep cups filled with tight bunches of peonies. The children would be running about … guiding their petits bateaux in the pool of the fountain and plucking flowers from the ground. We would eat filet mignon with mashed potatoes and asparagus…topped with Laduree macaroons and vanilla ice cream for dessert and of course, plenty of malbec for all!
In ten years I will be…
fingers crossed, living in a Brooklyn brownstone with a small yard and a few babies, running a successful design firm out of a storefront.
I am neo-traditional because…
I love to cook from scratch, paint my own walls, and sew my own curtains. But more importantly, I really value people who maintain their elegance and grace in a rapidly evolving professional and cultural landscape. Marking occasions with a cake baked from scratch, sending hand written notes to those we love, and showing up in a world where there is every distraction set neo-traditionalists apart from the rest. In the end, for me it is about giving time, minding your manners and making things better. As Diana Vreeland once said – “The only real elegance comes from the mind, if you’ve got that, the rest really comes from it”. Thanks to Katie for acknowledging the importance of holding on to these special traits, and for creating such a special community of kind souls! [Below, the handsome Yoda in Frances' super chic New York apartment!]
Thank you darling Frances! Can’t wait to finally meet you and Yoda next time I’m in Manhattan! You’re such a kindred spirit! XX Katie
May 7, 2010
Name
Carolyn James McDonough
Age
Do we have to go there??? 43 (as of last Sunday) but I feel 35!
Location
Pound Ridge, NY (a little hamlet 50 minutes from the city)
My cliff-note autobiography…
I’m an identical mirror-image twin born in New York but raised in the Belgian countryside. We moved back to the States in our early teens to New England where our French and Flemish floundered, but our Spanish improved. With travel and languages in my blood, I graduated from Georgetown University in the midst of the last recession and moved to Paris, where I put that degree in Foreign Service and my rusty French to work by baking cookies for an American store. I fell in love with my student guide when I visited Kellogg (Northwestern University’s business school) – we’ve been married 16 years and have two very adorable (most of the time!) boys and two very adorable (most of the time!) labradoodles (my girls!). After a number of interesting jobs including being the editorial assistant to Jackie Onassis at Doubleday, a paralegal in an eco-conscious French law firm and an investment banker in the film and oil and gas industries in New York, I’ve finally settled down and am running my mother’s business (Diane James Home) with my twin, Cynthia, and writing about all that inspires me in our blog, The Buzz.
Five things that make my heart flutter…
First and foremost, my boys (husband included!), sunrise or sunset on the Seine, the Aston Martin DBS Volante, vintage Balenciaga and Valentino couture, the song “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell… and I could go on and on!
My dream dinner party…
My dream dinner party would take place in the gardens of the Musee Rodin in Paris (bien sur!), surrounded by beautiful flowers, sculptures and fountains. My guests would include Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn, Tony Duquette, George Cukor, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nellie McKay and George Burns and Gracie Allen. Ina Garten and Alice Waters would combine their culinary skills to prepare a simple but delicious meal using seasonal and sustainable ingredients, and the lush peony and rose centerpieces would be designed by the mother-daughter team of Marilyn and Meredith Waga at Belle Fleur. We would dance under the stars to Sting singing classics from the Great American Songbook and the whole evening would be captured on film by the fabulous Slim Aarons.
In ten years I will be…
Enjoying the fruits of hard labor and running a much larger business, known the world over for beautiful faux flowers and botanically inspired home accessories (watch out Martha Stewart!) I would love to have the luxury of time to travel with my family to spiritual places like Machu Picchu, Bhutan and Jerusalem, and to build shelters for Women In Need. Our 1920’s home will finally be renovated with Michael Smith adding his signature style and a Christopher Peacock kitchen. After taking a myriad of cooking classes around the world, I will be an accomplished chef, regaling friends and family with cozy home-cooked meals served in a terraced garden designed by James Doyle. Above all, my home will always be source of warmth, comfort, laughter and love.
I am neo-traditional because…
I don’t think chivalry is dead; We use placemats and linen napkins at every meal (even if it’s a TV dinner!); I wake up the kids every day (much to their displeasure!) with on off-key rendition of the “Good Morning” song from “Singing in the Rain”; and while I haven’t yet mastered The Art of French Cooking (sorry Julia!), I have read Emily Post’s “Etiquette” and Genevieve Antoine Dariaux’s “A Guide to Elegance” cover to cover.
Above: a picture taken of me at my father-in-law’s birthday party – notice the real Claude Lalanne sheep by my side and the fake Monet in the background!
Thank you so very much Carolyn! From Jackie O. to Musee Rodin you’ve secured my life-long adoration! Isn’t she fabulous ladies? xx Katie
April 30, 2010
Happy Friday loves! This morning I’m launching a new series on the blog titled “Neo-Trad of the Week” and in it I’ll be featuring one of YOU and all your traditional-with-a-twist inspiration! I feel so lucky to have the wonderful readers I do and thought this could be a fun way to give back and help you all get to know one another. I’ll invite one neo-trad from my comments each week and there’s no obligations, just pure fun. Today’s reader is someone I’ve gotten to to know so well via email I feel as though I’ve known her all my life…she’s smart, beautiful, and ridiculously fun…enjoy getting to know our very first Neo-Trad of the Week, Miss Paige Nichols!
Name, Age, Location
Paige Davis Nichols — 23 — Buenos Aires, Argentina
My cliff-note autobiography…
I was born in Washington, DC and grew up in Arlington, VA with my parents and older sister Meredith (equally chic and fabulous, currently living in London). I attended Georgetown Visitation, the first all-girls’ school of the original thirteen colonies, where my love and affection for classic literature, the fine arts and history really took off. After studying Philosophy and History at Boston College, I decided to move to Buenos Aires and have been living here for almost 2 years, working by day and prancing about in my free time. Moving across the world brought me to the man of my dreams, and I am now engaged to José; we plan to marry next June, an event which might precipitate a move back to the US and enrollment in a Master’s program. In my spare time I love appreciating the beauty in life- fresh flowers, a delicious meal shared among friends, the company of a good book, and anything of the Dionysian persuasion.
Things that make my heart flutter…
Anything written by Vladmir Nabokov, Albert Camus or William Faulkner, the Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, long love letters, a bottle of Torrontés wine at La Huella in José Ignacio (Punta del Este), the Cartier love collection.
My dream dinner party…
Oh dear, where to begin? Guest list: my nearest and dearest, as well as Diana Vreeland, Vladmir Nabokov, Anthony Bourdain, Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley), Alfred Hitchcock, Ansel Adams, Sister Parish…the list could go on! I would love to have the party at my godmother’s friend’s estate in the Brandywine Valley of Pennsylvania. Frolic Weymouth is a completely eccentric and entirely fabulous being with an even more fabulous home – original paint and details from the 18th century, a sprawling garden and so many amazing rooms to discover. It’s literally unreal. We’d all sit at a long country dining table, with what seems like hundreds of candles and little bunches of flowers strewn about, eating off of mismatched cutlery and plates. We’d linger for hours over bottles of wine and little cups of grappa after savoring the most abundant feast one can imagine – (“food porn” as Anthony Bourdain describes it). I taste spicy curry, slow-roasted lamb and dishes with layers of flavor brought in from all sorts of far-off lands. Then we’d pour ourselves into bed, wake up the next day and enjoy brunch and bloody Marys in the garden.
In ten years I will be…
Oh this is such a tough question! Hopefully dividing time between the US and Buenos Aires and frolicking around the world with José and our children. I would love to have a successful design company – I dream of opening a little shop and selling simply beautiful items: paper goods, vintage finds, one of a kind pieces for the home. I would love to return to DC, live in Kalorama and spend my weekends roaming the city in search of beautiful antiques and the spiciest curry I can find. I also plan to have a whole smattering of dogs – a French bulldog, a Great Dane, a dachshund, and an Irish wolfhound. I would like to include a turtle in there as well. In a nutshell, peaceful domestic bliss with a nice, bold streak of international travel and a well-run, small business with moi as the boss.
I am neo-traditional because…
A good hand-written note makes me weak in the knees. Because I love nothing more than mixing a fabulous vintage find with modern accents. Because I swoon over stamp collections, the “Natural Curiosities” volumes, and art-deco jewelry. Because I believe that the classics are such for a reason, and because nothing makes me happier than a house full of fresh flowers and good literature.