My Precious

Thanks, Mom. You're fueling my newfound addition to beautiful pots and pans. While the debate rages on between Le Creuset devotees and Staub fans, I've strayed from the matriarch's leanings and am trying out Staub (I like the colors better).

The first piece of my collection is the stunningly greige 5 ct. dutch oven. I'm cooking Italian Wedding Soup first, stay tuned.

Word of the Month: Louche

In this day and age of recessionistas and frugality, harkening back to the louche-ness of our old ways should give everyone a good reality check. Hmmm, did I use louche right?

Louche: adjective; dubious, shady, disreputable; of questionable taste or morality, decadent.

Sometimes I feel like my old purse collection is louche, but I bought my treasured bags before everyone was broke, so I'm considering them vintage.

Les Lalannes

When I was in Santa Monica last month, I was intrigued by two dinosaur sculptures covered in ivy in the 3rd Avenue mall. What I didn't know is that I was looking at the work of two living legends in French sculpture, who I serendipitously happened across again on my visit to Serenbe where artist-in-residence Tom Swanston showed me a book on their works.

The Lalannes, Claude and Francois-Xavier, live on a 30-acre farm outside Paris and sculpt anthropomorphic animals out of bronze, primarily. I love anything animal, but these exquisitely detailed and beautiful pieces set off a totally different sort of creative gene in my brain. Take a look and get your creative juices flowing.