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The duchesse de Gramont-Caderousse Several years ago, I visited the Nelson-Atkins Museum  in Kansas City, Missouri and discovered a portrait of Marie-Gabrielle de Sinéty , the Duchesse de Gramont-Caderousse by Elizabeth Vigree Le Brun.   I have gazed upon thousands of portraits in my travels and throughout my years of research, but something about this lady's face captured me.  Perhaps it was her delicate nose, flushed cheeks, and open, expressive brown eyes that gave her an air of innocence and insouciance. I confess, the fashionista in me coveted her black velvet jacket with the slashed sleeves.  I adored the way the sleeves were fastened to the jacket with red silk bows.  Who doesn't find an ensemble in red and black utterly dramatic and appealing? But there was something else that drew me to the portrait, that had me standing there, gazing at it for nearly a quarter of an hour.  A familiarity that seemed to ha...

I'll admit it:  I am a seasonal Martha Addict.  Each year, as autumn brushes the world in an ochre hue, I find myself inexplicably drawn to Martha Stewart, that peddler of crafty pastimes.  I know I should focus my energies on writing and home obligations, but the temptation becomes too great.  As the air turns crisp and crackly leaves litter the sidewalks, I suddenly start watching Martha's television show and reading her magazines.  I will sit with a plate of Fuji Caramel Apple Cookies with Brown Sugar Icing (a Martha recipe) balanced precariously on my lap, watching as the Gandhi of Gardening, the Diva of Domesticity single-handedly builds a dovecote out of Popsicle sticks and fills it with birds she humanely captures with silken ropes or bakes a million puff pastries which she then uses to recreate the Taj Mahal. I've watched Martha Stewart successfully try her hand at c ake decorating, sewing, scrap booking, woodwor...

Wishes by Amalia K. Lately, I have been feeling like Life has been getting a little too heavy.  Health concerns.  Numerous professional obligations.  Maintaining my sanity (and eroding authority) while living with two clever, rebellious teenagers.  Facing my fear that no amount of expensive French, caviar-infused moisturizer will be able to reverse the withering affect the dry Alaskan air has had on my skin and hair, that I am destined to spend the remainder of my days looking like the Crypt Keeper in a pink pashmina.  And then there's the endless fretting about when the new season of Mad Men will begin.  Add to that the unbelievable shock and sadness that comes each time I look at a new photograph or listen to a new report about the poor, devastated people of Japan , struggling to rebuild some semblance of a life after last week's earthquake and tsunami. Well, it's a lot for one woman to deal with....

I spent an hour this morning trying to cook up a deliciously pithy opening hook for this blog entry.  Three months have passed since my last posting and I feel the pressure to impress you, my gentle, neglected reader.  I want to seduce you with my savory insight.   Unfortunately, wit eludes me at this ungodly hour (4:45 am) and all I can offer is a few crumbs from my creative table, a morsel or two that will hopefully tempt you to pay me a visit again, perhaps on a morning when my humor is as sharp as a cake knife. For now, I would like to tell you a tale as sweet as buttercream frosting... Three months ago, I reluctantly kicked the sand off my flip flops, packed up my home, loaded my offspring and Molly Muffin the Wonder Schnoodle into my Jeep, and left our beach side bungalow to start a new life in a colder clime.    I knew the move would be difficult on my sociable, sun-loving children and my bird-chasi...

Since the beginning of time, women have suffered in the name of beauty. In this article, I will share the beauty secrets of some of the most famous women through history. Elizabeth I washed her hair in lye and cleaned her teeth with a cloth of linen. She used a bright white make-up, a concoction of lead, egg whites, and poppy seeds, to hide her flawed complexion. She was a thin woman and wore many layers to give the appearance of bulk. She kept her figure by engaging in hearty walks, riding horses, and dancing. She wore fine clothes and decorated her person with jewels and flowers. Cleopatra has long been considered the beauty of antiquity. She worked hard to achieve this reputation, though. Cleopatra wore a lot of make-up, and even wrote a volume on cosmetics. She sat for hours as paints were applied to her face. She wore exotic perfumes, bathed in donkey's milk, rubbed her skin with aloe vera, and put oil of cinnamon in her hair. Old Cleo knew that being a beauty meant looki...

George Washington’s Wood With Independence Day looming, it seems only fitting that I dedicate this Friday’s Fabulous Find to one of our Fabulous Founding Fathers. I found a rather curious object at a lovely chateau in northern France. George Washington’s wood has been polished and lovingly preserved at Château de Boucéel in Normandy. Wood in the very literal, not the metaphorical or slang sense (cheeky monkey). On a clear, crisp evening in March, the Comte de Roquefeuil invited me into his study and told me the story of our founding father’s wood and how it came to be at Château de Boucéel. Apparently, one of the Comte’s ancestors lent his support for our great cause. In return, George Washington sent him several tulip poplar trees from his Mount Vernon gardens. The trees grew on the grounds of Chateau de Boucéel until the devastating 1999 blizzard when heavy winds and thick snow took down the last original tree. Today, there are saplings growing on the grounds of the estate...

"How delightful were these groves scented with lilacs, peopled by nightingales . . . the queen spent most of the fine season there." Baroness Oberkirch remarking on the grounds of Petit Trianon In, Rainy Morning with a Master , I told you about a sweltering summer day in 1978, when a frazzled librarian gave a biography about Marie Antoinette to an inquisitive, loquacious child. From that day on, I became obsessed with the tragic queen and with the notion of visiting the Chateau de Versailles. I imagined myself gliding through the  Hall of Mirrors, sunning myself on the green grasses of Le Hameau, inhaling the earthy scents that permeate the air in the Orangerie. Twenty-two years later, my dream of visiting Versailles came true.  Was it magical?  Did I feel exhuberant?  Not exactly. The moment I walked into the chateau I felt an overwhelming sadness, as if I had donned a mantle of meloncholy.   The gloom persisted through t...

I have decided to start a new column on this site. Every Friday, I will be posting a brief article about one of the fabulous objects d’art I have seen during my travels. These objects have aroused my curiosity and inspired my creativity. I hope you enjoy Friday’s Fabulous Finds! Napoleon's Nécessaire (Travel Box): While wandering through the Louvre on a blisteringly cold winter day, I happened upon this curious object: Napoleon’s Nécessaire. The emperor would bring this mahogany box containing over one hundred useful items (including a silver tea set, a ruler, compass, almond powder, mirror, ear picker, and shaving brush) with him on all of his military campaigns. One little gold box apparently contained licorice (one of the Emperors preferred treats). I couldn’t help but marvel at the opulence and practicality of the nécessaire, nor could I help but wonder what the little objects would say if they could speak. What would his mother of pearl handled penknife tell us about the “gl...