Love :: One Card, Three Ways

Talk about the things that make life great!* This holiday, my dad handed each of us -- my brother, his wife, and me -- an identical red envelope. But no, no -- not identical cards! My dad being my dad (and a designer by profession), we opened our envelopes to find customized versions of the same card!

As much as we're into finding and haunting wonderful things At The Meadows, we're even more so into making them.


My card (Chicago skyline, haunted loot and all):




My sister-in-law's card (with the kids -- and a husband):




And my brother's card (he's the ceramist):




And, God is in the details, right?

Check out the pocketbook and those pointy shoes on yours truly --




He knows where I'm headed --




And get a load of the haul! Modernist furniture, red foam roller (gotta roll those hip flexors!), art and he said the green thing is a candelabra -- no doubt!




Such a delightful and thoughtful handmade treat is the ultimate in gift-giving. We were all so delighted by these cards -- best ever!


*What's going on here At The Meadows :: We're talking about everything that makes life great (art, type, design, fashion, entertaining, history), and the places you find everything (the haunts).

Love :: Christmas Show at the Music Box Theatre

Every few years a friend will suggest the Music Box's Christmas Show, and I always bite. It's a great way to enjoy the holidays in Chicago!

Walk in to the Mediterranean-inspired theater, blue painted skies, lanterns, tiles and even a fountain. This is an old-school theater. There are twinkling stars on the ceiling of the main theater and clouds are projected as well. Though my friend thought there were fewer stars than in the past, and the clouds were a little sloppy. The ante-lobby is all decked-out for Christmas --



In line with all the people in Santa caps and reindeer antlers you enter the main theater lobby, where members of the Chicago Chamber Choir sing carols next to a huge tree.



I went for the double feature -- White Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life -- which I had never done before. I'm kind of a White Christmas girl -- "the best things happen while you're dancing," they say (though there are parts about knights on white chargers that make me a little ill). But, my friend suggested the double feature, and I was game. I only saw It's a Wonderful Life for the first time about ten years ago, and I don't ever really watch it, so it's still fresh for me.

Between shows photos of Chicago Christmases past are projected on the screen, courtesy of the Chicago History Museum. There were some great ones. This one is of ladies making holiday wreaths --



There was also one of a horse-drawn snowplow! And the Christmas shoppers on State Street looked amazing similar to today (save the outfits, of course). They were laden with packages.

Before each movie, those carolers from the lobby would come in and sing a couple of tunes with the organist (remember -- old-school theater) to warm up the crowd. And after "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" is over -- if we sang loud enough -- guess who comes out!!



Santa leads the whole theater in song, with the carol lyrics projected on the screen. Some of these lyric pages look like they are from 1968. And people bring sleighbells to jingle as they sing.



My personal favorites are the parodies -- there was a song to the tune of "My Favorite Things", and "I'm Dreaming of a Chicago Christmas", which reminds old-timers and regales the newcomers of Field's windows, Frango mints and Uncle Mistletoe (and here), as well as memories of when the Berghoff served a meal with care -- ouch!

At during this last carol, a snowstorm is projected onto the screen, and the movie starts. The sleighbells are reprised when Clarence gets his wings!

Love :: Hat with a Feather

Love :: Holiday Wrappings

Christmas wrappings are a fun as Christmas cards, and ever since Martha Stewart put a glitter monogram on a present, it's become a wide-spread hobby, even.

So -- there is something to be said for a pretty present. My rule is that you can't spend too much time. It's important to have a little kit of papers and especially ribbon (satin is my favorite). Some little tags are good too. I like round paper key tags and above you can see a deep red Crane's place card with a white border is doing the job quite nicely. But really, it shouldn't take more that five minutes to wrap. Just show a little love.

And here's a little nugget that I just heard today:

The S&S sisters' mother used to sign the tags on their Christmas presents from their celebrity crushes. Imagine being a twelve-year-old girl and receiving a guitar from Rock Hudson!

Talk about charming -- I'm thinking of trying this. Mastering the Art of French Cooking from Meryl Streep? Brilliant.

Happy wrapping!

Love :: Big Country Weekend

Spent the weekend in central Illinois. Answered trivia for charity, sang karaoke, visited a family pumpkin farm, saw a Civil War reenactment and learned how to needlepoint. The landscape is so flat and open here, you can really shoot some big, flat vistas, punctuated with the occasional vertical element: grain elevator, barn, windmill or water tower. And the colors of Illinois (and the midwest in general) are disctinctive: light-golden hues with black soil, green leaves and clear blue skies.

Here's the photo essay:












Thanks for a great weekend, M!

UPDATE :: The next to the last photo is an Indian Mound -- meant to add that in the post!

Love :: New York!

Bringing Chicago Home

This spring I made the big decision that I was in Chicago to stay*. This realization put a fire under me to truly embrace this town -- and to integrate its imagery into my personal space. I've always used images and souvenirs of North Carolina (which will always be my home), but I had never really thought about Sweet Home Chicago in the house. It seemed pretty cliché.

But I love to turn around a cliché now and then. This little pillow was surely made by someone's auntie in 1984 (I know because she added her initials and the date), and it could be on the settee right beside one of my Mema's cross-stitched monogram numbers. When I was growing up, embroidered pillows were de rigueur. While my mother was having her cross-stitch moment, there was also a lot of french knotting (natural cord on natural cotton, of course), and my grandmother did quite a bit of needlepoint. At that time, it's what you did.

I was in the cross-stitch camp as a girl, and I've been hot to try my hand at needlepoint. I have tons of books but have never actually tried it. I'm hoping my good friend Martha can help me get started -- she's a needlepoint genius.

This pillow has become one of my favorite little pieces. It's as if Mema decided to bring a little Chicago into the sitting room.


*Add a clapboard beach house on the outer banks, and I will be in heaven.

Love :: New Kate Spade, Silk Blouses and Color

Lord I love this stuff. Not just the blouse, the dress, the coat... but the ways that these ensembles are put together. The pop! The glamour! Oh-la-la!

One of my wardrobe staples is the bold print silk blouse like the cream and black polka dot number shown above. I scour my haunts for vintage versions made in Hong Kong, usually from the 80s. Snip out the shoulder pads, fluff up the details, and you are ready to rock.

Check out the new Kate Spade website here.

Love :: "I Have My Sources"

Today I had the pleasure of having coffee with my friend E.

I was telling her about At The Meadows and explaining the concepts of "my haunts" (see sidebar if you're not in the know), she told me her mother's solution to the age-old question:

"Where did you get that?"

Her response: "I have my sources." (with a sly smile, I imagine!)


And the fabu cake we enjoyed at the Viennese coffee parlor:

Love :: An Interior within an Interior

This little snapshot (c. 1975) is of the entry at my grandmother's house. On the most perfect drop-leaf table, she had a portrait of me, one of her mother, and two small photos (in a little metal frame that folded like a book), one half of a pair of truly elegant chinoiserie lamps with silk shades, and on the left side of the table is a lantern (red candle!) that my uncle made on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout. It's like the ones they used in the mid-nineteenth century -- the only other time I've seen one like it is on a Confederate ghost walk.

I love a little vignette, and this little white-edged snap perched on its delicate brass easel is a peach. The best part is the "interior within an interior" effect (à la "play within a play"). The setting of the photo (endo-frame) relates so much to the setting (exo-frame) of which it's a part. The similar colors of the tables, a single lamp to the right, and the mirrors on the wall behind.

Why was this picture ever taken? It's unusual to to find a box filled with party-people and holiday smiles, only to come across one where the only people in the shot are two-dimensional. How did this one make the cut into the box with the party people? Talk about absence/presence and representation through image! Whoa -- heavy stuff, Mema!

Unpretentious southern decor: a bit of nicety, a lot of quality, and family ever-present. Mema had it.

Love :: A Patriotic Look

Sometimes having patriotic sartorial flair can come off as costume-y. Personally, I love one item (usually a scarf, sometimes a hat) in red, white, and blue, and a couple of low-key (sometimes vintage) pins or buttons. The ones shown in the photo above are a DAR recognition pin (no better day to be a Daughter), and our DAR Chicago Flag Day pin.

Another way to play it is to wear pieces that are solid but in the right colorway. For instance, dark blue denim pants with a white base of a great tee or white button-down (I love the sleeves rolled up to above the elbows and the collar popped), and a sweater or scarf in red. Either way, navy is a good base... it can cut the "Pollyanna" look (a huge no-no if you are over twelve). And going for color references, not necessarily flag designs and the like, are much more sophisticated.

Love :: A Desk of One's Own

Stuff everywhere... I was sitting down to write or sketch or something one day last week and thought this summed up my ideal space. This is where I conduct my personal correspondence and At The Meadows business, where I write notes to friends... on paper. It's a bit of curated haunting -- I know some things have been seen on At The Meadows before (like this and this), but to see them together and how they "talk" to each other is nice.

The card in the holder is from the Ospedale degli Innocenti ("Hospital of the Innocents") in Florence. I like to send postcards to myself at home when I'm traveling. They are great reminders when you first arrive home, but even more so years later. On the back of that card is a quick sketch I made of the lanterns of the Festa della Rificolona. And the birds in the background are needlepoint done by a German woman (according to the signature on the back of the frame).

What's on your desk?*


*And a side note on desks, my favorite baristas offered to make me a little desk made of milk crates so I could work in the beautiful weather today. Those baristas are handy!

Love :: Tea Time

Tea time is a great way to connect with people. I have a group of friends who go out to tea fairly often, but I think it's great to entertain this way at home. A simple flower arrangement, a menu of savory and sweet tidbits -- and of course great tea -- make for a convivial atmosphere. Such a delight!

I prefer to send invitations to tea in the mail. Each invitation includes my monogram and the invitation "Please come to tea", along with the pertinent details and reply information.

A few more details:
Earl Grey with Lavender tea (served in these), and three courses, always served in this order: savory tea sandwiches, scones with strawberry preserves and clotted cream, and sweets (baby eclairs, fruit tarts, petit fours, palmiers -- and a sea salt caramel). My good friend S made the comment that the palmiers complement the teapots -- elephant ears. So true!

Tea may look fancy, but it's really not. I hope that everyone had a great time!

Okay. I need a baby eclair. Last. One.

Love :: Weekends at Green City Market

One of the best parts of a summer Saturday in Chicago is the Green City Market! Right now, peonies are ramping up, and there is -- among other things -- live music. This group played last weekend. I think the band is called Haywood Blues, but my cursory research to confirm that turned up nothing. If you do know who they are, please let me know. They were fun!

As I said the peonies are "ramping up", meaning that they are there, but sell out fast -- they aren't at their peak yet. So on the day I went, I had to settle for blush-colored lilies. Which have lasted all week! Happy weekend to you!

Love :: A Chicago Hot Dog Stand

Down south I was used to getting a hot dog on a steamed bun with ketchup and slaw. They would run you out of town on a rail if you tried that order in Chicago. On a Chicago dog: mustard, onions, sweet pickle relish that is a very unnatural shade of green, tomato slices, hot peppers, a dill pickle spear and celery salt -- all this is usually piled into a poppy seed bun. Never ketchup (back to that rail). And there isn't even slaw on in the fixin' line-up.

I was inspired to visit Bill's Drive-In after seeing "The Hot Dog Show" on PBS for the upteenth time, even though I have heard that these are different owners from the "Bill" of yore. And, technically, it's in Evanston (but about 50 ft north of the Chicago border). I had a dog all the way -- just no peppers. Hot dog, eh. All the 'yelps' rave about the burgers -- next time.

Love :: A Man Magnet

It's a funny thing about this clutch. It's black leather with perforations and these four die-cut holes along the top. It closes with strong sewn-in magnets (they are in the structure of the bag, pretty invisible at first inspection).

This little black clutch has garnered so many compliments from women and men alike, that my friends used to joke that it was a "man magnet". The funny thing is -- turns out it's not a joke. When I take this out, random men compliment my bag. Straight men. In wine bars. Or at a restaurant for lunch. They cannot resist it. It started as a joke, but no more. It's bona fide.

Love :: A Good Dandy

Dandies... so well-dressed and nonchalant. Always composed, always dignified. There were quite a few at the Art Institute on Friday. So, my question to the fellows: How dandy are you? Find out here.

Image :: dandyism.com

Love :: Silk Scarf on a Breezy Day

Better late than never for a post -- fashion for lunch and a matinee. It was just breezy enough to make that scarf dance! And a green pocketbook to set it off. Whew!