What's your royal wedding guest name?

Start with either Lord or Lady. Your first name is one of your grandparents' names. Your surname is the name of your first pet, double-barreled with the name of the street you grew up on.

Yours most sincerely, Lady Beatrice Shotsie-Bartlett

 

Talbots and Paris

Ah, how nice that I can extend my 50th birthday celebratory trip to Paris in the fall with Paris-inspired fashions in the spring! I am love, love, lovin' the Talbots line for spring. You can view/shop Talbots' April 2011 online catalog here.

Some things I bought:

The Sorbonne Tweed Sheath Dress

This tee in this color - I am wearing it right now!

And I love this color - plum - I bought this top with a matching flyaway cardi. 

Can't wait to wear it!

For My Friend, Pat

Pat is a wonderfully sweet lady who was part of my tour group when I went to Paris in September. She is an artist, a special kind of artist - she does her work in IRON! Think Rosie the Riveter with a delicate peaches and cream complexion, curly hair and a southern accent. While we were in Paris, Pat was hellbent on seeing all things Monet. How wonderful then that there was an exclusive Monet exhibit during our stay at the Grand Palais! Plus we visited Monet's home and garden in Giverny, and of course, Pat went off on her own to stand on the street where Monet lived as a child and see his childhood home.

Since we left Paris at the end of September, Pat has been working diligently on an iron gate work of art for a charitable organization. So when I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show last month, where the theme was Springtime in Paris and I saw this fabulous display, I thought of Pat.

 This was a Monet inspired display that feature an interpretation of the artist's "Water Lilies" painting. It was designed by Michael Petrie's Handmade Gardens. It featured a formal layout of crossed paths and boxwood-lined beds that acted as a frame for large painted canvases that lay on the ground like ponds of reflective water.

And here is the beautiful sculptural ironwork gate by Greg and Camille Leavitt, which my friend Pat would admire, I am sure ...

 

 Leaves and flowers adorn the gate.

 Look at the detail ...

Isn't it simply marvelous?