Cake Pulls

Although my wedding in New Orleans has passed I will probably post about weddings every once in while if the inspiration takes me. My brother is getting married in South Carolina this Fall and I'm already dreaming of low country cuisine, balmy weather and Charleston charm. We are so excited for them! Jack and I will probably stay in Charleston a couple of days after the wedding for a mini-vacation (shop, eat, and rest will be the agenda). It's strange to be the arbiter of wedding advice now (when most of the time I felt clueless!) but I think my brother and his fiancé will fare better than I did.

Thinking of my brother's Southern wedding got my thinking of the Southern cake pulls wedding tradition. It's hard to say when the inception of this tradition took place but most people agree that it's been around for quite some time. Cake pulls are charms that are tied onto ribbons and placed under the wedding cake. Members of the bridal party then randomly choose one of the ribbons (usually artfully fanned out from the cake) and pull their charm. Each charm represents a fortune; prosperity, love, money or if you are lucky a fortune that fates you to a life of spinsterhood (the thimble). Most Southern brides usually only include charms of good fortune for their bridal party and omit the dreaded thimble. It's great fun to see who gets what and it usually ends with a little teasing and merriment!

Cake charms are relatively easy to find; especially in New Orleans. The New Orleans Bead Shop carries a wide variety at an affordable price. If you want something a little more lux then New Orleans jewelry designer Mignon Faget will exceed your expectations. Her work is unfussy, clean and very much influenced by nature and architectural forms. Her cake pulls are made out of sterling silver that include charms that represent Marriage, Eternal Beauty, Luck, Red Hot Romance, Prosperity, Opportunity, Stability and True Love. Not a bad omen in site. Once cleaned, they make great jewelry charm gifts for your bridesmaids.

Harouni

I'm currently obsessed with David Harouni's work. Walking into his gorgeous art studio by chance I fell in love with his "neo-expressionist" work. His current paintings prominently use the king motif but he paints other subjects. The silkscreen above is calling my name; if I close my eyes I can see it displayed proudly in my dining room. Ah... if wishes were fishes!

Harouni says his paintings "can be summarized by the word palimpsest," an art term that means to draw and erase over and over again so the underlying layers can be seen on the surface. I love the layers of meaning, his crimson slashes of red and his cryptic kings. Bold yet restrained. Love it.

*All images from David Harouni's website*

Parisian Beauty Products

One of my favorite things to do in Paris is peruse beauty products at the "pharmacies". You can't miss them; they usually have green flashing crosses hanging over the stores and they are on every street corner. Two brands in particular come to mind (Caudalie and Huiles & Baumes) and unfortunately I haven't been able to find any local U.S. stores that sells both lines. Thank God for the internet! I came across SpaceNK, a fairly new online "apothecary" that carries both! They have recently jumped the pond and opened a couple of stores in the U.S.

SpaceNK is extremely easy to use, they have a great selection of products and I'm hoping that they will open a store in Chicago. You can also find Caudalie at your local Sephora but Huiles & Baumes is much harder to find. The Huiles & Baumes organic Gentle Dry Oil and Caudalie's Beauty Elixir are some of my favorites. Check it out!

Important Wedding Songs

Important Wedding Songs:

First Dance: Ovunque Proteggi (Vinicio Capossela)
Father/Bride Dance: Father and Daughter (Paul Simon)
Mother/Groom Dance: What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)
Cake Cutting: How Sweet It Is (James Taylor)
Last Dance: Save the Last Dance for Me (Michael Buble)

A Perfect Night's Sleep

Deciding on our wedding hotel block turned out to be pretty easy. The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans met all of our needs: it was close to the reception site (close enough to walk), great amenities, great price, and a little luxury for all. But my absolute favorite part of staying at the Ritz-Carlton was the quality of the beds. We never felt so rested or comfortable; it was like sleeping on clouds. No tossing or turning. No lying awake at night. It was amazing. Only problem is realizing that your bed back home doesn't even come close to providing the zen like sleep that is suddenly so elusive. At first I thought it was stress, but no- having the wedding behind us has been a huge stress relief. Then it hit me; I miss the Ritz-Carlton bed.

We decided it was time we make a little investment in our quality of life. We've been putting off buying a new mattress for a while and it's finally a good time to do it. It turns out I didn't have to look too far because the Ritz-Carlton has a website devoted to selling products it uses in its hotels (from sleep wear to home products). The Ritz partnered with Sealy for their trade marked Ritz-Carlton Sleep Experience and with Pacific Coast Feather Company for it's pillows, feather beds etc. We went ahead and ordered the mattress, feather bed and pillows. The sheets will be an investment we will make down the road but for now we are thrilled. I'll let you know if our sleep is as good as it was at the Ritz!

Cocktail Music

For the wedding we were going for a dinner party vibe and we wanted our music choices to reflect that intimate ambiance. We could have gone for a small jazz ensemble but we wanted variety and there are songs we love that just don’t sound the same when replicated. So we went down the iPod route and it went surprisingly well except for a few snafus at the start of the reception. If you are going to use an iPod make sure you have someone designated to operate the different playlists and have a trial run with the music system at the venue first so there are no mishaps. My sister and I worked together on the playlists but none of us were familiar with the system (and the wait staff were not familiar with my sister’s iPod) to make it run smoothly. SO….. we had a bit of trouble getting the music started during cocktail hour but once we got it going it went great! Despite the small inconvenience at the beginning (which could have been alleviated if I followed my own advice) I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

I loved putting together the reception music selections with my sister. Loved it. I'm planning on creating a CD filled with all of our songs as gifts to our loved ones. We received many requests for the playlist so I thought I would share it here with all of you. To start here is our cocktail hour music selection:

A couple of our songs were an ode to our engagement in Paris and then we played some of our favorite classic Jazz and Latin tunes. It was relaxed, fun and nice to listen too. What's great is that we can use these playlists for dinner parties we may have down the road. We saved good ol' Blue Eyes for dinner and dancing. More music selections to come!

GOOP

A friend of mine informed me of GOOP, Gwyneth Paltrow's website devoted to living and eating healthy. I really enjoyed perusing the site; it's well written, the visuals are great (the content even better) and Ms. Paltrow comes across sincere and down to earth. I think it's a misnomer to associate Paltrow with eating twigs and berries; the lady obviously thinks allot about the quality and taste of her food and enjoys cooking. The turkey rago recipe she features looks delicious. I read on and her most current newsletter about detox struck a chord. Although I've spent the last month traveling and being for the most part "active", I feel sluggish, unhealthy and spent. For the most part I eat in moderation but my food intake has not been very healthy. Paltrow details a 7 day detox plan filled with recipes that actually sound tasty to eat. Although Paltrow is no doctor she does make clear that this kind of detox should be cleared by a doctor first.

So... I'm thinking of doing it! The recipes for the detox actually sound good and the thought of purging my insides of impurities is even better. I'm desperately going to miss my morning coffee and my occasional and unhealthy grazing but I think it would be a good kick start to thinking about my food intake in a more responsible manner. So any takers out there??? What are your thoughts on detox diets?

Calling Card Cases

How gorgeous are these antique calling card cases? Calling cards (and their fancy cases) were once de rigeur in the day. One would never make a house visit without one. The protocol was to leave your calling card (with the butler of course) and wait to be admitted after the person being called upon had reviewed and accepted the calling card. The calling card has really been making a resurgence lately and people have been using them instead of business cards to relay contact information in a more informal fashion. I hate having to hunt down a scrap of paper to write my email/and or phone number to an acquaintance or personal friend; it would be wonderful to carry my own personalized calling cards and in one of these antique calling card cases to boot!

The cases above attest to the popularity of the calling card. Some cases were simply made; others out tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, and silver and they were truly works of art. You can find these beauties at Simply Antiques.

We're Back!

We are back from our honeymoon! Can you guess where we are at? Here's a hint....

Yep, that's Jack and I looking pretty spiffy on our camels. I named mine "Mocos" which means "snot" in Spanish. Arn't I original? Boy did we have a blast!!! I can't wait to show you all the pictures we took and tell you all about the wonderful people we met and places we explored. More to come once we are over our jetlag!