There are so many parties being planned in my head right now in addition to the ones I am working on in real life, some of  which you will be hearing about soon.  Lately, the idea of an al fresco dinner keeps popping up.  A long, orange-clothed table sitting on the browning autumn grass.  A [...]

Lately, I’ve been less than energetic. I need to rephrase that, as I’ve been pretty busy, which requires energy, and have been staying up late to get things done, which means that something is keeping me going.  But I’ve been feeling tired and it is affecting my brain (before you ask, no, I’m not pregnant). [...]

Last night, I was leafing through November’s issue of Vanity Fair, much of which was in tribute to the late, great Dominick Dunne.  On the table of contents page is a lovely spread of invitations, letters, and place cards addressed to the writer.  They are beautiful social papers (what else would you send to Dominick [...]

So sorry I don’t have much to post today.  Mommy-duty calls as we try to get Jr. back to his wild, non-feverish self.  Well, the non-feverish part, at least… nothing seems to stop the boy from being wild and giggly!  I’ll be back tomorrow, so stay tuned…. Happy Monday! xoxo, Shani

Yet another thing I associate with cooler weather… caviar.  One of my best memories ever is of my mother and I taking a mid-week trip down to Charleston and indulging with a caviar plate at the Charleston Grill.  It was one of those rare indulgences that I haven’t repeated since… but am keeping in my [...]

The other night when I was cooking the Filet Mignon à la Crème for The Naptime Chef’s virtual dinner party, I decided to add some fun to my mashed potatoes by adding brie and apples.  It added such a wonderful flavor to the potatoes that I’m adding it to my holiday repertoire this year.  Using [...]

My idea for today was to post some photographs of lovely fall tablescapes for the plethora of dinner parties that I know you are all planning over the next couple of months.  After searching, Googling, and Binging for quite a while most of what I found was downright chintzy!  Fall is full of such gorgeous [...]

Welcome to this portion of today’s Virtual Dinner Party, hosted by Kelsey at The Naptime Chef!  Kelsey is hosting this wonderful event to celebrate today’s release of a spectacular new cookbook, Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations, the proceeds of which will benefit the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. The book features a year’s worth [...]

I wonder what it is about the autumn months that seem to draw us together more.  Today over lunch, Mr. M and I were discussing what we have going on over the next several weeks, and were figuring how to keep the upcoming frenzy of entertaining at an enjoyable hum.  For some reason, when the [...]

This pair of 18th-century Italian bookcases were found through Tommy Krupp at My Design Broker, LLC.  They are the kind of pieces that can be used in a strictly traditional space, or can be mixed into a room that has more contemporary touches.  ”Add some modern or contemporary art, a hip coffee table and, perhaps, some [...]