Sarah Jessica Parker's House: Bar Carts & Bookshelves & Globes, Oh My!

I love a woman who keeps a big, fat dictionary in the family room, in the book-stuffed shelves just to the side of the television. And don't get me started on the light up globe collection. I knew I liked this woman!

For all of us who have wondered exactly how the posh boho thespian couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick live in New York City, there is now a teeny tiny bit of eye candy circulating the web after Parker agreed to a "live" rapid-fire interview for Vogue.com While I have to point out there are moments that seem quite staged and anything but spontaneous, SJP carries it off like a pro. 

She greets the quirky interviewer at the door with a smile and proceeds to tour us around the first floor rooms while answering his 73 questions. She floats through the house graciously asking the interviewer if she can get him something to drink, skipping around to answer the phone and being the general picture of effervescence that we have come to know her as. 

Remember on Sex and the City when Carrie was preparing for her wedding to Mr. Big and she is reading the collection from the library of the love letters of great men, and she opens the pages to smell them? I always thought SJP was channelling a bit of herself in that scene and now I have proof: she adores books. There are books everywhere in her family room, stuffed into the shelves like multicolored confetti. 

They brim off the shelves onto the floor of a space that may have been a dining room, save for the fact that there is a large, white ping pong table in the center of the room. Whimsical. The books abound. The huge dictionary sits above a collection of encased baseballs. The family room walls are an old world hue of grass green and there is an antique looking bar cart that's filled with spirits and glassware. 

In the parlor which faces the street, there is a humble upright piano with an orchid, what seems like an eclectic and lovely collection of art and lots of natural light. Also the carpet runner on the stairs is an eye-catcher. 

Favorite parts? The look she gives her interviewer as she answers the question, "Flats or Heels?" and when she says the weirdest word in the English language. If you want to know what it is, you'll have to click here for the full interview. "Best way to decompress?" he asks. She says, "With a book." Well said. Get off the internet!

http://video.vogue.com/watch/vogue-diaries-73-questions-with-sarah-jessica-parker

*all photos from Vogue.com

    

What's Your Focus: Time Elapsed or Time Remaining?

“Our ability to measure and apportion time affords an almost endless source of comfort.” 
― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

There's not a lot to do when you're at the gym on the elliptical and you've decided to turn off the video monitor and tune out the news. After the umpteenth sensationalized "news" story about the ill-fated Malaysian airliner that went missing -- and no new information whatsoever (how is this still called news?), off went the video. Just couldn't bother to look at it any more.

So my eyes drifted to the dashboard of my gym equipment. To the left was the upwardly ticking time count of time elapsed. It was a boost to see the minutes passing, knowing the longer I stayed with it the better my heart was pumping and the closer I was to reaching my goal. After a while it got boring. I wanted to know how much time I had left until my body and mind could get on with the rest of my day -- so I could get started on other things.

What is your focus? Do you usually cast your eye on the past -- what has elapsed -- or toward the future -- the time left? Which perspective is more beneficial? Or are they both of equal value?
Is it possible to be squarely in the middle, or as wise people often say, in the present moment?

I then started looking at the right side of the monitor and found another counter, another mechanism to measure and apportion time as Mr. Yates so eloquently put it, which was distance traveled. You have three choices for how you want this information delivered to you: total strides / strides per minute / total distance in miles. I decided I prefer watching the last digit on total strides taken. Watching it skip predictably by twos from 0 to 2 to 4 to 6 to 8 and back to zero. Just the predictable monotony of knowing there was forward progress, without enough information to really be aware of just how much progress was being made.

I haven't worn a watch for three years. It's liberating mostly but also maddening at times. I however am rarely late and usually early, thanks to my iPhone. I measure and apportion time by the seasons, by daylight, by regular routines of my day and my family's day, by my handwritten calendar, and by the alarms that go off in my life to remind me to go places and be places. The forward moving pressure of expectation is comforting in that expectation can indicate routines: things to look forward to and to anticipate. But it all shifts, I imagine, when you find yourself in the middle of some wonderful thing you don't want to end and you feel you are losing time (I don't mean to say that I wanted the workout to never end of course, you know what I mean). As always, it's a matter of perspective.

As I move further into my 40s, I have to admit at times the horizon in front of me seems a bit more abbreviated. There's more behind me than may be ahead. But honestly, unless it is the impetus for living life right now more fully, what good is it to have shadowy guesses about how much more time one has left? If the past decade has taught me nothing else, it's shown me no one knows how much time is left.

So these are the deep thoughts one can find floating through their mind when they have the courage to turn off the tube and the yammering yahoos on it, collect their thoughts, think, or let their mind drift. My heart was beating and my body was moving. Blood was pumping and lungs working. I wasn't going anywhere in particular but into my own thoughts. But it felt good to be there.

By the way, if you want to read a metered, measured, spartan but weighty and brilliant novel both structurally and content wise, please pick up Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. It really is a masterful work. You can even listen to it on audio, on the elliptical, narrated by the amazing Mark Bramhall.

Downton Abbey Inspired Wall Paint Palette - Using Existing Paint Chips

I know I'm not the only one who adores the sets of the show Downton Abbey. I dug around into my paint chip collection to come up with a palette inspired by some of the most indelible imagery from this much loved series, then paired key colors with new names that correspond accordingly. The names I created are in bold, the paint's actual name (and sometimes number) are two lines down. 

See if you can remember scenes from the show that served as the inspiration for some of the names! Most of these are from Martha Stewart's Signature collection, with a few by Ralph Lauren and Benjamin Moore thrown in for good measure. Remember that until you're either holding the paint chip in hand or it is actually dry on the wall you won't see its true saturation and hue, but these are some approximations and all of the colors are beautiful in their own right. Enjoy!

UPSTAIRS

Drawing Room Aqua

That clear, slightly aqua blue of the Grantham Drawing Room 

Sea Glass MSL129 / Beryl MSL088 / Bird’s Nest by Benjamin Moore 

The Drawing Room - photo credit: the blog of Lady Carnavon of Highclere Castle

Martha Stewart's "Beryl" MSL088

Martha Stewart's "Sea Glass" MSL129

The Grantham Drawing Room

Mary’s Engagement Dress

The deep berry hue of Mary's special dress

Miso MSL028

              The Snowglobe Engagement - photo credit: Entertainment Weekly

                                                          

Lavinia’s Death Bed Rust

The coppery rust tones of the bedroom Lavinia died in

Cayenne MSL016 / Potpourri MSL045

Isobel’s Sitting Room

The gorgeous powder blue of Isobel's Parlor

Palladian Blue HC-144 by Benjamin Moore / Blue Serge 8260 Martha Stewart Signature / Sherwin Wiliams

Isobel Crawley's Parlor 

Falling Petal Green 

The wall color behind the falling flower petal in the opening credit montage

Hummingbird Blue MSL135

The famous falling petal from the opening sequence

Dining Room Yellow
The honey toned yellow of the dining room at Downton
Yellow Gerbera MSL062
Madeleine - Martha Stewart Signature 8166
Cinquefoil - Martha Stewart Signature 8161
Jeckyll Crane Cottage Yellow 3005-8B (Lowe's National Trust for Historic Preservation Collection)

The Dining Room

 

Lady Mary’s Bedroom

The red of the red and white floral walls of Mary's room

Sealing Wax MSL022 by Martha Stewart Signature / Sherwin Williams 

Duneagle Bottle Green

The dark green of Shrimpy's Tartans

Avocado Peel MSL140 / Chard MSL112

Shrimpy's Tartans at Duneagle - photo credit: dailymail.co.uk

Stalking Tweeds

The Grey-Browns of Shooting Clothing in Duneagle

Thunderhead MSL238

Going Through

The color of the red carpeting in the hallways of Downton

Barn MSL026

Crimson at the train station - photo credit: dailymail.co.uk

Christmas Greenery

Decor on the banister of the staircase

Holly Leaf MSL139

Cora's Coral

A shell pink inspired by Cora's name

Light Sandstone MSL044

Violet’s Blue Dress

A hue of one of Violet's many blue dresses

Darkening Sky MSL166

Cora’s Bedroom Powder Teal 

Backdropping Cora as she reads the paper each morning

Lady Grantham                

Rose’s Slate Blue Hat

Worn into town on Rose's secret errand to the post office

Blue Suede MSL164

Peacock Frock

Edith's London Affair 

Araucana Teal MSL136

 

Highclere Cream

Hues of the show's most important character

Malted MSL071

Guest Room at Duneagle

Cora's room where she agrees to take in Rose

Hollyhock Pink MSL007

Rose Quartz MSL008

Larkspur MSL009

Peony MSL013

Mesa Sunrise SF128 Ralph Lauren Safari Collection

 

Heath Green

Stalking Deer in Duneagle

Caper Berry MSL109
Sultana MSL101

 

Bowling Green

The lawn of the cricket match 

Lily Pad MSL108

Gaslight White

Getting used to electricity

Elderflower MSL030

Lampshade Pink

Those gorgeous beaded silk lampshades!

Wood Putty MSL034 / Butternut Squash MSL039

Out of Mourning Plum

Mary finally gets out of her mourning blacks

Plum Pudding MSL184 / Purple Agate MSL180

Redcoat

Named after the one worn by Lord Grantham as he gets his honorary military designation

Barn Red MSL004

 

Claret

The red wine Carson is always decanting before dinner

Claret MSL027 by Martha Stewart Signature / Sherwin Williams

Duneagle Landscapes 

DOWNSTAIRS

Jack Ross Jade

The sage green of the jazz club's drapery

Lemongrass MSL090

Jack Ross and his jazzy backdrop - photo credit: NY Post

Below Stairs Grey

Hues of somber servant work areas

Garden Shed MSL226

Anna's Something Blue

The color of Anna's wedding hat

Sherwin Williams Bosporus SW6503

Livery Gloves

"Don't Forget the Gloves," Mr. Molesly!

Vapor MSL169

Scullery Eggs

The shells of the many eggs on the scullery table

The Araucana Collection by Martha Stewart: inspired by the delicate colors of colored egg shells

            

                 

                  

In London for Rose's Ball