Joyeux Noël Et Bonne Année!

Paris bound and I shall return the first week in January. Likely to be bleary eyed and limp tailed but, home and happy nonetheless...XXOO

Signing Off...

Babe's officially on vacation as of sometime today, Emma arrived home from Australia late last night and festivities and packing beckon. Sooo, it's time for me to bid adieu til January 3rd. Maaaybeee the 4th...

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Or shall I say, très Joyeux Noël et bonne année...

Kindness of everyone for tuning in this past year. I am extremely grateful for all the support and friendship...XXOO

*My Martha Stewart gingerbread manse from back in the day. Next year, I promise...

Oysters Medford

I was honored to have my father's Oysters Medford featured on Nest by Tamara's Recipe Trading Party this week and thought I'd roll it out again for ya'll just in the nick o' time for Christmas entertaining...

Oysters Medford
(as many as your li'l ole heart desires)

pint (or more if you're lucky) of Chincoteague oysters
sliced, organic bacon
block of well aged white cheddar
clean, reserved oyster shells

Cook bacon slices til just done. Transfer to paper towel lined plates for draining and slight cooling. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with foil and cover with the oyster shells, face up. Place an oyster in each shell topping with a pinched off inch or 2 of the bacon. Finish with a butter slice sized piece of the white cheddar. Place baking sheet in preheated oven and bake, watching veeery closely, til just bubbly. Serve immediately with a flute of très chilled Champers. Personal preference being Veuve Clicquot Rosé. Bottoms up! Referring to the oysters, natch...

Kindness of Nest byTamara for including moi in her holiday guest recipe series. And, my Dad who I can count on for beaucoup oyster apps of every sort throughout the holidays...XXOO

Stocking Series: Southern Gent

Remember having that one friend who got all the best loot on Christmas and being at their front door as soon as it was socially acceptable to play? Well, Southern Gent sooo would've been that friend for me...

Dixie Patches Oyster Cracker Cuff Links: The briny liquor of the oyster, the spicy cocktail sauce, the tart squeeze of lemon on a salty cracker is a taste that always reminds me of New Orleans wherever I am. So for those months without an “r” in them, this is the perfect visual reminder of a culinary taste of home...

Big Buck Hunter Video Game: This doesn’t require a game console and hooks directly into the TV, so while the box may not fit into my stocking, I’m sure it will bring a smile to my face to see the orange and green of the shotguns sticking out the top on Christmas morning...

Monogrammed Tervis Tumbler: I need another Tervis like I need another hole in my head, but I can’t help but think how festive it would be to have one with a red monogram, filled with ice, eggnog and a generous shot or two of bourbon during the Christmas season...

1959 Land Rover Series II Model 109: We are dreaming right? Well, as long as we are, y’all can throw the key to this rig right into the bottom of the stocking my grandmother knitted for me years ago. It makes sense; they are both old (I’m talking about the stocking and Rover, not my grandmother), classic in design and will last a lifetime if cared for properly...

Students First: Living in Washington, DC I’ve had the unique opportunity to see the positive and sometimes controversial impact of Michelle Rhee’s vision for education reform and what it can do to improve our school system. DC’s loss of Rhee as chancellor is everyone’s gain since she has launched “Students First”; a non-profit organization whose mission is focus on education reform that makes the tough decisions so that America’s children can get a world class education through the public school system.

Education is the greatest gift we can give our children and through Rhee’s program you can support reform that is making a difference...

Here's where I slip in after Santa, hang a needlepoint camo stocking next to the one Southern Gent's grandmother knitted for him, stuff a few goodies in myself like these Col. Littleton embossed Leather Can Caddies and, then sneak in a right quick game of Big Buck Hunter...

A li'l Ed's Red Hot Sauce condiment to go with those cuff links annnd the bushel of Chincoteague oysters I left at his back door...

And, The Cordial Churchman's Velvet Freestyle Bow Tie for donning Christmas morn. No one's gonna hassle a velvet bow tie wearing, orange plastic shot gun toting, Country Prep no matter how many shots of bourbon he decides to put in his eggnog...

Then, in a très Grinch like move, I carefully re wrap the Big Buck Hunter game, tuck the Shot Gun Shell light set Southern Gent had strung across his mantel into my sack for myself and skedaddle...

Kindness of Southern Gent who who will forgive my rudeness for knocking on his door bright and early Christmas morning asking if he wants to play...XXOO

Stocking Series: Love List Jessica

I think next year I just may knock out myself as the middle man and ask Santa to consult with Jessica from The Love List on what needs to be under my tree...

For stuffing a chic little stocking, I'd definitely take care to include these très cute Ikat Mini Bowls from Anthropologie. I have a few in my studio for holding paperclips and business cards, but they could be used in a kitchen as little dip bowls or on the nightstand to hold jewelry. For only $8.00 a pop, you can afford a set for yourself and a friend...

If you're looking to get a bit more spendy, may I suggest a Harry Allen Piggy Bank? Aside from the fact that they are super chic, I love that they can be gifted just as easily to your favorite penny pincher, foodie friend (it's cast from a suckling pig, after all), or interiors aesthete. I picked one up at Calypso in Palm Beach this past summer and the compliments just keep coming!

If the sky's the limit, I'd ask Santa to tuck a certificate of ownership for a gallery-size work by John Currin, Damien Hirst, or Cecily Brown in my stocking. Something I can decorate around, be inspired by, and pass onto my children. I'm a lifetime fan of all three artists, so I'll let Santa surprise me, since he's being so generous...

If my pockets had no bottom, I'd pour my funds into honest, independent animal rescues like my friend Carole's in Palm Beach County. This year alone, she rescued half the neglected lab puppies used and then discarded for the movie Marley & Me. The work these people do can be so thankless and tough that I'd like to see it get some more lovin' from our collective pocketbooks...

ps...This 9 month old male long haired dachshund Peanut happens to be available for adoption right now!

Well, besides finding that love bug Peanut a good home, I'd like to smuggle a few more treaties into Ms. Jessica's stocking. And, I would've splurged for the Vie Luxe St. Moritz Three Wick candle but, since it's sold out all over creation I'll have to settle for the Deluxe size...

Tiffany's sterling Monkey Straw for stylishly sipping the case of Veuve Clicquot piccolos I also managed to slip under your tree...

And, the only Cecily Brown within my current budget, her Carnival And Lent puzzle. No insurance required...

Kindness of Love List Jessica for not only providing me with a fabulous stocking list but, for also doing it in record time. Good taste, efficiency annnd an animal soul? Now, THAT's a girl after my own heart...XXOO

Stocking Interruptus...

Just a momentary interruption in our regularly scheduled Stocking Series for some under the gun puffer shopping...

As soon as this illustration came over my Crackberry late Wednesday night from Pigtown Design Meg, I realized my North Face puffer wasn't gonna cut the Paris mustard. I hastily shot off an urgent email reminder to myself for the morning. The message simply read, Searle...

Sooo, 48 hours later and I've narrowed my choices down to the Searle Rabbit Trimmed Down-Filled Coat in black minus the horrid belt and belt loops which would immediately be tossed and chopped...

And, the Searle 3/4 Length Pillow Collar Down Coat in black (not pic'd). The clock is ticking but, my objective good eye is across the pond operating on only 2 hours of sleep so, it's time to call in the backup big guns. Kimbaaaa...Amyyy...

Kindness of Meg for snapping me outta my boot reverie and getting my mind fully back in the packing warmly for Paris game while I still have a fighting chance with shipping...XXOO

Stocking Series: Ye Ole Maxminimus

I tease Maxminimus an awful lot but, he truly is one of this blogs best buds. Besides, I maaay or may not secretly revel in being the li'l sister to the BMOC. Thank goodness li'l sisters don't have to spring for the stockings of big brother's with this these tastes!

The Great Gatsby: First Edition, first printing, with the impossible to find original dust jacket. But that’s only HALF of it!

It’s inscribed to Tommy Hitchcock, WWI hero, South Carolina born Polo great and whose persona and swagger was used loosely to characterize Gatsby nemesis Tom Buchanan. A bargain at…US$ 750,000.00

1976 Farrah Fawcett Poster. This poster sold almost 12 million copies but there was one little boy who didn’t have one. That would be me. My mama wouldn’t let me have one because, as LFG would say, her “niblets” are showing...$10.00

The key to a 1987 Mercedes 560SL
The SL body design went “Disco” in 1990. The last year they looked nice was 1989 and with a V-8 engine, these little babies can climb a tree if you axk it nicely...

A 560SL in good condition: $15,000.00-$20,000.00

My company sponsors one terminally ill child each year through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. These terminally ill children get the opportunity to realize their lifelong dream, often amid circumstances that assure that they won’t have too many opportunities for anything else—dream or reality. So my fantasy charity would be one that would negate the need for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. My charity (you said it could be a fantasy) would be one that would successfully eradicate terminal illnesses in those most vulnerable…our children.

Now, as architect of this blog, I have the authority to slip a couple of items into the stocking of my guest. And, I just happen to know that Maxminimus has been dying for another Wiley Brothers Hoof Pick belt. He'll do anything for a cheap groping at airport security...

Rolled up together, and tied with a blackwatch plaid ribbon, is the above pattern and 18" mesh canvas for making his coveted Masonic needlepoint slippers. Hanging from the ribbon is a cellophane bag containing all the Trio thread needed and a note, from moi, promising to do all the needlework...

Kindness of Maxminimus for putting his post together at the eleventh hour when I know he was quite busy at work making the dough to fund his Belgian Empire. Now, whatcha plan gettin your favorite sister for Christmas Bub? XXOO

Stocking Series: Moi

I've asked a few of the usual suspects and taste makers around the hood to dream up a several items they'd like to see stuffed in their stockings come Christmas morn. And, I've decided to kick the series off with my own li'l Pierre Deux stocking wish list...

If I had Cooks Illustrated's highly recommended Cooper-Atkins 24HP Oven Thermometer then, just maaaybe I'd be able to hang up my alchemist apron and cook in this beach house oven without everything ending in ruin...

I have received one too many emails warning me of the frigid Paris weather this time of year so I have ditched my campaign to build a chic travel wardrobe and have relaunched one centered around warmth. Out with the bespoke blazers and in with Patagonia's Midweight Ski Socks for under my Blundstones...

Better throw in a pair of the Ultra Heavyweights too. If these babies were able to keep my piggies warm on the slopes of Mont Tremblant, then the Rues of Paris should be a piece of cake...

I'd like Daniel Tammet's Embracing The Wide Sky on CD so that Babe and I may listen to it together in the car. Aaactuallyyy...what I'd really like is to be able to download it on a brand new iPad to have for our looming travel...

I add an ornament or two to my collection every Christmas and this year I'd like either MacKenzie-Child's Fox glass ornament...

Or the Courtly Check Owl...

As my twitter friend @girltuesday so eloquently put it, I hope that orange pony's pulling Santa's sleigh again this year! Annnd, I hope he's packed an Hermès Cape Cod Double-tour Watch in his sack...

But, nothing would make me happier than finding a receipt tucked into my stocking from Urban Promise for each and every item on their Alternative Christmas Wish List...

Kindness of Santa Babe who is having his gift giving deadline extended into our holiday abroad. But, if the mood happens to strike ya while in the Tokyo airport next week, please don't let me dictate your timeline...XXOO

Sportswoman's Christmas

EAS of Let the Tide blog once jokingly told me they should have added a chapter in True Prep for us Prep Hicks. That's correct EAS. It should follow an additional one on Parisienne Preps and that way we'd have all our Hermes scarf wearin redneck bases covered...

And, 'tis the season for my true prep hickness to shine. I rounded up these shotgun shells after a dove hunt one year and hustled them home to make Christmas tree ornaments...

All it took was some (as in, I'm not versed in tool talk) sharp tool I grabbed from the tool box, handsome grosgrain ribbon, et voilà...

My expansive collection of hunting and fishing themed ornaments could outfit the White House Christmas tree, if ever they should decide to go that route...

All of my beloved beasties are in doggie heaven but, I still honor them each year with the tree I made them. Missing Milk Bone on lower right hand branch courtesy of Ginger, my late English Pointer...

Milk Bone dog biscuits, a li'l raffia and a tartan bow tie. Annnd, a shelf life of nearly 15 years and counting...

Pshaw! Stars atop the Christmas tree are so pedestrian. I much prefer my gold gilded antlers...

A bit of florist wire and a lot of patience. Although, I do recommend securing the tree to the ceiling and closest wall with some fishing wire. Otherwise, if that thing were to topple it could be ugly...

And, in the spirit of preppy hickness, I'm stuffing these Smathers and Branson Pheasant Needlepoint Coasters into EAS's virtual stocking...

And, slipping this Stubbs & Wootton Needlepoint Camo Duffle under her virtual tree. Not to worry though, cuz I'm leaving plenty of room for orange boxes...

Kindness of Babe who will please, please, puuuhleeeze figure out why my computer's not communicating with my scanner this weekend before he jets off to Tokyo so I can share the pics of my Martha Stewart Gingerbread Manse. I have no aspirations of becoming a Tech Prep...XXOO

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig...

Mummy's taking a day to recoup after making the 10 plus hour drive home from Kiawah, SC by herself. Daddy gave her the short end of the travel stick when he decided at the last minute to fly to NYC from Charleston...

But, he made up for it by buying her a li'l something at Ralph Lauren annnd the bowl she was eying at her favorite King Street antiques store...

Mummy thought it would be perfect for holding Christmas cards but, I think it better suited as a nap nest..

Kindness of Daddy, Kimba and Bryan for rallying after competing in a très wet, cold half marathon to take Mummy into Charleston to try and cheer her up since she had been sidelined by her injury. Mummy would've gladly traded all the loot just to be able to run with ya'll...XXOO