the home tour and a royal wedding

The excitement is building for three extra special events…

First of all the countdown has now officially begun

for the Newport Harbor Home Tour

on May 17^th…

There will be six amazing homes featured this year,

as well as one boat!

Tickets are still available for this fun event,

but they do sell out every year,

so get your ticket now,

if you’re able to go!

Raili Clasen, one of our favorite local designers and home tour favorite will have another one of her amazing designs showcased this year!

Home tour day starts off at the exclusive

Balboa Bay Resort

where a light breakfast will be served.

Lunch  will later be catered by Plum’s Restaurant…

And then Barclay Butera hosts a super fun

after-party at his Newport showroom.

You won’t want to miss this fun day!

And just two days later…

the wedding of the year will be taking place…

Prince Harry will marry American actress Meghan Markle.

This outfit that Meghan wore yesterday

has been all the buzz today.

I especially love her black and white striped

Oroton cross-body bag!

We were just talking stripes yesterday…

Kate Middleton is due to deliver

her third royal baby any second now!

I’m officially on royal baby watch now!

And coincidentally,

the Meghan Markle bio by Andrew Morton

 just came out and luckily I had preordered it,

so it just showed up on my doorstep!

I’m off now to dive into this book and

get the whole scoop on Meghan.

 ciao! fabiana

black and white stripes forever

Another one of my favorite classic combos…

black and white stripes!

Use them on a table,

for a formal or casual gathering.

It’s a traditional look with modern flair!

A little,

or

a lot…

It’s always a showstopper,

as in this wallpaper in my friend

Marion's kitchen.  

Outdoors this look can’t be beat…

It’s so versatile too!

These stripes can come off as too funky or edgy,

but they can actually bring balance to a room.

The perfect yin and yang!

 ciao! fabiana

photo credit:

1, 2  BH&G

3  Martha Stewart Weddings

7  Opal DC

8  Architectural Digest

9  NY Times

10  Woman's Day

11  House Beautiful

12, 13  Lido Marina Village

15 Domaine

inspiration: blue and white in the garden

It’s been so nice out,

that I’ve spent the last two days out in the garden.

I’m so happy it’s spring…

because my garden's really calling out to me!

After a stop at Roger’s Gardens to pick up some lavender,

I was super inspired by their centerpiece display of 

blue and white porcelain in their front garden bed.

It’s such an elegant and timeless look.

I have several of these ceramic jardinières

and four of them are currently unspoken for…

so I plan on incorporating them into

my heavenly lavender garden plan!

I especially love how they look with

blue, pink, and white flowers.

Of course this look isn’t new.

Carolyne Roehm has been doing it for years.

And so has Mary McDonald...

Wow!  And so iconic!

Well, my garden is currently a work in progress.

I just finished plated a dozen new lavender plants

all around my garden shed.

inspiration 

Mostly I planted several tall and wispy English lavender,
but Roger’s also had the most amazing Spanish lavender 
called The Princess Lavender.

It’s a stunning a pinky-purple color that I couldn’t resist. It's smaller and I found just the right spot for it, so I'll share photos of my garden soon, after I mulch and clean up a bit!

 ciao! fabiana

other photos courtesy of  The Quintessence Blog, 

Carolyne Roehm & Mary McDonald

dreaming of lilacs

Lilacs are oftentimes considered one of the first signals of spring. Having grown up on the east coast, I have a deep-seated affection for lilacs. They have truly the most magic aland intoxicating fragrance in the world. In southern California, with all the amazing plants we can grow, lilacs don’t seem to be a favorite of this climate.

The house I grew up in had a 100 foot long lilac hedge that divided our yard from our next door neighbors’. Each individual plant was just a tiny seedling when my father planted this hedgerow, and year after year, it quickly grew to an amazing treat for our eyes and noses. And luckily for me, my bedroom window was just above this luxurious shrubbery.   

So, whenever I see bouquets of lilacs for sale, the first thing I do is smell them. If they have even the slightest scent, then yes, they’re coming home with me!  They just fill the whole house with the aroma of home, childhood and love!

I love that purple lilacs symbolize the first emotions of love, while white lilacs represent youthful innocence. Don’t you love the language of flowers?

What’s your favorite spring flower?

By the way,

I haven’t found any lilacs yet this year,

but after seeing these images,

I’m on a mission!

and you'll be the first to know when I find some!

💜

“I've not much interest in the important things of life. Only in the beautiful things. Just this lilac here makes me happy.”     ―Erich Maria Remarque

ciao,  fabiana

photo credit:

Country Gardens

Living the Country Life

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