Finding L’Amour at Sisley NYC!

We had such fun at our PreCupid beauty event last Thursday at Sisley’s gorgeous  new spa/atelier at 343 Bleeker St. in the west village! I chose a 1960’s theme very much inspired by the new version of the Gigi play that will be opening on Broadway next month! My floral print “Blossomtime” is a natural paired with their illustration!

The Sisley Paris USA team there is so warm and welcoming! It was such a pleasure to meet them all! We got spoiled with mini facials, inspired makeup, bubbly, macarons, and savoury snacks! Here’s Pam on the right.

Even my poodle BV was allowed to attend! Here she’s wearing a coat made with my Bon Vivant Paris map fabric and sporting a Vday rose! Speaking of roses Charline and I had the idea of doing a drawing to give away a free facial and Sisley’s new Black Rose Face mask and Black Rose Face Oil. We put it all in a box with the same red Paris map print on it. Amanda was the lucky winner!

Here are lovely friends Barbara and Patty after their luxurious mini facials and glamorous 1960’s makeup application!

This was my amazing gift for bringing my friends to Sisley for an event! They also gave me a facial a week before the event and Paolo did an incredible job doing my makeup for 7th Heaven Design! How’s that for generous? Many Thanks again to Charline and her team for everything! Merci Beacoup!

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Our Jewelry and Fabric Party!

Last night my new friend Rita Holcberg and I had our first trunk show/reception at my apartment on Mercer Street! She working with emmerging artisans in Italy and Israel. Here you can see some of their unique creations..

They use such an interesting mix of citrine, jade, garnet, and many other jewels!

To get us all in the Halloween spirit I showed my Spooks and Spies fabrics and some products made with them! Jane Fried Sheinfeld made up a couple of cute pillows featuring my “Agent Corgi” and “Can’t Mask it” prints. I’m already filling several orders!

Here my friend Renee sports my big, puffy, “Pharell” witch hat that I made by sewing a patchwork of my “Spyder-webs” fabrics & oversized black buttons on top of an inexpensive hat from the party store!

Many thanks to our friends like Iveline (above) who came and made the event such a success! To those who couldn’t make it we hope to see you at the next one!

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Anglophile & Francophile Holiday!

When Marty decided he’d like to spend his birthday in London and Paris he didn’t have to twist my arm too hard! One of the reasons we chose the San Pancras Renaissance Hotel was because it is next to the Eurostar station, another was we kept hearing about how amazing the restoration was..

Here’s Marty out in front of George Gilbert Scott’s Victorian Gothic masterpiece! His first present was a stuffed corgi with a spy hat (handmade by Leohat)! Our last Halloween party “Spooks and Spies” has inspired a new Brit-loving print collection!

Here’s a shot of the Gilbert Scott Bar – which quickly became our favorite morning spot!

Hard not to swoon over these lovingly repainted ceilings and fabulous bell shades..

Here is the Gilbert Scott restaurant – we learned from our tour guide that the ceiling which looks like plaster is actually iron!

For some contrast we headed to South London to Aquashard (in The Shard) for a very special lunch with an amazing view from the 31st floor!

When you turn around and walk a bit in the other direction you get a great view of London Bridge (with funky modern sculptures like that big black egg)!

While we were in South London Marty and I also saw a wonderful exhibit at the Fashion Textile Museum called Artists’ Textiles 1940-1976 organized by Geoffrey Rayner, Richard Chamberlain, and Annamarie Stapleton. The dress above was made with fabric by Joan Miro for Fuller Fabrics in New York. The shape is quite similar to a dress Ramona Ponce I created with one of my vintage inspired floral prints last year. The exhibit which also featured fabric prints by Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and many other talented designers ended there May 17th but a Frieda Kahlo show starts up June 6th..

Our next stop in that neighborhood was the London Eye!

It was Agent Corgi’s second mission but the hat wouldn’t stay on..

We loved the views from our London Eye bubble..

including the Houses of Parliment!

Marty got this shot as we were leaving and the clouds moved in..

Discovered this fabulous cheese place in Notting Hill called La Cave!

Since we were in transit we opted for the cheese macarons which mixed fruit gelee & fromage – brilliant!

Here’s Marty after a bit of sci fi shopping & “dodging the rain” lunch on Portobello Road.. Our great concierge Mathius at San Pancras helped us plot our path to Forbidden Planet through Bloomsbury!

Had to get over to Kensington to the V&A – “The Glamour of Italian Fashion” is terrific! Just walked into Knightsbridge and had to take cover at

Harrod’s of course!

I had forgotten how beautiful the tile in the food halls was!

And since we needed a bit of something to go with our cheese macarons what better excuse to find the Harrod’s champagne bar? They have their own bubbly made for them – here we show the regular and rose!

The next morning we were all off to Paris on the Eurostar!

We had such a good chat with the couple across from us who were moving to Paris – they took this shot of us with Agent Corgi!

When we arrived in Paris our poodle Bon Vivant (better known as BV) was waiting for us at the historic and whimsical hotel Saint James! We got the lovely boudoir room #501 which was perfect for a photo shoot to show off BV’s coat made with my “Bon Vivant” Paris map fabric print! If you would like a custom dog coat don’t hesitate to let us know. We have several fabric prints available upon request.

Another reason we chose Saint James is that it’s located in the 16th arrondisement within walking distance to the Eiffel Tower and L’Arc de Triomphe! We quickly unpacked and headed up Rue des Belles Feuilles..

I took this shot from the Palais de Chaillot, the gold statues flank The Museum of Man..

Marty took this shot looking straight up!

Serious renovation is taking place so that more viewers can be accomodated in enclosed glass spaces when the weather is cold and wet..

The frequent rain is often followed by vibrant sun like this.

Crossing the Seine to the right bank I got this vintage-like shot.

It’s always fun to see what’s new at Gallerie Lafayette including their newly opened home store Maison Lafayette

Here is the view from the top of the Pompidou Center (one of the few museums open on Monday). We saw an incredible exhibit of Henri Cartier Bresson’s work here!

And yes you can sometimes spot goats in the Tuilerie Gardens..

We were on our way to the Dries Van Noten show at Les Art Decoratifs and it is fantastic! It is really a textile designer’s dream and beautifully installed. The show is there until the end of August.

Our wonderful concierge Christian Garot at Saint James got us a reservation at Le Comptoir de Relais (many thanks to Robbie at Showoffs for telling me about it) which is almost impossible! The food was perfectly seasonal, superb and if you should try to book as soon as possible if you are visiting anytime soon. The restaurant Rech has been revived and updated by Alain Ducasse and if you like seafood – it’s a must!

After seeing the Dries exhibit we headed towards rue du Mail for some lunch at Chez Georges but they don’t serve past 2pm. Across the street we found this great cafe pictured above. I had the tartine of my life on fabulous bread with melted goat cheese and paper thin slices of pear and perfectly fresh batch of mixed greens! Since they were installing a new bar top the host sent around a glass of bubbly on the house – darn!

We continued down rue du Mail and checked out various high end decorator fabric houses and found some interesting furniture galleries as well.

Meanwhile AC and BV were scoping the 16th for unusual suspects..

Here they are happy to be back at the Saint James in the entry way of #501.

AC and BV love the Saint James honey cakes! They’re perfect for tea parties and picnics.

AC and BV kept begging to see the Eiffel tower. On our last morning was gorgeous so we each took one and headed over.

AC and BV were in a heavenly daze and completely distracted from their mission. The case continues here in New York..

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Rasberrry & Granola Hearts!

I just baked these “breakfast cookies” for my sweetheart! Modified a recipe that I found in a now vintage cookbook created by Cafe Beaujolais and they came out great! Here’s how:

Preheat Oven to 350

1/2 cup butter      2/3 cup brown sugar      1 egg     1 cup walnut oil     1 tsp. vanilla extract  1 tsp. cinnamon  1 tsp. ginger

Cream butter & sugar add egg, oil, and vanilla extract & spices

1 cup regular rolled oats   1 cup granola (I use Bola with almonds)  1 cup flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt

Add the above to the butter, egg, oil mix

Stir in 1 cup of fresh rasberries

Lightly grease Wilton heart shaped whoopie pie pans (Baker’s Joy spray works well)

Spoon batter in pans and bake for about 10 minutes, then turn the pan around & bake about 5 more minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean

Let cool in pan 10 – 15 minutes Press cooling rack on front of pan and flip over

Dust heart tops with red and white sugar – hope they last till breakfast!

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Spring Beauty Event at Space NK Soho!

Last night I hosted my first beauty event at Space NK in Soho! I’ve been a customer at this exceptionally curated retailer at 99 Greene St. for a little over a year now. I was so happy to learn that they would be willing to help me create a relaxing and inspiring experience for me and five of my friends! It all began with a lovely mini facial & peel from Kristyn Smith (above) using an amazing combination of ReVive and Nia24 products!

Next we were treated to having Tereza Hamadan one of Laura Mercier’s top makeup artists help us find new colors and products to enhance our features and put some freshness into the whole face!

Here you can see how Kristyn and Tereza enlivened Iveline Lau’s face (above right)! I’m so excited that Cynthia sin-yi Cheng (above left) could join us us as well. For pictures of Cynthia and friend Renee Goetz post facials and makeup follow paigestanleymiller on Instagram or Cpreppy on Twitter. Many Thanks to Claire Beevers and her entire staff for being so welcoming and generous! In addition to our purchases we were given goodie bags with samples and travel size cosmetics from Laura Mercier, ReVive, Nia24, Darphin, Terry, NaturaBisse, Ren, and Eve Lom! Now we are well on our way to being extra gorgeous for Valentine’s Day! OX

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All set for Christmas Dinner!

I discovered an interesting Ukrainian store across the street from the Russian Orthodox church in the East Village. There I found a cheery shawl large enough to become my holiday tablecloth! Just added a wreath, some roses and berries and my mother’s china.

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Sitting around our Tree!

I decided to take a cozy Russian approach to our Christmas theme this year. Found some these cheery pillows at Crate and Barrel and topped the tree with a peacock that I got at Bergdorf Goodman. We enjoyed many a warm evening here this holiday season!

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Russian Almond Rings – a new holiday treat!

Want to try an easy new shortbread/nut cookie that doesn’t have to be rolled out (quite frankly who’s got the time?).. I found this recipe in Darra Goldstein’s “Taste of Russia” originally published as “A la Russe”.

1 cup butter     1/2 cup sugar   2 small eggs  2 cups flour  1/2 tsp almond extract (I added this)

2 egg yolks, lightly beaten   1 cup finely chopped almonds  1/4 cup sugar (for use after dough is in the pan)

Fox Run Mini Donut pans

Baker’s Joy nonstick spray

Confectioner’s sugar

Cream butter and 1/2 the sugar until light & fluffy. Beat in the eggs, then stir in the flour. Mix well. Form into a ball and refrigerate for 1 hour or so.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Spray Mini Donut pan with Baker’s Joy. Twist bits of the dough in your hands to form tubes and press into pan – leave a little space so the cookie can expand.

With a pastry brush paint a thin coating of egg yolk on each one. Sprinkle with almonds and sugar.

Bake for about 12 minutes. Let cool in pan 5 minutes. Turn out onto cooling rack. Flip over and dust with confectioner’s sugar!

Enjoy – maybe with some Russian tea in a glass! I’ve bought the one from Le Palais des Thes & can’t wait to try it!

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Spooks and Spies Halloween!

Happy Day of the Dead! Last night we celebrated yet another Halloween in true stealth fashion! Above is a Curtis Jere black wire sculpture that Marty found at Adelaide in the west village. I had the idea to repurpose it by adding images of our favorite spys and my friend Renee suggested we might build a paper fire behind it in tissue!

My Mom was famous for her meringues and things Belgian are having a moment now in New York (the Magritte show at MOMA) so I had the idea of asking Sophie & her team at O Merveilleux to create some confections for us. Here you see the white, dark choclate, and speculous versions – with a few ghosts mixed in! They were scrumptious!

Here’s Jack Skellington in his fab fedora fashioned for us by Robin at LeoHat and..

armed and dangerous with eery gear and bird inspired lollies from Andie’s Candies from Dallas!

I decked out our tombstones and skulls accordingly..

and made a paper mod witch doll from that Chanel ad!

Spy Vs. Spy and Lily Munster took turns at the bar!

Upstairs became “Moscow on the Hudson” so to speak..

Complete with a black taped kraft pumpkin turned KGB scope – go Paige & Renee! Marty treated us to great tunes, video, and Boris & Natasha glasses. Marja Samson made and served her delectable dumplings too! Thanks to all our guests for helping us create a great evening! OX

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Taste of France!

Last Saturday Marty and I met up at Bryant Park to see the the French products promotional fair Taste of France! They inflated this hot air balloon by torching fire at the base of it – fantastique, non?

Chef Cruz pictured above won the french bulldog contest on Facebook and we caught up with him after he lead the bulldog parade!

Kind of a long day!

Another sweet Frenchie helped out the French Bulldog Rescue Network by letting folks kiss or photograph him for $1. In 2012 FBRN rescued, fostered, nutured back to health, and placed 281 French bulldogs. It is comprised solely of volunteers. For more info www.frenchbulldogrescue.com !

Under a large plastic bubble tent the President crew sculpted the Eiffel Tower in – you guessed it – butter!

I also got a chance to try the perfume created with essential oils especially for the event – lovely!

Many gathered to check out the ironwork being made over at the LMC Corp booth!

It was fascinating to watch such an ancient artisan craft that makes product like

this!

I remember Les Anis de Flavigny candies from growing up and it’s great to know they are still being made by Catherine Troubat and her 25 member team in France. For 15 days each green aniseed is patiently layered with liquid sugar and natural falvors..

They come in anise, orange, mint, liquorice, rose, and my favorite above violet! Do not bite! A bientot!

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