Designer

……………….VENICE……VENICE……VENICE……….What a MAGICAL CITY!!!!………Jac had been to Venice a few times for work…..Twice she did extravaganza fashion shows for Armani, and once for Frere……I had never been…..She said we must go to Venice! The first trip we took we called our “CANAL TRIP”…….First we spent a week in Venice, and then we spent a week in AMSTERDAM…….Two incredible cities built on canals…..and that was the only similar thing….On our first trip to Venice we stayed at the Danieli, an incredible 5 star hotel. We had a marvelous room on a high floor with a balcony overlooking the Grande Canal……It was splendid!….We walked all over Venice. We found a wonderful chocolate shop near the hotel which became one of our first stops of the day…..We spent a few hours on the glass blowing Island of Murano ,and watched them blowing the glass. It was in August so these furnace rooms were really hot!! We bought a gorgeous complete set of glasses, service for twelve, all were etched with grapes and vines. We used it once, and it remains packed away. It was just too delicate. I think we were carried away with Venice and Murano. We also bought three very thin glass decanters in different sizes, also beautifully etched with different designs. We both loved the movie “Summertime”, directed by David Lean, staring Katherine Hepburn and Rossano Brazzi, When we saw “The RED GOBBLET” like the one in the movie, in St Marks Square, we had to have it!….It is perched on an open shelf in the kitchen for all to see….On another day trip we went to the Island of Burano [photo second in from the top right]…where  the rainbow fell. Each house is painted a different beautiful color. The Island is know for its’ lace making….I’m pretty sure we bought a few table cloths of different sizes and shapes…..Then we went to the Island of Torcello which has a famous restaurant in a garden setting where we went for a marvelous lunch……On our second trip we stayed at the famous Gritti Hotel. Again, we had a beautiful corner room with a wonderful view. We did all of the tourist things….antique shopping, going to the incredible cathedral in St Marks Square, the Doge’s Palace, the historic Cafe Florian, the infamous Harry’s Bar. and in the evening we sat at one of the cafes in St Mark’s Square listening to the wonderful orchestras….sipping Campari and soda……Our trips to Venice are some of my most cherished memories.

……………………….I wanted to give you an update on the rings….Size 8 & 9 are sold out in STERLING SILVER…………and size 8 is SOLD OUT in the 18 Karat Gold plate. Many women have them in their cart, so there’s no time to waste if you would like one or two of these rings! Some are wearing them STACKED!!

…………………….There are many talented dancers on talent shows, and I do appreciate their accomplishments, but I don’t usually connect emotionally to them…….until I saw this young, just 12 year old boy dance on “America’s Got Talent”….I am sure the judges after seeing him come bouncing out to center stage, with tons of personality, and  that incredible infectious smile, thought OK cute…but what can he offer? He was asked who inspired him, and he immediately said his 80 YEAR OLD GRANDMOTHER! You could tell negative judgements were already being made by that answer…until he explained his grandmother takes FOUR DANCE CLASSES A WEEK!….When asked what his dance was about he went on to say that his dance was about a boy who builds himself a robot to be his friend….but then abandons the toy for a girl…….The end will break your heart…It was very emotional and touched everyone…..He was brilliant, and the judges all agreed he was the best dancer they had seen…..The audience absolutely loved Merrick….He captured their hearts!….Simon went so far as to say he wants the young man in a video!……Give yourselves a smile and watch this charming, extremely creative, and talented adorable young man! This young boy you must see!

……………………At first I thought…..”Do I really want to watch a program devoted to buffalos?”…….FOOLISH ME!………….Anything Ken Burns does is more than worth watching…….I can’t even describe in words how this movie affected me…..It confirmed to me how humans are the most destructive animals on this planet….nearly bringing the buffalos to the point of extinction……how RELATIVE FOR TODAY………but it also is a story about RESURECTION……..and how humans are capable of seeing their mistakes and doing something about it. There are so many actions people are taking today that this story can relate to…..so it has so much more meaning than just a story of buffalos…….but make no mistake….their story is so poignant that it fills your heart and lifts your soul………..I can’t recommend this film enough…….If you haven’t seen it….it’s a must!………….There is always so much visual and factual information in Ken Burns films, that for me, one viewing is never enough….I am going to sit and watch it again!

………………In the late 80’s Jac and I used to frequent the island of Bermuda……The owner of Anne Klein, Mr. Tamio Taki, owned a beautiful very modern home on a hill with incredible views of the Atlantic ocean. He offered the house to us when ever we wanted it……The mode of transportation for most people on the island were mopeds or motorized scooters…There were three of them at the house, and we took them exploring all over the island which isn’t very large………The air flight from NY to Bermuda was only three hours so it was very convenient. Jac and I stayed at Mr. Taki’s home a few times. He had a permanent staff consisting of a cook, and a woman who took care of the house, and a man who took care of the grounds and pool……The beaches of Bermuda are some of the most beautiful in the world! The pink sand beaches are like walking on talcum powder. They say the pink color comes from pulverized shells……The men wear blazers with shirts and ties, and BERMUDA SHORTS  with knee high socks and dress shoes to work and out to dinner…..so when in Rome, or in this case Bermuda….do as the Bermudians do….In both pictures we were going out to dinner……The island is very British, and somewhat formal…..The Palmetto bugs are HUGE and plentiful! We used to stuff towels under the doors at night so they couldn’t get into the bedroom!…..The island also has a huge FROG population, and at night you could hear them croaking!…..All in all Bermuda is a little gem situated in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and is a wonderful, and often overlooked place to vacation. We had great times in Bermuda!