For this installment of Away Things, I’m sharing the fun, fast hour we spent last weekend at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas. This outdoor museum is not only sassy, it’s also surprisingly beautiful. There’s just something irresistible about these out-to-pasture remnants of Viva Las Vegas. Also known as the Neon Boneyard, the museum features [...]
Category Archives: Style
AT: Neon Museum Las Vegas
Glamping at Home
Before we move too far into the new year, I wanted to share our holiday adventure glamping at home. Glamping—or glamorous camping—usually happens in a picturesque location and is facilitated by adventure travel companies who set up a safari-like tent with all the comforts of home. The tents are commonly made of canvas and outfitted [...]
Friday Things: Saying Goodbye to Old Cars
Early this morning we said farewell to a member of the family fleet. We bought this used Audi A6 when Claire was in high school. She wanted something cooler to drive than the family mini-van or M.J.’s dented Camry. But fourteen years later (and probably close to 150,000 miles–the odometer broke some time ago) the [...]
FOG Design+Art 2015
As promised, the second annual FOG Design+Art fair is FUN. I attended the opening gala last night and was thoroughly entertained by both the furniture and fine art as well as the artfully dressed crowd. True confession: this was my first art fair (though I’d read this helpful primer beforehand) so I can’t really weigh [...]
Winter Tablescape
Every December I’m itching to throw a dinner party–and never do. I want to entertain because my house is spiffed up and holiday gatherings have reminded me how much I want to keep in touch with old friends. But by the time I get around to organizing something my calendar and everyone else’s is pretty [...]
Friday Things: Wordplay
Like many this time of year, I’ve been indulging in some personal wordplay. I’ve forgone New Year’s resolutions and instead chosen a single word to focus my intentions for the year. Last year, knowing that a move was in store, I chose Brave as my guiding word. Finding, buying and remodeling a new house [...]
My Favorite Things in 2014
This was a busier than usual holiday season with all the kids and spouses (and a new fiance!) home. So I’m just now taking a few moments to ponder some favorite things from 2014. Perhaps you too are finding this Friday more about retrospection than resolutions. If so, you might also be thinking about some [...]
Travel Gift Ideas
Every year for Christmas my eight siblings and their spouses draw names for gift giving around a particular theme. Some years the themes have been practical – “emergency supplies” or “favorite cooking tools,” for example. Other years we’ve shopped for entertainment items like an Oscar-winning movie from the year the recipient graduated from high school–which [...]
Friday Things: The Early December Edition
I love the early days of December when everything seems possible, don’t you? The Christmas carols that irritated me in stores two weeks ago seem festive now. Spending time in the kitchen making artful cookies is creative fun. Dressing up to go out with friends feels like a treat. And I’m confidant that somehow [...]
Thoroughly Modern Amish Quilts
Amish quilts had a heyday in the ’80s and ’90s. Their bold colors and graphic patterns worked well with contemporary interiors and evoked the rural Amish lifestyle that was portrayed so appealingly in Peter Weir’s thriller “Witness” and Sue Bender’s bestseller “Plain and Simple: A Woman’s Journey to the Amish.” In an age of increased [...]