Happy Thanksgiving!

This was quite possibly the best Thanksgiving ever. The weather cooperated beautifully so that we could set the table outside under the wisteria arbor. The company...family, friends, extended family...was brilliant, warm, funny and full of the spirit of the day. The wines... oh the wines they flowed... and the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, sweet potatoes in orange shells, even the broccoli... perfection this year. The dessert table overflowing with pies and confections of every kind.. 

Hoping your Thanksgiving was just as wonderful in every way!

the table was set using old French linen sheets covering the picnic tables...
one of our lovely guests created this casually elegant tabletop... using things found
in the garden and around the house...

no one enjoyed our Thanksgiving more than Scooter in the lead, then little Peanut,
followed in the rear by our Nicky!

I'm linking to Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday!

I wish for you the happiest of Thanksgivings!

thank you for visiting...   Kit

The Arizona Garden at Stanford

Early on the Sunday morning after Thanksgiving... the last big platter washed and put away, the last airport run and family goodbyes...maybe just one more taste of pumpkin pie...then an early hike through the Stanford University campus, just to get the cobwebs out and shake it up a bit after too much time sitting, visiting, laughing, eating and drinking.

Still, I have lived four miles from Stanford for almost 17 years now, and I never even knew about the Arizona Garden.  What a surprise! We were walking in the early morning mist with Nicky running free under the olive orchard, the eucalyptus forest and the majestic oaks... when we came upon the most startling and beautifully haunting garden setting.

Designed and planted over a hundred years ago, the garden was for the Stanford family home. It is home to hundreds of varieties of desert plants, and has a friendly, meandering pathway throughout. Nothing is labelled; it was clearly a labor of love and not meant to instruct. It is masterful in that. We spent easily 45 minutes completely alone exploring every square inch... and Nicky was happiest of all, playing hide and seek with us and peek-a-boo darting around the succulent plants. 

Returning home, I of course googled the garden and found that the Arizona Garden had fallen into disrepair for half a century and is now being slowly restored by local volunteers.  I learned that few others in the area know about this hidden treasure. If you live near here, you should definitely make a visit. 

happy day to you, and thanks for visiting!   Kit

Rustic Mirrors of Chic Provence

Hoping you are having a wonderful Friday as we here in America begin preparations for the most American of all holidays next week:  Thanksgiving!! We love this holiday because it's our longest stretch of time without work when we can spend hours and hours together as a family making a complete wreck of the kitchen while we prepare the feast of all feasts! 

As soon as I have my table design ready and the menu, I will certainly post pictures here for your enjoyment! In the meantime, I LOVE this collection of rustic mirrors I found at auction in Paris next month... what do you think? They are not elegant, but they each possess a quality that I find endearing... old, found and venerable...I especially like the unusual square sun, and then last one, the more contemporary round in oxidyzed glass..

Have a great weekend!

XVIII Italian "sun" mirror in unusual square shape.. LOVE!

small wood and gilded stucco mirror from the beginning of Louis XV

Provençal mirror from XVII in carved natural wood

beautiful mirror in wood with ogee arched pediment from
the reign of Louis XV

contemporary convex mirror in oxidized glass by Christophe Gaignon

thanks for visiting!   Kit

Vaison, Early Spring...

...and the roses are blooming against the stone wall next to the blue shutters... another beautiful day in Provence! We are excited to be busy planning a new Chic Provence Design Tour 2013 and will announce details soon! Stay tuned..

hope your weekend is going beautifully!...   Kit

{photo Chris in Provence}