What's Black and White and goes all over?

Ok Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Vogue Living and every chic designer known to man...

We got the memo....

1 zebra rug on order for new Geneva home.

Thats one serious zebra..maybe he was on the roids?!

Love the look with a bold color.

That could have been a really tragic chair. Have no fear, zebra is here!

You know I would look uber tres chic rocking this skirt...Thats a whole Lotta Look.

The mixture of the ikat print chairs and the rug made me fall in love with this room.

Any Questions...

How could anybody leave this...

This is our old garden. We can only wish and hope and pray to the garden gods that the new owners of our family home, love and maintain this garden the way Mum did all those Springs, Summers and Falls...

Now....Our new garden, or should I say strip of gray grass?!

ok, close your eyes...imagine a Cottage Garden... screened porch with a rocking swing hanging from the ceiling, cobblestone winding paths with moss and thyme growing in between the rocks. Roses, hydrangeas, hostas, peony's, and lavender along the winding paths.

If anyone can make this happen...Mum can!! (and will!!!!)

This is what it should look like in a year...Mom get to work!!!

Lemonade

Well, Well...What do I say...

I'm back in the good old U.S. of A...and SINGLE. (Don't ask..lets just say with my PJ's still on, I hopped on a plane in the middle of the night)

Elsa and Mum are happy I'm back and Its SO good to be living under my roof. Freedom is relief, although I still don't have a job...so my shopping habit is STILL on hold.

I've spent the last month traveling around the Sunshine State with mum and Elsa on the ultimate road trip. Now we are back in the Chi trying to move our lives forward. Our family home that we built 18 years ago has a new family moving into it in March, so we are busy packing up or lives and starting a whole new one. Tears come and go, and we stop to look at old family photo's whenever we stumble upon them...oh how good we had it...and I took it all for granted. Thelma and Louise have been given TONS of lemons....so I guess we just need to make Lemonade! (maybe a lemon drop martini would be more appropriate)

Over the past few months Viv and I have traveled all over the place, and now that our travel days are over I thought I would compile a list like those you see in all the travel books. So here it goes:

COB's Top and Bottom list...

Favorite Hotel: Amsterdam

Favorite Hotel Room: Maldives

Favorite Restaurant: Laduree, Paris/ The Electric, London

Favorite Park: Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris

Favorite Tourist Spot: Eiffel Tower

Favorite Museum: Louvre, Paris. followed closely by Prado in Madrid

Favorite Cultural Festival: Gay Pride, Amsterdam

Favorite Shop: JUST TOO HARD!...Zara is always good.

Best Place to go Shopping: London, Portobello Market for antiques, Dubai for everything else.

Best People Watching: London, Hyde Park

Best Turn Down Service: Sheridan Dubai..they gave you a Date in a little box on your pillow every night.

Best Travel Book: TimeOut Shortlist series

Best Place to Take Pictures: Paris, on the Pont Alexandre III Bridge.

Cleanest City: Dubai

Nicest People: Maldives

Best Architectural Sights: Paris

Easiest City to get Around: London

Hardest City to get Around: Dubai

Best Food: London

Worst Food: Madrid

Best Pool: Dubai Sheridan

Favorite Street: Boulevard Saint Germain, Paris

Overall Favorite Place: Paris

Overall Least Favorite Place: Amsterdam

To kiss or not to kiss...

So, I'm puzzled...

What is the deal with the double kiss?! You know what I'm talking about...

When you meet someone or greet someone you air cheek kiss them. Since moving to the UK and having come in contact with many different people from all over the world, this greeting has puzzled me and become a very frequent greeting. In the States we don't really do it. When we meet someone for the first time we shake hands, we don't air kiss them.

I bring this issue up because last week I came into a situation were i was like...do I double cheek them or shake their hand?! I had met the gent before and had talked to him before, and I saw him double kiss a fellow lady...but when I went in for the double kiss I felt very weird and he didn't really do the whole lean in thing like he wanted to double kiss, but it was already to late, i had committed to the kiss....

I just don't get it...and to make things even more complicated, some people want to just do the one kiss thing...JC! Can't we all just unite and have one form of greeting?! Seriously people, I'm loosing sleep over this subject!

French Fall

I might just be the luckiest girl in the world! Viv took me to paris, again! Have I told you how much I love his job..he he.

He and Hannah, my dear Kiwi friend and Viv's co-worker, had a bit of business to attend to in the city of lights, so while they were locked up in the office I slathered on the red lipstick, threw on a beret and wondered around the city practicing the 4 words of French I know.

The Queen Mum

For 3 months now I have been begging my mum to come to London town to visit her daughter. Well after nagging and begging, she finally gave in and hopped on a flight and made it over. She visited for 7 days and we made the best of her time here. She has been to london several times, but always as a 'tourist' never as a 'native'...this trip changed all that.

With me having 'lived' here in London for a few months now, I was able to show her a side of the town that the double-decker bus tour leaves out. We spent our days wondering around the neighborhoods of London. We shopped the interior design stores in Knightsbridge, we discovered local foods in Southwark, we antique shopped in Nottinghill, we looked at gardens in South Kensington, and we took in the arts in Covent Gardens.

I have spent the last 3 months day after day wondering the streets of London by myself, wishing that I had someone with me so I could point out the sights of the city. Having my mum with me satisfied my 3 months of suffocation. Her and I would point out to each other the unusual shrub that we would see, or we would encourage each other to order dessert at the local market or buy the antique that we didn't need, but terribly wanted. Having someone that sees the world the same way you do is a blessing.

I wish she had stayed longer...but all good things must come to an end.