Celebrity Lifestyle Designer
Larry Rizkowsky, a fellow designer and a friend for many years has designed a room at the 2010 Pasadena Showcase House of Design.
Last Sunday a group of us went to this wonderful annual event where an entire residence is redone by a group of designers, each one taking the creative lead for just one room or space.This year the amazing home is the Graven's Estate. It's now the 20,000 sq. ft. home to The American Red Cross. 
Larry did a spectacular job on this sitting room. Augustus Francis, son of the late famed contemporary artist Sam Francis , did the two contemporary works of art that hang on the wall. They are a part of a "triptych" actually. Augustus Francis now lives in England with his mother at their home, Gledstone Hall in Yorkshire. He is a lovely chap that I wish well.Larry's room along with the art was a big hit at the Showcase House. You can visit the 2010 Pasadena Showcase House of Design from now through May 16. Tickets are $40 at the door with the proceeds going to three different music programs that impact the greater Los Angeles area. The Showcase home is closed on Mondays.
I thought it would be like being back stage with a really big rock star. 
Oh my! 
Did I underestimate the experience! 
It was like watching a well organized ballet performed by security guards and secret service.
These guys and gals are serious! 
You can't even imagine the amount of planning that must go in to planning a day with the President.
Wow, there really are no words. Come on, it's no secret that I have worked closely with Hollywood royalty, both literally and figuratively, so I am not really easily blown away simply by "star power". 
But I have to say that President 
There was something really measurable that seemed to radiate from him. It was exciting. It was inspirational. It was heady.
better known as The Meatpacking District. 
This is an area of the City that has been experiencing an amazing transformation over the last decade. 
In the early 1900's the area was home to over 259 slaughterhouses and packing plants,
by the 1980's it was an area that was known for sex clubs, drug dealing and prostitution.
Then in the late 1990's 
What a difference a designer can make.
Gansevoort Market is now widely considered the hottest, trendiest place to be in New York City. 
For shopping there are dozens of high-end boutiques to choose from such as 
It used to be an elevated freight railroad 
developed under the aegis of Robert Moses, now it is an incredible greenway modeled after Paris' Promenade Plantée. 
The High Line park isn't finished, when it is done it will continue from the former 34th Street freight yard, near the Javits Convention Center, through the neighborhood of Chelsea to Gansevoort Street (one block below West 12th Street) in the Meat Packing District of the West Village. 
For now just the southernmost section is open while the middle section is still being refurbished.
You can get to the High Line park from five different stairways or an auxiliary elevator on 16th Street. 
The park is lush with naturalized plantings that are inspired by the self-seeded landscape that grew on the unused tracks. 
Spectacular, unexpected views of the city and the Hudson River can be seen along the pebble-dashed concrete walkways. 
The old tracks are incorporated into the park creating a unique perspective of what once was. 
It is nothing short of a work of art. 
for a wedding. 
A good friend got married there recently and I designed the flowers.
With a back drop like this it's hard to go wrong. 
If you've never been to Big 
it is a section of the California coast line where the Santa Lucia mountains 
rise sharply creating awe inspiring cliffs and breath taking vistas. 
It's gorgeous on an epic scale and a perfect location for a simply elegant wedding.
Perfect pale pink roses paired with rich organic mountain greens were our themes. 
The wedding was spectacular.
And the Bride & Groom lived happily ever after... 
In a city that still seems a little sleepy these days it was a wonderful two day event that featured four vendors and their distinct wares. 
Carolina Irving, the one time style editor for Home and Garden Magazine, showed her new line of home fabrics and Irving & Fine clothing line. 
Her unique beach cover-ups were fresh, current and offered in great color combinations of turquoise, green and coral. Apologies for the blurry shot taken from my IPhone.
The quality of their gold was some thing you would see only in Florence Italy on the 
Raw diamonds, mixed with hand crafted gold. Some of the 
This shot makes me want to 
I still can't get enough of 
