Flowers from the new house...new yard

One of the nicest things about this new house for us has been the amount of flowers blooming in the yard and its small garden areas.

All spring I have been able to keep vases full of first snowdrops then daffodils then a variety of roses and azaleas soon followed by white, yellow and orange lilies and now...here come the roses again!

We no longer have the raised-beds pottagers garden which we so enjoyed out on the island however, I have put-in a small potted herb garden which is doing quite nicely at the moment.  A southern gal absolutely needs fresh mint springs for her iced tea at the very least eh?!

In the kitchen I have a large sunny spot for my various orchids which is nice: we put a bakers rack up against one of the bay windows and the orchids are thriving there.  There are still a few scattered about the house but for the most part, I have finally found a "home" for my orchid-tending.

Down the road from us is a wonderful local nursery with loads of beautiful plants and elegant planters, fountains n' such.  I picked up a few seasonal flowers and vines to add-to the large front porch planter urns perched at the top of the brick stairway and also to use in the planters dotted about out on the back porch's spread out areas.

James has always said that even if we lived in a mud hut, I'd find a way to have flowers in it.....

This new yard and its gardens are more "landscaped" than I prefer but there's always a way to place punches of color n' whimsy around in the form of pretty pots amid so many flowers already a' bloomin' around this place as we're moving and settling in.

Flowers all around, yes please and thank you!

A "Hello" from my new at-the-water's-edge writing nook here in Savannah

It seems like it has been much longer than a year when we began transitioning from our family island home off the coast of South Carolina to be-back with lots of extended family here within Savannah's environs.

It didn't take long for us to find a darling carriage house in the Victorian District to "work out of" as we searched for a new house while getting the old island house ready to sell.  Fortune favored us indeed when the island house sold in two weeks and in a week's time, we were moving-on towards finalizing the paperwork for a new place out here at the edges of ocean water with views much like the ones we had so enjoyed out on our old island.  With today's housing market, this was amazing!

Our new place isn't our "style" at all on the outside but it met so many critical parameters most of which involve having my father living with us.  We more than doubled our square footage but fortunately, by the sake of design (much of which involves eaves), this place in no way feels too-big or having too many wasted-spaces.  Dad has one end of the house reachable down a long hallway for his master bed and bath rooms which connect out via french doors and an elevated walkway to a gazebo.  He also has a large office, a guest bedroom and guest bathroom and storage closets.  James and I have the other end of the house for our master bed and bath rooms, a large study and office room plus what I enjoy the most, a spacious-yet-cosy "reading nook" complete with a window seat which looks out towards the dock and the herb garden side of the yard.  In between we all share a spacious entrance porch, an entrance hallway that goes into a wide living room, a formal dining room, roomy kitchen, laundry/mud  room as big as the dining room, a large outdoor room which spreads out into porches n' decking going into the back yard which on the left, faces our private mini-island and a lagoon and on the right, goes on out into ocean waters.

The three-doored garage and its long workshop area with another bathroom there completes our spot.

Merging two households wasn't easy logistically but now that we're moving into the settling-in stage of this transition, we're all so happy that we finally went down this road together.

It's such a joy being back here in Savannah and back amidst almost all of my family, on both sides, plus friends and now, some new friends as well.  We miss our ole' island digs of course... however... we kept the two upper acres with the palmetto grove facing the water and plan to build a getaway cottage there in the next few years.  We'll still keep our close ties to the area and good friends there. 

Besides being with family again, we also are enjoying the benefits of being nearer to the Savannah Airport, being in the midst of some top-rated medical facilities and my being able to return to having a full time career once again in business management and yet also, just being literally ten minutes commute from the new house in case Dad needs me for anything.

We're focusing on "being" rather than "doing", "acquiring", "striving" and it's been wonderful so far!

The irony of doubling our space?  De-cluttering in earnest for this new place!

We have donated like crazy, given away like crazy and taken things to dumpsters again n' again.

Combining households while also taking the overflow out of three large storage units has us seeking to be elegantly-minimal from this stage of life onwards.  About everything is all set up in the house now and aside from holiday and some seasonal decor' plus family memorabilia, we're storing nothing else that isn't kayak, fly fishing, flying, skiing or gardening related.

This transition has been well worth it on many life levels that's for sure!

And so... enjoy some pictures of my writing nook in our master bedroom's area.  It's my writing, reading, watercoloring, violin playing and putting on makeup at great-grandmother's vanity table personal space I'm absolutely enjoying and I hope that you all are enjoying whatever spot you're living within and living-from at this moment as well :)

All the best as always from Lachlan

P.S. my digital camera is still packed-away somewhere so these pics are from my cell phone........   

Thank you for your patience dear readers...

A sincere "thank you" to my readers n' regulars who have been so patient over the past few months during what would be one of the loooongest, most complicated n' many-layered moves I've ever experienced!

We are FINALLY on the back-end of this huge transitioning which involved moves from our carriage house, our island home and two large climate-controlled storage units in two different states several hours away from where we are here now on the beeautiful waters' edge within Savannah's environs.....

I do so want to catch-up with all things Preppy, Pretty and Positively-fun to ruminate upon with you!

Here's hoping everyone had a great springtime and here's to summertime and some more postin' soon :)

Best to you all and I'll be back posting-away now that all this moving dust has settled, wheh!

For the Modern-Preppy...some sentimental missing of Preppy-Traditions-Past

Calling card image from Wikimedia Commons. Mine... I'd have to hand to you...

For a Modern-Preppy's lifestyle, there remains an almost overwhelming abundance of things, services, experiences, choices and such readily available 24/7 however, there are a few once-cherished elements of the past within traditional preppy lifestyles which this particular preppy does indeed miss including:

Non-tickey-tackey neighborhood Tea Rooms where ladies gathered for serene afternoon repasts.

The beautiful boutique-like stores of Smith and Hawkin, Waverly, Laura Ashley...perusing around them was such a pleasure...

Full-service gas stations where attendants even hand-swept out your car's floor mats.

Elevator attendants in department stores who wore uniforms and seemed so serious.

Wearing short white gloves and pretty hats to church every Sunday, not just at Easter.

Men wearing sharp hats with their suits and many sporting bow ties during the day too.

Being handed other people's calling cards... I still make use of mine which is such fun when people think you're handing them your business card instead.

People answering their house phone with, "This is the ____ (insert last name) residence, ____ (first name) speaking..."

Personal bookplates pasted inside the front covers of books friends passed around to share.

Using dumb-waiters, laundry chutes and actual bell pulls in one's house.

Putting charges "on account" by simply saying-so at the yacht club, city club, country club when one could easily do so as a really young child without being questioned at all by the staff.

Long, deep and hot-water-heat-holding bath tubs in expansive, small-tiled bathrooms.

The smell of pipes being smoked leisurely...how, where and when did that go away?

Those wooden-sided station wagons; gosh we had ours for so many years.

Actual letters and cards received in the mail, some with sealing wax stamps on the back.

And so forth n' so on. It's fun to think back to what once-was in appreciation of what it was to experience within a lifetime even if not for a complete lifetime. So much more of this kinda' stuff to list here but now tonight's insomnia is ebbing so, time to post this and head off to slumber.

A Preppy's Winter-into-Spring Guide

Placing a bit of Spring within Winter days... Pretty and Preppy-practical
(painting: Girl Arranging Flowers by W.M.Paxton - Brooklyn Museum)

This time of year right after the New Year, it seems that Southern Preppies most especially get hints of Spring within our winter days which tease us just as (no doubt) we'll yet still be experiencing actual winterish weather with cold rainy and windy days remaining ahead of us.

There ARE ways however to put a little Spring into our Winter days while not freezing oneself: less wearing Sperry Topsider flipflop sandals and more layering with pastel-hued pashminas.

The following list is an idea-guide for us all to utilize as desired when so... desiring... Spring:

• Layer with a pashmina shawl/scarf in a rose, lavender, celadon green, ivory hue







• For the gentlemen, wear a pastel-hued dress shirt or tie underneath suits, sports coats







• Pot an Orchid or Spring bulbs into a white ceramic or porcelain cache pot







• Tie a piece of silky pastel-colored ribbon onto your pearl strand and/or pearl bracelet







• Put a white or ivory lightweight spread or throw folded at the end of the bed







• Enjoy candle scents like rose, freesia, hyacinth, lilly of the valley, peony and such







• Likewise, enjoy these scents in body lotions, perfume and long leisurely bubble baths







• Get thyself to a warm and tropical island destination asap or...







• Get to a local Day Spa or create a spa in your bathroom with indulgent tropical products







• Peruse through picturesque garden books and tropical travel destination/lifestyle books







• Plan your garden, pottager garden, potted plantscape







• Perch small pots of herbs on your kitchen windowsills or plant some of these from seed







• Keep flowers abundant within the house but group in baskets, simple clear glass vases







• Listen to the lightness of Japanese Flute music cds







• Watch the film Enchanted April to vicariously get-away from winter's chill through it







• Organize your boating, golf, tennis, fly fishing etc equipment for warmer months ahead







• Go ahead, get that shorter haircut then wear chandelier earrings n' wrapped scarves with it







• Switch much of a basic black or dark navy wardrobe over to using more light gray pieces







• Wear a little sparkle but keep it light and airy as opposed to past holiday season's big-bling







• Lighten occasional meals to being large salads, omelettes, cheese-cracker-berries trays







• Add-in citrus fruit pieces, mint sprigs, cucumber slices to your usual fridge water pitcher







• Occasionally replace red wine paired with an entree' for a fruity white wine with dessert







• Switch needlepoint to petit point, oils to watercolors, pottery to jewelry-making for awhile







• A little bit of bright or buttery yellow added in an outfit, room, atmosphere goes a long way







• De-clutter, streamline and reorganize areas to further create light/air/space around you

There's so many festive-fun ways we can bring a "Springy-step" into our new year journeying without totally disregarding winter for what it is and its own aspects of delight.

Have fun with this list and post-over some of your own ideas as well if you'd like......... Best, L.

New Year's Eve outing... enjoying some old family-roots at turning of a new year

Posing at my great-great-great-great-great-aunt's portrait...then...

...later visiting her grave. Family history fun on New Year's Eve day!

This New Year's Eve celebrating, James and I decided to "go out" for a celebratory lunch on what was a very pretty day here in Savannah and then spend the evening-in instead of our usual out and about glavanting at parties n' such before the ball drops at midnight.

I really enjoyed this more laid-back holiday for us and was pleasantly-surprised when our lunch out consisted of going to an historic house turned into a restaurant for a delightful meal and.... sitting in the upstair's dining room within which one of my ancestor's portraits is featured over the mantle.

E is my great-great-great-great-great-aunt. I'm directly descended from one of her brothers and the reason why her portrait is in this restaurant is because she was the regal mistress of this house after it was built for her by her husband back in the late 1700's on land-grant property he had in-town. Its current use as an elegant restaurant is such a pleasure to see and experience.

It was fun to pose by E's portrait and then head over to the Colonial Cemetary to visit again her graveside. My family on both sides is so fortunate to have ancestors, and immediate family, eternally resting in such beautiful spots as the Colonial Cemetary and Bonaventure Cemetary.

So a New Year's turning which encompases old family-history? "So-Savannah" isn't it?! ;)

Preppy Inspiration from... The Royal Tenebaums

Preppy style-inspirations can come from films like The Royal Tenenbaums And create lifestyle-stylized-collages on style blogger's websites

But one little Preppy was a' wearing some of this long before the fim

and is tickled to see her childhood style featured in such a great film!

(Above images are credited: movieimagesources .com; polyvore .com; my late mother's camera; Film Comment magazine)

Old-School Preppy Fashion Inspiration:

Margo's "Preppy-Pathos" fashion styling in the film The Royal Tenenbaums is an odd inspiration perhaps for this new year but I find myself craving the wearing-of Lacoste' polo tops and knit dresses, cutting my blond hair back into a bob and rustling around the makeup drawer in my bedroom's vanity table for some black eyeliner. I'd switch the old fur coat for a well-worn trench coat with this being the warmer South and me not being a fur-wearer though I have inherited a few coats n' stoles from my mother and grandmothers. I'm also not a smoker nor depressed but I hope to keep on losing a few pounds and be sporting a leaner profile like the character Margo's (aka a pre-GOOP Gwyneth Paltrow)with now being-back to eating healthy half-portions post a very festive, and festive-foods-everywhere, holiday season.

This is one of my all-time favorite movies and it's on television this afternoon as I wait to watch some football playoffs.....

To me, this film is kind of like, "Faulkner goes to Manhattan and finds some Southern Gothic-ness up there to write about."

The striking settings indoors n' out, satirical atmosphere, snippets of Preppy-childhood elements, generous dollops of eccentricity amid layered family-dynamics and subtleties of sophistication amid the ruins and then rebirth of this cast of true-characters keeps me re watching this movie and continually enjoying it.

Hmmm.... time to search for eyeliner at least before the next football game commences.......

Happy New Year everyone and Happy Preppy Inspiration wherever we all find it!