Tea Party

I've always said I could never date a tea drinker. A guy who will nurse a mug when down with the flu - totally fine - but in general, I like coffee men. I also like iced Americanos with anywhere from four to six shots of espresso, so I don't think many a tea drinking man would really like me, either.  That's not to say I don't almost bite off my fist with shopping urges when it comes to some teas sitting on shelves in Paris or at Dean & Deluca (ahem, Mariage Frères and the black tins!!). But now all tea purchasing urges are focused on Bellocq. Of all the amazing stuff at the New York International Gift Fair, I loved their beautiful chrome jars with yellow boxes the most. They'd be perfect to save for spices or cotton balls.

Dutch Treat | Fitzroy + Everest

I will go out on a limb and say that Fitzroy & Everest is the most English store in all of Rotterdam. I've never been to Rotterdam, but I think the designation is fairly clear from shots of the offerings. (Now I really want to go to Rotterdam).

Oudedijk 148 A

3061 AP Rotterdam-Kralingen

HHH Shopping Guide To A Ridiculously Expensive Valentine's Day

No gal in her right mind should expect 70% of the things on this list, but if we're being aspirational...(frankly, together, they make a damned pretty chart!):

No.1 - Giuseppe Zanotti Flower Sandal, Barneys, $750.00

No. 2 - Elle Macpherson Intimates Obsidian Tiffany mesh tanga bra and briefs, Net-a-Porter.com, $90 and $40, respectively

No. 3 - Anglo-Indian Blood-Wood And Bone Pinch Of Snuff Box, Center 44, $3,250.00

No. 4 - Medium Luxury Macaron Gift Box, Macaron Café, $29

No. 5 - Four Piece Italian Silver Plate Hand Hammered Tea Service, Center 44, $325 (Excellent with some Rouge Provence tea from Mariage Frerers!)

No. 6 - Kenneth Jay Lane Swarovski crystal necklace, Net-a-Porter.com, $225

No. 7 - Ender Legard Corsetry Grace stretch-silk corset, Net-a-Porter.com, $720

No. 8 La Perla Maison silk-blend shorts, Net-a-Porter.com, $295

No. 9 - Raahat Turkish Delight (from Australia), Dean and Deluca, $16 each (zesty citron, vanilla, nougat delight, tart sour cherry flavors)

Gym Dandy

Today, Heather Clawson posted some beautiful gyms over on Habitually Chic - including the one at the Biltmore, which is enough to make you cry...or maybe even jog. (I want that shower!!!)

Oxiseau + Axinamu

Our mom and dad almost split up on their Honeymoon to Paris because my mom wouldn't stop buying French magazines. This enraged our father. The madder he got, the more she'd buy (the buying, of course, being only about 10% of the problem, with the lugging filling out the remaining 90%). Well, it seems that Porter and I got all of mom's genes in this regard and none of our father's. However, we feed our need for foreign printed matter with hardback books.  Prague was a goldmine for vintage tomes, but Paris was a feeding ground for gigantic pop-up works of art. Bernadette Gervais and Francesco Pittau's incredible Bird and Animal books were two of our favorite purchases. Axinamu is available in the States under the name Out of Sight, but it's just so much cooler to have the French.

 



HHH Shopping Guide | Welcome to the Dollhouse

In an attempt to find a friend an affordable Ibex mount earlier today (failed, the cheapest was around $1,000 - and in England), I came across these little guys from Japan, designed specifically so tiny Japanese children can make scale replicas of Sagamore Hill in their bedrooms (as all tiny Japanese children want to do). Little American kids can also fill their dollhouses with these mini-mounts from Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. if their parents click here or here.  Throw a couple itty bitty venetian mirrors and a chesterfield in there and you've got my apartment.

Note 1: In roughly a week, the blog may return to adult themes. Well, mature themes. Well, non-toy themes. None of that sounds right. But you understand.

Note 2: In the realm of big kid toys, I just purchased two of the world's most amazing ones: A Dyson canister vacuum and Apple TV. Both are revolutionizing my life. (Note 2b: Do not use Dyson vacuums with power carpet heads on zebra skin rugs unless you want them to have an extra set of stripes. Use them freely on everything else).

Soldiering On

In the most amazing of coincidences, Megan Wilson, the proprietress and brilliant mind behind the online shop Ancient Industries and the wonderful accompanying blog of things living and extinct, pressed publish on a post showing off the metal menagerie she shares with artist Duncan Hannah just as I did on mine!  Their collection beats the Hoveys' hands down. Jodhpurs! Camels! Gorillas! Sailors with very large guns!

All photos by Duncan Hannah

Acquisitions | Armies, Cowboys, Polar Bears and Monograms

It's one thing to collect armies, but I prefer cobbling together a motley crew. Why wouldn't a Scottish soldier, a pink shirted cowboy, an Indian, a businessman and a polar bear hang out? They certainly should! It's as if someone decided to cast the Village People in metal. These guys all came from a ridiculously fun trip up the Hudson to Cold Spring, NY.  It's just a little over an hour outside the city and oddly affordable.

A dear, sweet friend found those H decals at the Chelsea flea (and a few Ps too!) and gave them to Porter and me for Christmas. I rescued the soldiers (more in organized army/navy form this time) from the River Market Antique Mall in KC. The scrimshaw box is from Catbird, the adorable Bedford Ave. shop.

My aunt got me this Vuitton raquet cover! So, so Darjeeling Limited!

The same friend of decal purchasing fame had this plate painted for me. So perfect! (Someone has clearly sensed a bit of ego about my monogram).

And these are the magnificent tennis players we found at Le Plat d'Etain in Paris. This might be all on the toy soldier/athlete front, however. We've run out of table tops!

Kiwis, Huntin' and Fishin'

The National Library of New Zealand has provided us quite a killing when it comes to nautical stripes and guns and game. Check out the whole catch on flikr. So good!

(Above) Catch of the day (in 1900) at Cable Bay, Nelson

WWI Kiwi officers relax with a pole

Fishing group at Wainuiomata around 1882

Lugging Hawera Trout Hatchery cans in the '20s

Hunting party (including quite a few tough broads!), probably Christchurch district around 1915

Group of anglers after a fishing trip on Lake Rotorua, ca 1903

Man, two boys, and a pile of crayfish, at the back of Harry Daniel's fish shop, Manaia

 Boy and his shark in Russell, around 1915

Hunters, hanging on a Kapiti Island veranda in the 1890s

  

Rabbit hunters, 1909

Rabbit hunters near Christchurch around 1912

Very successful possum hunters

Men in the bush at the turn of the century

Captain Bollons and crew capturing a sea lion, 1909

Rabbit hunters circa 1910

Dispatch from India

Before Christmas, my cousin, Kate Hovey, and her boyfriend popped to India and took just sickeningly beautiful photos. Here are some of my favorites. I want to go so badly (and/or paint my apartment peachy pink), it hurts!

Elephant topiaries and monkeys and pink sand (at the Presidential Palace in Delhi)!

It seems terrible to wear (or decorate with) anything but mixed plaids after seeing this man.

Holy man in Varanasi

Mini Taj

Cremation grounds in Varanasi

Elephant ride up Amber Fort, Jaipur

Nadesar Palace Hotel in Varanasi

Oberoi Hotel in Udaipur