Town & Country articles from July 2005

Town & Country archives from July 2005

In the company of women.(EDITOR'S LETTER)
July 1, 2005... IT TOOK ME a while to appreciate my (pardon the expression) fellow women. Even as a little girl, I preferred being with boys. They were more fun--playful, rambunctious, athletic, brainy and, well, different (maybe I wouldn't have thought this...

West Coast wonder.(PARTIES: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)
July 1, 2005... For Art's Sake: The Junior Committee of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, comprising the Legion of Honor and the de Young Museum, held its annual midwinter gala at the legion's beautiful Beaux Arts building. All Grown Up: After...

Hop to it.(PARTIES: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Child's Play: Some of New York's most photographed women found themselves in an unusual position--playing second fiddle--at the fourteenth annual Bunny Hop, a family-friendly fundraiser for the Associates Committee of the Society of Memorial...

Turning points: they made a change and have never looked back.(ON THE TOWN)(John Wood)(Alexandra Mayes Birnbaum)(Corinna Gordon)(Biography)
July 1, 2005... John Wood AGE: 41. RESIDENCE: San Francisco, though he spends half his time either out fundraising or overseeing work in Asia. FORMER LIFE: This career-driven entrepreneur, who had earned his MBA by the age of twenty-five, joined Microsoft...

Scene & be seen: a calendar of events, trunk shows and benefits taking place at a store or location near you.
July 1, 2005... Laura Munder FINE JEWELRY 18 karat white gold earrings set with Peridots and diamonds. Available at Bergdorf Goodman, Wynn & Company Jewelers at Wynn Las Vegas and select Neiman Marcus stores. Please visit lauramunder.com. ejoque by...

Doing what comes naturally.(IN THE COUNTRY)
July 1, 2005... If the idea of receiving a bunch of ladybugs in the mail sounds intriguing, organic gardening may figure in your future. You wouldn't be alone: according to the National Gardening Association, the number of household gardeners tending flower...

Into the woods.(IN THE COUNTRY)(kayaking)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... When my husband and I take our wooden kayak out on the Hudson River, we get more looks than Jessica Simpson in skimpy pink spandex. Our two-seater, made of gleaming African mahogany plywood, is a real standout among all the Day-Glo kayaks, like...

Ladies who ranch.(IN THE COUNTRY)(Alisal Guest Ranch & Resort Cowgirl Bootcamp)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... "Cowgirl up!"--wrangler speak for "toughen up"--is an oft-heard refrain at Alisal Guest Ranch & Resort's COWGIRL BOOTCAMP, a three-night adventure that is inspiring women to trade their stilettos for spurs and take on the confidence-building...

Bloom for improvement.(IN THE COUNTRY)(Living with Flowers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Filled with beautiful photos of exquisite arrangements, Living With Flowers (Abrams; $40), by Nico De Swert, shows that flowers can do more than brighten an interior; they can become a dramatic part of it. The Belgian-born, New York-based...

Smart staples.(IN THE COUNTRY)(basic foods)(Directory)
July 1, 2005... There's no secret to self-improvement when it comes to food: it's all in the staples. Here are six basics to make your everyday life a little tastier. BREAD: Legendary Berkeley, California-based Acme Bakery has turned out diverse artisanal...

Golf like a pro.(IN THE COUNTRY)
July 1, 2005... Take a tip from players on the PGA tour and go back to school. * With schools around the country, JIM McLEAN is one of the golf world's most successful teachers; his students are among the top players on the senior and junior professional...

Kelly Wearstler.(FASHION & STYLE)(Brief Article)(Interview)
July 1, 2005... OCCUPATION: Decorator and tastemaker; founder of the L.A.-based firm Kelly Wearstler Interior Design (kwid), which has made its dramatic mark on such properties as the Viceroy hotels in Santa Monica and Palm Springs, the Maison 140 and Avalon...

All we want for July is ...(FASHION & STYLE News)
July 1, 2005... the lovely radiance of moonstones accented with diamonds or sapphires and 18-karat gold. TEMPLE ST. CLAIR cluster cuff ($17,500) and ring ($8,800), at Temple St. Clair boutiques, 800-590-7985. Shape up in sports gear from NIKE's new Fitness...

Clothes busters.(FASHION & STYLE News)
July 1, 2005... Still can't part with that lain6 blouse you haven't worn in ten years? Let GARDE ROBE do it for you. Its staff will evaluate your wardrobe, store and catalogue off-season items, clean, repair, pack, ship--you name it. And they'll help you...

Get it together.(FASHION & STYLE)
July 1, 2005... And take it with you in a brightly colored organizer. Clockwise from top: SALVATORE FERRAGAMO yellow leather wallet ($270). LOUIS VUITTON red Epi leather agenda ($430). SALVATORE FERRAGAMO red leather calendar ($250). BURBERRY LONDON red...

Custom suits you.(FASHION & STYLE)(men's suits)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Because of the care and precision behind its construction, custom clothing can provide a man's wardrobe with incomparable cachet. This windowpane flannel suit by BRIONI, for example, requires three fittings and at least thirty-two hours of...

10 things we love: beautiful baubles in a rainbow of colors.(JEWELRY)
July 1, 2005... 1 DAVID YURMAN 18k-gold Mosaic cuff with citrines, peridots, green onyx, sapphires and diamonds (price on request), 888-DYURMAN. 2 TEMPLE ST. CLAIR moonstone Starfish brooch studded with green and white diamonds ($8,000),...

De Beers premieres.(JEWELRY)
July 1, 2005... Fifth Avenue is going to get a little more sparkle when De Beers, a name synonymous with diamonds, opens its first American boutique in Manhattan this summer. The 6,000-square-foot, ebony-and-glass-walled space is the long-awaited result of a...

Game, set, watch.(WATCHES)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Score big--both on and off the courts--with these stylish timepieces. From top: CONCORD stainless-steel and diamond Saratoga SR Chronograph on a rubber bracelet ($4,290), concordwatch.com. BULGARI stainless-steel and diamond Ergon chronograph...

JAR's other gems: a revered jeweler's little-known fragrances make their New York debut.(BEAUTY & HEALTH)
July 1, 2005... The jewelry by JAR, the acronym for the Paris-based, American-born designer Joel A. Rosenthal, is considered by the world's wealthiest, most discerning women to be the ne plus ultra. He sells exclusively by appointment (it helps if he likes...

Freshly minted.(BEAUTY & HEALTH)(cosmetics with mint)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Summer heat getting to you? Then look no further than the bracing sensation of mint. Just saying the word brings cool images to mind: a frosty lemonade, a refreshing mint julep. Distilled into an essential oil, the leaves of this green shrub...

Practice sun sense.(BEAUTY & HEALTH: Must-Dos for July)
July 1, 2005... Summer's here, and if you're fair, you're probably sporting a few more freckles. Take the time to schedule a full-body skin-cancer screening with your dermatologist. The ABCD's of melanoma--asymmetry, uneven border and color or a diameter of...

Books by the pros.(BEAUTY & HEALTH)
July 1, 2005... A quick appointment at the doctor's office or your favorite spa hardly gives you time to cozy up to the experts. In-demand health and beauty professionals feel the time crunch, too, so thank goodness they share their expertise in books. Their...

Cancer comfort.(BEAUTY & HEALTH)
July 1, 2005... The side effects of chemotherapy and radiation--hair loss and nausea--are well known. But did you know these treatments also wreak havoc on skin and can lead to conditions like acne-form rash? Cancer patients can treat their dry, cracked, itchy...

Give and ye shall receive: when you open your wallet for cultural institutions, they'll open doors for you.(ARTS & CULTURE)(charity auctions)
July 1, 2005... AUCTION ACTION You've got the catalogue, your paddle and the attendant adrenaline rush. No, you're not in the salesroom of Christie's or Sotheby's. More likely the setting is a spacious private house or the banquet hall in an elegant...

Peerless perks.(ARTS & CULTURE)
July 1, 2005... Museums and performing-arts companies will often go out of their way to show their appreciation to their major donors. DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART ($25,000+). Your children or grandchildren and their friends will enjoy a private party and tour...

Class act.(ARTS & CULTURE)
July 1, 2005... To become a patron of a prominent performing-arts school is to invest in--and be granted unprecedented access to--tomorrow's most promising talent. And more schools than you might think have developed programs that give donors remarkable...

All's fair.(ARTS & CULTURE)(art fairs)
July 1, 2005... Last March, George Behrakis, a Boston businessman, arrived in the Dutch city of Maastricht, armed for TEFAF, the vast European fine-arts fair that is the world's foremost annual bazaar for Old Masters and art before 1900. He had a catalogue...

Make time to read.(ARTS & CULTURE)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Virginia Woolf once wrote that "when the Day of Judgment dawns" and the great lawyers and statesmen come marching in to receive their heavenly rewards, the Almighty will gaze upon the mere bookworms also on line and say to Peter, "'Look, these...

How-to, by the numbers.(ARTS & CULTURE)
July 1, 2005... In 1962, before he depicted Marilyn, Liz, Elvis, car crashes and his own strange visage, Andy Warhol partially filled five paint-by-numbers canvases with still lifes and landscapes. Several of these deadpan paintings were displayed in his first...

Art by the book.(ARTS & CULTURE)(art books)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Barnes & Noble and Borders stock so many how-to books on painting and drawing, it's hard to know which to choose. To help you decide, we asked some experts. When the Abstract Expressionists attended New York's Art Students League in the...

Wine smarts.(ARTS & CULTURE)
July 1, 2005... "I'd love to get more into wine, but I don't know anything," goes the refrain. The solution: enroll in a top-flight wine-education program. Still hesitant? Just think of the homework. (Classes may last one night to several weeks. To find a...

Play it again.(ARTS & CULTURE)(adult piano lessons)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... As a seven-year-old piano student, I was shooting for gold stars; after earning a constellation of them, I stopped playing. At age thirty I returned to the piano with one simple goal: to make beautiful music (although a few of my neighbors may...

Hot ticket.(ARTS & CULTURE)(Der Ring des Nibelugen)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
July 1, 2005... You know the drill: buy opera tickets. Study synopsis. Read libretto. That's fine for sorting out the romantic couplings and uncouplings and recouplings in, say, Mozart or the tragically tangled plots of Verdi. But then there is Wagner's Der...

An Aspen summer: a longtime local outlines a few of her favorite things about her favorite time in the Rockies.(TRAVELER'S NOTEBOOK)
July 1, 2005... SUMMER IS SHORT and precious in the Rockies, so we try to stretch it out. The season is defined more by the colors of the trees and the yearly festivals than by national holidays and school calendars. The pleasures of an Aspen summer can be as...

A movable spa.(TRAVELER'S NOTEBOOK)(In:Spa retreat)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... The idea of enforced exercise makes me want to curl up in bed with a good book. I found the antidote to this, however, by spending a week at an IN:SPA retreat, where I shaped up with minimum pain and maximum fun. In:Spa is run by a U.K.-based...

Between flights.(TRAVELER'S NOTEBOOK)
July 1, 2005... Killing time before a flight at JFK airport in New York is much more appealing now that two new spas have opened there. The sleek MOLTON BROWN TRAVEL SPA within the premier-class-lounge area at British Airways brings stateside the same...

Tribal totes.(TRAVELER'S NOTEBOOK)(Zainab collection)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... The vibrant raffia baskets from the new Zainab collection by Japanese accessories designer Kazuyo Nakano not only look good but support a good cause. The handcrafted bags are a collaboration between Nakano and female artisans in Kenya, and the...

A Ritzy smile.(TRAVELER'S NOTEBOOK)(Andara Smile Spa, Ritz-Carlton)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... The Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida, has become the country's first hotel with its own dental diagnostic center. Led by Dr. Ronald E. Goldstein, a pioneer in cosmetic dentistry, the Andara Smile Spa offers clients not just whitening treatments...

Irish manor.(TRAVELER'S NOTEBOOK)(Dunbrody Country House Hotel & Spa)(Hotel Review)
July 1, 2005... Wexford, located in what the Irish call the "Sunny Southeast," is one of Ireland's most captivating counties, with nice weather, a wealth of Viking townships, ancient castles, ruined abbeys and Europe's oldest working lighthouse. At the heart...

Return engagement.(DESIGN TRENDS)
July 1, 2005... Can architecture improve your life? Norman Jaffe thought so. In a thirty-five-year career that ended with his unexpected death in 1993, the New York architect designed more than a hundred houses whose primal presence and sensual appeal he...

A room for massage.(DESIGN TRENDS)
July 1, 2005... Professional athletes aren't the only ones enjoying at-home massages: a growing number of people are adding a room adjacent to a dressing area or master bath just for that purpose. "They're great fun to do," says decorator Victoria Hagan. "We...

Grape expectations: when ordering wine, know that a sommelier is your friend--not your adversary.(SOCIAL GRACES)
July 1, 2005... FEW ASPECTS of fine dining can be more frustrating than dealing with a haughty sommelier (a French word that derives from betes de somme, or "beasts of burden"), an individual whose intent is to intimidate you with his knowledge and gouge you...

Staying power: forget the easy fixes and latest fads. A devotee reflects on Rancho La Puerta's enduring appeal.(Hotel Review)
July 1, 2005... IN A WORLD where a high-concept spa is born every minute, there is something endearing about one that has stood the test of time without becoming stale. Rancho La Puerta, on the Baja peninsula, just south of the U.S.-Mexican border, celebrates...

Facing the truth: I'm your sister, wife, mother, daughter--a woman you love, and a woman with a problem. And to save myself, I'm going to have to face myself--and you--and admit it: I'm an addict.
July 1, 2005... ON PAPER, I had an enviable life. After years of Manhattan living, my husband and I had moved to a lovely home near the water in a coddled Connecticut suburb. We'd acquired an adorable yellow Lab, a Mercedes convertible and an SUV. We had money...

Take it easy: give yourself a break. In the pursuit of the perfect life, you can miss enjoying its best moments.
July 1, 2005... SO OFTEN these days when I compliment a woman friend on how she looks, she will shoot back not with a thank-you but with a detailed description of her flaws. "Oh, I've got to lose this," she might say, patting her midsection. Or, pushing up the...

Love as art: how Pierre Bonnard's wife became his greatest subject.(Marthe Bonnard)
July 1, 2005... The idea behind Michael Kimmelman's fascinating new book, The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa (to be published next month by Penguin Press), is that art-whether we're creating it or simply looking at it--"provides us...

A lust for life: what's cooking for Britain's Nigella Lawson? Everything. She's a great--and gorgeous--food writer and a celebrated authority on entertaining, who overcame enormous loss on the way to success.
July 1, 2005... WHEN A WOMAN writes a book with the title How to Be a Domestic Goddess, you imagine that she'll manifest at least a touch of the divine. Nigella Lawson exceeds that hope. She is not your mother's cookbook author. In her native England, thanks...

Pause and reflect.(enjoying nature)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Sometimes life enhancement doesn't require anything fancier than Mother Nature. A ramble in the park, a hike in the woods, a stroll along the shore... a few minutes of quiet time spent dipping into one of summer's eternal pleasures can loft...

25 quick beauty tips: expert tricks to make you more gorgeous than ever and save you time and aggravation.
July 1, 2005... You've been doing your makeup and hair since you were a teen, so you've probably got your look down. We thought we did, too, until we polled the pros to learn what strategies they had up their sleeves. HAIR 1. Veg Out: To revive...

The Town & Country guide to sexuality: whether your sex life satisfies, your libido is lagging, or you occasionally feel "not tonight, dear, I'm too tired," some new thinking and advice may add just the womanly spark you need.
July 1, 2005... Look at the bright side: you're normal. Most of us aren't having as much sex as we want or enjoying it as much as we'd like. Your desires, and even your lack of desire for sex, are normal. Your marital discord is normal. As John Gottman, a...

Weddings.
July 1, 2005... Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Bernard Roughan (Christina Maria Sullivan) Slane, County Meath, Ireland Mr. and Mrs. John Phillip Ryan (Hannah Eliza Richmond) Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts Mr. and Mrs. William Fisher Kimball (Alexandra Manuela...

Serious dark circles? "The first product specifically developed for serious dark circles ... not the kind that pop up in the morning and are gone by breakfast, but the kind of serious dark circles that stay around forever ... making you look old, tired and exhausted.".(NEW PRODUCT UPDATE)(Hylexin)(Advertisement)
July 1, 2005... Do you know what actually "causes" serious dark circles? I thought I did... but I was wrong. Like most people, I thought dark circles were caused by hard partying, working late, being tired or simple allergies. But according to most research...

Horoscopes.
July 1, 2005... July Cancer June 22-July 22 Give yourself a pat on the back for how courageously you've coped with all the trials and tests that have been thrown your way during Saturn's two-year passage through your birth sign. You've tapped into...