Temenos

A few years ago, a couple I know started a year-end tradition of leaving the comforts and distractions of their wired lives behind to spend New Year’s Eve in a cabin at Temenos, a retreat in Western Massachusetts.

When this couple got married in October, Temenos’s, 78 acres of woods, trails and a handful of cabins became the site of post-wedding festivities for a small group of friends and family. There is no electricity or running water, but each cabin has a wood stove. The cabin pictured above, built around the tree trunk is where I stayed. While it rained most of the weekend, I was thankful for the mild early autumn temperatures.

I'm posting it as the anti-Times Square this New Year’s Eve.

Wishing a peaceful and wonderful 2013 to all!

There was twig "hardware" throughout.

The lodge has a kitchen with a "Modern Glenwood Home Grand" stove and some books.

Outhouse with a view.

My first purple mushrooms!

The ABCs of Fairy Dust

Very few stores are better at sensory overload than ABC Carpet & Home. Even when you think you cannot absorb one more dazzling display, pattern, color or texture, ABC’s “Visual Team” successfully manages to impose yet another layer of retinal stimulation.

So it was at a recent event held at the store, that I found myself under the spell of what the ABC employees call “fairy dust.” It might appear as glittery graffiti on a mid-century étagère, or as carefully arranged dried buds peeking out from under a porcelain dinner plate. Even when the pixies take it up a notch for special events the effect remains subtle as the sparkles, petals and powders blend naturally with the flickering candles and the ambient surface reflections. After last week’s Apartment Therapy meetup, where Mira Nakashima-Yarnall, daughter of George Nakashima, talked about the work of Nakashima Studios, I had to take a closer look at these ethereal flourishes.



“Fairy dust” also graces the always otherworldly store windows.



















Mira Nakashima-Yarnall, signing books, after her presentation.

Bergdorf's Windows

Bergdorf’s Holiday windows are, so over the top this year that they are a challenge to behold. ‘Labor intensive’ doesn’t even begin to describe this extravaganza of passementarie, quilling, encrustation, and taxidermy, with a dose of steampunk.


During the day, the reflections of Fifth Avenue
upon the glass offer some dreamlike surprises ...


But the general effect is dizzying.


If you visit after dark …


and get up close to explore …


you’ll be transported to a world of fantastical detail.










































Glorious, but exhausting, much like the Christmas season in New York!