If I could I might spend forever living in the Italian countryside wearing only clothes by Brunello Cucinelli, cooking and eating pasta with family and dear friends all the while drinking Brunello di Montalcino.
I do love bill collins
For now (or the month of March) I’ll live and be in Saint Petersburg FL, work and plan for upcoming trunk show, cook and eat pasta, maybe drink a beer, and perhaps gift my husband with a cashmere sweater or two, because I always borrow. Husband’s cashmere sweaters from Cucinelli are always the best.
Alfresco pasture-raised Vital Farms eggs, Italian washed linen napkins farmers market fresh flowers in brown paper farmers market haul from Saturday morning no salad spinner yet, hand washed the greens and wrapped them in dish towels to store in the fridgevegetables, up close and personal. our goal is to incorporate them in all meals, 3 times a day sometimes a chocolate croissant wins 🙂
Even when we’re home away from home we keep our routine pretty much the same. Eggs, the best we can get our hands on, fresh flowers, farmers market vegetables, white denim and a black tank. These are some of our tried and true.
these jeans are pretty see through so I cut front pockets out and sewed the seam closed I also hemmed them just above the ankle, showing a slash of skin
Simple style notes: white denim is best with a seasonal refresh. Sure, we can wear last year”s pair, it simply feels better when they are new. Last years white’s can do the dog walk and the garden tour. The pair you see here I cut the front pockets out and stitched the seam closed. It’s a cleaner look, especially if you don’t like to distract the eye with funny pocket linings that you can invariably see when wearing white denim.
Happy Monday, some simple things, and every day dress. xoxo
The Dressthe shoes, gifted by her sisterwe always have our shoemaker put red rubber soles over the original he will only do it after a couple of wears, not box fresh
Oh, The Dress. Okay, so the blog here is called every day dress, so you know even though we wander we’re kind of all about the dress. Caroline has been looking at wedding dresses for as long as I can remember, even before the man entered the room. I think the dress was the very first thing that was decided on, and after that it was all systems go go. Caroline, working and living in NYC, set up 7 or so bridal appointments, Sarah and I flew in for one wonderful weekend. She spread the fun out over three days, on day one she kind of had two picked out, on day two at Amsale she and we knew, she had her dress. She put that gown on and tears came, champagne was poured, it was that good. Of course it was a little over budget, she would figure it out. Day three of appointments we politely thanked and cancelled. Oh, that dress. I’ll never forget her in that dress. She absolutely beamed walking down the aisle and the entire, glorious day. After all was said and done the next night she put the dress on with bare feet, hair up, and celebrated again under the brunch tent during an impromptu all-hands on deck pasta dinner. It really doesn’t get any better than that, the bride doing dress repeat.
poolside cocktails seafood towerone of the barsseated dinner love
My family knows that after coffee the first thing I think about in the morning is what’s for breakfast, after that it’s what’s for lunch, and after that it’s obviously what’s for dinner. As the family cook and entertainment provider, my vote for food, drink, and service was heavily weighted. We considered two options, yet even before going into the process my mind was on Giancarlo’s. They’ve been in our city house and office serving up parties for years now, they always deliver. The family card helps too, Ethan played basketball with Anthony all while growing up, Maxwell and Anthony graduated from high school together, Gabriella is always delightful and professional, their staff is young, good looking, and energetic. We were planning a party where every last thing needed to be brought in to a sloping country grass field, huge responsibility, yet I just knew they would provide the experience we were looking for. And they did; a seamless, sophisticated cocktail hour, an elegant, unpretentious seated dinner for 212 guests, fun, spicy stuff for a boozy after party. This didn’t come without a cost, honestly when the quote first came in I was thinking of cooking that chicken dinner. Husband even offered me $15k (that’s a lot of new shoes) to take it on. Bride and groom weren’t biting, Giancarlo’s it was. They were superlative.
Caroline’s best friends mom has her hand in wedding planning, she was the hero in referring The Digs, thank you Marilynn. They were extraordinary. Caroline and Sean were adamant about having a great band, we all know that can make or break a good party. Bride, groom, and siblings listened to play tapes, watched videos, and it was their decision to book this Toronto, Ontario phenomenon. Coming from Canada we needed to provide hotel accommodations, a green room, and two kinds of dinner, vegan is a thing with musicians. Again, over budget, absolutely worth every dollar spent. Dance floor was jammed from first song to last.
The wedding invitation was emotional. In house we have two family graphic designers, bride’s brother Maxwell created the Save the Date, and bride’s aunt Tracy creates one-of-a-kind stationery suites for her clients under the umbrella of her west coast design company Radeff Design Studios. Given those two love affairs you just can’t pick. Here I was the heavy and sent Caroline on her lunch hour to Smythson on Madison Ave. She worked with the consultant in person and I worked remotely. We were a little under the wire, our decision came kind of late in the game and then all correspondence and proofs had to be vetted through London. Again, over budget, thank you Bill and Collins & Collins. (what’s a budget?). Invitation was delivered, I hand addressed and stamped, carried those big boxes to local post office and politely asked that they all be hand-canceled, thank you USPS.
tent and lightingbride and groom hit the dance floor
Got a little crazy here, in the end we had 4 tents and the main party tent location was moved less than a week before the big day. Tent locations were initially measured under 3 feet of snow. Aunt Tracy was the super hero here, honestly she, along with McCarthy, made this happen. She tracked weather patterns, looked at sunrise and sunset, walked the property considering absolutely all logistics, and at the eleventh hour helped stake all tents.
McCarthy covered tents, tent lighting, tables, bars, bistros, chairs, dance floor, generators, maybe more, can’t remember if they did grills and/or hotboxes for caterer. They also had rain plan, heaters and air conditioners all on reserve if needed, they were not, grateful. Totally recommend.
Tracy, founder and CEO of Radeff Design Studios, provided overall professional and logistical advisement. In essence, she brought all vendors together on the same page. She was timeline and detail oriented down to the minute. Bravo.
Her work, and spirit, simply outstanding. She and her team captured the day, and all you see here. Caroline emailed her letter of introduction, Sarah accepted, and the memories through photographs live on. Another referral from Marilynn, thank you.
all in white even after party attire was white on white
Caroline and Sarah sourced bridesmaid dresses another NYC weekend. Finally, something great looking and on budget. Must say they all looked gorgeous and happy. Loved the shades of white.
Again, Caroline and Sarah on point, with advisement from Lexi. They know hair and makeup and booked Buffalo’s best. Glamour squad arrived city-side Saturday morning at about 7:15 am and helped us all get wedding day ready. Bride, wedding party, MOB (mother of bride), MOG (other of groom) and both maternal grandmothers. Special thanks to Kristen Baker. That in itself was a party. 🙂
Caroline and Sean during one of their Buffalo visits tasted cake. Sean, being the consummate sweet tooth, had first choice. Cake looked beautiful, I heard it was delicious. To this day I still think about that missed opportunity, and where that wedding cake went the day after.
This was a god-send referral from stylist colleague Cary Kimber in Rochester, New York. Who knew there was a vintage and luxury table top rental provider an hour and fifteen minutes away that has done work at The Whitney Museum and The Met Ball? Woah, we were in good company. Caroline and I did early spring road trip and met with owner Eileen Wright. In less time than it took for us to get there we chose china, stemware, flatware, and details. Sure, we could have gone default stock white, yet Eileen’s belief shares ours, ‘that welcoming friends and sharing happy moments with them around a table that has been imagined and decorated for their sole pleasure exemplifies the art of entertaining’.
The vision board was clear: white, and shades of white. Hydrangea and Roses. Caroline sent me for initial consult, Caroline, Tracy, and I signed off on final consult. Flowers were what we wanted, pretty, fresh, beautiful, and not over-done. We were in the country after all and surrounded by greenery.
Never saw them, husband and I drove ourselves, yet understand their service was great transporting guests to and from Buffalo to Eden. Heard the drivers were friendly, as well.
to the lower right in both photos you can see a glimpse of the glamping area in lower fieldAndrew, Caroline’s friend from grade school, of Contentment Camping, with his fiance Meredith on far right
Caroline’s grade school friend Andrew gifted her and Sean seventeen tents for friends to party on into the wee hours and the next day. Party on they did, indeed. Andrew and his mom Pat provide ‘glamping’ or ‘camping without roughing it’ events all over the country. Check them out here, Contentment Camping.
lunch in the barnthe bride eating a burgerafter lunch at the barn
Church was at noon, reception at five. To feed the crew called in Carte Blanche and they delivered a wedding lunch of burgers and fries. Next day they brought corned beef hash, potatoes, Bloody Mary’s and more.
Planners | Marilynn Militello and Angelica McNally
Snowed in and thinking about food, and clothes, obviously. We’re in spring trunk show mode and traffic is light, especially when everything is closed for three days and counting. Kind of love snow days, time is at a standstill.
Thinking too about the blog, and what I need to do to inspire myself. Yesterday got myself up, dressed, made the bed, packed up some ice for the drink bin and grabbed fresh flowers off the kitchen counter, headed downtown for client meetings, and with the snow falling the cancellations rolled in. Headed home, and all I could do was double denim, blue jeans and a blue shirt, and contemplate what could be had for lunch.
Last Friday night, in an effort to be new year healthy, picked up four salmon fillets and a head of green cabbage on the way home from the studio, having had worked with new spring clothes all day. Salmon and cabbage? Kind of spring like; and even though the cooking, technique, plating, and presentation were on point, it was a really bad dinner. The thing is it’s just not spring yet, and not even close to being spring like. So, while I might be dressing myself and my women in new spring clothes for the season ahead, the food correlation is just simply a no-go. It was a dinner for three, and not one of us could get through it. Instead, we tucked into the wine. Started with white, because you know white with fish, ha-ha. Took a look out the window, snow blustering all around, and poured some red. Ate some of the cabbage and simply pushed the farm raised pink stuff around the plate. I should and do definitely know better: do not buy farm raised fish, but I did. So, no dinner and over served on the wine. Went to bed hungry and spinning. It was for sure a really bad dinner.
what we should have had, two nights in a row
Having made meatballs and sauce the day before served that up for lunch the next afternoon. That was the dinner we were looking for on a cold snowy night, live and learn. When you get it right it should go on repeat? We can do meatballs and sauce two nights in a row, especially and particularly in January.
vegetable stock mise en place, usually use Spanish onions, red was what I hadmise en place for hearty Minestrone, no canned tomatoes on hand, only crushed, soup was excellentsoup, sandwich, white, could have grilled the bread and cheese a little longer, I was anxious
Still trying to do healthy, yet wanting warmth, and comfort. Simmered up a double batch of vegetable stock, some for a hearty minestrone soup, and some for the freezer. A bowl of soup, combined with a grilled cheese sandwich, butter is still love, be still my January heart. See you later bland, pink fish.
As for the blog, they say write what you know, so food and clothes. Not for all, I know. If you like what we’ve got, thanks for hanging around. My in-house photographer grew up and went to college so the clothing shots have been lacking, only so far I can push the husband, and selfies feel a little weird. Speaking of selfies, here’s one in the studio, while snow swirls all around. A few DM’s about the taupe suede boots: they are Sarah Flint, a direct to consumer brand. Sarah makes great footwear using some of the same production sites as Hermes, Louboutin, and Blahnik, and counts the likes of Meghan Markle, Lady Gaga, Jane Fonda and Cindy Crawford as fans. I’m trying a little six month ambassador thing with them, and in return they’ve given me a code for clients and friends, RCOLLINS50, to use at checkout for $50 off your first pair. I do like her shoes and boots, have three pair now.
That’s all for now, I’ve broken the ice and re-fed the blog. Off to take an afternoon bath, time stands still on snow days, and then back to work on wardrobing women in new spring things. Really bad dinner, see you later. xoxo
black sweater, blue denim, suede flat, lots of green
Still getting settled after Thanksgiving week and now entering holiday mode, oh, boy. We’ve done this before, yet there’s always those moments of uncertainty when you think you just can’t get there. One year when staging and decorating for husband’s office Christmas party with major event designer sister from CA, she said, ‘you can never be done’, and I still think of that. Any party or event or dinner or holiday or even wedding planning could just keep going and going. Now I tell myself to give it a really good strong effort and then at some point just let it be enough.
We’ve got trees, some decorated, some not. Some with skirts, and some without. Twenty year old daughter hung some of the ornaments while home from break and I wasn’t even in the room with her. We chatted, room to room, her hanging, me cooking, and I just let her be. Years past or even recent years I might have micro-managed, this tree decorating I can totally let go.
Card writing is giving me anxiety, and we’ve even got a great photo or two this year. The actual card is on order, and that’s two steps ahead of where we usually are in this production process. We’ve looked at stamps, no decision yet. Details details.
easiest dinner ever is to have your butcher trim and tie a whole tenderloin, pop it in a super hot oven for 22 minutes or so, let rest, and carve
We had a full house, and I cooked and baked my head off. Tenderloin, ham, turkey. Potatoes, beans, pasta. Cinnamon rolls, pies, cakes. Bacon bacon and bacon. Wine wine and more wine. Can you tell where this is going?
probably spent 16+ hours or so in an apron
new French food processor, needs to go back, Pulse button not working!
This most wonderful time of the year is by any stretch not easy. Trimmed and tied, perhaps, yet always ongoing….
big chunk of blue and chopped tarragon
birthday wedge and bolognese for fourteen, kind of standard. this was after Thanksgiving and there wasn’t a clean white linen left in the house, so, mismatched it was
bought two $40 bouquets at grocery and had oldest daughter cut them down into 11 small arrangements in canning jars, a look she totally dismissed for wedding vibe, hahaha (and agree)Â
While my first inclination was to name this post ‘home stylist’, couldn’t get myself to do it while I’m being extravagant in wake of the California wildfires. We’ve been dealing with  house-wide flooding issues and some serious health stuff, yet nothing comes close to neighborhoods being leveled, lives being lost, children wearing face masks, and our hearts are with those in one of our favorite states.
You know we’re about good clothes and great food, and creating a lifestyle that speaks to luxury, whatever that may mean to each of us. One of our current favorite aspirational brands is Gucci, and their recent statement to me by email reads:
In solidarity with Gucci employees, clients, and friends in California, we are supporting the relief efforts in the local communities that have been affected by the devastating California wildfires.
Gucci has donated to the following organizations, and you can join us by making your pledge to the charity of your choice.
This is the heart of Gucci’s mission to bring positive change in order to secure our collective future.
Gucci, you moved me to give. Please know you’re in the lineup for some of my Christmas gift spending dollars, thank you.
We here at every day dress can’t move mountains or put out fires, we do want we can and always try to make small things better. Wardrobe, food, home, or set stylist, it’s kind of our thing.
Two college daughters and newlyweds arrive home tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving, and we just can’t wait to put our arms around them and be in their face.
In preparation I almost get manic, try to make things nice, and runaround securing supplies for both indoor and outdoor spaces. As a ‘set stylist’, current project is the 10 outdoor planters scattered about the city house. Thought long and hard and even pulled the trigger on pre-made and decorated grocery planters, and bought 10 yesterday morning while at market. Got them home, and while beautiful, they just weren’t giving me the look or feeling I was after. Back they went, all within an hour and 15 minutes.
Decided to YouTube outdoor planters, and with some new inspiration pulled out the iPhone and called around to local nurseries for fresh-cut greens, and in particular red twig dogwood branches. Found a source, thank you Elber’s, and off we went. An SUV full later, two planters in, and we’re on our way to a natural, pretty, and evergreen holiday look for the outside of our still standing home.
California, wishing you peace, calm, and recovery.
Every day dress, xoxo.
all photos iPhone / MacBook Pro went black / in for video card repair
Yeah, the blog has taken a backseat to life’s happenings, and I miss it. Writing here is honestly a bit of a creative exercise, and exercise is always better when it’s a regular thing, wink wink. Â
With Thanksgiving Day a week from tomorrow, thought it might be a good time for reentry by sharing my first published piece, Dressing the Bird. Never mind it’s a neighborhood publication, it feels good to have something I wrote actually in hard copy print, thank you Megan. We’re all about trying new things, putting yourself out there a little, and taking small risks. So, here we go, sharing with you my submission for Delaware Park Living magazine:
Dressing the Bird
First Thanksgiving dinner thirty-one November’s ago we brought to the table a partially frozen bird. Who knew you couldn’t make the Wednesday night bar rounds, sleep a few hours, wake up early, run the oldest foot race in America and do Thanksgiving dinner soup to nuts all in a few hours?
That was our first married holiday meal, and we invited guests. Mom showed up early afternoon and wondered why the turkey wasn’t in the oven and I really didn’t know why either. Simply jumped in with no experience and went to town. Can’t remember how I ever got dinner on the table and fed my people, yet it did happen, and it was memorable.
Now, three decades later, six kids, a new son-in-law, and we’ve got it down. There’s got to be two turkeys, (and now we cook them just fine), good old-fashioned bread stuffing, cooked cranberry sauce with cinnamon and orange, green beans, double amounts of mashed potatoes, candied yams with of course marshmallows on top, roasted Brussels sprouts, soft, buttery dinner rolls, triple amounts of scratch gravy, pumpkin, blueberry, and apple pies. When the kids were little I used to make them pick the berries, and froze them for our November and December holiday pies. Now I call the farm, order a flat or two, and freeze them in 6 to 8 cup zip-lock bags for pie on the ready. Crust has got be scratch, and only with butter, no white shortening in this kitchen, and that can be done early, and frozen before rolling out as well.
One turkey to carve and one to look at until dinner is done. The second bird is so we can send hearty leftovers home with family and friends and for sandwiches the next day. In the early years when Gourmet magazine was still a thing we jumped around with the stuffing, adding chestnuts, or weird things, always with complaints if there wasn’t old fashioned bread stuffing as well. Now we just go with the tried and true, cutting the crusts off of two or three loaves of Pepperidge Farm white and letting the bread dry on the countertop for a few days. In a pinch we’ve been known to throw it in the oven for the speedier version.
The only Thanksgiving dinner I didn’t cook in the last three plus decades was the year I was pregnant with our fourth child, it was her real due date on the big turkey day, and husband and I with our eldest son and our twins were invited for dinner at mom’s house. Walked the Turkey Trot that day, (no drinks the night before), me pushing a double stroller and husband pushing a single, and went for dinner. Second son Maxwell who was two then pushed back from the table after it was all over and declared, ‘I’m loaded’: we still laugh about that today. Helped with dishes that night, told husband it was time to go, left the three wee ones with the grandmom, went and birthed Sarah. Sarah is now turning twenty-six this Thanksgiving season, and we are forever grateful, and still serving basically the same meal.
This family of ours now depends on tradition, and the food that goes with it. They can come home and know the bird will be dressed with old-fashioned bread stuffing, and that there will be gravy and pie, and all the fixings. It’s a secure feeling, and we are thankful for the bounty of this beautiful land, and for the soulful and good feeling of coming to table and breaking bread with those we love.
Wishing you all a holiday season of honest food, and a full heart.
Okay, so we’re desperately working on finishing professional plant-based cooking curriculum at Rouxbe, and it’s as expected in our world taking longer than what’s expected. We even paid extra for extra time to finish, a 30 day extension for $129.99 to be precise. As we have only 9 days left to finish, upload and send 28 graded activities, we’re most likely definitely looking at another extension for another chunk of cash. We’ve got life to tend to, the fall garden, the small business, and the family.
We’ve always been a non-traditional student. Night school non-matriculated courses at State University of New York at Buffalo served as our college introduction, and that entire process evolved over seven years, with an eighteen month old and twin newborns in the arms of my husband on graduation day.
This Professional Plant-Based Certification Course is intense. Designed as a six month foundational instruction in plant-based culinary arts, it focuses on the core techniques found in a plant-based kitchen. The course forces me to explore and practice a variety of recipes and flavors from around the world that I might never experience without having to leave my home. It’s all online, love that, and you receive ongoing chef instruction and support. I am consistently challenged to master technique, and those skills will now stay with me forever.
You might recall I was enrolled in the Rouxbe Professional Cook Certification, and that course took me longer to complete than the expected six-months as well. For us, everything seems to take longer, and that’s okay. A few of the lessons are repeated in the Plant-Based curriculum, such as knife skills and dicing practice, and I could upload my earlier work to move the process along. Thought about it, and then thought not. I’m here to learn, and get better, and by doing it again I’ll only get better. Doing things again and over and over to make a more pleasing, satisfying outcome, is the basic tenet of our every day dress lifestyle. It takes work, and it can take a long time, and like I said before we don’t always get it right.
simple cabbage soup with heat from cayenne
confetti quinoa salad – big hit with twenty-six year old daughter
While prepping plant-based soup and salad a few days ago I’m sure I swore and eye rolled a few times as plant things seem to take way longer to bring to table than throwing a tenderloin of any kind into a hot oven. Simple Cabbage Soup with scratch vegetable stock and Confetti Quinoa Salad with garlic fried quinoa will take every flat surface and probably every bowl and several pots and pans in your kitchen.
It’s a journey, and we’re definitely learning new things, and that’s kind of what life is all about anyways.
As for the what to wear where, we’re about adding some color to the rotation. If we’re doing new things in the kitchen why not add some new dimension to the wardrobe.
Every day dress all the time and why does everything always take longer than what we expect?
Woke up this morning, had some coffee, hit the gym, and made the bed. Thirty one years ago today and almost all of those days in between I’ve followed pretty much the same routine, although that specific day I married the man of my dreams, the love of my life.
I knew at first sight that he was the one, he thought I was way too young. Kind of positioned myself so he would notice. Notice he did: a bride at twenty-two, a mom at twenty-three; we’re still here, still loving.
Good habits and aligned values have helped us endure. Family first, lots of exercise, shared meals.
taller than my man, and wore Azzedine Alaïa for church ceremony
We created our wedding day and have created every day since. Even then I loved clothes, and made the wedding dress, and the dresses for five bridesmaids, and two flower girls. Sewing my clothing was a self-taught skill, a hobby, and a necessity back then. Crazy girl, yet crazy kind of got me here today, thankful. Still love clothes, yet finding I need less, and want better. Even so I’m often most comfortable in husbands shirt, rolled sleeves, and worn in blue jeans.
Sure we still love to dress up, and celebrate. We celebrated large for oldest daughter’s wedding a month or so ago, and felt it fitting to share photos of that day, on this day, as both days celebrate love.
Yes, I wrote this post on our thirty-first wedding anniversary day, yesterday. Sarah Bridgeman, our daughter’s wedding photographer, compiled over 1,700 photos for us, each one seemingly better than the last. As you can imagine it takes hours to sort through, and wanted to post some of her images here, as to us they are just so magical. We hope you too can feel the love. Thank you, Sarah.Â
