Tennis Anyone?

Time to get out your short shorts and your sweatbands, the US Open Tennis Championships begin tomorrow in Flushing Meadows. Personally, I'll be staking out all the top hotels to catch of glimpse of the hot players! Between tennis and upcoming fashion week, it's the best time of the year to be in New York!

Spain...On the Road Again

I've been hearing about Gwyneth Paltrow's trip to Spain with Mario Batali for a while and now it will finally air on PBS this September as Spain...On the Road Again. Along for the ride are food writer Mark Bittman an Spanish actress Claudia Bassols. Turns out that Gwyneth lived in Spain with an exchange family and of course speak fluent Spanish. Is there nothing she can't do?! I'm definitely going to be watching to find out!

Wishes

I wish this was my house and my car and more importantly I wish I was there right now!

Photo by George Ross for Hamptons Cottages and Gardens

Beachy Kean

I have always appreciated the work of Diamond and Baratta Design even if it is little over the top for me personally but I really love the dining room above. It was designed for a beach house in Sagaponack in the Hamptons and it has such a nice light and airy feel. I also love the chairs! I actually saw the same chairs in pale blue with brass booties at our upholsterer and thought they had a great vintage yet modern vibe. Enjoy!

Photo by George Ross for Hamptons Cottages and Gardens

Agent Recomendation?

I'm usually the one who's dolling out advice and recommendations, but now I'm turning to my trusty readers for literary agent recommendations for myself and a few friends for some fabulous non-fiction book ideas. Please email me if you have any suggestions. And who know, maybe we'll give you a small percentage of the deal!

Shopping and Shots?

Usually, I would advise anyone against shopping and drinking but in the case of men, they can sometimes use a stiff drink to get them through the task. Perhaps that's why I heard today from Urban Daddy that J. Crew is opening a shop in a former bar in Tribeca. Or my guess is that they want to start competing with places like Freemans and Rugby. Regardless, it's a fun concept and they've brought on Andy Spade as consultant. Seems he has a lot of free time on his hands since he and Kate sold their company.

According to Urban Daddy, "you'll find an extremely approachable, well-curated selection of J.Crew limited editions (suits, cashmeres), outside collaborations (Mackintosh coats, Thomas Mason shirting), best-in-breed gear (Alden shoes, Baracuta jackets) and vintage finds (tie bars, old Rolexes) that will help you tie together the classic American Steve McQueen look you've been cultivating." I might have to stake out the store to find one of these Steve McQueen wannabees! I will give J. Crew credit for thinking outside the regular retail store box though. I just wonder what they'll try next!

J. Crew Tribeca Men's Shop at The Liquor Store

235 West Broadway at White Street

212-226-5476

The Duchess

I'm a sucker for a good period movie so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing The Duchess which stars Kiera Knightley as Lady Georgiana Spencer who after marrying Duke William Cavendish, portrayed by Ralph Fiennes, becomes Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. The best part of these types of movies is that you realize that people had just as many problems and issues as we do today except that they had to deal with them while wearing wider dresses and even bigger hair.

"Lady Georgiana Spencer was born on June 7th, 1757. Her father, John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer, was a great-grandson of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Her niece was Lady Caroline Lamb. Among her descendants is the present Duke of Devonshire (via her granddaughter). Another was Diana, Princess of Wales (born Lady Diana Spencer), who was descended from Georgiana's brother, the 2nd Earl Spencer. Georgiana married William Cavendish on June 6, 1774. They has a son , William George Spencer Cavendish who became the 6th Duke of Devonshire and 2 daughters Georgiana and Harriet."

Georgiana Cavendish was a celebrated beauty and a socialite who gathered around her a large circle of literary and political figures. She was also an active political campaigner in an age when women's suffrage was still over a century away.

"Georgiana was famous not only for her marital arrangements, her beauty and sense of style, her political campaigning, but also for her love of gambling. She was reported to have died deeply in debt, even though her own family the Spencers and her husband's family the Cavendishes were immensely wealthy."

"During her years in the public eye, Georgiana was painted by Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds. Gainsborough's famous painting of her in a large French hat was lost for many years. It was purchased a decade ago by Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire for the Chatsworth collection."

The movie is actually based on the bestselling and Whitbread Prize winning book Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman. The book about Georgiana began when Foreman was working on her Ph.D. thesis at Oxford and came upon a "cache of her letters" and then fell in love with her subject. She also served as historical adviser where she also gave the actors insight into the lives they were portraying.

The Devonshire estate of Chatsworth (above and below) was of course used in the movie which is also amusing since it was used as Pemberley in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice also starring Kiera Knightley. Other scenes were filmed at Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire.

I know I am looking forward to learning more about Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, the It Girl of her day. From the sounds of it, she could give Paris and Britney a run for their money! As the retired French diplomat Louis Dutens, who wrote a memoir of English society in the 1780s and 1790s said, “When she appeared, every eye was turned towards her; when absent, she was the subject of universal conversation.”