23 November 2009 – 9.31 pm
…because donny’s in the finals on dancing with the stars tonight! to vote: 800.868.3405.
october!…time to pull out the spooky owl stencil and make meg and her pals some new halloween t-shirts.
of course, when you’re an mus fan, owls are always de rigueur.
21 September 2009 – 7.31 am
this should come as no surprise: mrs. jones is all in on donny osmond to win.
premiere tonight: abc-tv, 7pm memphis time. dial 800.868.3405 to vote.
to celebrate today’s 45th anniversary of the film mary poppins (one of the best, sweetest movies ever!) mrs. jones would like to call out to her own personal imaginary magical nanny, jocasta innes. whenever i am feeling (like young jane banks) a little stuck, frustrated, and/or panicked, the books i pull from the shelf for advice, techniques and color formulas [...]
oh, columbia! visit to celebrate mule day, to make a pilgrimage to the beautiful, historic old homes and churches (including the james k. polk home, which has a great little bookshop) and to see the county courthouse and other “hannah montana” movie filming locations. or, follow mrs. jones’s fave afternoon itinerary and enjoy lunch at lovely liz lovell’s square market, an iced mocha [...]
as you know, mrs. jones loves babies, and had the pleasure of receiving a visit from three exquisite little ones today:
grace, mary claire, and hampton.
grace’s mom had requested a couple of things for her walls, including something with a trad monogram and a bird, in pinks, greens and browns. i hope grace will enjoy these.
(for the background on the [...]
as a kick-off to mother’s day, mr. jones gave me a pass to spend this afternoon at the movies. but not just any movie…lucky me, i got one of the last seats for “la cenerentola” broadcast live in hd from the met. elina garanca made a completely dazzling angelina (cinderella), and as always, the costume and set [...]
better than being in a box at churchill downs was a kentucky derby day dinner party given by our super-lovely friends colleen and larry capstick at her family’s beautiful antebellum farm, summer trees. every detail was perfect, from the mint juleps right through to the croissant & white chocolate bread pudding, and mrs. jones’s friends all looked so stunning in [...]
these fabulous old shutters are a great find for a lovely client by sharp-eyed memphis designer robin selberg. they will flank a window on a grand staircase landing, adding character aplenty. all they needed was a little cleaning up, a handful of nails and a bit of glue to rein in some runaway louvers, and a good rub-down with myland’s antique pine wax.
mylands [...]
please excuse mrs. jones from work today. it’s time to present my paper to the memphis woman’s club (est. 1890) on sister parish, her life, and her current relevance to interior design. preparing to take my turn at the podium has been the best excuse ever for a total mrs. parish immersion, re-reading sister and digging up all [...]
mrs. jones was honored to provide the program for today’s gathering of the cultivated friends garden club. lovely and lively ladies, a beautiful home, excellent chicken salad…the perfect meeting!
(cfgc members, please note: there will be random checks throughout the season to see how beautiful your painted pots look. consider yourselves warned.)
don’t be alarmed. mrs. jones does not fancy herself in the league of garance dore , scott schuman (the sartorialist), or the writers of her new favorite blog, mrs. o…she just wants to call your attention to the very nice april issue of traditional home, which features not one, not two, but three beautiful rooms with striped walls. one is wallpaper, the [...]
with dear friends courtney, margaret and rinnie committed to such an outstanding organization, i was happy to say “yes!”…and so this little table is going to be auctioned at the exchange club family center’s annual hands of hope benefit on march 28.
a flea market find, it got a fresh coat of paint (benjamin moore’s healing aloe, #1562), a layer [...]
spring break, and a de-lish visit to one of our favorite places. foremost, great food: camellia grill, parkway bakery, lilette, acme oyster house, pie, deanie’s, gelato at angelo brocato’s, and of course, daily beignet runs to cafe du monde. and while my family enjoyed a swamp tour and the audubon aquarium, mr. jones gave me a pass for a day on magazine street, to devour [...]
13 February 2009 – 6.04 pm
when asked by the staff at my beloved idlewild presbyterian to try to camolflauge the sound system’s new pair of speakers, it wouldn’t do to say “sorry, i don’t do heights.” my best effort was the least i could give (and besides, i knew they would all pray for a soft landing for me.)
here’s before:
the challenge: matching texture, paint and glaze that had been applied [...]
12 February 2009 – 5.01 pm
while at idlewild this week, mrs. jones had the honor of working side-by-side (and under the same deadline) with the lovely gentlemen/artisans from the bedient pipe organ company. their task was to bring the works of the organ (which they had built 22 years ago) into the new century, replacing the fickle, temperamental old manual controls with unfailingly reliable electronic ones. the incredible knowledge and love [...]
11 February 2009 – 9.29 pm
…twenty years ago today(!), i had the honor of officially becoming mrs. jones. please don’t think that i don’t know, every day, how lucky i am.
to celebrate, mr. jones and i ran away to new york city for a few heavenly days, while my amazing sister-in-law, betsy, along with a support team of equally goddess-like friends, kept the little joneses happy, fed and [...]
29 January 2009 – 2.15 am
in an apparent (and much appreciated) effort to cheer me up, the thoughtful editors at hb just delivered the ultimate color issue (are you neutral or are you bold? how much color is right for you? all of the above, please!) with the monthly “i’m looking for” feature heralding the return of the aged look, and tossing around a vocabulary that is music to my ears: [...]
10 December 2008 – 5.00 pm
my mother and godmother have been palling around just about their whole lives, but it hasn’t been all delta gamma tea dances, IBM cocktail parties and golf vacations, oh no. they’ve clocked in some serious hours just inventing clever. from knitted irish fisherman sweaters (with matching tam o’shanters, natch!) to the best halloween costumes ever, lollipop trees [...]
8 December 2008 – 10.26 am
as you know, one of mrs. jones’s favorite little things is a terra cotta pot done up in a happy, vintage-y, colorful finish. these were done for a lovely client who found tiny christmas trees to place in them and give as gifts.
4 December 2008 – 9.37 pm
among all the lovely cards, calls and treats (thanks, everyone!) two surprises appeared today that were doubly sweet because they were given by very special people in mrs. jones’s life, and created by two exceptional, enterprising young ladies, who, coincidentally, both credit their grandmothers for inspiring their ideas.
missy ricketts (also upping the game at broom corn – a topic for [...]
25 November 2008 – 10.25 pm
for 19 thanksgivings, i have been lucky enough to be mrs. jones and to escape hosting both sides of our families for the holiday. apparently, it’s finally my turn. to distract myself from larger worries such as turkeys vs. oven space and the total number of decent pillows in the linen closet, i’ve decided to make napkins from this [...]
7 November 2008 – 8.59 pm
mrs. jones has had the honor recently of updating pieces originally done by local creative goddesses lesa rowe and susan driscoll. it was more than a little daunting to touch anything done by their super-talented hands!
the top of this chest needed a re-touch after a cabinet topping it was removed for repurposing. to complement the finish lesa had done, my lovely [...]
29 October 2008 – 8.35 pm
sometimes, all a piece needs is little something…a little cleaning up, a little fresh paint, a little glaze. since my lovely, expectant client will be using this cabinet (found at an antique shop) in the nursery, i wanted to make sure that it was super-clean and de-toxified. after scrubbing, spackling and sanding, it was primed, painted with fabulously non-toxic aura (in benjamin moore’s cameo [...]
26 October 2008 – 8.55 pm
meg and i had a huge, fun, green-tinted weekend: a trip to atlanta to visit dearest friends and see “wicked” with them one more time. (by also taking in “high school musical 3″ (so fun, and a much better film than the slightly snarky review in the new yorker would have you believe!) and making a trip to the american [...]
fall break: time to hit the road! meg (the littlest little jones), kit kittredge and i cashed in mr. jones’s hilton points, packed up the station wagon and headed home to chicago for a terrific long weekend. we saw gorgeous trees along the way, wearing their flashy fall colors, but when we got to town, it was all non-stop [...]
many thanks to everyone who came to shop, sip and visit us today and yesterday! here is just a sampling of the beautiful art, antiques, estate jewelry and gifts that were offered:
and a special thank-you to all who came to see me, to buy painted pots and t-shirts, and brainstorm about future projects. i appreciate it so much.
6 September 2008 – 8.49 pm
one more thing to love about downtown: the amazing farmer’s market at the train station on saturday mornings. besides the gorgeous produce, there are so many inspiring and colorful treats to be found: fresh pizza dough, the cucina bread lady, organic beef, goat cheese, home-made dog biscuits, fresh flowers, (most notably the bouquets from mr. sue) rustic little birdhouses made [...]
even after $3 for parking and $6 for sno-cones (the little joneses deserve a treat at ”the flea”) i spent far less than my $100 budget and came home with great things to fix and paint. two of my favorite vendors, martha virginia (from trenton, tennessee) and bill yost (from atlanta) were among those there with some great treasures (and [...]
those who know her can attest: mrs jones never dispenses fashion advice, only seeks it. (and despite frequent, desperate peeks at the sartorialist and bill cunningham’s weekly ”on the street” videos) is still in paint-covered khakis or overalls most every day.) however, the fall clothing catalogues have been chock-full of beautiful colors that may be showing up in paint around [...]
