'The Ultimate House Party' for January VIE

“I visited Tony and Carla in their home in southern France for two summers, and now we are family. We’ve adopted each other. When I need a lift, I tap into the memories of those halcyon days at the Hendra’s place. What could be better than reveling for a week (yes, a full week!) in communal bliss—eating, drinking, swimming, and walking around a charming village, with time for long conversations and hours of cooking? All the while, you’re leaving the frenzy of your trials and tribulations behind, at least for a spell.

A house party host must possess an overflowing heart, a hugely generous spirit (and often, an open pocketbook), boundless energy, and a willingness to carve out time for others. The house party host is the exact opposite of self-centered. The tasks are multiple, but so are the rewards for those of us who have organized house parties and been recipients of these idyllic stays. Making a group of people feel safe and loved, watered and fed for a few days is a fabulous gift….”

Read the rest of the Dean’s How To’s of World-Class Hosting (learned in large part from the Hendras) in the January 2020 issue of VIE Magazine HERE!

Style Blooms Eternal at the Chelsea Flower Show for June VIE

Queen Elizabeth II at the Chelsea Flower Show. Photo: Prima

“What is it that makes this flower show so special? It’s more than queens and duchesses. Designs, such as one suspended in air in 2011 and one made of three hundred thousand individually crocheted poppies in 2016, are not simply a passive art experience. The attendees of the flower show become active participants. Our visual sense takes in the exhibits like we do the portraits at the Tate or the National Portrait Gallery; beyond our eyes, our imaginations might leap into action and plot changes to our gardens. Some people take it a step further and become part of the show by wearing fashions with a theme. How many times can adults wear their inner passions without looking loony? How many opportunities do we have to be fierce, fabulous, and maybe a tiny bit frivolous? The show is the venue to see the intermingling of artistic visions: the flowers, the garden design, the crowd, and the fashion choices. It is like a natural museum come to life — a living exhibit and a contemporary art installation all at once.”

Read more about the Chelsea Flower Show HERE via VIE Magazine!

Notes from the Rainbow Room, for VIE Magazine

Looking for a reason to travel? If an epic blowout at NYC's legendary Rainbow Room isn't on your calendar this Spring, make a date with friends in a city you've never been to and live it up anyway! For three or 300, Suzanne tells how to make any destination event memorable in the latest issue of VIE Magazine.

Read the full article HERE...

How to Pack for Vacation

“Travel light, but spend money on a great suitcase. You need one not too big or small, with four wheel drive and many pockets.”

— Marina Abramovic (for Porter Magazine)

From snowy Montreal...

Assistant Dean AK here, with another hotel room dispatch, this time in freezing Montreal! Believe it or not, our next stop happens to be the Mexican state of Oaxaca. I’ll spare you all the reasons why we ended up taking this nonsensical route, but suffice it to say we were presented with unique challenges in the packing department. Montreal's temperatures are currently in the negative degrees Fahrenheit while Oaxaca continues as warm as you might expect. Enter the handy-dandy book Packing for Travel (on loan from Dean P.) to assist with Edit: Round Two in our Canadian hotel room, before I repack my Mexican getaway suitcase and set aside the rest to be shipped home from the airport.

to toasty warm Oaxaca City.

So long layers and coats! Not only does Karen Klopp, Editor of the What 2 Wear Where blog, offer several other incredibly helpful and cheerfully illustrated Top Tens, like "All the Basics" and "Steps to Panic-Free Packing," but she also includes packing lists for every destination under the sun, from a Dude Ranch to Deep Sea Fishing. Per Klopp's best advice, I'm opting for knitwear (which doesn't wrinkle) and the "Top Ten Travel Essentials," among them a pashmina, down vest, and dark jeans. I may even wear all three on the plane, ready to shed/shove in an overstuffed duffel bag the moment I arrive in a more habitable clime.

Adios! -AK