Dare I say it? Dare I say it? Yes, I’m going to…I’m going to
just say it. Here goes…Carolyn Roehm is better than Martha Stewart. Am I going
to go to Martha Stewart hell? I couldn’t possibly go to Martha Stewart hell
because God knows the truth…the truth is that Carolyn Roehm has better taste
than Martha Stewart. She’s richer. Well,
maybe that could be a close call as to who is richer but Carolyn Roehm looks
richer and decorates richer. While Martha Stewart is still collecting Ironstone
from tag sales, Carolyn Roehm is in Paris at antique auctions buying vermeil. I
would say Carolyn Roehm is just one step below Valentino in terms of setting
the table. If you would like inspiration about how to decorate your
Thanksgiving table…look no further than Carolyn Roehm. Take a look…
See! Now you tell me whose house you’d rather spend
Thanksgiving at… I would choose Carolyn but in a pinch I’ll still go to
Martha’s but before Martha’s I would go to Ralph Lauren’s. I am wondering where
I will go for Thanksgiving this year in Paris. Why? Why not my own house? Oh,
because my daughter just informed me today that she will be spending
Thanksgiving dinner at her college. “Excuse me, Gracie? You would rather spend
Thanksgiving at your Parisian college where I’m sure everything will taste
un-American rather than at home with me?” Her answer: “Well, grandma’s not
there to cook everything and you can’t cook because you have ALS and I don’t
exactly want your Filipino caregiver cooking Thanksgiving dinner.” Truth be told,
I couldn’t argue with her, she’s right.
Yes, I was disappointed by Gracie’s choice but it’s her
choice. She redeemed herself the following day when she told me that she wanted
to start needlepointing.
We made a compromise…she is going to
come to my apartment the day before Thanksgiving…and we are going to have
Chinese food and watch our favorite Thanksgiving movies. Now, now I have to
figure out where David and I will spend Thanksgiving. I cannot rely on David to
make Thanksgiving dinner because uhh…he’s French and that would be sacrilegious
and because he thinks pumpkin pie is gross. So, my task this week is to find
Thanksgiving dinner in Paris. Stay tuned but in the meantime let’s look at some
gorgeous Thanksgiving centerpieces and table settings…
For more inspiration check out my Have Some Decorum
Thanksgiving Centerpiece and Table Settings board HERE. There are a lot of
really good ideas.
*Something you don’t know about me? My favorite movie is
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My favorite book is A Prayer for Owen Meany.
My favorite books when I was young were Miss Piggle Wiggle. My favorite artist
is Delacroix. I hate French desserts. I love to watch documentaries. I failed
French in college. I have never slept naked. I used to be a star athlete. I
hate my freckles. My socks have to be straight or I will throw a fit. I never
let Gracie have a pacifier. My favorite restaurant in the entire world is Miss
Wilkie’s in Savannah, Georgia. My brother killed himself. When I was very
young, I threw my sisters Mrs. Beasley doll off of the balcony of our high-rise
in Dallas, Texas because the doll scared me to death. I have almost drowned
officially three times. I went to a Metallica concert in France the week after
I was diagnosed with ALS. I love cereal and I eat it for dinner… Cap’n Crunch,
Golden Grahams, Rice Krispies. I am hoping that when I get to heaven Carolyn
Bessette Kennedy and I will be friends. I will not eat sardines or anchovies. I
hate the name Wanda. I am thankful and grateful that I do not have cankles. I
think my friend, comedian Kerri Kenney, is the funniest person on earth. I have
“faux boobs.” I don’t ever want to go to Africa on safari because I’m afraid of
animals. If I ever pass away, I hope my husband turns gay and marries my favorite
most awesome friend, Tom, because they are perfect for each other. I hate
Windsor chairs except on Thanksgiving. My theme song is Queen’s Under Pressure. My best friend Jenny and
I consider TMZ “the news.” Sometimes I’m super shallow and materialistic and
sometimes I’m super deep and altruistic but that’s rare. And last but not
least… I love the Kardashians, especially Kourtney Kardashian. What about you?
What don’t I know about you?
Team Roehm here...Martha has money but lacks elegance and decadence.
ReplyDelete*Something you don't know about me...two of my favorite things are elegance and decadence ;)
xo/Nancy
I was born on Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday to cook for. Unfortunately, now that my mother and step-father passed away, I have no one to cook for except my husband. It’s kind of silly to pull out all the stops for two people…maybe I’ll grill some quail. This is the problem when one has no family and one’s husband’s “children” prefer to be with their mother, and one’s friends prefer to do “just family” or are far away.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite movie is “True Confessions”. My favorite book is “Shadows on the Rock”. I had my waddle and bags under my eyes removed. At the moment, my favorite restaurant is the Minetta Tavern in NYC. I don’t like cereal. I like cheese. My best friend, Thom, is gay and he is a slob. I told him he is a disgrace to his people. My husband will not turn gay so I don’t have to worry about him and Thom driving each other crazy. I almost got sucked out of the back of a troop carrying helicopter over 29 Palms in the 70s. My theme song is “On the Road Again” sung by Willie Nelson. My favorite artists are John Singer Sargent (watercolors) and the illustrations of Arthur Rackham. I love animals. My favorite animals are cats, horses, Nubian goats, and budgies. I am considering adopting a baby desert tortoise. I, too, am thankful and grateful that I do not have kankles. I am not shallow, but I do like really nice things that I mostly cannot afford.
I love the color of those burgundy candles in photo #10.
Kourtney? Come on. Khloe all the way. Well, except that Kourtney seems to secretly hate Kris, which I can get behind.
ReplyDeleteLORDY..where do I start!First off VALENTINO's new book arrived today!Right after YOURS!Yours came in the mailbox and UPS brought the big VALENTINO Emperors table.I am totally disappointed and I bought it for a GIFT!I am not in LOVE with his china and he uses a SUGAR SUBSTITUTE in every recipe!He collects salt cellars I'll give him that.............But really $100.00 for this book and some pages are BLANK!!I adore CR.........for some reason I discovered she had a blog way back when and my computer could NEVER get myself to SUBSCRIBE!It would NOT WORK makes me so MAD!It just did not work for me!If anyone can HELP with that let me know please!!She is one classy LADY!She is from the MID~WEST you know!Worked for OSCAR Too.........I just looked at her blog LAST NIGHT!!!!For years I had a garden statue with a CLEMATIS growing on it hanging on my refrigerator and come to find out it was in HER GARDEN!GOrgeous LADY.........I have one of her books that she autographed to me............and what she wrote was REALLY NICE!IT was a gift so I did not meet her but if I ever go back to CHARLESTON I will FIND HER HOUSE!She is re-doing a BEAUTY there.SAVANNAH, GEORGIA........my great, great ,great grandfather is buried there!There is also a STATUE of him in one of those round A bouts!!He rode with GEORGE WASHINGTON......they were BEST BUDDIES from what I have read!Let GRACIE attend dinner at school.............YOU we need to find another AMERICAN in PARIS!Anybody got a FRIEND in PARIS???If you do and they can fit TWO more at their TABLE please give ELLIE and her ADORABLE French Husband a ring!!!!It would BE so MUCH FUN if WE could make this happen from the COMMENT section of a BLOG!!!SOMEBODY's GOT TO KNOW someone who resides in PARIS.....................dig DEEP people...........WE CAN DO THIS!
ReplyDeleteXOXOXOXO
PS.LOVE your BOOK..........an email to you after I finish reading it!!!
OH< I forgot I love CEREAL for dinner too!!!!!!!!!!When the husband gets invited to the ITALIAN CLUB I always say YIPPY!It's CEREAL NIGHT!!!!XOXO
ReplyDeleteEllie, I LOOOOVE your blog (sent from an American address, somewhere on the left coast where all is NOT right with the world, but pumpkin pie is still considered godly)
ReplyDeleteHmmmm...Carolyn Roehm...Martha Stewart...to tell you the truth, neither quite do it for me, though, they are both very talented, each in her own way. I guess I keep looking for something else. I collect Anna Weatherley. I eat toast from her Pannonian Gardens plate every morning while drinking earl gray tea in bed, while reading a history, philosophy, art books or quirky, literary fiction and jotting down my thoughts while my long-haired tabby, Luna sits on my feet and wishes I would give her some butter from my toast. I am currently reading "Last Friends," by Jane Gardam, "Danubia," by Simon Winder, (a delightful romp about the Habsburgs) and am supplementing the last by listening to the languages of all the countries they ruled at one point, (which means Czech, Hungarian, German, Polish, etc...somehow I threw Icelandic into the mix and I can't remember why...). Do you think Gracie might like to do embroidery, like fancy stumpwork or thread painting? It's time consuming, but very, very satifsfying. She might like to have a look at Mary Corbet's Needle'n'thread blog...Mary's got videos to teach you how to do just about any kind of embroidery. When I was four my father lost me in the ocean for about 90 seconds after a big wave broke over our heads. He pulled me up by my ankles and took me to shore...five minutes later I was back in the water. Our New York loft burnt down when I was six and twelve fireman died when the ceiling collapsed on their heads. There's a memorial to them at Saint John the Divine. For awhile I considered breeding cats, (birman, ragdoll, siberians or chantilly) because I love, love, love kittens and I was trying to think of a way to have them around all the time. My father was a painter and my mother worked for the New York Public Theater so I spent a lot of time at museums, galleries, plays, opening night parties, etc. growing up. At one opening night party for Shakespeare in the Park I met the late actor, Raul Julia, (screen credits include "The Addams Family). I was twelve and I told my mum I wanted to tell him how good he was as Orlando. Well, she took me up to him, and I was too shy to say anything, so she said it for me. Raul bent down and kissed my cheek! Sometimes I have cream of wheat for dinner.
ReplyDeleteSabrina
I also make a great margarita that have become legendary in Port Townsend.
ReplyDeleteSabrina
I am also very shallow and materialistic, I try not to be but that is just who I am! I also have a big heart and though I don't have children I have helped many children find their forever home. I have a passion for my work, child welfare, I am an attorney by trade but do not work as one. I love French fries and French bread with Brie. I love animals and my dream is to live in a huge farm with lots of them around! My favorite movie is The way we were, I love the whole impossible but true love theme! And because of you I will try cereal xoxoxoxo
ReplyDeleteI want all my favourite songs played when I die. I love my cat - a lilac British Shorthair who snorts and snores, I believe in soul mates having lost mine out of sheer stupidity many years ago, I love my best friend, God and my family, I love battered fish and chips and chinese food (especially salt and pepper mud crab), I love cigarettes even though I dont smoke anymore, and red wine. I hate people who are impressed with themselves, arrogance and pride. I love ridiculousness.
ReplyDeleteyou are so right about Carolyn Roehm and Cap'n Crunch...my fav thing to do is walk in nyc by myself...dislike animals but love fish. my kids are the best thing that ever happened to me. Prayer for Owen Meany an awesome pick...i'm obsessed with ebay...best meal- jumbo lump crabcakes and Corton Charlemagne. I collect timepieces. xo
ReplyDeleteEllie,
ReplyDeleteThe perfect place for you to go for Thanksgiving dinner would be Ina Garten's Paris apartment! I wonder if she spends the holiday there? I think this requires some "Nancy Drew-ing", tout de suite...
Catherine
PERFECT CATHERINE..............GET ON THAT!!!!
DeleteI read a lot of blogs and you are the funniest writer of all of them. I would love to spend time with you if we lived close but you probably have many people vying for you attention. And I get your longing to be alone!
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting to learn what a suburban bow is from the last post!
Um, what about Ralph's for Tday? I read that it was 120€ per person last year however...
ReplyDeleteLet's see...I love being a redhead and am convinced that we are "different" than everyone else.I once saw my life flash in front of my eyes when I was almost run over while heading to the Hollywood Bowl. My favorite movie flips back and forth between "To Catch a Thief" "Roman Holiday" and " A Room with a View"...my favorite book is still "Jayne Eyre." I am embarrassed by the obviousness of these choices. I once sang "Summertime" to thank an entire tribe on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu who had put on a dance for me. Safaris are my favorite thing to do on the planet. I eat cheese everyday and can drink a thin man (not THE Thin Man) under the table and yet grumble that I have "somehow" gained weight. I used to be psychic but it freaked me out so much that I closed up that part of me like a door. I didn't talk to my Dad the year before he died and will regret that for the rest of my life. Once, I started to make out with a major movie star but our teeth bumped (end of story). Taxi drivers used to mistake me for Nicole Kidman on the streets on NYC and would yell out, "Yo, Nicole!". I avoid wearing color whenever possible. I love being silly and yet have a tendancy to take myself way too seriously. And my best friend besides my honey or family is probably my dog, Ben.
PS. I am sorry to read that about your Brother, Ellie.
ReplyDeleteBisous.
Dear Ellie, What Beauty you have shared with us. The fruit and flower arrangements are the most beautiful ever.
ReplyDeleteMy birthday is on November the 25th. Some people (not my friends) ask me if my Birthday is always on Thanksgiving. No, I say, Thanksgiving is ALWAYS on a Thursday.
Have a lovely time with your daughter and I hope that you find a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner. We are having duck a la orange. By the way, not from our pond. ox, Gina
Bonjour Ellie, so funny, I was headed here to reach out just to say howdy do to you, and you have a new post! Been packing, I am moving. I keep telling my friends, with giggles, I am moving to France. That I have hired an estate sales person and I am selling it all. I need adventure, hungry for another change. I am pretending I am in a movie like Chocolat, A Good Year, blasting music on my Bose, and meet wonderful women to make life long friendships with and perhaps get kissed too by a charming European man. Now that I think about it, what is keeping me here? Stuff in a mini warehouse, need a job, live like a Bohemian and come to France. Do a little homework, I have a passport, have tux jacket will travel! Keep some of shoes, my Frieling French press, a oil painting of my moms, all monochromatic in red of birds that look like parrots, sitting on a branch and huge. Very funny, as if they are talking to each other saying funny things, like why do these human's stare at us all the time? Mom is gone now, her mediums were watercolor or oils. We painted together a lot when I was a child, she always had something going on that was fun, the eternal optimist. Great cook too, as your mom. I don't watch MSNews, I love music, feel better when I eat better, but spring for gooey yummy macaroni and cheese, (other stuff too, hee hee) but gain weight fast so have to temper down, not fond of bad manners at all it makes me so mad, love tulle, Chantilly lace, tailored clothes, detest unkind snobs, love planting, flowers, herbs, want a garden whenever I quit moving. Love Savannah, I am living very close to Savannah now. Love fancy hotels, I like to tie one on, stay up all night some, and drink fabulous wine/champagne, snuggly beds, down comforters, linen, laughter with high spiritual women that truly do love each other and not still stuck in the dark ages of shallow stuff. I love food, only use cloth napkins & dish towels, hate paper towels, love sterling silver flatware daily, ribbons, pedicures and manicures, red lipstick, great skin care, hats, sweet tempered little kittens and bare feet. I do have some Bohemian in me and a gentle warrior, maybe that is it, throw fate to the wind as I pack away and just do it, move to France. I speak only a few words, ROFL! Aww dreams and to dream…. much LOve to you from across the pond Ellie! Oh, Thanksgiving I will be packing…I am sure you won't be eating a Mexican Crepe! ! ! XOXO suzanna in Florida…..Oh I forgot, love oceans!
ReplyDeleteI like the title of this post and love your blog. Don't care who Ms. Roehm and Ms. Stewart are, but I like listening to Martha being interviewed when she talks about her prison days, and my mom has every magazine she ever published so I smile when she tears out pages and scans/emails them to me. I don't want to die in southern Germany even though it's beautiful and I'm madly in love with my German husband. I want an old farmhouse in Cote d'Or and dogs to keep our rescue "Gino" company. And if I understood correctly, am I the only idiot without faux boobs? Michelle
ReplyDeleteI, too, love Carolyne Roehm's style - her homes, her gardens and her tables. One of my favorite of her many centerpieces is one made of red carnations. I know you don't care for carnations but her arrangements are gorgeous an they last a long time! One of the things you don't know about me is that my father was born on November 11, 1915 and he was a veteran of WWII. Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving and keep on bloggin'.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog!!! We have much in common it seems. I used to have a antique store on Melrose. I love cereal for dinner, I used to live in Paris and New York, I am a interior designer, I have one child, and my favorite book growing up was Miss Piggle Wiggle, I still have my original book, (I am just turning 50 next month), I also loved the Amelia Bedelia. Hate when my socks aren't straight and always worried about the cankle thing but luckily I don't think there is a chance I will get them, all my extra weight is going to my middle section and thighs, so much fun that is, hoping my chic and handbag and shoes distract from the 20 extra lbs I have recently added due to stress. XX Melissa
ReplyDeleteWherever you end up at on Thanksgiving day, I am grateful I found your blog!
ReplyDeleteKaren
Some things you might not know.
ReplyDeleteI am psychic and ,find myself traveling back and forth in time in bodies that I do not recognize and then , suddenly I am back into the present. I wear Prada gym shoes in the gym....
I eat a lot carrots. Matt always thought you were the best of his family. I once held the hand of an acquaintance while he died. My nickname is "Benjamin Button". I was in 747 that was seconds away of blowing up due to fuel dumping as the wheel of our plane hit an embankment and tore into the wing during takeoff. I attended SPACE CAMP in Alabama. Diana Ross once gave me a kiss in an elevator.I was part of the USO in the 60's in Europe entertaining troops.I became an ordained minister through my work with patients challenged with HIV.I did a sky dive over the Mohave Desert. I used to talk with Greta Garbo when I first moved to NY....She was a neighbor.I donate double doses of platelets as often as possible as hospitals are dangerously low on blood products. I can keep secrets better than anyone except from Ellie.
Well it is no secret that you are my favorite boy on earth. Thank you for being there for me every day, rain or shine. I cherish you.
Deletewhat to know about me? For one thing I have to post Anon - because I don't want to figure out the other way of posting - I can be lazy with techy things-believing they have stolen the souls and minds of our youth. I'm 55 - I feel 38. I love being on a boat... but petrified of the water at night. I love good food and wine. I wish I were a natural beauty - one of those people that don't have to wear makeup with dark eyelashes and pretty lips. I tend to cut myself down (- this part of me-I hate).
ReplyDeleteI have never been to New York ...never to Paris. I always choose Bermuda- I adore it there.
I have 3 children that are independent which makes me feel that I've done a good job with them. I LOVE that you asked the question and love reading the personalities of others. I love reading your blog, your honesty and wit. I look forward to every post - Thank you very much for sharing You.
I'm a newbie to your blog, but I love it so much.
ReplyDeleteI was born in Palm Springs, California and my parents built a trap and skeet (shooting) range in Indio in the 1970's where we lived on the property in a little white adobe house. George Peppard and Steve McQueen visited our shooting range. My mom passed away when I was 14 so I lived with my grandmother in Florida where she raised me the second half of my youth. I still live in Florida. I now have a 19 year old son who is in college. I love hot tea, TV, and movies. (I love the Kardashians too, but I'd have to say Kim, Kanye and North are my favorite ;)
I have just started reading your blog. My second favorite cat I ever had was named Frances. My cat, Julian, my first favorite, was my soul mate. I grew up in Palo Alto back when a surgeon could still afford to buy a house there. Now, it's a city of tech titans. I am divorced. I have two boys. My oldest was born months after your Grace. I am a writer. I do not have cable TV, although I do have running water, therefore I've never seen any housewife shows. Am I missing something great? My favorite book growing up was "The Secret Garden" and I still love to pull weeds. I don't have a favorite adult book but I love A.M. Homes. I had postpartum depression but didn't know what it was since I get depressed like a man (anxious and angry).
ReplyDeleteI have a girlfriend with Lyme's and began following Yolanda on Instagram, leap-frogged to her husband's account, and then found you. Now going back thru all your entries, and having the time of my life. I'm obsessed. I loved this entry, but embarrassed to admit, what I came away from it is this: you are the first person I ever met that read the Miss Piggle Wiggle books! Me, too! I also read my old copies to my daughter. We will randomly blurt out, "Remember the tiny place settings for the picky eater? And how about the whisper sticks? Or the boy who was so messy he couldn't escape from his room? And the best, the kid who didn't bathe and got so dirty his parents grew vegetables on his skin!" Thank you for all your amazing stories . . . Sarah, Marin County, CA
ReplyDeleteEllie, what are some of your favourite books? I saw that you've read Goldfinch.. Did you try Villa America & What Remains (by my favourite housewife, Carole). Dying to hear :) Big fan!
ReplyDelete