Newport RI

WOW!

But enough with the doom and gloom! There are still 10 more days til Labor Day!

Let us ENJOY & CELEBRATE!

Thirty three years ago my husband and I spent the summer there…and I fell in love…with him and with Newport! We’ve been going back ever since! Our 3 children have fallen in love with it as well…we’ve given them memories in Newport RI as a legacy! People ask me all the time, “What is so special about Newport RI?”

What is so special about any of the places we hold dear to our hearts? Many times it’s the memories that have been created in a particular place that keeps it close to our hearts. That is certainly true for me with Newport RI!

In addition, there is the beauty and awe of the ocean that surrounds Newport RI, and the romance of an era gone by…”The Gilded Age”. Summer “cottages” built by the very wealthy in a day when extravagance was preferred and flaunted! The beauty and detail that went into those mansions, not to mention the extravagant furnishings…well, being a decorator you can imagine what that does for my passion when I take in the jaw dropping splendor of places like Rosecliff, The Breakers, Marble House, Astor’s Beechwood and The Elms!

I feel as though I have stepped back in time to a different place! A place of beauty, formality, rituals and civility. A place where you “dressed” for dinner and for breakfast. A place where entertaining was a regular affair and deliciously extravagant! A place where women were ladies and men were gentlemen. I could go on and on…I know it wasn’t all perfect…but I can’t seem to help but think they could teach us a few things about beauty and behaviour. About living life and enjoying the arts and the pleasure of the company of friends. Of entertaining ourselves without computers and tv’s and cell phones and ipods and blackberries and video games. Enjoying instead a concerto, lawn tennis, croquet, walks on the beach, afternoon tea, conversation, dancing…and in a very civilized way, I might add. They surrounded themselves with beauty that added to the enjoyment of their everyday lives…it seems, sometimes, we’ve forgotten how to do that. And before you object…those qualities of life have very little to do with one’s income!

May I encourage you to decide how you will “celebrate the end of summer” and to think about the ways you can add some beauty and elegance to your everyday life?