NYE: Stork Club

Picture the scene: Ethel Merman at the Stork Club, a waiter specifically assigned to her with the singular purpose of lighting her cigarettes. Or, the news of Grace Kelly's enegagement to Prince Ranier of Monaco 'breaking' at the Stork. It was the place to be. Frequented by Hollywood royalty.

A night at The Stork will be re-imagined on New Year's Eve - hosted by dear friends, complete with original Stork Club memorabilia, painstakingly collected over many months. I cannot wait to see what everyone will be wearing. I only hope I fit into my dress after a Christmas of sheer excess. Photographs next week...

Rhumba with Ecita and her Orchestra, Stork Club

Stork Club Powder Room

Stork Club Cloakroom, mid 1940's

Ashtray with slot for matches

Some of the celebrities who patronized the Club...

Ava Gardner and Artie Shaw

Peter Lawford and JFK

Elizabeth Taylor with her parents

Greg Bautzer and Joan Crawford

Jackie, Pat, Ethel, Jean and Eunice

JFK, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Vanderbilt and Herbert Swope

John F. and Jackie Kennedy

Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio

Images via Life and The Stork Club

Happiness is a warm Blog

A gigantic thank you to Desire to Inspire for including me in your reading guide...

Image via here

Houses of Ireland

One can almost smell the age of these homes. Completely 'my line of country'. From Romantic Irish Homes by Robert O’Byrne and photographer Simon Brown....

Via Tradarchitecture

Weathered...

Via here

Pennsylvania Station, NYC

"Until the first blow fell, no one was convinced that Penn Station really would be demolished, or that New York would permit this monumental act of vandalism against one of the largest and finest landmarks of its age of Roman elegance." (New York Times)

What a complete tragedy that this marvelous neo-classical structure was leveled, to make space ultimately for Madison Square Garden. To have lost a station as majestic as this, is deplorable...

Images from Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

Read more: here

Through the Looking Glass (XXVI)

Via Graymanes

Bergdorf Goodman (Carnival of the Animals)

They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway... but nothing quite compares to the Christmas windows up and down 5th Avenue. Mechanical gizmos whirl and rotate, enchanting everyone who lines up to see them. The visual banquet of the Bergdorf Goodman windows is astounding. Unparalleled. Even the skyscraper reflections have ensured themselves a permanent place in the picture. This was our fantastical safari on Christmas afternoon - New York-style...

Images by Craig Strydom