My Favorite Things

“This beautiful leather notebook holder from Anya Hindmarch has changed my life. One side has a work notebook, and the reverse is a personal notebook. Now, I can keep everything organized in one place.”

“This smell is like a madeleine for me. It takes me straight back to my English boarding school where Floris’s Rose Geranium Bath Essence was the one luxury in an otherwise spartan existence. I only used one drop per bath to make it last.”

“In this hurried, technology-focused world, I felt there was no charmingly personal or stylish way to be in touch with friends and family in the digital space. Snail mail is too slow, and emails and texts feel too generic and unspecial. Electragram is the solution.”

“The perfect stylish shoe for exploring rock pools at the beach.”

“To my mind, there is nothing more delicious than these anchovies on hot, buttered toast. My stepson, Spike, introduced us to this treat during lockdown and we would source it from a specialty French grocery. Now, you can buy it on Amazon.”

“Even if we’re all ‘non-smokers’ now, there is nothing chicer than this Edie Parker lighter to spiff up your coffee table. It sits atop its own matching ashtray, which is perfect for those fun late dinners when cigarettes magically appear and I, for one, say ‘maybe just one…’”

“C.O. Bigelow in Greenwich Village has all the charm of an old apothecary (it was founded in 1838) with a well-curated selection of beauty brands. The pharmacists are knowledgeable, patient, and kind, and my husband swears by Bigelow products.”

“Marella Agnelli had fabulous wicker furniture dotted among her houses and I have always wanted some. We found two of these vintage chairs online during lockdown and I pounced!”

“I love this book and reread it every few years. Edith Wharton’s keen observations of the social figures in New York in the late 1800s are peerless, and I delight in identifying the Undine Spragg in modern day New York (and elsewhere).”

“Tory Burch designs the perfect workout clothes. I love her Chevron collection, which I was first put onto by my very stylish stepdaughter.”

“I’m a tea drinker and this is my favorite. Plus, it’s stuffed with antioxidants (more so than green tea), so my hope is that it mitigates the less beneficial effects of my wine drinking!”

“Carolina Herrera is impeccably stylish, funny, kind, generous, and loyal. She designed my wedding dress in the palest celadon green, as well as the beautiful dresses I wore every year to the Vanity Fair Oscar party hosted by my husband. Anything from Carolina Herrera is beautifully designed and utterly timeless.”