Love for all things British

A toast to afternoon tea, lovely florals, cottage gardens, proper English, etiquette and the ever so hard to ignore accent.  Let's not leave out Mr. Darcy.

Since childhood I seem to have been drawn to all things British.  The style, design, literature and traditions.  Perhaps I'm fascinated by a culture that appears to preserve.

While trying to find my own sense of style and design I have tried different approaches. Regardless of how hard I try my vision always comes back to the classic English style home.  A style that combines patterns, colors, fabrics and florals in a way that no other design can compare. A style that revels in natural wood and its painted potential.

I also adore tea.  Tea is not just a beverage.  It's an experience.

Florals have to be one of my favorite design tools.  There hasn't been a floral to this point in my life that I have not liked.  I mix florals into every aspect of my home.

While I love all things British, I cannot say I've ever been.  I've experienced the beauty of Versaille, the elegance of Zurich and the tradition of Munich.  Yet, I still haven't toured the English countryside.  Until that happens I will keep attempting to create my own little English haven as best I can.

Living with Willy Wonka

It's Sunday morning.  It just so happens that I am in Wisconsin this Sunday and that means Chef Dave will be busy in the kitchen creating a breakfast extraordinaire.

In the almost 20 years I have been with Dave I have never known this man to not passionately love food.  Food is Dave's art.

Some people just know what they want to be when they grow up.  Perhaps a doctor, lawyer or engineer.  My Dave knew he wanted to be a foodie.  Not only did he know he wanted to be a foodie, he knew he wanted to market and trend food.  It's no surprise that his favorite movie to this day is Willy Wonka.

20 years ago Dave started his career in the beverage industry.  He began as an intern for Coca-Cola, traveling the country doing event marketing.  It was a dream job, traveling, eating and meeting interesting people. 

Not long after his internship he was recruited to a full-time position with Coors Brewing Company to do marketing on the East Coast.  We packed our bags and moved to Washington, D.C. 

Dave spent years with Coors but it wasn't until after the completion of his M.B.A. that his true calling would come to fruition.  He was recruited to a large, Swiss flavor and fragrance company.  The world of flavor and fragrance was a completely different spectrum from the beverage industry.  Dave was intrigued. 

Dave is a full blown foodie.  Entrenched in the flavor world he has a trained palette and describes food as if he is describing a work of art.

People ask me what my husband does for a living and I typically say I'm married to Willy Wonka.  He is responsible for tasting and trending flavors, much like people trend colors for the fashion industry.  He has introduced the girls and I to foodie terminology that we never knew existed and Saturday evenings regularly include our own version of chopped.

As the Director of Consumer Insights for a flavor and fragrance company Dave is pretty brilliant at what he does.  He traveled to Brazil this past December to do a chef tour and trend Brazilian foods for the up and coming year.  When I asked him what he did in Brazil he replied "I ate a lot of food and watched a lot of people."  He consistently tells me that it's not so much about the food as it is the people.  He is fascinated with the how, why, where and what of people when it comes to food and how that translates to trends.

Not only does he pay close attention to the foodie details and habits of others his own personal dedication to food is apparent as well.  He is believer in the organic culture, a supporter of local suppliers and gardener in his own right. 

What I love most about Dave's knowledge of the food world is his ability to share it with others.  When he isn't traveling and dining with chefs around the world he can be found cooking in the kitchen with Ava and Cate or entertaining friends and family.

Not many people in the world can say that they wake up every morning and work their dream job.  Fortunately for Dave, his dream came true.  Fortunately for me, I live with Willy Wonka.

We sold our home in one day based on two words: Curb Appeal

It drives me nutty when I see a home that is fully decorated on the inside, yet the outside is sorely neglected.  The outside is considered a separate entity.  Not connected to the home.

I believe Dave and I began working on the gardens at the blue house almost immediately after we moved in.  Well, immediately after the frigid cold of winter passed.  Yes, we moved into the blue house in the middle of winter as well.  Our strategic planning skills when it comes to moving are completely lacking. 

I love to garden. I love flowers, plants, gardening tools, garden art and the list goes on and on.  I am particularly infatuated with English cottage gardens.  Dave and I could never really figure out what the style of the blue house was.  It wasn't a bungalow, it wasn't a cape therefore we decided it was our very own English cottage.  Right, smack dab in the middle of Ohio.

The gardens in the beginning were non-existent.  Neighbors told us stories of beautiful tulips that had been planted by the previous owners.  Unfortunately, by the time we moved in, the tulips were no longer blooming.  We know the tulip destruction had something to do with an ugly divorce and a lawnmower.  That's all we know to this day.

It was time to start over.  I would go to the bookstore and study book after book on gardens.  I knew what I wanted, but considering I had never owned a home, I didn't necessarily know how to make it happen.

The first year was great.  We lived about 5 minutes from a stone center.  I would take my car, drive over, put as many stones in my car that it would hold and drive home.  That was about 5 stones.  It was the most inefficient way to do stone in a garden that you could ever imagine.

In addition to building stone walls and borders we started our cottage gardens.  I wanted them to wrap around the house.  Tea roses, vines poppies.  The garden was going to be fantastic.

The garden was fantastic the first year.  The second year came and I had a jungle.  I had planted too many flowers, too close together the previous year and the garden didn't like it.  

I repeated this viscous cycle of planting without planning for quite a few years.  One year in particular, I was so frustrated I just stopped gardening all together.  Dave and I spent a few weeks in Europe, did absolutely nothing to our yard and upon returning we were awarded the Neighborhood garden award. 

I kid you not.

It wasn't until the last five years in the blue house that the gardens really began to take shape.  When my guests came to the front door they were greeted by the scent of fresh lavender.

At the end of the day don't forget about the outside of your home.  Curb appeal is critical and it can  determine how long your home is on the market.