Tracy Porter Blog… be inspired!

Loves!!
Our May Tracy Porter online catalog is live…and awaits you!!
Come Fly with us….!Explore more bohemian treasures….from object d’art for your feet…to spirited flights of fancy for your home. Inspire your desire….do tell…what is it that you love?
xxx,
T.
Tracy Porter

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Labels: more Tracy Porter, smashing fashion & beauty

With mother’s day just around the corner…. we ponder….what is the perfect gift for mom, or a friend or sister….?…Thought I’d throw in my 2cents.
Women want to evolve, to be pampered, to be true to themselves…..have the freedom to explore….to feel comforted.

A gorgeous pair of gems….surely something as exotic and worldly as these
would make any woman gleeful!

Something pretty to hold when “sipping” is just one of life’s little joys.
Why not use a pretty glass if given the choice…?

Vibrant, striking and full of life….a darling clutch to tuck under ones arm…mais oui Madame!!

A pretty scented candle…always…you simply cannot go wrong with “pretty”.

An artful sketch to prop on the bookshelf or hang on one’s own London
wall…..the collecting never does stop!

Ever evolving…adding to life’s layers….beauty comes in all forms.

If nothing else…a lovely note…some freshly picked posies…a sketch…a nature find…something that simply says how very much you adore her!!

Cheers and happy musings!!
xxx,
T.
Tracy Porter

Labels: holiday, more Tracy Porter

Labels: more Tracy Porter

Finding calm in your day can be as simple as stepping outside and breathing in. Sounds simple I know…but nature has a way with our hearts and souls…she just seeps in and takes over. I find joy and chaos in many moments of my day…I love it all….but I also love when I get home, throw on my most comfortable digs…pour a little glass of wine and head outside. I just wander…boys in tow….handfuls of dinosaurs…never sure where we will land. Sometimes in the garden , sometimes on the beach….sometimes on the front steps…but when I am outside….I am home and at peace and a calm washes over me. What brings you calm?…….we’d all love to know…..please share!

Cheers, Joy and Calm….
xxx
T.
Tracy Porter

Labels: more Tracy Porter

Labels: emotional surrender, more Tracy Porter

Open up your doors…and let that gorgeousness in……the smell….the sounds…..the beautiful way nature inspires us all!!

• Consider dragging some of your home goods onto your porch….a desk…..great place to ponder, or write your novella!!
• I love lamps on our porch…just keep them away from any wind or rain…but ambiance is what it’s all about my love!!
• Do you stock a mix of trays in your pantry? Laminated are some of my favorites…easy, chic…..
• Rugs on the porch….? YES!! Just find the right spot and layer one in!
• Buddha …….peace to all..!xxx
• Our glass cloches are divine! The perfect centerpiece surrounded by a scattering of candlelight!!

Cheers!
xxx,
T.

Labels: more Tracy Porter, soulful nesting & decorating

Don’t you just ADORE pieces that are a bit this… a tad… that.

(Oh please tell me you love a little taste of all sides)!!.. come see our
dazzling mix…

Kisses,

xoxo

T.
Tracy Porter

Labels: more Tracy Porter

I know, you know my song. You even know how I sing it….yes, I have this thing …………as I always tell you for tunics. Surely it goes far beyond the tunic, it ties back to my topic of last week…comfort. The tunic in all her beauty does it for me. I design a few in each monthly collection….some are sleeveless, some have a gorgeous bell sleeve..some are embellished , some are not. I love designing tunics as much as I love wearing them…always hopeful that you will like each new one as much as I do. I find they are ageless…timeless…season~less…..the makings of a great wardrobe…one that is not tied to trends or fads…..simply beauty, comfort and inspiration. I am particularly fond of this one…she moves with my body…that bit of stretch makes me so happy. I am ever in love with sleeveless options as you know….my arms are in perpetual motion with my children, my business and the way I move my hands and arms when I talk. ( I am nearly a crane with the way I flap my wings) I love the embellishments…the beautiful ribbon and trimmings…that make me think of my French Grand’Mere . The color and pattern of the fabric is inspired by vintage textiles, layers of watercolor, sketches…and exotic travel…..if it were simply a pile on the floor, it alone would inspire me. Do tell….have you found a spot in your wardrobe that holds the tunic…and the one thereafter….? Are you as inspired by these gems as I am….do they make you feel as good in your skin as I want to believe? Cheers and Fragrant Thoughts! xxx, T. Tracy Porter

Labels: more Tracy Porter, smashing fashion & beauty

Spring is muddy for us….muddy kids, muddy dogs….muddy ducks. I am ever grateful to actually have a mudroom as a sort of filter if you will….or dumping ground for all things muddy. While the image of mudroom may not conjure up anything to romantic in your mind….I find the sheer practicality of it to be romantic enough for my liking. I have a few thoughts, tips …..ideas to share on the topic…..things that may help your mudroom….feel and work even more smoothly than it may already.

Mudrooms ideas to ponder

• I want to “like” my mudroom…so I decorate it much like the rest of my house…I hang things on the wall….use antiques in interesting ways…..I try to get as much of an old English vibe out of it as I can….I think it helps keep my eyes up….it’s better this way.
• Good lighting in a mudroom goes a long way in my book…..even a chandelier would be charming….
• Use rugs that are beautiful but good dirt hiders….ahhhh….now that is goodness underfoot!
• If you in remodel mode….put a sink in your mudroom…..you have no idea the joy it will bring you.
• Hooks and Hooks and hooks….in rows, with shelves above and below……storage is king!
• A huge wooden trunk to hold the past seasons goods is quite marvelous..good looking, and great to sit on when doing about anything related kids, boots and shoes!
• If you haven’t a mudroom consider a hall…..add hooks, a long shelf above….., a row of charming library lights…and a gorgeous rich wall color!

• My sister had a brilliant idea in the photo above. She took a wooden trunk and put an antique garden shelf unit on top for hip and practical storage!
• Frame some goods for your mudrooms walls….old family outdoorsy or sports photos…ice skating or skiing… football….whatever you have…black and white or sepia is always a great look.
• Use small baskets as catchalls for keys, pencils, change…backpack junk……
• Find a way to create an area in your mudroom for each person in your family…for us each of our 4 boys has a basket, a row of hooks and some drawer space….never seems like enough…but it works pretty well nonetheless…

Cheers ,
xxx
T.
Tracy Porter

Labels: ideas, more Tracy Porter, soulful nesting & decorating

Wherever you live native plants, grasses and wildflowers are one of the most stunning and gratifying things to plant. They add beauty to any landscape..and a certain free form look…which I love. They are fairly pest and drought tolerant. Even in our chilly Wisconsin gardening zone we can create a kaleidoscope of colors from June through late October with wildflower plantings. You can create a very large patch or even a field of wildflowers and grasses if you have the space..or just smaller borders are marvelous!! Birds, bees, & butterflies will love you….and the low maintenance factor is quite brilliant!! So many options…you can buy seeds or plants…..and you will be amazed at what is really available once you jump in. I think one of the most important pieces is to go for NATIVE grasses and wildflowers…….perhaps as you are jumping into this season of bounty…you’ll have another option to ponder!!

Cheers and Fields of Color!
xxx,
T.
Tracy Porter

Labels: more Tracy Porter, nature's inspirations

I love it anytime actually. This is very short list…a few tidbits if you will……a good start, if you are hoping a plane this spring or whenever……..but be sure to get some current Paris travel books. It is far too much fun to just wander around the city and stop to have wine, tea, coffee and pastries whenever you can at every corner if possible!!!
Sleep in…wander….go slowly….make no plans……just let one hour unfold into the next. That is the best way to breath in this glorious city. I have personally walked every square inch and nearly every museum ……..walking is by far the way to go.
……….Bonne Journee

A Few Thoughts…..

• Walk everywhere up and down the streets in ST. GERMAIN DES PRES, 5th arrondisment…..darling…top to bottom. This is where I lived and I still adore it!
• You can literally see the entire city if you follow by foot….. the seine ( this is the river that runs through PARIS) from Notre Dame towards the Eiffel tower, you will pass by museums ( the LOUVRE, MUSEE D’ORSAY, napoleons tomb at the INVALIDES, PALAIS ROYALE, the CONGIERGERIE( where Marie Antoinette spent the last days of her life, the pont Alexandre 3…..most gorgeous bridge in Paris ( great place for a photo) You’ll see the Eiffel tower…….stop and pick up trinkets at the “ stalls” along the Seine…..
• Ride the metro, you’ll see signs everywhere. Don’t be intimidated by it, it is a really cool way to get around the city fast.
• Pick up ZAGATS PARIS……perfection for any kind of food you are interested in great food options, carry it with you and study ahead of time! I will take ZAGAT to any city.
• GET A MUSEUM PASS.…order ahead and have it sent to your hotel, well worth the price!
• Take your time….dream….eat….look…bring a camera…..be awake and aware and let it all just seep into you.

A beautiful vintage book

ALSO CHECK OUT
Fripes Star
1, Rue de la Verrerie
75004 Paris

Be sure to see all the vintage clothing at the “puces” ( flea market in St.Ouen) …..shop after shop.

FLEA MARKETS

A must see, do…just too good to pass. If you like dusty, gorgeous antique goodness…….
How to get to the Flea Market: Take the métro to Porte de Clignancourt on Line 4 and follow the crowds towards the large concrete overpass. If you are looking for antiques, you will need to walk for quite a ways past loads of junk…some of which can be quite interesting. The 18th arrondissement, where the Puces are located, is in a poorer part of Paris and the market gets very crowded. Rue des Rosiers is the main street which you walk down in order to go into the separate markets.

I love……..Marché Serpette and Marché Paul Bert
Serpette: 110 rue des Rosiers
Paul Bert: 96 rue des Rosiers and 18 rue Paul Bert ……….personal favorites and offer an enormous selection of furniture, prints, paintings, mirrors, antique luggage, vintage clothing, hardware, art deco furniture and hardware, kitchen goods, etc etc..

In the flea market having lunch at the market’s Chez Louisette is mandatory (at least once), not for the food, but for the 1930’s atmosphere and a chanteuse who sings Edith Piaf songs.
136, Avenue Michelet

HEDLEY’S HUMPERS
Good article….and the company to use if you buy anything big to ship. We have used them over the years with very good success.

VERSAILLES

Worth it. Take the train, it will take 25 minutes aprox. Use your museum pass ( see link above to buy ) to walk right in. Be sure they are open the day you go. Also walk beyond the palace. Walk out the back towards the ponds….walk until you see a few charming restaurants, have lunch…then keep walking until you reach the HAMEAU DE LA REINE, Marie Antoinette’s little farm & the best part of the property…..fantasy!!!!

Palace of Versailles

MAISON BERTHILLON

MY FAVORITE PLACE FOR THE MOST AMAZING ICE CREAM IN THE WORLD!! Go here after you have walked through Notre Dame, you’ll walk behind the cathedral, then walk over the small bridge onto I’lle st. Louis, and it will be right in front of you, sit outside if you can. Perfection, right down to the antique dishes they serve the scoops in. Have lunch and wine then dessert!!!
31 R St-Louis en l’Île, 4e

ANDROUET
Cheese glorious cheese…take a picnic somewhere…stop here for goodies.
37,rue de Verneuil 7e

PERE LACHAISE CEMETARY

I know….a cemetery, what is she smoking ?? But really worth seeing, Jim morisson ( yes, the Doors) and the most amazing list of poets, artists, politicians, intellectuals are buried here. It is the largest and most famous cemetery in Paris. There are cats everywhere oddly…the entire place in enchanting and bizarre at once. I am showing you a sliver of who rests there.

Honoré de Balzac – French novelist of the 19th century,
Sarah Bernhardt – French stage and film actress
Frédéric Chopin – Polish composer. His heart is entombed within a pillar at the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw, Poland.
Colette – French litterateur
Édith Piaf – French singer
Camille Pissarro French Impressionist painter
Marcel Proust – French intellectual, novelist, essayist and critic
Gertrude Stein – American author
Oscar Wilde – Irish novelist, poet and playwright.
Richard Wright – African-American author, wrote Native Son and other American classics

Cimetière du Père Lachaise
16 rue du Repos, 20e, 75020

E DEHILLERIN

My favorite place for kitchen gadgets , old lovely store filled to the brim with goodies!
18-20 rue Coquillère, 1er

LA GRANDE ÉPICERIE DE PARIS
Marvelous must see grocery store, amazing place to pick up charming gifts and goodies to bring home….I can spend hours here.
36 rue de Sèvres, 7e
www.lagrandeepicerie.fr

LADURÉE

The latest Ladurée tea-room is located in the heart of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district . Fabulous tea room, the charm fairy surely lives here….great for breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea before cocktails!
Ladurée Bonaparte
21 rue Bonaparte – 75006 Paris
Tel : 01.44.07.64.87 – Fax : 01.44.07.64.93

Salut,
xxx
T.
Tracy porter

Labels: books and such, more Tracy Porter, travel

Many years ago this BETTER THAN EZRA CD happily landed in our hands. I am pretty sure it was my brother’s doing. You’ll read about them being described as folksy, alternative rock…blues rock with a twist of punk………a cross between “Hootie and the blow fish” and “Greenday”…….for me this is one of my all time favorite “car” CD’s. I put it on loud, I sing every single song. ( you can imagine) …..I love the lyrics, I love the feel of the music….I pretty much love every song. I know we are in the day of I-pods…play lists etc. Call me old fashioned…I still like it when a band can crank out an entire CD of awesome tunes ………….. I have loved this one since 1995. Maybe you will too.

Cheers and Good Tunes!
Xxx,
T.
Tracy Porter

Labels: books and such, more Tracy Porter

Do you ever….buy yourself pretty journals? One next to the bed, one in your purse, one on your desk…..?

Do you ever…..don a romantic scarf to feel even more enchanting than you already are…..?

Do you ever….allow dragons into your home….?

Do you ever buy a gorgeously wrapped luxury soap…for you and for a friend…and then really use it…?

Cheers and Delightful Dreams!!
xxx,
T.
Tracy Porter

Labels: do you ever..., more Tracy Porter

I believe comfort is not a luxury….but more a necessity. Once one finds comfort in the many ways it is available…it is just easier to be true to you. At a certain point in life you come to realize that pain for beauty is just no good, no fun…not worth the time or money. ( mind you I have worn my fair share of pinchy shoes, and awkward clothing over the years ) But comfort… I always come back to it. Comfort is always in style because it’s a way of living …once you discover it, you will find yourself drawn to it in most of your life choices…big or small.

A few thoughts on discovering and embracing comfort…

• Experiment with fashion that feels right to you. It’s hard to ignore all the magazines and nonstop barrage of “what’s in and what’s out” , but once you find styles that feel right to you..it can be an incredibly freeing and comforting feeling.
• Find ways to get comfort into all aspects of your life, what you eat, what you read and watch, who you hang out with. All these things are choices, that can affect your life for the positive or negative.
• Seek out comfort in your surroundings…..make a list or a file of things you love, that you want in your world, in your home…and slowly find ways to move towards them. It is always easier to get to something once you have actually identified you want it.
• Color can be a great comfort. We all react very differently to color. Just because I adore a rich Asian red on the walls of my library doesn’t mean that you will find it as soothing and inviting…it takes some thought to find the colors and patterns that you are drawn to, again…try some tear sheets or books along these lines, to discover what you love.
• Comfort comes in all shapes and sizes….a small candle on your desk, a new pair of reading glasses that are practical and gorgeous, a purse that you adore, shoes that make you smile…..

Cheers and Happiness to You!!
xxx,
T.
Tracy Porter

Labels: emotional surrender, more Tracy Porter, smashing fashion & beauty, soulful nesting & decorating

A darling rusty vintage chair is a must in my garden….you know, for sitting and such…admiring your work, sipping a bit of lemonade or wine…..Also a basket, always a basket. If you’re off to collect the bounty of your effort, why not do it with pleasure. A lovely basket tucked under my arm or sitting on the chair slowly filling with flowers, herbs and veggies is just too good to behold!

I adore my greens…..the boxwoods, the veggies….the flowers in our garden. I am also quite passionate about adding a bit of additional inspiration to any garden I create. I have loads of photos to share as spring goes on…these are just a few thoughts to get all of us thinking. No matter the size of your garden or yard or lack of either…these ideas can be used on a porch, or patio with some potted plants or herbs. Gardening is as much a state of mind as anything. I have had years in my life when I have had to garden on a very small scale, you can do quite a lot with no space …just find little ways to infuse the enchanting detail of “the garden” and nature into your home…or around it……once you get started….it is addictive to be sure.

It took me years to discover garden fountains, not quite sure what the holdup was. But now….now …I am on the other side. Cannot imagine life without a fountain in any of my gardens. This is one of those little pleasures that until you experience it, you don’t really understand. The whole idea of fountains is enchanting. The trickling sound of water nearly puts me to sleep….it’s an entirely calming thing. I adore the way our fountains get all covered in green-goodness ( read; slime) when they are too clean and shiny…they just don’t feel quite as “ gardeny” for my liking. They come in a trillion sizes……definitely a marvelous addition.

A toad house. While this photo is actually a bird house, we ( the boys) decided we needed a toad house, so we ripped the bottom off of this bird house and propped it up on some old bricks. Toads love our garden…and we….think toads are quite lovely little creatures. We invite them to sup anytime they wish to join us.

See how lovely all these elements are together. Like I said this is just a taste, don’t get me started on garden statuary. That’ll be next time.

Cheers, pea-gravel…and Bountiful Musings!!
xxx,
T.
Tracy Porter

Labels: emotional surrender, more Tracy Porter, nature's inspirations, soulful nesting & decorating