My health issues have gotten a bit out of control lately — hence my unexplained absence. So I’ve decided to take time off and focus hardcore on getting healthy. Hopefully, it’ll only take a month.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday! You’ll be in my thoughts. And fingers crossed I’ll be back right after the New Year!

On a side note, if you have to be sick, wouldn’t the bedroom above be a great place to waste away the time? Throw in some greenery, a mountain view and a giant stone fireplace, and it would be perfect for christmas.

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With the holidays less than a month away, entertaining will soon be on everyone’s mind, and if there’s one thing I wish I had to put on my table, it’d be gold flatware. Over the past two years, I’ve spotted it everywhere. Magazines. Catalogs. TV shows. And during the holidays, when warm colors — orange, brown and red — reign supreme, it looks even more fitting and fantastic.

Surprisingly, the majority of options are offered in contemporary styles. Perhaps, they’re afraid gold would look too dated in a traditional guise — not that I believe it for a second.

My mantra when shopping is simple: Ignore the trends. Buy what you love.

That’s the only way you’ll be truly happy. So if you love gold and traditional, click through to see more stunning, shiny options.

1. Due Ice Oro by Mepra, $130

2. H Art Gold by Sambonet, $140

3. Gold Flatware by West Elm, $23

4. Domino Gold Cutlery by Canvas, $74

5. Marchesa Imperal Caviar by Lenox, $90

6. Night by Dianae Von Furstenberg, $105

If none of the flatware options above tickle your fancy, or pocket book, visit Horchow — they offer a number of styles — or try searching for gold flatware on ebay and etsy. You’ll be shocked by the selection.

1. Leopardo Gold by Ricci, $125

2. Elysee Vermeil by Puiforcat, $5,225

3. Raffaello Gold by Ricci, $125

4. Amalfi Gold-Plated by Ricci, $125

For the absolute best deal on gold flatware, I’d recommend the Hammered Flatware Service by Wallace Silversmith, pictured above. At only $210 for 12 place settings and a hostess set, it’s a score of a find.

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There are 3 essential elements of the perfect jean. One, a good cut. Two, a good color. And three, good fabric. The first two elements — cut and color — are easy to find now that practically every jean manufacturer offers skinny, bootcut and flare jeans in a variety of washes. It’s the third — good fabric — that’s as elusive as the fountain of youth.

Granted, given jeans history — they were initially distributed as durable workwear — it’s understandable some would still pay homage to their past and use rough and tough fabric. But now that they’re worn as casual, everyday wear with a fit akin to sausage casing, you’d think the majority would have moved onto a softer, suppler fabric. No such luck.

Walk through rows of jeans — high or low end — and here’s what you’ll find. Scratchy. Stiff. Rigid. Hard. It’s the standard. We’re accustomed to jeans being uncomfortable and needing to be broken in. But I’m as unwieldy as the wild horses the original jean wearers were trying to tame, and the thought of wearing stiff jeans makes me cringe. So much so, that when I go jean shopping, I no longer look at the cut or color. I simply walk through the store feeling the fabric of each jean and only consider them if I like what I feel. And most of the time, I don’t. Actually, 99% of the time I don’t.

And then, on a chance encounter, I came across these. AG Jeans. They felt like sweats. Soft. Smooth. Supple. They looked like a million bucks. And when I put them on, they hugged — and hid — all the right things. In other words, they were — and are — the perfect jean.

I was so excited, I ordered a bunch more AG Jeans only to receive a bunch of stiff, typical jeans. So after a little digging, I discovered the secret is in the fabric blend. If you find an AG Jean with a blend of 30% cotton, 45% rayon and 25% poly, consider yourself blessed. You’ve stumbled across a rare specimen: the perfect jean.

Currently, AG Jeans sells three jeans with that blend: The Alexa, The Stilt and The Angel. Unfortunately, the pair I have is the Ballad, so I can’t vouch for those. But if you’re on the hunt for a super comfortable jean, I’d highly recommend giving them a try. After a year of owning mine, they’re still my go-to pair.

If you’ve found another super comfy pair of jeans, let me know. I’d love to give them a try.

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Like shopping? This giveaway is for you. Horchow’s hosting a “Win Your Cart Sweepstakes,” where you could win up to $15,000 worth of merchandise. To enter, create a Horchow account and add all your dream items to your cart. And be sure to hurry. The deadline to enter is October 29.

I put luxury linens, a cashmere throw, gold flatware and a cowhide rug — among other things — in my cart. What will you choose?

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When it comes to the visual, few things transport and elicit as intense of an emotion as photos. And given the main goal of decorating is to elicit emotion — as I explain in detail in my book — photography serves not only as ideal decorating pieces, but also as the perfect jumping off point for a room — or as I call it, your muse. So I’m always on the hunt for talented, awe-inspiring photographers. After all, the better the photo, the more intense the emotion we feel.

Of course, saying that begs the question: What makes a great photo? When it comes to landscapes, I believe the best photos are those that walk the line between real and unreal. The photos that appear so fantastic you can’t believe they’re real, yet they’re so real — so true to what you know — they must be. Those are the ones that take your breathe away. The ones that make you feel the most.

And Bulgarian photographer Evgeni Dinev‘s photos fit that bill. His photos have that surreal, jaw-dropping, I-can’t-believe-they’re-real quality to them. If you like what you see, I urge you to check out his portfolio. And if you’re so inspired, a number of his prints are available for purchase.

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Forgot about Sweetest Day, ahem, tomorrow? No need to panic. Here are five super sweet gifts for your sweetie that all ring in under $35 and can easily be found in your local stores.

1. Put it in Words. Nothing says “I love you” like a heartfelt, handwritten, love letter. Leave one on the mirror for your sweetheart to find first thing in the morning. (If you’re leaving it for your man, bonus points if it’s in lipstick and sealed with a kiss.) Or hide love notes in throughout their daily routine — in their sock drawer, on the fridge, in the laundry basket, under their keyboard, on their dashboard, etc.

2. Skip the Flowers. Flowers fade fast. To show your love will continue to grow, choose a showy plant instead with blooms that last. Orchids and begonias are great picks that can often be found in your local grocery store. Tie a ribbon around it, and you’re set.

3. Make A Mix CD. Tell your love story through a series of tunes or share your new favorite tracks that make you think of them. Score bonus points by putting it on as dance music after a romantic dinner.

4. Give them Bubbly. Both sexy and sweet, bubble bath — Lollia makes a great one — shows you want to take care and soothe them as much as you want to, well, you know. Throw in some champagne to really set the mood.

5. Blow them Away. Wow them with a room filled with balloons. To take it over the top, tie a reason why you love them onto every balloon.

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When you switch your flight last minute, you can’t be choosey. You get whatever flights are available, which in our case meant a 10 hour layover in Paris. Yes, 10 hours. Luckily those 10 hours started at 10:00 am. So instead of spending them cursing airport chairs, we whittled away our time walking the streets of Paris.

And it was stunningly beautiful. The absolute perfect fall day — bright blue skies, puffy white clouds and people everywhere enjoying the crisp, cool breeze.

After meandering in and out of shops, we stopped to eat lunch in the gardens outside the Louvre. While sprawled on the lawn, Brent asked, “What do you think of Parisian architecture?”

I looked around, and the first thing that popped to mind was, “The mixture of metals and the exquisite details.”

Everywhere you go in Paris, you can find stunning metal work. Railings. Gates. Bridges. Doors. And more often than not, the metal is mixed to highlight and draw attention to the stunning intricacy and details of the metal work. And while I love the way it looks outside, I think its most stunning use is in the kitchen.

There’s no better way to bring a touch of paris to your kitchen than mixing metals. The most common way to do so is with a mixed metal hood or stove, as seen above and below.

I find mixed metal hoods and stoves extremely sexy yet refined, like fine, French lingerie. The details are structured and streamlined leading the eye to appreciate the beauty of the shape. It’s beauty in the simplicity.

What do you think?

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ON A SIDE NOTE, the first thing we discussed during lunch was how crazy lucky we were to get a 10 hour layover in Paris. Never thought I’d use the word lucky and layover in the same sentence, but it’s true. It was like a vacation in a vacation. And from now on, whenever I plan international trips, I’m going to exclusively book flights with extremely long layovers in cool cities in order to get bonus vacations. You may want to do the same, especially considering they’re often cheaper.

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The night of fright will be upon us in just two weeks, and I’ll be honest, I haven’t even thought about how I’ll decorate for it. Have you? If so, I’d love to hear all about your spooky decor. If not, here are a few fun ideas. I know I need them. If only one utilized cardboard boxes. I’ve got enough scattered around to fill a whole cemetery, or better yet, to make a hundred coffins.

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It’s no secret. I have a mild massive gold obsession. In fact, when I see something in gold it’s hard to resist. And in case you’re like me, I thought I’d share these chic correspondence cards from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

After hours of searching for stationary, I stumbled across these beauties. Perfect for both everyday and special occasions, they make great gifts for the gold obsessed on your list. I chose the plum blossom, and it was even more beautiful in person.

Now back to unpacking. There seems to be an endless stream of boxes.

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For some odd reason, other peoples dirt always seems much scarier than your own. So needless to say, I spent a lot of time cleaning our new place this past week. And I’m not a cleaner. I’d much rather be doing anything else, well, short of a root canal.

So in the hopes of speeding up the whole get-clean process, I decided to test out a few new cleaning tools, and I absolutely loved them.

1. Casabella Way Clean Waterstop Rubber Gloves. I always use gloves when cleaning to protect my skin from the chemicals, and typical I go through a pair a month. Somehow, I always get a tear in them. But not these gloves. They’re much thicker than your grocery store variety, but not so thick you can’t move your hands making them both durable and flexible. In other words, they’re the perfect cleaning glove.

2. OXO Good Grips Deep Clean Brush Set. You’ll never use a toothbrush to scrub again. The stiff bristles on these brushes work so much better, and the little rubber thing on the end is amazing at getting gunk out of crevices.

3. Casabella Microfiber Magnet Mop. Every time I used a Swiffer, I felt wasteful and oddly dirty. As if I was walking on a boatload of toxic chemicals. So I decided to switch back to an old fashioned mop so that I could use a “cleaner” cleaner without any waste, and this Casabella mop tops the charts. I’ve used the old fashioned cotton mops — back in my waitressing days — as well as a bevy of sponge mops, and none were as easy to use as this Casabella mop. It’s extremely lightweight. It’s head fully pivots making it effortlessly glide across the floor. And to top it off, the sponge can be removed and thrown in the washer.

4. Casabella 4-Gallon Bucket. It’s hard to get excited about a bucket, but the shape of this one is brilliant. Unlike round buckets that waste space in cabinets and closets, this narrow, rectangular beauty fits practically anywhere. Plus, it’s crazy lightweight.

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