WE’VE HAD this five-bedroom home in Sag Harbor, NY, saved in our folder for ages. Originally built in the 18th century, this weekend retreat with a guest house has been updated for modern comfort. The renovation combines luxurious neutrals with a mix of vintage and custom-designed pieces.
THERE is a word in Greek—meraki, (pronounced may-rah-key) that translates to “essence of yourself.” There is no English equivalent, but it means doing something with soul, creativity, or love; to put something of yourself into your work.
THERE IS a Japanese word, baka, that is used to describe the beauty of the changing seasons, especially the vibrant colours of autumn leaves. In theory, this word relays something beautiful, but when it appears to be occurring in the middle of August, perhaps decidedly less so. Yes, July was a washout (apparently the sixth wettest July on record), but August, well we had high hopes for August, which has continued to deliver more of the same.
In last week’s Sunday Best, we looked at the New York Times article that explored the trend of Americans seeking out the “good life” in Europe, drawn to the continent’s vibrant culture, rich history, and beautiful landscapes. The NYT’s piece highlights affordable property rental and ownership opportunities in countries like Italy, France, and Spain.
No artist wants to be on the end of harsh public criticism but are artists becoming too fragile and defensive in the face of critics? This week I came across an interesting video of the music critic Anthony Fantano doing a review of the hip hop artist Logic, doing a review of Fantano’s review of Chance the rapper album, The Big Day.
Why do so many people have an immediate, intuitive grasp of this highly abstract concept—“subjective age,” it’s called—when randomly presented with it? It’s bizarre, if you think about it. Certainly most of us don’t believe ourselves to be shorter or taller than we actually are. We don’t think of ourselves as having smaller ears or longer noses or curlier hair. Most of us also know where our bodies are in space, what physiologists call “proprioception.”
LAST WEEK WE featured the Hudson Valley home of Deborah Needleman and while we were researching her place, we came across Villa Arniano on Needleman's Instagram: "Back from a week at the house of my dreams—the Tuscan idyll of @camillaguinness. Spent a few days with @jacobwe, @skyegyngell, @davidprior, @holly_gore and my daughter Lily Weisberg who doesn’t bother herself with social media, and then a few days with #camillaguinness, @amberguinness and @macmillandavidmb languorous, long summer days eating (really well) reading, chatting , swimming and napping. I was so blissed out I didn’t take any pictures, so these are lifted from Camilla and Amber’s Instagram as well from @arnianopaintingschool the week-long painting workshops Amber runs here with her friend @willropercurzon"
SOME OF YOU are still processing the fact that we are not updating the TIG Instagram account regularly anymore, and if you’re one of the many people who have tried to leave us DMs, unfortunately, we will not get them. A few of you have also emailed to request that we enable comments for articles again, so you’ll be able to leave us messages here instead, if you like ...
EVER SINCE Edinburgh, we have been off our routines—the workouts, the cardio sessions on the exercise bike, the daily countryside walks. Summer might have something to do with that as well, but it has been a while now that we've not been able to keep all of our Monday, Wednesday, Friday workout commitments. I had thought today might be a start, but in truth, perhaps nothing will be back to normal until September. (Can you believe that it is already nearly mid-August?)
It's 9:00 o'clock on a Saturday night and I'm listening to P's grandmother on the phone telling me about a program she's about to watch on channel 5 called Meghan: The Climb to Power (or something like that). We've just had the most wonderful dinner of cod filets with a parmesan parsley crust and Moules-frites. There's a bottle of cava chilling in the refrigerator ...
THE WEATHER has been beautiful, so on both Friday and Saturday, we took our new folding bicycles out for very long countryside rides through hilly landscapes filled with roaming sheep and giant bales of hay framed by rambling stone walls covered in moss that have been there for hundreds of years. There were castles and viaducts and cosy country pubs along the way where we would stop for a drink and mingle with the locals ...
If you’re an overthinker, you’ll know exactly how it goes. A problem keeps popping up in your mind – for instance, a health worry or a dilemma at work – and you just can’t stop dwelling on it, as you desperately try to find some meaning or solution. Round and round the thoughts go but, unfortunately, the solutions rarely arrive.
AFTER WHAT meteorologists have been calling the wettest May in 160 years, the rain finally stopped, perfectly in time for the Spring Bank Holiday weekend. We spent as much time outside as we possible could, both of us getting blinded by the sun, which we hadn't seen in months, both of getting a little sunburned, so unaccustomed was our skin, despite being coated in SPF30 ...
THIS WEEKEND we watched the 2005 film The Squid and the Whale. Directed by Noah Baumbach and produced by Wes Anderson, it follows two brothers dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s. We both really liked it and ended discussing it for a quite awhile afterwards. We watched another Noah Baumbach film awhile ago, A Marriage Story, and I am beginning to realise that I really like his wistful, slow, snippet-in-the-life storytelling style.
If you've ever wondered what the Paris office of Simon Porte Jacquemus's fashion label, Jacquemus, looks like, you'll be happy to hear that the 31-year-old designer shared a glimpse on the brand's Instgram page @jacquemas recently. It's as playful as you would expect, with ultra-modern furnishings and wonderful outdoor spaces to work. Scroll through for a glimpse...
