Rachel Ashwell’s latest book became available late in 2011.  Once I found out, I immediately reserved a copy at a local Barnes and Noble bookstore.  I bought it the next day, and thoroughly enjoyed perusing it with my favorite cup of coffee.

Looking at the various images in the book, I was impressed by the many interpretations of Shabby Chic by different people, including Rachel Ashwell, and how her own interpretation has changed over the years.  And in my own home, my style is always evolving.  But, it still holds true to some key elements of this decorating style, like antique rose oil paintings.  I started collecting antique rose paintings many years ago.  Here’s a picture of the painting that started it all.

I’ve been told that some of these amateur oil paintings are called “Sunday paintings” because women of leisure many years ago would spend Sunday afternoons painting, the subject of which was usually roses.  What a romantic notion…

Some of these old rose paintings were also created by listed professional artists.  You can find an abundance of these paintings on eBAY, and occasionally at antique stores.  What I love about these paintings is the patina, the dark moody backgrounds, and the beautifully painted faded roses…the more the crackly paint, the better.

Gotta love the crackly paint on this one…

These two have the dark moody background that I find so attractive.

These paintings add a feminine touch to Shabby Chic, but in a quiet and understated way.  I like them displayed on the wall unframed, usually because they add a more modern touch, plus some of the original frames they come in are too ornate for my taste.  They also look great casually propped up against the wall.  I would like to eventually change the frame of this one because it’s a bit much for me.  Since it’s a painting on board instead of canvas, I’ll have to reframe it when my budget allows.

Hung on the wall, they look nice mixed in with various decorative elements like black and white photos and mirrors of various sizes.

This is one of my favorites, which hangs above my bed.

I don’t have enough room in my small home to display all of them, so I end up rotating them throughout the year.  It’s like having a different bouquet of fresh roses each time.

xoxo

Antonette

Michael sweetly took time in between his busy schedule to answer our questions below…

M&M:  Winter is here.  Cold and dry outside.  How do I take care of my skin during the winter?

Santa heard me finally. Either that or I am finally not naughty and have been nice. Or it’s because I got married, have a family of my own and we knew we got to have our own Christmas tree to make our own little family’s Christmas tradition. And we live in America full of Target, Hallmark and Disney stores that have many affordable beautiful Christmas ornaments in front of your eyes right after Halloween is over. Not to mention the annual Nutcracker ballet performances, that we see twice every year, that sell delicate ballerina and Christmas ornaments at the door. So my dream has come true. We got our own Christmas tree that seems to be more embellished than ever every year, if not every week in December.

Christmas lights! Christmas lights! I love how Keira gets excited seeing every home’s or building’s Christmas lights when we drive or when we sit at home.

I love Christmas lights and beautiful wreaths, especially when the greenery is combined with this vintage blue painted door!

A real tree always makes a heavenly shape!

Keira helped me decorate our Christmas tree. Her little hands are the sweetest ornaments in my heart!

I know someone will always have a fancier Christmas tree than our little one but I am gleeful with what we got because now I get to decorate our own with every single ornament that tells a story about our little family.

This is an “Irish Home” ornament I got three years ago from a Hallmark store.

This is a “Snow White” ornament that I got for Keira for her first Christmas. At that time, she had just watched Snow White the movie for the very first time.

December IS my month. I love Christmas and decorations so much and the love is so abundant that I feel so giddy whenever I hear the Christmas songs. My bestfriend told me that, actually, reminded me that this year, when she saw a picture of me posing in a Santa-looking dress full of adornments with my big growing belly and all, on the beach. I didn’t care if I looked ridiculous. I was too delirious because it was Christmas time and the holiday season is the best time of the year for me to decorate anything in sight and belongs to me. That includes Keira, her gingerbread house, my outfits and our little home. I love the ornamental month too much!

Next year, we will go more creative on our gingerbread house like these holiday houses from Capadia Designs

With that said, my favorite month of the year is now about to end and I have to do something about it! I hate to leave the Christmas spirit! I cannot leave it behind without a celebration, however big or simple it needs be. I know I always do Christmas as big as I can, at decorating and at singing the Jingle Bells at least. So with New Year’s Eve, I do big with singing Auld Lang Syne and maybe one day when Santa gives us a bigger place, I want to have a bigger New Year’s Eve party with more than just glitzy hats and noisemakers.

I am still dreaming of white Christmas and a white house that can hold all of my friends and family partying with us tomorrow!

In gold, silver and white! And faint grayish blue! In Old Hollywood glamor, of course. I cannot have holiday festivities without a touch of vintage and glam because it just reminds me of the glitz of the bygone era…or year.

Smores! Dressy smores! I cannot wait to make these tomorrow! Dress up your smores with sparkly sprinkles! And have a glamorous cocktail as your plus one!

As featured in Elizabeth Anne Designs

Get your glam party hats on and make a lot of noise! From Etsy.

Don’t forget sparklers!

Now I gotta have my glistening vintage-looking sequin dress on! The kind that stretches for my growing-than-ever belly. Or a Burberry sequin dress for you?

Then of course I need to put a bow in my hair!

It’s been such a fabulous blessed year and I wish you a darling new year ahead! The kind that is full of love, pride, good health and glam glitzy moments that melt your heart.

With love from my heart to yours,

Mrs. McM!

And family!

It’s that time of the year again where we, as the grown ups, have secretly wished and mentally wrote letters to Santa.  Christmas is literally a few days away so here I am sharing with you my ultimate “wish list” for the 2011 Holiday Season.

5. The Jumping Boot
Hermes ladies’ boot in taupe and kelly strap in ruthenium hardware availabe at www.hermes.com.  With this style and color, you won’t need any other boots anymore.  From day to night, jeans or dresses, you will wear it always and forever.  The price indeed will knock your socks off but who needs socks with these boots.  While the price is high  it should be calculated as the cost per use, well that is my justification.  Just note it to your significant other that it’s an “investment” and promise you will never ever buy any other boots for the rest of your life.  And when they tell you they have heard that before yell them this time you mean it.

4. Reed Krakoff Python T Bar Cuff
It is so luxurious yet understated.  Neutral python with gunmetal closure.  View the other colors at www.reedkrakoff.com. This cuff is timeless, chic and your wrist will thank you for it.

3. L’Occitane
The very best hand cream at www.loccitane.com.  The only kind that allows my super dry hands survive the dryness of winter.  Plus they smell exquisitely delicious!

2. Laduree
I know I’ve had way too many of these lovely treats since they opened in September of this year.  For every event at my work, we serve these goodies.  People still wait in line, especially these days, for at least half hour.  Best flavors would be the salted caramel, vanilla and rose.  It is probably #1 gift given by every “chic New Yorker” this year.  They are sweet and pretty, who doesn’t love that?  They are not available for purchase online, but you can look at other flavors at www.laduree.fr.  Next time someone is travelling to Paris or New York, make sure she/he brings you a box of this fashionable macaroons.

1. Family
My number one wish is for my family to continue to be happy, healthy and live  our lives forever filled with joy and love.

I wish you all a very Happy Holiday season and all the best in the new year! Love, Dhania

The holidays is here!

This morning I woke up and thought of what christmas days were like growing up in Indonesia.  Some christmas days were warm and humid, some were rainy christmas at uncles and aunts.  It was always lovely though.  This picture I found from the Indonesian Embassy site completely brought a smile to my face, I hope yours as well… a group of Indonesian ‘santa klaus‘ on bikes, in the rain.

Christmas here is definitely not the same as christmas back home.  The rain back home is the kind of warm rain that actually feels amazing on your skin.  Tropical rain.  Here in LA, my Asian immune and defense system can’t stand the cold LA rains, so no way I’ll be walking around enjoying the rain.  If it rains I run inside, grab a glass of red wine, put on music and dream of a vintage christmas…

Or Vogue christmas both vintage or current edition… fancy, elegant, fashionably pleasing to the eyes…

And of course I need my black and white photo next to the colorful images.  I am still, to today, moved by black and white images.  Less is more love…

What are you girls up to on Christmas eve?  My little Cait will be spending quality time with her Dad and friends in New York City.  This year, I am having my girl friends over for yummy Indonesian food and drinks.  Wine.  Of course.  And lots of laughter and great conversation.  Enjoy yours with your family or friends, or by yourself if a christmas eve for one is what you have in mind… whatever it is, whoever you are with, have a fabulous christmas… enjoy your fabulous-gorgeous self and be merry. I surely will!

PS:  Don’t bother calling me on christmas morning.  I most likely will be in deep beauty sleep, still in my giant peachy tutu and sparkly party shoes on, with a big christmas smile on my face.  Content.

With giant love and hug from this girl,

Lolo K. Sosronegoro

Depending on the dynamic of your relationship with your spouse, you could be a Pon or a Zi.  If you’re not sure, hey, you can always take a quiz here! I relate to Pon in most cases.   Pon ate a cookie it baked for Zi.  The only explanation Pon has?  ”I baked you a cookie but I accidentally eated it.”  But they love each other no matter what.  They’re both crazy sometimes, and slightly insane.  And some days seem pretty obsessed of each other.  The love is real though.

Pon & Zi is an odd story.  Yet so heart warming.  I remember a friend of mine baked clay to form a Pon to ask his lover to marry him.  It took him several odd looking Pons to get to a perfect shape, but when it was done, it was beautiful.  I almost cried looking at the clay version Pon, holding a promise ring.

Just for the fun of it, I took a Pon & Zi quiz.  The result?  As expected, I was Pon!  What did it say about Pon?  Well, here you go:

“Congrats! You are Pon! You are madly in love with Zi and would do just about anything for Zi.  If your heart had a face it would be smiling.  You don’t like snails, care a lot about others and you tend to cry a lot.  You cry mostly for someone you love.  Although when you’re not crying, you are extremely happy!”

Don’t know what it says about Zi… you just gotta try take the quiz yourself!

I dig you both Pon & Zi!!

Love,

Lolo K. Sosronegoro

This small city also takes their love of animal companions seriously.  They replaced the word ‘pets’ to… well… I just mentioned it… ‘animal companion’.  There is not a store allowed to sell cats or dogs either.  So it seems to make perfect sense that early last year they started working on the ban of selling fur in West Hollywood.

Started last week, West Hollywood, Calif., became the first city in the U.S. to ban the sale of fur products, which will go into effect on September 21, 2013.  Sales of used and vintage items containing fur by retailers and individuals will still be allowed.

There you have it… next time you’re in West Hollywood, remember to refer to your four legged friend as ‘animal companion’, enjoy the drinks, the friendly people… and remember faux fur only while you party hard in the winter!

love,

Lolo K. Sosronegoro

Martini & Milk joyfully represents Pergamino®! Fine Papers For The Well-Heeled® A line of chic greeting cards to illustrate and communicate a fabulous woman’s essence: her beauty, her sense of style and – of course – her wicked sense of humor. These beautifully-designed greeting cards are made with modern women in mind. The modern women who are stylish, witty, and value-conscious with an eye for detail. Pergamino’s dedication is to save our planet and give back to the community. The products are made of recycled paper. They are also hand-made meticulously in the USA by disabled adults whose purpose in life is to acquire job skills so they, too, can live to their fullest potential and feel the pride that comes from financial independence.

Pergie®, the company’s trademarked character is the unique disposition of Pergamino. Pergie® is a modern woman who loves fashion and always carries fresh attitudes.  All the Pergies are beautifully-illustrated women who have it all: confidence, independence, efficiency and a great sense of humor.

“Although the illustrations in our greeting cards show the consummate fashionista, they resonate with every woman – no matter what her age, ethnic or social background” says Chicago-based founder Monica Montejo Luburich.

Pergie® girl is also described as sexy and driven, witty and wicked, nurturing and sensual, decadent and savvy. And I completely agree! Now who doesn’t want to be like Pergie®? I want to be like Pergie®! In fact, Pergie® even comes in a preggo style! It is love at first sight to me.

I am crazy about this one. I hope Santa sends me one of these.  From the Pergamino’s Glitterati Collection: Expecting She Glows.

Inside Message: You’re Bringing Preggo Back.

Exotic HOBOT birthday card.

Inside Message: Celebrate like it’s your first kiss. Happy birthday!

Dancing Divas! With blank message inside. Great for a holiday card or wishing someone a fabulous New Year (or New Year’s Eve) or a dress-shopping trip ahead! I want their  glistening gowns for the New Year’s Eve party!

Let’s be festive! All you need to do is check out more styles and order from us! Email me at dian@martiniandmilk or Lolo at lolo@martiniandmilk after checking out more fabulousness at Pergamino®! Stay tuned for upcoming Pergamino® cards at a Whole Foods near you!

On Monday, December 5, 2011, Valentino and his business partner Giancarlo Giametti release an application for desktop, the Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum.  The first of its kind for a designer with a caliber of Valentino to give people the access to more than 5,000 dresses, illustrations, photos and 95 fashion videos.  Right there, available on your desktop for you to peruse at your own leisure.

Pic by Valentino Garavani Museum

The virtual museum is in a 3D form, a web teaser is available on http://www.valentino-garavani-archives.org/teaserweb.html#.TtkDWByARVc and also YouTube.  The launch in New York City will be a press conference, live streamed on YouTube for world wide audience.

People wanted today to be the weekend.  I want it to be Monday, next Monday to be exact… Dec. 5th.  Obsessed.

love,

Lolo K. Sosronegoro

Four days after we arrived in Jakarta, I packed a little suitcase again for me and Cait.  We flew with my dad RM. Suryo S.Negoro to his hometown Jogjakarta.  Life has been all about being fast and grabbing opportunities as they present themselves.  Life in Jogja is completely different.  Life moves as is, at its own pace.  People understand that everything that is good is the result of time.  Life, customs and traditions behind the wall of the palace are preserved as much as possible to the way that it was in the 13th century.  The Jogjanese pay respect to their ancestors, they live life respecting values passed on to them by the ancestors.

This trip, fully embracing my Javanese culture I visited the grave site of my grand mother RA Chamdamliyah Sosronegoro. Also later to the grave site of her father RM Sosronegoro and my ancestors the kings of Jogjakarta in the sacred hill of Imogiri.

Imogiri requires visitors to put on traditional Javanese outfits.  On certain areas of the sacred grave such as the resting place of Sultan Agung, you are not allowed to take pictures and not allowed to have any footwear on.  We all changed our outfits, took off our sandals and embrace the heat which in the beginning felt like a bite to our feet.  Cait walked a bit and then I carried her.  She did what she could, not easy for a six year old to be in a sacred environment such as this.  And Cait was amazing. It was too hot for her I know but she did not once complain about heat or being tired.  She looked uncomfortable yet acted as what is to be expected from a good Javanese little girl.

We started with a visit to the grave of Sultan Agung, the first Sultan of Jogja.  Located at the very top of the hill, as we entered the gate we each kneeled down, put our palms together fingers straight to the front and thumbs to our noses, a sign of respect and submission to our king or to the respected elderly.  An abdi dalem (loyal subject to the court of Jogja) assisted us by carrying our tray of flowers and acted as our guide to our ancestors grave sites (there are three levels in Imogiri).

I can’t explain to you the peace I felt once I prayed, meditated, put flowers on the grave sites of my ancestors.  The calm I haven’t had in months.  The things I was finally able to let go.  The refocus on the important things in life.  With my dad’s guidance, Cait and I finished the whole process and rituals and went back to the place where we changed our clothes.

Yes, this is the end of the visit.  Cait was completely exhausted from the heat at this point.

Snack and a drink of ginger tea at the local ‘warung’/street vendor before we left Imogiri.  Another family tradition.

When in Jogja, besides the famous gudeg dish, definitely try the local specialty of tongseng (a goat or beef stew dish) and sate kambing (goat satay).  My dad and uncle are vegetarians, so after the yummy stop at a tongseng and sate restaurant we went to another restaurant which serves tofu as its main dish.  Jogja is food heaven.  Cheap and delicious.

We all went back to Jakarta.  Five days later I flew by myself to Bali to join my friends in a celebration of their love.  In the morning, my good friend Thres and I sat at Metis restaurant while she browsed through a magazine and I sipped my coffee enjoying the view of a paddy field in front of us.  Thres is an interior designer with big projects around Indonesia.  She is one very busy woman, so it was really nice for us both to have a quiet ten minutes to sit there enjoying ourselves.

Metis, Bali

Random, but Thres took me and Sing to this place where they sell snacks.  The owners have deers that I got to feed

This visit was definitely not the usual crazy parties, staying up til early morning, Jakarta style.  In each vacation you know what you need.  I needed family time, I needed beauty.  I needed peace.  By the time I flew back to Jakarta and hugged Cait, I was fully recharged.  There was just one more thing to do before Cait and I leave to go back to LA, a shopping trip to Alun-Alun in Grand Indonesia!

We ended our trip celebrating my dad 70th birthday!  It happened that TVOne, a local TV channel in Jakarta, called dad and requested him to be their guest as an expert in Javanese culture for a show the next day.  Go daddy! It was really cool to watch Cait watching my Dad being interviewed on television.  She kept on saying how proud she was of Eyang Kakung (Grand Father in Javanese).  I was proud too.  Dad dedicates his life, his energy, his time to preserve the spirituality and customs of our culture.  It was nice to see that his hard work is starting to get recognition in the country.

When he got home from the interview, I took a picture of Cait with Dad and our family dog Bello.  In every level I felt blessed and grateful.  This has been an amazing trip for me and Caitlin.  And guess what happened when we came back here?  All of a sudden I’m blogging again!

Cait and I are back in LA now, readjusting ourselves to the local time here.  We’re both ready to get back to our busy schedule again, Cait to her studies and I am to projects.  It was good to be away and now it is absolutely great to be back!

Much love,

Lolo K. Sosronegoro

PS:  When in Jogja we stayed at the guest house Ndalem Maharani . The house used to be my grandparents house, turned into a cozy guest house.  Special thank you to Adjie Bancono and Sekar Sosronegoro for our amazing stay at Ndalem Maharani.  The guest house still feels like Eyang’s house when I was little.  Amazing job preserving the architecture and the calm-peaceful vibe of the place!