Cruising in Kennebunkport

Bryan had a conference at the venerable Colony Hotel in Kennebunkport, so while he mixed and mingled with his fellow lawyers, we toddled down from Falmouth to spend the day meandering around town and doing a bit of Christmas shopping (call us scrooges, but, not enjoying the holiday crowds, we try desperately to have all our shopping done by mid-November).

First stop, breakfast at HB Provisions - this place has been around forever and you get a serving of old-time Maine general store with the food, which is mouthwateringly delicious (try the blueberry pancakes - each scrumtuous flapjack comes with what seems like a bushel).

Trying to atone for the ridiculously high number of calories we consumed for breakfast, we walked to the other end of town to Carrots, where we do our stocking stuffer shopping almost every year - it never fails, they have the best gifts, their selections always make us laugh, and who wouldn't love the VW bug unexpectedly smack in the middle of the shop! (We also love their fun and very creative windows!)


From there we headed to "the Tangerines" - they have two shops, the Pink Tangerine is exclusively Lilly Pulitzer and the Green Tangerine, next door, carries some other great lines. They always have something a little different, fresh and contemporary.

Of course, one can't help but notice the Bush compound, which is truly beautiful. We have always been great admirers of Mr. & Mrs. Bush - they have the reputation of being extremely nice, kind, lovely and down-to-earth and are held in very high esteem in Kennebunkport.

After visiting a few more shops, we finished up our shopping and headed back to the Colony, doing some needlepoint in the feels-like-we're-in-our-own-living-room comfortable lobby overlooking the water, waiting for the conference to finish.

P.S. We made a really good dent in the Christmas shopping list!

The Colony Hotel, 140 Ocean Avenue, Kennebunkport, ME 04046: 207.967.3331, http://www.thecolonyhotel.com/

H.B. Provisions , 15 Western Avenue, Kennebunk, ME 04043: 207.967.5762, http://www.hbprovisions.com/

Green Tangerine, 9 Western Avenue, Kennebunk, ME 04043: 207. 967.8301, http://www.gtangerine.com/

Carrots, 19 Ocean AveKennebunkport, ME 04046: 207.967.5300, www.carrotsandcompany.com

Trunk Show At Sandra Morgan Interiors

We had a wonderful visit with the well-known interior designer Sandy Morgan last week down in Greenwich -here is her adorable Shih Tzu, Tiger, testing a Muddy Dog duvet! In addition to being really talented, Sandy is a lot of fun and we are very excited to be holding a trunk show at her retail shop on Thursday, November 5 from 11:00-3:00: Sandra Morgan Interiors, 70 Arch Street, Greenwich, CT, 203-629-8121. Hope you can join us!

Gentleman, Start Your....Pumpkins?

Here's another reason to love living in Maine - the third annual Pumpkinfest in Damariscotta. Other places may have prizes for the biggest gourd, but where else can you see races between pumpkin paddleboats (one decorated like the Space Shuttle) or hollowed-out, motorized pumpkins? Gotta love the ingenuity! The festival wraps up today with a pumpkin drop (don't ask).

Vintage Leather

We have all sorts of gorgeous fabrics from which we make our Muddy Dog duvet covers, but we have had a suggestion for something in leather. We wondered how that might make up into a duvet and so Holly and I toddled down to NYC see what we could find. We had all sorts of fun (so many fabric showrooms, so little time) and discovered "vintage leather" - an amazing fabric that looks just like a favorite, lovingly worn leather sofa but is much easier to take care of (an important consideration with our best friends)! We're going to offer it in two colors - an aged rich reddish brown (Cognac) and a lovely deep chocolatey brown (Fudge).

Time for a little snack on the go before flying home to Maine!

Our Favorite Shops: E.A. Davis

While on a recent trip to Boston, Holly and I made sure to make a special trip out to the beautiful leafy suburb of Wellesley so we could visit the wonderful E.A. Davis Department Store. This fabulous shop has been in business for over 100 years, started by a woman who worked outside the home at a time when few did. Her classic good taste is still in evidence today - Barbour, Vineyard Vines, Bill's Khakis, it's all here! Bonus points: It offers one of the most outstanding Lilly Pulitzer selections in the U.S. - and we couldn't resist buying a sweet little swimsuit in pink and green for Beatrice (since she is a newborn, with our short summers she'll have to wait until next year to wear it)! Trying to be good, we did resist another Barbour coat (we own several already, but then again we don't think a girl can really have too many), but we're not sure how long our willpower is going to hold out!

Don't forget to go downstairs to the interior design studio - we picked up some fantastic lamp finials and had loads of fun looking at the accessories and the amazing selection of fabrics.

E.A. Davis Department Store, 579 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA 02482: Tel 781.235.0688, http://www.eadavisshop.com/

Bayou, Brews and Barbecue

Our wonderful friends Brenda Garrand (owner of Garrand, an much-awarded integrated marketing and communications firm here in Portland) and her husband David Pierson (below) hosted a really fun end-of-summer event at the Cumberland Club - Bayou, Brews and Barbecue, something a little different for the club but a lot of fun. (For those of you who adore old houses with character and charm the way we do, the house itself was designed by Alexander Parris, a distinguished Boston architect, and was built in 1800 by John Kimball, a prolific builder of federal-style large homes in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Kimball built the house for Steven McLellan, a wealthy merchant and ship owner who subsequently lost his home to bankruptcy when shipping stopped after the War of 1812. The Cumberland Club later acquired it and was established in 1877. The woodwork is fabulous!)

We were hoping for an outdoor event, but Maine being Maine, even our cashmere sweaters lost out to the frosty evening and we moved the festivities inside. Mmmmm, Shipyard microbrew and a great barbecue supper – and of course, the Cajun Aces, who got everyone’s toes tapping.

Lassez le bon temps rouller!

Le Manoir Richelieu

Our duvets will be launching very soon, but meanwhile we have been keeping very busy up here in Maine. We'd like you to meet Holly - sometimes it's not possible to take our beloved doggies with us everywhere we go, but Holly is quite content to travel in my LL Bean tote and have her picture taken in all sorts of interesting places, meeting a lot of great people along the way!

Since we moved this summer and didn't really have time for a vacation, Bryan surprised me with a fabulous anniversary trip to Malbaie, Canada - we drove up to Quebec City and took a right! The scenery was incredible, looking down from verdant mountains into magnificent river vistas almost the entire trip.

After a drive through the small sleepy village of Malbaie (and more stunning scenery), we took a windy little road and suddenly came upon a magnificent hotel which seemed to rise out of nowhere. This was the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu, siutated to take advantage of the most breathtakingly gorgeous views. This grande dame had been heartily recommended to Bryan and it certainly didn't disappoint. The first thing one sees is the casino, which lies adjacent to an amazingly beautiful building built as a French chateau. The place was simply infused with old world European charm, from the intricately turned wrought iron fixtures to the lovely dark woodwork set off by the comforting colorations within. Our cozy room was done in soothing yellows and blues and overlooked the St. Lawrence river.

Although there is golf, tennis, horsebackriding and a spa, we decided to take in the natural beauty of the place and walk the trails along the river - some of the trails were actually used for bobsledding back in the day, and a sled ride could take you right back to the hotel doors for your waiting hot toddy! The town is quite tiny and there isn't a lot to explore, but we did find a sweet little art museum which displayed mostly local art and a lot of interesting information on the local history.

No dogs in the Le Charlevoix dining room! On our last night there, we had an incredible dinner - everything fresh from local suppliers. Not only was the food absolutely mouthwateringly scruptuous, but the little towels before the meal were a real feat of showmanship. A waiter came over and poured hot water on what appeared to be a thin sort of wafer. All of a sudden, the wafer magically grew into a little tower of a towel! There were appreciative laughs all over the dining room as this happened at each table.

We took the ferry over to drive home through New Brunswick. It was a long drive so Holly thought the suggestion to stretch at a rest stop was a pretty good one.

Fairmont Le Hotel Richelieu, 181 rue Richelieu La Malbaie, Charlevoix, Quebec Canada G5A1X7: Tel 418.665.3703, manoirrichelieu@fairmont.com .