Ultimate Lifestylist

Happy Holidays from our home to yours 

It's a new year with new opportunities. Smart technology is becoming mainstream and more affordable, we are spending a lot more time living and working at home, and people are turning on the cooktop for teh first time and experimenting with cooking. People are interested in learning about wine, not just drinking it, and there are lots of fun things in store for us. We can't wait to share! Happy 2021 - we thought that you would never get here! 

My heart is not only in the home, it's in the kitchen. My day starts and ends there, it's that central place that makes my house a home.

Attending Design and Construction Week has become one of my favorite times of the year.  It's the perfect time to discover what's new and to network without professionals in our industry.

We came to Orlando before the show starts to get a view of what happens behind the scenes. The show opens Tuesday, but getting to see how much work is going on before the show opens makes up appreciate it even more.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to get live views of what makes this show so special.

What an innovative year 2015 turned out to be! Design and building trends shared innovations that we truly have only dreamed about, and 2016 is promising to be even more innovative in what products are offered for sale.

Ultimate Lifestylist® Suzanne Felber was asked to create a Lifestylist List of her top 10 trends in building for Candy'sDirt - read about which were her favorites.

Find out which products will be her favorites in 2016 by following her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

I love New York. There is no other city like it in the world, and every day that we get to spend there turns into an adventure.

When I was lucky enough to have a place to stay in Tribeca I started the NYC Lifestylist blog, and I still enjoy writing about the small local places that you might just walk by and never notice. One of the places I always made sure that I visited is Porto Rico Importing Company - a company that has been offering the finest cofees and teas since 1907.

Their birthday sale is always worth shopping and stocking up at, and it's going on right now until October 31st. If you aren't lucky enough to be in NY and can buy at their store you can visit their website and buy online, and there's free shipping for orders over $75.00!

My favorite beans that they sell are Peter's Blend - smooth but with enough substance to it that it wakes me up in the morning.

Happy Birthday Porto Rico from the Lifestylist family!

I have been very fortunate to meet a lot of very interesting people, but Lisa Stewart of Lisa Stewart Photography was fortunate enough to meet one of my role models - Oscar de la Renta. He was in Dallas for the Crystal Charity Ball 10 Best Dressed luncheon, and Lisa was photographing the event.

If you want to know what someone is really like - ask a photographer. They see people at their best and worst, and after meeting Oscar de la Renta she couldn't stop talking about how gracious he was. Those are the stories I love hearing. Her photos of the event and of the man himself have always been some of my favorites. The fashion world has lost a very special person that we will all miss.

It has been a busy, busy month in the Lifestylist® kitchen. We love the changes that are happening at The Dallas Farmers Market and we keep coming home with baskets of goodies that we are needing to come up with recipes for.

It's also time for the State Fair of Texas which is one of our favorite times of the year. Every year I say I'm not going to enter anymore, and then I can't help myself and start working on entries again. This year I have already won three 1st and one 2nd place ribbon so I'm completely motivated.

Party Foods is the first category that I'm planning on entering, and this recipe has quickly become one of my favorites.

I love it when great companies work together, and the new home that is debuting in Beaufort, SC is a perfect example of that.

Rob and Lydia Mondavi have started Mondavi Home, and this beautiful showhome in Beaufort, SC is a wonderful example of how liveable the collection is. The Mondavis chose Thermador appliances for this home because the design fit in perfectly with what they were building, and the Thermador wine columns were perfect to keep Rob's wine collection at just the right temperature.

Find more information here about Mondavi Home, Thermador Appliances and how the Ultimate Lifestylist got these two together.
Photo above is by Josh Gibson

I can't believe it's almost time for the State Fair of Texas again! I've been working on new recipes to enter, and I'm excited about what I have come up with. Basil grows like a weed at The Home Idea Factory so I have plenty of that to experiment with, and I'm also using my tomatoes.

A Caprese salad is always one of my favorite meals in the Summer, using goodies that I harvest right outside my door and I decided to figure out a recipe that I can enter in the Party Foods section of the fair that would be a play on this favorite.

Fingers crossed, I'm liking what I've come up with. I'll let you know what the judges think of it in a few weeks!

When I trademarked the term Lifestylist® almost 15 years ago I had no idea what I was getting in to. I knew I had a great concept that incorporated everything I was about and wanted my brand to be, and I couldn't be more proud of what we have been able to accomplish.

What I didn't realize is that it was such a great term and brand so many people would try to copy what I do. Talk about being naive...

The great news is that consumers have really embraced what we do, and we are busier than ever. We have stunning new Lifestylist Designed apartment communities opening up in New York - The Hammocks at Canandaigua and The Hammocks at Geneseo. These communities are all about lifestyle, and we love spending the time exploring the roads less traveled and learning what makes these communities so special.

We have also just completed The Hammocks at Millcreek - another beautiful Riedman Companies community that is their first in Pennsylvania. This one was particularly close to my heart - it's in Erie, PA just minutes from where our family has owned a farm since the 1940's and we spent Summers enjoying fruits and vegetables we picked then enjoyed at picnics on the beach.

I've been taking some of the skills and recipes I received from my family and have been busy in the kitchen as well. I pride myself on not only being the Ultimate Lifestylist but also being a pretty good cook, and love entering the State Fair of Texas every year. This year I've already received three 1st place ribbons and one 2nd place one, and that's before the fair has even opened!

At the end of the day I guess I should be flettered by how many people are trying to copy what I do, but there will only be one original Lifestylist, and that's me :)

I hope that you will continue to follow me on my journey  - we have more to share than hours in the day!