Super Luxe Sundays

As mentioned before, the Restless Sybarite is all about looking for luxury and pleasure. I never tire of looking for luxury, and decided as this blog evolves I'll feature a weekly piece on the search for the Super Luxe--things that folks with a bigger budget and a penchant for the high-end can enjoy. It's way too early in the game to begin hardcore endorsements, but I like to pass on things that strike my fancy.

Because of my upcoming move, I have furniture on the brain. From the outset, let me state quite clearly that the Restless Sybarite's current living situation is at the opposite end of Super Luxe. Currently ensconced in a garage apartment in the hood on the south side of St. Petersburg, surrounded by an aethestic that's best described as craigslist/Goodwill chic, I have relegated myself to a hand-me-down, Spartan existence after a year and a half of life on the road. As a result of selling a house, moving four times and feeling the need to purge the excess stuff in life before heading out on my last adventure I landed in a space with little more than the basics...and I mean basics...

Having said that, this week will see additional paring down as I'm heading to New Orleans with little more than a dance belt and a tube of Chapstick a la Corky St. Clair. My highly anticipated arrival in the Crescent City will involve a couple of weeks with a dear friend while I look for work and a new abode, and I am loathe to drag a bunch of mismatched, flimsy crap with me. So once again, I have limitless options for setting up house once I'm on sure footing.

Which brings us to today's topic: furniture. I am the first to admit the design gene passed me over, but fortunately I have good friends with a great eye and the ability to tell me that I'm foolish in some of my choices. My tastes run more to the traditional and practical, rather than modern and experimental. I want sturdy pieces that look great while offering excellent functionality. Reviewing some of the high-end furniture designers' web sites today makes me feel that I could cobble together an interesting, practical, luxuriously appointed space once the coinage again begins to flow. So let's go!

There are three manufacturers that caught my eye: Henkel Harris, Henredon, and Bernhardt. Just like me, these companies come from humble beginnings in Virginia and North Carolina, and have continued through the generations to provide quality pieces.

Henkel Harris is based in Winchester, VA and bills itself as "Just Possibly, America's Finest Furniture". There are lovely pieces for the dining room and bedroom, as well as occasional pieces, like this bar that caught my eye:

Henredon is an outfit in Morganton, NC and offers gorgeous things by Collection, by Category or by Room. I really like this bed:




Bernhardt started in Lenoir, NC and has a bit more to offer on their site, including upholstery and collections that have been branded with folks outside the company, like Martha Stewart (of course, what doesn't she have her name on these days?). I never seem to have a decent sofa, but this one caught my eye:



Each of these sites allow you to search for a retailer in your area, so dig around on their sites then head out to see what your local vendor has in the showroom. If the pieces are out of your budget there are lovely alternatives, but that's discussion for a different day. While we may not reside in the realm of the Super Luxe at the moment, it never hurts to dream...

By the way, anyone need a futon?

The Luxury of Good Friends

It's a sunny Saturday morning and I've been ruminating on topics to discuss while enjoying my coffee. Rather than indulge in discussions of must-have now items or lists of the "10 things you must buy in this economy" list that I saw on one of the web sites this morning, I've decided to talk about one of the biggest luxuries in my life: good friends.

Last night I had the pleasure of taking a very dear friend of mine out for a humble (and belated) birthday dinner. We chatted, laughed and carried on about people we know and things that have happened in the almost 10 years that we've known each other. When I got home I realized what a joy it is to revel in a good friend's company, and how nice it is to spend time with someone who appreciates you for who you are, and can deal with your achievements and shortcomings with equal aplomb.

I am about to start a new chapter in my life by relocating to New Orleans. Since leaving my mother's home in 1989, I've wandered through the country and lived in several very cool, very different locales: Boston, San Francisco, Gainesville (ok, that one's not so cool unless you're into the Gators), St. Petersburg. Each of these moves brought new people into my life, and while people come and go, there are several folks that have stuck with me and have become my "second family". I'm amazed and grateful to realize the number of people that still play a part in my life, even people I met 20 plus years ago. And talking to some of these people this week, I've received outstanding advice and support for my upcoming move.

I'm not one for grand pronouncements of sentimentality, and I doubt that most of these folks will ever read this, but my heartfelt love and gratitude goes out to all of the friends in my life that provide an endless warmth of pleasure and luxury. And especially for Gyps, Peaches, Lady, Daisy, Lynn, Cheeky Monkey, Wil and Veeta, your chats this week have been invaluable. I look foward to our continuing time together, providing friendship, love and support for each other as we continue on the journey.

Good friends are the ultimate luxury.

Crawling into the Lap of Luxury

Welcome to my World!

After months of reading tons of posts in the blogosphere I've decided that it's time for me to jump into the pool. It's taken quite a while for me to decide what to write about--all the experts advise that you write about what you know and what you like; for me this has been quite a task of introspection. After much list writing and navel gazing, my epiphany came over coffee this morning after seeing the word of the day on my homepage: sybarite.

Taken directly from my good friends at dictionary.com, here's the definition of sybarite:
sybarite \SIB-uh-ryt\, noun: A person devoted to luxury and pleasure.

That's me! I love luxury and I am perpetually in search of pleasure. As I pondered the possibilities of this blog, I realized that this is a perfect vehicle to offer insights, opinions and shameless plugs about things that I find luxurious and pleasurable. My goal is to engage folks around the world in sharing their ideas and insights into luxury--it's a basic human craving that means many different things to people. And I don't subscribe to the notion that luxury always has to command an enormous pricetag--sometimes the little luxuries of life make all the difference.

So that's the mission of this blog: to uncover the luxuries and pleasures (big and small) that Life has to offer. I welcome your comments, ideas, and suggestions.