Georgia O'Keeffe on my mind

Georgia O'Keeffe is getting new attention as an abstract artist in light of an exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York this month. Although she has been most famously thought of as a representational painter, her early work was abstractionist; when she realized her early work was being interpreted in Freudian terms as sexual she began to show more realist paintings.

I have always loved her work. I think she beautifully expresses the awe in the details of natural things.

The Whitney exhibition begins September 17. On September 19 the movie 'Georgia O'Keeffe' starring Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons as O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz airs on Lifetime.

Home

As a general rule, I'd rather be home more than anyplace else in the world, but I have a never-ending curiosity about the way other people live. I would love it if you took the time to tell me about your home. What do you love about your home? What do you not love? What is your favorite thing in your home? Where do find yourself spending the most time when you are home? When you are not at home, what do you miss? What do want to change about the way you live? Whose is the most memorable home you've ever been in and why?
I can't wait to read your answers and I will post mine next time.

Lipstick

I am obsessed with lipstick.

Which is odd because for my entire life I've only ever worn some sublte shade of beige. But here's the thing about lipstick; it's very satisfying to shop for. If you've ever walked into a sephora and seen the selection there, you just know you will find the one lipstick that is maybe in the tiniest way a vast improvement on the lipstick you are currently wearing. Maybe it's shinier or shearer or pinker, but you swipe it on the top of your left hand and you think: this is it...this is the lipstick I will wear from now on..this is the perfect shade...this is the color that will make it okay for me to run around the world without any make-up at all on and still look amazing!

I read recently about a phenomena that economists call the 'lipstick index'. When the economy goes down, lipstick sales shoot up. The idea being that lipstick is an affordable luxury, so when we may be reluctant to spend money on big-ticket items for ourselves we will buy lipstick. Even if you buy the most expensive lipstick you're maybe out about twenty-five dollars. This is a small price to pay to walk out the door feeling like the most together woman in the world. So if you want something new but you don't like, won't wear or can't afford what is available, go buy lipstick. Get two.

Icon

This is the cover of the October 2009 issue of Vanity Fair.

What else is there to say?

That face

If they ever carve a Mt. Rushmore of rock icons, Keith Richards should be the first face.

Has anyone else ever so perfectly match their persona as this man at this time?

I don't want to meet Keith Richards or know him in any way. I just want to know that his coolness is out there in the world somewhere.

It only looks high maintenance

It's not. It is actually ridiculously low maintenance.

They look so delicate but the reality is that they last quite a long time with very little attention paid to them. They are available at most grocery stores, and for about as much as two bunches of fresh flowers. And the payoff is weeks and sometimes months of bloom.

Try putting one on an entry hall table, or on a coffee table or on top of a stack of books. It will be like putting that last great accesssory on your outfit.

September

I'm not going back to school, but if I were, I know what I would wear on the first day.

I would wear a new white shirt, crisp, not wrinkly, cuffs rolled up, not folded.

This may be the most underrated item in the closet. It can go with anything. It can go anywhere. It flatters everyone. It is available at any price range.

If you want to get the most from your wardrobe budget, start here. It will be the perfect foundation for anything else you add and it will instantly update the clothes you already have.

The look is at once chic, snappy and glamorous.