Ladies Who Lunch Conversations

09/05/2026

You’d be forgiven for thinking you’re in a kind of Gulliver’s Travels or Alice in Wonderland’s admonition to grow, when you receive your copy of botanical artist extraordinaire Wendy Hollender incredible new book, “The Album of Plant Families: An Illustrated Exploration of Nature’s Beauty & Bounty.” (Even the title is Big!)
Irony is that the artist herself is so petite 😉

As you can see, this poster-sized, hardcover book is a delightful revelation. Wendy has selected a mere 24 plant families rendering the family members in such exquisite detail using watercolor & colored pencil. Wendy also features plant expert guest contributors such as Susan Pell Dr. Michael J Balick 🍃

I couldn’t wait to attend the New York Botanical Garden talk with Wendy. Appropriately, the lecture was held in the Mertz Library ~ perfect venue. I met my lovely Hort friend Cheryl Lynn Torgerson and we both were enchanted.
Wendy, we loved your bountiful presentation~ loaded with background information on how you approached the book’s creation & layout, video of you working in your studio, sourcing, & more.

I am so grateful to get your autograph for my book copy. Thank you.

Most attendees were equally enthralled. And we’re so happy for Margaret Roach feature ~ I was gobsmacked. (See my earlier post & connection to my revered home decor art featuring Wendy’s Botanical Art.

The book will delight everyone ~ its edutainment 🌸~ we learn about the plants, your field notes of your specimen collecting adventures; marvel at the art~ not just the sheer beauty but also discovering plant parts we just don’t “see” ~ as an amateur water colorist, I especially appreciate the color dabs you told us you kept in the margins. Details, Details. Makes all the difference.

I’m still rather speechless at the ambition, scope, and beautiful art found in “Plant Families.”
Now I need to find a coffee table to match the book’s heft 😉🌱
This is a book to enjoy and show off. 💚

Lynn and I went on to enjoy a lovely, rainy Garden walk to the Café & a splendid lunch. What a treasured resource our botanical garden is.

Congratulations, Wendy. You have brought such beauty and botanical joy…

09/04/2026

This Conversation was a blast. We talked about In Glorious Smell-O-Vision! Tammy Burnstock Olfactory Art to film, live events such as her ~ a brilliant concept I’m now championing ~ it brings scent to literature/book gatherings 📚
Her work with includes Scent of Mystery, her documentary on the inventor, Hans Laube, and collabs on for W***y Wonka & The Chocolate Factory 🍫

Our First Ladies Who Lunch Conversations videocast with Australia 🦘Tammy was a most inspiring guest. You can read the overview in my blog post, and view on FB or YouTube (links in bio)

In the scent world, “having a Nose 👃is a nickname and a kind of honorarium that acknowledges a master or expert in the perfume or scent industry. Well, swipe to see Tammy’s nose featured at LA’s The Institute for Art & Olfaction! I love it!

Thank you, Tammy. You are so inspiring. And make our world so much more sensual, artful.

Cheers.✨

09/01/2026

My latest fragrance creation asks if you’re open to connection and ready to receive…
Inspired by the Garden where lovers whisper secret scents of attraction, Align, is a botanical Eau de Parfum that captures nature’s intimate, cosmic love story written in the stars of perfect timing ~ it’s the miracle of alignment; of synchronicity…

It celebrates being at the right place at just the right moment…

Gardeners and Horticulturists know how pollinators must follow Nature’s cosmic cues to align with their partners.

My Align parfum is an intoxicating blend of bright spiciness, carnal white flowers that are a rich, narcotic indolic, romantic arousal, followed by a warm sensuousness…

When taking the photos for Align, I was blessed to have a sweet bee 🐝 honor us in the Lavender ~ (swipe to lady image 💜) ~ another perfect, aligned connection. Thank you, Mother Nature 🙏💚

And for this seasonal, limited-edition Collection, I introduced my first Balm. So pretty & versatile. I added in some lavender, or rose petals from my garden ~ and of course, some glitter in others. You pick. ✨✨

I hope you’ll click over to my Garden Glamour site and read the Align story, discover all the herbaceous ingredients. And yes, purchase 🥰

The Art of Perfume & its Sillage is so mysterious, so glamorous…
Thank you 💗🌸

08/29/2026

There is simply no substitute for dining in Chinatown.
I was privileged to experience an extraordinary evening hosted by my Les Dames d'Escoffier NY ~ featuring Dame Grace Young Grace Young, second/generation owner Alice Lou ~ both are such poised & artful@speakers ~ wines by Dame Joyce | 酒意思 SIP WITH JOYCE | 侍酒師 ~ thanks to Joyce & Sharon Franke for producing such a memorable event.

The Cantonese menu was curated for us by Dame Grace 🙏 ~ sublime lobster, noodles & chicken ~ served with that sweet beak🐔😉
Dame Grace is a The Julia Child Foundation award recipient & James Beard Foundation Humanitarian of the Year recipient.

So not surprising that her talk highlights all about the Liu family culinary triumphs & struggles, particularly as a result of pandemic collateral damages…
I was again impressed & humbled with what immigrant family businesses demonstrate in terms of hard work & stewardship to the community.
Can you guess how many of the businesses in Chinatown are family owned?

I’ll be sure to be a repeat diner at Hop Lee Restaurant restaurant! And we can all shop at the family’s retail store Grand Tea & Imports 好茶水 | 佛運玄
Thank you for gifting us your delicious tea pairings. 🫖

I so appreciated the food, the family & community stories.
In my humble opinion, two of the best things about dining in a Chinese restaurant such as Hop Lee is eating at a table with others. We had a great group at my table. ❤️
The other thing is that the food is made with the best ingredients: Love.

Xi, Xi

08/23/2026

“Killing two birds with one stone” is anathema to bird lovers! 🦉🐤🐓🦚🦩💙
Yet in some way, that is what we did recently on our Bird Watching Tour led by Beachy Birder Adventures Lindsay.
It all started when Bill Lavin & moi had the winning bid on the Bird Tour at American Littoral Society fundraiser. We’d enjoyed Lindsay’s talk at a previous event.

We wanted to share tie experience with fellow birder family, Sharon Watkinson & Carlo A. Balistrieri So we zhuzzed up the party with some homegrown treats from the garden, I donned my TheTickSuit ~ & headed out.
When the rain came & dampened the adventure, Lindsay pivoted & we retreated to our speakeasy for our own private talk, complete with her presentation. Brilliant. Thank you, Lindsay.

Thinking of birds, I am reminded how much I love them. They keep me company in the garden. Psstt~ please design your gardens as a habit for birds & critters 🦜🦆
To the exotic ~ you know I adore peacocks & flamingoes ~ here are images from Aruba & dining with 🦚in Ecuador & seeing Blue-footed Bo***es in Galapagos to
Owls at our County Fair and walking among a sea of ducks in Aquebogue for my Homegrown cookbook photo shoot at Doug Corwin’s farm to Egrets on our little beach; big Blue Heron in the road!!! Ospreys overhead, and the water birds feeding frenzy in spring.
And so much more.

Please enjoy the quiet moments ~ and the screeches & chirps.
Birds are a luxury we all can enjoy.

08/21/2026

My inspiring guest, Tammy Burnstock, the leading Smell-0-Vision olfactory film restoration artist and scent events producer, writer, & director, shares her unbriddled passion and energy from her home in Australia for all things Scent, especially her company:bScented Storytelling, scented film cinema, scent events, & scent archeology.
Such fascinating work. So artfully creative, too.

In our Conversation, Tammy talks about the excitement of engaging with the sensual power of scent.
Tammy shares the magic of collaborating on the first ~ and last ~ Smell-O-Vision ~ the 1960's "Scent of Mystery" restoration & the constellation of artful genres ignited by the film, including the recreation of the scent worn by the film’s star & co-producer, Elizabeth Taylor ~ recreated by perfume artist, Marissa Zappa; & the corresponding art gallery exhibit that included the Lost-in-Time legacy perfume, and its svelte, sexy bottle design by Mark Eliot, Nadia Roden’s playful illustrations of Smell-O-Vision & “Scent of Mystery,” and the Art Shay photos of the film’s glamorous premiere featuring Hollywood royalty.

With passion and energy, Tammy takes us backstage in her reasearch producing the documentary, "In Glorious Smell-O Vision," the true story of the godfather of Scented Cinema and its technology, Hans Laube.

She is now working with Jas Brooks on a new scent & flavor project inspired by the 1920's film "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."
It was exciting to learn about Tammy's live scent events, including "Schnozz-Lit" café; new scratch n' sniff cinema accessories; the language of scent; and her work in children's participatory experiences! Her “Show & Tell” really makes it all the more exciting to see.

This was such a fun, sensory-learning experience.

Thank you Tammy ~ you are so very inspiring.

I know all will enjoy this "Scent-sational" Conversation.

Cheers.

Scent of Mystery in Glorious Smell-O-Vision

08/16/2026

How much do I love botanical art and native plants? 🍃
So much so that I wanted to feature them on a window treatment in our renovated Garden Room that I designed as a scrim ~ showcasing our local native flora while permitting a soft view to the garden rooms outside.🌹a little like a magical, mysterious garden double-vision when shades are down and the botanical art is on full display.

Without hesitation, I asked the very talented, world-clas botanical artist, Wendy Hollender to work with me and provide her unparalleled botanical plants for the desired look. You can see the extraordinary results in the Roman shades. 💚🌸 (now, more than 10 years old ~ and still fresh ☺️)

I first met Wendy when I worked at The New York Botanical Garden & she was the lead coordinator for the Botanical Art Certificate program. We’ve stayed in touch ever since ~ having spoken not long ago about her botanical art design for a signature Echo New York scarf and about her upcoming book.

So you can imagine that when Bill Lavin put the The New York Times feature on the kitchen island, saying, “ You’ll probably want to read Margaret Roach ~ Margaret’s garden column” I didn’t need to read even a word. I could see by the art that it is Wendy’s 💚🌸💚

I am so looking forward to Wendy’s talk on Thursday, 8/20 New York Botanical Garden ✨📖 In the Mertz Library. My horticulturist friend & style beauty Cheryl Lynn Torgerson is joining me at The Garden. Hope to see you garden art enthusiasts there 🌱🖼️

Congratulations Wendy. I’m bringing my copy of your book, The Album of Plant Families: An Illustrated Exploration of Nature’s Beauty and Bounty” for you to sign ✨🙏

08/14/2026

Thank you for asking, Les Dames d'Escoffier New York I'm sharing the simple and elegant tips for hosting a summer soirée ~ or any home gathering.
Cheers to happy summer parties. 🥂🌞

Discover simple and elegant hosting tips for your summer gatherings. Learn how to elevate your entertaining with exquisite botanical tablescapes, drink garnishes, and effortless style with Garden Glamour

08/06/2026

They say “You never forget your first” ❤️ ahem, I’m referring to your first kiss, 💋or your first love 💞

So too, there is nothing like walking in your garden & “discovering” / seeing a plant’s first blossom of the season. 🌸✨
It’s Nature’s gift to us.
Please enjoy some of my favorites here ~ from the bold, sensual hardy Hibiscus, Red Hydrangeas, Peek-A-Boo Aliums, Rose, Clematis, Water Lily, to a humble ( overlooked charm) of the important Dandelion ~ the blooms I encounter on my morning garden walks provide me both heart-clutching drama & peaceful bliss. It’s that “Oh wow” moment that elevates us & feeds our curiosity ~ and wonder ✨⭐️

What a show. 🌺🌹 #

Remember to stop & smell ~ and view ~ the blossoms. 💗💗

gardendesign

08/02/2026

It was an exciting opening night with featured artist Ron Aniello at our Gallery A.H. Arts (Atlantic Highlands Arts Council) 🖼️🎨
Thank you for bringing your elevated, artful style & talent (your music 🎼🎸 & painting) to our Gallery ~ along with that great food & drink ~ and your friend & client (?) Bruce Springsteen

It was a pleasure volunteering while your show was with us.
As tonight is the closing party, I want to say it was a pleasure meeting you & your fiancé ~ and your family who came from afar (FL) to celebrate you! I brought my family too 😉 Bill Lavin & Sharon Watkinson & Carlo A. Balistrieri (from SC)
I wish you continued success. Your art is powerful …

🎨