Another party in the Hamptons… Sounds like a cliché since the Hamptons is all about the parties, the charity events and the benefit galas but this summer I’ve had the privilege of going to quite a few of them. So the Watermill Center puts on an amazing show once a year, and this year proved to be even more so as it’s Robert Wilson’s 70th Birthday so his devoted students at the Watermill Center who seem to focus on installation art among other things, had done their best to outshine each other.

The theme of the party was fearless which had not been picked up as adamantly by the guests as was expected. I assumed I’d see quite a few half naked individuals at the party but my see through dress with red lingerie proved to be one of the high lights of the fearless interpretation… But we were greeted by women that were mumbling in weird tongues to a white ghosts and they certainly seemed to have forgotten part of their clothes…

Then there was the spider man on the dial that worked so hard, so hard to get our attention during the cocktail hours. And then there was a pillow fight between wailing women,

two men that were buried in the ground and spoke about the sad state of affairs in the world,

the decadent pregnant women (or were they perhaps cross-dressers?) that were smoking and drinking and causing all kinds of stinks on the slings but the finale may have taken the cake from my point of view. A tame little man that held a wild seductive secretary stereotyped woman on a leash and kept her in a the woman cage that had a sign that said ”Beware of the Woman.”

As a pseudo feminist, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, except if I was a secretary kept on a leash, I’d want my man to be sweet to me, and he did stroke her over the head i a gentle sort of way so who knows…
The spectacles segued into a fabulous dinner where Rufus Wainright sang a specially composed Birthday song for Bob Wilson

and we were part of raising $1.4 M for the sake of the artists at the Center ☺ I bid on a few beautiful photographs for the Maidstone and managed to secure the specially created Birthday set of limited prints for Bob Wilson, created by many of his fans including Yoko Ono. They’re quite spectacular. So special indeed that their delivery date will be September but make sure to come by then as we will honor the Watermill Center as well as its distinguished founder and creator Robert Wilson as he continues to inspire greatness in us all. I’m thrilled I got to go to their party once more. It made me feel magical for a little bit as we joined that part of heaven that stands out as being way cooler, stranger and more unattainable than the rest. Check out the rest at watermillcentre.org.

Enjoy!
Jenny

Just got back from the absolutely fabulous yearly charity event at the Longhouse Reserve. Most parties in the Hamptons are known to be fabulous and quite a few of them actually are but this one is stunning in all aspects. This year’s theme was white and blue and everybody dazzled.

The art in the garden stands out as nothing I’ve ever seen since it’s both quirky and esteemed but it’s also quite useful which is a treat as couples were wining and dining in the artsy seats while the rest simply admired from a far…

And then there was the people who was naturally beautiful. I met my favorite photographer Roberto Duttesco who shoots the wild horses on Sable Island outside Nova Scotia with such love and who adorns my walls in both Stockholm and New York and we got to continue our discussion of a potential upcoming exhibit with his work at our hotels…

And then the New York City ballet came out just to dance for us… Or rather, to pay tribute to one of the finest philanthropists in the Hamptons but we got to partake and loved it…

And then I got to shop! I always find such amazing things at this charity event and they naturally end up on the walls of c/o The Maidstone for you all to enjoy. And this year I fought hard for two master pieces. An iconic photography of Andy Warhol and Bob Dylan talking in front of Warhol’s picture of Elvis that seemed to catch the eyes of many guests but finally became mine about twenty minutes before the silent auction closed.

And then for the most gorgeous of them all which is a picture of Elizabeth Taylor when she was her most mezmerizing sensual self, looking up with such love and adoration at Richard Burton (whom we merely see from the back, but what a derriere…) This one I finally got 20 seconds before the auction closed so clearly somebody left the party a bit disappointed but for all of you who get to view it, I simply say congratulations.

The two pieces make our hotel and restaurant even more smashing and such a reason for you all to come, if you have not yet come by to wine or dine or do yoga or caffe latte…

I (and thousands of others at Times Square) celebrate today with yoga instead of champagne…

Just spent an absolutely astounding day in my favorite city of all times (New York, what else?) doing one of the things that I love the most (yoga, like the thousands of yogis that joined me today) but at an unlikely spot. Leave it to this fabulous city to close off one of the busiest sites (Times Square!!!) to honor the coming of summer by holding free yoga sessions throughout the day.

And I was so honored to be there. To be able to soak in the atmosphere and be part of the magnificent energy that was created by all of us that were there today…

We do yoga with our staff at our Stockholm office and do it in our lounge. My dream was that so many of us would want to join that we’d need to extend the practice into the hallways, similar to Lululemon’s gracious free yoga where all the yogis compete for space with the clothing racks yet for some reason that comfort level has yet to reach Stockholm. So for a second I considered it. Closing off our office practice to a secluded room in order to give privacy to all yet today my faith in humanity was restored… Or the humanity that I’ve chosen to join, that celebrates being together, regardless of age, size, political or sexual orientation and all that other stuff that keeps us apart for no other reason than comfort levels, in a place where tourists, homeless, police and yellow cabs all went about their business. Whoever footed the bill (as the three of the oh so lucrative Times Square ad billboards showed close ups of us doing yoga during prime ad time) is a hero in my book and all of us who took the time to partake grew just a tad bit spiritually.

We try to emulate this at our gem of a hotel in the Hamptons (free yoga in the Buddha garden every Saturday and Sunday morning at c/o The Maidstone) so join us then if you missed Times Square today. Or better yet, come work for us and join us at our office yoga in Stockholm. Or maybe meditate in your own special way in that place that makes you feel whole inside. My Yogi tea inscription was “Appreciate yourself and honor your soul” today and so I did. Seems the universe had it all lined up for us as the sun shone on us all!

Thank you for reading. Namaste.

Back in the Hamptons and Back to Blogging…

Back in the Hamptons and back to blogging… So I’ve been absent for a while. Quite some time actually which I apologize for. But the good thing is that many people noticed and asked when I planned to return to blogging, so thank you for reading and caring! I arrived in the Hamptons for a fabulous summer with my dogs a few weeks ago and have lived it up ever since. Our first Hamptons adventure was Shelter Island which I had always planned on visiting in more depth and Pär (new General Manager at c/o The Maidstone) and I set out to visit Karen Boltax at Boltax Gallery.

I’d met her a few times before and been equally impressed with her decision to leave Manhattan for the peace and the beauty of island life as her capacity to run a profitable year round gallery on an island with a total population of 2228.

We got to see an exciting show by John Abrams that did oil paintings of Hitchcock movies (that brought back memories of my Hitchcock class in college)

as well as some of her gems from the backroom. One of the artwork (Moat) featured black on black by Danielle Mysliwiec, where it looked like the oil color had been braided yet it was actually applied to the canvas, piece by piece, which is beyond impressive on its own!

We moved on to lunch at the oh so ritzy Sunset Beach which delivered on its chic promise. Way more French than I had imagined but exactly as beachy as we wished for. Including the gorgeous nude that bid us au revoir with the check.

We had a chance to swing by Itzak Perlman’s magnificent piano recital camp for kids which have free recitals all summer nights (that I’ll certainly be attending) and have dinner at Vine Street Café, which is one of the island’s pride. The trip itself was as magnificent as the ferry ride back and forth from our beloved alternative Sag Harbor…

Take care,
Jenny

And More of the Amazing International Hamptons Film Festival

This year’s film festival was exceptionally good and I enjoyed every minute of it. Managed to see seven movies and naturally, I would have loved to see all of them… Amazing to watch movies and then to hang out with the directors, producers and actors at our very own hotel and restaurant and still be working (thanks to a very fabulous CEO job…) Over lunch at the Living Room, I managed to find hotel connections in Asia and Morocco and a much-needed contact within the LAPD. And then I received a book by Karl Weber who wrote about the US public School System, which prompted me to see Waiting for Superman.

It’s a must for anybody living in the US, anybody caring about the US succeeding in the future or anybody who has any empathic bone in their body and want to affect change. As change happens within, we have the possibility to affect this world and create a better place for all to come by focusing on our children, and the movie depicted that in a such a fair way, without turning people away due to today’s bleak reality. A bit like Food Inc., which I would urge all people to watch as it breaks down what’s going on in our food industry in a similar way and gives us a way to chime in and do something actively about it. I am so proud to say that The Living Room actively chimes in. Eat with us and you’ll support a healthy and happy lifestyle for the animals that give their lives for us. It may sound trite as the problem is larger than just that, but it’s the small choices that matter…

Anyhow, Director and Screen Writer Davis Guggenheim who produced Waiting for Superman was great in the Q & A and told how he’d originally said no to the movie since he was done trying to change the public school system after his last documentary 10 years ago, but changed his mind after having enrolled his own kids in private school due to the sad truth about the public schools in his area. I admire people like that, who are able to show all parts of themselves. Not just the pretty side but also the sad realities and the compromises we all make with our ideals.

The Family Tree was a hysterically funny film about a severely dysfunctional family (that makes all of our families seem quite serene and zen-like) that is a must if it comes out on the big screen. Dermot Mulroney was priceless in his middle age obsession with the hairs in his ears but the real gem was Brittany Robertson who’s gothic eye makeup and constant smoking made you want to reach out and hug her. It seemed like she needed it, and yet she was by far the sanest of them all!

The closing movie was Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan. Natalie Portman was divine in every scene. I was told she practiced ballet for a year before taking on the role and she was utterly convincing as a super-anal and obsessed ballerina with all the issues of the trade. Her innate ability to sacrifice her own flesh and sanity due to her inner turmoil will hopefully grant her an Oscar nomination. It’s worth seeing just for that. I’ve loved ballet all of my life and always romanticized about it. Aronofsky certainly killed that romantic notion, but perhaps it was time. The title is honors the black swan that killed itself at the end of the infamous story due to a lost love…

And then there was Blue Valentine where Michelle Williams personified that which we have all felt, at parts of our lives. Where love simply disappears from the one you thought you’d spend the rest of your life with, and though you can’t explain it, it eats away at you, night and day. And no sexy night in the future suite can change that! It seems Williams and Gosling hit it off far better on a personal note than their sad counter parts in the movie. That made me smile.

And Kevin Spacey as Jack Aronoff in Casino Jack was, or rather is, brilliant. Always brilliant of course but here he took my breath away with his impersonation of the man that believed he was the greatest lobbyist on the hill because he works out every day. Probably still does actually, as he kept working out in prison from which he was released in June I believe, so with that, it is time to go for a jog with my dog Lexington in a chilly but sunny Sweden.

Speak soon again,

Jenny

Hamptons International Film Festival at c/o The Maidstone…

The Hamptons may be mostly known for its summer season and endless beaches but I’d say the fall is probably my very favorite out here. Especially when it’s the Hamptons International Film Festival which happens to be this very weekend… c/o The Maidstone is the official headquarter for the second year in a row and I love having the actors, the filmmakers, the press and the movie aficionados meet at our place to talk about movies, drink champagne and catch up with each other.

The movies that have screened have been fantastic and the Q & A’s that follow the movies are such a treat.  The opening movie of the festival was Barney’s Version with an exceptionally well cast Paul Giamatti. For those of us that fell in love with him in Sideways, I can assure you, you will not be disappointed in this one.

I had a chance to tell Director Richard Lewis as he stayed at our hotel and loved it as much as I loved his movie…

I  also saw Beautiful Darling about one of Andy Warhol’s famous factory girls, which coincided with my discussion about our planned photo exhibit at Krägga Herrgård, which will feature photos of Andy Warhol’s home and factory, the way it was at the time of his death. My new friend, Director James Raisin, plans on being in Stockholm for the film festival in November and wanted to do a screening of his movie at our mansion or perhaps an opening party or event to celebrate his documentary as well as our photo exhibit.

The photographer David Gamble was naturally in town this weekend as well so I lucked out, to plan our fall photo event while enjoying my favorite things; movies and photo art.

The best part of the story is that the decisions were reached over a glass of champagne at a movie producer’s home in the Hamptons, which feels so exquisitely normal on the East End…

Miral was another movie that made a big mark. A must see for all as it deals with the dream of living in peace, and shows some very human aspects of a struggle that seems to go on in too many places in this world. Julian Schnabel seemed at ease on his home turf and gave a fabulous account of the movie and the process of becoming what it now is, but the true star was the author Rula Jebreai who shone in her humble yet persistent attempt at bringing light to a difficult subject that affects way too many innocent victims. And Freida Pinto is a delight in all areas. Her acting was stellar and her personality so sweet and inspiring when voicing her thoughts in eloquent manners.

More to come after I’ve viewed the closing film The Black Swan with Natalie Portman.

Take care,

Jenny

 

 

A Trip to Tibet-and the Kindness of Strangers

A year ago I had the great fortune of visiting Tibet. A place I had dreamed about visiting for many years as I’ve always admired the inherent kindness found within Buddhism and the peaceful legacy the monks, the nuns and the people of Tibet continue to leave through their quite, kind ways. My trip was heavenly, on so many planes, and I got to see the Himalayas without any obscuring clouds (which is quite unusal according to our guide), admire praying flags absolutely everywhere,

dine with some delightful Nomads in their tent while hiking, drink lots of butter tea (Tibet’s national past time), suffer from high altitude sickness,watch the monks debate

and introduce photos and videos of themselves to some precious children in a remote village. As I relished all of our meetings with yak (whom I adore, their physical beauty as well as their personality traits which come out when you hike together on the mountains), with Buddhas in all shapes and forms (in temples, by the roadside and carved in caves and mountains)

I wanted to bring the essence of Tibet with me to my homes in Sweden, NY and the Hamptons. And so I did. Or at least tried to do. My beautiful purchases from one store (that caters to a more International clientele) arrived in Sweden and NY a week later via UPS. The divine doors however, that I meant to use as paintings at the hotel (that was bought from an traditional Tibetan store that has less international customers) seemed to take a much longer time to arrive. It was sent via the Chinese version of UPS and though

I was told it could take a month or so, I got a bit worried when the six month mark had passed and still no doors.  As the store speaks limited English (and my Tibetan is even less existent than my Chinese) I realized the doors and I were in trouble. After recruiting my dermatologist in NY (who speaks Chinese) and a new acquaintance’ assistant (who speaks Tibetan) to call the store for me, I finally made some headway. And miraculously, a year later (to the date actually) after I had purchased the lovely doors, I received a super sweet message from the store keeper where she appologizes for any sadness this may have caused me and assures me they will do all in their power to find my doors or else find me new ones.  I wanted to share it with you all as I am impressed by the inherent kindness in Buddism and the people of Tibet and this woman confirmed all of that. Without a proof of purchase, she is happily working to find a way to please me. Though the doors have yet to arrive, our email correspondence brings a smile to my face every time. We are trying to embody the same kindness at the Maidstone as it is remarkable to be treated with such trust and respect and I do hope that if we ever mess up any of your stays or dining experiences, we will go to the same trouble to try to make it right.

Dear madam jenny

first of all i would like to say we are very sorry for late deliver your things…………..because of delivery counters fault….we gived your things on 23rd June 2009……to the delivery person. s hand…………but you didn’t get your things on time…………….so we are very sorry for that.

so i talk with delivery person about your things……..but they already send from here……. so they are searching your things in sang hai (name of city in china) i hope we ll find your things as soon as possible. And also they want your yahoo id…….2 contact with you  so , i give your id to them without your permission……. i m very sorry for that.

Mam, if we dnt find your things …….. then please dnt worry  about that we ll find same dorr as you bought ………and send to you  as soon as possible…     please give us some time to find your things.

mam we are apologize to you …….we are very sorry . but please dont worry we ll send your things ….. we need some time…….

withh warm wish
xxx gellery
lhasa ,tibet

Isn’t amazing to see how sweet and kind we can be with each other? This woman and I are now emailing quite frequently in our search for the doors and she gives me great hope for the future of all mankind. By giving a little, we get loads in return. Enjoy and see  you soon, (with the doors on the walls I hope…)

Jenny

Summer Is Here. And New Rooms. And Amazing Art.

Summer is here and we just celebrated in style with cocktails, new rooms and artwork all over… So fun and such a wonderful way to celebrate the coming of summer, with the entire village invited to an Open House to look at our 17 newly decorated rooms as well as drink local wines, eat local cheese and local fudge and simply be happy with us…

About 175 people joined us for curated tours of the rooms (thank you Alex, Randye and Anthony) and lots of others showed up to spend time with us and munch on the yummy treats thanks to the fabulous winemaker of Paumanok Vineyards (another fellow family business that is continuing the reputable heritage of winemaking on the East End), our delightful Donna, from Fat Ass Fudge, whose goat cheese fudge is simply divine and to be had at our entire hotel rooms here at the hotel and the delicious Blue Duck Bakery that bakes our wonderful bread for the restaurant on a daily basis. The cheese was to die for and came from the superb Mecox Dairy Farm, which added the final touch for all foodies.

We treat our guests as regulars as that is what we want them to become and it certainly felt like that this past Saturday. Especially since the fabulous photographer Jacob Felländer (www.jacobfellander.com) who exhibited his work in the dining room, the lounge and the garden is a childhood friend of mine and my parents’ best friends came in from Sweden to celebrate the event with us, so our guests were indeed regulars…

And the beautiful thing is that so many of you expressed how that is how you feel about c/o The Maidstone and The Living Room. As if it is your place and we are lucky to be here. Which is of course true on all accounts. It is your place (as one of our regulars since 10 years back reminded me of as she insists that she will always keep coming no matter what as she has been here way longer than me…) and we are lucky to be here. Every day I remind myself of that as there is something so special with the Hamptons in general and c/o The Maidstone specifically. As of last weekend we now offer a fresh juice bar in the bar area and coffee and tea with muffins and croissants to go. And our international newspapers and magazines are just around the corner so gear up for summer as it is almost here. With yoga, bikes, cocktails and summer sun in store.

Hope to see you soon,

Jenny

A Norwegian Scientist That Came To Be Known As A Global Dare Devil…

Thor Heyerdahl (October 6, 1914, Norway – April 18, 2002, Italy) was a Norwegian explorer and anthropologist that brought Hollywood fame into the peculiar calling of world exploration.

You may wonder why I chose to write about him, but he is actually quite the guy. Not only did he sail the ocean in a wooden raft but he also chose to live in poverty and disease stricken remote areas of the world in order to learn about the world. If yo know Norwegians, you will know that this is not quite typical of those fine people… Born as the only child of elderly parents, his father, who was the president of a mineral water plant and a brewery, and his mother who headed the local museum and studied zoology, folk art, and primitive cultures, encouraged his passion for outdoor activities, which turned out to be the seed that bloomed into the notable Kon-Tiki expedition, on which he sailed 4,300 miles (8,000 km) by raft from South America to the Tuamotu Islands where the raft crashed and ended part one of his adventures.

Thor’s calling arose from being convinced that what civilization considered progress was in fact not since it took mankind further away from nature. Thor was therefore determined to try to live as ancient man had done and began his exciting venture in 1936.  With financial backing from his father, Heyerdahl left school and brought his young bride to the remote Polynesian island of Fatu Hiva.

When they arrived they discovered that the natives were suffering from a range of ailments induced by contact with Europeans, which included leprosy and elephantiasis.  Things like this excited the Heyerdahls so they chose to stay and live in relative isolation, in order to study the indigenous people, their native lore and customs as well as indigenous fauna and flora.

It was at Fatu-Hiva that he heard the Incan tale of Kon-Tiki, (the fair-skinned king was said to have fled from Peru across the ocean following the massacre of the white race at Lake Titicaca some 500 years before the birth of Christ), which inspired his next excursion! Heyerdahl hypothesized that the first settlers of Polynesia were of the white South American origin, as opposed to the commonly perceived notion of them being Asian, which would account for the large amount of fair skinned people living in Polynesia. Prevailing expert opinion scoffed at his ideas but Thor was determined to prove them wrong, as no empirical evidence existed to prove the contrary.

Heyerdahl therefore constructed a 60 ft-long primitive wooden raft with sails, whose design was based on ancient pictures of Inca Indians’ vessels heading across the Indian Ocean, and brought along five friends for the journey. The craft was aptly named Kon-Tiki, after the mythical South American hero Kon-Tiki, who was said in oral tradition to have led the ancestors of the Polynesian islanders there from Peru.

They set off from the Peruvian port of Callao on April 28, 1947 and drifted for 101 days across the Pacific. As Heyerdahl had predicted, they pushed onwards towards Polynesia due to warm currents and the southeast trade wind. Almost 4,500 nautical miles later, the raft grounded itself on the southernmost tip of Polynesia and the crew arrived alive thanks to US Army issue rations as well as freshly caught shark. Once on the island, they found sweet potatoes, (a food native to South America), as well as some large statues resembling artwork found in parts of South America, which furthered his theory that the original founders were, indeed, from South America, making Thor immensely proud and eager to continue his scientific searches. He detailed his adventures in the book titled Kon-Tiki, which has been translated into more than 50 languages and won an Academy Award in 1951.

Following that, Heyerdahl’s adventure caught the world’s imagination, and he found himself a cause célèbre.  In later years, it is said he came to resent the celebrity the Kon-Tiki had brought him, arguing that it had pigeon-holed him as a daredevil explorer rather than as a man of science, and that this had made it harder for him to persuade his fellow academics of the veracity of his theories yet this is how we have all come to know this truly courageous Norwegian man.

In 1970 Thor embarked on yet another adventure and sailed a papyrus boat from Morocco to Barbados, in an attempt to prove that ancient Mediterranean civilizations could have sailed in reed boats to America. This adventure is described in Heyerdahl’s book “The Ra Expeditions.”

He married three times during his adventurous life and died at 87 from a brain tumor in Italy.

We celebrate this interesting and courageous man with a room featuring a variety of ethnic parts. The bed is ensconced in an old fashioned sail as a tribute to the Kon-Tiki. The lamps are covered in seashells reminiscent of the Polynesian islands and the remarkably comfortable wicker chairs are there to remind you of the shape of the Kon-Tiki and made by the only factory still in existence in Gamla Stan (the old part of Stockholm)!

Make sure to enjoy a glass of champagne in the freestanding bathtub in the bedroom, which is meant to resemble the freedom of the open sea that Thor loved dearly. You’ll be joined by two African sculptures that will surely bring you back to Thor’s exciting adventures…

Enjoy and hope to see you soon!

Jenny

Renovation update-and the opening date is getting closer…

Almost there. The hotel opens on April 2^nd but that may be a bit hard to see, especially if you’ve visited us lately… Par for the course, I should say. I’ve done enough renovations in my time to know that it always looks like it can’t be done, and then magically, in the end, it comes together beautifully.  I have faith that this will be the case with regards to our gem in the East End as well.  I’m attaching some photos of the bold vibrant colors we’re using in the bathrooms and on the walls so that you get a sense of what’s to come.

I just did an interview with a magazine, and we had some fun figuring out where to sit as the furnished space is a bit limited for the time being. So we chose two absolutely gorgeous black chairs that are tucked away from the world in a corner of the Edward Munch room and admired the gold walls and the pitch-black Swedish slate from Grythyttan in the bathroom that also boasts a black bathtub and a black toilet. Absolutely fabulous for the ones that like the city sleek, chic, black aspects but perhaps a place that will make the queasy scream… Which wouldn’t be so bad as it will remind the guests of Edward Munch’s claim to fame, the famous painting The Scream.

Our latest renovation’s challenge though, has been our gorgeous Hästens beds that arrived the other day. I’m so thrilled to be in a partnership with the magnificent, Swedish bed provider that has been producing luxurious beds fit for royalty for hundreds and hundreds of years, which, incidentally is about as long as the Maidstone has been lodging people.

And to think it took us this long to find a partnership! Considering we are Swedes and all… But the problem was getting these lovely beds into our rooms. Things that few people think of but the hallways were simply not made for all the king sizes that are coming our way.

Anyway, they will make their way in, eventually, and you will come to stay with us, we hope, and we are longing to see you, sip champagne with you and tell you all of the other stories. There are plenty, of course, but we thought we would save that for a less viral experience…

See you soon,

Jenny