Hello Visitors of StyleJunket. This is America Peals. I am the progeny of the blog’s head mistress, my mom.It was our vision as mother and daughter, to write about something we take enormous delight in. Actually, I would help with the blog and  Mom would showcase some of her creations and that of my uncle Paul’s on a nice piece of virtual real estate. You see my mother and Paul grew up in a  family of 8 kids. My mother is the oldest with Paul coming in at number 3.

Now, I realize in this country everyone thinks they are an artist, a genius or a writer. I am neither here to confirm or deny this. Mom and Paul…well…they are not in their twenties living in Williamsburg living out the starving artist paradigms. They have had families, careers and yet as they came into their fifties, their creativity emerged as a more pressing endeavor for each of them. In fact, their mom, Mimi, who lives in Osterville, Cape Cod, became a poet at the age of 70; she has had worked published and despite a recent medical hiccough can be found writing like clockwork at her Dell desktop over looking Joshua’s Pond.

So, I will cut through the crap. I am going to step into the Style Junket from time to time to talk about cool widgets I pick up with my firefighter father and Jackson Pollack aficionado. I will also be ghostwriting for Paul. Paul is a master furniture maker and is infinitely more comfortable in the wood shop than at the computer. In fact, I will probably have to send him a direct link for him to read this.

Paul and I recently have come to become more close in my mid thirties, as we have reconnected wildly enough about reclaimed wood. I am addicted to design that uses the environment and creations of times long past to infuse my home with style. I have a collection of South American sand molds used to create gears and cogs for machines pre-Industrial Revolution. Anyway, I asked Paul, can you make me a table with reclaimed wood that looks like a gear?

A month later:

Entirely made of wood, it actually resembles maybe a bike gear or machine tool. Very cool and will look great in my space, as well as in someone’s city loft space.

Another table he is working on resembles a ship’s compass. The reproduced artwork gives the impression that the top is convex instead of flat. It is actually flat and he is custom fitting a glass top for it. I hope you enjoy his work and would love comments.

For the last few years, I have been creating pillows for special occasions to give as gifts.  Many have gone to my daughters’ friends for their wedding gift. Others have been for Christenings, graduations or birthdays.

If it is  for a wedding, I usually inquire as to the bridesmaids’  dress colors, flowers, etc. If the couple has a special interest such as skiing or sailing that may be used as a theme to make the individual pillow.  Shopping for beads, pearls, roping and other such items is what I really enjoy. I am  in California for Jan and Feb  and for the past 5 yrs I have frequented the best shop for trims, buttons, laces, vintage flowers, you name it. It is a tiny shop  located in Morro Bay with floor to ceiling shelves brimming and overflowing with colorful items, not to be found anywhere else (that I know of). I usually have Rob drop me off and tell him to come back in an hour. Honestly, it is never enough time. I found these gorgeous aubergine velvet leaves that were imported from France and probably were to be used for millinery. I have no idea what I am going to use them for but I will use them!

The shop is called Lina G and I would love to say that she has a website. But she gave it up and now has an ebay store. I prefer buying in her store where I can feel and touch her items. I also bought white pearl rose shaped buttons that I thought were beautiful.

I am  incorporating into my pillows, beautiful laces from my grandmother’s hope chest (circa 1920). Though I hate to part with some of it, I feel like I am bringing her alive again through my pillows. She was a fabulous seamstress and worked at it up until she was 90 yrs. old. My mother gifted me these laces and also some beautiful ribbons that were in Nonni’s sewing box. I know she is watching and smiling.

I cannot amass as much of this foppery as I would like as we have moved to a smaller house and storage is at a premium. But there never seems to be an end to momentous events that require that special pillow. I love the challenge and would love to hear your comments and/or ideas for your special pillow.

I came upon an advertisement in the mid section of the magazine entitled “Cook up the perfect Movie Night”. In short, it was an ad to purchase the Julie & Julia dvd, invite a few friends over and cook a recipe or two from

Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.

I am not always ahead of the curve but this time I was!  I had a dinner party Saturday night which was planned about a month ago.  My brother- in- law, Tim (an excellent cook) and myself decided to cook from his copy of Julia’s cookbook, Beef Bourguignon and serve it up as dinner. Our plan was to start early in the afternoon as we knew it would take some time. We shopped separately as there were numerous ingredients.

Try shopping for a 6-oz chunk of bacon and I don’t mean sliced bacon in a package. I went to 3 stores and ended up buying thick sliced bacon in a package. The wine that flavored the meat was important and Tim spent quite a while discussing the proper wine with his local merchant. Needless to say, the recipe took us all afternoon (over 4.5 hours). I won’t bore you with all of the details, but let me say if you don’t have more than one oven and more than one Dutch oven and less than 6 sticks of butter, do not even attempt this one.  We now know why Julia, from time to time, took a generous swig from the wine bottle  that she used in her receipe! In true Julia style, Tim and I did the same.

With cherished cookbook on my cookbook holder, it took two of us to read and read over again each detail of the recipe.  Our aprons were soiled with wine and butter. The kitchen was sooo hot with the oven at such a high temperature. Pots and pans were stacked everywhere. But we finished in time to get hor’doerves in the oven as our guests arrived.

With 3 delicious bottles of appropriately French red wine, we sat down to eat.  Between the aroma of the dish and sounds of delight from our guests, we knew we had accomplished something rare. It was the BEST beef bourguignon ever!!! Every bite was scrumptious and sooo good.

Would I do it again? Oh, Yes but not anytime soon.  Should it have been in a magazine entitled “Real Simple”, absoulutely not.It was a lot of work, expensive,  and fattening as hell. However, It was so delicious it was worth it.Thank you, Julia.

I discovered that he had a passion for blue jeans. You heard me, blue jeans.  He was amassing a stack of them. Please don’t ask me why, because I honestly don’t know. He is a mystery to me at times. I came home from work one day  and saw that my garage door was open and he was merrrily splashing primary colors of paint in random patterns all over  one pair of his blue jeans. I thought he had finally gone nuts! I said nothing and proceeded into the house. The only thing I could think of was Jackson Pollack creatively flinging paint to create his masterpieces.  I finally could not control myself and teased unmercifully re: his “art”. He was proud of his work and was going to wear them the next day.

I kept getting reports as to how many people stopped him in the street, admired his jeans and asked where to get them. I thought he was kidding but he was not. When friends came to dinner one evening, they couldn’t stop talking about them and thought he should start a business painting these jeans and selling them. A brand name was created (after 2 bottles of wine) and they were to be called FIRE IN YOUR PANTS, (my husband is a retired Boston Firefighter).

I think the painting phase is over and he is on to new “art”. He picks up items that I think are totally useless but I have to say It never fails that a week , a month or maybe a year later, I see his ideas in magazines, on the news or in the Globe Sunday paper. I am starting to think that maybe he has an eye for things. Now when he brings home one of his treasures I am not so quick to tease and taunt  but think “will this be the next hula hoop?

My first was in faux mink as the picture on the cover depicts. This was presented as a gift to a friend who can never be truly repaid for all her kindnesses. She loved it! The second (for myself) was also in the faux mink  as I have a jacket it will complement. I am making one in Ivory/Gold Puma  for  my daughter and thinking this maybe a great Christmas gift for some of the divas on my list. And by Divas, I mean my Puma girlfriends. We are too old to be cougars (according to Demi Moore) but we sure as hell make sassy Pumas. Ole! And, Pumas also have a sleek sneaker I’m quite fond of.

Working w/faux fur is a challenge. I have found that marking the knit side w/erasable markers and cutting only through the knitted part, keeps the seams “furry” so you can barely see the seam when done. Also , taping  with painter’s tape just outside the seam allowance  to hold fur in its natural grain position (before sewing seams), keeps fur from being matted under. Combing on the outside of the seam w/a wide toothed comb also helps with disguising seams. All of these little preps really enhance the final look.

I am going to be careful that I don’t deck myself out head to toe w/ all of my animal creations for fear of being mistaken with Snuffleupagus. Trust at this point in my life, I wouldn’t be pleased AT ALL with the comparison.

I am working now on infinity scarfs.  Basically, this is a loop of fabric approx. 60″ long by 18″ wide that is fashioned into a long loop (no ends to tangle with).

This loop can be worn long over a coat, sweater or tunic or it can be looped twice to form a cowl.  I am ordering fabric from a great mill in California, Distinctive Fabrics.

Right now, the fabric of choice is animal printed velvet. I have worn one fashioned in a giraffe print once and it was taken off my neck by a dear friend. She has worn it to multiple events and I actually have multiple orders for it!  I am  also envisioning a lighter version in silks. I am off to find the perfect swatch! I’ll let you know how I do.

Oh, Rachel Zoe wears these a lot. But, don’t be confused with Lada Gaga and her scarves. They aren’t Infinity, they are just plain ugly.

Welcome to StyleJunket, a blog banquet of design and discourse.

Let’s face it. Its hard to keep up with Jones’s. And, quite frankly who the hell ever even liked the Jones’s?

Style is important. And, style has nothing to do with money.

Style is how you present you and yours to the outside world. It represents that which sings in your heart.