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With so much to do over the holidays, I need to keep it simple. One of my favorite tips is making  a platter of coconut covered vanilla ice cream snowballs!  So easy to scoop vanilla ice cream into round balls,  roll in coconut flakes or shreds then put in paper lined muffin tins to keep in the freezer...take out for individual servings or put in a big mound on a platter for a party...delicious, pretty, easy -and a good project for the kids to help with! Featured in my book, Life|Style: Elegant Simplicity at Home , Photograph by Jeff McNamara

Wishing everyone a simple, natural, peaceful holiday!   photographs by marili forastieri + tricia foley

It's the anniversary weekend of the publication of my book, and it's been a wonderful year traveling around the country signing books and visiting with friends. And back home this fall, I'm enjoying the cooler evenings and less hectic pace...reading by the fire, making soup, and getting the house warmed up for the new season with layers of blankets, filling baskets with firewood and drinking pots of tea. Here are some of my favorite fall images from Life/Style:

summer days on long island are filled with blue skies, walks on the beach, naps in the boathouse, corn on the cob, running through the sprinkler, honeysuckle in the hedges....

In the hamlet where I live on Long Island, the Yaphank Historical Society has taken on the mission of preserving 4 of the 19th century houses that tell the story of the people who lived in them. One of them is the Mary L. Booth House, birthplace and girlhood home of noted author, editor, translator, suffragist, and abolitionist  Mary Louise Booth. It is an important story to tell and I am working on a book about her life  and her accomplishments - preserving her home and opening it to the public is the first step in sharing the story of this amazing woman.