It's been such a beautiful Spring at Peacock Pavilions in Marrakech, with gatherings, parties and cocktails on rooftops. Here are some of my very favorite images that capture that spirit perfect. Some pretty visual inspiration for a Monday wherever you are.
Ah Thanksgiving. Perhaps the very best of the American holidays. No television pitches, no Hallmark greeting cards, no gifts. Just family, friends, and good food. And being thankful of course (Why can't we do this more often?)
We always celebrate Thanksgiving, even though we live in Morocco. This year, we had a group of 20 friends, guests, and friends of friends together in the Peacock Pavilions dining tent.
When we sat down at the table we all said in turn what we were thankful for. Thanks ranged widely -- from being alive, to our parents, to friends who felt like family, to blessings for the countries where we were born, to living in a place of peace, to our very first full year open at Peacock Pavilions (ahem yes, that last one was mine). There were a few tears of the good variety.
As befitting such a nice occasion to be thankful, I tried to make it all look a little special.
There was simple food. And somehow it was beautiful all on its own.
And I brought out all my pottery platters from Tamgroute Morocco. Such a lovely green.
There were olive branches on the table and porcelain pods that Caroline Douglas made for Peacock Pavilions.
We stenciled placemats on kraft paper, using stencils from Royal Design Studio. This is a trick we learned from former lovely intern Sarah Winward. I had our dinner napkins at Peacock Pavilions embroidered with peacock feathers.
The children's table had unbreakable copper goblets that I bought in India and glimmery chargers that I commissioned for Peacock Pavilions. Salt and peper was loaded up in porcelain leaves that Caroline Douglas made for me.
Our olive trees were heavy with olives which made me think that even the pilgrims would have been pleased. I hung them from our raffia lanterns so it would feel like we were dining under an olive canopy.
And it all looked something like this.
Happy Thanksgiving whether you are in America or anywhere else. In a world filled with uncertainty, we -- you and me -- are the lucky ones.
You see, in the beginning, I was just a girl living with my family in an olive grove in Marrakech.
But now.....I'm a girl connected to the whole world by a blog.
I wonder about that really -- how this blog has changed so many things for me. Made so many things better. And one of the very very best things has been the people I have met along the way.
Julie from the blog Alkaline Sisters was one of the lovely women at Holly's fab decor8 retreat at Peacock Pavilions. She has an inspiring story of how she healed herself through changing her diet.
Here are some of the images that she took at Peacock Pavilions.
See more beautiful photos of Peacock Pavilions and Marrakech on Julie's blog right here, including a yummy Moroccan recipe!
I'm an accidental stylist. A curator of odd and curious things from odd and curious places. I've amassed them, I've grouped them, I've arranged them. None of them "goes with" anything else and yet, they're all together somehow. I like surprising combinations.
Here's more of Peacock Pavilions, our quirky boutique hotel in Marrakech. I hope you like it. I made it up as I went along, and we built it from scratch with love:-)
Enormous horseshoe Moroccan door (This shape is thought to have protective powers.), vintage molded plastic chair from Morocco's hippie days, Egyptian pin prick lanterns, vintage Australian tram roll, patchwork flatweave carpet with bits from Turkey and Iran. Salon, Atlas Pavilion.
Rabat embroidery Moroccan pillows, wall designed to spec by Melanie Royals and the Peacock Painters, vintage Yemeni nomadic lanterns.
Antique Moroccan handpainted muqarna with original gold leaf, vintage Persian tassels, chair from the Paris flea market. Medina Pavilion dining room.
Outdoor alcove entry to guestroom, covered in bougainvillea.
Red vintage Persian carpet, old French Arab poster, vintage red Moroccan burnoose from the Atlas Mountains, handcarved old Moroccan coffee table, Moroccan stenciled fireplace, old amazonite Moroccan bowl from Tamgroute, assemblage vintage chandelier hanging from the dome, old Peacock cigarette sign found on ebay. Salon in Medina Pavilion.
Perhaps come and see for yourself? Learn more right here.
Images by fab Peacock Pavilions intern, Katie O'Shaughnessy
