Marrakesh & New York: a tale of Figue love

My friendship with Figue designer Stephanie von Watzdorf had started in Marrakesh with talk of genies and the evil eye -- talk that had never ended.  

So I swapped the Red City for the Big Apple and found myself in the Figue showroom. 

Oh! Gorgeous bohemian luxury.

With cool places to lounge.

And fascinating things from Stephanie's travels...

There were masses of candles...

And (yippee!) stacks of my book, Marrakesh by Design.

But more than all that, there were the clothes.

Because you see Stephanie's vision of nomadic luxury translated from paper....

to real life....

A flurry of gorgeous prints, leather fringed bags

and luscious puddled silks....

There was even an inkling of what was to come....

And most exciting.... there were rumors that the Figue Fall campaign would be shot in Marrakesh....

Not to be missed.....Figue.

 Shop online. Or visit by appointment for a far greater selection.  If you're lucky, you might even run into Stephanie and her little dog, Dash.

Figue
10 Crosby St., Fifth Floor
New York, New York
(212) 219-8954

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Washington DC and NYC: and a tale of Marrakesh by Design near you

Dear friends,

I'm getting on a plane tomorrow for a quick get away to the US.  While there, I will be doing a few talks on Moroccan design and signing my book, Marrakesh by Design.  If you are in DC or NYC, I'd love it if you would come!  

On January 11 in Washington DC, incredible artist Maggie O'Neill of O'Neill Studios (and a former Peacock Painter) is hosting an event at Muleh from 5:30-7:30pm.  (Take a peek at the Muleh website for some serious swooning.)  Please RSVP to: rsvp@oneillstudios.com or on facebook here.

In New York, I'm doing a talk at the gorgeous Figue showroom on January 17 from 6-8pm.  I'm a huge fan of the nomad chic vision of friend and fashion designer Stephanie Von Watzdorf.  {Not to mention my super generous friends at Exotic Imports LLC are springing for the Moroccan wine. Yum!} Please RSVP to moroccanmaryam@yahoo.com

Really hope to see you there! Please say you'll come and say hello!

    xo

    Maryam in Marrakech.  

The Alps: and a New Year's tale of speed and risk

I hired Yves, a Swiss ski instructor, to improve my intermediate skills for an hour or two. And so it was on a ski lift looking down that I saw them - the children on the black diamond slopes.

I turned to Yves. They've always amazed me -- so small but so fast, I said

Yves nodded his head in agreement.  Oh yes, children are much quicker learners than adults.  

Why is that, do you think? I asked.

Yves pushed his goggles up and replied, Unlike adults, children don't over analyze things.  Rather, they watch the instructor to get the general idea, and then they just ski intuitively -- they trust their instincts more. Also children are different than adults in that they don't worry about falling.  And when they do fall, they pick themselves up, and get on with it. They are fearless.

Hmmm....I think children might have the secret.  And it applies to more than just skiing, I said smiling.

Yves laughed.  Then he leaned towards me said conspiratorially, Yes, children do have the secret.  But shhhh.....let's tell it to all the grownups we know.  

It's a deal, I said.  And then, we were at the top of the mountain.

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Marrakech: and a tale of Christmas in Morocco or anywhere

My parents -- one from Iran and the other from New York -- weren't and aren't particularly religious. So when I was young, I didn't spend a lot of time in mosque or church. That said, growing up, Christmas was always an important holiday in my home.  My mother possesses a prodigious number of ornaments, and we loved trimming the tree. Christmas meals were always memorable and after gorging ourselves, my family and I sometimes headed to midnight mass at the Unitarian church down the street -- mostly to steep ourselves in the candle light and singing. 

It's easy to forget about Christmas in Marrakech, especially if one runs a little inn, like we do.  It's high season, after all, and travellers are flocking to the red city.  But -- although it makes lousy business sense -- we are closed at Peacock Pavilions. Because, after all, some things are more important than business.  

So I'm wishing you a very happy holiday season from France {and Switzerland}.  We're here with our best friends and our collective passle of children.  We'll be heading to Verbier to ski, drink too much egg nog, and generally make merry.  

It feels like Christmas.  

{And lest you think I have forgotten the Christmas spirit, Moroccan-style, I sourced hundreds of Moroccan lanterns for the holiday windows in all of Tory Burch's stores.  Pass by and take a peek, if there's a store near you. I think they look very festive:-)}

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