Luxist

Just thinking about the Thanksgiving holiday brings up mixed emotions for many people. Maybe you don't have a lot of family or maybe you have so many people in your family that no matter whose house you choose to go to someone feels slighted. It is also possible that the thought of spending the day in front of the stove preparing for the arrival of your relatives fills you with dread. It could even be simply that you actually love Thanksgiving and the traditional feast that accompanies the day but are in desperate need of a vacation.

There are many options for those who decide they'd rather skip town, relax and let someone else do the cooking.

Blackberry Farm, a Relais & Chateau property located on 4,200-acre estate in the Smokey Mountains, has a special Thanksgiving weekend program. It includes an annual turkey fry held on the lawn, bluegrass music and local artisans at the Fall Harvest Festival, storytelling and the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Enjoy the last of the fall colors at this relaxed retreat which is renown for its Southern hospitality. Rooms start at $995, include meals and children under 10 (not normally permitted at the property) are allowed over the holiday.

If you need a long weekend at the beach Seven Stars at Grace Bay on Turks & Caicos may be just the place to put up your feet. The resort which is adjacent a marine preserve and is surrounded by white sand beaches is offering a Thanksgiving special with rooms starting at $401 a night for an Ocean View Junior Suite.

Jackson Hole Wyoming's Rusty Parrot Lodge & Spa is offering a special "Thankfully in Jackson " package. It includes four nights lodging, their famous breakfast, two one-hour massage therapy sessions at The Body Sage, admission to The National Museum of Wildlife Art, and unique afternoon activities including a local history walking tour, and presentation by staff biologist from The Teton Science School. Their restaurant The Wild Sage, will host an evening wine and cheese tasting reception and last but not least a spectacular Thanksgiving feast for two. All this begins at rates of $1308.00 per couple and up.

Have a great trip!

Peter Nitz creates unique leather goods that represent his own personal vision of what a sophisticated luxury aesthetic embodies. A former Assistant Director of Acquisitions at an auction house, Peter has a unique eye for quiet luxury and handcrafts each piece himself. He refined his abilities for two and a half years at the knee of a former Hermes craftsman, who he encountered on a weekend trip to Paris. During this time he mastered centuries-old techniques that, while demanding precision and patience, result in products that are truly refined.

Originally from South Carolina, Peter moved to Europe and traveled the globe in a quest to find the best producers of exotic skins, linen thread, hardware and other materials necessary to open his own atelier. Each bag is designed from an initial plan, but influenced by the specific exotic skin used, to produce a perfect union between design and material. Some of the bags feature vintage fine jewelry Peter acquires by scouring auction houses and private collectors, and each piece is one of a kind.

There are two main collections:
The Atelier collection, which include classic Peter Nitz designs, but can be special ordered in whichever skin and color a customer desires. This results in a truly bespoke bag that suits a clients specific needs.
The Masterpiece collection, which combines exquisite vintage fine jewelry with exotic skins resulting in a piece that is closer to art than a handbag.

Each piece comes in its own handmade leather-covered drawered box with a customized handle made from the same leather as the individual bag. Prices for the bags without jewels begin at $2,500 and can reach as high as $9,000 to $20,000 dollars depending on both the type of skin used and the value of the jewels that adorn the bag.

For those of you who have never tasted a stone crab it is well worth the splurge now that they are in season. A specialty food item, they are possibly pound for pound the most expensive shellfish sold in the United States.

Stone crabs are found in and around the water off the coast of Florida. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about about 40 percent of the states average 3.1 million pounds comes from the waters surrounding the Florida Keys. Harvesting stone crabs is a unique process. The claws are removed from a live animal and then the crab is returned to the ocean where it can re-grow its taken limb. There are strict rules placed on the harvesting of the crab claws which must be at least 2 3/4 inches in length, not to be removed from a female crab with eggs, and taken only between the dates of October 15 - May 15th each year. In theory, if both claws are regulation size it is legal to remove them but the crab will remain healthier and be able to regenerate its lost claw faster if only one is removed.

Another reason for the expense of this delicious crustacean is that they should be cooked before they are cooled or frozen. If not prepared in this method the claws will taste watery, mealy, be difficult to remove from the shell and in general not worth the hefty price tag. This is why you will only see pre-cooked stone crabs at your favorite gourmet grocer. Traditionally crab claws are served on a bed of ice with a mustard sauce.

If you aren't planning a trip to Florida any time soon but love shellfish you can have them delivered to your home from one of the areas most famous restaurants appropriately titled Joe's Stone Crab. They come in three sizes and can be purchased according to the number of diners you plan to serve. For a group of four people the crabs will cost you between $166.95 and $245.95, depending on their size, and and will be shipped overnight to your door any where in the continental United States.

Firmdale Hotels, privately owned by husband and wife team Tim and Kit Kemp, opened its first hotel in the United States this fall in New York City's SoHo. The Crosby Street Hotel is located in the heart of SoHo between Prince, Spring and Lafayette streets and is bringing the duo's famous luxurious European style and long standing reputation for world class personal service to this side of the Atlantic. Their London properties are consistently on the Conde Nast Traveller's hot list for both the US and UK.

The interiors of the hotel are designed by Kit Kemp who has been responsible for the luxury group's design since its inception. She recently won the Andrew Martin International Interior Designer of the Year award and House & Garden Hotel Designer of the Year for her work on their Haymarket Hotel in London. She has brought her trademark quirky London style to the Crosby Street Hotel which was built from the ground up on the site of a vacant parking lot.

Inside guests will have their choice of 86 individually designed rooms and suites spread over 11 floors, each featuring floor-to-ceiling warehouse windows, a rarity in New York City. The hotel is also one of the most environmentally friendly hotels built in the United States and hopes to be one of the very first certified GOLD LEED hotels in New York. Guest rooms provide all the usual amenities found in a deluxe hotel including luxury linens, WiFi, flat screen tv and i-pod docking station. The public rooms of the hotel have there own unique features including:

• The Crosby Bar which stretches an entire city block
• A state of the art 99 seat screening room with orange leather Poltrona Frau chairs
• A private courtyard garden
• A personally selected art collection featuring a 10 foot high Juame Plensa sculpture, Peter Clark dog collage, mixed media pieces by Justine Smith and Jack Milroy, and oil paintings by Francois Bard

There is even a bespoke fragrance created for the hotel by acclaimed British perfumer Lyn Harris. The scent will be featured in all the hotel's toiletries free of charge to guests and available for purchase in the form of a scented candle.

Prices start at $525 a night but they are offering a special opening rate of $495 and up.

What is the best way to have a Thanksgiving spread that turns out looking like the glossy photographs in your favorite foodie magazine? I'm sure some readers are expecting a list, organizational techniques or special tips on how to create the perfect meal when you are working full time.

It seems that a better idea is to not slave over the stove, but take you and your family to the nearest upscale restaurant for the special meal. Eat, drink and relax, the turkey will be cooked to perfection. Handing the responsibility for a beautifully cooked Thanksgiving feast over to someone else might even make spending the day with your annoying cousins just that much more bearable.

Another bonus of not preparing your own Thanksgiving meal at home is that often the menu includes items for those at the table who really don't like turkey. It may be considered heresy, but there are many who, out of hunger, force down what is often a dry uninspired main course because that is the only option. There is often at least one vegetarian at every table who sits glumly while the rest of the guests are feasting.

For example, at Ken Aretsky's Patroon in New York City, pictured above, executive chef Bill Peet presents a family-style menu in the warm dining room of this midtown restaurant. In addition to the traditional free range turkey with all the old fashioned fixings (mashed potatoes, stuffing, roasted Brussel sprouts and giblet gravy) you will find chateaubriand as well as Scottish salmon for the vegetarians in your group. The restaurant will charge $85 per adult and $45 per child for the meal. Whether you live in the tri-sate region, are in the area visiting family or to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade I can't think of a better way to make you meal truly stress free.

For those of you who live around the country and are watching the parade or the games on t.v., there are great Thanksgiving menu options at the Craft and Craftsteak restaurants, run by the award winning chef Tom Colicchio, located in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. (New York too!) The restaurants offer holiday prix fixe menus - everything is served family style, except the choice of main course.

Leave the turkey in the freezer, save it for a random winter weekend, and eat out!

A bottle of beer rescued from the crash of the Hindenburg recently sold at auction for over $16,000 according to This is Wiltshire in the UK. This is significantly above the estimate placed on the bottle of $4,000 - $8,000. The airship crashed on May 6, 1937 over Lakehurst, New Jersey where the bottle and other memorabilia was found by fire Chief Leroy Smith at the scene of the disaster.

Apparently the fire chief found a total of six scorched bottles and a pitcher at the scene. He buried his treasures and then came back afterward to dig them up and hand them out as souvenirs to his colleagues. No one knows where the other bottles are located except for one, which chief Smith gave to the Lowenbrau brewery in 1977, where it remains today. He kept one bottle and the pitcher, which bears the logo of the Deutsche Zeppelin Reedrei airline that operated the Hindenburg. Both pieces are scorched and were sold with letters of provenance and an account of how the items were acquired.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge of the British auction house Henry Aldridge and Sons has been quoted as saying "It is the most valuable bottle of beer ever sold." Even though one can still see the contents of the Lowenbrau bottle, the remnants of the beer would be undrinkable. The auction house specializes in relics of disaster and has been the largest auctioneer of memorabilia from the Titanic.

Maybe you can't afford to buy a Luxist Estate of the Day, however you may enjoy living in in similar splendor for a week. In fact why not invite your friends and family to share a totally planned fun filled vacation, otherwise known as a House Party.

Sophie Conran, the daughter of the renowned British design guru Terrance Conran, has teamed up with Temple Guiting Manor to help visitors plan a bespoke country house party. A perfect way to celebrate a holiday, special occasion or just enjoy time away with family and friends, a house party allows for a quieter more relaxing level of conspicuous consumption. Ideally, even though you may be the host or hostess, that role exists for you in name only. Renting a manor house somewhere in the British Isles is a stress free way to entertain as if you were in your own luxury home but with none of the ensuing hassles.

Temple Guiting Manor, which has been privately owned since the 15th century, has been restored to the highest standards. Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner stated that it is "one of the finest, if not the very best of the small Cotswold Tudor houses." While the house which sleeps 10 is available on a self-catering basis why not let Sophie and her team cater to your every whim for a true break. Not only do they provide you with all the normal amenities of a fine hotel but there are countless experts in every category imaginable to inspire you and your guests. Sophie's philosophy is "If you want to make something, then learn it from the best".

Examples include:

• Executive chef Alan Bird, of the ever popular celebrity frequented The Ivy, will hold a master class.
• Jim Murray proclaimed by the BBC as the "world guru of whiskey" will educate you on the process of making whiskey.
• Knitting and crochet lessons from Clare Ward and Sarah Coates
• Flower design workshop with talked about florist Nikki Tibbles whose clients include Gucci, Chanel and Ralph Lauren
• Simon Stocken a former national bridge and poker player will teach you all the tricks you need to excel at the games

Favorite country pursuits such as golf, gliding, fishing, clay pigeon game shooting are also available.

The bespoke house party tradition has been updated for the modern lifestyle, and it is a unique experience to be able to relax in a rural retreat in a spectacular setting where every whim and need is accommodated by the most talented in the business.

In England, specifically Titchfield, Hampshire a small family jeweler has taken it upon themselves to create the most expensive Christmas ornament in the world.

According to Mark Hussey as reported in the Telegraph, a partner in Hallmark Jewellers he had a vision about making something special and had done some research into the priciest ornaments currently available. He had been working on the piece for almost a full year starting just after Boxing Day 2008, which is traditionally the day after Christmas. Even though they would love to find a buyer for the fabulous piece he did mention that he wouldn't mind finding this special ornament on his own tree come Christmas Eve.

The ornament itself is composed of 18 carat white gold and is studded with over one and half thousand diamonds. Two rings consisting of 188 red rubies surround the body of the ornament. It took over 130 hours just to set the gems in the piece. The National Association of Goldsmiths independently valued the bauble at 82,000 British pounds which depending on the exchange rate is just over $130,000. All of this hard work and expensive gemstones are not going unprotected. In something out of a James Bond movie the decorative ornament is encased in a special container framed in steel an 6mm thick laminated glass. If the alarm is triggered a internal signal will fill the shop with smoke.

Will the name Hallmark become associated with Christmas the way Faberge is permanently linked to gorgeously designed and bejeweled Easter eggs? Only time will tell, but if you'd like a very splashy ornament for your tree you know where to look.

When I first opened the Zai web site I was greeted by a poem written by Leo Tour "In the beginning was the mountain". I was sure that I was going to learn about a new bottled water from the purist of mountain springs or possibly even a zen retreat. I was in fact entering a kind of temple, a secular one, where the worshipers follow not a god, but snow and a the sport of skiing.

The word Zai means "tough" in the little know dialect of Sursilvan which is spoken in the mountains of Switzerland and specifically in the town of Disentis where the Zai skis are crafted. As seems fitting, the town lies below an ancient Benedictine monastery. The personal dream of Simon Jacomet, who insists that his skis be made by people who have skiing and the mountains in their heart and soul, the company produces some of the finest and most technologically innovative ski equipment on the slopes. The skis are produced in a small and tightly controlled production plant using state of the art machinery and assembled by hand.

All of the Spada skis are limited editions, only 111 pairs of each model are made. The newest innovation just out for this winter season is a special ski that uses a carbon-stone-technology with a rubber exterior. Zai was the first manufacturer in the world to use a stone core in their skis and is still trendsetting in their product development being the first to use a natural rubber surfacing. It is not just rhetoric that the skis are "of the mountain" as each pair has Grisons granite in the core of the ski. As with all carefully thought out designs the skis themselves are beautiful too, they will definitely not get lost in the pile on the ski racks outside the lodge at lunch.

Available in the United States exclusively at the high end winter sports retailer Gorsuch whose stores in all the nicest ski areas of Colorado, such as Beaver Creek, Vail and Aspen, sell the Zai Spada skis for $5,900.00 a pair.

Hello Kitty is one of those unique brands that never seems to go out of style and manages to appeal just as much to 3 year olds and 13 year olds as it does to the 30 year old set. One way it stays hip and popular is pairing cute with sophistication, a combination that seems irresistible to fans. To celebrate the brand's 35th birthday this year Sanrio is putting out something for everyone; the young, the young at heart and those who view Hello Kitty as art.

For those in the teen or tween set there is the sparkly Hello Kitty music player. This electronic gadget is decorated with 300 Swarovski crystal elements and shaped in the traditional Hello Kitty face. A second option is the Limited Edition pendant set. Again this is a collaboration between the D. Swarovski Co. of Wattens, Austria and features five crystal studded pendants each accented with a different color to match your mood or your outfit. Although at a price of $6,000 for the set I'm not sure that this jewelry collection isn't more appropriate for some of the slightly more mature Hello Kitty fans.

Another collaboration launched to celebrate the 35th Anniversary is a Judith Leiber bag collection. The line includes a "Retro Kitty" curved oval clutch, the "Pink Tulip" airstream, new "Hobo" style with silver handle shown above which will retail for $3995. These items are definitely a nod to those customers who have been fans of the Hello Kitty brand since its inception 35 years ago.

For those more artistically inclined there is the Three Apples art exhibit in Los Angeles, California curated by Jamie Rivadeneira the owner of Japan L.A. at the Royal/T space. The event is free of charge and over 80 artists display their Hello Kitty inspired pieces through November 15, 2009. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the art will benefit Sanrio's charitable partner LA Works a non-profit organization that promotes community volunteerism.