first lady

2010 White House Gingerbread House Revealed

It's time for my favorite White House decoration, the gingerbread White House. Michelle Obama and Chef Bill Yosses unveiled the 2010 white chocolate gingerbread White House which, like last year's, features marzipan replicas of the Obama family dog, Bo, and the White House kitchen garden. The theme for the White House Christmas 2010 is "Simple Gifts." The house weighs 350 pounds and and 30 pounds of honey from the White House beehive was used to make the gingerbread. This year's house has cutouts to show the East Room and the State Dining Room. The First Lady also decorated cookies with children from military families.

The Simple Gifts theme is shown in some of the displays which focus on capturing a homespun charm. Other decorations include magnolia and oak leaf garlands, and paper white flower blossoms and a "military appreciation tree" decorated to honor the five branches of the military in the East Wing visitor's entrance; wreaths made of natural materials such as oranges, pears and dried flowers in the East Colonnade; white poinsettia trees in garden planters and garlands of white poinsettias in the Lower Cross Hall; four large Christmas trees with hand-crafted decorations in turquoise, purple, green and gold with a bird and floral theme in the East Room; and in the Blue Room, the official White House Christmas Tree, an 18 1/2-foot Douglas fir anchored to the ceiling to keep it from tipping over, with a theme honoring county and state fairs.

Curbed breaks down the history of Christmas decorations at the White House including the introduction of the National Christmas Tree by President Coolidge in 1923.

Gallery: 2010 White House Gingerbread House

Tags: first lady, gingerbread house, michelle obama, white house

First Lady Michelle Obama Wears Cartier Watch For Official White House Portrait

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Of course people are talking about Michelle Obama's choice of wardrobe for her official White House image located on the White House website. The attire while elegant, is distinctly modern and does not draw attention away from the face. Associated Press writer Caryn Rousseau reported on the photograph and commented on the first lady's choice of accessories including her jewelry and wrist watch. For the photograph, Michelle Obama chose her steel Cartier Tank Francaise - a popular Cartier Tank watch that is tasteful and luxurious without being showy - a good choice for any First Lady. The watch comes in both male and female models with various levels of gilding.

Michelle Obama's subtle yet sophisticated taste shows in her choice of wearing the undecorated version of the watch in steel, although the watch is available with gold and with diamond settings. The White House portrait of the first lady does not make the model of the watch clear, but the trained eye is easily able to pick up the recognizable timepiece. Cartier themselves expressed surprise and excitement over the picture as they had no idea she would be wearing the particular watch for the occasion.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Cartier Tank Francaise

Tags: cartier, first lady, FirstLady, michelle obama, MichelleObama, tank francaise, TankFrancaise, timepiece, watch, wristwatch

New First Lady Jewelry Fashion: The Pearls Vs. The Brooch

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry

The Democratic and Republican National Conventions are over and now the real political campaigns begin in earnest. Increased attention has been focused on the fashions of the potential first ladies, Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama. As we recently reported, Vanity Fair tallied up the cost of one of Cindy McCain's outfits finding that it topped $300,000 (helped along by a pair of $280,000 diamond earrings). While current First Lady Laura Bush sometimes wears a single strand of pearls, Cindy McCain upped that look, wearing her glowing four-strand pearl necklace on several key RNC occasions including the speech introducing her husband.

Michelle Obama has also worn pearls at several events but her signature look just may be the creative use of the brooch. She has worn a variety of pins on various occasions such as the flower brooch she wore on her dress strap when she was on The View, the cluster of rose pins she wore on her Thakoon Panichgul dress on the night of her husband's acceptance speech, and, most famously the turquoise and silver brooch she wore for her own speech at the Democratic National Convention. Both the rose pins and the brooch are said to be Erickson Beamon designs. Vanity Fair estimates Cindy McCain's four-strand pearl necklace as costing between $11,000–$25,000.

Tags: cindy mccain, fashion, first lady, michelle obama