Shorts | At Home After the Movers Leave | Cocktails All Around

Matthew Hiranek | Art & CommerceFrom a House to a Home, in a Flash WSJ

OK, this is an article of pure trivia, except that we relate. Writing for WSJ, interior decorator Rita Konig writes about her recent move to London. She advises us to put pictures on the wall asap. A well-made bed on the first night is important.

We agree — even if you’re wading through piles everywhere on the floor, because you disposed of your boxes as the author advises, crisp, matched sheets in a well-made bad are an oasis. It’s this line that got Konig’s article referenced here:

For the first night, you need potted plants, good tools and a proper drinks tray.

You groan; we understand. She writes:

The first thing I always do when moving in is set up the drinks tray, which brings instant warmth to a place. Find a good spot for it—I like to see mine as I walk into a living room, but any table with a lamp on it is a good start. Currently my bar is on a white lacquered West Elm console table, one of those classic well-priced pieces of furniture that work in almost any space.

Add a few bottles, a cocktail shaker and a selection of good glasses, and suddenly the room takes on a reassuring atmosphere. Tuck a wire basket under the table and fill it with small bottles of tonic and soda. Don’t forget to order ice trays—the stackable ones from Bed Bath & Beyond are the easiest to use, and make large ice cubes—as it is extremely disappointing not to have ice for your first aperitif. And make sure you have a grocery delivery on the day you move in, so your bar cart is well stocked. When your first visitors call, you’ll have everything close at hand to mix them a good drink.

Fashion’s penchant for retro fashion has caught this interior designer’s fancy. Also, she moved to London but it seems that she’s set up more than one drink tray in her life. We like the touch.

7 Prohibition Era Drinks

From our GoTo alcohol blog Liqurious

& Apartment Therapy The Kitchen

Canadian Whisky - While many folks had to wait out American Prohibition by making do with poor quality bootleg booze, some were lucky enough to get their hands on the “real McCoy” smuggled in from countries where alcohol production was still legal. Whiskies made by our neighbors to the north were especially welcomed. Canadian Club was a popular choice.

PBS Prohibition

PROHIBITION is an amazing three-part, five-and-a-half-hour documentary film series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick that tells the story of the rise, rule, and fall of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the entire era it encompassed.

The first episode ran Sunday evening Oct 2 on PBS, and it was an extraordinary history lesson. Check for reruns of #1 and tune in Sunday evening. See PBS | Prohibition website.

Prohibition was intended to improve, even to ennoble, the lives of all Americans, to protect individuals, families, and society at large from the devastating effects of alcohol abuse. But the enshrining of a faith-driven moral code in the Constitution paradoxically caused millions of Americans to rethink their definition of morality.

Audrey Hepburn’s Touchup

Photo touchups aren’t only part of the modern age. Released for the 50th anniversary of ‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s’ these shots of Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, included in Sarah Gristwood’s new book, reveal that even the lovely gamine Hepburn needed a makeover for the retouchers.