Former Vogue Editor Tonne Goodman’s living room is cozy perfection.
The holidays are still pretty far away but we need some frivolity now. A November box, (see last year’s here) is a collection of treats you assemble to open on that first rainy, miserable November day. It can be anything you want, as long as it’s cheering.
The Santa Maria Novella terracotta pomegrante, $69 US., is what I call ‘stealth ubiquitous’. Once you know about it, you’ll see it everywhere in photos, quietly perched on a shelf or coffee table. Safer than a scented candle, this porous, terracotta fruit is soaked in scented oil so you can bring it home to release that signature Santa Maria Novella ‘Melograno’ scent. It’s powerful at first but dissipates to perfume rooms gently for at least a year after which it can live on in a closet.
And take some inspiration from Alex Eagle’s coffee table, below. If you stack all your books into piles, each topped with an objet, candle or ashtray, it immediately looks purposeful and tidy.
Santa Maria Novella’s pomegranate is only one of many delights on Alex Eagle’s coffee table.
The Uniqlo pale grey cashmere beanie, because each year we always forget how cold it gets.
Keep a Uniqlo cashmere beanie $39.90, at the ready for when the temps continue their downward trajectory. The navy blue is already sold out, but black, pale grey, cream and a whole raft of colours are still available. And you can’t beat the price for pure cashmere.
Serge Lutens Chergui Confit de Parfum perfumed oil, $195, Holt Renfrew, named after a Moroccan desert wind, reveals its secrets slowly. It’s like discovering your favourite elderly auntie was actually a member of the resistance who lured Gestapo agents to abandoned warehouses before shooting them. In a perfumed oil this means it starts all sweet and innocent and powdery with rose, iris and honey, before warming into a heady mix of leather, tobacco, musk and incense. World War two heroines aside, it’s the perfect scent if you’re tired of smelling like everyone else.
Oversized and singular with that crazy handle, this capacious and thick-walled Waverly mug from superstar interiors trendsetter Montana Labelle will add a cool, earthy vibe to your morning Nespresso.
Watching the venerable Italian nonne of Pasta Grannies make their own pasta like trofie with basil sauce (page 28) and potato gnocchi with tomato sauce (page 115) on YouTube is pure visual Xanax. The accompanying cookbook ensures that they are truly “saving traditions and sharing skills” while giving us some much-needed, comforting fall dinner inspiration.
Laboratoire Filorga’s Meso Mask, $75, Shoppers Drug Mart, calms redness in minutes and super-hydrates too, because we all know what’s going to happen to our poor skin when the air out there is both freezing and drying.
Lindt Excellence Orange Almond dark chocolate is a souped-up and tricked-out adult version of that Christmas stocking staple, the Terry’s chocolate orange. Stash one in your November Box and hopefully forget about it, so when you open the box, there will be #surprisechocolate for you to eat right away. it’s the edible equivalent to finding $20 in your coat pocket.