17 January 2009

Bienvenue Cote de Texas!


I added a new design blog to my blogroll this week, Joni Webb's brilliant Cote de Texas. Her tag line reads: French design on the Texas coast. Yes, it does exist! She has tremendous energy and spirit and her writing style is comfortable and approachable. Her sense of humor is evident from the name of her blog all through her every woman's approach to interior design. She certainly loves nice things, but manages to keep her wits about her and she still manages to have a couple of laughs along the way. Bravo!

Her blog's name, Cote de Texas, has had me thinking about the Côtes du Rhône all week. The Côtes du Rhône is the region of France that runs the length of the Rhône river, from Vienne to Avignon. It's not exactly the first thing that pops into my head when I think of coastal Texas, and I love the fact that Ms. Webb is crashing together these seemingly discordant worlds. It reminds me of my friend Kevin's insistence that my beloved St. Pete is the Monaco of the Gulf Coast, the Florence of Florida. Why not?

Cote de Texas features some fantastic dissections of well-designed rooms as well as a fair number of Joni's successful projects, including her own home. If you're looking for some great ideas and some crisp writing, head over there today and say bonjour. If my recommendation's not good enough, know this: Cote de Texas was named one of the top ten blogs of 2008 by none other than the Washington Post. We keep some good company around here, I'll say that.

11 comments:

  1. Yes, Joni is a blog star for sure! Her blog is also on my blogroll and I always look forward to her most informational, inspiring posts! Her daughter Lizzy also has a great fashion blog called Cheap Chic! Go check that one out as well!

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  2. Thanks for the pointers Ivy, I will be sure to head over there today.

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  3. Hey! You have a great blog too Ivy. I see we share an admiration for all things Carribean, though I reserve my fawning for The Bahamas. St. Lucia and Barbados are beautiful though. Ever been to Grenada? It will change your life!

    Note to readers, jump over to http://ivylane-inspirations.blogspot.com

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  4. Thanks for your comments Fifi and Pigtown --two more cool bloggers. Great to hear from both of you!

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  5. Whoa - what a shocker!!! Thank you so much!!! You are too sweet!
    Joni

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  6. Looks like the makings of a fan club Joni.

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  7. I just reread this. You know where I got the name don't you? It's (there is that ' again!) really a play on words because of the French design magazine Cote de Sud. So, people who see the name - Cote de Texas - know it's about French design, but in Texas. Three small words that really say so much. Blog names are so important. They need to convey something about the mission of the blog. They need to attract people to the blog. You only get one chance at a reader with your name, use it wisely.

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  8. Good Lord, I just realized that I introduced you as Toni Webb. Oy! Let me fix that immediately. I had no idea that your blog's name is a play on words from a magazine. I just knew it was a play on words. I agree with you, you had me from hello with that name. It's funny and smart at the same time and that's a tough one to pull off in three words.

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  9. I fixed you name just now. How embarrassing is that? Geez. I just turned off my word verification too. Thanks for the suggestion.

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