Home is Where the Heart is: Part II

7.11.15  |  Home is Where the Heart is: Part II

Today we left the Big City for the place where I grew up in Hamburg, NJ. Oddly enough, my childhood home (a gorgeous, old victorian) is now a kitchen and bath store. The owner was happy to give us a tour including going up to the now finished attic which was a lovely home to bats and squirrels back in my day. I guess it wasn’t exactly an emotional connection to the past, but going next door sure was…

The Ducks, who lived next door and still do, had us all over for a Ducky Clark Reunion. Their home has become a gorgeous reflection of their personalities and mad design skills over these many years from modern room additions to lush, terraced gardens. I always knew my eye had been trained in part by theirs, but I hadn’t realized quite how much until this visit. I was so happy to see the same cool plates and mugs in the kitchen cabinet that I remember well to this day!

One of my favorite moments was when Yvonne’s daughter, Annika, came outside to the deck with her long, wavy brown hair all done up rather fabulously in a gazillion clothespins that she had found inside. Yvonne and I used to play with those things when we were kids too and I remember just loving them for some reason or another. This photo was taken accidentally in Renee’s gardens and it couldn’t be a more perfect representation of the beauty we were surrounded by during our reunion: eating, drinking and catching up with each other after too many years gone by.

What a good day.