Margaret Russell, the star of Elle Decor, and as well as author of the newest addition to my library, Style and Substance, was shining at Gumps in San Francisco last night. Always beautiful, always gracious, Margaret was there for a book signing party.

Style and Substance has been one of my "go to" resource books since it came out. Each chapter is organized by room, and since it is a compilation of the best from Elle Decor, it is simply the book I pull from the shelf first when looking for inspiration for my design projects. And now it has been signed. Sigh...I am one of those who loves to have my favorite books signed whenever possible.

It was wonderful to have a chance to chat with Margaret. There are brilliantly big plans in the works for Elle Decor, particularly exciting for all f us design groupies! So keep an eye out and an ear open in the months to come. I promise to keep you posted!

And the party was packed with other stars from the City by the Bay. Designers Jay Jeffers, Ken Fulk, Scot Meacham Wood (also of Tartanscot!), Claudia Juestel, Gary Hutton, George Brazil, and Furniture designer Paul Benson were there, just to name a few.

The setting was perfect. It is always so much fun to wander through Gumps. Everywhere you turn, there are perfect little scenes that give you ideas, and wonderful gifts for the special ones in your life. (Stay tuned for my blog post in the next couple of days...lots of Valentine's Day Goodies!!)

Delicious bits of things to eat (the miniature Beef Wellington's were fabulous!), good wine and great converstion all made for a a stellar evening.

My good freind Jori, made the jaunt to San Francisco with me. She is one of those people that has fun wherever she goes, and seems to know everyone within minutes.

Here she is with designer George Brazil and furniture designer Paul Benson. George and Jori go way back, and you may remember the genius of Paul Benson from this blog post where his beautiful bar cart is shown off.

I had a chance to chat with Jay Jeffers who is deep in the middle of multiple projects right now. Charming and handsome, he is one of the designers I love to watch.

My good blogging buddy Scot Meacham Wood (Tartanscot) was there. He is always so much fun! Scot just had an amazing trip to NYC where he met up with lots of favorite bloggers like Eddie Ross, Habitually Chic's Heather Clawson. Claudia Juestel of Adeeni Design Group was also on hand. Claudia is a wonderful designer who is a master with the exotic.

I wish I had had more time to show you more of the beauty at Gumps, but I did take a few shots.

There is a sculptor by the name of Gary Stevens that I was quite taken with.

This is an alabaster sculpture he did that I thought was so beautiful in this vignette. The stone was so thin and fine! I understand that Gary is a mathematician as well, which explains his precision and fine detail.

These wood sculptures are also by Gary Stevens. Some look like continous ribbons. Brilliant!

Also showing were these perfect wooden vessels by Philip Moulthrop. Each one a small masterpeice. To read more about Philip and his family history of woodturning craftsmanship, click HERE.

I also had the pleasure to speak with Marta Benson of Gumps, who was excited about the new direction Gumps is taking with tableware. Gumps is well known for it's tradition of offering the best in fine china, crystal and placesettings. Alway beautiful, always the best. But Gumps has been changing over the last few years. There is a powerful trend towards beautiful but more casual entertaining and Gumps is the place where you will be finding young, fresh, and casual table settings that will be fun and usable everyday. I am looking forward to it all!

Such a fun night! Thanks to everyone at Gumps, Margaret Russell and Elle Decor for a great evening!