Cipollini to Chippendale

It has been another very fun and hectic week at Jam Inc., we have had countless calls about the square shower drain on last weeks episode. It seems I am not alone in my belief that the shower drain as important a design element as any other in a bathroom. Waterworks are going to be selling a lot of drains. People seem to have fallen in love with the fish wallpaper in my kitchen which is hand painted on silver paper by one of my absolute favorite companies de Gournay. For more resources on the show follow me on Twitter and ask about the things you like. I'm always happy to share a great find. My Twitter handle is @jeffreymarksinc or you can like my company page on Facebook for more behind the scenes pictures and resources.

In this week's episode I learned a great life lesson. I finally understand why it is that clients sometimes stare at me with a blank expression on their faces when I show them a design scheme for their project. It is because they are overwhelmed with way to much information. That is the look you clearly see on my face on this weeks episode when I break a very visible sweat in the kitchen with Suzanne Goin when she is telling me about Cipollini onions.

Let me explain by saying that cooking admittedly is not my greatest skill (although, eating I am very good at). Suzanne is such an amazingly talented chef, few people know their way around a kitchen as well as she does. The success of her restaurants Lucques, AOC, and Tavern are a testimony to her prowess at the burners. Her first book was a smash success, and she is deservedly a James Beard Award winner, so when she started rattling off ingredients for the tart I have to say my brain completely shut down. Now I know how my poor clients feel, as Cipollini is to me, Chippendale is to them. Fortunately, Suzanne is a wonderful teacher and she gently coached me through the recipe so I left feeling more confident than when I arrived. I'm going to take a leaf from her cookbookSunday Suppers at Lucques and slow down in my client presentations. . .take them through it one velvet at a time so to speak.

Recreating the tarts the second time around was not as difficult as I thought it would be (oven temperature aside -- thanks Demetra!), and judging by Ross' reaction to the final product they turned out very well. Precious little seems to please Ross, as you the viewers will have realized by now, so I think it was a job well done considering he was so impressed.

Speaking of a job well done, how stunning was the location and décor at the party? There is nothing better than a Malibu beach house in the early evening although I would not want to be anywhere near the Malibu beach house poor Kathryn Ireland is working on in Episode 4. That job is turning out to be a difficult one for Kathryn. Sometimes the relationship between designer and client just does not gel, which is why its really important to get a really good feel for the designer you are going to hire. Working on a job where personalities clash is miserable and because decorating is never a quick process, an unhappy relationship that can drag on for years will be unbearable -- as you are going to see in the upcoming episodes!

Have a great week. Keep watching the show and thanks for all the great feedback.

Jam