I was happy enough when Mary Douglas Drysdale invited me to a small dinner party on Friday — just a few women eating by the fire, who could pass that up?

But it turned out that Mary used the evening to introduce us to Sandra Jordan, a textile designer with Peruvian roots whose alpaca fabrics are softer than cashmere.

Sandra Joran, sitting on Mary's Knoll sofa, which she covered in Jordan's alpaca. The pillows and window treatments are also Jordan's. And this setting is all in Mary's kitchen -- if only!

A closeup of this unbelievably delicious fabric

Sandra held forth on this history of Peru, and how the evolution of that country’s alpaca population is so intertwined with its politics. She had us hanging on every word. Her mellifluous Peruvian accent made the story that much more compelling.

But really? I just wanted to wrap myself up in these textiles and take a nap. (I’ll go off on a wee tangent here and say I first discovered the wonders of alpaca last year, when I used alpaca throw blankets from D. Bryant Archie in a photo shoot for the Washington Spaces gift guide. I did NOT want to send those puppies back, but at $600-plus per throw, I kinda had to. )

Sandra, whose collection is sold through the Holly Hunt showroom at the Washington Design Center, proceeded to wow us with a slide show of stunning photography of Peru. She took out her laptop to show us the pictures in front of the fireplace in Mary’s dramatic Dupont Circle brownstone living room.

Sandra and her Holly Hunt representative, Kate Lluberes, at Mary's antique table filled with food and drink.

Mary has a knack for bringing people together who don’t know each other at the start of the evening, but become fast friends by they time they leave.  I was so pleased to meet Susan Dowell, a fellow refugee from closed-down shelter magazines — in her case, Southern Accents.

Susan Dowell, left, and Mary share stories from years of friendship that was first forged when Susan wrote about her for Southern Accents.

I was also beside myself to meet a fellow DC design blogger — Jeanette Stieringer of A Passion for Home. She had just commented on this blog the afternoon before we met, and how cool to meet her in person.

Jeanette sits in front of a giant antique wooden horse, which was once used to train soldiers how to put on saddles and bridles, and how to mount. It's one of Mary's favorite possessions (besides the ginormous multi-colored elephant in her entry foyer).

I realize now that I didn’t get a picture of Mary’s cousin, Maryanne Pollock, an artist whose vivid painting is above Mary’s mantel. Maryanne was too busy running around, serving food and drinks, so sit still for any extended period of time, bless her heart. We got to hear about her interesting career, and Mary hauled out another one of her canvases during the meal to show us more of her work.

Thanks, Mary, for a fabulous dinner party with wonderful women who I won’t soon forget!

I would have posted this last night, but I got sucked in by the mens’ figure skating! At any rate, I was invited to a breakfast yesterday for women entrepreneurs, and what a wonderful group of inspiring ladies. It was held at the beautiful Old Town, Alexandria row house of Ashley Spencer, the artistic talent behind Casart Coverings. These wall coverings are brilliant — they are like stickers in that you can put them up and peel them off without any wallpaper paste or elbow grease.

Ashley uses her own product in her sunroom.

Another view: this pattern looks slightly different depending on the angle you look from.

The business started in 2008, when Ashley, who is a decorative artist by trade, teamed up with her sister, Lindsey Wood, who lives in  Denver, and her mother, Lorre Lei Jackson, who lives in New Orleans.  I love that the Internet allowed the family to come together this way.

Ashley demonstrated how the coverings work — you just peel them of a backing (just like you would a sticker), and stick them up on the wall. If it’s not in position perfectly, you just peel it off and put it back up again.

Besides a book a patterns you can choose from, you can also give them a photo that can be blown up for an accent wall.

Designer Mary Douglas Drysdale liked the patterns so much that she used them in decorative vignettes for a recent lecture she gave in New York on green rugs. Here are two of her creations:

This pattern is a faux linen, which works beautifully with the rug.

This one resembles decorative painting.

Perhaps my husband Jim was encouraged by all the nice comments he got on the nesting tables he made for us, which I posted about the other day, but now he’s tearing down all the old, ripped wallpaper in our dining room  – the final vestige of the previous owners we bought from 11 years ago.

It’s a slow, painful process to get all that old paper and paste off the walls. How I wish (er, he wishes) that it were as simple as just peeling it all right off, like you can do with these coverings. Next time!

Mary Douglas Drysdale, whom I met at the MoKi media launch last month (see my post about it here), recently told me about a delightful second home she designed in Maine for DC-area clients. And as I watch yet another snowstorm come down outside my window, I sure could use some of these views:

Drysdale not only designed the interiors of the home, she also worked with the architect on the house plans. All photography by Peter Vitale

Drysdale says these are her dream clients — and she should know, since she’s done no fewer than five projects with them. “They’re just wonderful,” she says. “We’ve kind of grown up together.” So she was thrilled, of course when she got the call to help her clients design a new vacation home in Prout’s Neck, Maine.

(I just happened to have a biography of the great American painter Winslow Homer, who created his seminal work when he lived in tiny Prout’s Neck from 1883 until his death in 1910. The book describes its “violently crashing seas and rugged Maine coastline. Prout’s Neck was a painter’s paradise, which might well have attracted a colony of artists had not the Homer family, after buying up almost the whole Neck in 1883, controlled the sale of the land.”)

So now you have an idea of the setting, let’s step inside the house.

The chairs were locally sourced and painted yellow. Drysdale designed the table, which also serves as a study table, so it includes small drawers.

An island with open shelves has "an inviting quality," Drysdale says. She also designed the adorable hanging pot holders from the same material as the window treatments.

Drysdale was encouraged to create a "relaxed and fun feeling" throughout the house. Hence, the lively colors and patterns in the family room, where the family's three children spend most of their time. Most upholstered pieces in the house are from Lee Industries.

The furniture in the entry hall was found at local antique shops and given a boost with bright, contemporary fabric. The art by DC artist Steven Cushner adds to the playful and inviting mood.

Also in the foyer is a painted antique table that extends to seat 21 diners. The slipcovered chairs are from Crate & Barrel.

A view to the entry-hall table and hearth from the living room.

The house is defined by strong colors, but the husband and wife wanted at least one retreat to a space with neutrals. Drysdale answered with this living room. She designed the huge cocktail table after butler's tables. She infused the spirit of Maine through the room with several locally bought baskets and accessories.

One of the family’s mandates was to have the house accommodate multitudes of guests — there are 18 bunk beds for the three children to have their friends there, too. So besides seating a lot of people for dinner, there had to be many bedrooms as well. The clients wanted guest to look forward to being there. Maybe they could sleep in the yellow room one time, or the green room the next. So Drysdale got to have fun with a lot of color.

The yellow room. The window "treatments" are actually made from painted wood.

The green room. Drysdale purchased several quilts to accent the rooms, such as the two you see in here. She is also expert at combining prints and checks, as you see in the pillows and bedspread.

Drysdale commissioned stenciled patterns in almost every room. "It speaks a casual and unpretentious message," she says. It also adds to the sense of pattern and movement that is already apparent through the quilts and upholstery.

The borders of both the rug and floor, along with the walls, were stenciled. And the window "treatments" were made from wood -- this time in a double layer. Drysdale designed the headboard, and there is another quilt again on the chair.

You can't get much more American folk than in the stunning master bedroom, where Drysdale gave her clients a colorful escape from their more "serious" residence here in DC. And when she couldn't find a navy-blue carpet, she got a plain sisal one, and used two gallons (that is not a typo!) of paint to get the color she wanted.

How fun to have these stencils around the master bedroom floor, which is also painted blue.

This master bath alone would be reason enough for me to get up in the morning.

Drysdale tells me that the speed limit throughout Prout’s Neck is 25 mph. “That is symbolic of what it’s like up there — it really is life in the slow lane,” she says. “It’s so radically different from the speed and the moods and concerns of Washington, DC.”  I think we could all use a bit of that right about now!

Sherry Moeller gives me all kinds of inspiration for moving on after a life in mainstream media. My fellow Washington Spaces alum, who later worked for Capital File, leveraged her contacts to form a new PR firm called MoKi Media with partner Dannia Hakki (Moeller + Hakki = MoKi). And if last night was any indication, she and Dannia will be creating lots of buzz in their new endeavor.

Sherry Moeller, co-founder MoKi Media, plastic surgeon Dr. Ayman Hakki, owner of Luxxery Cosmetic Medical Boutique, Interior Designer Christopher Boutlier, Dannia Hakki, co-founder MoKi Media, and Jim Rill, owner of Rill Architects. Photograph by Gene Young

Sherry represents the design end of the firm, while Dannia covers health and spa-oriented clients. I just love the work of Sherry’s first three clients: Designers Christopher Boutlier and Mary Douglas Drysdale, and Architect Jim Rill.

And because pictures say more than words, here’s some examples of their work, which will NOT be hard for Sherry to promote.

Christopher Boutlier

Christopher Boutlier sits in his DC condo living room. Photograph via Washigton Life

Mary Douglas Drysdale

Mary Douglas Drysdale indulges my love of green in this project. How I would love to be this client!

Jim Rill

This picure really captures Jim Rill's studied, elegant architecture.

I plan to do longer posts in the future on each one of these talented designers, which is why I’m only giving you a taste right now. But hats off to Sherry in her new career in public relations, to be able to sign such notables right off the bat. No doubt, lots more will follow.