Living

The Star's Hunter-Gatherer has gone shopping for things that can be useful inside and outside. They'll bring the spirit of outside inside, and the comfort of inside outside — yes, you can have it both ways.

"Historically, treehouses have been the setting for adventurous, magical escapes. Treehouses are also a timeless American tradition, an escape for 'kids' of all ages. Jimmy Carter even built a treehouse for his daughter on the White House lawn."

Proper landscaping starts with a plan, which may involve a homeowner calling in professional help. That's according to Jeff Peters of East Hampton, who started his landscaping company, JCP Landscaping, in 1999. He works throughout East Hampton, Bridgehampton, Sag Harbor, North Haven, and Water Mill. Many of his 16 employees have been with him for 20 years. Mr. Peters shared some landscaping advice with The Star.

It's not too late to join the crowd of East End house hunters. The Covid-19 pandemic may have kicked off a stampede of buyers, but real estate pros expect that demand will remain high long after vaccinations usher in herd immunity. That's according to Nicole Tunick, who works alongside her husband, Zachary Tunick, as a Douglas Elliman Real Estate team.

Last summer, I cared for several dozen future butterflies that were raised in a Monarch Waystation garden in Bridgehampton. Created by Cindy Warne, the garden provides milkweed for caterpillars and nectar-rich plants for butterflies once they emerge from their chrysalids.

Tony Piazza of Piazza Horticultural Group shared a favorite recipe created by his grandmother, who grew up in Caserta, Italy. "This simple preparation was a spring staple growing up," Mr. Piazza said.

Mr. Johnson proposed at the Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge in Noyac with a ring designed using the same matrimonial gemstones worn by his mother during her 30-year marriage to his late father.

Anne Cooper-Menguy and Robert Marshall, Ph.D., of East Hampton and New York City, have become engaged.

Ms. Cooper-Menguy has been an interior designer for more than 60 years and has had her work displayed in Architectural Digest and Interior Design magazines. 

Hyatt Mannix and Matthew Thomas Powers had planned to marry at the bride's parents' house on Bluff Road in Amagansett, but the pandemic forced a change of plans. They decided instead to have a very small outdoor wedding on Dec. 30 in Jackson, Wyo., near where they live, with the stunning vistas of the Grand Tetons as a backdrop. The Rev. Alison Coplan officiated, and a reception followed at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jackson Hole.

The bride is the daughter of Gretchen and John B. Mannix. The groom's parents are Joyce and Jerry Powers of Paxton, Mass.

Calls for change — for justice system reforms and an end to systemic racism — echoed throughout 2020 in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others. That is why, when James Banks of Southampton celebrates Kwanzaa this December, he will reflect a little more closely on some of the principles of the holiday — most notably, he said, "unity."

Bill Evans, chief meteorologist at WLNG Radio and the National Weather Service, was at least honest about the likelihood of a white Christmas on the East End this year. "Eleven percent chance," he said apologetically, adding, "That's why, when Bing sings, he says, 'I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.' He's dreaming of it!"

Christmas was a new experience when I married into a local family and settled in Amagansett in the early 1960s. Neither my upbringing, which was secular and Jewish, nor my college years or gad-about life in New York City as a young woman of bohemian leanings had been at all Kris Kringle-y.