Palm Beach Illustrated December 2021

Most families have holiday traditions. In our family, we embrace a curious mix of American and Greek Christmas rituals, some traditional and others uniquely ours. For example, we have our 12-year-old twins make something every year; it could be an ornament, a dish for Christmas Eve dinner, or a holiday-inspired work of art. Our cookie baking always includes kourabiethes and melomakarona, in addition to gingerbread men. And we have two gift-giving occasions (our kids are particularly fond of this one): Christmas morning, per our adopted homeland, and on New Year’s Eve, when Saint Basil (the Greek version of Santa Claus) visits. Our cover subjects, Cara and Jared McClure with their five adorable girls, have many traditions of their own. As one of six siblings in Palm Beach’s well-known Coniglio family, Cara…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JLBR! WHO: Junior League of Boca Raton WHAT: Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration WHERE: The Addison, Boca Raton HIGHLIGHTS: Fifty never looked so good! The Junior League of Boca Raton celebrated half a century of supporting community projects and more than one million hours of community service geared toward local women and children. YOUNG FRIENDS RECEPTION WHO: Young Friends WHAT: Philanthropists reception WHERE: Le Bilboquet, Palm Beach HIGHLIGHTS: Young Friends of the Norton Museum of Art, Everglades Foundation, and Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League mixed and mingled over Ju Ju Gabor cocktails and chef Adabis Castro’s hors d’oeuvres, all while enjoying music by DJ Michael Bonick.…

Rocket, the latest installation by artist Hubert Phipps and his largest sculpture to date, stands more than 30 feet tall as the new centerpiece of the Boca Raton Innovation Campus, a tech landmark where the IBM Personal Computer was invented in 1981. A public art initiative by the Boca Raton Museum of Art, the sculpture was cut and welded from stainless-steel plates. Limited-edition maquettes are available for purchase at TW Fine Art in Palm Beach. Rocket has manifold significance to Phipps, who has been flying airplanes and helicopters for nearly 50 years. “I am inspired by the achievements man has made in overcoming the challenges of traveling into space and to the moon,” he says, pointing out that Florida has been center stage in rocket development and space travel thanks to…

Natasha Bedingfield’s 2004 hit “Unwritten” went viral this summer thanks in part to Rony Michel, an online sensation and dance instructor at Digital Vibez, a West Palm Beach nonprofit that exists to empower youth in underserved communities through dance fitness technology, and the arts. Known as “Rony Boyy” to his more than one million followers on Tik-Tok, Michel rediscovered the song through the app, where it was making the rounds in the form of a remix called “Like Yop” by Esco featuring Shawn P. “When I heard the song, I was like, ‘Oh snap, this is that song that my mom used to play back in the day!’ She was a big fan of Natasha,” he recalls. “I remember hearing the words and then with the beat that was added to it,…

West Palm Beach resident Jill Elisofon began designing necklaces for museum shops 15 years ago, and she’s at it again with one-of-a-kind wearables tied to the Frida Kahlo exhibition on view at the Norton Museum of Art through February 6. The designs are inspired by Kahlo’s own jewelry and style, as well as predominant colors in her work and clothing. “I created a few based on Frida’s necklaces in the exhibit and others are my interpretation of pieces she would wear,” says Elisofon. During Elisofon’s teenage years, gifts of exotic beads from her father—Life photographer and documentary filmmaker Eliot Elisofon, who collected them while photographing indigenous groups—launched her lifelong penchant for necklaces indebted to tribal cultures. Her Frida-inspired works include pieces from this treasured stash, such as West African amber, a…

Combine the creative minds of two Delray Beach mothers, entrepreneurs, and style influencers—designer Amanda Perna and singer-songwriter Skye Dyer—and you get A Little Wyld, a new children’s and lifestyle boutique in the energetic Pineapple Grove neighborhood. Opened in September, the store carries contemporary children’s apparel and accessories, luxury housewares, gifts, and women’s apparel and features Perna’s own fashion labels, House of Perna and Neon Bohemians, among other brands. The founders put an emphasis on ethically made, sustainable products and female-created brands from around the world. Another highlight? A balloon bar for the kids. (alittlewyld.com)…