KDH asked our fabulous friend Melanie Brandman to share a photo diary of a typical ‘Day by the Bay’ at her bucolic boathouse located at the end of Towd Point in Southampton. Melanie is always an effortless hostess, whilst making sure each of her guests have a fantastic time….here’s how she rolls:

“Between running my luxury travel PR firm, The Brandman Agency, and sourcing the best places to stay, eat, shop, do and play in the world’s most exciting destinations for my website, The Travel Curator www.thetravelcurator, I crave downtime with friends. There is no better place for me to share time with friends than at my little boat house in Southampton,” says Melanie.

Adding, “I usually set up a beautiful long table on the beach outside my house, but it was a little windy this past Sunday so I decided to set it up just outside my Boathouse on Towd Point, strategically placed with great views of the bay. I had only decided to do the lunch the day before so it was pulled together pretty quickly!”

“My gorgeous neighbors, who would win an award for the “best neighbors a girl could want”, sprung into action and helped me create the perfect summer table! The very talented interior designer Tom Samet and his equally fabulous partner Nathan Wold [who formerly ran The Met Dining Room, so he knows a thing or two about pulling off a chic lunch!] jumped in to help and we pulled things from both our homes to create a bright and cheerful palate of orange and greens, accented with shells I collected from the beach that morning.  Tom said it felt like he was in St. Barts!”

On the menu:

∞  Poached Salmon with Dill Sauce from Schmidts Seafood on North Sea Road
∞  Fried Chicken & Roasted Chicken from Cromers, in Sag Harbor~ it’s the best in town!
∞  Mozzarella and tomato salad with purple & green basil from my garden, marinated in Aragon Oil I purchased on a recent trip to Marrakech
∞  Organic green salad, produce from the Farmer’s Market on Noyac Road
∞  Organic tomato and feta salad.  Made by Harriet, and all ingredients picked from her garden!
∞  Curry Chicken salad from the Golden Pear in Southampton
∞  Cape Cod Potato Salad from Sean’s in Southampton
∞  Fresh watermelon for dessert

“Kelli found a fantastic vintage shell hanging planter from Hawaii at James Maguire Antiques~ what a fun hostess gift! We talked about turning it into a groovy hanging lamp that would create gorgeous shadow patterns at night!”

Four legged friends in attendance included:

* My bulldog, Adelaide.  No explanation needed

*Luc [below].  David Puente’s 13 year old cockapoo.  For such an elderly dog, he was pretty nimble and managed to swipe 2 pieces of friend chicken right from under our noses!

*Molly and Ferdinand, also cockapoos [far below].  Owned by Harriet and Scott.

….And Two-Legged Guests included:

Tom Samet and his partner Nathan Wold, Michael Stone and his partner Frank, Tristan Mace, [a Director at the Brandman Agency and my partner in a new web start-up travel booking site: Want Me Get Me], Sue Devitt, Zoe Hoare, Chris Meade, Kathy Reilly, Beatriz Alvarado and James Palten, Harriet and Scott Kaufman, and Kelli Delaney!

“Zoe Hoare [above] is another Aussie friend who I have got to know since coming out to the Hamptons.  She and her mother Appley owned Appley Hoare antiques in Sydney and London.  Her gorgeous partner Chris Meade [below right, with Harriet Kaufman] owns English Country Antiques in the Hamptons where Zoe now works alongside him.”

“I have known Harriet Kaufman [above] and her husband Scott for 20+ years, when she was the PR Director for CHANEL in Australia and I was the PR Director for the InterContinental Hotel in Sydney. They have an amazing waterfront home in Cutchogue on the North Fork which is fun to take the ferry to visit with Adelaide!”

“Love Kathy Reilly [above]! Honestly, I think the two of us were separated at birth.  A new friend~ I actually met her at a Thanksgiving Dinner at Sue Devitt’s house in Southampton last year. She is a powerhouse CEO of Lifestylist Advisory, but when she heads out East, it’s all about down-time & having fun…”

“My fellow Aussie pal Sue Devitt, founder and CEO of Sue Devitt Beauty, above, with Kelli Delaney [KDH]. Turns out Sue & Kelli have been friends from NYC for 20 years from their days working on Conde Nast photo shoots together!”

“Visiting from Miami were  Beatriz Alvarado [above with Tom Samet] and James Palten.  Isn’t she quite the Columbian beauty from Cartagena?”