For many mothers, Mother’s Day means having runny eggs, overcooked bacon and over-brewed coffee served to them in bed by their well-meaning offspring. For Los Angeles author Lisa Dunn-Dern, Mother’s Day might find the lovely author and children’s lifestyle expert planning an elegant tea party with her daughter Chelsea, 15, at the family’s second home in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

Lisa and Chelsea Dunn-Dern. Photo courtesy of Lisa Dunn-Dern.

Martha's Vineyard has a long tradition of elegance and grace, and has for decades had a very mixed population, unlike some of the other resort communities in the area, which is one reason the Derns chose that area for their summer home. 

The phrase casual elegance pops up often these days, usually at the end of an invitation, to help guests decide what to wear to an upcoming party, but few people really embody the term as well as Lisa and Chelsea.

The pastry chef from one of the most upscale restaurants on Martha's Vineyard has gotten up very early on the morning of the party, to bake fresh scones and other confectionery delights for Lisa and Chelsea, on one condition—that they don't reveal his name, or else everyone on the island will think he does this on a regular basis! But for these two who have turned the buffet table into an edible atelier...he says it's worth it.

"They are so much fun to be around. They ooze style but more important, they are both so kind.

When they invite you into their circle, you not only feel their warmth, but the laughing just doesn't stop. They play well with others but don't feel the need to follow the group. Chelsea has a dry quick wit and Lisa knows how to make everything around her beautiful, light-hearted, and delightfully fun." 

The buffet table can only be described as edible art. In addition to the fresh scones, Lisa has fresh clotted cream, and tea sandwiches of bread, butter and thin-sliced cucumbers, made with a teapot-shaped cookie cutter. Arranged atop antique lace napkins on multi-tiered trays are pastel-colored sweets such as homemade lemon bars, petits fours, and light, delicate, pastel-colored French macarons. Each one has a different subtle flavor and must be savored slowly to be fully enjoyed. Some of the sweets are placed on local wheatgrass, which gives them the appearance of colorful blooms sprouting out, ready to be picked and eaten from the mini-lawn.

Lisa and Chelsea have adorned the table with the freshest blooms on the island in beautiful crystal vases discovered at one of the island’s local antiques shops. The table, which can only be described as “edible art,” features lovely cloths (and cloth napkins, of course), fine crystal, and Hermès teapots and tea cups.

On the day of this particular tea party, the two ladies are relaxing before their guests arrive. Chelsea is dressed in a vintage ivory Galanos garden dress, a gift from Diahann Carroll, and Lisa looks like she just flew in from Capri, dressed in a Tory Birch orange and white tunic and white slacks.

It is a tribute to another time, when life was lived slowly and the finer things savored. It is a gift that Lisa is sharing with her modern, hip young daughter, to be passed on to others now and in days to come.

Catching up with Lisa and Chelsea is one of the highlights for me every few months at “Canyon News.” So I asked Lisa before she left Hollywood for the East Coast what motherhood means to her and if it is all every mother says it is? Lisa said, “Motherhood is more intense in every single aspect than any woman can ever convey to another woman until you experience it for yourself. I was actually mad at every mother I knew for a couple of weeks after Chelsea was born, for no one fully explaining to me what happens when you become a mother. It's not like they didn't try to put it into words and it's not like I didn't read every baby book ever published, but it's impossible for anyone to articulate the emotions of immense joy, pride, the fearlessness of a lioness protecting her cub ... and sleep deprivation. Along with all of those emotions, your body is trying to snap back and you are still a woman and you want to fit into your cute jeans. Now my role as Chelsea's mom is to teach her that abundance is everywhere. Even though sometimes it likes to wear a disguise, you must uncover it and share it with others. I strive to inspire her to see a challenge as an opportunity for growth and enlightenment and to leave her comfort zone at least once a day.”

Lisa and Chelsea are a team that is always setting goals. I asked what she and her beautiful Chelsea would be doing after Mother’s Day and when would they return to Hollywood. Lisa added, “We're looking forward to having really exciting guests on our radio show, 'Chillin’ with Chelsea and Lisa.' Our guests include both adults and teenagers, and we discuss many different kinds of subjects from both viewpoints.”

In addition, Lisa's publicist, my friend Flo Selfman told me, "Lisa and her lovely daughter will be putting their expertise to good effect, as they are working on a new book project together which will have their unique take on gracious entertaining the Lisa and Chelsea way."  This project is in the works for early 2009. 

You can learn all about Lisa Dunn Dern by going to her official website at: www.derngoodbooks.com . I am reading them all currently. Happy Mothers’ Day to all of you mothers out there.