It all started with a party I went to last night as the guest of a good friend who teased me into attending by expounding as to the fabulous redecorating the hostess had just completed. Who can resist a sneak-peek home tour, especially when there’s no entry fee and you get free wine and food to boot? It’s almost as tantalizing as a private designer shoe sale, with all the good styles in your size.

My friend – we’ll call her Kiki – mused as to the hostess’s marital status given the blatant feminine color palate found throughout the home…how can a marriage last with pink as a cornerstone color?  I rearranged my schedule and dressed in the stated attire of ‘Sundress’.

The house did not disappoint. The Master bedroom was brown and turquoise and feathers fringed the lavender dining room drapes – tres chic.  There were as many pink light bulbs (makes us all glow so nicely at night) as pink pillows. The mixture of antiques and modern furniture – especially the splashes of clear Lucite accent pieces, felt rich and current. The hostess had a real flair although I couldn’t figure out how she got away with it all.

And then I got it.

Standing in their kitchen I noticed a closet door where the host was surrounded by a gaggle of men attentively peering inside. What was it that they were inspecting so closely? I sauntered over in my Lily Pulitzer and saw the most humungous stereo system ever. And it rocked the house. I walked through the main floor rooms and each one had a different concert going on; the acoustics made you feel like you were right there in the recording studio with the artists. It was pretty cool, I have to admit.

So it all made sense. The host was probably more than happy for his wife to be engaged in the myriad of decorating decisions during their renovation. It left him all the time in the world to research and plot the world’s greatest stereo system.

As I left the party I reassured Kiki that there were absolutely no problems in our hosts’ marriage and that the way to a man’s heart is through his stereo.

[Photos from Coco+Kelley via Flickr]