graycen and ice cream

A combination of the summer heat and a heavy toddler have left me traveling less and less with my camera but on a rare occasion, just a few Sunday’s back, I lugged the thing around. It was a Sunday afternoon when I had managed to pack way too much into a single day. There were just too many experiences happening around the city and I wanted to be in the middle of everything. Our final destination was to be an ice cream social at Murray’s Cheese Shop in the West Village. My son hasn’t acquired a taste for ice cream so I knew he’d be less then impressed. Wanting to add some joy to his day we hit up a few new playgrounds in the neighborhood.

graycen, a park in the west village

After the water sprinklers had been dealt with we dived into some ice cream. It was good.. but the hot fudge – flipping phenomenal! And the crushed almonds from Spain – to die for! We left the store having purchased both items and then spent the week eating Ice Cream Sunday’s into the wee hours of the night after Graycen had went to sleep.

 It was a good week.

murray's cheese shop, west village

 

cheese crates, murray's cheese shop, west village

 

ice cream social, murray's cheese shop

 

ice cream social

 

 .. and that hot fudge that you really HAVE to try, go here to learn more http://www.knipschildt.com/flash.html

supper in brooklyn

image by Karen Mordechai

I went with my wonderful husband to Sunday Suppers last weekend. It’s all a bit surreal at this point since images from the event seem to be all over the blogosphere. My inner giddy voice just keeps squeaking “I was there…. I WAS THERE!” 

Since I’m probably the 100th person to write about it I’ll keep it simple and just say this. The space was big yet intimate and had views that made you stop, be still and take it all in. And when you caught yourself you realized you were surrounded by amazing people. It was such a perfect evening with kind, talented and easy going folks. To all those that were involved, thank you for such a wonderful night. 

I must add that I even met Amy Atlas. She is as charming and pleasant and had the funniest story about her sons loving the Barefoot Contessa. My husband said I gushed a bit too much and he’s right but I think she handled my babbling well. 

I didn’t take too many photos since I was in the company of real photographers and it seemed a bit silly. In total I snapped three images which is fine since just as I thought, it wasn’t a big deal ….  photos seem to be everywhere.

 

dinner table

 

summer party planning

food: catered by SpaHa Cafe

 

I’m finally able to sit down and share the details for the summer party I mentioned here. I was on the Planning Committee with two other amazing tenants that made the whole experience a lot of fun. As I mentioned before, we had a tiny budget but I think we pulled it off wonderfully. People in my co-op are still buzzing about how much fun it was. I highly encourage everyone to get out and meet their neighbors. Plan your own party and have fun doing it. 

And if you find yourself planning something, here is one tip: be open to change. I always say this, then I always forget this and then somehow I find myself in a bind remembering what I swore I wouldn’t forget – be open to change. Example, we had a color pallet pretty early in the planning stages. Then after a search for beverage buckets I found a sweet deal at Bed Bath and Beyond for some dirt cheap buckets that were perfect in every way. As in great summer colors, an ideal size and priced perfectly at $5. They weren’t in our color scheme so we come up with a new color scheme that I even ended up liking more. It was so much easier to adapt to the situation and accept the change. In the process we saved money which is always ideal in these tight economical times we live in.

I know with myself, I often have these ideal images pretty quickly in the planning process. Then I want to stick to it and see that image come to life. But somewhere, somehow I always get a curve ball. Life is just so much more pleasant.. so much more beautiful if you just roll with the curve ball.

I didn’t get to take as many photos as I had hoped but I think this gives you a good sense of our summer soiree. 

decor: balloons in red, yellow and blue

 

balloons, beverages and buckets

 

wine: trader joe's

 

dessert table

graycen

Apple Store, New York

This weekend is almost a blur. Way too much packed into four days (since I had Monday and yesterday off). The new computer is perched on my desk but it has seen almost no use since I’m ridiculously busy. When I did log in there were things I just couldn’t figure out but that’s expected. As to when I’ll attempt to figure things out, who knows.

Anyhow, all that is beside the point. What I did want to say is that we took Graycen to the Apple store on Friday night. It was late, like bedtime late. He was less then impressed though the structure of the store is gorgeous. If you haven’t seen it you’ll realize it’s glass… as in all glass. If you have a small child, say a 21 month old, be careful or laugh hysterically. My son ran right into the glass. As in he had no clue there was something blocking him from wherever it is he wanted to be and he ran head first into the glass. There was a loud bang and lots of heads that bobbed up as they heard the noise. And then there were tears. Don’t worry, he’s fine, his head is fine, the glass is fine but it was a bit surreal to watch and I don’t think my little guy understood what happened. And I didn’t laugh until after I checked him out but at some point it was pretty comical. Like the Windex commercial where the leady cleans the glass and then a bird flies right into glass but in this case the bird was my son.

Ouch!

i’m (almost) speechless

 

the iMac

This should be interesting.

I just got back from the Apple Store. My husband and I purchased a new computer on our lunch breaks. We’ve had the same computer for 10 years and I’m pretty certain it’s about to die any day now. Did you catch that, 10 years! To say she’s slow is an understatement.

 

The thing is, I’ve actually never used an iMac. Never! I’ve asked lots of questions and I’ve been to the Apple Store a lot but in all those visits I never actually did much aside from talk (and ask a lot of questions). I know I want an iMac and I know an iMac is right for us but damn – this might be one long ass learning curve.

Tonight we’re packing up the little one for a trip to the Apple Store. We need to hand over our PC so they can transfer over our iTunes. It should take a day or so which means I’m about to be completely computer-less. And since it’s the weekend I can’t say when I’ll make the treck from our home to the store to pick-up our new computer. It’s fine though. My head is swimming in stuff so it’s probably for the best. Maybe I’ll even find my sanity during these next computer free days. 

Have a good weekend folks!

beautiful living

Amy Atlas Events via Amy Atlas

Amy Atlas Events via Amy Atlas

Score!

My nanny, who you might recall my son is OBSESSED with, will be sitting for us on Sunday. This means we are officially in for Sunday Supper. I think I need to holler “score!” one more time. Oh, and can I share the Moroccan Feast Menu that we’ll be cooking up.

M E N U

pan seared harissa brushed lemon sole filet, parsley and mint puree, lemon cilantro yogurt sauce

tajine w/chicken, preserved lemon and cracked olives

coriander and feta polenta

roasted beet salad with fresh mint

fig and sesame tart with orange cardamom cream

Doesn’t it sound lovely!

Now here’s the thing. I’m so not creative about what I eat and yes, I’m a bit picky. I’m not really into feta, beets or figs. Those just aren’t my thing BUT I’m all about the experience which is what I’m most looking forward to.

Forgive me, I just lied. That’s the second most important thing I’m looking forward to. Most important, getting to see an Amy Atlas table in persons. I hadn’t mentioned it but she’ll have a dessert table at the Sunday Supper. And even though she never got back in touch with me after my love letter I still adore her work.

Swoon!

weekend plans

 

 

 

image by Karen Mordechai via Sunday Suppers

 Thank you for all the recent comments! I love comments! 

This weekend I’m attending Sunday Supper. I forgot about it, well not really forgot about it… just time snuck up on me and I neglected to find a sitter. Opps!

For those not certain what Sunday Supper is, it’s a collaboration between two artists – Casey and Karen. They have formed this deliriously perfect concept of a cooking class followed by dinner with new friends and what I am sure is amazing food. Casey teaches the class and then Karen photographs everything. The images from past suppers makes me drool like a hung over fat man. I am so eager to meet the ladies on Sunday and I’m equally eager to get out for a wonderful date night with my husband.

I just need to find that sitter for my son.  

 

Sunday Supper, images by Karen Mordechai

Sunday Suppers, French Dinner, image by Karen Mordechai

home decor: craft space

image via flickr bitsandbobbins

 

This image makes me swoon.

I think I’m useless to most things right now. I’m so consumed with my thoughts and ideas that I feel checked out of most everything. One of the few comment worthy things floating in my head right now is that I want to form a work space for crafts and such within the 1000 square feet I call home. It’s exciting to think of but given our limited space a lot of things have to occur to make this work and all the details are draining.

The only feasible place to put this work space is our bedroom. I’m fine with this but we’ll have to move our bed near the window which means I’d want to have the window double pained (I think that’s what it’s called). It’s where they basically add an insulation to block the outside noise. And moving the bed means we’ll be covering the hole for the air conditioner. These last two summers we’ve managed to make it through with no air in our bedroom yet committing to no air conditioning in the bedroom scares me.

Lots of storage is high on my list of necessities for this work space. I’m about sold on a counter from IKEA but it’s pricy. That’s actually a smaller issue. By bigger issue is that the counter/table I’m looking at is not meant to be used as a desk. It’s a kitchen counter. That mean it would be a bit awkward to pull a chair up. I mostly do crafts standing since oddly I feel I have more control of things but as with my air conditioner issue I’m scared to make a commitment to a table that probably isn’t the most comfortable if I intend to pull a chair up to it. I feel like I’ll have a better sense of things if I tested out the table first but this isn’t the sort of purchase you can test drive.

I’m typing all this out and thinking “clearly I have a commitment issue!” It really shouldn’t be this draining, should it?

If anyone has any thoughts I’d be interested in hearing them. Below is an image from OhJoy!, she has the table I’m really coveting right now but scared of committing to.

image via ohjoy!

home decor: we got problems

 

Hobbs Vase

 

Hmm, I wonder if I’m missing something. I just purchased this pale green vase. I read the description before purchasing it but clearly not close enough. If you read it you’ll see that it declares the color as white. And yes, the main description references glossy white glaze but I still thought the under color was green. It looks green!

Peeps, is this white or green? Dear gosh tell me it’s green! White will work but I purchased it because it was green.

Whatever, no need to answer that question. I just Googled it to see it on another site and yep… it’s white. Still lovely but not what I had really wanted. Blah!

Description: Plump and modern, the Hobbs vase features a clean, curving silhouette that contrasts its ornately detailed surface. Small round concave “buttons” form a textural all-over surface pattern that has an organic appeal. The glossy white glaze make this piece perfect for any setting, especially modern and streamlined spaces. Use this to display brightly colored flowers such as Gerber daisies or dahlias – the vase and flowers will create the perfect play of colors and textures!

Color: White

Dimensions: 11” diameter x 8” H

home decor: a pretty bed

I saw this image on Made by Girl via Country Living and I keep mentally obsessing over it. I have a perfectly good headboard that I’d like to replace. But now I’m thinking this is brilliant in the mean time – basically a slip cover for your headboard (and footboard, though I ditched our footboard about three years ago). I think the possibilities are endless and our headboard has a basic rectangular shape so I think this would be easy enough.

My mom’s a sewer but she claims I’m too fussy and will probably refuse to work with me. Mom, it’s called perfection!!

Never mind… I’ll just hire someone BUT how do you find such a person. Help!

image via MadeByGirl via Country Living