Monday Bouquet

I'm back on flower duty for the office, and there are always little short guys leftover that don't fit in my arrangements. Today I felt like they deserved to live on as a bouquet. Forgive the photo quality, Blackberrys really take the worst photos.


I really need a bud vase for my desk.

Visions Of P.C.B.

I'm obsessed with the Waffle House. There is one on either side of where we are staying, probably 100 yards right or left. They are so iconic, and I love the lettering. I hope they never update their look. We plan on going on Sunday after the race for some really greasy food. Chicken fried steak has been invoked.

The gulf is beautiful. Happy to report no traces of oil. I went in yesterday after a tough run. Just took off my shoes, socks, visor, and t-shirt and went in. The water is warmer than the air, it was like a bath. This must have been the most liberating thing I've done in years. It was awesome. And the waves in the Gulf are just about the size I like. It is my kind of body of water. So glad BP didn't permanently destroy it. That would have been a shame.

Oh, and our cab driver told us that BP has been amazing at fulfilling claims. Seven to ten days and they FedEx you your check. And some people are getting more than they asked for. How about that for good news?

Here is the sunset we watched last night from our room. New vacation criteria: let's go places we can see amazing sunsets, because we don't see enough sunsets.

Seven More Questions

In our second installment of Seven Questions I picked the brilliant technicolor brain of one of my best friends, Renu. She is a fabulous Manhattan dwelling friend, wife, professional, and mom-to-be! In fact the present wrapped in December paper in my last post was a gift for her growing bean, who is due in December!

Q 1. What's something you wish more people knew?

A 1. Their blood type. I can never seem to remember mine.

Q 2. Current sources of inspiration? (Books, websites, movies, music, people, places, food)

A 2. Elle Decor for aspirational living spaces, Garance Dore for clothes/style, Papercrave for paper/design inspiration, fffound as well, 'Lagerfeld Confidentiel' for Karl Lagerfeld's direct quotes and comic relief, 'Casino' has been visually inspiring for me since high school, Alexa Chung for style, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg for career inspiration, tomato cheddar soup from Hale and Hearty to warm you up, the blue seas around Tobago for brilliant color.

Sam Rothstein takes a smoke break.

Alexa Chung's cat eyes.

Q 3. What did you want to be when you grew up? What do you do now?

A 3. My mom reminds me that my first proclaimed aspiration was to be a 'doggie doctor.' I am the farthest thing from a vet. Just took a new job in finance (my background) and will be taking on the job of a lifetime (being a mama) in December! 

Q 4. When you look back on your first love, how do you think your idea of love has changed or stayed the same? What have you learned from then to now?

A 4. Changed: Love doesn't have to be rife with barriers and sacrifice. When it is the right person, things will flow and it will come together and just work, unobstructed. Stayed the same: It is perfectly OK to be infatuated with your partner, even after 5.5 years!

Q 5. What is your biggest weakness? (Spiritual, disciplinary, dietary)

Q 5. Inability to commit to an exercise routine. Ever.

Q 6. Three things you want or are working toward in your future?

Q 6. A house. A creative enterprise at some point. A kick-ass family of my own to add to the two families I already have.

Q 7. And finally, for my records, chocolate/chocolate, chocolate/vanilla,  vanilla/vanilla or other (please specify)? (This is helpful in case I am ever bringing you dessert).

A 7. With regards to cupcakes? Vanilla with vanilla icing! Or carrot with orange vanilla icing! Or vanilla with chocolate icing! You decide. [OK, hummingbird cupcakes! Since you introduced me to them!]

Reusing Is Where It's At

Took home a bunch of old Dolphin Studio calendars from work a few months ago when we were cleaning out a closet. They are nice enough that you don't want to get rid of them at the end of the year, but unless you are particularly attached to a month that you want to hang up on its own, what do you do with them?

You reuse the pages as wrapping paper! 


Awesome since I love paper gift wrappings and adornments but won't let myself go crazy spending a lot of money on dreamy gift wrap since it all gets ripped up and thrown out. This is the best of both worlds. 

Cozy Fall Weekend Ahead

My mom is about to make some upgrades to her kitchen and asked for my help. The room as it is now is beloved to her, but she recognizes that new cabinets offer much needed organization opportunities and storage space. Of course this leads to all sorts of questions of layout, new appliances, and new materials, and then next thing you know you have a project on a scale much larger than what you had envisioned. I think she is bringing me in for reinforcement, so she doesn't just retreat from the whole thing.


The first thing I do when approaching a home project is accumulate a lot of inspiration by looking through magazines and design blogs. It propels me into action. When the project gets underway and I start to feel a little lost, I always go back to it as a reminder of what's on the other side of all the discomfort, second-guessing, anxiety, mess, and bills. (I hate an inbetween stage.) So my first move was to send Mom images of good kitchens I have on file. I went through all the jpegs in my dropbox (Do you have one for your home and work computers? Life changing!!!), and in the process came across some images from a tiny 1840s farmhouse in upstate New York that I die for. It has nothing to do with my mom's project but I had to share. 

It is the epitome of this time of year in the Northeast.  This morning on my way out the door Mr. SevPrez told me I looked nice, "very Northeast," (plaid shirt and cropped corduroy peacoat) to which I replied, "Well, that's where we are!" But he begged to differ. He thinks we are just tristate. Can't we be both? Or do I really have to give it up and just move six hours north? Please advise.

Love the wall color, the map, the globe, the beat up table, etc. 

Amazing hand-papered wall treatment with blank antique paper. I have always loved this look, but this is the first time I've ever seen it done with blank paper. Lots of great bathrooms in restaurants in New York have done it with old books or newspapers. I would love to do this in a bathroom but I think maybe it's only worth doing in our "adult house." This is what my sister-in-law calls the house you see your kids growing up in. I'm not there yet, but hope our next house will be the one. We'll keep saving our pennies.