martha, kiwis, a view, and karaoke

Last week, I was in the same building as Martha Stewart two days in a row! If that's not noteworthy, I don't know what is.

One evening, Erin and I attended a book signing at West Elm.

The ladies from the Little Flower School put together a gorgeous book of arrangements and had several of their masterpieces spread throughout the store. (Erin and I have the same camera and she taught me a few tricks and settings to get fun pictures. Thanks for the tips, Erin! I guess I should read the manual :) ).

Erin and I had a few drinks and commiserated about our sad floral arranging skills while dreaming of owning everything at West Elm. Just as we were thinking about leaving, none other than the Martha Stewart walks in! We tried to play it cool, but I was a big nerd and tried to get a picture. It's pretty comical how many bad pictures I captured. That Martha is elusive! 

This was eventually the best one I got and then decided to give up being a stalker. People magazine won't be calling me anytime soon for my paparazzi skills.

The next evening, Jenn and I attended an Apartment Therapy talk at ABC Home. This is one of my favorite series to attend. They always have interesting speakers, ABC Home is beyond gorgeous, and the bartenders sure know how to pour a good glass of wine.

This month, they added a new feature where a couple diy'ers share a quick project to start things off. I'm going to pass on terra cotta pot lampshades but am seriously considering making a drum shade to dress up the lame lights in my apartment. Thanks, Engineer Your Space! 

This evening, the main guest was Pilar Guzman, the editor-in-cheief of Martha Stewart Living Magazine (and founding editor of the former Cookie magazine). While I'm not exactly the Martha demographic (although does anyone remember Blueprint? That was my fave of all time...maybe even more than domino... seriously.), I still have respect for the magazine and it's content and how Ms. Guzman is taking it in a slightly more modern direction. 

The conversation often turned to parenthood, so Jenn and I weren't too incredibly engaged. Kiddos aren't exactly our concern du jour, but it was refreshing to hear Pilar Guzman talk about modern, urban parents who maintain some level of design aesthetic even when kids have ugly toys. Good to know :)

Word is that Martha was in the house but didn't make a public appearance. She did bring us gift bags though! It just had a few MS magazines but it's always fun to get free stuff!

The next evening, Kurt's boss, Steven, and his wife, Wendy, had us over to their brand spanking newly renovated apartment for dinner. I never saw it in the "before" state but love the "after"! Everything is simple and crisp and white without being cold or severe. They incorporated some really creative, inexpensive solutions that look great. Even though the place isn't huge, they organized things very smartly, so it will be a great home for entertaining. 

I was so flattered they took a little inspiration from the bathroom makeover I did for Kurt.....yep, those matches! :) It's all in the details. 

I want a new apartment now! It's amazing how different a one bedroom feels from my dinky studio. Walls! Doors! Separation! Sigh.

Kurt's boss made some delicious roasted monkfish for dinner.

Kurt and I contributed this black bean and corn salad (adapted from this recipe). This is one of my go to (all the time) recipes, especially in the summer. It's super simple and can support tons of variations on the ingredients. Try it!

It was lovely to share a meal with Steven and Wendy, but the main purpose of our visit was to help plan Kurt and Erik's trip to the South Pacific. Yes, you read that correctly. Kurt is leaving me for 19 days (tomorrow, no less!) to travel to Samoa and New Zealand! I am very sad he will be gone, but I'm honestly not that torn up because this trip has been a long time in the making, and I have no doubt he will have an amazing time. (Maybe it hasn't hit me yet either. We'll see!) He's spending part of his time in Samoa working on a project he and his boss have been helping with for a few years (remember this fundraiser?). Afterwards, Kurt is meeting up with his brother and they are going to traverse (by rental car) the entire North Island of New Zealand. Steven is a native kiwi, as is another architect friend (seen here holding the fork), so they had lots of good advice on places to visit, parts to avoid, and amounts of sunscreen to wear. It all sounds incredible. I'm beyond jealous.

I'm going to miss you, Kurt! Maybe I can convince you to guest post about your travels when you return?!

I recently became an Architecture League member. I would like to say all their interesting lectures convinced me (it was part of the motivation!), but they also have a members-only monthly happy hour at various architecture offices around the city that was the main selling point. I get a free plus one, which I agreed to usually award to Kurt, so it's such a good deal (believe me, I crunched the numbers)! The latest "First Friday" was at Buro Happold in the Financial Distict. Theyre a large, multidisciplinary firm, so their office was pretty big but the showstopper is their amazing terrace and view.

They look right over Trinity Church (and cemetery which helps preserve their view) and a nice vantage point of the growing World Trade Center (re)construction. Watching the sun set over the Hudson River isn't a bad way to spend your Friday night :)

 After the Arch League happy hour, we met up with some friends at Hope and Anchor in Red Hook. I really liked the label on this beer and then realized it is from New London, the small town in Connecticut that I take the train to when I visit my grandmother much too infrequently.

The fun thing about Hope and Anchor is karaoke night and the drag queen that runs it :) There were definitely some regulars there and the host and bartender even had a few acts worked out. It was great! Only a few from our group were brave enough to try a song (Kurt paid his respects to John Denver with Take Me Home, Country Roads) but everyone had a blast. Can't wait to go back!

I was so lazy Saturday night and flaked out on two birthday parties in Manhattan. Did I mention the weekend's weather was gorgeous? Hot even? Sometimes (most of the time, actually) I love Brooklyn so much, I have a hard time leaving unless it's mandatory. To make up for my inter-borough laziness, I agreed to cook dinner for Kurt. I made a baked lemon and artichoke risotto {found via} with zucchini and squash salad {found via} and, in my attempt to be Italian, a plate of prosciutto. It was all delicious, if I do say so myself :)

{via our fave bartender, Matt's, instagram}

After dinner, we met up with Erik and Andrea at Korzo. The bar was celebrating its 4 year anniversary by giving away free beers. Did I mention I love Brooklyn?

So in an effort to not miss Kurt too much, I'm off on a short trip to Washington DC this weekend, taking the Schematic Design section of my ARE this Thursday (eek!), and I just joined twitter! I can't decide what to tweet yet, but follow me @MelGraveline once I figure out how it all works :)

debbieneedles @ abc home

Last week, Jenn and I went to a talk at ABC Home put on by Apartment Therapy. I've been to this series before and always enjoy it because they serve ample glasses of wine :) This time I was super excited to hear Deborah Needleman speak. She was the founding editor of Domino magazine and is the current editor of the Wall Street Journal Magazine. I've always had this unnatural obsession with magazines and constantly dream of some future involving architecture/design and publishing. Still working on that. 

Anyway, Deborah Needleman was lovely and candid and had some great insight into the world of magazines. I recently bought two of her books: Domino: The Book of Decorating and The Perfectly Imperfect Home. After the talk, Jenn and I stood in line to have them signed and say hello to Ms. Needleman. When it was my turn, she was so sweet and kind and signed my book, but for the life of me, I could not think of anything intelligent to say to her. Luckily, instead of saying something dumb, I said very little. Oh well. When I come to her years later for a publishing job, hopefully she won't remember that mute girl clenching her signed book and smiling awkwardly.

On a less embarrassing note, while standing in line, I ran into a girl who went to Auburn! AUBURN! This is a big deal. The world is rarely this small. She graduated from architecture school two years ahead of me and has lived in NYC ever since. She is currently also studying for her exams and invited me to her study group. Lucky me!

video tour

Yesterday, I got an email from Lonny magazine and west elm for a contest. It is the chance to win $10,000 worth of stuff from west elm and have your space styled by the editor of Lonny. I'm a big nerd and ran home immediately to record my video submission. I wouldn't mind decorating my apartment piece by piece over time, but I'm not one to turn down free stuff either. I enter contests all the time but rarely win, so I've got my fingers crossed for this one. If nothing else, it forced me to learn more about how amazing my iPhone is and create a short video to show you the apartment in its current state. There is so much still to be done. I won't even go into defending the space (but please don't judge my lackluster video skills and try to ignore that bicycle hiding in the corner!).

Now don't go entering the contest for yourself and ruining my chances! Stories of the moving process are still to come, I promise.

New Project

Having brunch with some designer ladies the other day made me realize I need to step up my game in the decorating department. My apartment is seriously lacking. I decided to spice up the little wall as you enter my room. So far, I like it. I don't love it though. There is a lot going on.

The mirrors are Ikea which I have had since my glory days at University Corner in Auburn. My mom graciously sent them to me here in NYC--probably so they aren't cluttering her house in Alabama.

I got the idea to hang the magazines from this cute little cafe in my neighborhood called Smooch. Instead of spending money I don't have on art for my walls, why not hang magazines I love and already own on bulldog clips!? Brilliant.

Speaking of decorating with no money, my next project will be a faux headboard over my bed which Kurt and I "rescued" from the curb. Stay tuned.

Domino Archive!

While wasting time at work, I ran across someone's twitter feed saying that Domino Magazine (one of my favorite decorating publications which folded recently) was back. Too good to be true!!! Well, it sort of is. The magazine is not coming out with any new issues, but brides.com (weird) has taken ownership of all the old content and is putting it on their website in an archive. Find it here.

I really like all the new online magazines I'm coming across like Lonny and Southern Flourish, but there is just something undeniable satisfying about the print version. I miss you domino!

Note Zooey Deschanel :) I can't wait for She & Him!!