Texas in 30 Days

I am in Texas. 

I feel super. 

Possibly better than super. 

I feel at home.

My last visit to Texas was Father's Day 2008. It was comprised of a familia celebration in San Antonio at a swanky hotel resort with a man made river you could float on every hour on the hour. There was even a pool side bar with margaritas flowing kin to the river Jordan. Bliss I say. BLISS.

Fast forward 6 months and I'm legitimately in Texas, writing this blog and taking in all its glory. Big trucks. Big malls. Lots of second helpings. Big Texas skies. And at that, its for the next 30 days. 

JB & Chris [my parents] are a sweet duo and boy do they know how to make a girl happy upon arrival. They greeted me with hugs at the airport and wouldn't let me touch my bags or carry a single item to the car. I didn't even have to tip them. Was this for real?

Our first stop after leaving Austin's airport was a trip to Lockhart Texas, home of wonderful Bar-B-Q. I ordered a chopped chicken sand which, Pops had a ham sand which and Mom had a chopped beef. We parked in the back parking lot of a local car wash and ate away. Lots of laughs were exchanged before we headed back on the road to Corpus Christi.

I've only been back for less than a day and it feels like forever. I feel good and calm. The stress of work and life and putting on layers of clothing are gone...at least for a while. 

Now...where is my breakfast taquito?

HOOVER

Today I am wrapping up a week's worth of work with SKS Productions & Hoover. If you think Hoover is out dated, I have a little news for you: THEY ARE BACK. By next spring stores will be filled with their latest appliances. Check them out and get excited about cleaning up in the new year.

xo

Log Cabin

This time of year makes me long for cashmere throws and soft silk pillows near my couch or bedside. Honestly, I love having lush snuggle worthy blankets and believe that its purse non-sense not to own at least one. Enter my future Log Cab Quilt.

This holiday I will be in Texas for one month [oh goodness!] and plan to construct a Log Cabin. Just recently, my Grandmother passed down her collection of quilts to me. This gesture left me completely joyful and motivated to start my own library of stitch art. It didn't take me long to decide upon what type of quilt I would create. I vividly remember the few Log Cabins she made and innately want to follow in the tradition. Also, the history of Log Cabin quilts is reminiscent of times when making the most of what you had, even with scraps of fabric, was indeed making the best.

xo

Photos above are examples of 2 Log Cabin quilts. 2nd photo depicts a Log Cahin quilt dated [roughly between] 1865-1885. Its roots are attributed to Frances (Charles) Waring or Jeannette (Waring) DeGruyter. Possibly made out of Kentucky Wool. Size is 33” x 30” and resides as apart of the Collection of the DeGruyter/Hillery Family.

Central Park Wedding

Above are photos from a Wedding Style project I just completed with Photographers Jenny Kim and Tanya Salazar.

Thanks to Kleinfeld Bridal, I was able to pull wedding looks for our shoot that were to die for---Wow, what a dress!  This project definitely re-enforced why I love Styling so much.

During our shoot in Central Park, passers and tourists kept wishing our couple "Congrats!" We didn't have the heart to explain that the whole affair was fake. 

Why spoil the happiness?

xo

Become Your Dream: De La Vega

Yesterday my neighbor Joshua and I spent an afternoon in the East Village. Nothing too big. Just time, cappuccino, a red pepper quiche and good seats at a cafe on 10th & 1st. 

On our way to the cafe we ran across a mattress on the side of the road with simple graffiti graphics on its backside. Joshua noted it as a "De La Vega".

I'd never heard of De La Vega nor of his outstanding works in NYC. I looked up his website this morning. Take a look here. 

I dig his work and I especially like this quote of his:

"The pressure of survival in the big city will make you lose sight of your dream...hang in there."

xo

Mitchells : St. Barths

At the moment I am in St. Barths on a photo shoot with Mitchells working as a Stylist Assistant and Seamstress to Stylist Wendy McNett.

Andrew Mitchell is a wonderful client to work for and always takes his photo crew on spectacular trips. Thus far, I've had so much fun and the crew is awesome! Our villa has perfect views 0f St. Barths and the food is amazingly fresh. 

The island's photo producer, Jaque, is by far the most intriguing individual I've ever met. He's lived on the island for 25 years and never leaves his flat without his fedora hat. 

xo

Five Leaves & Greenpoint Laundromat

Today Melinda and I spent our afternoon wandering, which ultimately led us to the city and then to Greenpoint. 

I've become familiar with GP due to the multitudes of friends I have living there [now] and because of Working Class Magazine. Combined, these two social groups have me hoppin' the G train non stop; the G is the only subway connecting Park Slope to GP. Contrary to belief, the G train  is not bad. Just temperamental.

Melinda and I are considering leaving Park Slope next year when our lease is up. Leaving the park will be hard but I am ready for a change [and cheaper rent!]. I'd like to be somewhere different; less strollers would be great.

With this in mind, I wanted to introduce Melinda to Greenpoint as well as take her to a restaurant in the hood. Enter the second part of my story.

Earlier in the summer while working at BBC I'd heard of a restaurant opening up in Greenpoint that was somehow related to Heath Ledger. I then visited the building that supposedly was to be this restaurant with my friend Laura. 

The building was situated on a corner and it seemed as if the entrance would be corner style too---reminiscent of Moto's entrance. We couldn't see anything behind the butcher paper covered windows, but the joint was definitely under construction.  I knew that if I were to return I would need a visual to find it so I snapped a fuzzy pic with the good ol' iPhone and off we went.

Fast forward 4 months and Melinda and I were headed to this restaurant with my iPhone photo to act as our guide. 

When we exited the Nassau stop off the G train Melinda noted that before going to eat she wanted to peek around, get a feel of what amenities GP had to offer. Where would we shop for groceries? Where could we grab coffee before heading out on the train? How much would laundry cost? All of these thoughts were quite valid.

As luck would have it, I then spotted a laundromat out of the corner of my eye. "Why not ask someone inside how much a load costs?". 

As I approached the laundromat door front a gentlemen exited. I immediately grabbed him to inquire. 

At first he thought I asked "how much was it to elope?", but then we cleared things up. He was nice and Meli and I were happy to find out a load of washed goods was a hell of a lot cheaper in Greenpoint than Park Slope.

About 20 minutes later we finally made it to the restaurant. It looked fabulous, almost unrecognizable, and the food smelled intoxicating. We were quickly sat, drinks kin to Weather Up were served fresh from the bar and we felt the gates of heaven open. 

The night had been perfect but more was to just around the corner. 

Right before we cashed out I noticed the gentleman from the laundromat enter the restaurant. I thought "what a small world....". Moments later he came up to our table, asked if the laundromat passed approval and begin to inquire as to what we were up to. 

Well, it turns out our laundromat savior was in fact the owner of the restaurant. Jud was his name and Five Leaves is his gem. 

He was kind enough to give Meli and I a round of drinks on the house and chat about the place in sweet detail. We noted to him that the food was golden, tasted great and completely worth the trip to GP. We also mentioned our interest in Greenpoint and curiosity as to if we would thrive there. He confirmed that if we gave Greenpoint a chance, we would fall in love.

I think...no.... I know we will.

xo