It's been a couple of weeks since my last post and I have so much to report on. But first things first! Architectural Digest Home Design Show 2012 weekend.
On Friday, two of my girlfriends from school (Jackie and Liz) and I met at 6:30am at Union Station to get on the first Bolt Bus to NYC for the weekend. I was seriously regretting booking such and early bus ride but some how after a crazy long week I managed to make the bus on time, I may or may not have been the last person to board :)
We arrived in NYC around 11am and after browsing through a couple of shops - we made our way to the hotel on the Upper East Side, left our bags, freshened-up the make-up and hair and hit the town. Our first stop was a fantastic organic vegan restaurant on the Upper East Side named Candle 79 - where we enjoyed a delicious lunch, my first all vegan meal EVER. Thanks to Jackie for suggesting it, I was pleasantly surprised, loved it!
Our next destination was ABC Carpet & Home - a huge, eclectic, high-end home decor emporium in the Flat Iron district. It's one of those places where you can spend hours browsing and admiring the displays and unless you're part of the 1% - chances are you won't be able to afford much. We walked quite a bit to get there, so after an hour or so (and after someone who will remain nameless bought $75 pillow cases) we were pretty beat and decided to head back to the hotel. At check-in we got a huge surprise, we were upgraded to an amazing 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom suite facing Park Ave., it was fabuLOUS!!!
Jackie's husband Sam (a foodie and a sweetheart) had arranged our evening for us, we were expected for drinks at Terroir Bar and dinner at Hearth Restaurant. These two establishments share the same block and the same owners in the East Village. I have to say, it was one of the best dining experiences I've had in the U.S.in a while, both in terms of food/wine quality and service. Definitely worth going back to. Thanks Sam!!! (not sure if Sam would ever read this post, but just in case :)
The next day, before heading to Pier 94 for AD's Home Design Show, we had lunch at Bouchon Bakery in Columbus Circle, this is one of my favorite places in the city for a casual lunch. I ordered the usual, a grill cheese sandwich with tomato soup, so yummy.
Later that afternoon, we finally made it to the main attraction and the purpose of this trip, the AD show. My overall impression of this year's design show was good but I had higher expectations in terms of cutting edge design and technology. My favorite part was by far the "Dining by Design NY" exhibit with more than 40 one of a kind dining tablescapes that were absolutely inspiring, this exhibit alone made the trip totally worthwhile for me. I didn't think to bring my good digital camera but was able to use my phone to snap a few pictures of my absolute favorites.
The first is by Mark Cunningham, stunning! nuff said. The second is by NYU, this sort of avant garde garden party design was gorgeous in person, it had a very charming and sweet appeal and would be perfect for a bridal shower. As we admired it - Jackie and I immediately wondered how we could go about having a Corcoran display in future shows, we have so many talented people in our graduate program that could for sure create a design that would be just as good or better, we'll definitely have to look into that further. N'ways, back to the design that were actually there, the third is by Shawn Henderson, I loved the triangular-shaped table and stools. The entire display was perfect - the form, the cool grays, the perfect art piece and sculptural vintage lamp (unfortunately, cut-off in my picture) make for an effortless, stylish and sophisticated ambiance.
There were also some really cool technology displayed in the Kitchen area, such as the Best "SORPRESA" hood range collection. The hood range designs were very modern and chic, I absolutely loved the exhausts specifically designed for apartments/condos available in duct and non- duct versions, below.
There were also some really cool technology displayed in the Kitchen area, such as the Best "SORPRESA" hood range collection. The hood range designs were very modern and chic, I absolutely loved the exhausts specifically designed for apartments/condos available in duct and non- duct versions, below.
2 hours later we decided to hit the road again, get our bags and grab a bite to eat before our 6:30pm bus back to DC. We went with another one of Jackie's fabulous suggestions and headed to the Chelsea Market, after being mesmerized by the fact that throughout so many years of living and visiting NYC, I had never been there, we sat down at Friedman's Lunch for some pretty amazing comfort food.
We were thoroughly enjoying our meals until one of us noticed the time (this was a total holy crap moment), needless to say, our dinner ended abruptly. At 6:15pm we finally ran out of the restaurant (while I was still trying to get a few last bites of my pulled pork sandwich, it was delish!). And I literally mean RAN, so out of character, we looked crazy, 3 girls, 2-totes and a rolling bag running through the market. With only 15 minutes to go over 30th blocks, we tried our best to stay optimistic, we really didn't have a choice, the later buses were all sold out.
We finally jumped in a cab and told our driver "we are trying to make a 6:30 bus". A few violations of red lights later, we got dropped off on the corner of 33rd and 8th with 2 minutes to go, we ran across what seemed like the longest block in NYC. A hot New York minute later (literally), I finally caught a glimpse of the bus boarding the very last passengers. When we finally arrived, the bus driver gave us the "late" talk for arriving right at 6:30pm, apparently they sell the empty seats to standby passengers 5 minutes before the time of departure. Therefore, he wasn't sure if there were any seats left for us .You gotta be kiddin'!
They counted the seats and by pure luck there were exactly three seats left. Liz and I enjoyed the 4-hour ride from the last row next to the bathroom, while Jackie sat next to someone so unfortunately over-weight that required a seat and a half, so Jackie sat on the half left.
So, here are my takeaways from our fantastic weekend:
1. We saw amazing and inspirational designs,
2. Had awesome food and wine, and
3. Learned "don't be tardy" for the bus, otherwise, you'll end up next to the fattie or praying that no one gets up to use the bathroom (and if they do, cheer for #1, ewwwhhh... I know, still said it :)
We finally jumped in a cab and told our driver "we are trying to make a 6:30 bus". A few violations of red lights later, we got dropped off on the corner of 33rd and 8th with 2 minutes to go, we ran across what seemed like the longest block in NYC. A hot New York minute later (literally), I finally caught a glimpse of the bus boarding the very last passengers. When we finally arrived, the bus driver gave us the "late" talk for arriving right at 6:30pm, apparently they sell the empty seats to standby passengers 5 minutes before the time of departure. Therefore, he wasn't sure if there were any seats left for us .You gotta be kiddin'!
They counted the seats and by pure luck there were exactly three seats left. Liz and I enjoyed the 4-hour ride from the last row next to the bathroom, while Jackie sat next to someone so unfortunately over-weight that required a seat and a half, so Jackie sat on the half left.
So, here are my takeaways from our fantastic weekend:
1. We saw amazing and inspirational designs,
2. Had awesome food and wine, and
3. Learned "don't be tardy" for the bus, otherwise, you'll end up next to the fattie or praying that no one gets up to use the bathroom (and if they do, cheer for #1, ewwwhhh... I know, still said it :)
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