Random Notes

Looking across the Jackie Onassis Reservoir - toward the Upper West Side.


The assortment at Amy Perlin Antiques. Tres chic.


The perfect croissant at the perfect temperature. Just off the baking sheet.

I just read an article in the Times today about how few bloggers really stick with blogging. I've been at it since 2007 - with regularity, but haven't done a thing for a week. I've been working. Designing dining rooms and entries and selecting tile and wood and finishes. It's really fun, to be honest. I've had night time meetings - one that lasted until 11:30 and ended with wine - which made it seem much less like a meeting and more like a social event. I've had Saturday meetings. Not complaining. I love my work - but mostly, I love my clients.

But it's cutting into my blogging time, which is really best served when you have down time to think, to develop an idea, to allow that random thought to light and mature.So, instead of a mature, developed post - here are random notes from my last few days in New York.

1. I had the best croissant I've had in years. On Friday morning, I woke up to no coffee in the apartment, so I stumbled out to a rainy morning (without an umbrella.) So rather than go to my favorite coffee shop (Oren's Daily Roast) I went to Eli's because it is only a block away. At 7:45 in the morning, as someone carefully made my cappuccino, I saw a tray of fresh croissants come in, ready for display. I snatched one right off the baking tray - it was still warm. I went home and inhaled it - flaky, warm, melting, just slightly salty. Divine.

2. Later that day, I went to the Interior Design Building on East 61st. I've been looking for months for a few places - John Roselli Antiques, Amy Perlin, Lucca. Then, I learned they were all housed in this one building. It is a gold mine. Anna and I walked into John Roselli and just stood there in shock. "There is nothing I couldn't use - nothing I don't love," I said. Literally, everything I saw at John Roselli was incredible. I took a few notes, a couple of photos, some tear sheets and hoped for a client that would feel as passionate about these things I as I do. I went from Roselli to Amy Perlin. Where Roselli is more classic, Amy Perlin is more quirky. But I found a fantastic pair of vintage Maguire taborets for a client and the price was fair. I'm never happier than noodling around an antique store - and I've never seen better.

3. Lee discovered that the Jackie Onassis Reservoir in Central Park is exactly 2.75 miles around and, with the walk to and from our apartment, it takes precisely 1 hour. It is our "Lake Harriet walk" in NY. I like beginnings and endings. We walked today.

4. We continue to be surprised by how we are falling hopelessly in love with this city. Yesterday, we were given tickets to the ballet and we walked to and from Lincoln Center through the park and heard the musicians and saw the lovers and the babies and heard the German and the French and the Spanish and the languages we don't even know. And, then at the edge of the park, we emerged from the canopy of green only to see the majestic Metropolitan Museum of Art. And we strolled home, not quite believing this is our life. Then, we took a delicious nap.