Revision

Our latest update has been a long time coming. Partly due to a busy summer season, and partly due to a lack of activity on the apartment. Now that summer is ending, work on the apartment has picked up again. Our contractor is back—finishing up the punch list and almost ready to pack it up for good. Thankfully, we waited this long to complete the punch list...

It was just last week that we received the latest West Elm catalog and spied a new pendant light—one that we liked BETTER than the original one we purchased from there. And it gets BETTER still—the original pendant was still in its box and the new one was the EXACT SAME price. Happily, the West Elm folks are lenient with their exchange policy and allowed us to swap one for the other. We are still getting used to having a pendant light rather than an exposed bulb, but are pleased with the new addition. Photo of the light in place to come. In the meantime, you can see the catalog photo here—it's the small grey one on the far right.

Window Garden

After several weeks of buying flowers on Sunday and finding them dead by Tuesday, we came to the conclusion that perhaps buying a plant would be more economical. Given my disdain for orchids and most colorful flowers (lovely as they are, I always prefer white ones—even if they do symbolize death), we've decided to try our hand at raising succulents. We've done this before but with limited success in other apartments. This time, with a jade plant (middle) and two other varieties, we seem to be doing well so far—cross your fingers. Next we're hoping to add a small terrarium with ferns. We found a beautiful terrarium when we were in Lake Placid a few months ago, but alas, did not buy it thinking we could easily find one. Now that we are searching, let us know if you see a good one...

Match Set

Now that we have fully fallen in love with our not-quite-so-new-anymore sofa, we're starting to think about getting a coffee table that works with it. Up until this point we have been using a bench that used to be in our entryway, but have been toying with the idea of getting a matching ottoman for the sofa. We would like a large, oversize piece that could be used as both a coffee table and a place to rest your feet. As luck would have it, Canvas Home has just started producing a chaise that matches our sofa. AND they are willing to customize it to fit the size we want (and of course to create it without arms). We're not planning on getting this anytime soon but thinking ahead to 2012.

Next Door

The brownstone next door is still undergoing it's renovation, but is finally showing signs of nearing completion. One area of great interest to us is the terrace, which is at the same level as our apartment and sits almost next to our guest room. (Perfect for eavesdropping and spying). Maybe we'll strike up a conversation with them—shouting across the small alley between our two places. And then they can invite us over for a BBQ. All we'll need to do is extend a plank and we can walk over and join them...

Blooming Hill Farm + Stone Barns

This weekend we rented a car and took the opportunity to visit some places a bit farther than around the corner. On Saturday we did the SBR sprint triathlon in Harriman State Park—and then went to the most amazing little farm for a surprisingly wonderful post-race meal. The Blooming Hill Farm is about an hour outside of NYC, and has a small cafe, bakery, and of course sells its produce. It's also a CSA. If we lived closer (or rather, if they were closer to us), we'd love to belong. The fairy lights in the old barn made the place even more special.



On Sunday we visited another farm—Stone Barns—with Beth and Rob Turner. I still cannot believe we had never been there before. For years I've heard how wonderful it is, and wow, it's great. We arrived smack in the middle of lamb season. There were tons of them frolicking about in the pasture, along with their moms (and perhaps pops, too). We tried not to think that they would be someone's meal one day soon—even as we plan our own trip back there for dinner.

Guest Room

Last weekend Steve's brother and sister-in-law came to stay with us. This gave us the much needed kick in the pants to finally organize the storage room our second bedroom had become. Items were sold. Some thrown away. And most relocated to various closets around the apartment. Finally our second bedroom became what it was meant to be—a bedroom. Now we just need to finish furnishing it. For now we have our old sofa in there (conveniently, a sleeper sofa), a bookshelf donated by Lara's sister, and a fabulous little side cabinet we got from Archipelago in Cold Spring, New York.

Maya Muse Pillow

Our very first day on vacation in Australia, we had the opportunity explore a bit of Sydney. We only had that one day before we left the city to travel south, so we headed to the Woollahra neighborhood to visit the Donna Hay store. Since we were in the area, an Aussie co-worker suggested that we eat at Bill's—a local restaurant helmed by chef Bill Granger. The ricotta pancakes and corn fritters were as good as promised, and we decided to walk it off by heading to the nearby Paddington Market. We were lucky to be in town on a Saturday, since this is the only day the market is open. While there, we met Maya Walsh of Maya Muse Textiles and picked up this fabulous silk screen pillow case. We love how it looks on the new couch—and adore how it matches the alpaca-wool throw that we also got on the trip.