the week I worked in fashion

Have you ever thought you wanted something really badly, only to discover you didn't really want the reality of it at all? Life is kind of like that sometimes, right?

Well, When Dan and I moved back to NY in January, I thought I really wanted to work in Fashion. I had been doing visuals with J. Crew part time and I felt like a job in visual merchandising would be my dream come true. I interviewed a couple of places, and and was simultaneously interviewing for some more traditional NY corporate jobs.

After a couple of ups and downs, I ended up with two offers. One with an up and coming fashion house designing the displays for their store windows, and one working with a Hedge Fund. I was torn. The fashion one sounded so glamorous, and in some ways it sounded like a dream come true-but I had loved the people at the Hedge fund so much! I was really torn.

Anyway, after a little nudging and coaxing from Dan, I ended up taking the job with J. Mendel. If you are not familiar with them, you should definitely check out their collection at style.com or their website. J. Mendel is super popular with celebrity crowd (it makes sense since their evening gowns cost about $20,000 and no one but celebrities could afford them) and they were a definite favorite at the Oscars this year for evening wear. Part of my job duties included attending the runway shows, browsing Madison Avenue boutiques to check out the competition, designing windows displays, and making sure our boutique at bergdorfs and our Madison avenue store were in top shape. Unfortunately I only lasted a week.

It wasn't so much that I hated the job, I was more that it just turned out not to be the right thing for me, which I realized when I saw one of my bulimic co-workers throwing up in the bathroom after lunch, but that is another story. Luckily the hedge fund was still waiting there when I changed my mind!

Anyway, fast forward about 7 months, and here I am sitting at my desk, when I stumble upon this post about my former boss's apartment on one of my new favorite blogs, Habitually Chic.

I never knew Gilles was so cool, maybe if I had, I would have stuck around. Luckily, I still get a little taste of that high fashion when I walk by the windows I would have designed every morning on my way to work, and see what my replacement came up with!

Over the river and through the woods...

To Utah we will go! I know that the holidays seem like ages away but I just wanted to tell all you Utah friends and family that Dan and I bought our tickets for Christmas so get excited! We'll be home from December 14-25. We Can't wait to spend lots of time hanging out in SLC, celebrating a few weddings, welcoming one of our favorite missionaries home, seeing the new babies, and all the usual Holiday fun! Mark your calendars!

I found it!

Yes I am referring to the needle in the haystack. After months of searching and looking at probably at least 40 apartments I finally found the one! We are so excited! I knew there was deal out there to be had, and I couldn't rest until I tracked it down.

We will be moving the end of December. We are generally staying in the same neighborhood but moving a little further uptown closer to church and the express train. I have pictures to post soon and we sign the lease this week! We are taking over someone else's lease so that is why we were able to find it so far in advance.

The best news is we will now have PLENTY of room for house guests, dinner guests, and just plain fun! And yes, we will now actually have a full size fridge and a whole extra room! Of course I am ecstatic!

Did I mention it is $100 less than we pay now, and easily twice the size? Only in NY!

p.s. that picture is definitely not of our new apartment, but it never hurts to have a little inspiration!

Sugar and Spice

Just a couple of snapshots from a baby shower I helped throw recently. It was perfectly pink! The theme for the shower was, "There's a bun in the oven" so we tried to stick to the whole concept of baking, hence the cookie cutters and recipe cards as favors! I am pretty sure I consumed my body weight in mini-cupcakes since we had three different flavors to choose from!

spell with FLickr!

Genius! Go to this link and you can spell any word you want with images of letters from Flickr! I just might have to use this for a new blog heading!

Is it jacket weather where you are yet? This little number from The Gap sure looks cozy for fall. It would be perfect for those chilly University of Utah football games!

Fall is in the air!

I am starting to hate J. Crew and this is why. I hate it because I love it, I hate it because every time they put new stuff online I know exactly what I want to buy and exactly what I will wear it with and it is sort driving me nuts! I just got rid of a huge pile of clothes and now I have empty drawers just begging to be filled up with new fall clothes! Someone please help me!
Love the knotted pearls and the deep forest green!

I bought last years verison of this cardigan in grey and it has been a favorite!

a little something warm and wooly!

just when I start to worry animal prints are going out of style, they come back in!

caramel, yumm!

I am dying over these adorable little caramel apples! I want to have a halloween party just so I can make these for the occasion! These would have been perfect to have at our wedding as favors, we ended up giving out home made caramels instead, I still remember how they melted in my mouth! Yum!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Dan who passed his series 7 today! I am so proud of him and the long hours and hard work he has put into studying. He was supposed to take it in July and then had to wait 2 more months for an opening! Congratulations Dan! Let's go celebrate before you have to start studying for the series 66!

Happy Birthday Samuel

It is this little sweetheart's birthday today and I hope he is having a grand time! Samuel is one of the sweetest little FOUR year olds you will ever meet! I love his shy little smiles!

Happy Birthday Buddy! Wish we could come to your party!

Designing Dilemma

For the last month this ugly chair has been sitting in our front room getting sideways glances from every guest that has walked through the door. I rescued her from street cleanup one night when Dan and I were walking home from dinner. I know this chair is a sight for sore eyes right now, but I definitely saw some hidden potential with the right upholstery, and I thought it could be a fun project to tackle.

I have been continuously searching online and in some local shops for just the right fabric, but I haven't been able to decide on anything. Here's where you come in-I WANT YOUR OPINION!

That means all of you-even those of you lurking around and not making comments, I would love to hear every one's opinion on which fabric you think would bring this antique beauty back to life.

I've picked out a few I really like for you to consider below, but if you find anything else fabulous, feel free to suggest it as well! I definitely look forward to hearing from you!

Click on the fabrics for links to purchase, the great thing is these are all really affordable!

Happy Birthday Brad

Our brother in law Brad never ceases to entertain. He is one of the most upbeat, fun loving and smartest guys we know! We sure miss playing blokus with him but hopefully we'll get together a family tournament soon! Happy birthday Brad, hope you have fun celebrating at the cabin! We love you! Our present to you is a free place to stay when you come to NY, hope to see you soon!

I wish...

Since half the people at my office are away celebrating Rosh Hashanah things have been pretty dead around work. Of course this gives me time to do fun things like read blogs and cruise eBay. Big mistake, because today I fell in love with these chairs! I wish I had room for these at my house. I am seriously tempted to buy these and ship them to Utah so one of my family members can babysit them for me until I have room! I love everything about them right down to the grass green velvet cushions! Oh how I wish these could be mine! Someone please buy these so I can live vicariously through you! They are so gorgeous!

You can bid on these here , not a bad price for a set of four!

In our current tiny New York apartment we have more pictures than we do wall space! when I saw this photo I instantly loved the collection of images, and thought maybe it would be worth a try!

Did you know?

Any of you Brits out there will be happy to hear that Topshop.com now ships to the US. You may be wondering how I discovered this since it isn't really publicized anywhere on their site, but you will be happy to know there are posters all around New York advertising this glorious fact!I am not sure what the shipping charges are like, but it is nice to know that if you found something you couldn't live without, you could have it sent across the pond! I've posted a few of my favorites above.

beautiful patterns

If you don't already know about Dover Publications then you are in for a treat! Dover publishes the most amazing collections of clip art in books and CD form by subject/category. I used some of their graphics for our weddings and I have been a fan ever since. Their designs have helped me make many a flyer/invitation/card all with the click of a mouse.

I am on their mailing list which means they send me some free designs by e-mail. These are some of the pretty little patterns I discovered in my inbox and I had to share. These are textile patterns from the 18th century-are you in love with them too?

Since my introduction to dover I have started to accumulate a little collection of clip art books and I am always happy with what I find. You can purchase them online, at Barnes and Noble, and occasionally I have found them at craft and scrapbook stores.They have everything from holiday silhouettes to Victorian fashions, so do yourself a favor and go check them out!

Also, to sign up for their mailing list click here

Happy Birthday Jonas!

I am continually asking myself "could this kid get any cuter?" and the answer is I don't think so. It seems like it was not very long ago Dan and I were racing out to Cottonwood Hopsital to meet this little guy the day he was born and now he is walking and talking and turning two!

Jonas is the happiest sweetest little guy you will ever meet and he always has a smile on his face and loves to eat. WE miss this little guy so much and can't wait to see how much he has grown when we go see him at Christmas! Happy birthday! We miss you!

Lately....

We've been pretty busy lately, which is why I haven't been posting on the blog as much. I thought I would get you up to speed on what we've been doing and seeing.

Dan in the meatpacking district before meeting up for dinner with a friend.
Doesn't he look bored?

Rows of beautiful fabric at ABC Carpet & Home

The cool old stairwell once again @ ABC

A street fair in Chelsea

Watching a broadcast of the US Open in Madison Square Park

Labor Day Yankees Game (We went to a match the US Open this same day)

Dan with our miraculous heart shaped potato chip at The Grey Dog Cafe

A View of Union Square from the panoramic windows of Filene's Basement

At the US Open (Roger Federer is amazing!)

Dan @ Carl Shurz park
Dan with a view of the East River

Cool old metal signs spotted at a street fair in the East Village

Exploring the Lower East Side.

A cool botanical garden we discovered in the east village

Chelsea Market