Nantucket

Dan and I have been talking a little bit about some summer strips we want to take and lately I am totally obsessed with Nantucket! I just love small charming towns with lots of personality and lots of history and Nantucket seems like the perfect place. I just love the nautical colors in these images!

While I was online researching Nantucket, I cam across this websiteBlue Beetle which has really adorable custom monogrammed silver jewelry for good prices! I have been wanting one of these rings forever!

Stylish Storage

A couple of months back I attended a holiday gift fair where I stumbled upon the most adorable booth. The company was called The Macbeth Collection and they have been featured in magazines such as Blueprint, Country Living, and Instyle. Turns out this company has no brick and mortar store but their products can be purchased online and at select retailers. I cannot get over how fun and hip these are and I have to admit, to replicate this idea would be easy and cheap. I have seen lately some large metal bins similar to their at stores from target, kmart, and ikea. All it would take is some cute wrapping paper, modgepodge and some time to let it dry and voila, a Macbeth knockoff for a fraction of the price!

Spice it up!

All you new yorkers get ready, because I have a great new discovery for you. If you like Thai food you will love this! One of our favorite restaurants near where we live is called Spice. It's not too far from our apartment and they have the best Pad Thai I have ever had! No kidding. I knew about spice from when I lived in the village since they also have a location on University Place too. The great thing about these restaurants is the prices are cheap and the atmosphere is expensive, by this I mean that their restaurants are hip and cool and just the way you would imagine a NY hot spot to be. Well...last night Dan and I headed to Williamsburg to meet up with one of my NYU friends Christina for dinner. We hadn't decided where to go before hand, but when we got there she suggested this really great place called Sea, which I guess is basically kind of Williamsburg landmark. When we got there I was floored
Yes, it is really was just as cool as it looks in the picture, in fact maybe cooler. Anyhow, everything we ordered was amazing including the Pad Thai but especially the banana spring rolls (yummmmm)! I loved it! I kept telling Dan we need to take our next visitors there because Sea is just that cool. Well, as it turned out Christina mentioned they also have a location in the East Village, so of course this morning I had to look it up.....As it turns out, Spice and Sea are sister restaurants (which explains why I love the pad Thai so much)! And between the two they have a location in almost every part of the city, so wherever you are, there is probably a location convenient to you. If you are a New Yorker, you must check this out! www.spicenyc.net

Happy Birthday Caitlin (the other one)

Today is one of my very best friends birthdays! We are such good friends we share the same name! She is the most fun loving, adorable, and adventurous girl! Everyone who knows her loves her infectious laugh and rambunctious fun loving spirit! She is one of those people who is good at everything and you wish you could be just like them! Skiing, water skiing, rock climbing, you name it, she is good at it! We have been friends since elementary school and we even grew up on the same street which makes for a lifetime of fun memories!Happy Birthday Cait! You are the best!

Sew What?

I have had this urge lately to sew! Alas, no room for sewing machine in tiny new york apartment, yet another reason to move! But seriously, in the last week I have thought of twenty or so little projects I could do on the sewing machine. I always love making stuff but I am on a real craft kick right now, and the hard thing about that is in NYC they don't have Michaels or Roberts super stores that have every supply you need. Most everything is is sold in specialty stores which means 1 project= running around the city like a crazy woman to 5 different stores! We'll see, I might have to stock up on craft supplies on my visit home to Utah.

The thing that really put me over the edge was learning (from the new issue of Blueprint) that my favorite yarn shop, Purl Soho now carries the most adorable fabrics you have ever seen! Now, I need to start another quilt (I currently have 3 half-sewn)like I need a hole in my head, but the fabrics here are hard to resist! Especially the children's ones! Just for now I may have to settle for some new sew projects, but I can still buy fabric to save right?

Purl also has a great blog that I have linked on mine. They follow different craft projects people are making and also provide great resources for patterns, ideas, and all around inspriation! It's worth a look on their website! http://www.purlsoho.com

Laundry!

Let me tell you about the great laundry system we have discovered. Two doors down from our building there is a little chinese laundry shop owned by the sweetest little chinese couple you have ever seen. We are lucky they live so close because sometimes those bags of dirty clothes can get heavier than you would imagine. Anyway, here is how it works, I take them my bag of laundry and leave it with them for a day or so, and when I come back they give me a bag with clean folded clothes(it is sort of like magic), and all for only 6o cents a pound. Now since I don't actually see my clothes being washed, I once or twice must admit I have wondered if certain items actually came back freshly laundered, but for them most part they do a good job (although I do have to refold everything the right way) and they are the cheapest in the neighborhood. To some of you, this may seem like an expensive habit, but by our calculations, Dan and I have actually found it is cheaper to send our laundry out than to wash it ourselves at the laundromat next door. However, we do tend to wash some of our heavier items like bedding, and we always wash our whites ourselves. Last night we were working on some projects, tidying up the house and doing laundry. Amongst phone calls, friends re-runs, and going out to dinner, we somehow forgot about our laundry in the dryer at the laundromat, when suddenly at 11 p.m. it dawned on me! Too Late! Dan ran over there to find locked doors, and dimmed lights. Ooops! when he went over this morning to grab our now wrinkled clothes from the dryer (partly hoping they were still there) the lady who works there said it happens all the time!

So....The moral of the story is, a)those who have washers and dryer in their homes are very lucky. Dan and were musing last night as we loaded the washer what a luxury it would be to own our very own washer and dryer!

and b) When you are doing laundry and trying to multi-task, make sure you set a timer, because as much as you think you will remember, you won't and there is nothing more annoying than wrinkled clothes that smell like mildew!

and c) Thanks goodness for chinese laundry!

This is my dream laundry room! Someday(Sigh)!

Happy Birthday Abby!!!!

My darling little niece turned two today! She is about as cute and sassy as they come and she just about tops the list of things that Dan and I miss about home. I feel for her sweet mom Laura, because as this one enters the terrible twos she already has the attitude! He favorite word is "no!". Dan and I have loved watching this amazing little girl grow and helping to take care of her when we've had the chance! Since she was our only little niece until the arrival of Little Amanda Jane in February, she has definitely been a spoiled little princess (in a good way). We miss Abby and wish we could give her a big squeeze on her birthday! We love you Abby!


P.S. Aren't our nieces and nephews adorable?

Branching out!

It is a sad fact that even with all new york has to offer, many New Yorkers out of convenience end up living their lives in about a 5 block radius of their apartment and their office. Sad to say, Dan and I are not much of exception to this. On the weekends we always try to venture beyond the UES but we need to make more of an effort to branch out and see other parts of the city. This starts tonight. We usually end up going to dinner on Fridays and this week we decided that instead of going somewhere close to home, because it is easy, we are going to head down my old stomping grounds, Greenwich Village. I know this area well from my NYU days and it is so hip and fun. There are so many charming little restaurants, and shops, and probably some of the best people watching in the city. On Friday nights the village really comes alive with all the college kids, and young professionals out for a night on the town. Not sure where we'll go to dinner yet, but while we are in the neighborhood, the night would not be complete without a visit to Magnolia Bakery! mmmmmm.....CUPCAKES

Summer is on the way....

Well maybe not quite! But new summer items at J. Crew make me feel like summer is on the way! It's no secret that I love J. Crew and work there once a month just to get a discount, but I always get so excited when the new collections come out every month. Some of the new stuff is a little too tropical for me, but it is fun and bright and reminds me of summer, so I'm all for it! Go ahead and take a look!

I've posted a few of my favorite items here!
I actually already own this blouse, but it has quickly become a favorite
item in my closet! I love the feminine details and the ruffle!


This sweater is a little bold, but I love the New England feel of it,
it makes me want to curl up with a bowl of clam chowder


I just think these flip flops are sassy and cute!


I am way into the whole nautical theme this season and this is the perfect accessory




These bangles look very sophisticated and stylish, so Jackie O.

Warning!!!

Honestly I can not believe how horrible this is.
Let me start at the beginning. This morning just for fun, I decided to google my blog to see if it came up (don't judge me and pretend like you have never googled yourself before). The first header under google had multiple listings for another website www.danandcaitlin.com, which obviously is very similar to ours. There were many many many listings for this web address and from what I could tell from reading the descriptions it is a detailed pornography site, which makes me really sad because anyone that tries to go to our blog, and forgets to do the whole blogspot thing will get taken there, which is not a place they probably want to go. I told Dan I think we need to change our names. It makes me so mad. I seriously want it taken off the Internet. Discovering this ruined my day. Anyway, not much I can do, but just be warned! And for any of you that already accidentally made that mistake, I am so so sorry!

Shabby Apple

So I may be way behind the times, because it seems like all of you utah people already know about this, but this site is great! They are a Utah based company and their designs are simple and fun and modest. Their prices are good, and the styles are classic and I really can not remember the last time I found a dress I liked that wasn't sleeveless or wasn't too short! And their jewelry is fabulous too! Another destination for online browsing! check it out!
Here are two of the items I am currently lusting after! Happy shopping

The best book!

For any of you looking for a good read, pick up this book. It would be an especially good selection for a book club if any of you need some new titles! But a word of warning, you will probably cry, at least in the end! I don't want ruin anything, but needless to say reading this book made me grateful I wasn't born during 18th century china when foot binding was practiced (ouch!), and it also made me realize the value of lifelong friendship!

Organization!!!

Living in NY you learn the importance of being organized. Without a lot of space, you learn quickly to use it well. Although I think of my self as a pretty organized person, there is always room to improve ( I'm learning quickly as I run out of space) and since I don't have many words to write today, I thought I would just post some inspirational images to help us all get our homes a little more clutter free!

Bellobration!!!!

I haven't been to the circus since I was a kid, and Dan says he can't remember ever going to the circus, so we were a little excited when one of our friends called and said they had scored some free tickets to Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey's circus show, BELLOBRATION!!! What an event.

For those of you who don't know, or haven't had the pleasure of attending the bellobration already, BELLO is actually the name of a strange clown who like most clowns is a little bit goofy, and doesn't speak. But he also has a beautiful flat top hair style that sets him apart from all others. Incidentally, TIME magazine named him America's best clown. What an honor!!! Observe here:


The best part of the whole show was catchy booming song they sang about bello, it went something like this....
We'll have a bello bello bello bello belllllloooooobraaaaattttiooooonnnnnnn
We'll have a bello bello bello bello belllllloooooobraaaaattttiooooonnnnnnn
We'll have a bello bello bello bello belllllloooooobraaaaattttiooooonnnnnnn
We'll have a bello bello bello bello belllllloooooobraaaaattttiooooonnnnnnn
We'll have a bello bello bello bello belllllloooooobraaaaattttiooooonnnnnnn

the song continued to repeat these great lyrics about 50 times over.

It was great, and has been stuck in my head ever since, which may explain why I currently have a head ache (in case the sarcasm isn't coming through this song will haunt me all my days). I tried to find the song for you to hear with your own ears, but alas i-tunes didn't have it and neither did anywhere else I looked.

All of this was a little too much for our friends little one year old guy. Let's just say he didn't much like bello, and they may have discovered that booming drums and flashing lights are little too much just yet! They had to duck out early because he wasn't taking the whole circus thing to well. Anyway, Dan and I were a little amazed at some the death defying feats performed (and we live in NY where you practically see a circus on the subway every day!)

But probably the highlight of the night was my fall. Now those of you that know me well can attest to the fact that I am not the most physically coordinated person on the planet (can we say klutzy?) and in the dark, on the steep cement steps that by midway through the circus were covered in popcorn and what I think was soda pop, I totally slipped down the stairs and my shoe went flying through the air. The best part of all of this was that Dan missed the whole thing because he had seen someone in the crowd we knew and was running over to say hi. There were people around me, and a family behind me waiting to get down the stairs and not a single on of them even asked me if I was okay! Oh well, I collected my shoe, rubbed my aching back (stairs in your back are not a good feeling!) and went on my way.

All of this made the bellobration a uniquely bizarre, fun, and memorable night!

Busy Busy!!!

We have been so busy in the last week I am trying to catch my breathe! We had a great visit with Dan's parents (pictures coming soon) and we tore up the town while they were here. They arrived on the red eye last Thursday morning to discover little flurries of snow. they were exhausted for the red eye flight so after catching some Zzz' and heading to the met while Dan and I were at work we met up and headed Serendipity. Most of you know Dan loves desserts, and while I do think Serendipity is overrated, it does have a certain sense of charm and we had to introduce Joan and Dave to the world famous Frozen hot chocolate (which Dan is constantly trying to recreate at home).
The next morning we headed over to the Frick Collection which is not too far from where we live. I have to say that for someone who professes to love museums, I had never been there. It is right on fifth Avenue and it was AMAZING. For anyone who lives in NY, or if you come to visit, I highly recommend it. The museum was the personal home of Henry Clack Frick who was a contemporary of John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie, and an amazing art collector. The mansion in unbelievable and the collection hosts works of ark from many well known artists.

After the Frick we took the bus down fifth avenue and headed to see the Flower show at Macy's and down to Ground Zero and Century 21 Department store, which we all got lost in!!! After that, Dan and Dave headed off to the Yankees Game, and Joan and I prepared ourselves for the crowd and spectacle of Canal Street. After looking at a million bags we headed over to one of my favorite stores, Pearl River (which is basically a Chinese department store) and went to dinner at Max Brenner, home of what Dan and I believe is the world's best hot chocolate! Dan and Dave had a great time at the Yankees game, where they were sitting on the fourth row, and even though they Yankees lost, they came home with smiles on their faces.

The next day, Saturday we took Dan's parents to Grand Central Station, and Rockefeller center. They haven't been to NY for a while so we want to get all the sites! The best part of the day was our yummy, but cold lunch at the Shake Shack. Dan and I have been waiting and wanting to try this place after all the hype we have heard, and let me tell you, it was worth it! It was little cold eating ice cream outdoors since the restaurant only has outdoor seating in Madison park, but we still loved it! Our friends said they waite din line for over an hour a couple of weeks ago, but luckily we beat the crowd and hardly had to wait at all. We were tired by the time we made it over to Union square for the farmers market, which is one of our favorite things in the city. It was crowded but fun. We especially loved seeing all the flower vendors with their hydrangeas, daffodils, and tulips.

On Saturday night we went to a great little Mexican restaurant around the corner from our house, called Canyon Road. It was so yummy! Afterward we headed to The Pirate Queen which is a new musical on Broadway we had gotten tickets to. Joan and Dave headed home on Sunday evening and by the time they left, I think we were all exhausted!

Two wishes!!!

Dave and Joan (Dan's parents) are visiting this weekend so I am sure we will be busy and we'll be sure to take lots of pictures of our journeys around manhattan. Sad to say that it is snowing in NYC today, yes it's true SNOWING! And right after I packed away my winter coats none the less!Oh well!

My real purpose with this post is to wish everyone a very very Happy Easter



And my second purpose is to wish Laura (Dan's sister) A very very Happy Birthday!



Everyone who knows Laura knows what an awesome and AMAZING person she is and it just so happens it is her birthday tommorow! She is a wonderful mom to Abby (almost 2) and David (five months). She always takes the time to really talk to people and is sincerely interested in how they are doing and what they are up to. Happy Birthday and much love!

right on target!

Tonight we have big plans! I am counting down the hours to the end of the work day, because I am so excited I just can't wait. We are headed to one of my favorite places in the world! That is right ladies and gentleman, we are headed to Target!!!
And these are just a few of the items I am obsessing about currently....

Even though I already have rainboots, these are so cute for spring and I love love love the color, Tiffany Blue!
This is so J. Crew, yet so much cheaper!!!

This would be the perfect addition to my collection of moravian stars!



There really is nothing like the pristine and sterile linoleum floors that weave in and out of industrial metal shelving holding some of the most affordable (and stylish) home goods that money can buy. For me, there is something inherently therapeutic about shopping at Target, and I'm not really sure if it is simply because I have been sucked into their creative and funky ad campaigns, or if it is because I feel like I could move into a target store and have everything I need right at my disposal including clothing, stylish furniture and an array of food both fresh, frozen and packaged.Any of you who have read the book or seen the movie "Where the heart is" will know what I am talking about, although that takes place in a walmart which is an entirely different store and an entirely different story(for those of you who don't know, Dan & I boycott walmart). But back to Target. I can spend hours there discovering things I didn't even know I needed that will simplify my life and elevate my sense of style all for only 22.99!!! A dream come true!

We are headed there in search of a bedskirt (I just really couldn't bear to pay pottery barn prices for something that gathers dust bunnies off the floor) but I cannot wait to learn what other semi-useful items I will discover during my exploration of the red and white mecca of all things affordable. Stay tuned for my finds on the adventure to queens!

Rain Rain Go Away....

It is a very said and grey rainy day in manhattan today, not like spring at all. Although sometimes this weather can be romantic, right now it is down right depressing since I am so yearning for spring! I boxed up all my winter clothes last night so I am really hoping warm weather is just around the corner, it is April for goodness sake! Anyway, to remedy the gloomy weather I thought I would share with you what I consider to be the perfect place. I found this photo in a design blog and instantly fell in love with it! To me this little Nantucket-esque beach shack is my idea of a dream come true! Ironically enough, the bedroom seems to be about the same size as mine in our little shoe box of a New York apartment so although I can't have the view, maybe at least I can imagine this is where I am when I wake up in the morning!
On another note, Dan started his job with Merrill Lynch today and he was so excited. He called me around lunch and said that although everything was a little overwhelming, things were going well and he felt good about everything. Maybe I will have him blog the details of his first big day for you, although come to think of it, Dan is not so big on details so you might get more info coming from me. Anyhow, so far so good! We'll keep you posted!