The Bee’s Knees

The urban Fort Point neighborhood in which my studio is located just keeps getting cooler and cooler.  When I found studio space here a few years ago there was virtually nothing down here.  Just a bunch of old warehouse buildings.  Now we seem to be getting one hip restaurant after another.  When I popped into newest kid on the block Bee’s Knee’s Supply Company, I went into visual stimulation overload.  I love love love the chic rustic look.  I love all the products and fancy sandwiches.  While it is not your cheep neighborhood deli, it is a gourmet wonderland pulling from the foodie shops of Napa.  I couldn’t help but return with my camera.

 

Eek!  They even carry my friend’s wine!!!!

Uniform Dressing

While I love, love, love fashion there are many mornings I miss the no brainer aspect of all my years growing up wearing a uniform to school.  As I was switching my closet over from winter to spring clothes, I realized I still do have a “uniform.”  One look at my Pinterest board on fashion confirms my taste.  A silk shirt, skinny pants and ballet flats are my crazy day “go-to” outfit, but I also realized my uniform needed a little tweaking and inspiration.  (Tweaking that did not require a shopping spree.)  There is the saying, we wear 20% or our wardrobe 80% of the time, which begs the question: how do I incorporate some of those loved but not super worn items?  To help me answer that question, I pulled some of my spring favorites from my Pinterest board.   I swear I have some variation of everything pictured.  Here is my (ideal) spring uniform:

 

Constant Gardener

I could not have had a better image greet me this Sunday morning than a feature on a gorgeous Connecticut garden I photographed for the Boston Globe magazine!  Among the craziness of last week I somehow had forgotten it was going to print this weekend.  A four page spread of my photographs in the Globe Magazine!  Pinch me.

I photographed the gardens last June when they were in their full Spring/Summer glory.  To say they are magnificent is the understatement of the year.  The creeping honeysuckle, the climbing roses, this garden is truly a little slice of heaven tucked away in Pomfret, Connecticut.  The wife tends to the garden herself and the husband designed the home.  Dream team indeed.  And it is no wonder…they are the parents of my friend and blogger/designer extraordinaire Erin Gates.

Here are the photos the Globe selected and the full article here.

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 Here are some more from our shoot that day.  All I want to do is run around that grass barefoot.

Last but not least their metal chicken “Beyonce” overlooking the home.

Time to heal and laugh a little

I am still having a bit of a hard time diving back into my projects and work, but Elements of Style posted this this morning and it made me laugh.

 

Also, I saw this as I was walking to my car this morning…Even the NATIONAL GUARD isn’t safe from Boston Parking tickets.  Hahahah  Makes me feel a little better about my own parking ticket record.

Boston You’re My Home

I have lived in Boston almost 4 years now and jumped into my new home with all that I had.  I moved here to be with the love of my life and do all those things your do.  Get married, make new friends, start a family, and decided to start a business and new career.  It has been one of the best decisions of my life.  Living in Boston has been the best.  The character, the history, the people; all so rich and beautiful in a way truly unique to Boston and New England.  As the events of yesterday began to unfold I was tucked away in my Beacon Hill apartment.  My baby was quietly napping, our babysitter had the day off due to the Marathon and I was writing this blog post. about how important it is to to find the time to truly be present with your loved ones everyday.  I started hearing a ton of sirens and then got a text from my sister-in-law asking if I was okay, followed quickly by a text from my husband from and unknown number saying he was okay and where were we.  As information unfolded and I began to realize was was happening a 1/4 mile from my apartment I tried to keep my calm.  I knew my husband was at a work event right at the finish line, watching the marathon, but he had just texted me from a computer at a friends house near by.  I later learned he was in a restaurant 300 yards from the blasts.  He heard the blasts, confered with a friend, decided those were bomb blasts and quickly exited the emergency exit of the restaurant.  He literally ran to a friend’s house nearby as he was on the other side of the race from our home.  We were not able to have much contact as the cell lines were jammed, but we decided he should stay put for a bit while we figured out what was actually going on.  I hooked up our land line (finally), tried not to turn on the TV (my one year old doesn’t need to see her mom hysterical) and waited.  Steve finally made it home around 6pm and we all breathed a sigh of great relief.  What chaos.  What senselessness.  How silly my daily stresses seem.  I love Boston with all my heart and truly consider it home.  In my four short years here I have seen they are a tough, resilient people.  It is a city with such history.  A history which intimately includes the Boston Marathon.  My thoughts and prayers are with those who right now are in the hospital fighting for life and limb.  Boston is lucky enough to have some of the most talented doctors and medical professionals in the world.  My thoughts are with them and the city I love.  Boston.

Here are some photos from my Boston posts over the past 4 years.

      

Quiet Please

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to attend the Masters in beautiful Augusta, Georgia.  The sun was shining, every flower was in bloom, every bird was singing and the grass was what can only be called “Maters’ Green.”  It was gorgeous.  I also had an extremely unique experience in this day and age…I was technology free for the day.  No cell phone, no camera, no electronic devices at all are allowed within the gates at Augusta National Golf Club, so we had to leave our devices behind.  Which begs to ask the question…if you can’t Instagram or Tweet it, did it really happen?  I have no photographic proof I was at the Masters on Saturday.  Nothing.  We did pick up some hats and shirts with iconic Masters logo of the yellow silhouette of the United States with the golf flag located in the spot of Augusta, GA, but that is it.  It sounds so silly, but it was such a strange feeling at the beginning of the day.  Many times I would see a beautiful view or Maters’ sign I wanted to Instagram, reach for my phone and realize it wasn’t an option.  Even stranger were those times when I was just standing around, waiting in line at the bathroom, in between golfers, or walking form spot to spot and instinctually reached for my phone, just to kill time.  Low and behold I actually had to look at my surroundings; talk to the person next to me, or just be alone with my thoughts.  It was enormously freeing.  I found myself more relaxed and more present in the moment than I can last remember.  It was the best stress relief.  So I have decided to spend at least one hour a day technology free.  That means no laptop, no peaking at my cell phone and no camera at my hip.  Ideally I will not even have them on hand.  They will be tucked away safe at my house and I will be with my daughter, my husband, myself.  Truly with them.

Photo from Masters.com

Interiors Inspiration

So we are knee deep in the design, layout and contractor selection of the renovation of our new home.  The house has great bones but needs a lot of work.  I am excited and absolutely terrified at the same time.  We have a crazy aggressive timeline to get the work done and move into the house, but the amount of work to do to get there feels huge.  I am thinking of a way to incorporate our renovation process into this blog without it becoming the blog becoming too “My renovation,” so let me know what you think.  But the other night, as I was putting the baby to bed and the hubby was out at a work dinner, I realized I needed some calming inspiration.  Pinterest is an amazing recourse and I already have numerous boards developed for the house.  (Check out my boards here.  The renovation specific boards are labeled Homeland.)  I started flipping through the photos from a recent job I did for Stayci Fast and I realized I haven’t shared them yet.  I love photographing with Stayci.  The woman is an amazing home stager and designer and has the best props in the world.  All of here accessories have me super inspired.

How cool does this West Elm light fixture look when lit?!

Translation please

So some of my photos have been popping up in some international publications.  InStyle Czech Republic, Korea and Turkey all bought my photo to run that sofa piece and some photos I took for Jill Rosenwald popped up in a Russian magazine.  So cool to see my work in foreign print!

And now…back to the studio!

After almost two weeks out of the studio it feels soooooo good to be back at my desk.  The weather is finally not windy and freezing and I missed the urban/warehouse feel of my work neighborhood.  It is going to be a good week!

Ducks in a row

I went to pull some photographs to post from all my recent travels and projects and I kind of just blanked.  I mean, I have a plethora of images and stories (not pinatas) to share but as I went to sit down today….nothing.  I think it may have in part to do with I basically took last week off for Easter and travels and yesterday we closed on a house!!!!! Ahhhhh.  Oh and we are touring and applying to preschools, and our poor sweet babysitter has been in and out of the hospital (everything is okay), but it has been quite a week.  So I am chalk full of ideas, but as I go to create a post I just fizzle.  But rewind back to the house…yeah, we bought a house.  I have not mentioned it much for fear of jinxing the deal, but for the past few months we have been negotiating a deal on a beautiful, giant, 150 year old house…in Chestnut Hill.  Yes, I will be trading in my Beacon Hill digs for another “hill” in Boston.  While technically the new house is in the city of Newton we are just 5 miles form our current home, and will be increasing our living space 5 times as much.  With all this, also comes a big renovation.  The house is gorgeous with great bones, but unfortunately has not been updated since the 80′s.  It needs a ton of TLC, a sledge hammer in some places, moving of a stairwell, removing of a stairwell, and a lots of paint.  I am so excited at the opportunity to design and make a house perfect for my family, but the excitement is tempered with fear and anxiety.  The time, the coordination, the cost…I just have to keep telling myself it will be awesome.  And it will.  It will just take some time…which I totally have loads of, right?  Haha