Jan 31, 2014

Arrangements

Here's a bit of pretty to kick off your weekend. My friend Kristy and I made a day of flower arranging this week and really just had a lot of fun with it. I am usually all about "less is more" but have a hard time adapting that philosophy to flowers...








Love my little jungle up there.

Jan 27, 2014

Object studies

It's always a fun day shooting with my friend/stylist Kira. I first met her when I was putting together my team for the Danny Macaroons cookbook, and I've been lucky to work with her a number of times now. We got together a few weeks ago to fool around with pretty things. She and I are both inspired by neutral color palettes, so it's not surprising that given total creative freedom, we ended up with these shots.









Jan 23, 2014

The Noguchi Museum

An afternoon at The Noguchi Museum was the perfect way to spend a cold Sunday. Though I've been wanting to go for a while, it was always hard to make the trek out to Long Island City for it (it's funny how living in a dense city will make you think 4-5 miles is a trek; hell, I think going anywhere above 42nd street is a trek). I really had no idea how prolific Isamu Noguchi was in his works. We have some of his lamps and of course, the famed coffee table, but I didn't know much about his fine art work at all.

If you're lucky to go to the museum on a sunny day, you'll find that the shadows from the casement windows are quite striking. Below is a little sense of the space and some of Noguchi's sculptures, all taken on the Sony A7r.









The cafe and museum store is a great little space in itself. You'll find a perfect seat to enjoy a hot tea and peruse some of the many design books the store sells.




Jan 20, 2014

The Queens Kickshaw

This place has been on my list for years, but laziness and inconvenience has prevented me from venturing out to Astoria for it. After a visit to the Noguchi Museum yesterday, we popped in to The Queens Kickshaw for some cortados. I am also a sucker for grilled cheese and tomato soup so how could I resist?






Overall a fine spot. I enjoyed the food more so than my cortado, which had a somewhat bitter aftertaste. I can't really judge the place based on one coffee drink, but I'd definitely go back for the space and grilled cheese alone.

Jan 14, 2014

B Arts Hotel | Lima

Ah, where do I even begin to sing the praises of the B Arts Boutique Hotel in Lima? Simply put, it is by far the best city hotel I've ever stayed in (not that I've had that much experience with city hotels, but even if I did, I think that it would be among the top). Oh, I've been spoiled all right.

The hotel, an example of a Belle Époque mansion, was originally built in 1914 as a summer seaside retreat. Since then, two families have used the property as their residence. I believe it was only in 2013 that the renovation from private home to hotel was completed. It's located in the Barranco district of Lima, and is just a quick walk to the Pacific Coast. I had a little time to walk around the neighborhood and found it incredibly charming and quaint. It is also a nice walk to a number of art galleries and museums.

The attention to detail is second to none here. You could probably spend a whole day just looking at the artwork in the halls and individual rooms.








I had a chance to peek into a couple of rooms (there are 17 total), so there is a combination from multiple rooms in these photos. My own room had this amazing bathtub right in the middle of it. I'm not a bath person (I'm way too antsy for an activity like that! Same reason I can't lay on a beach.), but even I couldn't resist soaking in it for a few minutes. The main bathroom had a heated towel rack — maybe I'm just inexperienced, but I found this an extra luxurious touch. All the decor is elegant and smart, with a nice mix of modern and vintage touches. You may find beautiful bold stripes or a large floral print lining the inside of your vintage armoire. You may be left an Emily Dickinson poem at your bedside in the evening. It's all in the details.








The breakfast was one of the most enjoyable parts of the hotel for me (yep, it may even have the heated towel rack beat). I got to have two breakfasts here but the second day was more of a 'eat in five minutes so we can rush to the airport kind of thing'. Baked eggs in tomato sauce are one of my favorite breakfasts ever, and they nailed it here. I was sopping up every last bit of sauce with my bread. There is tea time at the hotel as well, though I wasn't around for that sadly!




I mean, what more can I say? It's a stunning property with surprises around every corner. My photos don't even do it justice. I can certainly dream of staying there again some day, and I'm incredibly grateful to the folks at LAN Airlines who made this trip possible.