Sailing on the Hudson

in september the company took us for a delightful late afternoon sail on the hudson, 

aboard the adirondack schooner II. it was a blustery day, but the sail was lovely.

the boat came stocked with delicious charcuterie from dean & deluca, and of course 

- in true mra form - a full bar & wait staff.

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The Shawangunks

on saturday after thanksgiving, we woke up and decided to leave town.

at about noon, we booked a zipcar for 1pm. 

we had an hour to find somewhere to go. luckily, poppy was coming

along, which narrowed our destinations to dog friendly lodging.

about 45 minutes of searching in, we found bernetta's place, in
wallkill, ny, which is along the shawangunk ridge.

and 2 hours later we were there. cozy, super clean and warm, bernetta's was great.

we had dinner at a nearby german restaurant (for $26.. total), 

sat by a lovely fire and read the paper, went on a walk to the lake, 

had a lunch of ploughman's stew and did some antique shopping in new paltz, and

bought a christmas tree at a nearby apple orchard.

when we came home on sunday, there wasn't a spot of traffic.

all in all, a lovely, charming little jaunt.

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Frosted Animal Cookies

mary, shame on you for reminding me that these are...

the. best. snack. in. the. world.

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photo via annhyphencharlotte

J.Crew Men's Accessories

fall weather + 25% off everything = j.crew men's accessories buying spree.

i'll be seeing these puppies in 3-6 days.

(knapsack and watch are overdue. field notes needed a refill.
and yes, that's a leather iphone case.)

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Thanksgiving by Candle (and Bridge) Light

we basically forced ourselves upon aaron for thanksgiving, and with good reason.

he is an amazing host. 

i think gurl spent 2 fulls days preparing the apartment,
the lighting, the feast, for thursday.  and it showed.
the food was delicious, each bottle of wine was better than the last, 

and his beautiful idea for lighting
-- nothing but the manhattan bridge lights in his window, and about a million candles --
made it extra memorable and unique.

i especially loved that he threw our beach blankets from the hamptons 

(freshly laundered of course) on the table as table cloths.

one day aaron and i will sell this good life at a premium.

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Bookmark: Tomboy Style

coca cola skiers, 1949. poached from tomboy style (thanks arianna).

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Poppy Gets a New Fall Coat

i've had my eye on this for longer than i'd like to admit. 

and finally, i have someone to buy it for.

..........
 

The Manhattan Bridge Gets Fatter

as i struggle to rediscover drawing...

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Unionmade Lookbook

 

unionmade is dressed in indigo, head to toe.

(thinkin' of you, lauren o')

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Want

want.

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Styer's Garden Cafe

from mike, who is able to make me jealous, all the way from glen mills, pa.

 and from their website, because its too pretty not to reproduce.

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Timothy Oulton

timothy oulton's pieces for restoration hardware pale in comparison to his amazing, 

multi-room co-op at abc carpet. 

the mingled mix of sparkly chandeliers, rustic leather and wood, 

and bright shiny metals is so eclectic and over the top, 

the rooms feel like they belong in a funky british palace. 
the individual pieces are genius, 

and these plastic repro armchairs above (especially yellow) highly covetable.

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Fall in Delaware

photos sent from mike.

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Thanksgiving Potluck

 hosted by jeff and emily. meal prepared by a friend group of master chefs.

pictured: the best turkey i can remember eating, by mark.

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Cafe Colette, Williamsburg

whoever designed cafe colette in williamsburg got everything right.

from the reclaimed, sea blue painted-panel wall, to the brown and 

beige checkerboard tiled floor, the varied globe lighting, and the mirrors everywhere. 

i could spend an entire day there. in fact, we did on sunday. 

it gets better: the food and staff are also excellent. i dare say its a destination.

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Sunny Sunday Breakfast at Iris Cafe

 

i know its going to be a good sunday when sebastian wakes up

and the first thing he says is "iris cafe?"

iris's avocado toast (with dijon mayo and soft boiled eggs)

has been a long time favorite of ours, and sunday's 

bright sun and 60 degree weather made it even better.

this is a good fall.

..........

 

Poppy, by a Stranger

 yesterday on the way to breakfast, sebastian and i stopped at the park. 

a nice woman asked us "is that poppy? 

i have a picture of her on my phone that i just love."

she asked for my email address, and sent us this.

while i've started to reject those "hipstaprint" and "instagram" type programs, 

i do think that poppy's fur is quite lovely in black and white. i love this photo.

..........
 

Delightful Post

one of the best parts of my birthday was spending the day with rob petrie, 

an architecture professor at syracuse and an amazing artist, 

who i was fortunate to be connected with through mercury.

as you can see from rob's blog, one of his passions is sketching the 

scenes of his coffee and espresso engagements, 

and actually using the coffee as a pigment, like a watercolor.

we went to pastis on november 8th, and he created this. 

i had my fingers crossed that it was a postcard that might come my way. 

rob did not disappoint. (do you see the stamp!)

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Delicious Holiday Meats

smoked reindeer and reindeer sausage, as well as puolukkahillo (lingonberry) jam

photo text from michelle's amazing office thanksgiving potluck, 

courtesy of a coworker's recent travels to finland.

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