Fontaine Maury and Coasters

I found a web site that is absolutely drool worthy. Fontaine Maury. The web site is super high tech (and I am not) so you'll have to click over to check out the wares. Monograms abound. Gorgeous monogrammed paper prdoducts, coasters, address labels, luggage tags, stickers, melamine plates....the list truly goes on and on. Adorable! So adorable, in fact, I'm having a hard time picking a favorite thing! Though of late, monogrammed paper coasters have been catching my eye. Fontaine Maury's are beautiful (I really wish I could show you a pic...click over, totally worth it!). Here are two I am particularly loving! The best part is, you can change them up (color scheme, font, monogram style) for each occasion.

Williams Sonoma ($29 for 50)

Hillary's Gifts ($52 for 100)

iomoi (4 for $95) - ok these are not paper, but amazing, no?

Definitely time for a mojito!

1st Annual JessLC Sidewalk Sale....Deals Galore!

 

 JessLC is having a great sale on the most darling jewelry!  I've been eyeing it for some time now, and at the sight of a sale I knew I had to pounce before my favorite baubles were sold out!  I snatched up these beauties:

Brooklyn Bridge Walk Pictures (displayed in reverse order)!

Brooklyn Flea

Last Sunday my husband kicked off our city trip with a stop at the Brooklyn Flea Market.  We took the long way there and then got lost in conversation and, basically, got lost.  We found our way into a stunning park (Empire Fulton Ferry State Park) right along the water that was buzzing with activity.  It has beautiful views of both the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges.  There was even a wedding going on one one of the tiny "beaches" (aka patches of sand).  It was really, really cute. A great place to spend a lazy weekend, especially when the weather was so gorgeous.  

From there we went to the Brooklyn Flea Market.  Definitely not your grandmother's flea market!  They sell everything from vintage clothes to furniture, old bikes to jewelry.  They even have a bunch of handmade stuff.  There were so many amazing treasures.  I purchased a pink Member's Only jacket as a gift (it was truly fate) for $20 (they currently sell new for $95 online).  There was a stand that had 90210 and TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for those of you that didn't have brothers born in the 80s) trading cards.  The clothing was amazing, though I wasn't in the mood to shop for that.  

The furniture was spectacular.  Anyone that lives near by (and has a car for transportation purposes) NEEDS to go!!  There was a man whose booth specialized in salvage finds from apartment buildings and houses that were getting demo'd.  He had vintage crystal and brass doorknobs, fancy mailbox doors from mail rooms, door numbers, fixtures, pressed tin framed mirrors, etc.  

There was also my favorite booth of the day, The Divine Chair Company.  Take a look at their gallery...I promise you'll be drooling!  Here are some of my favorites (all courtesy of their website)  (and I love how they give them girl names!!):

   Tootie

  Molly

  Paulie

  London Town

The food is also great.  While there is a Sabrett's hot dog truck outside the flea market, there are some tasty treats inside, too.  While I didn't try the lobster roll, the line was about 40 people long, and I only wait in long lines once a day (see post re: Shake Shack- yes, I still dream of Shroom Burgers).  Plus they use split top rolls, which is pretty legit.  I did have the chocolate ice cream made sans dairy and sugar- I believe it was only cacao and blue agave.  Whatever it was, it was darn good!  But, check out the food list (website under vendors)- there was truly something for every taste bud.  Oh, I also sampled a jalapeno/habanero pickle.  If the jar wasn't about 10 lbs. I'd have bought them.  

One other Brooklyn Flea fun fact is that on their blog, they show some things that will be scattered about the upcoming week's flea market.  If you're the first to spot it, you win it.  My husband spotted a neat t-shirt, but unfortunately got there 10 minutes too late.  He liked it so much he bought it anyway.

Next up...my walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.  Stay tuned!

Food, Glorious Food

It's really only fitting that my 100th post coincides with one that I was planning on food.  I spent a glorious Sunday in NYC with my husband and I'm going to break it down throughout the week.  

This post is all about the Shake Shack.  I'd heard about it on one of my favorite morning satellite radio shows, and though we should check it out.  We hadn't had lunch, and it was about 3:30, so we though we'd grab a late bite to eat and miss the crowds.  Um, notsomuch.  We chose the Madison Square Park location (absolutely picturesque!) and had to wait about an hour.  

Luckily I had the bright idea for my husband to get in the B line (beer, soda, cones) and get beverages, so we wouldn't dehydrate whilst waiting in line.  Also, thank goodness there are lots of trees in the park, so we were well shaded.  Though there was a brief moment where I nearly fainted while hubby was in line.  LOL!  I was literally kneeling on the ground pretending to be looking for something in my purse so the other people in line wouldn't think I was weird, all while dialing my husband to tell him to get back over to me ASAP.  Luckily, he was enroute with my diet coke and all was well.  

I ordered the Shroom Burger - a crispy (fried) portobello mushroom cap stuffed with muenster and cheddar, topped with lettuce, tomato, and Shack Sauce.  It.Was.Heaven.  I seriously have been dreaming of shroom burgers ever since yesterday.  I texted my husband no less than 5 times today mentioning them.  I don't do lines.  I mean I really, really don't.  (I had to use the ladies room before the 45 min train ride home yesterday and I held it because I didn't want to wait in a 6 woman line.  I LOATHE lines.)  But I would gladly wait in a hour long line if it meant that I could eat a shroom burger.  Y. U. M. YUM!

Shroom Burger">

                  photo courtesy of

My husband got the Shack Burger and a Shack-cago Dog (Vienna {whatever that is - don't ask, don't tell when it comes to dogs IMO} all-beef hot dog on a poppy seed bun topped with Rick's Picks Shake Shack relish, mustard, onion, cucumber, pickle, tomato, sport pepper (looked like a tiny hot pepper), and celery salt.  The burger was delicious.  My husband wolfed down the dog before I even got a bite!  

                                          photo courtesy of

We ate on a shaded bench in beautiful Madison Square Park.  It was a glorious lunch.  Yay Shake Shack.  They also have location on the Upper West Side and at Citi Field (Mets' Stadium).

Recap

Thanks for all of the comments about my hair!  Day 3 and I am still loving it:)  Everyone at work seems to really like it too (though one guy asked if I stuck my finger in a socket to get it straight- he hadn't realized that I went from wearing my hair in a sloppy bun to a bob...whatever, dude.)

In other news, I had a wonderful 4th of July vacation.  I took Thursday off, and my husband and I did a modified stay-cation full of Americana in celebration of the holiday weekend.  We got a hotel room locally, but far enough away to make it seem like we were getting away.  We packed our getaway full of day trips (Jockey Hollow and Washington's Headquarters) and fun activities (state fair, mini-golf- takes me back to high school days!).  We actually went to the fair on the 4th, so we saw their fireworks.  We could also see NYC's fireworks all along the Hudson.  V. nice indeed!  

I also managed to sneak in some shopping (of course!!).  Saks had Lilly Jubilee on 60% sale....how could I pass that up?  I got an adorable solid navy silk top, for those times when I don't want to ooze Lilly-ness, and a gorgeous printed dress with beaded trim.  JCrew was also having some nice sales, though I only found one shirt.  They're kind of irking me with their shoddy quality of late.  

Speaking of shopping, I just read an email from Saks (really it was from Off Saks, but we'll get to that in a moment...) saying that all clearance items were an additional 50% off.  I went to saks.com and filled my shopping cart with a Kooba clutch and a Burberry trench.  And then I read the email that the sale was NOT for saks.com, but at Off Saks stores.  Dang.  

Bob

So I finally chopped my hair off!  I went into my appointment thinking I'd trim a few inches off and have a safe, shoulder length cut with an angled bang.  I ended up chopping off several inches and going for a very layered bob.  It barely fits back into a ponytail (technically my angled "bangs" and the hair at the nape of my neck don't quite make it).  I am really happy with it.  I'm just a touch nervous because I suck with a round brush and blow dryer!  I have really superfine hair (and not a lot of it), so I'm armed with Bumble and Bumble thickening spray and a ton of volumizing products.  Fingers crossed I don't look like Patricia Arquette tomorrow!