Sunday Suppers

I'm back!

It has been entirely too long since I posted anything.

When I started this blog a few months ago, I was unemployed and needed an outlet to share my design inspirations.  Now that I'm back to work, I'm finding it hard to juggle everything.  I promise I'm going to try really, really hard to post more often.

My first post back has a little bit of everything that I love: design, photography and most importantly food!

A while back, a friend of mine told me about Sunday Suppers.  It seems like since then, I have been seeing articles and posts about it everywhere!

Sunday Suppers is a unique cooking class in NYC.  Each class is hosted, styled and photographed by Karen Mordechai in her Brooklyn loft.  The classes are taught by local guest chefs, using local, fresh, organic ingredients.  The photography is absolutely amazing and reason enough to visit Karen's blog.

As you can see from the images, the classes are intimate, hands-on cooking/dining experiences.

Anyone living or visiting New York interested in joining a class should email Karen.  Sounds like such a fun evening of food and friends.

Those of us not lucky enough to live in New York, all the recipes taught at the suppers can be found on the blog.

circus UK

I recently saw images of the interior of Circus London and had to share them.

Circus is a cocktail bar, cabaret restaurant and performance venue that was designed by British designer Tom Dixon. The interior is both whimsical and elegant, with lighting by Dixon himself and classic furniture pieces by Eames and Saarinen.

Located in Convent Garden, on London's West Side, the setting is ideal for the theatre district and seems to instantly transport the visitor to a new place and time.

Will definitely have to check it out next time we are in London!

(images by Apartment Therapy and Circus London)

Autodesk Sketchbook Pro for ipad

As a mac user, I've waited patiently, like so many others, for Autodesk to make an AutoCAD version for mac. I'm still waiting...

But until then, they have created a sketching application for the iPad.

Introducing Autodesk Sketchbook Pro

Check out the video below:

This is the iphone version which looks just as cool.

outdoor spaces

It has been brought to my attention that I haven't posted anything in a while. It's nice to know that people are actually following!

Spring is here (although it doesn't feel like it today!) and summer is right around the corner so I though I'd post some inspiring outdoor living spaces.

Let's start with kitchens as I'm a little food obsessed these days (did I mention that I baked bread from scratch this week?!)

I found these images on Apartment Therapy:

There is perhaps no kitchen I am more envious of than Jamie Oliver's (featured in his Jamie at Home series)

I would love to have the garden set-up he has.

(this picture and others found at Alun Callender's website)

And the outdoor wood pizza oven...

These washrooms are not your typical outhouses (also found on Apartment Therapy)

underground restaurants

This is a true foodies's dream. An exclusive dinner invitation, cooked by a James Beard award winning chef, at an undisclosed location. According to the Washington Post article, guests for Orange Arrow's inaugural meal received an email, outlining the rules of the invite, including:

"If you can't/won't eat certain things, this is not for you."

"No crybabies, whiners or buzz kills can come to our party. This isn't reality television."

"Don't try to sell your ticket on Craigslist. Failure to show basic decency gets you on the blacklist."

Invitations to these meals are so exclusive that you can't even get on the list without a referral!

(image by the washington post)

a beautiful NYC brownstone

I'm trying to catch up on my blog reading and found this beautiful home that I had to share.

The New York brownstone belongs to Fitzhugh Karol, a woodworker and sculptor and Lyndsay Caleo, a jewelry designer and goldsmith, of the Brooklyn Home Company.

I love the use of reclaimed and salvaged materials. The cage lights in the kitchen are from an old freight ship from India. The couple made the dining table from a fallen beech tree.

There is such an amazing use of light in the space and each room seems to flow so smoothly from another.

The gorgeous beams were discovered during the renovation of the building (can you imagine?!)

Look at the great guestroom above the kitchen

Beautiful reclaimed barn door

(images by Emily Gilbert via Design*Sponge)

a visit: Lafayette Park

So apparently I have been living under a rock because I only just heard about Lafayette Park (which is especially embarrassing considering how often I visit Michigan)

townhouses designed in u-shaped formation

The residential complex, designed in the 1950s by architect Mies van der Rohe, was part of an urban renewal project. It is located just Northeast of downtown Detroit, and features the largest collection of buildings in the world designed by the architect.

one-story villa

The buildings are designed in the International Style which the architect became famous for, including elements such as exposed steel, glass curtains, clean proportions and interiors which open to the outdoors, creating spaces that allow in natural light and appear spacious.

(we have the same Stelton thermos which we

brought back as a souvenir from our trip)

Remarkably, despite the current economic crisis in Detroit, this development is still thriving.

Outside each townhouse, the residents are given a space of land that may be used as a garden. As one resident said, "Mies's floor-to-ceiling windows make the spaces feel open, while at the same time the canopy of trees makes you feel protected. It's a private, quiet, green oasis within spitting distance of the freeway, and you'd never know it."

(images by Dwell Magazine)