alamode seatbelt pillows at New York restaurant, The Collective - OM [one moment] meet up #18

pillows can be seen around 1:02 on video

Last Saturday night, while in NYC, my friend and I decided to check out a restaurant, The Collective, in the meatpacking district. My seatbelt pillows were purchased by the architect and developer for the restaurant [blogged earlier here]. I had no idea what to expect but was surprised when we stepped out of the cab.

The restaurant sits on the corner of a cobblestone street. Surrounded by an outdoor patio, the walls were open to expose the eclectic interior.  This hip restaurant was hopping and getting busier by the minute. As we walked in,it wasn't difficult to see my pillows throughout.  What an exciting moment for me. 

Sorry the photos are dark and grainy.  They were taken with my iPhone and the lighting was, well, dark.  You can see better interior shots in my previous post here. BTW, the food was great.  I'd recommend trying the waffles and chicken.  Yum!

What was your 'one moment' this week? What took you out of your present moment and made you excited, happy, proud?

Share in the blog comments here, on your own blog (and link back below) or on my Facebook fan page. If you are on Twitter, I've started a hash tag - #omMeetup so that we can converse if we'd like. We'd love to hear your moment this week!

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Adventures at the New York International Gift Show, part 1

This past weekend, I went to the New York International Gift Show with my friend Mandy who owns Studio Six in Bristol, RI.  This was my first time visiting this show.  What an overwhelming experience it was. Let's just say, I felt like a kid in a candy store. [click photos for larger view]

The show is at the Javits Center and Piers 92 & 94 twice a year.  It's big, really big.  I'm certain we only saw 1/4 of it.  I have a lot of pictures to sort through.  In this post, I'll highlight a few of my favorites.

We started in the handmade section, of course.  It was so fun to walk the aisles and see fellow Etsians  Figs & Ginger, and Mani Designs.

Rounding one corner, I was happy to see Hotcakes Designs from San Francisco.  I have admired their jewelry from afar for years, often visiting their website for inspiration.  I eagerly introduced my friend to founder, Caramia, whom I may have initially frightened when I shouted, "You're Hotcakes."  Luckily, she is very nice and I hope took my excitement as a compliment.  I'm happy to report that my friend Mandy ended up buying from the collection.  I've got first dibs, fellow Rhode Islanders.


Moving on to the main floors, we stopped by Fred and Friends.  Always fun, F&F has some really great new products that are sure to please this season.  Check out their new iPlunge here.  We had lunch with my friend, Jason, their art director.  You can follow his blog here.  Yippeee!  Studio Six will be carrying F&F products this Fall!

It was great to see Jason and Ilira from Rag and Bone Bindery.  Their booth is always fresh and gorgeous.  I'm in love with their "12 ways" book series.  You can see their 12 ways to say I Love you book here.  They are fantastic for the writing challenged, like me, as they include prompts such as "I've always admired the way you..." or "my favorite way to spend the day with you..."  Great baby, Valentine, friend gifts!!

Here is Jonathan Adler's booth.  I have nothing more to add here other than, this is JONATHAN ADLER'S BOOTH.

 

I came away wanting to either sell at this show or buy for the awesome studio/boutique I do not yet have (or know that I even want to have).  I also came away with the realization that there are many, many creative people and ideas in the world.  There is enough creativity to go around.  I'll post more pics and details soon.

Highlights from our NYC trip

I hope you had a nice weekend.  I spent the first part of Mother's Day in Urgent Care for E's itchy eyes.  As I thought, he has pink eye.  However, my evening ended with a lovely dinner out, flowers, a spa gift certificate, lovely refrigerator frame with picture of E, and nostalgic candy bars from M.  A day spent with all of my boys is a wonderful Mother's Day.

I finally uploaded my photos from our trip to NYC over spring break a few weeks back.  Here are a few of the highlights:

Find a la mode seat belt pillows at new restaurant in NYC - The Collective

We spent last week's spring break in NYC with the kids. We packed a lot of sightseeing, food, shows, and taxis into 4 days. From the Statue of Liberty to the Tim Burton exhibit at the MoMA, we did it all. I'll post some of the highlights and photos later.

All of NY's taxis now have flat screen tv monitors in their backseats that display an array of info from maps of the city to city event highlights. While in a taxi heading to the MoMA on Thursday morning, a segment came on that caught M's eye. It was for a new restaurant that featured recycled, upcycled art and furniture in the meatpacking district. M points it out to me and says,

"Mom, could that be the restaurant that has your seat belt pillows?"

I had totally forgotten. I knew my pillows were going into a new restaurant in NYC, but was waiting to follow-up with the architect who was going to send me photos and details.

"Why, yes, it could very well be."

I immediately looked it up on my iPhone and sure enough, the newly opened restaurant was designed by the same architect and development group who had purchased a bunch of pillows from me several months ago.  It was fun to find out about it in the back seat of a NYC cab!

A sort of Alice in Wonderland goes eco-friendly hotspot, The Collective is in a refurbished warehouse space and features recycled and upcycled art and furniture alongside an equally creative menu.

Picture the sort of giant art-gallery warehouse (the space is basically one big room with a bar at one end and tables throughout) that the Mad Hatter might curate, add some booze and Short-Rib Stroganoff, and you start to get the picture of what's going on at the Collective. [urban daddy]

Hmmm...sounds like my kind of space!

The design is meant to respond to concerns about the environment and the recession, while also being “cheeky and fun,” said Lionel Ohayon, the founder of Icrave, the design firm responsible for the interior. [The New York Times]

While we didn't get the chance to visit, I was able to find many photos online and several where you can see the pillows.  Some of the black and red pillows are on the sofas in the foreground and background of the photos below:


 

You can see more pictures here at the Gothamist or on The Collective webiste here.

OM [one moment] meet up - week #3

We just returned from a last minute trip to NYC. We did a lot in 4 days: Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, shopping, dinner with cousin and family, MoMA, eat, walk, eat, walk, etc. The weather couldn't have been nicer even with one evening of showers.

No matter how fun or how long the vacation, there is always that moment when you unlock the door to your home, walk in, turn on the lights, drop your bags, and are hit with the familiarity of home. That was my moment this week. We did so much and had such a wonderful time but were still happy to come home.

What was your 'one moment' this week? Share in the comments, on your own blog (and link back below) or on my Facebook fan page. We'd love to hear your moment this week!

a modern icon - the Chrysler Building

Chrysler Building, originally uploaded by alamodestuff.

photo taken from our hotel window, April 2009