As a mom, my entire world view is seen through the lens of what the world will be for the next generations, from the way we impact the environment to our educational systems. This week I was tickled by two very inspiring thoughts on a topic that I feel compelled to share. And I hope these inspire you to help change the world as well -even if it is with baby steps. The first was learning the air-date November 14th, for ABC-TV’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s makeover of the Lighthouse Preschool in Nashville TN. You might remember this school –…

This week was a doozy, with Esther and I running around FortyOne Madison for The New York Tabletop Market. The show was a huge success and we saw lots of excited press and retailers going wild for gorgeous gifts, china, flatware and crystal. BUT, we saw something else very, very important right in the building’s lobby after hours…. … John Slattery of AMC’s Mad Men was on his way upstairs for a script reading. We managed to get a quick chat in, and let me tell you, it was glorious. Also marvelous? Earlier that afternoon we attended the launch of…

When I was little, I used to make my younger brother Kyle (begrudgingly) perform skits with me.  “It’s called theatre, Kyle,” I used to say as I rolled my eyes with cultural superiority.  “Hello.”  Of course, I wrote the script, was the star, and always brought down the house (read: the living room couch lined with stuffed animals).  Anyway, one of my recurring characters was a fortune teller with a crystal ball who predicted the future in incredible detail. I bring this up because today I’d like to play “fortune teller” once again; my prediction is that my college friend…

Neither torrential downpours or the threat of tornadoes could stop the V+P crew from celebrating the one-year anniversary of Designer Pages IDNY Meet up group last month. Of course, our client, Allsteel Inc. was hosting the gig at their ultra-hip Resource Center in Union Square, but we would have been there anyway — you know we’re regulars on the Meetup scene! The September 16 bash featured some truly inspiring speakers (per the usual at IDNY), including the creative minds behind Rich, Brilliant and Willing: Theo Richardson, Charles Brill and Alex Williams, along with renowned architectural designer Winka Dubbeldam, founder of…

I love (love love) design blogs, and their fresh, uncensored views of the industry I love so much. But as the community grows, it’s easy to get confused by some of the cutesy names and strangely similar craft projects. So I’m happy to see the new Curbed National, which offers Curbed’s to-the-point and sometimes snarky commentary on interior design and architecture, a departure from the popular blog’s fantastic real estate coverage.  There’s nothing cutesy here, except for the inspiration for this post: an ingenious random design blog name generator. My favorites so far? L’-curated-thing.com, Hello-delicious-housewife.typepad.com and This-shiny-martha.blogspot.com While you’re over…

Earlier this week, I saw a Huffington Post article on The Dollar ReDe$ign Project, another fine example of how to “cash in” on crowdsourcing. The thought behind the project is that the American dollar is lagging behind its rival, the Euro, and that  a money makeover would help stimulate an economy that is a little more “George Washington” than “Benjamin Franklin,” if you know what I mean. Some of the designs really are impressive, and totally make me want to go crazy at the mall. The most popular design, according to the article, was submitted by British duo Dowling Duncan:…

Recently, the V+P crew was privy to Showtime’s Showhouse opening night event at the Cassa Hotel and Residences. The event brought together outstanding designers who transformed three penthouse apartments at Cassa into rooms themed from the cable network’s hit TV shows: Dexter, Californication, The Big “C”, Nurse Jackie, The Borgias, The United States of Tara and Weeds. V+P was excited to attend after spending weeks working the designers, some of whom incorporated Karastan, a luxury manufacturer of carpeting and rugs (and our client), into their design. Karastan was one of the event’s many sponsors. Take a look at some of…

Bonjour! I was fortunate enough to visit Paris around Labor Day for the Maison et Objet Show, and to do a little trend spotting with our wonderful client at Benjamin Moore. Not only was the weather gorgeous, the Euro was down a bit, and the city was not too full since the Parisians were just returning from their summer vacances. Let’s get this out of the way. Yes, I ate a lot of macarons. I hit Pierre Herme, Laduree, Angelina, and everything in between. I am still not tired of them, and would really like another Pierre Herme olive oil…

I’m back from an incredible trip to Paris (more on my travels tomorrow), and ready now for New York adventures. In that vein, here’s another dispatch from the shadowy underbelly of the bacon world. I just had brunch at Traif, a new restaurant in Williamsburg that delights in serving all of Judaism’s forbidden foods. The restaurant casued quite a stir in the religious world when it opened. Though the owners meant no offense with the cheeky name, many found it pretty disrespectful. Sort of sacrilegious? Yes. Delicious? Also yes. For brunch, there’s a very impressive roster of pork-based dishes, including…

True to my morning routine, before I got out of bed, I checked my email. I saw that my friend Leah had sent me a message with a video attached; the only text in her email: “Ha.  Haha.  Hahahahahahaha.  Enjoy.” Though I had slept in a little past the alarm and knew that I would consequently be running a few minutes late for work (I later decided to skip Starbucks), I’m totally a sucker for the nondescript teaser.  One time in elementary school, I bought a brown paper “mystery bag” from the school’s spring carnival for five dollars, fully expecting…