Monday kicked off the first day of NeoCon, the annual trade show for contract furnishings at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. V+P is reporting from the Windy City with our Day 1 experience. We hit Majora Carter’s keynote speech, sponsored by our client, Allsteel. Majora, a Bronx native and founder of the Sustainable South Bronx, a work placement program for “green” jobs, discussed her inspiring mission to revitalize the Bronx by creating eco-friendly initiatives that also provide local jobs. One of my favorites: Green roofs! Majora has one on her home where she actually grows strawberries! Beyond the awe- inspiring…

It’s a debate that stretches back further in time than Jon vs. Kate…Coke vs. Pepsi…and even dinosaur vs. caveman.  And it’s a debate that we’re happy to duke out on our blog:  the Yankees vs. the Mets. Last week, both Josh and Nicole attended their first NYC baseball games. Josh headed to the Bronx to cheer for the Yankees, and Nicole made her way to Queens to root for the Mets.  (See where this is going?) After sharing their baseball stories back at the office, the colleagues have steadfastly pledged allegiance to their respective teams, and the bitter rivalry has…

Veeder + Perman is blessed with great clients- and we’re not just being nice. They’re smart and funny and adventurous and they keep our lives very interesting. Don’t take our word for it though. Our very first guest contributor, Davis & Warshow Executive President David Finkel, proves my point regularly with laugh-out-loud emails about his culinary adventures, and has agreed to let me share the latest, weirdest one with you. After a small disagreement about the best Banh Mih place in town (see here) David emailed to say that he was thinking about going here: Looks fairly unassuming, right? David…

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being among the first to check out Country Living Magazine’s Home Green Home. A charming 1,700-square foot cottage was built right in the middle of the soaring glass towers of the World Financial Center. The juxtaposition of the home and the space was just what Country Living wanted, editor Sarah Gray Miller told the crowd at the opening night event. Green living can happen anywhere and at anytime, she said, and that’s certainly what we saw last night. The cottage-chic home, designed by Katie Ridder, featured Benjamin Moore’s Aura and Natura paint and a plethora…

My mom is pretty cool.  In addition to making the best homemade bread in Beadle County, she’s also a text messaging maven. (I wonder if she texts while making the best homemade bread in Beadle County…the thought is blowin’ my mind!) Beyond making its way into “cool mom culture,” text messaging has been influencing art culture around the world. Here are a few reasons that SMS made me “:)” today… The Göteborg Museum of Art in Sweden has mounted a “Talking Art” installation.  Visitors to the exhibit are basically asked, “If a work of art could talk—what would it say?” …

There’s someone special in my life who recently discovered the joys of bacon (and it’s not anyone at V+P – we’ve been down with its crunchy, salty, smoky goodness for quite some time now.) But the craze isn’t just taking over my refrigerator. Lately, this humble pork product has gained considerable prestige, cropping up in The Redhead’s bacon brittle, on scented Band-Aids that a friend showed up with for my housewarming party, and in various unlikely condiments like Baconnaise and Bacon Salt. Here are some of my top porcine picks, all clear signs that the ubiquitous cupcake is losing market…

Some of my best elementary school memories are of Mrs. Madison, my kindergarten teacher, helping me make picture books.  I would draw the pictures on construction paper, explain to Mrs. Madison what the crayon scribbles signified, and together we would draft captions, usually about dogs, cats, and mermaids, for each page.  (I wonder where those books are now. I bet the people at Simon and Schuster are dying to get their hands on them!) Since my little forays into the literary world, there have been some pretty incredible updates, including Blurb.com.  This gem of a website allows you to self-publish…

We nearly lost our heads with excitement when we got word of our BIG PR Award.  Well, actually, it was the award that lost its head, but these are just details. Kind of like the details our award apparently lacked. But who cares if your name is spelled correctly? As it turns out, Ester (pronounced Es-STARE) Perman from Veeder + Peerman (perhaps a close relative of Esther’s?) won an award for Extraordinary Achievement in Media Relations. We were honored with a replica of a headless Thinker. Rather than toss our lovely award, we quickly repaired it and added him to…

2010 has been a pretty monumental year for me.  Not only have I discovered a Dominican dish called Mofongo (mo’ to come on this), but I attended my first International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) this past weekend.  Bouncing between Lisa at Dornbracht, and Esther at Turnstyle, I had a chance to see the all of the industry’s latest offerings. Since the show, I’ve been checking in with the design blogs, and the trend reports have already begun emerging. A couple of blogs,  including LA Times’ “ICFF 2010: Time for color — lots of color”, and Living in Color with Sonu’s …

With the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in its final throes, I’m here with a report from the inside (V+P has been stationed at Javits for the show, proudly representing Dornbracht and Turnstyle Designs) on what, in my opinion, is the finest, fab-est furniture fair in the US. There was a great buzz at the show, and the excited, always-stylish crowd swarmed booths for a look at everything from hyper-modern dollhouses to startlingly beautiful wallcoverings to Endangered Species erasers. The thought of my polar bear slowly disappearing as I use him to correct mistakes brings tears to my eyes. There seemed…