Tag: home design

Christmas in the City

img_92492016 sure has been quite the year. Amidst a slew of music and art icons passing away, a wild and contentious political scene, worldwide terrorism and tragedy, I hope you’ve also enjoyed some joyful surprises, good health, successes on every front, loving family and friends. I for one am going to hold onto my wish for peace for everyone, everywhere as we head into 2017.

Even though it’s a little worse for the wear, I am always happy to hang this vintage greeting. Now that we’re living in an apartment, the front door was the perfect spot. In our city place, I take a much more streamlined approach to holiday decorating. I still want that magic mix of sparkle and schmaltz, but I also love the clean lines and flow of our open plan space and don’t want to overdo.

I think I reached a good balance that’s fun for a few weeks but also easy to pack up and stow away in an hour or two. Hope you enjoy our holiday scene!

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Cabin Fever

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As much as I love my “city” weekends, I can’t help missing our cozy cabin up in Keene, NY.  As soon as we saw the view, Chris and I knew we had to make it ours. And so began a complete life change. Make this mountain house ours, sell the suburban home our sons grew up in, move to Jersey City…you get the picture. It was a BIG change, but also an exhilarating, scary, fun, what-have-we-done one.

I’m going to share our gut renovation of the cabin in upcoming posts, but first I want to introduce you (if you aren’t already acquainted) with the Adirondacks where our 101 Aker Wood (as in Winnie the Pooh) is located. The Adirondacks are a natural wilderness unlike any other. Created in 1892 by the Sate of New York, the Park is a constitutionally protected Forever Wild area and spans 6 million acres — roughly 1/5 of New York. The Adirondacks are home to over 3,000 lakes and ponds and more than 30,000 miles of streams feeding 6,000 miles of rivers.

The Adirondack High Peaks, the region in which you’ll find our cabin, boasts 46 mountains above an elevation of 4,000 feet. The tallest is Mount Marcy at 5,343, and yes, I’ve climbed it. Ask my Achilles tendons about that experience!

Friends and family sometimes wonder why we don’t mind driving 4+ hours 2 weekends a month to go there…and basically any other time we can. But everyone who visits becomes a believer. And I think you will too as you learn more about this magical, majestic area.

If you’d like to start your adventure now, check out this PBS series preview or this site.