Bits of My Week...

below: coming soon to MadeByGirl

 steak salad my husband made for me, complete with flowers...ohh!

  

 Below: the best piece of art at the Whitney museum - Lee Krasner's HUGE painting. Everything else was pretty bad....

Above: hot pink jeans from Zara

The Warhol + Indiana exhibit going on now here in NYC - in the lower east side. Photos shot by William John Kennedy before Indiana & Warhol were FAMOUS -pretty cool stuff!

Exhibit goes on until May 29th.  

Located at: Site 109 (109 Norfolk St NYC)

-images by jen ramos

Canine Styles in NYC

This is purely for PET LOVERS.
 

I love buying cute things for my dog. Last month I decided to splurge on a Greek Key bed (for my boxer, Darla) from Canine Styles. I love this shop & it's super close to my apartment! They have a bunch of pretty dog collars, toys, shampoos & so much more! It has a boutique feel when you walk inside & everything is stored so neatly....I love it.

The reason I ended up at Canine Styles is because I was tired of going to big chain dog stores & seeing UGLY & uninteresting beds that don't go with my decor!
 

This may sound FOO-FOO to some of you - but hey, I love decor & even a doggie bed can seem that much nicer when it mixes in with the decor! Anyone else feel the same??
 

After buying this bed,  my only regret I have is, I wish I had gotten the 32" instead of the 28".

Canine Styles has about 4 locations in NYC - the one I visited was the one on the upper west side, one of my fave neighborhoods! 

1. sunburst bed 

2. key beds

3. corduroy bed

4. spades bed

5. leopard bed

6. personalized engraved dog collars 

7.  28" espresso key bed

Thanks to Ladies Home Journal

Yesterday I attended an event at the offices of Ladies Home Journal in midtown. I normally don't post stuff like this, but I thought maybe I'll start doing so....

One reason is.... I wanted to thank all the ladies from the mag, who were so kind & generous with their time. I chatted the most with Beth Roehrig (Home Editor) & Sue Erneta (Fashion editor) - are you surprised?  Somehow, I'm drawn to all the home & fashion people in the industry....figures ha!
 

About 9 BLOGGERS were invited to attend this event - & I was quite happy to be one of them! We're supposed to be featured in the mag in a section called "Let's talk about..." Another one of my pretty blogger friends who also got the invite was Ashlina from The Decorista blog- she's the brunette hanging out in their AMAZING kitchen below!

 

I hope to go to more events now that I'm living in Manhattan- so pls feel free to email me invites! Maybe I'll see you in person soon! 
 

Above is the new March issue...revamped. How much nicer is their logo?? Don't you think??

Ashlina & I (NOT) cooking in the kitchen.

 

The kitchen in their offices was HUGE. I swear it was like 4 kitchens in one. Almost too large to shoot!

Some of the many DELICIOUS sweets they had for us...! Love!

Me (on the right) hanging out with Beth (Home Editor)- loved chatting with her! 

 We all got a BIG goodie bag, filled with lots of cool items! One of my FAVE things was this handmade Stingray cuff bracelet! You can get one at Leighelena.

Ladies Home Journal is always looking for interesting stories about women. If you think you have a story that is inspiring and should be told, email me & I'll let them know! 

Almost there....

Hey everyone! Hope you're all enjoying your Wednesday! We're getting things situated little by little...on the other side of this room & everywhere else - we STILL have a mess of boxes.  I will show it all when it's ready....

images by jen ramos

What a day...

Finally in NYC... My guy cracked the RV mirror when he ran it into a transit bus mirror. Then if that wasn't enough, we couldn't park in front of the building due to construction. So, parking & hauling things from a block away seemed like the only thing to do. It was insane.. But I had a laugh...

Thank God I have family here, they came out to help with the items we had in the RV. More to come soon! Hope everyone is well... My feet feel like they're about to fall off.

P.S. I'm the one with the aviator glasses holding my artwork!

Sofa: To Sell or Not to Sell...

Hello everyone! We've been busy packing things & selling stuff around here, my head is spinning! Today I came to a STOP & wondered if I should sell the  white provincial sofa I purchased in 2006. Yes, 2006 & it's been wrapped in (plastic) in my garage ever since - have never truly used it.

For those of you who don't remember when I wrote about it on my blog, you can check out that 2006 post here. I begged my guy to pull it out of garage today (with my help) & put it in our living room...I needed to see it in a home setting & not the garage. It looks so cold & lonely down there, not a pretty sight, know what I mean ladies?!? He was sweet enough to help me - it was crazy - but we did it.

Anyways, I'm faced with a dilemma, my guy likes the sofa but doesn't think it's practical to have a white sofa as our 'main' sofa! Perhaps he's right...but I paid for it & have never used it. I feel like I'd be cheating myself.  He says we'll have to be covering it up with throws, like you see in the photo below...and again, maybe he's right. He also told me that he wouldn't feel like he could relax on it without me watching over his shoulder...

I'm so confused, I don't want it to get dirty...should I care that much??  Should I get creative & paint a black pattern or spots on the couch with black fabric paint???  I figured the dots would conceal any potential dirt, basically making it harder to spot it.

So, I could just SELL it as new ($880), since I've never used it or haul it to my new place in NYC. PLEASE let me know what you guys think......I'm seriously at a loss.  It's so pretty & comfortable...I want it, he doesn't so much...

This is what it looks like in my living room right now....& what it would probably look like in my new place, all covered up in a fur throw. Do you guys think it would look good with my white daybed in the same space?!?

This picture below was the inspiration for getting the sofa reupholstered in a white fabric...

- top 2 images by jen ramos

- last image domino

I'm Moving!

Hello everyone! Remember this post?

Well, my guy was just informed he got a job in NYC!  He & I sometimes chat on Skype video when he's on his lunch break & TODAY he held up this sign....

I SWEAR, my heart skipped a beat! I'm so excited to be moving!!  You see, this past weekend we flew to NYC on a last minute trip for his interviews. While there, we took advantage & viewed a few rentals. We probably saw 20 places, some nice, some not-so-nice. I felt like I was on House Hunters, narrowing it down to 3 places - all on the upper east side- my fave neighborhood.

Now, the challenge is to sell some items in my home, in my closet, sell our car, rent our home (yes, I gave in) & figure out how we're going to ship a few pieces of furniture & clothing! ....AND do this all by Jan 27th.

We need to find a moving company to move a few pieces...as I'll be SELLING my large Crate & Barrel dining table, possibly the dining chairs, my sectional sofa from West Elm, Master bed tufted leather headboard/bed, a few lamps & possibly my dark brown West Elm coffee table (which I love).  Oh yes, & our cool car.....
 

I'll be posting items FOR SALE on my blog within the next few days...however, if you see something in my home you'd like to buy, just shoot me an email & I'll let you know if I'm selling it. Wish me luck.


Below are some photos from the trip last weekend, including the hotel we stayed in & some of the apartments we viewed!

Came across this building below & thought it was interesting. It's an actually entryway to an apt building...only in NYC.

The hotel - was called "Marmara" - it's a cool place with a nice staff located on 94th & 2nd avenue. Very affordable too! The only issue I had was with the construction on 2nd avenue, but it didn't bother me that much in the morning!  Having a full kitchen was well worth it & saved us a few bucks by cooking.They also have an AMAZING deck area, with views of the city!

 How cool is this? A chandelier in the elevator!!

-images by jen ramos