2015 in review

happy 2016! we are getting busy back into work over the past two weeks after a long holiday. 2015 was, in a word, transformative. 2014 was a tough personal year for me, so 2015 came as a surprise. i am two weeks late to the ‘2015 best nine’ game, but i thought i would share my highlights. sometimes it’s hard for me to absorb all that has happened, but i am so very thankful for everything.

1. made the decision to freelance and left job in a large firm.
2. started my own interior design business.
3. my beautiful nephew august was born.
4. travelled to d.c. for the cherry blossom festival with wonderful friends.
5. finished my licensure exams and became ncidq certified.
6. celebrated my husband josh’s 30th birthday with a staycation.
7. travelled to our home in montana with siblings.
8. we bought our house!
9. had the opportunity to work on so many amazing projects with the best clients.

also, my husband started his own architecture and development business!

how was your year?

follow along this year on instagram.

Advertisement

new traditions

2015 so far has been about rest and recharge. we spent new year’s day exploring with the dogs and letting them run and play at an agriculture center and preserve near our home. we decided a family hike in the woods would be a tradition every year on january 1, a time to reset in nature and be together. growing up on new year’s day, my parents always cooked black eyed peas for prosperity in the coming year. last NYE we were in nyc!

do you have any new year’s day traditions?

don’t they look like they are having the time of their lives…?

xoxo

madeline

NYC part III

it seems odd that the first day of spring i am posting photos of a blizzard….for the last installment of our new york pictures, i present HERCULES 2014. both of us are born and raised in tennessee, so we have never seen snow like this. it started snowing the night before and we woke up to a winter wonderland. we practically ran down to central park to find families and children sledding – everyone seemed so happy! i had to include this next shot of josh stealing a child’s sled and wiping out…he says sledding down the hills that day was one of his favorites memories of the trip.

 

we explored a personal favorite, the metropolitan museum of art (met). i love the eqyptian wing shown below; the windows were even more beautiful framed in snow. i wanted to post a few pictures of the cute apartment we rented in the upper east side from airbnb. we had a little kitchen and living room to kick up our feet after longs days. our host was very sweet and it was overall a good experience.

we knew our travel home might be delayed due to snow and ice, but i don’t think we were prepared. we had to stay in the city an extra day after all flights were cancelled for a week…we hitched a ride with my dad the next day. 36 hours later, we were happy to be home to see this little guy. nyc, chantal and paul – we love you.

spotlight : nyc’s hudson hotel

{ground level entry into hudson hotel}

‘

a little green for your st. patrick’s day – while we were visiting nyc, we stopped into the hudson hotel for a drink. during college, i studied this boutique hotel and have always wanted to visit. it was designed by philippe stark, the product designer behind some iconic kartell furniture, namely the ghost chair. i highly recommend staying there if you can afford it…or like us, stopping by to explore the interior. there are two bars inside the hotel, a library bar, and an outdoor lounge. these first five shots are my own, but they don’t do the space justice – so i have linked to a few more from pinterest below. it is such a magical place and was the perfect retreat from the blizzard that day. we drank cocktails, ate truffle popcorn, and warmed up by the fire in hudson common.

 

{street facade of hudson hotel in midtown}

{glass box at top of entry escalators}

{the front desk and lobby, covered in vines}

{outdoor bar and lounge}

{modern white bathroom, love the backlit mirrors and wall panel texture}

images via 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

NYC part II

today i want to share more from our new york city trip. i posted this week about our first two days in the city – times square, central park, grand central station, and new year’s eve.

 

on our third day in the city, we spent the morning at the high line and walking all around the city. it is such a nice change of pace to walk everywhere when you live in suburbia! we toured the museum of modern art (moma) in the afternoon and stopped by the beautiful hudson hotel bar for a drink. i loved this spot so much i will be posting a spotlight on this later. we stopped into sofia wine bar for pizza; this place seemed like a place we would hang out if we were locals. to finish the night, i fulfilled my life long dream of visiting the top of the empire state at night. the whole time envisioning all the famous movies filmed there….

on on fourth day, we started by heading out to brooklyn, we crossed the brooklyn bridge in 4 degree windchill (!?!) and walked through brooklyn heights. while downtown, we walked by the freedom tower and saw the new calatrava path station going up below. visiting the 9/11 site was so moving, 13 years laters. the blizzard (hercules 2014) started very quickly, but this did not stop us….we toured my best friend’s architecture firm and headed down to chelsea for dinner at jean gorges’ spice market. we walked down to chelsea market, which unfortunately was closed due to the blizzard, and ran into a favorite, fish’s eddy. the blizzard was crazy to witness – our first one!

i will be sharing our final photos and about the apartment tomorrow. happy friday.

 

madeline

NYC part I

i am long overdue posting about our wonderful trip to new york city in january. we had so much fun visiting our friends, chantal and paul and seeing the city. we decided to rent an apartment in the upper east side through airbnb; it was a lovely place and really gave us a more genuine feel for the city and what it would be like to live there. we arrived before new year’s eve and were able to see times square with our friends as it was being set up for the balldrop. afterwards, we had dinner at the wonderful cafe cluny in the west village.

our second day in the city, we explored ‘our’ neighborhood in the upper east side where my friend lives and ran in central park. we visited grand central station, the chrysler building, and rockefeller plaza. we saw the ice skating, 30 rock, and the beautiful christmas tree. for new year’s eve, we decided to sit out the times square festivities on recommendation from the local, and we went to a party at the empire hotel in lincoln center. we had so much fun dancing and drinking dirty martinis.

 

i will be posting more this week on the rest of our week in nyc! hope you enjoy.

xoxo madeline