Shocktober

Holey Guacamole. And Happy Halloween! Where does the time go?

Around here, a bunch of it still goes into decorating. We've been working hardest on our Great Room (Formerly known as Sweet Apple Hunting Lodge). Not QUITE ready to show that yet, one more awesome mid-century chair and a painted table to go, but our bedroom is nearly done, and we're totally excited about that, so here we go:

Before: Lean and Green

 After: Cool and Calm

I love everything about our new bedroom (except those Home Decorators' Collection bookshelves, which totally warped in storage!). The walls are Oval Room Blue by Farrow and Ball (the same color, I think, that we had on Northampton Street in Bath) with Benjamin Moore's White Dove trim. The rug is Pottery Barn and so are the bedding and lamp. The chairs are $139 indoor/outdoor specials from Pier 1, and the cushions are Pier 1 too.

I really, really love the window treatments. They are "relaxed Roman" shades from Smith and Noble - they came and measured and installed for $175 extra. I think they're so beautiful - and they give us a few extra minutes of shut-eye in the morning!

We had a super-busy end of summer, spending 2 weeks in Michigan. We had amazing weather, and were able to hit the beach or pool nearly every day. We got to see GG Harriet, the Cook girls, the Hannahs, the Darnell clan, the Davidson cousins and the Font-Kocibas!

Life's a Beach!

Hittin' da (Golf) Club with GG Harriet 

Jeff and Josie even had their first Coney dogs in Lexington!

 I had to come all the way to Michigan for a Coney Island? Fuhgettaboutit!

We also took Josie to her first Tiger game, where I exhibited class-A parenting skills by feeding her a massive ice cream cone and frozen lemonade, then putting her on the merry-go-round. Safe to say we were speeding out of Detroit with a puking child in the middle of the 6th inning!

Le Tigre, Le Gastro!

I hadn't been to Comerica Park since working for Sen. Stabenow in 2000. It was pretty jarring to see how much the city has crumbled in 13 years. Here, an abandoned school just ONE BLOCK from the stadium, just left to crumble.

Crumbling schools - not just a campaign talking point in Detroit

After we got back to New York, we celebrated Jeff's 41st with a whirlwind 36 hours in the city. We celebrated with his traditional steak dinner, this year at BLT Prime. I was a bit overserved on red meat, but rallied enough for the Natural History Museum with the kids the next day!

 Just think how that poor cow felt.

Next thing you knew (well, lots of things later, as school didn't start until an ungodly Sept 10th!) it was back to school!

Josie was a little nervous, but totally psyched for her first day of public school, boys and all! I think she'd agree choosing her own outfits is the biggest trade-up.

Look out, First Grade!

Hugo also began nursery school...and was a lot less thrilled about it.

There's no crying in nursery school!

Not to worry, he quickly made friends and influenced toddlers with his whole "T-Rex vs. Anatomically Correct Baby Doll" routine.

 That's right - I'm one proud mama!

Josie turned six on October 5th and requested a Superhero party. Nom, Pee-pa and Uncle Andy all swooped in, Justice-League style, and we had a rockin' time.

I of course had to stay up until some unholy hour the night before making a cake -but I was pretty satisfied with Wonder Woman -- check the Wilton cake tin from 1976 I got off eBay!

 You're a Wonder

 SuperUncle!

 Super-Special delivery!

Not the craftiest of mums, I was pretty intimidated by the idea of a DIY party (stupid, sexist Party City has ZERO Wonder Woman stuff). One of the great ideas I got was a Superhero photo booth. The kids had so much fun!

Nom and Pee-pa stayed a few days (actually Nom stayed two more WEEKS) so that I could go to D.C. to see friends and colleagues. Auntie Chelle put me up and I had lots of great coffees and meals... seeing celebs like Spike Mendelsson at his truly delish Capitol Hill steak frites place, Bernaise...

Spike, please pack your knives and COME ON OVER!!

And Cathy Westley!

The month -- and Nom's visit -- closed out with one of my favorite Nyack traditions, truly one of the BEST things about living here: the annual Halloween Parade.

The last time we were here everyone looked like this:

Quick! Find Nemo! 

This year there were too many damn kids running amok to even take a group picture. This is the closest we got... poor Nom is clearly confused about which grandchild is even hers, or else she just gravitated to the most compliant one (the ninja....go figure!).

Well, this was too long of a gap between updates, and I like skipped tons of major stuff, like the High Holidays, my first business trip, apple-picking, etc. but oh well. Happy Halloweeeeeeeen!

Still settling...

Woof.

It's the dog days of August, but honestly we're finally getting some dreamy June weather! Humidity is nil, the sun is shining and there's a nice breeze almost every day.

The Rothvidsons are still gradually but happily settling into American life. There are some things we miss, fo sho. Here are a few:


1) English manners. Everyone here is a bit more, shall we say, brusque than most in the mother country. New Yawk baby. Fuhgeddaboutit.

2) Wagamama. Tebasaki Wings, Teppan Noodles, Chili squid...whether they were waiting at the door with our takeaway bags and a smile or ignoring the rice Hugo was chucking all over the restaurant, we sure miss the Wags.

First chopsticks - and chicken katsu!

3) Walking everywhere. Our collective booties are really missing that one. While I probably burned 200 calories a day just running up and down the 4 flights of stairs at 26 Northampton, Sweet Apple Farm is definitely more secluded even than our old house in Nyack was. Driving is a must for pretty much every outing.

4) London. New York City has no equal, but really neither does London. From the blinding white Rowhouses in Kensington to the multiple palaces to the cute pubs nestled in tiny one-way corridors, it's a special town.

Walking...in London

5) Saint Claire.  Not much more to say there, really.

 Just love.

6) The views from Josie's window over Bath all the way to Prior Park. Always made me linger a little while putting her to bed.

Room with a View

7) Farm shops. The concept: farm plus cool little market full of fresh eggs, chickens, vegetables, plus family-friendly cafe, animals to visit and sometimes even a little playground. Great place to spend a Sunday morning.

We told Josie she was getting a sibling at Neston Farm Shop. 

She was nonplussed.

8) Just walking around shopping and knowing Romans once built roads there, Georgian nobles lounged, bathed, and drank tea, Jane Austen hurried down a hidden walk and somewhere Johnny Depp owns a house.

And I never figured out where. Damnit!

9) Free health care. Not much more to say there either. When I got a $50 bill for one month of Synthroid at the pharmacy last week I nearly passed out.

 

10) Waitrose. Marks and Spencer. Joules. Great shopping. Thankfully, Monsoon is coming to the Palisades mall so I'll have at least one of my splurgeworthy stores back!

Of course, for everything we miss there's something great to have back -- great Asian food. Family close by. Barbecue. Netflix. Sirus XM radio.  Hot coffee. Cold beer.

We got to partake of all of the above up in the Berkshires with all the Rothmans last weekend. It was so lovely to watch Josie and Hugo play with their cousins, it made all the stuff we miss feel pretty minor (except for any wonderful friends reading this, of course -- so you just have to come visit!) 

 

Special iPad bonding time with Uncle Rog 

 Photo credit: Lew Rothman

This one too - check out that mani! 

The kids and I stopped in Spencertown on the way back to Nyack to visit Casa Sternal, and of course its lovely inhabitants, Spencertown Dad (thank god they moved out of DUMBO!) Blissful Mom and kids. The house has been a massive, multiyear endeavor, and while I forgot to photograph it, I was nonetheless both impressed and inspired by its architecture, decor, and general aura of love.

Decorating projects are coming along.  What I imagine will be the crowning glory of the house, the dining room, was completed last week, and I couldn't be happier.

  

Before

 

 After! Let there be light!

I'm doing my part to bring back wallpaper.  Look at those lovebirds! Paper is Farrow and Ball Renaissance and paint is F and B "Dimity."

Oooooooooh

After hours shopping for curtain bargains on Land of Nod, PB Kids, etc. for Josie's room, I found a crumpled Ziploc storage bag of what looked like muddy rags. I pulled them out, and only after looking at the tags realized they were the Shabby Chic curtains from our house on N. Midland!

Two Oxi Clean wash cycles later, and they were good as new and perfect for Miss Thing's lair. 

Cute butterfly curtain rods are from Target, and the shelves are from Lowe's.

 

 
Don't get me wrong -- I love Josie's color choices, but while I hate to criticize anything Martha Stewart does, her paint line by Glidden at Home Depot is godawful. When we pulled out Josie's dollhouse to put up the shelves, the roof had literally stuck to the wall, I guess due to humidity. When we yanked the roof away a line of paint came along with it.

 

Not cool, Martha. You shouldn't have gotten in bed with Home Despot.

Next up: painting the hallways and master bedroom, and wrapping up the design scheme for the Great Room / Elks Lodge. After hours of trudging around furniture stores and scouring Pinterest, I threw up my hands and enlisted an Ethan Allen consultant to help me with a floor plan and window treatments, rugs, etc. I'm already pretty excited about what we're cooking up.

 Test patches for Master Br: What I like to call "Farrothko and Ball"

Meanwhile, it's hard to believe but summer is winding down here in Nyack. Josie is finishing up camp, which she has loved partly for the art but even more for being reunited with her since-utero BFF B.

How's THAT for a Before and After? 

Next week we're off to Michigan for 2 weeks, so I'll hopefully be back soon after with lots of nostalgic Detroit shots (photos! photos!) and great memories. Lata!

Bagels are way better in America.

(Out)back to Nyack!

We're back, baby.

Though our reunion with Nyack was delayed briefly by sticky floors that refused to dry during a week of purported daily deluges (if you want fun, shack up in a long-stay hotel with two children under six, one at your feet and one H-style between you and your spouse or loved one), we rolled in at about 7:30 a.m. two Sundays ago (jet lag).

And thar she was. Sweet Apple Farm.

As you are likely aware, or else why the heck are you reading this, we just left the loverly city of Bath in the United Kingdom, where most houses are named. Ours was not -- plain old 26 Northampton Street it was -- but many were. Abbey View, Church View, Hawksmoor, Mile House, Milford House, you get the drift. So Josie asked if, when we moved back to the States, we could live in a house with a name.

We said fo sho, little lady, and whatever you would like to name it.

Without hesitation, our starry-eyed dreamer blurted, "Sweet Apple Farm!"

It's actually not a crazy name.  Our development was actually once a farm, later split into 8 plots and called, for real estate purposes, "The Farm at Nyack."  The Sweet Apple bit? "Bye Bye Birdie," of course. You may recall that heroine Kim MacAfee is none other than the president of the Sweet Apple, OH chapter of the Conrad Birdie Fan Club.

(If you're getting déjà vu, then you're probably also aware that I got Hugo's name from Hugo Fink/Peabody, Kim's high school boyfriend played by Bobby Rydell. I should just dye my hair red, sing into a telephone and squeeze into a hot pink number already, although I'm probably older than Maureen Stapelton was at the time she filmed the movie).

Sweet Apple - crazy, baby

That early Sunday morn we were all exhausted. The extraction from Bath was bittersweet and not a little painful, the departure harried (though made eminently sweeter by a gift basket of wine, cheese and meats left in our hotel room by Kiwi Mom-- bless you, Kiwi Mom) and the flight -- well, I'd say long to... quite long. Hugo had refused to sleep until we had landed and started deplaning -- the kid always has great timing -- and strongly disliked awakening in a black Range Rover parked outside a White Plains corporate housing facility.

But a greasetastic UNO's pizza, four hours of sleep, a 20-minute ride in our new Subaru Outback, and a Main St.-Frappucino later, we were home.

SAF is a replica farmhouse, built in 2000, so lots of rustic charm blended with modern amenities (read: I finally get a real walk-in closet and Jeff gets a man-cave with en-suite bathroom!). It's also in terrific shape, though as many of you have discovered, giving even a relatively new house your own personal style is a huge undertaking. Thankfully, Nom and Pee-pa helicoptered in from MI to get the party started.

Let's take Josie's room as an example. Its previous occupant was a tres sportif (we're talking life-sized David Beckham decal on the wall) 15-year-old boy. Not a decorating style that translates well to a five-year-old, unabashed girly-girl.  So here's the "before" along with the 3 pinks she chose and tested.

Josie's room - Before

Even after just some spackle and one coat of fresh paint, the transformation was well underway.

Now that's what I call pink

Add one Pottery Barn Kids rug, a Young America bed, and a mEtsychistic decal, and we're on the way to finished Monkey-Moodle Lair.

Restful glamour

Hugo's cute li'l room (he got the biggest upgrade, coming from a glorified nook in Bath) was a pretty blank slate... boy did he love getting a Big Boy Bed (as any of you who chatted with him about the upcoming move to America well know).

He now has the largest bed in North America (tip: pay attention to those measurements, and don't assume beds from the same company will be the same scale!), but plenty more Cath Kidston Cowboy decor to come.

Keep those dogies rollin'

The biggest decorating challenge is posed by the Great Room. It needs to be All Things -- living room, entertaining room, family room, some-TV room -- and right now it's a bit hunting-lodge for our otherwise fairly cottage-style taste. We've discussed everything from painting the ceiling and bookshelves off-white to just the bookshelves and walls to just the walls and living with it for awhile.

When you look closely the bookshelves are a bit stained and dinged-up, so it's not a crazy idea to paint them. But we're going to save this room for last.

All it needs is a big moose head over the fireplace

The breakfast room is a color that everyone actually loves, so it's staying yellow for awhile, although we've already added a bit of flair.

Breakfast room: Before

Breakfast room: Let's call it "during"

The dining room was decorated in this very baroque style, so our plan is to lighten and brighten with a little help from Messrs. Farrow and Ball.

Dark

Too dark

Ooooohhhhhhh

We've had another addition to the family -- well, actually this guy's been part of the Davidson family for generations -- but we're beyond psyched to give him a new home.  Thank you Gramma Harriet for giving this to me, and Pee-pa for dismantling it, storing it for 4 years, carting it here and then... remantling it. It runs... well, like clockwork, and looks amazing in what will be a bright, beautiful and welcoming dining room in a few weeks and more Benjamins than I care to think about (Josie won't need braces, right?).

Bong

Our office is already in decent shape -- I'm sitting in it, banging all this out, aren't I?  Down the road we're thinking built-in bookshelves and a piano, but in the near future we'll just hang some art.

No office politics here

Of course one of the best parts about moving back out to the 'burbs is the outdoor space. We've gone from a lovely but tiny "English garden" to a kick-ass BBQ'in, s'more-broilin', paddling-poolin', football-throwin', live-action-Bambi-castin' YARD.

Whachoo drinkin', Nom?

Corn dog

The other big news is that for all the pre-move angst and anxiety, the kids are settling in great. They will just play together in that basement for, like, minutes -- we'll work up to half-hours or maybe even hours -- run around outside, scooter in the driveway....and Jeff and I can shower and brush our teeth in relative solitude. 

Josie also toured her new school -- and she's pretty excited for September.

Her chief anxiety, actually was that she wouldn't remember where everything was, in comparison to our old house, so she made some very helpful signage.

Jeff's brother and sister-in-law, Lewisburg Parents, visited with our nephs, and that was pretty awesome.

We're all pretty psyched for our first 4th of July in Nyack. Plans include swimming, sweating, and BBQing with Jeff's sister and niece. Plenty of room, the rest of y'all, so hurry up and visit.

In the meantime, stay tuned for decorating drama and other special sauce.