Hello Hauteness

Hello Hauteness followers!  I have some exciting news to share!  First of all, I have a job!  Three months after leaving Austin, Texas and moving to New York City, I’ve found a new position.  I can’t go into details because I’m not allowed to mention my company via social media, but I will say that I’m working for a well-known fashion & beauty firm that has offered me a great opportunity to learn and grow.  I’m thrilled to take on this new chapter of my professional life and truly think I’ve found a great home where I’ve landed.

Second of all, six weeks after moving into the city I am finally ready to share pictures of our apartment with all of you.  I can’t share every detail and the place is not completely decorated (I’d say we’re at about 90%), but hopefully this will quench the thirst of those of you who have been asking for pictures since we first moved back in July.

Prints of our friends and family in black & white are featured in the living room.  I love the classic look of black & white photos, don’t you?

One of my favorite features of our apartment is the exposed brick wall.  It captures your attention as soon as you walk in.  This is a common element of NYC apartments and I love it!

While we do have a fireplace it is not a working one so I decided to use the space to store our DVD’s.  Believe it or not, I was able to fit all of our movies down to the very last one.  If we get even one more DVD it won’t fit.  Just another reason why we were meant to be in this apartment.

We don’t really have a dining room so I found this great table at Target with collapsible leaves to fit up against the wall.  The print hanging on the wall is one of Rich’s favorites and looks great with the brick.

This is Rodney, our Roomba!  Yes, we named our robot vacuum cleaner.  I highly recommend a Roomba for anyone living in a small space.  Rodney does a great job and saves me from having to vacuum.  Love it!

Our closet space is small, but I’ve made the most of it.  When I moved up here I invested in slim felt-covered hangers that allow for more space on the bar.  We have two closets (both of which Rich surrendered to me) and they don’t have overhead lights.  To fix this problem I purchased touch LED lights from Bed Bath & Beyond.  I must say, they really do the job!

I love our bedroom!  Rich already had the furniture (from Ikea) so I decided to try to soften up the modern feel of his set by accenting with more feminine textiles.  The bedding is from West Elm and the curtain is from Overstock.com.  I really love that curtain.  Thank you to our friend @ericaStanoch for the fabulous lamp!

Our kitchen is small but charming.  We are lucky to have a dishwasher (not common in NYC apartments) and I have enough space to cook comfortably.  Rich tends to steer clear of the kitchen so we don’t have to worry about getting in each other’s way.  The canisters are from Ikea.  Rich’s sister Kim gave me the idea to customize them with press-on letters…which is exactly what I did.  I’m really happy with how they turned out.

Last but not least is our bathroom.  It is definitely smaller than what I had in Texas, but it’s actually bigger than I expected to find in NYC.  The giant mirrored medicine cabinet makes the room feel bigger than it is.  I really like this geometric print shower curtain we got from Target.

So that’s it!  Home sweet Upper West Side home!  Sorry for the delay but hopefully this gives you a good glimpse into our humble abode.

Earlier this week my good friend Kristine (@gloriakt) was in the city so I took her visit as an opportunity to check out some places I’ve been curious to explore.  At the top of my list was just about any restaurant featured in the movie You’ve Got Mail.  As a typical girl, I LOVE romantic comedies and one of the reasons I’ve been so excited to explore my Upper West Side neighborhood is the fact that it’s where the movie took place.  Knowing that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan walked down to same streets as me and ordered coffee from my local Starbucks brings out my inner tourist.

Tuesday morning Kristine and I ventured out to Cafe Lalo for brunch.  This is where Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan’s characters, who are email pen pals, are supposed to meet for the first time.  Remember the scene?  Meg is sitting at a table with a book and a red rose waiting for Tom, who is standing outside trying to decide if he should go in or not because he’s just discovered that the possible love of his life is actually his nemesis in business.  *Sigh*  I love this stuff!

Immediately once I turned the corner onto 83rd Street and saw Cafe Lalo I knew I was at the right place.  The cute tree-lined street.  The steps leading up to the entrance.  The charming wooden framed windows.  And it only got better once we got inside.  You walk past a sinfully delicious pastry case to get to your cute little table, that is conveniently located practically on top of the table next to you (typical for NYC).  There are so many delicious breakfast entrees in the menu that it took Kristine and I 15 minutes just to decide on what to eat.  Cafe Lalo offers up typical breakfasts from around the world, which I found fascinating and delicious all at once.  In the end, Kristine ordered the Dutch Breakfast while I ordered the Italian Breakfast, along with our giant Cappuccino and Viennese Coffee.

May I just say, that this was one of my favorite experiences to date in New York. I got to enjoy good conversation with a good friend over delicious food and coffee in an absolutely charming environment.  From the exposed brick walls to the vintage posters to the fresh lavender plants hanging above the bar, I loved everything about Cafe Lalo.  Not to mention that the food was beyond delicious and actually rather healthy.  The ingredients tasted truly fresh and the menu offerings were unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere else.  I know I don’t typically critique restaurants on this, my fashion blog, but I just had to share with all of you this little gem in the heart of the Upper West Side.

Whether you live in the city or are just visiting, I highly recommend you make it a point to visit Cafe Lalo…especially if you’re a hopeless romantic and a fan of You’ve Got Mail.  Cheers!

Sorry for being radio silent the past two weeks, but I have the best excuse. Rich and I officially moved to the Upper West Side on July 1st! After spending a few weeks living on Staten Island, it was Rich, me, and a U-Haul filled with all of our earthly possessions off to Manhattan.

Since we moved on a Friday it was just the two of us moving into our 4th floor walk up apartment, but at least we didn’t have to move furniture because it was delivered to us a few days later. Word to the wise though, if you are moving anywhere in the city that doesn’t have an elevator, hire movers! Carrying boxes up three flights of stairs in the middle of summer is a bit tougher than Rich and I anticipated. Nough said.

But, after a week plus of settling in, we’re finally here! May I just say, I LOVE LOVE LOVE our new hood! It’s so cute and charming that I feel like I’m walking around in a movie when I come and go everyday. We’re a block and a half away from the gym, two blocks from Central Park and three blocks from the nearest subway stop. Not to mention that we have every market and clothing store known to man within a few blocks of us.  Life is good!

I don’t have apartment pics to share just yet because we don’t have curtains, rugs or wall decor.  I can’t show you guys the apartment without it being properly accessorized afterall.

In the meantime, I walked around the hood and snapped a few pics so that you all could share in my delight of the Upper West Side.

Our street

Another view of our street

Yup, Magnolia Bakery is a few blocks away

Trader Joe's, need I say more?

Gray's Papaya

72nd Street subway stop

Citarella gourmet market

Beacon Theater

Somehow I went 28 years without ever stepping foot in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Now that’s just wrong for a number of reasons: 1) I am a total museum lover/nerd, 2) the Met attracts some of the best fashion exhibits in the world, and 3) I’ve been living in NYC for over a month (what took me so long?!).

Needless to say, I was like a kid in a candy store when I finally made it to the Met last week.  I started off my trip in the Greek and Roman Galleries (see tomorrow’s post for my take on these exhibits) and basically allowed myself to get lost in the museum for the day.  I purposely made this trip alone because I wanted to pop in my headphones and zone out.  Mission accomplished!  I. Was. In. Heaven.

Seeing the works of Gauguin, van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Warhol, O’Keefe, Pollack and many others firsthand was a religious experience for me.  Before I discovered my love and passion for all things fashion I was an artist.  I studied these masters of art from the time I can remember, so it was somewhat surreal to finally get to see their works in person.

Edgar Degas

An up close look at a Jackson Pollack

John Singer Sargent (one of my absolute favs!)

Andy Warhol

As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to appreciate modern art more and more.  I’ve been to the Museum of Modern Art so I didn’t expect to see many pieces post 1950, but I was mistaken. (Sorry, I forgot to make note of the artists that created the works below.)

I actually found some very interesting pieces of history in The New American Wing.  From Tiffany glass to the original street lamps that stood outside of the Met when it first opened, I found myself stopping to read the descriptions in this area the most.  Afterall, these works represent some of the greatest artists and architects of our American past.

Staircase removed from one of the first buildings erected after the great fire in Chicago

Mantle from the entryway to the Vanderbilt's Manhattan residence (this thing is HUGE!)

Of course there were some early examples of fashion and textiles.

Egyptian flip flops

Fringe from a French chaise

And of course, last but not least, I got to walk through Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, the main exhibition drawing attention right now.  A couple of things to note: 1) photos were not allowed but I didn’t realize this until I took the pic below and 2) it was incredibly crowded so I was not able to take my time and ruminate on each piece as much as I would have liked.

Overall I felt that the exhibit truly represented the public figure we knew as Alexander McQueen.  He was an incredible talent with an obvious dark side that came out in his intricate designs.  From feathers to leather bondage to flowing chiffon, many of his show-stopping creations are displayed on mannequins so close that you can reach out and touch them (although you wouldn’t because security would be on you like white on rice).

I must say, the exhibit struck me as beautiful and dirty at the same time.  Like I said, he had a dark side that came through in his work and is perfectly represented by the book outlining the exhibition (see pics of holographic cover below).  I’m glad I had the opportunity to see his pieces up close and personal though.  He truly was an artist that knew how to manipulate fabric.  Who knows what could have been had he not taken his life at such a young age.

The book outlining the exhibition: view 1

The book outlining the exhibition: view 2

So that was my first experience at the Met and it took me 4+ hours, a snack break and sore feet to do it.  Worth it!!!  I didn’t even make it through the entire museum…I just hit the highlights!  I’m already looking forward to my next visit.

If you’re ever in the city, make sure that a trip to the Met is on your itinerary.  Entrance to the museum is by donation, although they recommend giving $20. It’s one of the best deals you’ll get in NYC and trust me, you won’t regret it!

Good news!  Rich and I found an apartment on the Upper West Side and we move in July 1st!  Somehow I always manage to move at the hotest time of the year, but considering I’ve moved in Texas in July, I think I can handle this.  The skinny on our apartment: it’s on a charming, quiet tree-lined street just a block and a half away from Central Park, walking distance form Lincoln Center and the Museum of Natural History, and there’s enough shopping and brunch places to keep me occupied for the near future.  What more could a girl ask for?

So my days have been occupied with job hunting and perusing interior decor websites for apartment design inspiration.  If I’m not revising my resume, I’m flipping through 50 pages of rugs on Overstock.com.  Considering that the furniture I had in Texas was all hand-me-down’s, this is truly my first time getting to decorate a place according to my own style.  Don’t get me wrong, my old furniture was great, but this gives me the chance to make a home for Rich and I…which makes my heart go a flutter!

I’ve been taking cues from a few fabulous home decor bloggers such as Copy Cat Chic, COCOCOZY, and The Inglenook Decor, as well as perusing West Elm, Z Gallerie, Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Target on a regular basis.  While Hauteness is usually all about fashions for the body, I am in interior decorator mode to the point that I want to share a few of my fav fashions for the home with all of you.

Please let me know your thoughts and any great decor websites/blogs you love!