So in one month it will officially be one year working at MK. 

This year has truly been wonderful. Working in this environment has been a dream come true. It’s funny how positive I am about it because I know that a year before I started the dynamic was much different. I guess it comes down to luck. 

My boss Nicola had a party to celebrate the year and also celebrate the end of a really successful Fall collection. I’m really proud of how much the brand has changed since my start. It’s evolved and raised the bar to a much more sophisticated level. 

I get along with pretty much everyone on the team which makes going to work and traveling with them really pleasant. It’s also a huge bonus that Daniela works and travels with us also. 

One huge benefit of working here is the power of design. Normally in large companies you have the merchants and sales staff which have power to change, and or add things to line to serve the business. 

I’m truly lucky and blessed to be a part of this company and so incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity. If it wasn’t for Lisa I would be here. 

This Halloween we celebrated it attending a party at Nancy and Howards place in brooklyn.

Schnoo and I dressed up as Orange is the new black characters. I was Crazy eyes and Schnoo was Chapman.

It was fun getting the chance to dress up. Normally we don’t attend any parties so never really a point to dress up.

The thing was that going to Nancys house on Halloween was the shady 7 blocks walking to her apt from the subway. There were some ghetto people being like ” damnnnn, just broke out yo!!”. Also the wigs didn’t help our look. Was kind of creepy and scary but we made it to and back from the party.

Howard had an experiment down in his basement. It was this crazy thing where he brushed your fingers with a brush. Basically you were supposed to feel him brushing a rubber arm and think that it was your own.

Overall, we had a great time and hope that we get to go to more parties in the future. Dressing up is fun and if we dress up next year, well have more time to try something a little more creative.

Today B and I spent the day with Uncle, AC and the kids to hang out at Dia and Storm King. 

It was their first time being at Dia and Storm King so was fun showing them around.

We arrived a little late at Dia so decided to just wait for them to wrap up and just go to Storm King w them. 

We had lunch in beacon at this taco place before heading over to storm King. 

We arrived with only around an hour and a half to view the park. It was fun because we spent time only at the places we wanted to see. 

One of the best moments was re-taking a photo that B and I took around 10 years ago. It a total throwback and embarrassing to see how young and weirdly dressed we were.

I wonder if I’ll look back at the photo today and be like, “what was I wearing?”. 

After the park we drove down to fort lee for a nice Korean dinner at this hot tofu place and then went our separate ways from there.  

We finally got a new bed! 

We heard lots of good things about Casper and Tuft and needle so we decided to check it out. Made an appt at the showroom for Casper and the bed was super comfortable. We decided to go with the Tuft and Needle since it was cheaper and offered the same guarantee. 

The bed was ordered and came within a few days. After seeing that the bed was going to be delivered the next day, the urgent need for a bed frame was serious. 

After lots of browsing we found an awesome bed at IKEA. We booked the zip car and picked it up that night. 

The bed is so nice because it had these two leather back pillows that lean on the headboard which actually make it really comfortable to lean on an either browse iPads or read.  

It’s been several years since I had the chance to go to Lineapelle. Luckily, my boss thought it would be nice to send me and Lottie to LP this year. 

I think that LP has been in Milan for three seasons now. When I used to go I would go to the one in Bologna. 

I flew there alone and met Lottie on Monday morning. It was rough because we took the late night flight and I arrived early morning in Milan. It was really fun getting the chance to go there again. This was actually the second time I had the chance to go there. The first was because of MCM flew is there for some meetings. 

The first day Lottie had plans w a friend and luckily Laurence was also attending the show so I had the chance to meet up with her and have dinner. It was really nice catching up and getting to see her. She likes her new job, and feels glad that she is in a place where they are very reliant on her. It’s a good and bad thing but I think that she is always down for a challenge and is really dedicated to her work. 

The leather show was lots of fun, we had so many meetings and felt that we were really productive. On Friday morning we checked out and flew to Paris for an inspiration trip. Did some vintage shopping and some personal shopping too. We had a great time and it was nice to get the chance to bond w her. 

One of the restaurants we went to was called Cuisine. It was kind of like French tapas but very mixed with all different types of cuisine. 

I had so much fun shopping there. The weather was crap the second day but it was fine. The best part of traveling for me is that it gives me a reason to shop since they’d only carry these brands in the states. Also the dollar is so much better. I think it was for every Euro it was .80 cents/ dollar. 

I got my first leg tattoo! By an artist names Valentin Hirsch. Amazingly talented artist from Berlin.

I got a tiger because of the symbolic reference to Korean culture and history. Tigers drive away evil and bring good luck and also symbolize courage and power.

Schnooboo also got a tattoo by Valentin. He got a half fox face on his forearm.

The tattoo on the leg was definitely a different sensation and I think a little more painful.

What an eventful morning. We woke up at 3am to the smell of burning rubber. B thought it was the smell of the ceiling fan that I had running at full blast but it was actually coming from the chimney outside about 30steps from our room.
 
 We called reception to complain but all they could do was being a fan to the room. Whatever it was it eventually stopped. We had to be up anyways for our hot air balloon pick up at 4:30am.
 
 We got picked up and headed off to Butterfly Baloons. After a quick breakfast we headed to the take off site.
 
 As we approached (12 people ) the balloon, the sky was dimly lit and our sight was consumed by massive half deflated hot air balloons with bursts of flame filling the balloons.
 
 After the balloons were filled we hopped in the basket and then took off.
 
 We started off slow and took off gently while the slight breeze pushed us across the landscape. We went higher and higher until we reached around 6000 ft above sea level. The view was amazing and once the sun rose it was incredible. The slight creep of sun stretching onto the hills and valleys was so amazing.
 
 After around 45 minutes we started our descent into a large field. Landing was surprisingly easy and not as hard as expected.
 
 Overall the ride was incredible and well worth it all. Especially because I was with my Schnoo boo.
 
 
 
 

HEIRLOOM ISTANBUL CAFE We started off our second day at this Heirloom Istanbul Cafe. It was really simple and delicious. When we walked in we peeked at the menu and after we saw some interesting things we sat down and the waitress asked us ” Breakfast right?, how would you like your eggs?, baked, over easy etc…

We got a full table full of stuff that included olives, bread, three types of jam, two cherry tomatoes and a fried egg. The food was light and fun to eat because of all of the flavors.
In the back there was a market where you could by olive wood trays and turkish soap and jams.

HAGIA SOFIYA After that we went to the Hagia Sofiya to sight see. The church was converted into a mosque. Really amazing to see in person and although it was super hot but just had to get used to it.

After that we strolled over to the Basilica Sistern. Stunning sights full of Corinthian and Ionic columns. The water there was brought in from the Belgrad Forest which is 19km away. There was lots of fish swimming in the water also.
For dinner we ate at this place a friend referred us to. The food was delicious! We had liver and grilled octopus as a starter and for dinner B had the grilled anchovies and I had lamb cheek. The wine was also delicious and was the perfect way to end the night.

Time is flying by this summer. Gaeuls baby shower was this weekend and we threw her a wonderful baby shower at Hudson River Park. It was really nice because we got the seated tables near the park with umbrellas.

Kim did an amazing job setting up and preparing all of the food for the shower. Kims friend did the party favors and decorations. She did such an amazing job that I really think she should start her own business. She could make so much money doing this full time.

Gaeul had a great time and was happy to get a chance to catch up with everyone. She only gained 10 lbs so far which is not much at all. Diana said she gained like 40 lbs when she was pregnant with Isaac.

B and I was in charge of drinks so we made Mind Lemonade. We bought this awesome mason jar pitcher which was perfect! (thanks schnoo)

We had a great time and was really glad that we had a chance to all get together. :-)