A Safari & A Wedding

WOOZA! It's been a while since our last post! We've been busy spending time with family and friends over the holidays and other not so fun tasks like unmasking the winter wonderland that became our living room back to its pre-holiday blah-ness. With the start of the New Year we were hoping to post more frequently but the month of January completely escaped us! Any whoo, I am back today and here to write about the 2 upcoming events that have been overwhelming my thoughts for the past 3 weeks. First being our little man's second birthday!

Lately, Liam seemed obsessed with all things animal - especially elephants, zebras and lions. So with that came the idea to have a safari themed birthday. I immediately began my internet research to get some DIY inspiration. Etsy is amazing for exactly that but I found too many that screamed SAFARI!! I wanted it to be playful and although this may sound silly, I also wanted it to be sophisticated. So I set out  to make a banner. I chose the colors of muted greens, browns and oranges (and a hint of yellow) as the official colors. I set out to use all of these colors for the banner I created but decided to skip the yellow. I cut patterned craft paper that I had at home into triangles and printed out cool (did I mention FREE) letter templates I found online. I used a whole puncher to cut openings at the top portion of the triangles and used heavy weight twine to loop it through the separate pieces to link them together. Below is a photo of the banner - currently hanging  on our living room wall mounted sled until party time :-)

 I used the left over pieces of craft paper to cut tiny triangles that I then used to decorate this old styrofoam cupcake stand.

During my research I found a few illustrations of animals that I really liked. I then simplified them into my own illustrations and printed them out on colored construction paper. I cut out the shapes of the animals as well as strips of green "grass" and using paper bags made surprise goodie treats for the children who will be attending the party (thanks to my friend Stephany and brother David who helped put these together!) I also added small tags that read "Liam's Wild Party"

Lastly, I picked up cheap bananagrams pieces at my local thrift store and used the letters to create the names of each animal I had drawn - Elephant, Monkey, Giraffe, Lion and Zebra. I glued the letters to old wood picture frames along with my illustrations to create a "centerpiece" for the tables that would be an improvised educational tool. I took the remaining letters to create the animal names again and hot glued craft sticks to each letter. I printed cards that then challenge the child to create words from the letters in the names of each animal. This was fun! Look forward to sharing photos of Liam's party with you all!

The second event that has me very excited is an upcoming wedding. NO, not my wedding but one that I have been hired for. I will be organizing and decorating the reception space ( and all that is involved in such a large undertaking), making centerpieces,  bouquets for bride and bridesmaids, and pins for the groom and groomsmen. The wedding has and Indian theme and the colors will be a beautiful mix of light and deep oranges, greens and yellows. Below are some of my inspirations. This wedding will require me to get very creative - using all of my DIY powers!!

Thanks for reading!! 

-Alby 

Halloween & DIY Costume Ideas

Love, Love, Love Halloween! Over the years, I've made several of my own costumes  - taking pride in creating something and not spending a ridiculous amount of money at a costume store. Some of my creations (which you may see pictured below) include Lara Croft of Tomb Raider, Holly Golightly of Breakfast at Tiffany's, Alex of a Clockwork Orange (one of my favorite movies of all time), Carmen Miranda, Poison Ivy, a basketball and net/back board (when I was preggo ;-) and last year I dressed as Alan from The Hangover. I've continued the tradition with my son Liam and last year (his first Halloween) we dressed him as Pepe Le Pew. I've always liked the idea of playing classic and whimsical characters from movies - and because Sam and I have talked about dressing up as a duo this Halloween, we plan on taking the role of Mary Poppins and Bert (hopeful that we will find the right attire at a thrift store).

             Here is a photo of me dressed as Alex from A Clockwork Orange

    and below is an image of the real Alex from the movie. 

         My pregnant belly painted as a basketball - equipped with a net and a  backboard. This was a really fun costume to work on!

  from last year dressed as the Alan from the Hangover (with Liam playing found baby). 

Below is the movie poster with Alan and baby.

Sam and I are trying to decide which look we will try to achieve as Mary Poppins and Bert - which of the two below do you like best?

In doing some research for other DIY adult and baby costume ideas, I came across a few that I thought were clever and cute. These were taken from the Martha Stewart website and Woman's Day Magazine website. 

 Beehive Costume

Chicken Costume

Goldfish Costume

Adult Jellyfish Costume

Are you working on a creative costume this Halloween? I'd love to hear about it!

HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE HALLOWEEN! 

-Alby & Sam

Autumn & Apples

The fall is our favorite time of year! We love when October rolls around and offers it's cool breeze and beautiful foliage in autumn shades of browns, yellows and reds. The colors always provide for plenty of DIY inspiration...and as the weather becomes colder, stay at home days offer more time to get creative (as an FYI, we as a family do not watch more than 1 hour of TV a week!).  Halloween happens to be one of our favorite holidays - pumpkin carving followed by a warm pumpkin pie and seeds that have been baked to crunchy, toasty perfection? Yes, please! Pardon me if I sound too Martha Stewart-ish. 

To take advantage of the wonderful weather we had last weekend, my family and I made a trip up to Warwick, NY to go Apple picking at Pennings Orchard. Applefest was also happening in the downtown area so we stopped in to check that out as well and enjoyed delicious greasy burgers, Jamaican Oxtail and Goat and Funnel cake - sounds like a pretty interesting combination, does it not? lol We had a great time, particularly exploring all the different type of apple breeds that we were not familiar with .  Our experimental apple sauce for the week was a great success with a mixture of Jonagold, Honey Crisps, Ginger Golds, Galas, Romes, Cortlands, Golden Delicious and Braeburns. 

Here are a few photos from our visit: 

      Liam snacked on quite a few apples - stretching that $25 minimum for the bag we had to purchase!

 Liam with Grandma Lisa and Grandpa Julio

Liam & Sam 

Sam & Albelisa 

a pretty little bee that decided to munch on my apple

In the end, we realized the bag of apples weighed more than Liam so they had a ride in his new stroller

If you haven't planned an apple pickin' adventure this fall, what are you waiting for?

Thanks for reading! Alby & Sam 

Seeds n Sprouts baby food - Our exciting new venture!

Sam and I have been MIA on the blog front for quite some time now. It's all due to our diligent work with a new start-up venture we have embarked on - a baby/toddler food business! All of the baby food is prepared using produce purchased from the local Farmer's Market (Union Square or Inwood) and some of the ingredients are organic. Our food has no preservatives, dyes or fillers.

I don't recall exactly how we came to pick the name Seeds n Sprouts but I know it had something to do with the natural process in which fruits and vegetables grow - it starts with a seed that is planted, and up sprouts a tasty meal! The name also served as a metaphor for babies and their development. Getting this business off the ground has proven to be a challenge beyond what we expected - from deciding what our menu should consist of (which was mainly Liam approved meals), to the packaging, the logo, passing a food protection course and exam, the permits with the NYC Department of Health & other state agencies, insurance, legal issues, marketing and the toughest endeavor of all, finding a NYC restaurant that would allow us to rent their commercial  kitchen space for a few hours a week and take on the liability of a third party (us).  To date, we have made significant progress on several of these matters - but lingering is the contract with a restaurant and the inspection by the city so that we can actually sell our food!!!I met with a the Owner of The Greentree  http://greentree.com/gt_home.html (a local Riverdale restaurant) last week and he agreed to allow us to rent his kitchen space a few early hours on weekends. We are trying to work out the legal kinks but hoping to be up and running by sometime in November.

Now, for the fun stuff...this is what our logo looks like - what do you think?

In order to help get the word out about our business we had a photoshoot in our home and invited a few of our friends who have young babies. The babies wore Seeds n Sprouts onesies or t-shirts that were made by my father who owns a silk-screening business and they (along with the parents) all got a sampling of our food! Here are a few of my favorite shots...

This is baby Alice - eating our Super Smash n Spinach

                              and this is baby Carly, eating our Apple Sauce; Applause!

                                      This is baby Kal-El eating our Mini Muffines

                                          baby Michael eating our Squished Squash

and this is our son Liam eating Musical Chairs (bean salad)

For additional photos of our event  (including fabulous photos of our food) please visit our website, www.seedsnsprouts.com

or our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Seeds-n-Sprouts-baby-food/135004843202238?ref=ts

Recently, we hosted our first (of many) baby food tasting parties - these are some of my favorite shots 

We will continue to keep you posted on our progress! Thanks for reading and if you know parents who may be interested in our food, please refer them to us! 

Thanks much! Alby, Sam and baby Liam <3 

Harlem - a Green building, a salvage yard heaven and "The Theresa"

On Tuesday, Sam and I, accompanied by our friend Yessica, took part in a tour organized by the Urban Green Council  (NY Chapter of the USGBC) of a newly constructed building in east Harlem. The developers chose the name Tapestry; perhaps because its core and shell are products of a collaborative effort by city agencies, developers, architects, engineers, environmental consultants and the likes, weaved together to create a different kind of building. There is an interesting story to be told. Tapestry is pursuing LEED Gold designation via it's incorporation of on-site rain water retention tanks, green roofs and terraces, high efficiency mechanical systems, heat recovery, triple-glazed & low-E windows, dual flush toilets, low flow water fixtures, Energy Star appliances and the list goes on and on. During the tour we learned that furnishings, carpets, wood flooring were mostly recycled and locally sourced and that all residents were provided with a 6 month supply of environmentally friendly cleaning products free of charge. The units of the Tapestry are a mix of low income, middle income and market rate apartments rents range from $600 to over $3,600 a month ("market rate" units are ridiculously priced). The apartments do have an appeal, especially the ones with expansive terraces that almost double your living space. The marketing information that was given to us certainly attempted to sell the property for its green efforts (which I admire) and community connectivity but I just wasn't convinced that its construction would aide the people of Harlem or encourage environmental responsibility to its residents. We shall see if upon gaining a LEED designation the building follows through with its promise and delivers.
For more info on the Tapestry, you can visit their website http://tapestry124.com/ and for more information of the Urban Green Council and upcoming events, visit http://www.urbangreencouncil.org/

Here are some photos taken - Sam and I standing in the common terrace area

A paved walkway for workers to access planted setback green roof area

Vegetated green roof at setback terrace

Interior shot of apartment - Yessica checking out the furnishings

panoramic shot of the view from one of the apartment terraces

After the Tapestry tour was over, Sam, Yessica and I visited a very enchanting forest of salvaged goods know as The Demolition Depot http://demolitiondepot.com/vo/demo/. In their 4 story masonry structure and yard they house an abundance of unique and vintage architectural period pieces - from wall sconces, to decorative stone fireplace mantels,  iron fencing, doors, stained glass windows and so much more....

Following our walk down architectural memory lane at the depot, Sam and I had to begin our pilgrimage to the west side. On our cross-town walk, we looked up at the beauty  that sits on the corner of 125th street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. If you know the rich history of Harlem and its Renaissance movement, you know this gem of a building - the famous "Hotel Theresa". This was the place to be when black talent and creativity were synonymous with Harlem. In it's hay day, the Hotel Theresa was visited by an array of prominent leaders from all disciplines; to name a few - Josephine Baker, Duke Ellington, Malcolm X Muhammed Ali and Fidel Castro (hotel allowed his stay in 1960 after numerous other hotels denied him). The building is made of white glazed brick and decorative white terra cotta. The firm I work for, Rand Engineering & Architecture, PC recently completed a facade restoration project on the building. Here is the Theresa post restoration...

When I first inspected this building a couple of years back, this entire balcony section was missing. What a fantastic job of manufacturing replacement pieces - the molds were made identical to the originals!

There is a book that talks about the buildings' history titled "Meet Me at the Theresa" some chapters are an interesting read....

Hope this wasn't too long of a post and that you enjoyed reading! Sam, Liam and I are off on vacation this week - I'm sure we will have plenty of photos and adventures to share of our trip when we return - stay tuned!