Limelight Marketplace - The coolest church turned nightclub turned mall ever!

On Wednesday my friend Jo-Ann and I decided to check out the Limelight Marketplace during lunch. I'd read about it online and in the papers and was excited to see the place in person after looking at amazing photos and conceptual illustrations. In my college days, this place was known as THE "Rave" nightclub - complete with glow stick carrying patrons wearing lively attire (hair and piercings to match). Today, it has been converted into a bazaar of shorts - with vendors offering custom fragrances/soaps, delighful baked goods, wallpaper and much, much more...A better use of the space, if you ask me - and the perfect execution of modern design to the interior of a beautiful gothic revival structure.

Here is an exterior shot of Limelight Marketplace

and an interior shot from the second floor mezzanine

Baked goods -  walking through this corridor was so very tempting.

I picked up a delish mango gelato from Baci...loving the modernized stained glass window in the rear. Which reminds me - our first project (challenge) for the blog will be exactly that! Still brainstorming but think it will be designed in the style of Gustav Klimt.

This boutique, Brocade Home, sold furniture, wall decor and bedding. The showroom samples were a bit  white wash for my taste but I did find the wallpaper textures interesting.

I picked up a cute pair of shoes for the lil man from a small shop by the name of Silly Souls (hehe get it?!)

Below is a photo of his new "Organic-pest-inside" shoe...LOL

-Alby

Mother's Day in the BK (hey, that ryhmes!)

I thought long and hard about how I should celebrate my second mother's day...I knew I wanted to spend most of the day outside - perhaps explore a part of the city I was unfamiliar with...but oh the endless possibilities!

In the end, I opted to cross the Brooklyn Bridge with my family, stroll through one of my favorite neighborhoods - Brooklyn Heights, pick up a pie from Grimaldi's and eat at the new Pier 1 waterfront park. Despite a not so spring-like weather forecast, the day turned out to be beautiful. I had a great time! Below are some photos from my special day....

The day started with a breakfast with my wonderful parents - these are the gifts I prepared for my loving mother, Lisa - a bouquet of lilies, daisies and chrysanthemums adorned with ribbon and a hand-made soap (honey and milk). I won't tell you what's in the box but I decorated it with my mom's favorite snack - Jelly Bellies and my favorite childhood photo of her - a cute shot of grandma Esther, aunt Lila and mom on a NYC sidewalk while grandma adjusts aunt Lila'shorts...

As we entered the Brooklyn Bridge walkway, I looked up at Frank Gehry's new project; a 76 story building with a creased and curved stainless steel curtain wall system - slated to be the tallest residential tower in NYC. There's nothing over the top about this building; it was refreshing to see a structure that didn't look like everything else he's ever designed. Frank, out of his element and exposed - he can actually design a building that looks normal!

Here's a photo of Liam and Sam on the walkway 

Pier 1 park - this is where we sat to have lunch -I took this shot from the bridge. Did I mention Sam's company, Skanska, is working on the massive waterfront development in Brooklyn? When complete, it is going to be awesome - Chelsea Piers,  South Street Seaport and Water Taxi Beach times 100.

We walked Montague street in Brooklyn Heights and then the lovely Promenade overlooking manhattan and the east river. Here's a shot of the amazing view.

This was the line at Grimaldi's on Mother's day. Seriously. Lucky for us, we were escorted right inside when we told the host our order was "to go"! 10 minutes later we had out sausage and pepperoni pie! Yumssss

Happy and well fed family - by the way, Liam's favorite color is orange! What would have  been a monochromatic photo gets a splash of color  from our lil carrot :-)  

Adios! Thanks for reading! - Alby

Storm King Sculpture Park

The same weekend that Sam and I visited Cold Spring, we explored almost 500 acres of majestic sculptures - the park known as Storm King. It was my first time there and I looked forward to strolling through fields of grandiose art - imagining a child-like experience; like Alice (in Wonderland) leaning on a giant mushroom. Except in this vision, the mushroom was made of enormous pieces of steel. The sculptures did not disappoint. However, the flies that followed us throughout our walk did - prompting me to create a makeshift swatter out of fallen tree branches. Unfortunately for Sam, he was the recipient of most of the swats; not the flies...hehehe

Here are a few of my favorite photos -

This enormous sculpture made of steel is titled "Mother Peace" - by Mark di Suvero.

That's me stretching to reach the bottom ledge of the beam...

This was an interactive piece titled "Beethoven's Quartet" - it made an amazing church bell type sound when hit with a club hammer - sculpture by Mark di Suvero.

This is a photo of Storm King Wavehill by famous artist/architect Maya Lin.

I don't remember the name of this piece but looking at this photo made me feel like I was on the set of Transformers....

This seat was made of dollar coins. Sam's theory is that the sculptor used a styrofoam mold and soldered the coins together...not sure why I'm laughing but clearly something funny was said. There's my fly swatter to the right - on the ground.

Our analysis of most sculptures led to interesting conversation while others left us puzzled and at a loss for words... for instance, the one below that bore a stricking resemblance to NYC glass enclosure bus stops...

We had a good time.

Thanks for reading ya'll!! - Alby

Artsy Fartsy Cold Spring

Last weekend Sam and I visited Cold Spring, a nice Hudson River waterfront town in Putnam County. We visit often since Sam's parents live nearby - he's also obsessed with a retail store by the name of Hudson Valley Outfitters.  Main Street, which leads you to a lovely waterfront park, stretches for several blocks - all of which have beautiful architecture, great restaurants/cafes and awesome art galleries and antique shops.  Below are a few photos from our visit. I think they do an adequate job of capturing the essence of Cold Spring.

The entrance to Archipelago at Home - one of my favorite boutiques along Main Street

Interior shot of Archipelago at Home

Did I mention there are several baby/children themed shops? This one had a nice collection of the UglyDoll - made famous by the Obama girls. Liam received one as a gift for his birthday and I find them so darn cute - why the "ugly" title? I guess it is catchy!

A photo that requires no caption - every little girl has owned one of these....I remember decorating my doll with markers, glitter and mom's make-up.

interior shot at one of the thrift stores we visited

"I want this bike!!" was the first thing I said when my eyes caught this beauty just chillin outside of this antique shop.  Two years ago Sam purchased a bike very similar to this one for me, took it apart, spray painted it that same exact 50's mint green, and put it back together. A few months later, I gave it away for free. Reason being - it was single speed and I just couldn't manage the uphill battles - what's a girl to do? Well, stay away from cruiser bikes. I left this one for someone else to enjoy.

Interior shot of antique shop - chairs hanging from ceiling. 

I just love vegetated facades (ivy growth) - although as an architect in training, I know they are nothing but trouble...and the honeycomb slate roof shingles - fabulous!

KEEP PUTNAM BEAUTIFUL!! 

Thanks for reading! - Alby 

Post Numero Uno - My (Sam) trip to Portland, OR for Josh and Emily's Wedding

Josh Jones and Emily Brock are two of the  most amazing and genuine people I have ever met in my life!   The few years that I spent in high school, at James I O'Neill, with them forever changed me.  I had the honor of being invited to their wedding celebrations which took place in Portland a few weeks ago.  It was the first serious trip that I ever took alone and it was great!  However, it was not really a solo trip as Kevin Pozo and I randomly booked the same flight and we shared a hotel room.  Regardless, the following pictures are a few of the highlights from my trip... - SAM