Sister Visit!

My sister got to come visit a couple of weeks ago (and she's coming back in a couple more)! It was totally last minute, but both she and my mom had said they wanted to come for the Junior League Home Tour. The Junior League, however, didn't post the date until about 10 days before the event! So, I called Beth and left a message and didn't really expect her to come the next weekend (especially when she was still in the middle of trying to figure out how to get them all here for Thanksgiving). Amazingly, she didn't have much on the calendar for that weekend, had some miles she could use for the flight, and Brian was up for keeping the 3 boys (which was an even greater sacrifice this go around since my parents were still going to be in France and unavailable to help out)! I am so glad Beth was able to come...we had a great time!

Beth flew in on Friday morning and came straight to my office so she could check out the tennis shoes (yes, tennis shoes...not sneakers) at the NHL store. I have been wearing Reeboks ever since we opened the store...I actually really like the look and the feel of them and with an employee discount of 50%, you just can't beat the prices! We grabbed lunch at Hale & Hearty...good soup! Then, she was on her way for an afternoon of solo shopping while I finished out the work day. After work, I met Beth in SoHo where we went to a cocktail party for the Home Tour. This was awesome because it was the first time we were able to get the home addresses and maps the night before the tour, allowing us to be at the 1st house as soon as houses opened and plan out our whole day ahead of time. It was the first time I was able to see every home on the tour without running out of time, so the cocktail party is key in my book! It was actually a nice party, too with drinks and yummy appetizers. We hung out there for a while trying the bites and reviewing the descriptions of the homes for the next day.

From the party, we walked over to the Lower East Side to eat dinner at Freemans. Freemans is so cool and I can't wait to go back! It is located at the back of a dark, graffiti filled alley. It looks like you're walking into nothing and then lights and a beautiful space appear! It feels more like a home on the inside and the decor is very cool...rustic (think deer heads). Since this was such a last minute trip, we didn't really have time to make reservations anywhere and if you want to eat anywhere good in New York, you have to have reservations or expect a wait. After a very short wait, we lucked into 2 seats at the bar (where they off their full menu)! This ended up being totally fine. We loved it! The food was great. We split their infamous prunes, stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in bacon, a yummy salad, and beer cheese fondue. Yum!

Freemans Alley

 Inside Freemans

On our way home, we stopped in Sugar Sweet Sunshine bakery and picked up some cupcakes to take home. Their pumpkin cupcake at this time of year is to-die-for!

When we got home that evening, Beth said it was the best day of her life! I am pretty sure she was being overly dramatic, but she really loved having her afternoon to explore alone and I can relate to that.

Saturday was the big tour. We got up early and stopped by Popover Cafe for some yummy eggs and popovers before getting on the subway. We were at our first stop right at 10:30 when the houses opened. The tour was a little strange this time because there were multiple spaces that weren't actually homes...no one lived in them. They were model spaces and things like that. Granted, they were designed by some great decorators so they still made great eye-candy. But, I really like seeing homes that are lived in, so it was a bit disappointing in that regard. We started at homes in Chelsea and West Village, made our way to the Upper East Side for more tours and lunch (which is always great) and then ended up in mid-town on 5th Avenue. The 5th Avenue spaces (there were 3 in the same building) had the most incredible views of Manhattan. I couldn't concentrate on the interior design because my eyes kept wandering to the huge windows. 360-degree views that were seriously amazing. My very favorite home was a tiny townhouse in the West Village that was so old and small, but adorable. A family of 3 lives there and I almost wondered how. The kitchen was smaller than mine (but much more beautiful) and the master bedroom hardly had room to walk in. But, it was so very cute. The day ended at the new Ralph Lauren Home showroom, which was opened to the public for the first time ever. It was a very cool space and they had drinks and appetizers for us again. We were very happy with how the day went - not only did we make it to all the stops on the tour, we even had time to pop in a few stores we saw along the way. It was much more relaxed than the mad-dash to finish that I'd experienced with the 2 previous tours I've done here.

The Gift Bag for this tour was small, but awesome!

A copy of one of my favorite home decor mags

and an awesome candle courtesy of Ralph Lauren!

After the home tour, we went for dinner at Del'Anima, an Italian restaurant situated right at the Chelsea/West Village border that's been on my radar for a while. We started with some of their bruchette (ricotta - yum) and split a delicious arugula/Parmesan salad. We both had pasta for entrees and it was excellent. We stopped by Billy's on the way home for dessert. Beth saw 3 things she wanted, so we just got them all and took them home. The chocolate/peanut butter bar we got was sooooo good.

Our time on Sunday was brief, but we were able to walk to Alice's Tea Cup for brunch and then pop in a couple of stores on Columbus Avenue as well as a stroll through the flea market before Beth had to head for the airport. It was a great weekend and I think we were both so glad she came.

I seriously can't wait until Beth comes back in a couple of weeks and brings my entire family with her!! They're coming for a quite a while (the women and kids will be here for TEN days!) and we have a serious schedule of events.