datenight – Ann Street Studio

St. Regis New York

August 24, 2015June 2, 2016Posted in Lifestyle, TravelTagged date, date night, datenight, hartmann, hartmann luggage, hospitality, hotel, jamie beck, kevin burg, king cole, king cole bar, kingcole, lifestyle, midtown, new york, personal-favorite-hotel, st regis, st. regis new york, staycation, stregis, stregisnewyork, stregisny, travel9 Comments

Oh the glamorous St. Regis New York hotel. I seem to always find myself here if it’s for a photoshoot, to film a video, attend a midnight supper, watch a New York Fashion Week designer shows, or meet a client at the King Cole Bar for cocktails. Nestled in the heart of Manhattan its unyielding standard of elegance, history, and hospitality make it the perfect place to find yourself for any reason. Having just finished a new redesign throughout the hotel the property feels contemporary and fresh without loosing the formality synonymous with its name.

When Kevin and I wrapped a very intense shoot out in L.A. last week for Volvo we decided to carve out some R&R time, and take a moment to celebrate how far we have come and what we have survived (cough, 3AM call times three days in a row). Since I went for days shooting outside with no makeup, dirty from crawling on the ground and sweaty from standing in the sun, I wanted full fledged romance with crystal chandeliers, red lipstick and high heels.

So we had a little staycation at the St. Regis New York with champagne and oysters, fine dining and dessert followed by sleeping late and lazy morning baths. It was heaven and for a moment, high atop a building in Midtown Manhattan, we felt like two kids drunk in love lost in a beautiful castle in the sky.

Above, Kevin wears his new Ralph Lauren suit as we arrive to the St. Regis with our Hartmann Tweed weekender. Below, I wear a Ralph Lauren white boatneck summer dress and Elie Tahari heels. Continue reading “St. Regis New York” →

Romantic Beach Picnic

July 3, 2014July 8, 2014Posted in LifestyleTagged amagansett, anniversary, beach, beach picnic, beachpicnic, date, date night, datenight, Ecco Domani, eccodomani, evening, hamptons, lifestyle, love, picnic, pinot grigio, pinotgrigio, romance, romantic, summer, summer night, summer nights, sunset, white wine, wine, wines17 Comments

For our 2nd anniversary this past Monday I wanted to do something low key, but utterly romantic so I planned a surprise sunset beach picnic for Kevin. I tried to get as creative as possible and make every aspect of the picnic a walk down memory lane.

For starters, instead of a blanket, I used a rug we bought together from the flea market in Paris which gave the scene a more formal feeling. I then surrounded the rug with clusters of sandalwood incense we bought on our recent trip to Bali. Everywhere we went on the island, this beautiful and sexy smell drifted by our noses; now it reminds us of those unforgettable sunrises from only a moment ago. I made it personal with our monogrammed glass hurricanes lanterns flanking the view of the setting sky. I brought our go-to Pinot Grigio by one of our favorite studio clients, Ecco Domani, which brings back such fun studio memories – one of our first shoots at our new place. Just as I was talking about yesterday with “upgrading the everyday”, we toasted another year of marriage with monogrammed stemless wine glasses, formal, lovely, and personal (plus much less likely to spill on a sandy beach setup!)

Kevin *loves* crab, so I asked my friend Molly when she was over for dinner for a crab salad recipe that would go well with the Pinot Grigio for our picnic (recipe below!). I also had lots of beautiful fresh finger foods from the farmer’s market such as morning radishes with a little pile of Maldon salt, a couple of flaky, yummy farm stand cheeses, the most beautiful petite blackberries, an avocado, salami for depth and to finish it off – grapes. So classic. And just so there were no pesky bugs around, I threw down some citronella candles in terra-cotta pots. To finish it off, I had our assistant Carly stop by and snap a few photos of us together, just like we did 2 years ago when we said “I do“.

We sat on the beach and sipped wine, took black and white photos of each other in an intimate dance we’ve been doing now for years, shared food, and watched the colors of the sky paint their way into darkness. Happy Anniversary to my husband, thank you for my beautiful anniversary gift (scroll down to see!) I’ll cherish forever which will remind me of this magical era of our life and cheers to forever, wherever that may take us.

Thank you again, Ecco Domani, for the memories…

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HowAboutWe…

October 18, 2013October 22, 2013Posted in LifestyleTagged date, datenight, hot air balloon, hotairballon, how about we, howaboutwe, hudson valley, landscape, lifestyle25 Comments

After our first year of marriage we decided it was important to keep dating each other…to keep discovering, learning and growing together. Thanks to HowAboutWe’s new service for couples, for those of us who want to “stay in love”, we have been able to easily achieve this goal we have set. Of course we still do the classic nights at the ballet and all those oh-so-glamorous events as dates, but with HowAboutWe we get to really do something different. Last month we tried our hand at glass blowing (I now show off our lopsided glasses on photo shoots at the studio like a proud parent) and this month it was a hot air balloon ride, planned and booked through the HowAboutWe Concierge! The concierge service allows you to make special one of a kind dates like this one with the help of a HowAboutWe planning expert…perfect for celebrating anniversaries, planning a baby moon, or setting up the proposal just so…

I don’t know if you guys caught this but we just bought our first car! I’m still trying to name her (deciding between Jolene because she is a lady that has been around, you know, Khaleesi because she is such a queen, or E.H. Yuppie…you know, to celebrate the 80’s). So I really wanted a date where we could drive out of the city! Such an exciting new adventure!

Watching the balloons take shape… feeling very trepidatious!

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