weekend getaway

Deer Mountain

March 31, 2016April 6, 2016Posted in TravelTagged catskills, Deer Mountain, deermountain, Getaway, hotel, inn, lodge, luxury, luxury boutique hotel, nature, travel, upstate, upstate new york, upstatenewyork, weekend getaway, winter4 Comments

It’s always amazing to me how quickly you can go from New York City to quiet, pristine, lush nature. On one of the last weekends of winter, a group of friends met on 15th & 8th under the hustle of city life blanketed blanketed by the sounds of cabs honking and the last few snowflakes of the season kissing my rosey cheeks. We piled into the car, cranked on some Chris Stapleton and headed north up the Hudson River until we reached that final winding road that led us climbing high top the waterfalls and forests until we reached our weekend sanctuary, Deer Mountain.

With only six rooms, this boutique lodge nestled in 168 wooded acres balances the historic rustic nature of the original building from the 1880’s with its modern luxurious updates and amenities. Even though the charming town of Tannersville, with its own set of restaurants, shopping and activities is at the base of Deer Mountain, the inn is set up so you don’t have to leave, if you’re simply looking for a restorative weekend to relax, like I am.

I love places like this. Charm, character, and no two rooms alike. I like a place that tells a story, that leaves an imprint on your memory that can only belong to that one place and when you revisit the moments in your mind you are quickly carried away in the currents back to a place and time with its own particular feel, smell, taste, and warmth. Deer Mountain will always sound like the laughter of friends, smell like a roaring campfire, taste like bespoke cocktails and feel like a special home away from home, where you can sink into bed at night knowing all the stars are watching over you in that clear mountain sky.

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Snapshots of a weekend in Paris

September 30, 2015February 8, 2016Posted in TravelTagged B&W, black and white, blackandwhite, europe, europe2015, film, france, Getaway, jamie beck, jamiebeck, paris, pentax, travel, trip, weekend, weekend getaway22 Comments

It’s hard not to fall in love with Paris. Her architectural streets, her dancing light, her chalky tonality bathing you in softness and drowned in French accents. It was a weekend away, short but everlasting in my memories, swept up in a hotel suite from a dream and made simple with long afternoon walks with nowhere in particular to go… just the way I love to see Paris.

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Le Bristol Hotel

September 23, 2015June 2, 2016Posted in TravelTagged 114 Faubourg, 114Faubourg, date, decor, Dining, europe, food, france, Getaway, hospitality, hotel, interior, interiors, le bristol, le bristol hotel, le bristol hotel paris, le bristol paris, lebristol, michelin, michelin star, paris, personal-favorite-hotel, travel, wanderlust, weekend getaway17 Comments

A child of the 90s I grew up with this fantasy of Paris I found in movies. The hotel suite that perfectly frames the Eiffel Tower in its windows, bouquets of flowers and white walled gardens where fluffy white cats come to lay in the sun before evenings in little chic black dresses and dinners where each course comes with a wine pairing. I found that glamorous Paris I so long ago dreamed about at Le Bristol Hotel.

I have been lucky enough to find myself in Paris quite often, and from time to time I can be caught in a daydream of what it would be like to live in this city that captures my soul. When I come to Paris I mostly just take my camera and walk. Walk for days. It never gets old to me, I never run out of things to photograph or be inspired by. Never, not even when I stayed in the most lovely apartment, have I desired to “stay in”… that is until I stayed at the Le Bristol. Already as I write this at Charles De Gaulle airport the memory of our suite feels more like lying half awake in a garden day dreaming all afternoon.

There is not a single detail of this hotel, which opened in 1925 in the heart of Paris’s fashion district, that isn’t wonderfully glamorous and idyllically French. From the dazzling array of chandeliers to the 18th century Toile de Jouy decor, it is unapologetically luxurious. It’s no wonder it attracts the stylish clientele to match from movie stars to entertainers and (to my pleasure) fashion photographers. It even had a place in Woody Allen’s movie Midnight in Paris.

During World War II the Hotel Le Bristol became the American Embassy and even harbored a Jewish architect who would later design the stunning glass and wrought-iron elevator I described as what it must feel like to travel inside a diamond.

Of course they have a beautiful spa, wonderfully opulent bars and restaurants tucked here and there around the hotel corridors, but it was what we discovered on the 6th floor that really took our breath away. A pool designed in the likeness of a large sailboat as imagined by Professor Pinnau, who most notably designed the yachts for the Onassis family, wrapped in walls of windows with sweeping views of Paris and most beautifully, Sacre Coeur. While the pool was a popular spot in the afternoons, it was early in the morning alone with the sunrise I found it to be one of the most peaceful places in Paris.

But perhaps the most surprising feature of this incredible hotel are the two fluffy white cats that live amongst the marble and roses. There is nothing more charming than having afternoon tea in the hotel’s garden with company of a furry little friend at your feet.

90 years after her opening here she stands, a lovely as ever….

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Scotch in the Snow

January 27, 2015February 20, 2015Posted in LifestyleTagged chester, chester New York, day trip, Getaway, Glenemere, glenlivet, glenlivet 18, glenmere mansion, glenmeremansion, jamie beck, kevin burg, lifestyle, pent house, penthouse, personal, scotch, snow, The Glenlivet, the glenlivet 18, theglenlivet, vacation, valentine's day, valentinesday, weekend getaway, weekendgetaway, whiskey, winter17 Comments

Valentine’s Day always falls in the middle of New York Fashion Week which means for the past 4 years we have been working non-stop and unable to have a proper romantic date.. that is until this year. Kevin surprised me last weekend by clearing my work schedule and whisking me away to Glenmere Mansion, originally built in 1911 as a home for Robert Goelet, for an “early” Valentine’s Day celebration.

We have recently been learning about the world of Scotch. I love the simplicity of a single pour drink if it’s at our studio in New York, or on a weekend getaway, so I don’t have to think about mixers and recipes. I’ll never forget the first time I tried Scotch- it was on our honeymoon on Safari in South Africa. We arose before the sun and had a quick breakfast before hoping in the jeeps- on the breakfast bar, oatmeal with a topping of scotch. What?! I mean.. this blows the “before noon” rule right out of the water. Come to find out, it was a delicious tradition and on those very cold sleepy mornings, just the right thing to warm you up ever so.

Fast forward a few years and we have been slowly learning and enjoying the lessons in scotch. We recently did an amazing flight taste tasting with our friends from The Glenlivet at Highlands, a Scottish experience gastro pub in the West Village. When Kevin was planning this romantic getaway he took inspiration from that evening and bought us a bottle of The Glenlivet 15 which he knows I’d like because of its sweeter notes of almonds and spice. I love it’s distilled in French oak which makes it creamy and rich which I prefer, as a woman, to the other smokier varieties. The best part about gifting and receiving a beautiful scotch if you’re a man or woman is that you get to share it together, what each person individually smells and tastes and untimely make memories wrapped in the beautiful glow of golden honey.

So here we are, at the historic Glenmere Mansion, a place to cradle us away from the noise of the city and to spend the hours snuggled by the fire with the winter air breaking outside as we sip on scotch to keep us warm. This amazing experience was made possible by our friends at The Glenlivet~

“Last year I decided to educate myself about Scotch, something I knew very little about. When I went to the wine shop on our street I asked for some recommendations for where to start, and they suggested The Glenlivet 12 as a starter. Jamie and I both really enjoyed it, and knowing her palate I knew the 15 year would be a great next move.”

Things I’ve learned about The Glenlivet:

The Glenlivet was the original Scotch, supporting an idea we believe in strongly, to be an original.

Why “The” Glenlivet?: The Glenlivet is known for its smooth and elegant whiskies. It was renowned and other distillers copied and took advantage of this fact including copying their name! George Smith’s (the founder) sons and heir went into a lengthy battle to secure the rights to be known as THE GLENLIVET to differentiate it from the copy cats.

All their spirits are created using a natural spring water from the same spring they founded the company with in 1824

This region of Scotch making is known for producing very smooth, easy and soft spirits.

On the rocks or straight up? It’s a personal preference but how they described it to me was that by drinking it room temperature you have a fuller, robust flavor. They likened it to a walk in the forest- the smell of the forest after a freshly fallen snow is more muted as opposed to its natural state, or after a warm rain (adding water).

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April 10, 2013February 8, 2016Posted in TravelTagged city, cityscape, europe, france, Getaway, paris, travel, trip, weekend getaway31 Comments

Of course there is the romantic idea of Paris – long walks on pristine boulevards, glasses of wine with views of the Seine, and picking up antique treasures at street markets, but for us Paris is so much more. A orgasmic array of beautiful light, a history of our idolized artists, a period of slowing down and reflecting on our work. If New York is loud and proud and fast, then Paris is slow and quiet and introspective…we are newlyweds, we are two artists living and working together, creating ideas and sharing dreams while growing our vision and sometimes we like to enjoy a weekend away, to recharge our souls, a weekend in Paris.

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