I’d say most of us at the studio have a strong case of wanderlust. Near or far, we love to visit places. And when travel is a distant memory of life before toddlers then we like to live vicariously through others. You can’t expect to go away somewhere and not have to give us a full report upon your return. We decided to take this a step further and create a card (that's it in the image above!) that would roam with us wherever we traveled or go visit our friends around the world. First stop is to New York City for the Stationery Show! After spending eight hours in the Javits Center, we wanted to get as far away from there as possible. Here's where we went ...
KATE. Every morning, I spent the seven o'clock hour running from Fort Greene through Dumbo and into Brooklyn Bridge Park. The view of lower Manhattan across the East River is breathtaking, and I love taking in all the gorgeous plantings, meandering paths, and incredible sculptures within the park. This year, I got to enjoy a series of installations by Danish artist Jeppe Hein titled Please Touch the Art. As you can guess, the exhibit is meant to be interactive, with jets of water shooting up from the ground, a maze of mirrors, and sculptural benches. It never ceases to amaze me how much NYC has to offer even when you’re just out getting your daily dose of fresh air.
DEB. It’s rare these days for me to catch a show when I’m in NYC. If I come for the trade show, I am usually too exhausted. When I am visiting with my husband and girls, I don’t have my act together in time to find tickets for a family-friendly matinee. This trip was different: Darren Criss had taken over the lead in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Full disclosure, I’m a 41-year-old Glee fan (Darren played Blaine Anderson). While I already knew the story of Hedwig, it was my celebrity crush that sealed the deal. So I went on my own (when is the last time I had an entire night all to myself?!) and it did not disappoint. The story is heart-wrenching and tragic and hilarious but OH MY—the energy and raw talent it takes to perform the lead in that show is mind-blowing. Bravo, Darren Criss. A rainy NYC evening very well spent, indeed.
SABRINA. My friends Betty and Spiro invited me to join them for some shuffleboard in Brooklyn, and out of sheer curiosity I couldn’t pass it up. The Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club is a fairly recent addition to the once-gritty-and-grimy Gowanus neighborhood. As soon as you stepped inside of what used to be a Coca Cola bottling plant, you felt like you were taken back to a scene from the Love Boat complete with Bingo night and flamingo wallpaper but with hipsters in place of retirees. We played on one of its 10 sunken courts while sipping on tropical cocktails, and I have to admit it was a blast.
CLAYTON. A small world run-in with old classmates led to an impromptu gathering Tuesday evening in the Lower East Side. The place? The Late Late. The people? Laura “Lemon” Howell and Madeline Arnold. The why? Just because (also it was Laura's birthday!). I arrived fashionably unfashionably late (subway rookie) to a bar modeled after a 1960's Irish home complete with your grandma's daisy wallpaper. I promptly joined Laura and Madeline in the rousing game of trivia that had already begun. After the game, we chatted with the charming trivia host as he offered his condolences for our attempt at victory. Then came a round of IPAs and a comforting dose of catch-up. If you were wondering what the score was ... ah, alas, it has escaped me.