jmacd's Profile

I absolutely love my Muji cutlery--the rounded, not the boxy style. It feels wonderful in your hand.

Well said, Florida Joyce.

In theory, I believe that adults and children should be served the same things. (I love Pamela Druckerman's Bringing Up Bebe.) I have found in practice, however, that when you try to serve a largish group of adults and children the same thing, the food tends to be too high-fat and not complex enough for the adults and most of the children won't eat it anyway. It works pretty well to come up with a menu you like for the adults and then leave plain any parts that you can--for example, if you are making pasta or chicken, let each guest decide whether to put sauce on it and how much. Then also have peanut butter and jelly (if there are no nut issues), chicken nuggets (if you are not vegetarian), yogurt and a variety of plain fruit available and let parents cater to their children, if necessary. It is embarassing for parents to know that the menu has been designed around children and have their children refuse to eat it--something I experience at every birthday party with my two pizza refuseniks. Parties are time to enjoy each other's company, not for lessons in correct feeding and eating.

The balance of warm and cool tones is off. The vignette with the topiary works because the tones are balanced. The golden baskets provide strong warm tones, the green leaves strong cool, all against a more neutral background. More rattan or baskets would help with both texture and tone. You could also replace the art (while hanging it lower) with something with clear, fresh colors and swap the arrangement in the white vase with a messy green plant. You can use other things (clothes, towels, colorful plates, etc., to test out colors that you think might improve the balance and, if they do, look for pillows, throws, etc., in those colors.

I think simplicity with a focal point and comfortable chairs are good ideas, but the other suggestions don't resonate with me at all. I (unfashionably) like a separate kitchen, though I don't think the dining area has to be closed off. I love a beaten-up antique table, but one made out of reclaimed wood and rustic metal seems so fake to me (think Restoration Hardware). Chandeliers are trendy? Tell Louis XIV. And without one, where is your Pattern Language pool of light?

I already got my wish when Fairway opened a store on E. 86th Street.

Can someone please tell me who makes the yellow chair?

Kid-O makes two beautiful wooden ones.

On a typical weeknight our nanny feeds the children (3 and 8) at about 6, preparing separate vegetables for them--one will only eat broccoli, one will only eat carrots or spinach. My husband gets home at 7 and makes his own (fairly elaborate) dinner after putting the children to bed at 8. I have a soup from my firm's cafeteria and get home from my job as a lawyer around 10:30. The children are picky eaters. Feel free to throw eggs.

I feel so affirmed! Now maybe I can forgive myself for spending 20 hours and $80 in Farrow & Ball paint to paint a $79 piece of Ikea furniture Babouche (and put it on my gray rug).