[image: Grzywinski+Pons]

Grzywinski+Pons also designed the Hotel on Rivington that inhabits the neighborhood in a rather intrusive way, if you will pardon my judgment here. I guess I could say that I am a fan of their aesthetic, but not of their buildings' relationships with the surrounding spaces and with the idioms of the neighborhoods.

Once inside their spaces, the experience is quite different. Inside one of the rooms at this Lower East Side hotel, the city is your oyster (pearl included). The grey, white, and yellow color palette, pictured above, is minimalist and luxurious at the same time. And definitely on-trend this season. Have you visited a Kenneth Cole store this Spring, for example?

[images: Grzywinski+Pons by way of New York magazine]
click to here view additional photos

Speaking of New York magazine's "Hyper Design" issue, did you happen to see this eye-popping Modernist home, pictured above, in Flushing, Queens? Admittedly, I am looking longingly at the subterranean pool, and at the room off the pool, and at the furniture from Ligne Roset and Poliform. The owner, John Hsu, is a developer with high profile projects in Manhattan, including a new 60-room hotel in NoLita designed by the same architects that designed his home, Grzywinski+Pons. For the record, Hsu got a discount on all the furniture through his pre-existing relationships with Ligne Roset and Poliform from "work." How nice.

My question is this. If Hsu met with such opposition from the neighborhood over the design of his home, as the article describes, why would he want it published in such detail for all to see? I personally would want to lay low for awhile until the neighborhood rage subsided.

Within the last two years, Franklin Street has supported the openings of three designer-driven boutiques (Dalaga, Alter, Hayden-Harnett), a bookstore (Word), a record store (Permanent Records), a furniture store (Claank), a Dominican-French restaurant (Casa Mon Amour), a cafe (Brooklyn Label), a wine store (to come), and most recently on March 15, a gallery-like boutique with a minimalist aesthetic called Jan & Aya.

Excited to examine the merchandise in person, I took the grand tour from owners, Carolyn and Kai. Jan & Aya, named for the couple's two children, features handmade objects that are well-crafted and beautifully designed. Categories include home (poufs, candles and soaps, pottery, glassware, art), child (shoes, clothing, toys), self (jewelry, tees, shoes), and come Sunday, cakes. Organic cakes from artisanal baker Sarah Magid will be available by the slice or by the cake every weekend. In the summer, customers will be able to enjoy a slice of cake on the back patio with some lemonade. That sounds great.

When asked why the couple chose Franklin Street for their first retail venture, Carolyn replied eloquently, "This is the street that is having a kind of Renaissance as far as community-based businesses. It speaks to the artist's community of Greenpoint."


Jan & Aya
99 Franklin Street
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
718.609.1404

Store hours:
Thursday-Friday 1-7pm
Saturday noon-7pm

Sunday noon-5pm

Are there plans for more shoes? According to Carolyn, there will be clogs for adults,
hand-painted clogs for kids, and come summer, flip flops of the Brazilian variety.

Set of 6 nesting bowls, $180.
Tea towels, right, by Skinny LaMinx.

The peaceful mood at Jan & Aya: fresh flowers and blossoming branches
mixed among the minimalist displays, exposed brick, white floors, vaulted ceilings,
and a sheer curtain that hints at a backyard patio space, to come.


Children's moccasins, $34; Owl, $38, both by Zid Zid


Poufs by Zid Zid, $80-$260.

Art pins by Ashley G., $3.
Carolyn found this artist on Etsy.

[image from the Sprinkles Website]

I was watching Martha while on the elliptical machine at the Y on Tuesday and saw a segment on these upscale minimalist cupcakes from Beverly Hills. Candace Nelson, the Executive Pastry Chef and owner of Sprinkles Cupcakes is a slender and attractive young woman, and the ideal spokesperson for her company. Watching her speak about her product, you somehow think that eating a Sprinkles Cupcake in one of the beautifully designed and minimalist Sprinkles Cafe locations won't make you fat.

Go to the Website and look at every one of the beautiful photos. They will make your mouth water, but in a restrained, smart, prudent sort of way. The cupcakes are served on a plate with an ecologically friendly fork. How elegant. Immediately, the cupcake which one would normally eat with one's hands, is transformed into something else. Into 'pastry' perhaps. As the advertising copy reads on the Website, "Let's be clear, they're not just pint-sized cupcakes. Cupcakes are something else entirely."

There is something intellectual and haute about these cupcakes. Read the Design statement. And the Community & Environment commitment. And notice the way the no-nonsense but beautiful and delicate font works on you as you read the text. Now mouse over the Flavors descriptions. Sheer genius! The Sprinkles experience is about so much more than cupcakes, or indulgence. Indulgence is wrong. Indulgence will make you fat. But design, architecture, the art of 'pastry' is a treat for the mind. Now that you have rationalized all of this, you are ready to spend the $46 for a dozen.

It is nice to hear that Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don't Get Fat, and now, French Women for All Seasons, agrees with me. When it comes to dressing, buy quality, not quantity. Focus on a few special pieces you love, compose your outfits from a stable of stylish, multi-use basics, and add some flair with unique accessories {my words, not hers}. Her new book looks like it has good information to help women cultivate their own personal style. I am all for that!

Vive L'individualism!
Vive Modular Dressing!

And as I always say,

Maximize your Minimalism!
Don't Just Stand There. Accessorize!

Modular Dressing Tips to Maximize your Minimalist Wardrobe:
1. Start with the SILK PINSTRIPE SKIRT [ABOVE], a lovely classic with a twist
2. Add the LABYRINTH TOP [L] to mix-match prints within the black-on-black 'color palette'
3. Treat yourself to the very special 'RED SWIRL' WINTER OBI [L]
4. Add the CHUNGKING VEST [R] as a 2nd outfit combo using the same skirt
5. Change the look with the graphic 'FERN STRIPE' SILK OBI SASH [R]
6. On another day, un-belt and add a bold necklace [CLICK]


[PHOTO CREDITS: BOOK JACKETS FROM MIREILLEGUILIANO.COM; MINIMALIST OUTFIT COMBOS FROM ELAINEPERLOV.COM]