Night Tabled.

If you follow me on Instagram you might have noticed a happy photo of myself with Andrew McCarthy. Most people recognize him as an actor in two of my favorite movies: Pretty in Pink and St. Elmo's Fire. Admittedly, that's the only reason why I went to his book appearance at a local library and picked up a copy of his memoir for him to sign.

As I was packing for vacation last week it hit me that I needed a book for the beach and there was no time to run to the ol' bookstore. (I have a Kindle but prefer a traditional book—sorry, Mama Earth.) So, "one man's quest for the courage to settle down" was gonna have to do.

Fast forward to vacay over and... SHAPRISE! The Longest Way Home was wonderful—it's a beautifully told story of family dynamics and romance threaded neatly together by world travel. Definitely grab a copy but I'm warning you now, you're going to get the travel bug. Patagonia anyone?

Weekend Wrap Up // LAS to JFK

This past weekend was a blur of lights, yummy food, cocktails, and obviously dancing! Here's an Instagram crash course in what went down from New York to Vegas and back again.

 Reading material for the next six hours.

 

 Ladies who lunch!

 And lunch.

 My new friend.

After a much shorter—4-hour—flight back to JFK...

There was dinner with Dyan (trainer to the stars) by her fabulous flat mates and off to Tillman's to catch up with my long lost partner in crime—Miss Fancy Nancy, the bride-to-be!

Book It.

Over the weekend I FINALLY finished the book I borrowed from McMuffin (and started in January), The Art of Fielding, by Chad Harbach. I really enjoyed it... for being a "sports book"! But now I'm ready for something new.

There are a bunch of books that have massive buzz right now. But while Fifty Shades of Gray, The Hunger Games, or The Paris Wife might have great entertainment appeal, I feel like reading something that might inspire me. So after following Kelle Hampton's blog, Enjoying the Small Things, for a while I'm really excited to pick up her memoir, Bloom. Here is the book's trailer:

Shelf it.

My friend Mike has a pretty expansive apartment (compared to Manhattan) in Los Angeles and an expansive DVD and Blu-ray collection to match. He was wondering if I had any ideas for how to house these in an interesting way in his living room.

Here are some ideas I found around town:

I thought a few spine shelves next to each other could look interesting.
Especially if the DVD covers were organized by color—not extremely helpful if you're trying to find one, buuuuuut who cares. 

This probably works better with children's books than DVD's but still looks cute. 

Not realistic in terms of storing mucho DiViDios but I want this for Trumpsters room. Or actually this version is more appropriate...

Okay, back to Mike. So then I found these two, which both felt more masculine and unique.

And of course my personal fave—purely because of the clean lines and simplicity of the color coding. The ridiculously gorgeous bathtub doesn't hurt either.

all images via Pinterest

Twinning!

SURPRISE! There are two winners for this week's giveaway of the memoir: How to Love an American Man!

The birthday girl, herself chose the lucky readers (by picking numbers). And the winners are:

Congratulations ladies! I'll be in touch to get your addresses for HarperCollins.

Andrea xx

How to Win an American Memoir.

Kristine (Krissy) Gasbarre is my sister's friendly neighbor, looks a LOT like my Aunt Gabe, wrote a pretty sweet book, How to Love an American Man—and that book could be yours!

If you live in the Tri-state area, be sure to check her out on Good Day New York this morning!

Now onto the fun part—ENTRY FUN! Here are the rules for your chance to win:

1. Like Krissy Gasbarre on Facebook...check!

2. LIKE AE Design on Facebook...check!

3. Leave a comment at the end of this post with: the most embarrassing conversation topic you discussed with a grandparent or elder.

I'll announce the winner on Friday—Good luck!


Andrea xx

*Update: Here's the video from this morning in case you missed it or don't live locally.

Author Kristine Gasbarre: MyFoxNY.com

Winning!

The winner of the signed paperback book—The Adults, by Alison Espach, with awesome new cover goes to...

And just to prove I wasn't picking favorites. This is a screen grab of the random number this handy dandy generator spit out:

Thanks to everyone who admitted their teacher crush. I feel like it's only fair that I admit mine too...it was, no doubt, Coach Lipani. What gym teacher offers fishing?!

For those of you who were reading this and were like "Crap, there's no way I'm the winner, I didn't enter." Mmmm Hmmm (head roll), you should have! But don't fret my pet, I have an idea for another giveaway so you'll have your chance very soon.

Happy Hurricane-ing.


Andrea xx

Up for Grabs.

This weekend we went to Brooklyn to check out our sisters' new apartments. That's right, Ali and Lo  living within blocks of each other...BK doesn't know what it's in for. And among the sites we saw, was Ali's new paperback cover—LOVING the new font and photo.

So I'm super super excited that my first giveaway on the blog will be a signed copy of this beauty (both inside and out) before it hits stores. Here are the rules for your chance to win:

1. LIKE Alison Espach's  Facebook page...check!

2. LIKE AE Design on Facebook...check!

3. Leave a comment at the end of this post with: the name (or nickname) of the teacher you had a crush on in school

I'll announce the winner on Friday—Good luck!


Andrea xx

Before I Go.

I need to stop at Barnes and Noble for a couple new books before we head off on vacation. One in particular that's piqued my interest is 101 Things You Should Do Before Your Kids Leave Home.

Some of the ideas are kind of obvious (32. Hug your kids until they let go.) but some are really neat:


15. Teach your kids that "old-people" don't bite.
38. Serve in a soup kitchen.
68. Walk in the rain with one umbrella.

80. Dig for clams and steam them on the beach.

I'm sure there are million more you could think of because really, any time you spend with your kids is an opportunity to create awesome memories. But here's one more creative addition...

One Father's Day, an old boss of mine decided he needed a haircut—and his stylist of choice were his three kids. When he came into the office on Monday we drilled him on his butchered 'do, but I'm sure his kids will never forget the Father's Day they shaved their dad's head. Brilliant.

Anyway, this seems like it would be a quick-read so comment below with any suggestions for another book I should grab—aside from The Help.

And one more thing: Baby Trump is almost walking!

Have a great week!
Andrea xx