9th Annual Hamptons Happening 2013

MDG was a Hampotonite on Saturday night.....celebrating the 9th annual A Hamptons Happening in Bridgehampton, NY. I always wanted to know what it would be like to attend one of these Hamptons events...let me tell you it was nothing but amazing.... Maria and Kenneth Fishel opened up their home or rather extensive backyard where guests were treated to signature delicacies from acclaimed chefs from the New York area. Six of Todd English's restaurants were featured..... He was also there along with his executive chefs! A nice surprise was seeing Chris Wragge, the WCBS anchor who was the M.C. for the evening. He kicked off an unbelievable auction of goodies ranging from villa vacations to a an opportunity to swim with Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte.

All proceeds benefit the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation. Mr. Sam Waxman was at the event and was honored for his dedication to curing and preventing cancer. His foundation has done some amazing work on uncovering the causes of the disease and reprogramming cancer cells.


Enjoy some of the pics from the evening..

Snuck a pic with gal pal Sheryl Berk who invited me to attend....

Colored lights under a sprawling white tent set the ambiance of the night...

AAhhh amazing Xante pear cocktails and food from Chef Emelie Johansson of the Swedish Culinary Summer and Chef Lalo of Socarrat Paella Bar in NYC were delish....

Chef Todd English's braised short rib melted in my mouth...definetely my fave...

Todd English was at the event....lucky me...!

and then there is SMUSH!! - outrageous thoughtfully designed ice cream sandwiches customized to your liking!! Run to their NYC location this summer!

More and more deserts... yummy cupcakes from Isabelle's Curlycakes and Bee's knees Baking co.  were a big hit!

There also was an incredible auction that raised thousands of dollars. 
See the Vines:

I want to do it all over again!!

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Super Saturday to Benefit Ovarian Cancer Research

I spent the weekend in the Hamptons with my amazing friends, the Berk family and went to Super Saturday, the annual charity shopping event in Water Mill that benefits the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Under a sprawling white tent, the event unfolds......one can get major discounts on designer clothing, bags, glasses, etc. The event was hosted by Kelly Ripa and Donna Karan and was crawling with celebs.... well, I only spotted Kelly Ripa, Lisa Rinna and Susan Lucci on the red carpet and that really tickled me pink! 

Besides digging thru piles of designer clothes and bags, there was a psychic reader, nail and hair stylers, a kids carnival, food galore and Camp DivaLyssicious where kiddies too can have tons of fun like walk the red carpet with Red Carpet Kids, dance to the music of KBC kids, face paint, glitter tattoos, shirt artistry, enter a cupcake contest judged by cupcake critic Carrie Berk, and co-author of the wonderful children's book series Peace, Love and Cupcakes and so much more....pics are below

Check out some of the clothing and food galore...

LOVED Rachel Zoe's clothing and jewelry line!

Some refreshing watermelon drinks at the Moroccan Oil booth...

Delectable delights...

The Carnival Side...




Camp Divalysscious rocked! Hosted by event planner Lyss Stern who organizes amazing events for NYC Mom's. Check out her Website Divalysscious Moms. 

Girls on the red carpet with Red Carpet Kids:

An amazing time was had by all....

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Brizo The Blogger 19 Reunion in Memphis 2013

I’m packin’ and off to Memphis tomorrow! Brizo, the faucet brand for the fashion forward has invited me to attend an all-expenses paid reunion in Memphis. Over 80 designers will be there! If you remember Brizo hosted me in September 2012 to a NYC fashion week experience (known as the Blogger 19) to preview their newest products and to attend the amazing Jason Wu runway show. Brizo are amazing hosts! Now, Brizo is merging all of the past Blogger 19 groups for a reunion. What an awesome way to connect and re-connect the design community! We will be getting an exclusive behind the scenes tour of the Brizo factory and St Jude’s Children’s hospital. I cannot wait to see what Brizo has in their pipeline because Brizo is a faucet brand that dreams…..realizes their dreams….and transforms spaces into fashion statements!

BRIZO Hands Free Technology: offers hands free operation allowing you to activate and turn off water flow without touching the faucet - promoting safer food handling, less water consumption and greater efficiency in the kitchen and bath. Innovation!! 

The event is from July 16-19. You can follow me at the event on Twitter using #Blogger19, and on my Facebook page.

Industrial MoD Must Haves from GO HOME

MOD MUST HAVES

pure, novel, stylish

for industrial modern lovers

Rockwell Table from GO HOME Ltd.

A trend in residential living today is an industrial-mod vibe that incorporates natural materials, flea market finds and industrial elements with an urban approach. Spaces are clean-lined, timeless, and texturally appealing with the integration of worn woods and aged metals fused with a mix of stone, concrete, and glass. Where we once may have designed spaces in order to hide wires, structure and piping, today we are designing around them. I love this urban look and to get factory-chic inspired products...... I look to GO HOME Ltd., a great vintage inspired brand that has exciting products from around the world. See some Industrial Mod Must Haves below...

(Go HOME actually interviewed me last week if you are interested in knowing why I started the MoD Design Guru blog. Click here for the interview.)

Re-consider the shower experience: the Axor Water Dream

Philippe Grohe, head of the Axor brand

Philippe Grohe, head of Axor, the designer brand of Hansgrohe is an innovator who sees an alternate vision for the bathroom as a living space and works with various internationally renowned designers to investigate each designers angle on their water dream. Grohe adds," in this regard, the focus is not primarily on the products, but on providing additional scope for creative development for breaking down established behavior patterns, and for conducting an open, interdisciplinary dialogue." Now he seeks to re-envision and re-consider the way the shower is perceived and interpreting it anew with Swedish design trio Front and Japenese design studio Nendo. 

Swedish design trio Front- axor waterdream

Pipes are beautiful and should be exposed. The design trio Front showcases the pathways of a shower system down to its rudimentary parts- copper pipes, valves, elbow fittings and funnel and emphasizes the simplistic beauty of water-flow. Love!

 Copper pipes, elbow fittings and funnels or showerheads

NENDO- axor waterdream

Designer Oki Sato of Nendo design studio combines water and light and envisions the shower as a lamp. Wow, this is a very interesting spatial idea..... Nendo is overlapping the bathroom and living-room experience. We read under light in our living room and now to replace the typical shower head and  bench with a functional shower-lamp and chair is going to widen our thoughts and re-consider what our bathroom experience should be in the future..brilliant!

(all images given by Axor brand)


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Behind the Making of DIFFA's Dining by Design 2013 ENTRANCE

Every year at the Architectural Digest show in NYC there is always a magnificent entrance that transports you into the world of DIFFA’s (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) Dining by Design.  Last year's 2012 intricately cut entrance was designed by Razortooth Design and this past year's phenomenom was created by two talented design studios - Input Creative Studio + Clark Gaynor Interiors. Together they designed a multi-media abstracted mirrored experience. It was powerful....  filled with a matrix of 272 mirrored light bulbs which reflects participants as they enter the DIFFA event. The designers add, "The entrance represents the journey of an AIDS victim; illustrated metaphorically through the " light at the end of the tunnel" that DIFFA's efforts provide."  For me it was not only a portal; but also a place of pause.  As I stood there, I was not only faced with my own image multiplied on the underside of  stimulating tiny balls; but also reflecting on the cause and all those suffering with the AIDS disease. A beautiful and thoughtful provoking design!

Compelling Cardboard Design by Studio Caporaso

How can cardboard get so sexy? In response to a mobile and environmentally conscious world, architect and designer Giorgio Caporaso of Studio Caporaso created the Lessmore Ecodesign Collection where modularity and sustainability are the driving ideas. What is really unique is the collection's versatility. Watch cardboard transform...all made out of modules where you can disassemble and reassemble again to create all furniture types like bookshelves, room dividers, consoles, seating and tables with integrated lighting.