A few things — by Guest Mom Kristin Fine

A funny thing this blogging. I am not really sure what Gabrielle is going to include in my bio, so I’ll tell you what I think you should know about me before I begin spouting off. Connecticut girl with a heart in NYC. Four kids — a 9-year-old Gemini girl!! And 3 boys — 6, 3, and 22 months. Including one named after Axel Vervoordt — this is a design blog so I figured that's relevant. 2 dogs. One funny loving husband — in finance, athletic, and a metro-sexual (hate that word, but you get the gist) and no, those descriptions of him are not mutually exclusive.

I have an amazing business partner and friend in Katie whom I started a kids lifestyle store LOVE with about 2 ½ years ago. We just launched an organic denim line for kids. It seems like it's taking forever to hit the stores! I have to wait until August. Amazing how long it feels between an idea and seeing it finished — when according to everyone working with me, we have been on fast-forward with the whole project. Below is a snapshot on the swing at our house of one of our denim samples. And there is a shot in this month’s Cookie Magazine as well. Adorable little girl on a bike with “dad”.



I have a passion for expensive dark chocolate, Tomas Maier, jeans and books. I love beautiful things — it could be a twig or a diamond. I prefer asymmetry to symmetry. I love the beaches in Long Island. I don’t like mean, exclusive people. My kids inspire and entertain me to no end, and I am not quite sure how I have 4 of them. I didn’t eat salad until I was 21. Now I try to buy local and organic as much as possible — my nanny calls my youngest the organic baby. My kids only want to eat broccoli from the veggie department. I spend too much time in the car. I wear really big sunglasses, usually Chanel. I like to run — New Balance is my preferred shoe.

Oh my — hopefully I haven’t completely lost all those potentially reading my blog. I promise to focus now and hopefully share a little something of my life this week. Maybe even something interesting. My friends seem to think I sometimes pass along good info. So as not to leave you with nothing on the first day, here are some of my best bets!



In Paris: favorite bistro is Chez George.
In NYC: best eyebrow god is Paolo Siqueira and best haircutter is Stephanie at Serge Normant.
Great childrens museum: Staten Island Children's Museum.
In Greenwich: I really like the Mexican place, Boxcar Cantina, with the kids but generally am frustrated with the state of affairs in CT food.
In NYC: adore Sfoglia on 92 and Lexington — call ahead and sneak into a bar reservation if you are lucky — you must order the cheese plate there!
On TV: The Riches which is so wrong so frequently I adore it.
Great homemade toy for kids: a boot box (bigger than a shoebox) with some sand in it, a few sugar cubes, some little trucks and spoons and forks as shovels. Hours of entertainment. Voila!