A few weeks ago I was surprised to find a new playroom on the ground level had opened up for the kiddies. They threw us a party including juice, cookies and toys galore! I am so amazed by this playroom. We have a playroom on the 3rd floor but it was starting to get a little too small for all the kids. There are so many kids who live at the Octagon. Most of the kids are from other countries. A lot of United Nations families live here. Grayson has friends from Japan, China, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, and more.

The kids sure do need it in the winter time when they can't go outside to play. The playroom is huge and filled with the most amazing toys. The furniture includes Ikea sofas, funky beanbag chairs, blonde wood bookshelves and oh my gosh, Eames Eiffel Chairs by Herman Miller. Wow!

Grayson and his buddies enjoy the playroom so much. We go there almost every day to play. I had to find out more about the playroom and how it came to be.

more after the jump

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We have been living in our new digs at The Octagon for 4 months now and we are settling in quite well. The Octagon is a very special place. It is located on Roosevelt Island just across the East River from Manhattan. The Octagon is a former insane asylum turned into an eco-friendly, high-end design apartment complex. I feel very lucky to live here and I would like to share some photos of our apartment and building with you.

Brian and Vanessa in front of the main entrance. This was part of the original insane asylum. Wow!

more photos after the jump

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Grayson and I woke up early to try to catch a glimpse of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from our apartment window. We live on Roosevelt Island and our apartment is just across the East River parallel to about 73rd street. The parade was to begin around 76th st but it was on Central Park West. They are expecting around 2 million people today for the parade so there is no way I am schlepping my 14 month old son out there. Maybe when he gets older. We watched it on tv as we ate our Thanksgiving Day bagels and bananas for breakfast. Saving room for turkey later on today. I hope you have a wonderful day, whatever you decide to do or whoever you spend it with.

We are going to a restaurant with our friends. We all have kids and small apartments so it makes sense to go to a restaurant. We are looking forward to eating turkey dinner with our friends. We sure will miss our family and friends in sunny Florida.

Here is a vintage photo of Felix the Cat in the Macy's Parade. I am a huge Felix the Cat fan if you didn't already know.

photo via Swapatorium

I wish I would have known about the Combi Pod bouncer when Grayson was a little bouncing baby boy.
Check it out, its so mod!

$59.99 rightstart.com

We are home sick with the stomach flu. It is not fun, but Grayson has finally shown an interest in books. He is almost 14 months old now. I say to him "Bring me a book and I will read you a story." Grayson will go to his bookshelf, pick out a book, bring it to me, climb up on our comfy chair, and sit beside me as I read him a story. This is one of his favorites. It is called Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli. It is so fun. It reads like this, "Spaghetti is yummy, worms are yucky. Apple pie is yummy, mud pie is yucky, etc." The illustrations are very cute and colorful. Check it out on Amazon along with other fun books by Patricelli.

Yummy Yucky $6.99 Amazon.com

What tha? I found this cardboard rocket ship at Land of Nod. It is really cute but they want 89 bucks for it. Its made of cardboard. Jeepers! I could make this for free using the recycled boxes in my building. What do you think?

Check it out! Old Navy has a whole collection featuring the art of Charley Harper! They have t shirts, puzzles, memory games, coloring and board books. Wow!

Charley Harper t shirt $12.50 Old Navy

I love this ultra mod dining table and chairs set from Eurway furniture. It is a new take on the classic tulip table and chair set by Eero Saarinen.

The Astro Dining Table $476 and Shuttle Chair $224 are on sale. Nice price!

I just found out that Isamu Noguchi had an arch-nemesis! Yes he did! Back in the 1930s Robert Moses, then director of public works for NYC, foiled Noguchi's plans for a playground at the United Nations. He thwarted any design Noguchi made for the city of New York. Jeepers!

Read more about it on Pruned

photo via pruned.blogspot.com

Last Saturday we went to Central Park. Fall is definitely here, the leaves on the trees are all turning beautiful colors. It was a lovely day.

The main attraction was the Chanel Mobile Art exhibition. It is a futuristic pavilion designed by Zaha Hadid. 20 artists exhibit their works inspired by the famous Chanel quilted bag.

We were unable to go inside because tickets were sold out. If you want to see it, go early. The handsome guardsman told us to come back at 8am the next day. A little too early for me.

Tickets are free and are available at the box office in Rumsey Playfield.

Hours are
Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, 8:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
Sunday, 8:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m.

The exhibition runs through Nov 9.

Sorry it is a few days late, but I thought I would post some photos of Grayson and my Halloween costumes. We decided to celebrate my love of architecture and Grayson's love of monkeys. Grayson dressed as King Kong and I dressed as the Empire State Building. They were the perfect costumes for us because Grayson's personality is much like King Kong. He is such a big boy and I am very tall and thin like the Empire State Building.

We had so much fun. Grayson really got into trick or treating. After the 2nd or 3rd apartment, he was able to pick out a candy and put it in his bag. He is only 12 months old. Wow!

Happy Halloween to all.

Happy Election Day! My one year old son Grayson Danger was my political adviser today. He went with me inside the voting booth to make sure I pressed the right buttons. For some reason I was very nervous about voting today. I was so disappointed the last time we voted for president. I just wanted to make sure my vote really counted this time. Grayson made sure I did everything right. Good luck Obama, we know you are gonna win!