Planning the Perfect Romance with Island Fever

Greece:

The Greek Islands are an amazing spot to relax. The over 6,000 islands very in size, activities, landscape, pretty much anything you are looking for you can find in these beautiful Mediterranean isles. Crete is the largest and most well known of the islands. It is over 3,000 square feet of bliss. You will most likely fly into the largest city, Herakloin. This is a place to go is you love luxury. The islands are rich in history if you want to do some educational tours as well. If you would like a less traveled island, try any of the Northern Aegean islands ( Chios, Ikaria, Limnos, Lesvos, Samos, Samothraki, and Thassos). These islands have the Greek culture that you are thinking about in your head right now. They are gorgeous, like all the islands, but have a quieter feel. Karpathos is also a quieter island that keeps the traditional Greek atmosphere without being too indulged in tourism. You can still find luxury hotels on the beach here, but it’s not a party town.

But we know what you really want to hear about, how intoxicating the Greek sun and sand combo can be! Some activities that you outdoorsy types will enjoy: scuba diving, snorkeling, sunbathing (of course), shopping, hiking, walks on the many Oceanside trails, trying new cuisine at the diverse cafes and restaurants, donkey rides, walking through old volcanic grounds, visit historical sites (each island offers ruins from Greece’s past). You may also find it interesting to invest some time in checking out local pubs!! Your experiences will be ones which constantly call you back to the islands.

Caribbean Islands:

There are approximately 30 islands for you to enjoy in the Caribbean from Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, Aruba, Bahamas, British and American Virgin Islands, Dominican republic, Grenada, Puerto Rico, we think you get the idea. And one of the most appealing attribute for Americans is the location!! These islands are right next door (if you live in Florida), yet the culture takes you a million miles away from the busy cities and quick dinners between errands. If they made that big of an impact on the Beach Boys, imagine what they can do for a honeymoon. Visit our honeymoon site to see some spectacular deals going on now.

The Caribbean’s warm water is a dream come true for those of you who like boating and water sports like water skiing and jet skiing. For you more romantic types, may we suggest a destination wedding in Grenada? The beautiful beach in the background of all your romance will make all your friends and family well up with tears as they flip through photos years down the road. Laluna (Grenada) and Hermitage Bay (Antigua) are my personal favorites for capturing the ultimate wedding ecstasy.

When traveling to Jamacia we suggest the northern cities like Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. But no matter where you stay on the island, you must go visit Dunns River Falls. The sound of tons of water crashing down a 600 feet clif is just the kind of awe every honeymoon hopes to acquire. You can hike up the waterfalls, or take boats or helicopters if you prefer luxury to an up close attachment with nature.

Or you can visit the Santo Domingo Ruins in the Dominican Republic. There is also a great appreciation for the arts; you can choose from glamorous art galleries and street venders full of culture, or try both! Try to make it to El Conde Street and Plaza Criolla.

No matter which Island or islands you choose to stay on, you will be inspired by Caribbean cuisine, art, architecture, and of course the music and dance! Nothing says celebration like the bright clolors and festive music that can only be found in the Caribbean..

Venice:

July and August are perfect times for you warm weather lovers to travel!! (June and September are a bit cooler, but low 70s are perfect if you don’t like to sweat!) If your wedding plans are for late winder/ early spring, we suggest Venice. Enjoying Mardis Gras in Venetian style is an amazing way to celebrate your new vows! Day trips are an amazing way to take a vacation from your vacation. Head over to Lido Island for a relaxing day of golf; Visit Veneto to avoid the busy Venice weekends and taste some amazing wines; or you could stay local and just take a trip to the different world of the streets ad gondolas!! Or if you like to make friends take a water bus (Vaporetto); I promise you, you will not regret going down the Grand Canal in one of these!

Once-in-a-lifetime finds can be seen all over the Rialto Market!! Find precious jewelry and silks, breathtaking Venetian glass and masks (perfect for you Mardi Gras lovers), and crafts of all kinds. You can spend an entire afternoon browsing if you’d like! It’s near the gorgeously constructed Rialto Bridge. We suggest going down the Grand Canal to get to the market!

Choose the right Hawaian Island for your Personalities!

On the Big Island enjoy the black beaches and romantic waves. This is an amazing time to view water falls from a helicopter as you sip champagne and hold each other’s hands. You will be in for a thrill ride when you fly right next to the 442 ft tall flowing falls of Akaka Waterfalls. If you want to see stars and have an out-of-this-world experience, spend an afternoon or evening at the Mauna Kea Observatory. There are also amazing botanical Gardens in all the Islands that it is definitely a must to stop at one or two!

Go to Kauai and climb through the Kukui, Kalalau, or Kuilau Ridge trails and enjoy the view. You may even want to hop in a kayak and see the secret falls. Or if you prefer the less sweaty method, take an intimate helicopter tour on any of the Islands for a view larger than life. Your hearts will be pounding and you will never forget the sights of the trip. This is a smaller Island so you can see all of it in a one week stay! Oh and don’t be alarmed if you see chickens roaming outside of the airport, or on the mountain tops, even in beach parking lots!

For those of you who connect on the dance floor, Maui is a night owl’s dream!! Some of the best places to go, rated by travelers like you are: Kimo’s (845 Front St, Lahaina, HI 96761), Pacific’o (505 Front St, Lahaina, HI 96761), , Kahale’s Beach Club (36 Keala Pl, Kalama Village, Kihei, HI 96753), The Cellar 744 (744 Front St, Lahaina, HI 96761), and Longhi’s (888 Front St, Lahaina, HI 96761). But not only is there a long list of clubs and bars for you to enjoy, the dining experience on this island is one in which to indulge yourselves. You have just about every type of experience from mom and pop type shops to swanky dinners out in your favorite little black dress.

Oahu is the third largest Ise in the chain, but with Honolulu as the capital, it is the most populated. However, if you want a Hawaian beach get away, the possibilities are numberous. Try Sunset Beach located on the North coast of the island great for surfing, or just watching the surfers for hours. Or Hanauma Bay (one of the most popular beaches on the island) on the Southeast coast. If you would like to see gold sand between your toes and wade in calmer seas, travel to Ala Moana beach Park. It’s perfect for those city lovers because it’s between both Honolulu and Waikiki.

Can New Yorkers Survive Without AC?

There's an article in the New York Times that even just 18 months ago would have been considered ludicrous. It's about whether or not air conditioning is just luxury that people could learn to do without.

TO many Americans, abstaining from air-conditioning is a masochistic folly akin to refusing Novocain or renouncing the dishwasher.

Yet as this particular summer finally heats up, even citizens who believe that climate control is a God-given right may be questioning whether it has become a luxury they can no longer afford. They are probably also wondering how they can survive without it.

The fact that we're at the point where we're asking this question out loud represents a major regression for our society, and no, it doesn't make us feel better that the Allies won WWII without AC, which the writer unhelpfully points out.

If you have no choice, I suppose you copuld survive a summer in NYC without AC, but if it's between chilled air and, say, taking taxis everywhere, you may want to start walking!

Here's a list of New York Air Conditioning Companies who can help you install, maintain or repair an ac system or unit.

And here are some Tips on Air Conditioning in New York from cityhammer.com, New York's #1 Remodeling Directory.

Full Article:

The Unchilled Life (NYT)

New small house plan available today!

You have got to check out this new home design by Jo Nagasaka and Schemata Architecture. The "PACO house" offers complete self contained living in a 3 square meter cube.

The Paco House is available in four basic plans. Plan A features the kitchen, shower, bathroom, epoxy painted floor and ceiling lighting at a total price of 6,300,000 yen. Plan B boasts a kitchen, epoxy painted floor and ceiling lighting at a price of 5,250,000 yen. Plan C features the epoxy painted floor and ceiling lighting for 4,725,000 yen. Plan D is the home’s basic shell, which you can customize to your needs and interests, selling for 4,200 yen.

Clearly much time and money have been spent developing the prototype. Indeed this is one very well thought out box. But I have one question. Who is actually going to buy this thing?

more information:

Simple,Unique, Small, Creative and Green House Plans

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New Cottage House Plan

Larson Brenner Architects (Stillwater, MN) is creating a new Cottage House Plan design for Kyle Hunt & Partners. The design is characterized by a dramatic steep front gable roof line and will feature a modern open floor plan.

Kyle Hunt & Partners is a builder that specializes in crafting Architect designed homes. They have created strategic partnerships with several Architects including Larson Brenner to provide services for their clients. This design will be featured at their Locust Hills neighborhood in Minnetonka, MN.

The two images below depict the design in two color studies.

Simple,Unique, Creative and Green House Plans

Major Long Island Contractor Scam Busted: NY Post

This is big news and every homeowner on Long Island needs to be aware of how many unlicensed contractors are out there, just lining up to take money and not fulfill the work contracted.

From the New York Post:

Nearly four dozen unlicensed Long Island contractors were more skilled at pulling in thousands of dollars for jobs -- than actually doing the work, officials said today.

Nassau DA Kathleen Rice announced the results of a 5-week investigation, including the running of a "Sting House" to lure a dozen unlicensed contractors in and capture them on video.

The way many of the scams worked, homeowners were told to fork over cash in advance, and in some cases, demolition work had begun. Shortly after, the contracting company would stop showing up, leaving the customer with a partially destroyed home and no idea what to do next.

cityhammer.com, New York's #1 Remodeling Directory urges Long Island homeowners in need of renovations to heed the words of Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice:

"When you hire an unlicensed contractor, you're rolling the dice."

For a list of qualified home improvement pro's and general contractors on Long Island with licensing information available, click the links below:

Nassau County General Contractors

Suffolk County General Contractors

Full Article:

Contractors on LI Scam Busted (NYP)

Green Building Materials for New York General Contractors

Photo from PSFK

So The Green Depot just opened a store on the Bowery in Manhattan to showcase the best and most functional green building products and materials to New York General Contractors and homeowners.

The Green Depot is based in Brooklyn, NY and is already well established as a nationwide supplier of eco-friendly materials for construction and renovation. The Daily News just gave their new store a write-up this week:

Located at 222 Bowery between Prince and Spring Sts., the 3,500-square-foot
store contains hundreds of premium products, including a host of private label
and exclusive product lines. Addressing a growing need for affordable,
accessible, "green" products, the Bowery store marks the premiere of the
company`s proprietary product labeling system, developed to help consumers
navigate the changing landscape of green products through the use of a simple
icon system. The icon system is designed to clarify how and why a product can
claim it is "green", based upon five simple categories: air quality,
conservation, local, energy and responsibility.

What kind of stuff will you find at the store?

* Hundreds of premium products, including high-quality, appealing private
label lines developed via local manufacturing partnerships, in categories such
as cleaning, baby, and zero-VOC paint.

* Exclusive artist series featuring limited editions of inspired
sustainable design solutions developed by talented home designers.

* A resource and design center where trained Green Depot staff work with
customers to find green building materials that are cost-efficient and easily
adaptable into their construction or renovation projects.

* The first and only zero-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint bar in New
York City.

* A baby section that empowers new mothers with the basic tools and
knowledge to design and build a healthy environment for their children.

* A "Found" section, where the most innovative new green products are
displayed for purchase, along with select vintage and salvaged items.

This sounds really cool, we'll be checking the store out asap.

Find General Contractors in Manhattan

Full Story:



The Green Depot (Daily News)

Organizing Clutter in New York

Closet by cityhammer.com member Creative Space Management of NJ

Tina Traster's excellent Burb Appeal column in the New York Post continues this week with the transplanted New Yorker giving us an idea of how she keeps her family's new home in Rockland County, a restored 1800's farmhouse, clutter-free and organized.

I designed the bathrooms with pedestal sinks rather than vanities (everyone knows vanities are the black hole for hotel soaps and cosmetic samples). The Mission-style furniture I chose evokes spare, clean lines. For the windows, I opted for simple blinds rather than curtains. The crawl-space basement, which is mildew paradise, is not even an option for storage.

Everything has its place. The remote controls live in drawers. My house keys dwell in a ceramic bowl. My husband has a small rattan box for his bits and pieces.

When someone in my family asks, "Where are my hiking shoes?" the refrain is the same: "They are where they always are." Meaning, at the bottom of the closet in the laundry room where they are supposed to be.

Getting organized in New York, Rockland County, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Brooklyn or Queens doesn't have to be a guessing game. Just bring in a NY Closet Company and within days of the job's completion, you'll feel relieved of the need to figure out where to put your stuff.

For a list of some of the top-rated NY area closet designers, visit cityhammer.com: NY Closet Designer

Read the rest of the column here: Burb Appeal: Clutter Be Gone (NYP)

Let Your Worries Coast Away in Costa Rica

If you wisely take the special deal being offered for the Hilton Papagyo/Arenal Nayara $1159 for 8 days/7 nights with round trip airfare on American Airlines and 7 day rental Bego 4WD or similar. Click here for details

You will discover the resorts have so much to offer, you’ll want to move there.

Here are just a few of our favorite experiences.

At the Hilton Papgayo, there is a three level pool. On the top level you can swim or do some water aerobics. After getting your exercise in, wind down at the Fuenete de Vida Bar. It’s located right inside the pool! So you can just swim right over. INSIDER TIP: In Costa Rica, locals don’t order a “cerveza” they ask for “una bierra.” If you want to try the local beer, ask for an Imperial. Of course the other mixed drinks are tasty too. Nothing beats a margarita or a whisky sour in your bathing suit.

Afterwards, you might want to check out the lower level. There is a volleyball court set up and there’s usually always a game going on. At the lower level they have the best snack bar in the place. The El Bocadillo Snack Bar offers a variety of salads, wraps, and Mexican snacks: nachos, tacos, enchiladas, burritos. Our recommendation: the chicken tacos. The tortillas are made fresh and the veggies are newly harvested. There is also pizza, hamburgers, and a variety of sandwiches for “bocadillo” is Spanish for “sandwich.”

The best way to see the youngest volcano in Costa Rica (as well as one of the top 10 most active in the world!!) is from the view of a secluded bungalow in the Arenal Nayara Hotel. Relax in your patio’s outdoor Jacuzzi and take in the sights and sounds of Costa Rica. You’ll have the best sleep of your life, if you crack the patio door open and allow the sounds of rain, frogs, and crickets to lull you to sleep.

Architects love modern house plans

Dwell, the design magazine, has unveiled the newest project in its own line of prefab homes: The Skyline series (as seen below), designed by Marmol Radziner.

This is one more example of the direction the prefab industry seems to be taking - the trend towards Modenism. But the market has been reluctant to embrace the concept of modern prefab. So on one hand you have the "trailer trash" image of a cheaply constructed mobile home, and on the other hand you have this modernist expression. And as much as I love modern design, I don't think it necessarily belongs on every infill lot in America.

There seriously must be an alternative architecture that works for prefab. An architecture that embraces the modesty and the economy of materials that the prefab industry has been known for; but packaged in a high quality, functional and sustainable design that can be compatible within most existing neighborhoods. An architecture that the people can actually see themselves living in. Come on prefab industry, let's give the people what they want!

Simply Elegant Home Designs

Design Finds Under 100 Bucks at AD

The Cabin House birdhouse by Louisville Stoneware ($85)

In times like these, adding to or changing the decor of your apartment can seem like a trifling task for many, as the national unemployment rate creeps above 10%.

Top-Rated NY Decorator Companies

But for design freaks, this is exactly the moment when you should be thinking about making some adjustments to your surroundings to shake off the dust of yesterday and move forward. New design and decor items do not necessarily have to cost a fortune but can go a long way toward making your home feel livened up and different, yet somehow the same.

Architectural Digest did the heavy lifting for us and found a bunch of cool design items that cost under 100 bucks, collected in a slide show gallery over at their website.

Here's the gallery: AD Design Finds Under $100