Apartment Therapy

The view from Target's Ad Agency looking out over Mary Tyler Moore's hometown

Yesterday saw our departure from the dry West and our entrance into the green and verdant MidWest. What a different world this is - with plenty of design notes. This morning I had coffee with Chris Plantan, the founder of Russell + Hazel, lunch with John Christakos, the founder of Blu Dot, tea with the folks who represent Target's marketing and then ended the day with a show and dinner with the whole Blu Dot Gang (thanks John & Maurice).

With Chris Plantan at Russell & Hazel's beautiful headquarters on the border of Edina (and me a bit jet lagged).

I have to say, if you think Brooklyn has a higher quality of living than Manhattan, you might want to think about Minneapolis. It's about 10x better. It's only the commute that's a bit problematic. Here's a few notes from the day:

> > Russell + Hazel
> > Blu Dot

Chris uses commercial tool chests to great effect in organizing office supplies. This one is by NuSteel.

This one is a Sears Craftsman that she painted white and turned into a coffee station.

Blu Dot is out in the hinterland - amid industrial buildings, nothingness and low rent. It's basically the SoHo of the MidWest (before SoHo was SoHo, of course).

Their offices are above their warehouse (over 50,000 sf). This is their entryway/lobby/minishowroom with cubicles in the background.

This is what 1,000 Real Good Chairs looks like flat packed.

The pot roast at the Modern Diner was delicious. Just note that the menu is not LIGHT. This is meat eating country.

And as we came out of lunch, we saw these folks going by on the Pedal Pub. While certainly Guiliani would not have allowed this, it's the middle day and this is a pub party on wheels!

Sunset outside the hotel above a stream of folks heading to the Twin's game (they won).

At the College of Visual Arts, Blu Dot auctioned off signed pieces to benefit the school. Here John signs one for a winner.

Final Take. Before dinner and drinks, John & Maurice's signature in silver on the bottom of Son of a Bench