Last year, I shared on here that my husband Aaron and I got legally married at the Brooklyn Courthouse. It was a perfect day — just the two of us, plus my brother as our witness, and our very talented friend Poupay who photographed everything. It was absolutely magical to have a quiet day to celebrate our love — but ever since then, we’ve been planning a big wedding across the pond in Dublin where Aaron is from.
In other big life news — I quit my job(!) at The David Prize. I closed out two days before we flew out for our wedding, so life has been a bit of a whirlwind! Naturally since I left, the Prize launched an exceedingly cool project in collaboration with Al Mullen of Public Transport Magazine and Art on the Ave: the rehabilitation of an old Newsstand in the West 4th subway station. If you’re based in New York (or visiting!), I highly recommend stopping by; you can get a lucky rat’s foot and even have your aura read…it captures everything about New York that makes it, simply put, the greatest city in the world.
After thinking a lot about what to do next, I have a few exciting things in the pipeline I’ll share more about. Plus, I’ll be focusing a lot more on this newsletter — so expect to see me in your inbox!
On August 1st, 2026 we tied the knot (literally!); that phrase, I learned, comes from the ancient Celtic hand-fasting ceremony. I felt extremely lucky to have a second perfect wedding day, this time surrounded by everyone we love. Aaron, who has been learning piano for the past year and a half, wrote the music my father and I walked down the aisle to; our 9-year-old niece was our live ceremony artist (highly recommend this approach); and my mother-in-law Lorraine, one of the warmest, funniest people I know, was our celebrant.
An impeccable drawing of the event by our protégé ceremony artist.
The only thing I love more than scouring auctions for home goods is shopping secondhand for clothes. I got my wedding dress off Stillwhite, an online store where brides can resell their dresses. The dress is from Viktor & Rolf’s Mariage A/W 2020 collection and was never worn by the original bride. It was 85% off retail which sold me immediately. I refuse to shop if I’m not getting a bargain, and that was especially true for my wedding dress.
The 18th Century Coach House
A fun tip for anyone looking to visit Dublin — for our wedding, we booked a home through the Irish Landmark Trust. They work to, in their words, save, share and sustain Ireland’s built heritage. Restoring and conserving a number of eccentric, historic buildings across the country, their spots all make for a unique stay. (This is not an ad! We just truly loved our time there!).
We booked the Merrion Mews in Dublin, a fully-renovated old coach house that dates back to the 1790s. According to their site, the adjoining garden (which I sadly didn’t get any photos of!) is the only remaining one in the area with a 19th century design and layout.
You can see the renovations they did to the original property, too which is quite cool:
Art in Bilbao
After our wedding, we left for Spain. Aaron spent a year living in the Basque country; his home base was Bilbao where I’ve been dying to visit since we met. Not just for the pintxos or the opportunity to practice my shameful Spanish, but for the art and architecture that surrounds it (read: the Guggenheim Bilbao). So there we went!
The Frank Gehry-designed space was more marvelous than I could have imagined, and hard to capture. The outside is surrounded by other works of art; Maman by Louise Bourgeois; Tall Tree & The Eye by Anish Kapoor; and Puppy by Jeff Koons to name a few.
My personal favorite of them all was the embedded sculpture Arcos Rojos by Daniel Buren on the La Salve Bridge.
It was installed in 2007 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Guggenheim Bilbao and features the artist’s signature black and white stripes that illuminate after dark.
It was clear walking around Bilbao the cultural pride and passion for the arts, a transformation my husband explained took place in the 1990s following the opening of the Guggenheim. Its ripple across the city was so impactful, architects coined the term "Bilbao Effect.”
Obviously we went to the gift shop, where I got one of these spaghetti rings. We picked up a few coasters by the same designer for €9 each (which go for over $20 each at Coming Soon).
Honeymooning Inside a Sculpture
Aaron knows me well, so when he suggested that instead of just visiting a Frank Gehry building we could sleep in one too, I said YES PLEASE!
If you drive an hour and a half outside of Bilbao to Rioja Alavesa, you’ll reach the vineyard of Marqués de Riscal. I took a photo of the hotel about 30 times, but much like the Guggenheim, the scale and design were difficult to show in a picture.
Though the winery itself was founded in 1858, Gehry’s City of Wine complex was built much later in 2006. We did a tour of the vineyard where we learned the exterior of the building was crafted to showcase the different colors of a bottle of Marqués de Riscal wine: the pinkish purple hue to represent the wine, gold representing the golden braid on the bottle neck, and silver representing the foil on the cap.
The hotel’s limestone and sandstone base pays homage to the original architecture and the historic roots of the ancient Rioja winemaking region, blending it seamlessly into the surrounding landscape.
Gehry first rejected this project because the commute from Los Angeles didn’t seem worth the hassle. It wasn’t until the estate brought him into ‘the cathedral,’ a private section of the vineyard housing bottles dating back to the 1860s, that he agreed — after they presented him a 1929 vintage from his birth year. Gehry told Spain’s El Mundo newspaper “It was very good, and after a few glasses I accepted.” (For the record if any vineyards are listening, I would accept this courting, method, too.)
The interiors were just as special. There were pieces from Alvar Aalto, Arne Jacobsen, and Gehry to name a few. Above these Arne Jacobsen chairs, you can see one of Gehry’s famous sketches outlining his vision for the building.
This was a perfect place to rest for 2 days — getting wine drunk from a tasting at 10 a.m., stuffing our faces with Spanish tortilla, then heading off to relax in the spa. 10/10 recommend for a honeymoon, or another very special occasion!
Other Design Inspiration From Our Travels
Throughout our travels, here are some other things that caught my eye…
Public art in Parte Vieja, San Sebastian.
These hanging fixtures in Laia Erretegia.
This flushing mechanism in the Guggenheim Bilbao.
This staircase inside the hotel we stayed at in Bilbao.
This staircase inside the Comme des Garçons store in Paris.
This work of art from Nicklas Skovgaard at Dover St. Market that I desperately wish I had purchased.
Many chairs on the metro in Paris.
Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Sources:
Stone World Magazine, Gehry’s ‘City of Wine’ Showcases local Spanish Stone
Herederos del Marqués de Riscal, The Marqués de Riscal City of Wine
Design Boom, City of Wine Complex for Marques de Riscal by Frank Gehry
What a treat! Absolutely stunning and so very you!
Congrats on all of this news!!!