09 Aug Thank You, New York Times!
We spent Wednesday afternoon furtively refreshing the Home & Garden section of The New York Times until, in a hot pink flash, our favorite bromeliad appeared on the screen. “In the Garden: Marriage Is Yard Work,” read the headline above the photo, and that’s when we fainted.
Maybe not fainted fainted. But we might have blacked out for a few seconds, from sheer ecstasy.
The story, which begins on page D1 of today’s print edition of The New York Times, is about our garden, Ryan’s furniture design and our blog. And about how we compulsively call each other “babe.” (And also bébé after enough glasses of cava.) It was written by the brilliant Michael Tortorello, who covers plants and people with a voice that’s simultaneously erudite, funny and humane. Last month Michael flew out from St. Paul, Minnesota, to hang out with us one night over Manchego cheese/fig butter appetizers, ceviche and sage-infused gin and tonics. Michael returned the next morning, scones in tow, to continue our chat about our carnivore corner, new vertical herb garden and the songs on our gardening playlist.
In the article, Michael writes:
A feminine balance, he said, came from the plants the couple liked to install in his furniture. This is mostly Ms. Gordon’s portfolio, and she wandered over to what they call the “living table,” a coffee table fitted together out of $50 worth of Douglas fir two-by-sixes. A cruciform shape at the center makes an inset planting bed, rather like a sunken living room for ’70s swingers.
[…]
Desert plants are nothing if not permutations on the improbable.
Photographer Laure Joliet on assignment in our yard.
The images of our glowing nest were masterfully captured by photographer Laure Joliet, whose website is a rabbit hole of visual experiences grand and intimate. After driving down from LA, Laure took hundreds of photos — of our sage, coleus, papyrus and ‘Summer Sky’ hyssop, Ryan’s furniture, and even some portraits of yers truly. Then the three of us grabbed fish tacos and ate them on the beach!
It’s hard to believe that Michael only first made contact with us on July 1 — and things unfolded in the most wonderful cascade from there. That said, we were in panic mode in the days leading up to these fateful visits, as we tried to get the house and garden looking Times-worthy, cleaning, pruning, planting, getting up at 6 AM to make La Newyorkina-inspired cantaloupe-and-mint popsicles for the first time. We don’t think we were this stressed even before our wedding. Chief takeaway here: Hard work (and yard work!) really do pay off.
We send Michael, Laure and the Times producers and editors our sincerest thanks. It was an honor to have the Gray Lady let her hair down inside our lush garden lounge.