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Bachelorette Pads. "Welcome to the new bachelorette pad," writes USA Today's Olivia Barker, "where design is paramount and comfort is incidental..." Such as the "900-square-foot spread" dreamed up by SoHo architect Lisa Frazar, " ... where the decor is heavy on stainless steel and short on seating and there's nary a cat, curio or scrap of chintz in sight." Lisa says she created her space without so much as a thought about a closet that might accommodate a man, or furniture that would be "child-friendly." She comments: "I grew up in the South in this really conservative world where you wait to get married and a guy provides the house." About two years ago, she decided that just wasn't going to happen, and so she bought her own place and put a bunch of money into it: "I'm not saving for my kids' education, right?" Got it.
As it happens, Lisa is quite like a good number of other "single, successful women willing to put loads of money" into their homes. One of Lisa's clients, for instance, spent $1 million on a Tribeca loft, which she then tricked out "with a $22,500 Pucci coffee table, a $16,000 sectional sofa and Bang & Olufssen-outfitted media room." Then there's Hillary Kaiser, who apparently didn't work with Lisa Frazar but did turn "1,700-square feet of raw space in an old Boston warehouse...into a veritable contemporary design showroom with Brazilian granite countertop and surrounding the Jacuzzi, tumbled limestone walls."
While Hillary certainly is counted among the single women who "account for one-third of condo purchasers (according to the National Association of Realtors), she just as clearly is not one of those who shops at Ikea, Crate & Barrel or Pottery Barn. No, Hillary's tastes, like Lisa Frazar's, most likely run to "edgy enclaves like Moss, www.mossonline.com, and Cassina, www.cassinausa.com" -- as well as Harvey Electronics. Yes, Harvey Electronics. Specifically, the huge, plasma TVs sold at retailers like Harvey Electronics, www.harveyonline.com. "We finally found a category of product that appeals to women," says Franklin Karp, president. Reason is, the wall version of the plasma TV "doesn't take up space, it works within their design, and it's not ugly." One such buyer bought it because she works on Wall Street and "envisions guys coming over to watch football." But what Hillary Kaiser likes is that the plasma TV doesn't compete with her view of the Boston skyline. "I do feel fulfilled," she says.
Tots and Tonic. When her son, Oscar, was about five months old, Shara Fredrick decided she had had just about enough house-time, as chronicled by Tripti Lahiri (what a great name) in The New York Times. So Shara organized a little thing she now calls Tots and Tonics, a happy-hour for new moms, to enable them to get out of the house and maybe have a drink or two. "I missed being able to sit at a bar and have a beer, something you would just not do with a kid in a stroller," she says.
Now, Shara and about 20 other young moms get together "one afternoon a month, on Mondays in Manahattan and Tuesdays in Brooklyn." The Brooklyn event happens at a place in the Williamsburg section, called the Lucky Cat, www.theluckycat.com, at 245 Grand Street. The Manhattan get-together is held at Terra 47, www.terra47.com, off Union Square. Most of the women are in their late 20s or early 30s, and while most are "ecstatic about conversing with fellow adults," not all of them are there for the drinks. "The draw of this was the parents, not the drinks," says Jennifer Wilson, mother of a 3-month-old named Olive. A martini joke here? No.
What do the women talk about? "I'm sure I used to have interesting things to say, but I can't remember," says Pamela Foster, as she nuzzles her new son, Duncan. "It's about moms, but you don't have to discuss babies unless that's what you want to talk about," explains Maria Dekker, whose 4-month-old son is named Boaz. She's from the Netherlands. Actually, according to Tripti Lahiri, the most popular topics are "the weight of babies, lack of sleep and the birthing process." As for the drinks, "many of the mothers" at Tots and Tonic say a little tipple won't harm their newborns -- an opinion shared by The American Academy of Pediatrics,which does, however advise "nursing mothers to feed their babies before having a drink, and to wait two hours after the drink before feeding again."
Tim Manners, editor
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