Most moms-to-be can’t turn to Gwyneth Paltrow or Elle Macpherson for advice on their pregnancies, and most do not go home to a rock-star husband at night. It’s safe to say that most would not term themselves a “Rock Star Momma” – but celebrity designer and author Skye Hoppus thinks they should.
Hoppus, author of “Rock Star Momma,” is the founder and owner of the hip baby and maternity line Childish Clothing. She is also wife to Mark Hoppus of the bands blink-182 and +44. And this Thursday, Oct. 11, she is coming to Boston to tell area moms how to have a stylish and healthy pregnancy. She’ll be sharing tips from her well-received book, which features her words of wisdom as mom of five-year-old Jack as well as advice from Paltrow, Macpherson and other celeb moms like Jennie Garth and Mariska Hargitay.
Hoppus will be appearing at District from 6-8 p.m., and tickets are $35. The event, which benefits ReadBoston, is being hosted by Katie Tagliavia, owner of 9 Months. The Childish line is one of the hot sellers at the Newbury Street mother and baby boutique.
Although Hoppus may be married to a bona fide rock star, she has forged her relationships with Hollywood’s elite moms through her own work as head of undeniably hip Childish Clothing. Through this work, Hoppus says she has gotten to know not only the Gwyneths (well enough to ask the Oscar winner to pen the foreword in her book) but also the Susies and the Janes. And no matter what these moms-to-be did for a living or where they lived, Hoppus found they had common concerns.
“Expecting women have all kinds of problems and struggles, and women are continuing to have issues even the new lines of maternity clothing couldn’t solve,” she says. “Empowering women to look in the mirror and accept the changes in her body — that’s step one to a great and healthy pregnancy.”
Drawing on all of her experiences as a mom herself and working with pregnant women at Childish, Hoppus took a couple of years to pen “Rock Star Momma,” a guide to looking and feeling great through all nine months of pregnancy. Hoppus says her book is aimed at every mom.
“This is for every woman, size 2 or size 12. It doesn’t matter if you live in New York or Kansas — there’s something for everyone,” she says.
The book is jammed with tips, with how to pick the perfect jeans and the ins and outs of pregnancy undergarments among Hoppus’ favorites. She also outlines how to choose the perfect baby shower dress.
“It’s such an important day, and with all the pictures, it’s really a shining moment,” she says.
According to Hoppus, her life has been full of shining moments. She’s been happily married to bassist Mark for almost seven years, and she has loved watching their son grow older. Childish continues to grow, with an all-natural apothecary line planned for the future as well as a jewelry line for moms and moms-to-be.
“I’m so busy right now, but I absolutely love it,” Hoppus says. “I have a great marriage, so I’m very lucky there, and my son is just great, too.”
She hopes to continue to expand the Childish Clothing line to include older kids’ clothing, and she’s already thinking about her next book, intended to guide new moms in a stylish way.
But for now she’s planning her upcoming trip to Boston, where she’ll be accompanied by her mom. Hoppus says her mom is especially excited to meet Mayor Menino, who as the founder of ReadBoston is rumored to be making an appearance at the 9 Months event. Hoppus herself is more keyed up about other plans for her Boston trip.
“I’m very excited to go shopping,” she says. “I can’t wait to hit Newbury Street and check things out.”
Unlike many areas of the country, including most of New England, condominiums in downtown Boston have continued to rise in value, even as the number of them on the market has fallen.
The average price through September 28 of $614,627 tops last year’s average price of $568,749 by 8.007 percent, according to Otis & Ahearn’s weekly report. Even more interesting is that prices so far this year also top the 2005 average price of $592,719, which until then had been the highest average price ever recorded for the downtown.
The number of condominiums sold so far this year, 3,069, has also increased slightly since last year, when 2,906 were sold, according to the report. Otis & Ahearn gets its data for analysis through the Listing Information Network and MLS, as well as other sources.
But the number sold so far is still lower than in 2005, when 3,300 units exchanged hands, and in 2004, when 3,616 were sold.
Since 2004, Back Bay’s share of condominiums sold has held steady at between 14 to 17 percent of all the downtown sales.
The highest price per square foot paid this year in a luxury condominium building was $1,661,000 on January 31 at Rowe’s Wharf.
After months of standing vacant, the space formerly occupied by INQ at the corner of Gloucester and Newbury will have a new occupant.
Cafeteria, described by general manager Eric Santiago as a “straight-forward, Italian American” concept, has been approved to take up residence in the space by the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay’s building and use committee. The terms include a CV-All Alcohol license, which was transferred to the restaurant by INQ, the previous holders.
Santiago, who spoke before the committee on Monday, said the restaurant would bring a great deal to the neighborhood, stressing that it hoped to target locals in addition to the Newbury Street staples of tourists and young professionals.
“We're hoping to serve food that's very inviting,” said Santiago. “It will have a healthy, everyday buzz. The food is very approachable, the staff will be friendly and professional.”
The menu, as currently listed on the restaurant's homepage, includes classics such as veal Milanese and bucatini carbonara, as well as pizzas, salads and seafood entrees.
Part of its appeal to locals may be in its price point, which Santiago said will be capped at $29 for entrees, with a range of $8-$13 for appetizers. Pastas will range from $16-$22. While not exactly discount dining, such prices are certainly below average for trendy Newbury Street, never known for its cheap eats.
Santiago has previous restaurant experience at Armani Cafe. The chef spent time at Stephanie's on Newbury, according to Santiago.
The proposal was greeted with enthusiasm by the committee. “Cafeteria Boston sounds like it will be a good addition to Newbury Street, and we're glad to see them going into this space, which as been vacant for almost a year,” said committee chairperson Thomas High.
The restaurant will feature an outdoor patio that will close at 10 p.m., while indoor food service will run until 1 a.m. The committee stipulated that the restaurant’s deliveries should take place between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. to minimize noise disturbances, and that garbage should be stored on the property's fenced in rear patio. Live entertainment will not be permitted at the restaurant.
In other use committee news, the use committee said it would not support the expansion of the liquor license currently held by the recently opened Mediterranean restaurant Vlora. The restaurant currently holds a malt-wine license, but was hoping to expand the license because of customer interest.
“We've had a lot of people asking about cordials and liqueurs," said Gene Richard, an attorney representing the restaurant.
But the committee said it needed to see at least a year's track record of responsible liquor service before it would consider supporting an addition to the current license.
High said he was thrilled the restaurant was in the neighborhood and that he enjoyed the food, but that the restaurant needed to prove itself first. “NABB has been cautious about requests to augment wine and beer licenses with higher-proof cordials and liqueurs,” said High. “While we have full confidence in their abilities, we would want them to develop a track record before the Licensing Board grants them this additional license.”
High said that the body would be happy to consider supporting Vlora's application after the restaurant has been open for a year.
Owners look to replace out-dated garage with retail-office tower;New seven-story, 82-foot building on Newbury Street will need zoning board approval by Joseph Domelowicz, Jr.
The owners of the circa-1980s parking garage at 4-6 Newbury Street are considering a proposal that would replace the existing building with a new commercial office and retail tower across the street from the Taj Hotel.
According to plans filed with the Back Bay Architectural Commission (BBAC), the Newbury Street Garage Association LLC is looking into the possibility of building a new 82’4’’ tower on the site of the present garage with 16 garage parking spaces in the basement of the new building, retail space on the first three floors and office space on the remaining four floors.
The plan was unveiled during advisory review meetings with the Neighborhood Associations of the Back Bay’s Architecture Commission and the BBAC earlier this month.
William Young, senior preservationist for the BBAC, said that it was too early to comment on the proposal that was discussed at the review, since formal construction and design plans have not yet been filed.
“I’m reluctant to characterize an advisory review, because it is not official business (of the BBAC),” said Young. “The project proponents came before the commission to talk about ideas and get a sense of what would be acceptable.”
However, according to NABB Architectural Committee President Sue Prindle, the proponents did indeed lay out definite reasons for wanting to replace the aging parking garage with a commercial building.
“According to (attorney) Dennis Quilty (of McDermott, Quilty and Miller) who made the presentation, the existing garage is only about one-third utilized and is often mostly empty during the week,” said Prindle, who characterized the proposal as “not too bad, but maybe could be better.”
Prindle also said that the proposed height – 82’ 4’’ – of the building means that the project will have to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals for a variance from the height restrictions on Newbury Street. However, the proponent had not received a date to appear before the ZBA as of the Sun’s deadline.
Calls to attorney Quilty for comment were not returned.
The Make Way for Duckling statues, created by sculptor Nancy Schon in celebration of Robert McCloskey’s book of the same name, turned 20 this weekend. A birthday party was held in the Public Garden.
A wind farm on City Hall Plaza? That’s the latest suggestion from the frustrated Tom Menino. It would certainly be an improvement over what is there now — broken bricks, a concrete patch and a parking lot for cars of unidentified people.
But the real issue is City Hall itself. Will Boston tear down this bunker, or will it renovate it in such a way that it wins the hearts and minds of its users, especially Mayor Menino, and the city’s citizenry? We urge the city to renovate it. It would be satisfying, but environmentally irresponsible, to tear it down.
Most Bostonians, including Mayor Menino, don’t like the building. It’s ugly, and it has major flaws, such as not being able to hear in the hearing rooms, and the plaza is just plain pitiful.
The architectural community has defended the building. They have proposed that the building be landmarked. In fact, the magazine ArchitectureBoston, published by the Boston Society of Architects, identified the problems the building has and challenged six young design teams to solve those problems.
Both architects and the general public can agree on the building’s problems. According to ArchitectureBoston, the building is too opaque, too big, too confusing inside, too ugly, too dark, too empty in the public spaces, too costly to run and too isolated and inaccessible.
The magazine noted that Boston City Hall’s architects, Gerhard Kallmann and Michael McKinnell, who saw the building as based on the idea of an ancient castle, encouraged change.
“When we designed the City Hall,” they wrote, “we envisioned not only a fragment of the city, but also a fragment in time. That is to say, we regarded the construction of the building to be the start of a process that would engage successive generations of the citizenry in the embellishment, decoration, and adornment of the robust armature that we had designed.”
So the architecture community has taken them at their word and mounted a spirited campaign to rework the building in a 2010 kind of way.
The products of the young architects’ imagination are shown in the September/October issue of ArchitectureBoston, at the pinkcomma gallery at 81B Wareham Street in the South End and at http://www.architects.org/publications.
Their visions may or may not be what we want for Boston City Hall. But they show that we can remake this place. We should get started now.
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