FAVORITE PARTY:
A couple of years ago,
I threw my boyfriend a lobster broil-themed
surprise party in my backyard. Because he
and I are from the East Coast, I asked every-
one to come dressed in the most preppy out-
fit they could come up with. I filled a large
glass container with red sangria and got an
Anchor Steam keg. I rented low wooden ta-
bles and large oversized pillows to sit on.
We strung light bulbs in a crisscross pat-
tern over the tables, made a table runner
out of red-and-white striped placemats, and
had seating cards with lobsters printed on
them. We even ordered a Carvel’s Fudgie the
Whale ice-cream cake, which is a quintes-
sential East Coast dessert.
MOTTO:
Keep calm and carry on. I know
it’s so overused, but I believe it.
OVERLOOKED ASPECT OF PARTY-
PLANNING:
Lighting—100 percent. I am so
sensitive to bright light and bad light. When
throwing parties at home, remember to
consider that everyone looks and feels better
in low light.
MICHAEL O'NEAL
CURRENT SOURCES OF INSPIRATION:
I love going on Pinterest to get inspired.
All of my creative friends are on there and
it’s so fun to kill an hour looking at cool
art, clothes, photos, fashion, furniture. I
also love design blogs such as Decor Hacks,
Apartment 34, and Cool Hunting. ABC
Carpet & Home is one of my favorite stores.
Locally, in San Francisco, I love HD But-
tercup, Zinc Details, Big Daddy’s Antiques,
Nest, and Flora Grubb. Online, I’m a big
fan of Three Potato Four. Architecture,
furniture design, and photography also in-
spire my work.
BEST PLACE VISITED IN PAST YEAR:
Ravello, Italy, and Barcelona, Spain.
DREAM EVENT LOCALE:
I am a sucker
for events that take place on the water, so I
would love to do a party or wedding on Nan-
tucket, Martha’s Vineyard, or Montauk. I
also would love to plan something on a big
sailboat or yacht.
BEST GIFT RECENTLY GIVEN:
The book
A Year of Mornings: 3191 Miles Apart
. It’s about
these two friends who take a photo a day for
a year; every photo is taken before noon.
Cover
IFC
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
IBC
BC
Zoom level
fit page
fit width
A
A
fullscreen
one page
two pages
share
print
SlideShow
fullscreen
Open Article
article text for page
< previous story
|
next story >
add comment
|
read comments
Share this page with a friend
Save to “My Stuff”
Subscribe to this magazine
Search
Help
