jess

lucky for me, my office closes early on fridays during the summer. so i spent the afternoon packing away some old clothes, i drank tea, listened to grace potter and read lula (probably my sixth/seventh time reading this edition and reallyreallyreally excited for the new one to come out). i got to see the beautiful golden-sunset light up my bedroom. i am thankful for having tall ceilings and for having two windows and twice the sunlight.

and jess is here! i have such a love for her! we lived in the same dorm in college, i was a sophomore and she was a freshman. i would remember that the first time that i met jess was at a party. she was chatting up a storm about (none other than) designer jeans. annoying! but that wasn't the very first time we met, it was weeks before. the night that i met jess was when she heckled me on the first night of school. i was going out with my girlfriends and she was on someone's porch on pearl street. she is such a jerk! and then heckling became one of our favorite pastimes to do together. along with arts-and-crafting and honest chats over dominos kickers. she toted around a smoke-colored metallic juicy couture handbag everywhere she went and she also got a tattoo that year (that i don't think she'd would want me to tell on here what it is but, it's a crown and i always feel free to make fun of her for it.) and that's the joy of jess. she's the kind of friend that you can laugh with through any situation. you can be completely honest with her because that is how she is. she is probably the most honest person i know. for better of for worse but definitely for better.

and she is moving to manhattan! and on the hunt for an apartment near mine. happy weekend!

cool

president obama went to anna wintour's house for dinner two nights ago and they closed off houston street to let him through. this is what happens when i walk out of my door. i love it! i love new york. this is the coolest place to live.

i feel oddly connected to anna. when i was living in the west village, i lived two blocks away from her. and we also work two blocks away from each other. we had the same exact commute. of course though, i took the city bus up to midtown and she did not. but we both do the same thing, sort of. i mean, she's the editor but! i'm an assistant editor and i still have years and years to catch up to her. okay.

odds and ends

here nor there;

• canceling my gym membership and joining a ballet class was the best decision of 2010. not only is it insane exercise, i love how the studio is in a building overlooking manhattan. i love the music and the gracefulness. i appreciate dancing so much more now than when i was taking it growing up. i love the girls in my class and my instructor. everything came back so easily and i am happy.
• looking forward to multiple picnics in the park this weekend and out-of-town friends visiting! and baking fruit tartlettes.
  
• the woman at the cafe (where i get my breakfast in midtown) would have ruined the bachelorette for me, except i already know what happens (still will have a bach viewing party on monday though!)
  
• every time i watch that susan boyle clip (of her first appearance in front of simon, etc.) i am inspired!
  
• joan rivers. hard workin' woman. go see her documentary, a lot different than you would think.
• tomato sauce, cheese, corn, onions and chex mix is the perfect recipe for a perfect stew.
• sophomore year of college, i took a class on obesity. there must have been around 200 kids in the class, it was held in a massive auditorium. the teacher was strict and the room was silent as we took notes on her slides. one day, liz had annie call her phone so her ring-tone would go off. everybody dance now by c+c music factory. LOUD. in a silent room. everyone seemed confused and then the professor burst out laughing. then everyone else did, too. people remembered that for years after. very proud these were my roommates.
  
• oh and read this! eloise at condé nast. it's RAWTHER amusing.
  

gaby's birthday night
july 23, 2010

eeek

though i would never wear them, the marc by marc jacobs mouse flats always make me smile.

galeries lafayette
paris

central park

a day in sheep meadow before the rain.

july 24, 2010

central park

series of events

emily ran back upstairs and checked to make sure she unplugged something in the apartment. then we joked about my outfit (my blazer made it feel very teen-vogue-back-to-school) and we stopped to take a picture. and just as we were about to turn the corner to the bus stop, it drove by us. emily decided she was going to brave the (less than pleasant) m15 bus from 1st avenue and i would just take a cab up to midtown. then we started talking and i convinced her to stay and that we were actually early and that was probably just a late-earlier bus. we stayed and five minutes later, ours came. i had the privilege to go on first since i convinced her to stay and wait (even though the bus is usually empty and we take the same seats everyday). then emily went to work and i continued on up third avenue, daydreaming, and i didn't signal a stop and the driver passed 40th street. i got out on 42nd and passed by a crowd of people unintentionally wearing pastels, including a young man in a light green suit (love!). the elevator was on the first floor of my office building and i felt lucky that i didn't have to wait like i usually do for it to come down from the top floors. three other people were inside and as the door was closing, a woman tried to put out her arm to set off the elevator's motion sensor. but the doors kept closing, she wasn't able to get on, and then everyone inside giggled.

perfecto

gee, sounds pretty great. 

in touch magazine

august 2, 2010 edition

fashion smashion

my top picks for 2005.

whirly

things seem to be shaken up right now. i'm experiencing extremes and i can tell my world is shifting a bit. but every little occurrence that seems a bit off center reminds me that it's okay when things are askew. i got back to new york last sunday night [after being away for two and a half weeks in the south of france] and it has been a whirlwind. exciting changes at work, ballet lessons, park days and parties. all tinged with the sadness of my cat dying unexpectedly on tuesday. she was the greatest. highs and lows. 

i spent the past few days wandering. most people try to escape the city on the weekends, but i just wanted to be here. reconnect with my neighborhood. reconnect with friends, with myself. i missed how beautiful new york is.

here are a few things i've seen lately:

the loveliness of draping necklaces over mirrors

orange under flowers

this large font

getting treats to eat in the park

on saturday, richard and i spent the afternoon reading mags in tompkins square park. then we went back to his apartment. he ate pasta salad and i had a slice of bread and cupcake frosting. his apartment was freezing cold and i stayed until i decided to go home and pick up dinner at whole foods. even though we live only ten blocks apart, i was going to hop on a bus since i was wearing never-been-worn loafers and they were starting to hurt. i couldn't find my metrocard. i started to walk and ended up picking up a bag of pretzel-dorito-cheeto party mix from a bodega, rethinking the whole foods idea. i tried to find a duane reade to buy a pair of plastic flip-flops, but stumbled into ANNA instead. i had never seen this store before and felt lucky i had found it. a divine little shop in the east village, stocked with all things lovely in a downtown-girl way. i found a necklace made of brass and iridescent glass leaves by reverie, a nyc-based jewelry company that makes one-of-a-kind pieces from vintage findings. an early birthday present to myself.

and those few hours on that sunny saturday afternoon pretty much epitomized my entire week. everything seems to be more of a journey lately. i really don't know what to expect anymore, but it's ok. 

streamers

is there anything more true than streamers being the key to transforming a "room" into a "party"? streamers always mean that there is a celebration. my birthday is in three weeks and i got a head-start on decorating the living room. a work-in-progress.

lady in red

this woman and my luck with a taxi yesterday
and the upcoming weekend
make me terribly happy to be back in nyc
sixth avenue and 41st street

i'm back!

maybe i should have brought along the ol' macbook so i could have updated my blog, but i didn't and now i have over nine hundred pictures to sort through. but that's okay. i'm really excited to share them. the first week of my trip i was in the beautiful south of france (staying in grasse and traveled around to cannes, antibes, nice and monaco) and then from saturday until yesterday, i was in paris. i had the most lovely time!

i'll be posting everything within the next few days and i will post to the date that it occurred on (as if i had brought my computer along!)

sight see

paris

leisurely

it was my third time in paris in the past three years and so i feel very lucky! paris is one of my favorite cities. it reminds me of downtown manhattan. fancy and glamorous and at times, casual. our hotel was around the corner from the opera garnier. days were spent waking up late-ish, taking leisurely strolls and then indulging in decadent pastries.


i was traveling with my mom (thanks for such a wonderful trip!) for two weeks and being used to all of the alone time that i have living in nyc, i told her that i needed a day to myself to recharge. so my mom went off to the louvre and i decided to spend my day in the most leisurely way. i went out and bought a few fashion magazines and wandered over to the palais royal to sit within the rows of trees.


and then i traipsed around the streets and ended up at the opera steps. i spent hours just reading and people watching.

lovely

mcChick

mcChicken en francais:

parlez-vous mcChicken?
wherever they are from, they all taste delicious to me

bicyclette rouge

palais garnier

ferris wheel

on the way to sit in the tuileries garden, i spotted the ferris wheel. and even though i don't love heights, i knew that my mom and i had to go on.

she thought the ride would be more like this:

but i didn't give her the option of missing out on the beautiful sights of paris! so we hopped in.


and the views were truly amazing!

and well worth any uneasiness about the safety/height. because if we got injured (or worse) riding the ferris wheel overlooking paris, then so be it.

train

all aboard!

la chambre jaune

dreamy

nice

a day in nice!



and it was.

palaces

i'm a good kid. i mostly follow every rule.
but when they say, "no photographs", i usually take them anyhow.

at the palace in monaco. the wallpaper, divine!

chi chi

this is a chi chi from monaco

portrait on the wall

cannes

cannes is my favorite place i have ever traveled to. by far.

i was giddy the entire time i was there. the candy-colored buildings and everybody dressed in white. the pretty pastry and cheese shops. the cobblestone streets and the stores filled with seashells. it was so glamorous and dreamy.

when can i go back?