brb

sorry, will update in a few days! busy, busy, busy! 

secret stash

east houston street

mag

after brunch at spitzer's with a college friend on sunday, we wandered around the east village, stopped in a few community gardens and then a magazine shop. i had to check for new arrivals. (foreign, fashion) mags are one of my many indulgences (also: peppered beef jerky, jamba juice, taking cabs home from work). and at first, my friend was a bit unsettled from the waste/recycling standpoint of my habit (she just moved to the city after a life in vermont, love!). but there is really no need to ever think i am being wasteful, magazines are my treasure and i adore them all accordingly.

when i was twelve, i snooped around my mom's childhood bedroom in brooklyn (don't ever ask me to house-sit, because i will look through all of your stuff) and came across an old magazine from the early 80's (my aunt's, perhaps?). and my forward-thinking mind decided then to save every magazine thereafter. similar to my reasons for keeping a diary, i imagined that i'd want to look back on them at some point. someday in the future! and now i have box after box (of seventeen, ym, sugar, elle girl, teen vogue, glamour) in my parent's attic. whenever i'm back in connecticut, i'll grab a few to peruse and they're always relevant (even when they aren't).

and so, i've spent the past two nights in, not making a single plan but to stay in my apartment, in my bed, with a massive stack of mags to read. and it feels good to just be, for once. 

francois-xavier

here is the p/o for the van renting in paris that has been used for the costumes. as i told you, my colleague francois-xavier paid for it with his own money. can i proceed to his reimbursement through the french check book? thanks for letting me know soon.

you may wonder:
paris? van of costumes? francois-xavier?

smashion

,

an assortment of my photos from backstage of fashion week
spring 2011

hello, ladies

britt and me with isaiah mustafa

(yes, from the old spice commercials)

american cancer society's dreamball
september 16, 2010

reconsidered

a year ago, i was ready to leave new york. i couldn't find anything about it that inspired me. i shut down creatively and was looking for a way out. last summer was difficult. i was used to idyllic summers spent largely at the beach in connecticut and in vermont and not the views from my office window of rough and tough midtown-manhattan.

but, as soon as i decided to leave, i decided to stay. i started to understand it here. and my blog really was a big part of me enjoying everything. it has been a place for me to collect all of the excitement and beauty of new york and display it and remind myself how lucky i am to live here. because i certainly didn't feel that way for a while. having my blog has kept me completely motivated and dedicated to seek out everything lovely. it pushes me to go a little bit further with things that i have wanted to do. i have a responsibility to myself to document the small, kind and inspiring.

and i remember writing this entry within the days that i decided to stay. when i started to realize how wonderful it is to live here.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

i don't think new york city is beautiful. some people do. i prefer nature. i prefer flower gardens and ponds and critters running about (so much that street rats don't bother me one bit, though i would trade them in a second for a few deer and a rabbit.) and i prefer willow trees and bird's nests and their morning chirps. i look out my window when i am at work, located a few blocks away from grand central station, and all i see are buildings. no sky, no ground below. just buildings. something that has stayed with me for a while is a line in julia alvarez's book, how the garcia girls lost their accents. i am loosely rephrasing this, but she says that being in new york city is not being inside nor is it being outside. agreed. sometimes it doesn't feel like real life. sometimes i feel as though i am in a painting. concrete and skyscrapers may be gloriously appealing to some. but not to me.

maybe that's the best part of it all. i have to dig a little bit deeper to uncover the extra-ordinary beauty beneath. it is more precious and rare. but when it is there, it's loud and it's merry and it can make me smile long, long after.

and i am thankful that i was able to have those crucial moments and days of recognition and reconsideration, and to have an account of the entire process.

fash

bronte, me and chloe backstage at charlotte ronson. 

i promise i will write as soon as fashion week is over. 

taking it all in

with fashion's night out last night (wild), and today in between a few fashion shows (doing backstage interviews, lovelovelove my new job!), i'm back at my apartment enjoying a singular hour of relaxation. i can't remember the last time i experienced the afternoon sunshine in my bedroom, but it's absolutely divine.  i'm blasting a top 40s radio station (a change from my usual WQXR classical tastes) and destiny's child is playing. i'm thinking of how much i love fashion week, new york, the constant excited feeling i've been having lately. and also the moments when i am able to take it all in.

but soon enough, i'll be darting back up to lincoln center.

photo boothin'

mike and i played photo booth.

i love skipping around the city and seeing pals until i am too tired to stay out possibly any longer. sorry mom, i know you think i should sleep more, but i'm having so much fun.

charmley

i'm not one to get jealous, really. but when annie lived in argentina last year, she kissed a boy from canada whose last name was charmley and i felt so then. charmley was definitely the best and most extra-ordinary last name that i've ever heard. i don't even think i ever considered last names to be so wonderful before hearing his. 

and that is how i named my blog. charmley was taken, so charmly, it is. and after almost three hundred entries (who knew that i had this much to write about?!), now you know why the name is such.

lauren+matt

my cousin got married yesterday and the entire day was beautiful and perfect. 

congratulations to lauren and matt!

style v. location

i got a text message tuesday morning at 10:25 from annie. she was standing in a mirror and taking a picture of herself in a knee-length royal-blue skirt-suit. "elaine dress is moving back to VT!". she is moving back to burlington today (after her year living in argentina followed by her year of living in silver spring, maryland) and was trying to figure out what she wanted to pack up with her (difficult!). we used to joke that she dressed like seinfeld's elaine when we were living in the green mountain state (note the recent new york times article, the elaine benes look re-appears as new york style) and it had me thinking of how location is so closely related to how one dresses.

on a recent trip home to connecticut, i found a duffel bag filled with the white gauzy dresses that were my vermont summer staple. everyday felt dreamy and i was outfitted accordingly. annie had a different take on fashion. she'd dress as a 13-year-old figure skater, a bavarian girl scout, and more often than not, elaine. clothing was costume and burlington inspired creativity. even during my trip up there in october for alumni weekend, i contemplated buying an authentic square-dancing ensemble (in blue gingham, naturally), but chose a dress that was akin to a 1970s airline stewardess instead.

and in new york!

it's no secret that downtown manhattan girls have incredible style. when i first moved here, i was baffled by it. how did people just look so wonderfully put together? it was beyond what i was used to. when i was in college, t-shirts, side-braids and wild amounts of tie dye (groovy uv!) were my general uniform. and in the beginning of my time here, i was amazed by new york fashion. everywhere, on every street, there were impossibly cool, stylish people. i was bumbling around with nice clothes and everything, but completely lacked any certain style or direction. and trust me, i was acutely aware of how unaware i was.

and then i started to feel more and more alert to what i liked and what i wanted and realized it's not about fitting into any particular style but about identifying my own. feeling good and feeling like myself. last weekend, emily wasn't sure of what to wear so i helped her put together an outfit. but it just wasn't her, it was me and so she changed out of it. i guess it's just like finding a fragrance that's just so clearly meant for you, or finding a hobby that you excel in. you'll most likely have to spend a lot of time to figure out what you like and what you don't. it takes effort but figuring it all out is mostly fun and kind of funny.

yumsies

today is jessica's twenty-third birthday!

and so i baked her a giant cupcake.
funfetti and chocolate frosting.

we might have gotten home a bit late last night from celebrating, but it was the perfect time for a little bite of cake. we decided we'd only eat from one side, so when flipped around, it wouldn't appear to have ever been touched and we can properly light candles and sing later on.

free for all

i was kind of bummed to find out that the building i moved into in february discouraged people from leaving their unwanted items in any public space (lobby, etc). especially coming from college where there was a lending library (of sorts) in every dorm and sharing/recycling was the only logical option. and even last year when i was on bedford street, clothes (anna sui! tibi!) were left out by the front mirror and were always fun to rummage through (and really, who wouldn't want a west-village-girl's discarded designer dresses?). i realize this obviously labels me as a scavenger, but give me a break, i went to school in vermont! and these people are practically my roommates. right? in a way?

however, despite my new building's rule, there has been an increasing collection of books on the window ledge recently. free for anyone who pleases. the variety isn't ever exactly my taste or immediate need (social- and financial-improvement books, mostly), but it's still neat to know that someone out there, someone actually living in my building, just had to know this information. at least enough to purchase the book/s (usually there are several on a general subject). and every once-in-a-while there is a gem.

so today i picked up a copy of the giver (a junior high favorite), how to win friends and influence people and the master key to riches. i just love to read and to learn fun facts, so the randomness of the books available is always welcomed. oh! and i picked up a guide to social climbing (which will trustingly come in as much use as the "what to expect when your expecting - the first year" copy i also scored a few week ago).