smooth sailing

A shot from Gardiners Bay:

On the last Saturday in September, everything seems so simple. Here's hoping for steady breeze and sunshine through the fall.

how now, brown cow

You might remember that this summer, I spent some serious time communing with cows (click). A piece of the experience appears in the October edition of Saveur Magazine.

I suggest picking up a copy--the kitchen staff was testing this issue's recipes while I worked in the editorial office this summer. The beet stew, lamb with salsa verde, and cinnamon coffee cake are especially outstanding.


My personal highlight begins on page 12: a love letter to my mom, our family's farm, and Elsie the Cow. (click.)

Here's mom at the farm, finding the photo of her grandparents that shows up in the magazine.

hold the syrup

In today's age of food porn (click), I'm pretty sure the interview I engaged Eric Berley in for the little Saveur (click) piece that went with this photograph would qualify as phone sex.

Photo: Landon Nordeman

I've never met Eric in person, but suffice to say that one Thursday morning this summer he made me very, very, hungry. Next time I'm in Philly, I'm calling in on those fabulous Berley boys at Franklin Fountain (click).

recommended for a sunny sunday

If you, like me, sometimes find yourself paralyzed by the possibilities for a sunny Sunday in NYC, I'll offer some inspiration from my itinerary yesterday: tacos de desayuno (we got ours at Elote) followed by a walk to The Open at Deitch Projects in Long Island City.


It pretty much involves walking along McGuiness Blvd across the bridge to Queens, and hooking over towards the water.

(Click.)

Depending on your exact route, you might pass the Titanic Museum (click)--though the curator wasn't home yesterday when we stopped by,

and then heading all the way to the water where you'll have a dazzling view of the U.N. and the rest of the city. Or you could just swing up in your sailboat.

Here's a little preview of what you can look forward to.

tomatoes and sunflowers growing outside,

a cool, quiet, towering, sun-filled gallery inside,

coyotes prowling--I dreamt last night they were made of tin foil, (There are live animals too, but I won't tell you what kind.)



and a moonlit cakewalk.

We stopped for a beer on Vernon Blvd. before hitching the G back home. This spot (click) was closed for a private party, but if I was doing it all over again today--with you, for example, I might check it out. Happy trails, Eid, Rosh Hashanah, and, of course, Sunday.

is steven the new ralph?

Steven Alan Spring 2010 from Steven Alan on Vimeo.

Here's hoping that Spring 2010 looks, smells, sounds, and tastes something like Steven Alan's presentation a few nights ago. I think I sense a lifestyle brand...more on Dossier (click).

DVF: princess of power

This week I found personal and professional advice in a highly unlikely place: backstage at Fashion Week's Bryant Park tent.

The source however, was a reliable one. None other than Diane Von Furstenberg. Let's have a quick look at her to-do list so far: find my prince (click), design something revolutionary (click), become an icon (click), find my prince--again (click), make a comeback (click), become a contributing editor to a powerful publication (click), lead my profession's most visible association (click), beautify my city (click), and, as you can see below, have a healthy, beautiful, and supportive family. She must be doing something right.

This season's collection, not surprisingly, was pretty and powerful. But most powerful, I found, were Ms. Furstenberg's instructions for her models as they took to the runway. See below, and at Dossier, (click).

Karen the Kiwi

Karen Walker's show is one of my Fashion Week favorites. Maybe it's her New Zealand heritage, which reminds me of my favorite muses (click.) I would happily wear pretty much every piece she sends down the runway, but Karen herself is also a fount of fun ideas.

This season she pointed to the television show, "The Prisoner," as the source of her "'60s Edwardian on the seaside" inspiration, assuring me I wouldn't have to watch all 18 episodes on DVD to get the point. But if this trailer is any indication, I just might want to.

I love the name Patrick McGoohan, and I also love this shiny pencil gray slicker--perfect to hide under on a rainy day at the beach. See Dossier (click) to find out what else I would pack for my getaway with McGoohan.

Up next...my favorite Princess of Power...(the evolution of She-Ra).

party dresses

For the Cynthia Rowley show, the interior of Gotham Hall felt like a saucer glass of champagne: all round, open, golden, and bubbly.

All I could think about was a peony pink dress she made ages ago that I desperately wanted to wear to the senior prom.

Ten years later, some clever girl will probably spot this bottle green number with the floppy bow for her springtime inspiration.

Meanwhile, Jill Hennessy carried the fuschia torch in the front row. More notes at Dossier (click.)

harlow honeys

more on dossier...(click).

fashionably recovering

Fashion's Night Out was lots of fun (click for details on Dossier), and today, the drizzly day after, I'm taking cues from this little lady, shown lounging in John Patrick Organic's Spring/Summer 2010 collection, and getting some reading done at home.

Next stop, Cynthia Rowley.

fashion fuel

Earlier today I gave you the soundtrack of my morning. If only I could have given you a taste!

Have a lick at Dossier. (click.) More Fashion Week coverage to come...

soundtrack

A few of you have expressed an interest in even the most quotidian details of my life. More banalities, you've said. Just kidding, no you haven't. But I still wanted to tell you that I listen to this song, and album on repeat this week. 

It was playing at the salon when my hair was chopped, and seems to have led to a semi-permanent imprint on my brain, suddenly vulnerable without all that extra shrouding.

spain part I

As I batten the hatches for Fashion Week (click), there's not much time for writing about my short summer holiday. But here are a few photos before autumn sweeps us away.


First stop: Barcelona.

You can fill in the blanks from the hotel review I wrote for Mr and Mrs Smith. (click.)

Next stop, the Costa Brava...