Big News

I’ve been biting my tongue for the last two weeks, dying to tell anyone who will listen.  I’ve been on a gag order for all technology related mediums so that we can tell everyone in person before they hear it through the grapevine.  However, now I can tell all of you that my wonderful boyfriend Rich and I are engaged! 

I’m so excited to marry this man, I can’t even begin to tell you.  It’s as though a button was instantly pushed inside my head and I began to plan our wedding.  Okay, I’d be lying if I told you that I hadn’t sort of been planning this for a while.  I’ve always known he was “the one”, so I’ve saved web addresses and made mental notes over the years whenever anything wedding related caught my eye.  I figured it would be beneficial to have a starting point when we actually began to plan our own wedding.  Lucky for me, there are a million great blogs and sites out there for the novice planner.  So, planning is under way.

Obviously, I’ve been super excited to find a dress.  My friend Lauren is also getting married in 2010, so she’s become my wedding dress shopping buddy.  We’ve been to a few stores already and have another couple of appointments, but I think I’ve already found my dress.  It was the stereotypical experience when I saw it and I just knew it was mine.  Anyway, I’m not going to show you my dress until my wedding day later this year, but I will show you one of my runners-up that I found at Temperley in Soho.  FYI, Temperley has the most gorgeous dresses.  My favorite one was a mere $20K.  LOL!  Me and my fabulous taste.  Needless to say, I didn’t even try that one on for fear of becoming obsessed.  The one I did try on was in my price range and still stunningly gorgeous.  A perfect dress for a summer wedding.

Pretty right?

Lauren and I are headed to The Bridal Garden this evening to check out their selection for her.  (Although, I’m not opposed to trying on some more gowns myself.    )  The Bridal Garden’s concept is really cool.  It’s a non-profit bridal salon where all of the gowns have been donated by top designers, stores, and individuals.  How cool is that?

-Summer

Infusing Some Glamour Into Your Holiday

Every year, my favorite holiday windows are always Bergdorf Goodman’s.  David Hoey (BG’s window designer) has a way of creating such opulence and beauty that I find myself breathlessly absorbed in every gorgeous detail.  This year’s Alice and Wonderland inspired theme “Compendium of Curiosities” was no exception.  Here are some photos of the windows to inspire your holiday.

Happy Holidays!!!

-Summer

Nau Party and Art Show

The last week has been a bit of a whirlwind.  Lots of wonderful and exciting things happening. 

One of the most exciting nights was when my good friend, artist Joe Iurato and photographer Boone Speed unveiled their show Waste Not Want Not at Nau’s pop-up shop in Soho.  The night was full of old and new friends, great music, and free booze.  You can’t beat that, right?

Oh and I finally got my full length, sleeping bag-like, down coat to help keep me warm in this frigid weather.  Super excited about that!  Nau has some amazing pieces.  I was very impressed.

Not the best picture of me, but whatevs.  This is as good as it gets sometimes.  Anyway, I’m wearing a Zara heather grey tee, Aviatic carrot-fit pants, and my Muji wool scarf.

Turquoise beaded earrings.

Costume National boots.

Joe and two of his new pieces created specifically for Nau.

Another one of Joe’s new pieces.

And another of Joe’s.

Some of Boone Speed’s work. (photo:  Joe Iurato)

My favorite Boone Speed photo. (photo: Joe Iurato)

Good friends Whitney, Doug, and Lisa.

Taking a group shot in the fitting room while…

… Readnecks and Ivan Greene performed.

Me and my Rich.  (He’s the king of Patagucci.)

After the show, everyone converged on Kelley & Ping for some yummy Thai/Vietnamese food.

Me and the fabulous Janet.

Joe (still buzzed from the show) and Rich at Kelley & Ping.

The show’s still up until the end of the month, so check it out.  You’ll love it.

Stay warm.

-Summer

Dinner and a Show

Friday night, our friend Greg’s band Drexel and the Bootleggers was playing at a the Parkside Lounge.  We met up with him, his lovely fiancee Lauren, and her friend Eileen for some pre-show eats at the Kuma Inn, a yummy Filipino/Thai tapas restaurant.  It was bitter cold.  In fact, I have decided that I am going to purchase a full length down coat this year.  The truth is that if I could just wear my zero degree sleeping bag around town without being stoned by the fashion police, I would.  But alas, that is not going to happen.Me at the bar preshow.  I’m wearing a navy silk/cashmere J.Crew v-neck sweater, a white Madewell ribbed tank, black Jimmy’z skinny jeans, my new fabulous, super warm, Rosetung handknitted wool cowl, a vintage brown leather bag, and my grey Dru New York leather boots.

Me eating some porky goodness at Kuma Inn.  You can sort of see the cowl a little better here.  LOVE IT!

Pork buns anyone?

Lauren digging into our whole grilled Dorado.

The tiny open kitchen at Kuma Inn with Greg and Eileen in the foreground.  So jealous of that super warm hood, Eileen.

I loved that they had all types of different currency taped to their refrigerator, so I took a photo of it.

Lauren’s fabulous vintage coat that she inherited from her grandmother.

Drexel and the Bootleggers playing that good ole’ rockin’ roll.

Lots of fun happening this week so stay tuned.

-Summer

Two Shows

Wouldn’t you know it?  Just as soon as I talk about it being sort of Autumn-like, the weather goes full-on blustery cold on me?  It’s 27 today, and with the wind chill?  I can only imagine.

Anyway, this post is not about me complaining about how cold it is.  No, it’s about two art shows that I’d like to invite you to attend next week.

The first is at the Nau pop-up store in Soho and it features one of my best friends, artist Joe Iurato and photographer/ super famous ex-proclimber Boone Speed.

The second is at my boyfriend’s bike shop, The Tenafly Bicycle Workshop, in Tenafly, NJ and it features amazing photographer Nick Brandreth.

Definitely stop by and say hi.

-Summer

Thank God I Didn’t Miss Autumn

I don’t know how many times I’ve gone on and on about how wonderful Autumn is in New York.  It is my favorite season for all of the stereotypical reasons like the crisp air, falling leaves, and the golden light.  I thought that when I signed on to be in Singapore for October and November that I was going to miss out completely on Autumn in New York.  Well, lucky for me, global warming has taken effect and it still feels a little Autumn-like, even in the middle of December.  Some days the temperature is crisp, rather than frigid, so that I can wear my favorite blazers or cardigans as an outerwear piece rather than a heavy overcoat.  Even if my Autumn in New York is for an abbreviated amount of time, it still feels good to be able to experience the season.

To celebrate Autumn, my return, and the fact that our change bowl was full, my boyfriend cashed in our year’s worth of pocket change and we headed out to a delicious tapas dinner at West Chelsea’s yummy Tia Pol for the evening.  Good times.

Me in one of my very typical Autumn outfits.  I’m wearing a Club Monaco navy light weight merino scoop back sweater, a Vivienne Westwood glen plaid wool jacket, and J.Brand dark skinny jeans.

The ring that I bought in Singapore’s Little India was just a little too big for my fingers, so I’ve taken to wearing it on a gold chain around my neck.

My big Erotokritos knotted leather bag.

My favorite Frye boots which I’ve been wearing almost every day since I got back.

The view from the inside of Tia Pol’s window.

Just a few of the dozen or so tapas that we had that night.  Pictured at the top from the left is the embutidos ibericos: jamón, chorizo palacios, lomo embuchado, the pan con tomate, and below is the taquitos de atún relleno de boquerones.  All totally amazing.  My favorite thing that we ate was the chorizo con chocolate, which was a dark chocolate paste smeared on a baguette topped with chorizo.  Hello!  AMAZING!  I would have liked to photograph everything for you, but we were too busy eating it all.  In fact, you’re lucky you get this.  LOL!  It took some restraint to photograph this first round of tapas without just digging in.  From that point on, restraint went out the window.

Movie Date

Today was girlie date day.  At least once a month the ladies and I come from all over New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and have a date which includes eating and then seeing a chick flick.

Lucky for me, the girls actually managed to restrain themselves from seeing New Moon until I got back from Singapore.  (Thanks Ladies!  I know how hard it was for you to wait!)  We’re all a little obsessed with the Twilight books, okay some are a little more obsessed than others, but I’m not going to name any names…  Oh, and we’re all in our 30’s/40’s.  Mmm-hmm.  You should have seen the e-mail thread that went into planning this date today.  Half of us were Team Edward and the other half were Team Jacob.  Then someone happened to mention that we’re obsessing over men/boys that are half our age, to which I argued “they are definitely not half our age!”.   Later I had to eat my words when I found out that one of them (Jacob, a.k.a. the shirtless wonder) is in fact 17 (!) and therefore HALF MY AGE!!!  Oh, I feel dirty.  Needless to say, I’m now on Team Edward.  Yay!  He’s only 10 years younger, and legal, so I don’t feel so bad.

Me at the AMC Theater at Garden State Mall, happy as a clam to see this movie, which by the way was SOOO much better than the first one (Thank God).  I’m wearing a 3.1 Phillip Lim coat, Zara heather grey tee, and J.Brand dark skinny jeans.

My Muji light weight wool scarf and Forever 21 Lanvin “inspired” white beaded necklace.

My Costume National black boots all dirty from the snow we had yesterday and my Marc by Marc Jacobs bag.

Kathy showing off the fact that her small soda is the size of her head.

Oh yeah.

All of the lovely ladies ready for the show to start.

Thanks for the welcome home girls!  Can’t wait for our next date when we see The Lovely Bones!

-Summer

New York, I Love You

Two things that I’m really excited about:

The first is that I’m back home!!!  As much as I loved Singapore I am so happy to be back in chilly, grey New York.  One of the reasons I love travel so much is that it expands my reality, it educates, and it makes my life more full.  The other is that travel always makes me so thankful for what I have at home.  I’m always happy to go away and always happy to return.  Six weeks was a long time (just ask my jet lag), but I find myself at home with friends and experiences that I will never forget, with a slightly higher tolerance for spicy food, maybe a few pounds heavier (all that food and not enough exercise), and with an even stronger appreciation for the life that I’ve built for myself here.Me in Hong Kong waiting waiting for my connecting flight back to JFK.

The second exciting thing is that I’ve had an ad run in two issues of New York Magazine, one of my favorite publications.  So, I’m jumping back in feet first, the only way I know how.  I’m busy and loving every minute of it.

This ad was designed by my super talented friend and artist Joe Iurato.

The 12/7 issue of New York Magazine that my ad is in.

And the 11/23 issue that my ad already ran in.

I promise to get some personal style posts up soon.

Until then.

-Summer

Little India Diary

I’ve always loved everything Indian.  The food, the music, the dancing, the clothing, and of course the people.  I’ve never been to India but I look forward to visiting one day.   One of the reasons I decided to take this contract work here in Singapore was because I knew there is a large Indian population here and I hoped that I would be able to experience their culture almost as if I was in India.  In the last 6 weeks I’ve visited Little India quite frequently, but always at night after work, and usually with food on my mind.  In Little India you feel as if you’re in a different city, away from the hyper modern, neon lit, squeaky clean rest of Singapore.  The brilliant color, spicy curry aromas, and fragrant jasmine grab your senses immediately.  It’s a magnificently beautiful, slightly gritty place.  Today, my last day in Singapore, I decided to finally visit during the day, exploring the streets and soaking in what the neighborhood has to offer, while doing a little shopping for myself.

Here are some of my favorite photos from my trip today and from my past trips while here in Singapore:

Alex on a late Friday evening, overtaken with the beauty and smell of these flower garlands that florists sell on the street.

Magazines at a newstand.

A market late at night.

How I love the colonial architecture of the old parts of the city.  Sadly, so many of these beautiful buildings are being torn down and replaced with mega malls and high rise condos.  This city is constantly under construction.  Even at night and on weekends.  The construction literally never stops.

I love the soft pastel color schemes of the buildings in this part of town.

One of the beautiful road signs of the neighborhood.

The covered sidewalks.

Gold…

Gold…

And more gorgeous Indian Gold.  Gold stores are EVERYWHERE.

As the rain started to pour, I ducked into a tiny cafe on Dunlop Street and sat watching the rain and eating my chicken curry lunch served on a banana leaf.

Shopping on the street.

I LOVED this store!  So much beautiful furniture!  If only we had room in our loft back home!!!

Shopping upstairs at the Tekka Centre.

And below, a view of the wet market at the Tekka Centre.

Fresh seafood at the wet market.

A photo I took on the cab ride home of my fabulous new ring that I bought on the street.

To think that tomorrow I’ll be flying back to the other side of the world after a day walking around these streets.

Ahhhh, now I am ready to go home.

-Summer

Singaporean Thanksgiving

Sadly, Singapore doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, so I spent the whole day working.  However, my Singaporean friends took it upon themselves to provide me with a Thai feast that was equivelent to a Thanksgiving feast.  It was so extremely sweet of them.

Here’s some of the group at out favorite Thai restaurant in Orchard Towers.  FYI, Orchard Towers is a mall famous for their girlie (as in raunchy girlie) bars.  Amidst the seediness, there is this little gem of a restaurant on the second floor that serves incredible Thai food 24 hours a day.  As a tourist, there’s no way I would have ever found this place if it wasn’t for my fabulous Singaporean friends.  Thank you guys!!!  You have no idea how welcome you have made me feel.

Delicious prawn, spicy, coconuty tom yum soup which is served family style in the center of the table.

Basil fish.  Delish.

Ragnhild’s gonna kill me for this “HOLY CRAP!  THIS IS SPICY!” picture.  But I couldn’t help myself.  She was doing the sucking air sound and slurping down her coconut water to try to sooth her overheated tastebuds.

Now, onto the style aspect of this post. 

Sorry, I don’t have a whole outfit photo to show, but it didn’t come out too well.  So, you just get the components.  Even though I know that belts and Thanksgiving don’t go together I couldn’t resist wearing it today.  I wore a Madewell white ribbed tank, a Clu light heather grey lightweight vest, and this Linea Pelle belt.

My vintage bag, Cynthia Steffe skirt, and Pierre Hardy for Gap sandals.

One of my favorite photos of Ragnhild that I’ve taken.  It really captures her spirit and beauty.  She’s wearing a Peter Jensen dress and her Siv Stoldal necklace.

Her YSL distressed leather bag.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

One more day, and I’ll be giving thanks that I am back home. 

-Summer