Randoms...

A few random holiday pics from the old iphone...

Family time in Chicago!

excited to be heading home for the holidays

my nephews, cutest boogers ever. 

and my niece who I'm completely obsessed with. 

Gentle Man.

There is nothing sexier or more lovely than a gentleman. A well mannered man with grace and etiquette go further than all the money, looks and talent in the world. A gentleman has self-respect, depth and patience.  He respects women and men equally regardless of sexual preference or the color of his/her skin.  A gentleman has a well rounded depth and and doesn't flaunt his life across the Internet. In the modern world I must admit it takes some searching to find a true gentleman amidst the knuckle dragging Neanderthals we see so often. But trust me, they are around and they should be honored & acknowledged because it takes confidence and courage to be a gentleman these days.  In case you're looking for a little direction this is an age old reference that makes for a good start:

Grateful Wednesday.

After many days of rest and some calm weeks I am officially back in the fray and working non-stop. It makes me so happy to be back at it, rushing through the day and running against the clock. Today here's what I'm grateful for:

1. Sunny winter days. It feels bleak and 10 mental degrees colder when the sun is covered, today the sun was out & it made running around all day tolerable.

2. Soup. I can't get enough soup this winter. It's sort of like taking a bath in that it seems to warm you all the way through. 

3. Being back in Manhattan. After a few years in Brooklyn I just moved back to the city & I love it. For someone like me who runs all over the city all day long its wonderful and such a convenience.

4. Seeing my collection pulling together. There's been a lot of fits and starts, a few major duds but mostly some smashing successes and at last I can see it coming together. 

5. Having down time. I usually feel like I have two speeds: mach paced & horizontal. Lately work has been intermittent and allowed me to learn a new, unfamiliar gear: steady & calm. It's been great to learn how to adjust and take it easy and also helps me really be ready for the crazy times. 

Empire State.

I've had a love affair with New York since I was 13. Maybe even before, watching An Affair to Remember and all those Astaire & Rogers movies as a kid and having this romantic vision of THE city. The city of all cities. The city where you can fall down a different rabbit hole around any given block and will when you're least expecting it.  The city where anything you want to be, do and see opens its arms (with some blood, sweat & tears) to you. And if you work hard and keep your head up and keep pushing you see the magic, you get caught up in the giant wave of magnetic energy that gets into every single one of your cells and keeps lifting you when you feel you can't go on another second. It humbles you, it comforts you and when you need it it will give you the power to rule your world, but only when you're good and ready. This city is not for the weak, the faint of heart or the easily shaken. This isn't a city for the complacent, no sir, stay in your hometown for that. This city is for those who want to push, they want to fight for what matters in life, they want the best of everything: the whole world in one city.  This is a city for people with depth & dynamo, gumption & grit. It is a life force, it is contagious. It is a drug that once you taste it you will never be the same and you can never get it out of your system.

New York, I love you. 

If my cliche testimony doesn't convey the spirit, Woody Allen nails it in what is the best opening sequence in the history of film: 

Bed time.

It's winter, my pace has calmed a bit and I'm in the midst of moving in with my boyfriend...so essentially I'm in nest mode. This is what I'm dreaming about these days:  

Collection

I've been working on my own collection slowly over the last few months...a small collection of beautifully made basics in gorgeous fabrics. Here is a sneak peek of one of the first finished samples:

I'm getting excited!

Social networking

We are all connected. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Bing, blip, ping and ring. We are inundated with new information, new images, new messages, new everything all the time. We don't need to think too hard, to reflect, digest or sit still with our thoughts. Nope. There's so much distraction why would we ever need to?

There is now a growing discipline of philosophy and pop psychology on the subject and articles are popping up everywhere from mainstream magazines to highbrow literature. It's not just a phase folks. 

We all experience the conflict of the convenience against the mind numbing, social disturbances of what technology brings. I feel (I hope) the backlash will come soon and there will be a shift in the way we engage with one another and with our machines. I'm guilty of the exact things I criticize. And I am working hard on changing the addictive behavior and sitting without distraction. Walking down the street and observing. Observing. I think that is an undervalued art form.

I walk down the sidewalk & watch as dozens of zombies wobble and zig zag down the street unaware of their surroundings, of the potential dangers, the small details, the subtle beauty of the way the light hits a street corner or an old man holds a smile. What is our present state if we are all constantly in a frenzy of techno trances obsessed with the future? And in turn, what becomes our life when the beautiful moments, the human to human connections, the pauses and reflections become overtaken by our devices. What is it we are hiding from?

(Is this what we want to teach our children?)

Black Friday.

There is nothing necessary or natural about this. If you find yourself in this situation its because you've been manipulated to behave like a robot and submit to the consumerist machine. No one needs anything being sold by stores that force their employees to get ripped out of bed at 2am to go to work in a retail store. If you engage, you are consenting to this insanity. Your refusal to participate is your voice, your vote. Wouldn't you rather spend the day connecting with someone you love? 

Giving thanks

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures - Thornton Wilder



I'm feeling super overwhelmed by gratitude these days. Thankful for my health and the health of my loved ones, thankful for the love of my life and the love in my life. Thankful for the way my path seems to be unfolding in beautiful ways. So many angels, guides, helpers along my way that seem to be sending me along the right path. Thank you. Every single one of you.

Loveliness is the loveliest.

Today I received the most beautiful flower arrangement from one of my favorite designers (J. Mendel). How super lovely are these?! It completely brightened up my day. 

Remember...

Pay it foward

Don't you just love good manners & grace?  I feel like lately when I'm offered a seat on crowded subway car, a door held by a stranger or a kind farewell from a cab driver it really makes me want to send it on into the world. It also renews my faith in people & manners. 

Consider that next time you have an interaction with a stranger...it's the little act of sweetness that can carry us to our better selves and give someone a little loveliness in the moment. 

Winter's arrival...

I woke up this morning to the soft flurry of snow against the gorgeous palette of golden leaves out my window. Winter has arrived and it's gorgeous.  

Home fires

Fall is here. In fact as I write this the heat in my apartment just turned on. I love fall in New York, I love crunchy leaves, golden hues, cozy sweaters and hearty soups. But the one thing I love the most are fireplaces.  These dreamy Scandinavian versions make we want a bright white cabin in some romantic island off the coast of Denmark...which is exactly the trip I'm planning for spring. In the meantime this will have to suffice. 

L-O-V-E

I've been thinking a lot about love lately.  Mostly because I've been really in the throes of it and it's making me think about the power of loving and being loved. 

I spent a lot of my younger days searching for love through destructive & ego based relationships. Working out my insecurities and issues with each new man that would come my way.  Luckily I learned a lot as I went and I grew and I got smarter and my intuition and my heart grew more discerning. I learned to honor my power, my heart, myself and I started raising the bar of the kind of people I let into my life. 

It seems when we make changes in our lives our paths shift, the universe responds and old cycles begin to dissolve. What a beautiful truth it is to know that we can shed skin and bloom new identities and from this spring new relationships.

The love I feel in my life now seems like a daily affirmation and reminder of the work I've done to dissolve the old model and rebuild. The friend, family and romantic relationships I have fill me with gratitude and they remind me to contintue to keep my heart open, to be soft and to keep working to be better. 

Grateful Wednesdays.

Fall is reeling in in the most lovely way today and I'm back in town and getting my momentum back. I'm feeling optimistic, calm and happy. 

Here are a few things helping me feel grateful today:

1. Avocado toast. Is there anything better than a big piece of country bread smeared with avocado, chili flakes, cumin & lemon? Nope, didn't think so. 

2. Living in a climate with seasons. Fall is setting in gradually and I'm loving the ease into sweater weather while watching the leaves fall. 

3. Running into people I love from my past. Today I ran into 4 people I haven't seen in a long time & it made my day. I love the spontaneous reconnections a city brings together.

4. Having a night to veg-out. Tonight I came home, put my feet up & watched some bad tv. Sometimes nothing makes me happier.

5. Working on my collection. I am loving how its coming together, I'm loving the people I'm working with and the shape its taking. 

This is the first bag from one of the collections I'm working on. 

Southwest love.

Headed down to Austin yesterday for a little vacation (and a music fest). This is easily my favorite city after New York. The vibe is open and warm, the people are conscious, the light and spaces are beautiful and there's a rock n' roll energy that makes this one of the coolest spots in the country. 

I got to reconnect with one of my best friends and clown around with my main man. Life is good. 

Playing Dress Up.

I often feel like I spend so much time thinking about and working on dressing other women that when it comes to dressing myself I just go on auto-pilot. I find myself always reaching for the same gray jeans and a ratty concert t-shirt. If I need to look stronger I throw on a blazer. After a while I begin to feel somewhere in between an aging rock star & a 13-year old boy. Lately I've been feeling the winds of change blowing down my beaten look and I feel ready to start dressing, dare I say, age appropriate.

This seasons latest looks have really gotten me excited to be dressing like a woman. With looks like these coming down the runway I think it just might be time. 

                  

                                                    

Big shoes, being filled.

I will admit, I was a skeptic at the thought of the young Alex Wang taking the helm at Balenciaga. I felt his knack for keeping the downtown set looking effortless in an evolving wardrobe of rock chic was going to be his creative calling. Two seasons in at Balenciaga however has started to change my mind about the scope of his talent. This seasons show was sleek, sophisticated and made me think of the original Cristobal himself.