My sister Shawna just sent me this card with a message that says, “The economy sucks, let’s be practical.” Love it. I actually made her and my other sister something for the holidays so does that mean SHE has to make me something too? (PS, My God given talent is picking out the best gifts EVER for people even if it has to be DYI, so if you have questions, e-mail me!!)
I’ve been a little lax on the blogging because I’ve been on location shooting a show for a major network. Since they had me sign a contract preventing me from blogging/twittering/facebooking (is that even a verb?) about where I am and what I am doing, I decided to write a haiku about my last week:
Snow and blizzarding
Co-op people hate fur coats
Mountain town judges me
Those of you that know me well, know that I can’t stand my own birthday. Not because I have an issue with getting older, I actually love the acquisition of wisdom that comes with each year. I just feel like it is an incredibly self indulgent day for unecessary reasons. But this birthday was different.
I wanted the day to be dedicated to my close friends and family- The people that stuck by me when times were so tough this year I was just gonna give up and quit and when times were so amazing I couldn’t believe it was really my life I was living. There are always ups and downs in life- God knows by now I’ve figured that out! But the people at my brunch (with the exception of few VIPs who were out of town traveling or had a scheduling conflicts) have been there for me NO MATTER WHAT. I don’t think I told them enough this year how much their friendship meant to me or how very proud I am to have such loyal, caring, inspiring, brilliant and most importantly HONEST people in my life. They make me want to be better and do better and my birthday was the day I celebrated them. And of course, you gotta love a bunch of friends that will let you be late to your own birthday brunch because you were doing a segment on Fox News at the same time!
Mark Pasetsky, former Editor-in-Chief of Life and Style magazine and current EIC of coverawards.com ALWAYS gives it to me straight. We are at times, each other’s career compasses.
I love this picture of Ernest and Erica because 1) they look stunning and 2) Ern is my ex boyfriend from college and it makes me SO happy we are still so close after all of these years.
I wished for the same thing I wished for last year…
(pictures taken by the undeniably amazing Andrew Torrey)
The incredibly talented Stacie Joy (otherwise known as “the pixeltrix“) just sent me these pictures from Rachel Kramer Bussel’s birthday (prior to my trip to Zurich). I love these pictures for two reasons: 1) Stacie made us all look like well rested beauties and 2) I miss my super long hippie hair (Patrick cut it into a more professional TV ‘do) and can’t wait to grow my hair out again!
Doesn’t Rachel look GORGEOUS here? Across from me is Twanna Hines, next to her is cupcake blogger extraordinaire Nichel and Cross Fit trainer and cupcake blogger Allison who completes the “Cupcakes Take the Cake” trifecta with RKB.
Of course you would expect a rainbow of cupcakes at a birthday party for a cupcake blogger! I think these were from Crumbs.
Smiles and A LOT of hair! Rachel with her friend from high school. He was so great!
I think Twanna is so awesome. I love her ability to say whatever she wants on subjects that make me blush and run into a corner hiding my face. Twanna, I need to channel more of your liberation into my life!
Why, oh why couldn’t Swiss Air just route me through London to NYC? This was my re-occuring thought before, during and after my flight back to Zurich. By the time I got to the Swiss Air terminal to catch my flight home I looked and was a train wreck after five straight days of no sleep and a CRAZY schedule. How do these execs. go globe trotting for weeks at a time?? Bananas! PS, Thank GOD for the Swiss Air lounge. I took over two couches, had five newspapers all around me and was typing away crazy e-mails to Liz Vap while laying down. It was PERFECTION.
The stairs to the Swiss Air lounge. Just. One. Escalator. Away.
Homeward bound. Finally.
No surprise here. Our night out in London, ended with me getting three hours of sleep and a super awake Paul driving me to Heathrow to catch my flight back to Zurich. At this point I was BEYOND exhausted, totally intolerant and all I wanted was to crash on the couches in the Swiss Air lounge. BUT THEN, I saw the shops at the British Airways Terminal 5. You’ve seen the commericals and WOW WOW WOW did this place look like the Time Warner Center. But better. Waay better. Unreal.
This is the Harrods duty free makeup and beauty section and fyi, this picture was taken at 6am in the morning…
Just in case you feel like purchasing a Dior handbag before breakfast…
Or a pair of Prada boots…
My cousins took me to an amazing party that Saturday night. I met the London correspondent for Vanity Fair and another writer for Brides magazine living in London as well. It was SO MUCH FUN but peeps I was at this point, ready to pass out on the dance floor. Instead, Ani lent me her shoulder (btw, that’s not Ani’s real hair btw, it was a wig).
Did someone say food?? I have a rule to not eat anything past 8 pm, but Paul and Kavi INSISTED we get a bagel in the east end, and you know what? These bagels were f-ing fantastic. I channeled Anthony Bourdain and took a small bite of Paul’s (he had a plain bagel with salted beef) P.S. when did the east end of London start looking like Williamsburg??? It was a little creepy.
Making the bagels (at 2am)….
More evidence that the east end is TOTALLY Williamsburg. I wonder if this shop really rocks…
The next morning after the fashion show, I got on a flight to London to visit my family. I was only going to be there for 36 hours, but the last time I was in London was YEARS ago and I really wanted to see my cousins.
This is my little cousin Ani and her sister’s boyfriend Paul. After I met Kenya for lunch, I got a blow out at Top Shop (yes, I said Top Shop in Oxford Circus! 20 quid and it was awesome. Video TK), met Paul back at his office and then we all rolled out for drinks.
Ani and I after glass of wine #2 waiting for her sister Kavi and our other cousins Sangeeth and Naren to arrive. I know, I know… I’m lookin’ a little rough at this point. No makeup, 4 hours of sleep for the past four days and bad face wash does not = hot pictures.
Yay Kavi!!!
Reunited and it feels so good!! I am trying to keep it REAL here, but oh. my. god. was I EXHAUSTED. Next stop, Koi for dinner then BED.
I’ve been a *little* delinquent in uploading the pictures documenting my life for the past three weeks and for that I sincerely apologize- I just didn’t think they were that interesting! But I’m looking through them now and laughing to myself thinking about how insane (in a good way) the past four weeks have been. Here it goes…
Zurich wasn’t all about fashion, even though I spend a good 36 hours immersed in it while I was there. The first day, Syl and I went for a walk. I forgot my face wash, and after an all night flight my face was SCREAMING for cleaner. This is the main train station near our hotel where the Pharmacie was.
Another view from our walk. Pretty, right?
On the way we found this random Dim Sum take out. We didn’t get any, but hello- awesome!
Syl found these goofy scissors in the beauty section. Suggested retail price: 44 Swiss Francs. WTF?? P.S. I did find face wash- the cheapest one I could get was 7 Swiss Francs and totally wrecked my skin.
You know those girls that are OBSESSED with eating chocolate? Yeah, that’s not me. So you can imagine the shock to my system when I a) saw this store, and b) was given chocolate literally for every meal. Ack.
I did indulge in these totally delish crepes we got in the main train station. Notice the drizzle of chocolate on them. So much for the Skinny Bitch diet on this trip…
With the unemployment numbers reaching record highs (533,000 jobs were lost in November according to Fortune magazine), getting the ”I just got outsted, here is my new contact info” e-mail is about as common as getting a google alert on “recession.” This is the last sentence in a friend’s sign off note (she happens to be eight months pregnant). I loved it.
From [Redacted]: …Also please let it go down for posterity, that although I’m knocked up and laid off, I’m rocking my way out of the building in a stellar pair of heels.
Now that is what I call inspiring.