Archive for January, 2009

 atl-in-the-car-0021

Ha. I hate to admit it, but it takes a while to look half way normal for a party. My biggest issue is my insane hair which never really looks right unless it’s totally blown out.  Armed with this knowledge, the lovely peeps at the W Buckhead (“whatever, whenever” is their motto) booked me an appt at the cheapest place they could find. $20 at a place that was sort of like a Supercuts. Hello- it’s a recession, people. Paying $80 for a blow out is just not acceptable any more!

Truth be told, I haven’t been to Atlanta since my father lived there for a brief two years in 1996. From what I remember, Buckhead wasn’t that fun but I was also a kid back then, so hanging out with ballers and finding the coolest party really wasn’t on my “list of things to do.”  Right after the frenzy of inauguration, I hopped on a Delta flight to ATL.  Upon arrival I went straight to my hotel, the W Buckhead and never really left.  There was no reason to.

This hotel is the newest property to open in the W/ Starwood empire and it was just as great as all the rest of the hotels. Actually, I take that back- this one was a little cooler because interior designer Thom Felicia put his magical design touch into all the rooms and common spaces (known as the “living rooms”).

The bed really was as comfortable as it looks! How cute are the monogrammed pillows?

A close up view of the pillows.

Working meal #1: tuna burger with a garlic aioli (no bun), fries (I just wanted a taste), earl grey tea with soy milk, and of course my blackberry. All of my meals came from the incredible kitchen of Jean-Georges’ restaurant, Market. If I wasn’t ordering room service, I would wander downstairs to have this incredible steamed shrimp salad, that to this day I can’t stop thinking about.

Working meal #2: A chocolate mousse with whipped cream and tea.

One of my favorite shows to be on is Eric Bolling’s ADD hour on ”The Strategy Room” ( www.foxnews.com/strategyroom). Since I was in ATL, I obviously couldn’t be there, but I could watch it, which was the next best thing!

It’s truly amazing to think about the reach of this show…

Mega contracts prevent me from telling you exactly where I was for six weeks while I taped a show for MTV, but I can say that it was $#%^&* COLD. I am talkin’, -5 degrees fahrenheit when we started filming at 8am in the morning. Brr.  Needless to say, I was so ready to come back to NYC where 45 degrees felt like summer time.

My ride. A 2004 Jeep.

This SO reminds me T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land.”

OMG I am almost home. Lincoln Tunnel in the distance.

Yay Lincoln Tunnel!!

I had every intention of live blogging while in Atlanta, I really did. But there is only so much you can do in 36 hours when you are in back to back interviews and trying to orchestrate coverage of a party for the four magazines I write for.  Anyway, for all of you wondering where I was after inauguration, here is the full story…

On her quest to make a relatively unknown designers known, Michelle Obama chose to wear a dress by designer Jason Wu, a 26 year old immigrant from Taipei and Vancouver to the Inaugural balls on Tuesday night. The dress was a floor length gown with flower-like detailing on the bodice and skirt. A spokesperson for Jason Wu said, “We did not know Michelle Obama was wearing the dress until the very last minute. ” It is unclear if Wu will be dressing Mrs. Obama for other events/ galas.

Photo credit: People.com/ Getty Images

I have to get on a flight tomorrow morning to Atlanta- hence the reason why I am not in D.C. rocking  it out at some ball right now. Despite my totally insane shoot/travel schedule, I wanted a story to tell about my future kids, nieces, nephews, grand kids, etc.,  instead of the “Yep, I was busy so I watched Obama on CNN in my apt” situation. So one of my best friends Joy and I ran to Times Square to watch the president take the oath. Here are the pictures taken by the amazing Joy Sohn:

Watching the screen and listening to the president take the oath. Most of you are fully in the loop of my political views. Despite that, it was hard not to be excited about bearing witness to history.

A Brazilian TV crew had the camera on me for about five minutes. This is me telling them I am a journalist and to please stop. “I always feel like, someone is watching me. Tell me is it just a dream?”

My favorite picture from today. I love it.

This is a picture of the INCREDIBLE Loree Rokin earrings Michelle Obama was wearing at the “Kids Inaugural: We Are The Future” Concert on Monday night. Here are the deets:

White gold and diamond pave rectangle earrings with 12 green sapphire brios
1.09ct of diamonds
17.40ct of green sapphires

The cost of these little gems is $17,500. And yes, they were borrowed.

Hearing he was wearing Ralph Lauren purple label (thanks to my little insider for that info.!) Will confirm this as well…

Hearing reports Michelle Obama will be wearing a dress by the designer, Tracy Reese for the inaugural ball. Trying to confirm this rumor…

I wrote about this on Twitter this morning but wanted to put it up on my blog as well. For the first time since Michelle Obama hit the media scene, I actually love what she had on- a canary yellow brocade shift dress and over coat by Isabel Toledo and a pair of green Jimmy Choo pumps. For those of you who don’t know who Isabel Toledo is here are three fun facts about her:

-She is Cuban and based in NYC.

-She is married to Ruben Toledo, an artist and collaborator.

-She was the creative director of Anne Klein.