So, I returned from New York earrrrrly yesterday morning after a pretty fabulous trip. Here’s how it went down:

Getting there

I have a very complex packing method, which is to say that my technique involves throwing a bunch of stuff I think I might want to wear on the bed and trying to create outfits out of the jumble. This is a very slow, complicated operation that usually lasts for about 45 minutes before I say “Aw, screw it!” and throw everything haphazardly in the suitcase.

I made it to the airport with one goal in mind. Well, two goals–obviously, I didn’t want to miss my plane, but the most important, most pressing objective?

Truly the best thing about the airport.

I’ve never tried to take pictures from the plane before, but the idea of capturing the city from a superior point-of-view was just too appealing to pass up.

Concrete jungle where dreams are made offff…

IFBCon

I made it to all four sessions of the IFB Evolving Influence Conference, but not before getting lost trying to find the venue. Even though it was only 10 blocks from my hotel. Apparently, the Hudson is too hip for outside signage because that makes it too easy for people to, you know, find it. You just have to be in the know.

All of the conference’s speakers, from the creators of Bloglovin’ and Lookbook.nu to well-known bloggers like Susie and Rumi, had a lot of insight to offer, and it was very interesting getting a peek into what goes into creating a popular site. The biggest takeaway for me was that there is no big-time blogger formula. Some people plan, some people are spontaneous, everybody works hard, and no one seems to know why or how their readership grows. Go figure.

Bryanboy

I didn’t recognize as many people as I thought I would (it didn’t help that it was very dark inside the hotel, which also made it difficult to take pictures), but I did meet lots of funny, lovely, fashionable bloggers whose sites I can now obsessively visit.

June and Fajr

By the time the after party started, I was exhausted–but not too exhausted to hit Spot dessert bar with one of my dearest friends (hi, Neesha!). Yes, a dessert bar. Best. idea. EVER.

Between the dessert tapas, sorbets, cookies, and cupcakes, we indulged with a capital I. If I knew anything about dessert other than how to eat it, I’d totally copy this concept in Cincinnati. *hint hint* Anyone? Bueller?

#FNO

I tend to overplan on trips, so on Fashion’s Night Out, I narrowed it down to one concrete must-see: Robin Thicke.

After dinner at Chelsea Market, we headed to the Meatpacking District and arrived at the crowded Hugo Boss store just in time to see the back of Mr. Thicke’s head serenade a gaggle of women pressed against the stage before launching into “Lost Without U.” The crowd inside and outside sang along and tried to snap pictures in the dark, and I must say, Robin looked and sounded good.

We hit Moschino, Diane Von Furstenburg (where I saw DVF surrounded by an absolute mob of fans, but missed Anna Wintour’s later appearance), and Jeffrey, where I found a leather blazer that looked like the lovechild of Morpheus’ Matrix coat and Prince’s Purple Rain jacket. In other words, pure awesome.

Take the purple pill.

We made our way over to Tracy Reese’s dance party–Tracy Reese herself was dancing her arse off with the rest of the crowd in the front of the store–before heading to Soho and the LES and deciding it was time for more food.

Surprisingly enough, I didn’t buy any clothing/shoes/accessories while in NYC, though, trust me, I looked. I’m pretty sure that’s a first!

How was your weekend? Did you enjoy any shopping-related activities?

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Last weekend, I:

Indulged my cupcake craving

I’d been feenin’ for a mini-cake all week, and when we stopped at ForkHeartKnife for dinner, there was a plate of vanilla cupcakes right there at the front counter.  I picked the one with the most icing and started eating it before I even ordered dinner.

Rode my bike 4.5 miles

Saturday morning, I set out with the goal of making it to Northside and back. I got a little lost along the way (because I always get lost), but I made it!

Bought a new desk chair

After weeks of sore shoulders and an aching back, I bit the bullet and headed to IKEA for a new desk chair. I had to walk through a 2.2 mile maze of room displays, household items, screaming kids to get it (there’s gotta be a shortcut), but I think it was worth the trouble. It’s amazing what a little lower lumbar support can do for a girl.

Remembered how much I love my hair

I was watching Esperanza Spalding and admiring her cloud of fuzzy coils when I remembered, “Wait–my hair does that.” YESSS!

What did you do last weekend?

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Since last week, I:

Wore the new AllSaints top I bought in the sale.

I love wacky asymmetrical draping, but FriendBoy immediately said “You’re wearing Theo’s shirt!”

It is now officially known as my Gordon Gartrell.

Hit the Jodi Arnold event at The Limited.

Due to underestimating traffic (I don’t know how I did the rush hour thing every day), I missed the fashion show, but did manage to snag the tunic I wanted as well as one or ten of the little cake hors d’oeuvres that were being passed around. Win-win as far as I’m concerned.

Found another (?) gray hair.

I’ve had two gray hairs since I was about 8 years old, and I used to be able to pinpoint their location with GPS-like precision. Since I stopped straightening my hair, it’s not easy to find anything in there, so I’m not sure if it’s a new gray or one of the old ones. Hmm…

Tried the new butter tart at The Bistro.

Doesn’t the name just sound like a good idea? Butter. Tart. How can you go wrong? The tarte tatin used to be my fave, but the gooey caramely-ness of this new concoction has just earned its own place in my dessert-lovin’ heart.

Hemmed a pair of my own pants!

I got motivated and learned how to do a basic catch stitch from this YouTube video:

Now that I think about it, I can’t remember the last skill I learned that didn’t involve a YouTube tutorial–god forbid I pick up a book and get some learnin’ the old fashioned way.

I got out my tape measure, needle, thread, scissors, even a seam ripper ’cause I was serious about getting the job done! One leg at a time, I carefully measured, cut, ripped, and stitched by hand. This was the result:

Oops.

Seriously, one leg was a full inch  shorter than the other. Ha! There goes my career as a tailor…

Bought a hot glue gun.

Who knew they were so inexpensive? I’m feverishly searching for random items to glue together at this very moment. As soon as I can think of a good reason to add feathers to my plastic plants, it’s on.

What have you been up to?

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The #CFW saga continues…

Micah from PB&J PR invited me to “Inspired by Anne,” an exhibition honoring the work of fashion illustrator Anne Wainscott. Anne did a lot of work for Shillito’s Department Store (which became Lazarus before being purchased by Macy’s) back in the day, and many of her drawings look just as fresh today as they did then.

Micah was a sweetheart, and I would rock that suit from the illustration tomorrow if I could.

Anne was so cute and tiny (she’s 93 and claims she’s been shrinking since her 70′s!) and seemed really excited and humbled about all of the hullabaloo around her.

We chatted a bit and she gave me a tip that I’ve always thought was the cornerstone of realism: draw what you see. Not what you think you see or how your brain interprets what you see, but what’s right there in front of you. She may have inspired me to pull out my dusty collection of colored pencils and charcoals and give it a try.

While waiting for my glass of vino, I ran into the lovely ladies from Chicken Lays an Egg, whose site I’d discovered earlier that day. I also got a few photos of the window display, which were all creative interpretations inspired by P&G products. The entire event was extremely well put together and was obviously organized by creative professionals accustomed to making brands look good. Well played, Landor.

In full bloom

The same evening, I headed over to Future Blooms (I just learned what they do even though I’ve walked past their studio a skillion times) for the Cincinnati Fashion Week Merchant Fair and met some of the talented vendors there.

I fell in love with a pair of vintage mules–which are totally not my usual style–and a soft suede vintage-frame handbag.

I also met Catherine, who not only creates lovely jewelry, but runs the Future Blooms studio. She and her husband were really nice and just too cute for words.

While I was there, my spidey-sense started tingling and led me to the rear part of the studio, where lo and behold, there was food! Of course I stopped to check it out. You know, just to be polite.

This guy is a local Slow Food advocate and chef looking to open a restaurant in the area etc. That’s all great, but the real kicker?

He was making fresh mozzarella cheese.

Making it. Cheese. With his hands. Cheese, y’all! I didn’t even know you could do that.

I sampled a piece or eight and marveled at the taste and texture, which was especially yummy atop a slice of garlic-y, buttery Shadeau bread. Seriously, I could’ve eaten that all night. And today. Probably tomorrow, too…

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Last weekend, I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and take some pictures. I’m still learning this whole photography thing…

Beau seemed to think I was doing okay. “I’ll watch from the window,” he said.

On Saturday morning, I got up and made breakfast for the first time in…hmm…what year is this?

Mmm, grilled cheese with smoked gouda and jack, and tomatoes and basil. I always add a touch of basil to my grilled cheese.

Later, I decided to hit Findlay Market for some fresh fruits and veggies.

At the market, I pretended to inspect the fruit as if I knew what I was doing. I didn’t.

I did know what to do when I got hungry, though:

The ribs from Ms. Helen’s Grill were fantastic–tender, juicy, and just spicy enough to make your nose run. The mac and cheese had a smooth, rich flavor and tasted like actual cheese. Ms. Helen put her foot in it for real!

Later, Emily and I headed over to Bromwell’s Gallery (where the Stop Traffick photo shoot was held) for Alison Shepard’s “Our Beauty Flows Like Water” opening.

I hung out on the fire escape while Jim Tarbell played the harmonica, and Emily checked out the artwork with 3-D glasses.

There was a really lovely breeze out there.

Ol’ Tarbell actually sounded pretty good!

The art changed from fluorescent pink and orange to bright blue and green with the glasses!

Beau was waiting for me when I got home.

“You know it’s past my dinner time, right?”

Right.

What did you do last weekend?

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The weekend before last, I was lucky enough to celebrate my birthday two days in a row! I spent time with people I love, ate wonderful food, and dressed up for absolutely no reason. Oh, and I got to say I lived another year. I guess that’s pretty special.

Honestly, I spent most of the weekend working on the new issue of Style Sample magazine. Putting this one together was a doozy–missing photos, extra layouts, unanswered requests for information, a procastinating editor-in-chief (ahem)–but I was dedicated to meeting the deadline. Gotta git ‘r done!

The hours when I wasn’t chained to my laptop, I was treated to two lovely dinners. Saturday evening, FriendBoy took me to Honey, a well-reviewed little spot in Northside.

The food was excellent, but the ambiance could use some work. It was packed (see: excellent food), a bit noisy, and the decor was utterly nondescript. I wonder if they’d let me come in and decorate…

Sunday evening, my two favorite crazy people, also known as Mom ad Dad (hi mom!) took me to  Mt. Adams Fish House. They proceeded to act like children (I’ve always been the mature one) and showered me with gifts and love and unsolicited advice. Awww…

Perhaps due to my rapidly advancing age, I was really in chill mode for this birthday. No need for over-the-top celebrations or big parties, just…chill.

Am I the only one who’s not extra excited about this stuff any more? How did you celebrate your last birthday?

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I took a trip to New York City this past weekend to attend my good friend’s wedding. I hadn’t been to NY since–well, I don’t remember exactly, but it’s been at least 2 years. I love the city, but haven’t had the time or funds to make my regular pilgrimage, though I have been faithfully praying to the shopping gods on a regular basis.

After being “welcomed” by the rudest cab driver ever, I checked in with my friends and we got down to wedding business. I’ll spare you the details for the sake of privacy and interest, but my friend is a stylist and was surely the most all-out glamorous bride to hit NYC since Carrie Bradshaw at her non-wedding to Mr. Big. She was so beautiful I teared up a bit even though I promised myself I wouldn’t cry. I won’t show the whole look (though believe me, it was fabulous), but here are the Patricia Von Musulin lucite bracelets she wore. They looked like miniature ice sculptures–very heavy, very editorial, and all-out amazing!

It was chilly that morning, so I was glad I packed appropriately. I wound up wearing an H&M dress I purchased a few years ago (I actually wore it as a dress this time) with brown tights, boots, and my vintage Ewok vest. The forests of Endor* get cold, you know.

*Props if you’re enough of a sci-fi geek to understand that reference.

I also had waaaayyy too much fun eating at the reception brunch that followed the ceremony. Pain au chocolate and flaky french croissants? Count me in! Lovely pastel-colored cakes and cupcakes in different flavors, including pear almond, caramel opera cream, and red velvet? I’ll try ‘em all!

Man, I need to hit the gym-bo.

Yes, but did you go shopping?
Um, have we met? Is this your first time here? The answer, of course, is of course! I didn’t have much time, but my mission was clear: Hit Century 21, H&M, and Topshop.

Century 21 was a madhouse–there was an actual line to get to the women’s shoe department– and I know I threw my share of elbows once I got down to the Designer area. I found the most gorgeous pair of purple patent leather Miu Miu booties that just happened to be one size too small. I tried so hard to squeeeeze my feet into those bad boys, but it just didn’t work. I was extremely disappointed. I mean really, do you know what I could do with purple patent leather booties?

A lot, I tell you. A lot.

I intended to stop in at least one of the H&Ms in Soho, but got sidetracked by Zara, Mango, D&G, et. al. By that time, I was in one-track mind radar mode and determined to make it to Topshop, if for no other reason than to see if the NY outpost lived up to the extreme hype generated by its opening and the glorious piece of heaven that is the Oxford Street store in London.
The verdict? Meh. There was plenty to love, but the atmosphere of cameraderie and discovery that exists at the flagship location was lacking at the Broadway store.

Still, being the resourceful gal that I am, I made my way to the top-level shoe section, where I had plenty of fun reacquainting myself with much-missed brands like Office and Faith. I also managed to pick up a pair of red shoeties I had my eye on:

I consider red a neutral, so I’ll get plenty of wear out of them. Did you buy anything last weekend?

Thanks so much everyone who took the time to express sympathy about my cat. It sounds corny, but your comments really make a difference.

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