September 2010
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Ralph Lauren Pink Pony / 100 Bloggers
A few weeks ago, I was beyond honored to be asked to participate in Ralph Lauren’s 100 Bloggers Unite Against Cancer campaign (other participating bloggers include the remarkable women behind Sugarlaws, Refinery29, and Nitrolicious).
This is the 10th anniversary of Pink Pony - Ralph Lauren’s campaign developed to raise awareness and funds in support of the fight against cancer and...
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Scarpasa Soiree / Fabulous Flats
Yesterday evening, Francesca and I swung by a party being hosted by Morris-King for Scarpasa, an online shoe retailer specializing in low-heeled and flat footwear (the Bobbsey Twins thing was unintentional). As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been trying to make a move away from my skyscraper platforms ever since my foot surgery in January of ‘09 (my heel-wearing ways led to the...
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Chicken Cacciatore / Rich & Rustic
Chicken cacciatore is a great way to start embracing fall’s rich, rustic flavors: it’s filling, easy to prepare, lovely to look at…and costs about $10 for a meal that serves 2 with plenty of leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. (Chicken cacciatore, if you’re interested, is also referred to as “hunter’s stew”; sometimes made with rabbit, the dish is...
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Cipriani / Bellinis
Wednesday Happy Hour at Cipriani in Grand Central - sister restaurant to the birthplace of the Bellini - with Nadine Jolie. Go HERE to learn how to make these delicious things (by which I mean Bellinis, not Nadine Jolies) yourself.
Grand Central stresses me out (too…many…people), but I still think it’s a pretty incredible/beautiful/awe-inspiring place. It was also,...
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Urban Problem-Solver / Bike Shelf
I’ve heard lots of my bike-riding friends complain about what a pain it can be to keep a bike in the city (there’s no room in the hallway, landlords won’t let you leave it on the landing, and nobody in NYC has any closet space whatsoever), and this Bike Shelf from Knife & Saw solves the problem perfectly…and elegantly. It keeps your bike off the floor, and also makes...
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Wine Jell-O / Elegance Squared
When it comes to Jell-O, I suppose this is pretty much as refined as it gets…which is to say, not very refined at all. But fun!
To make your own: pour 1/4 cup cold water, 2 packages unflavored gelatin, 1 tbsp lemon zest, and 3 cups of red wine into a pot and simmer until the gelatin dissolves. Pour into wine glasses and let set; top with whipped cream.
Recipe via Cooks.com; Image via...
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Fun With Jell-O / Jell-O Is Always Fun
So yesterday I had cause to eat Jell-O for the first time in a long time, and it reminded me: I totally love it. Mostly the slurping-through-the-teeth part.
When I was little, my grandma used to make strawberry Jell-O with banana slices floating in it, and that’s still my go-to classic…but there are lots and lots of interesting twists you can put on the stuff (most of which...
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So How's The Healthy(er) Living Going?
Great, actually!
You may recall that around this time last month, I decided to lay down a few health-related resolutions. First, the exercising: I am actually doing quite well at this, making at least three trips per week to the David Barton gym on the UES. The space is beautiful, airy and peaceful – a completely different world from the hyper-stylish, awesomely chic Astor Place location, but...
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Try This Tuesday / Plastic Bag Storage
Of course we all know that we should be taking reusable tote bags to the market or drugstore…but sometimes you just end up with a kitchen cabinet overflowing with plastic bags. A great way to organize your plastic bag collection: stuff them into an old tissue box, and they’re ready to go whenever you need one! (Folding them accordion-style rather than “stuffing” them works...
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Harem Pants / Yes Or No?
I’m going to spoil it for you and tell you that the answer is probably “no.” - The Frisky (via The Gloss)
Yeah yeah yeah, fine fine fine, so I’m in the minority here…but I don’t really have a problem with harem pants (this should be unsurprising to you, given that I also don’t have a problem with pigtails, rompers, or visible underthings). I mean, I...
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Cozy / Gorgeous
One of my favorite looks this fall: chunky cowl scarves in neutral colors with amazing details. Luckily, Etsy is full of them.
Clockwise from top left: Amberae’s Grey Button-Up Cowl (with huge buttons; $55); Caramel & Cream Hand-Knit Lace-Up Cowl ($65); GNits Cowl Neckwarmer ($30); Two-Tone Snood Cowl Wrap (with toggle detail; $68); Love & Knit Fog Loop Cowl ($35); Aztec...
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Scarf Season Is Almost Upon Us / Yay
Excellent news, since there’s no simpler way to look pulled-together than by topping your outfit off with a gorgeous, slouchy scarf. And this Woven Tassel Scarf by Topshop ($30) is just about as cute as they get.
Original Article
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Oh, Young / First Shoot Ever
I just yanked my old portfolio out of storage to snag some pics a colleague requested, and came across this: my very first headshot from my very first shoot, when I was 12.
I think I was the only girl in my elementary school who didn’t want to be an actress when she grew up: I was not performative at all, and was usually the one sitting in the audience at my friends’ plays with an...
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Cooking For Others: Barely Legal Egg Salad & Bacon...
By Cara of Big Girls, Small Kitchen
EVENT: Grizzly Bear at Governor’s Island
WEATHER: Rain
PARTY SIZE: 2
TYPE: Stealth Picnic
MENU: Egg Salad, Arugula & Bacon Wraps; Mustardy String Beans with Pickled Shallots; British Biscuits
Whenever I go on vacation, my mom gives me a strict warning. “Be careful,” she says. “Really.” Her words may not be dissimilar from...
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Lazy Lady Shepherd's Pie
The first rule of Shepherd’s Pie is that it must use up your leftovers in a very delicious way. The second rule of Shepherd’s Pie is that it must be extremely easy to make. And this one is even easier than that.
This is just a sort of rough layout of what to do; feel free to throw in whatever other vegetables you might have handy (mushrooms, for example, would be a nice addition),...
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Happy Birthday, Kendrick!
I only used so much frosting because I love you so very much.
Original Article
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Off To Dorrian's!
It’s Kendrick’s birthday next week, so we decided to spend tonight recapturing our youth at that pillar of my high school education, Dorrian’s, with a couple of our buddies.
I thought I’d pay tribute to bygone days by donning this sort of ridiculous-looking outfit: my much-loved Old Navy button-down paired with a Necessary Objects pleated miniskirt that I originally...
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Reluctantly Awake
But very, very cozy.
Happy Saturday!
Original Article
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I Think A Reasonable Response Here Would Be To...
I have a thing about bugs. You know this by now.
What you may not know is that we have a little flying beetle problem in our kitchen (they’re not cockroaches, they’re actual flying beetles, which is even harder for me to deal with because at least I know that cockroaches do not want to eat me).
Once or twice a month, one of them wriggles its way into our apartment from the tree...
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Alright, Time To Get Green / Aladdin
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Aladdin. All opinions are 100% mine.
Among my many less-than-lovely qualities: I haven’t always been the greenest of people. I try to re-use my to-go containers and save my plastic bags rather than throwing them out…but I very rarely bring a tote bag along with me to the grocery store, and I’m a frequent purchaser of all...
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Random Objects Of Affection
A few completely unrelated things that I’m loving at the moment:
Clockwise from top left: Mia Tallulah over-the-knee (yeah, I think I may have to try this trend) boots ($299); Candy corn ($5.99); Marc Jacobs Petal To The Metal Natasha purse ($428); The smell of fresh hay (via the Paddywax Classic New Mown Hay candle, $20); Marc by Marc Jacobs Strass Owl stud earrings ($58); Schaller...
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Want To See A Truly Messy Apartment?
This is a truly messy apartment.
We spent this week assembling a new wardrobe (for me) and a new dresser (for Kendrick), and in the process decided to drag out - and sort through - every single thing in the world that we own (partially to make moving large pieces of furniture a little easier, partially to reduce the volume of crap we have to stuff back into our new acquisitions).
Not so fun for...
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Crack Pasta / Actually Addictive
My god, is this pasta - a variation on a recipe called “Crack Pasta” submitted by reader Luisa - ever good. I made it for Kendrick and myself last night, and at 11PM I was still sort of pacing back and forth between couch and refrigerator, eating bits and pieces out of our Tupperware with my fingers. Since I’ve modified the recipe somewhat over time, I thought this bore a...
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Cantaloupe & Basil / Fresh, Fab Starter
Last night, at the Trump Soho Spa opening, I picked up one of these pretty little things, expecting it to contain something that would leave me cross-eyed and prepped for a crippling headache the next AM. But nope: the shot glasses were filled with chilled cantaloupe soup topped with basil puree, and I wanted to take the entire tray of ‘em home with me.
I haven’t made cantaloupe...
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Meet Cuddles
OK, will somebody please rescue this dog? Because either I’m going to end up with three little yappies running around the house, or Virgil is SOL and headed straight to grandma and grandpa’s (I kid, I kid).
Seriously, though: his name is Cuddles, and he is a 3 or 4 month old purebred shih tzu whose owners abandoned him because he was sick. He’s 100% healthy now, is...
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The Spa At Trump SoHo / Love It
My experience with spa-going, sadly, isn’t particularly extensive; I’ve only been maybe a handful of times. So I don’t have an enormous frame of reference for what to expect, but I’ll tell you what I expected from one with the name “Trump” attached: something involving gold leaf, crystal, and marbled everything. But the Trump SoHo’s new spa, which I got...
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Save The Assistants / Interview with Lilit Marcus
I am friends with Lilit Marcus. She is a great writer, is fun to work with, and is an all-around fantastic person.
But before I was friends with Lilit and was aware of her general fantasticness, I knew who she was, because she is the mastermind behind a little blog that you might have heard of called Save The Assistants. The blog has been turned into an equally fascinating book by the same name,...
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#1 Without-A-Doubt Fashion Week Pick
Why, oh why oh why, is there no event in my life to which I can wear something like this Marchesa?
…Maybe Wedding Ceremony, Take 2?
Image via Elle.com.
Original Article
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Cheap (?!) Chandeliers
You may be aware of my long-standing chandelier fetish, but as of yet I’ve been unable to purchase one due to the fact that they cost about as much as my first car (RIP sparkly teal Dodge Shadow).
Presenting, from left: the Gypsy Multicolored Chandelier ($65) and the Mini Bottle Chrome Chandelier ($99), both from High Fashion Home.
These are way more kitschy than elegant, of course, but...
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Pink Ribbons & Personality
I wrote the below comment (it’s been lightly edited for clarity’s sake) in response to this comment thread, left below this post.
Hey there –
First, Donna: where have we met? Thank you for saying such nice things about me based on our encounter, and I’m sorry if you feel that I’ve let you down. And thank you also, Jane, because I do appreciate it so much when my readers speak up on...
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Mom's Spinach Lasagna
When I was about 14 years old, I suddenly decided that I wanted to be a vegetarian for no particularly good reason other than I thought it was sort of grown-up and glamorous-sounding. In the years since I have obviously returned to my carnivorous ways, but my brief stint in the land of vegetables had a happy byproduct: my mother made me spinach lasagna all the time.
This beauty is easy,...
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Reader Question / Distressed Wood
Q. Hey Jordan,
Your most recent post detailed that really awesome vintage DIY furniture project – I have another question about some vintage-y décor.
You wouldn’t happen to know where I can find slabs of distressed wood to serve as photo frames, would you? And by “frame,” I guess I more so meant like a mount that I could paste photos/images onto. The wood in this photo is almost what I’m talking...
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Sighs Aplenty / Petroleum & Plastic
Friday night I made a (very delicious) dinner of chicken thighs with artichokes, summer corn, garlicky red potatoes, and heirloom tomato salad, which I would have enjoyed enormously had I not seared off three of my fingertips during the cooking process. What happened: I went to take the lid off of the pot to add the artichokes, completely forgetting that the thing had been sitting in the stove (at...
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Vintage Revivals / Tin Foil Furniture
Love this idea from Vintage Revivals (via LifeHacker): using just tin foil and Mod Podge, you can create the appearance of metal leafing on an old piece of furniture.
Step-by-step instructions are HERE.
Thanks to reader Ilana for the tip!
Original Article
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Speaking Of My LA Apartment...
This is (a very sunburned, post-cross country road trip with Dad) me in my very first apartment in West Hollywood (note the aforementioned Ikea furniture). I lived in this apartment, on Martel just south of the Sunset Strip (and within walking distance of one of my favorite haunts, El Compadre), for only two years before hopping over the hill to a house in the Valley.
The place was fairly small...
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Three More Things
After the jump, three more things that I spotted on last weekend’s trip and loved (but didn’t buy):
Jonsberg Vase ($39.99; would look great set on the floor next to a ’60s-style couch like this one)
Leende Carafe ($9.99; for your bedside table) paired with matching water glasses (which they sell in the store, but I couldn’t find online); Skalig Serving Plate ($9.99;...
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Ikea! / Black-and-White Pillows
I haven’t been to Ikea since I furnished my LA apartment seven (yikes) years ago, and back then I had a car, which made the whole excursion infinitely more pleasant. Not that it wasn’t pleasant this time, but…
OK. It was sorta hell. That place (I went to the one in Red Hook) is BIG. And those boxes are HEAVY. But Mom came along to keep me company, so that was nice!
Another...
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No Shows. Just Parties.
In this video from the Robert Verdi Acuvue Suite (in the Luxe Lounge), I lay out my approach to Fashion Week (in a nutshell: while it’s all very fun stuff, I sorta prefer things like this to things like this).
P.S. Apologies for the “having a faaaahbulous faaaahbulous time” comment - repeated declarations of fabulousness seem to be a byproduct of proximity to Fashion...
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Breakfast Inspiration / Exactly What I Want,...
This is pretty much a perfect breakfast, in my world (well, the addition of a croissant might elevate it even further): eggs scrambled up with leftover mashed red potatoes (skins still on) and about 1/4 cup of grated Swiss cheese, and topped with some crumbled-up applewood-smoked bacon and a few avocado slices (and maybe a touch of sour cream).
P.S. Check out my cute new $4 plates from Ikea!...
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Republic & Riesling
Friday afternoon, I met Daily Beast contributor Karen at Republic, in Union Square, for a little white wine and gossip. This was my first time meeting Karen - she’s usually based in New Delhi - and she is both fantastic and fascinating.
Republic is one of my top go-to restaurants for an inexpensive, (usually) quick, delicious meal: the sauteed pork dumplings pictured above were just $4...
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Billions of Bracelets
I love how piled-on bracelets look. I also love that you can hear me coming from a mile away when I wear every piece of jewelry I own at once.
From top: Vintage bracelet ($3; purchased in Cold Spring); Anzie Flower Bracelet in jade & white topaz; Tuleste Market silver bangle; Purple bead peace sign bracelet.
Anzie & Tuleste Market samples generously provided by manufacturer.
Original...
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LiQWD Giveaway Winners!
After the jump…
Kristy & kissed_and_told (via Twitter).
Congrats, you two! Email me your addresses so I can send you your fabulous prize packages!
Original Article
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Onassis Event / I Met Lady Gaga
Well, not really. But I met a very lovely impersonator!
Last night, Kendrick and I headed down to Greene Street (in the rain, hence my hair) for the opening of Onassis’s flagship store. The look of the line is sort of J.Crew as re-imagined by a WWII sailor who has a lady in every harbor. Very nautical, very sexy…and very nicely priced (sweaters, for example, hover around the $100...
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Eugenia Kim Knit Headbands / Lock & Mane
Say hello to my wintertime obsession (yeah, I’m jumping the season - so sue me: I’m excited for coziness): Eugenia Kim knit turban headbands, courtesy of fabulous hair accessory site Lock & Mane. I bought Lulu (far left; $70), and cannot wait for her to arrive…or for the weather to turn chilly enough for her to be worn constantly.
I also think these headbands make...
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COR Silver Soap / Maybe Use Sparingly
OK, so this definitely falls into the Luxury Purchase category, but sometimes we all need a little luxury, no? The gift bag for the Ted Gibson Cocktails & Couture party that I attended the other night contained a sample of Cor Silver Soap, which contains something called “nano-silver”…and retails for a jaw-dropping $125 a bar. Lord.
A price tag like that would generally make...
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Wednesday / Produce & Pillows
Wednesday began at the gorgeous, gorgeous Whole Foods up on 97th and Columbus. It was tough not to shop while we shot - the place was absolutely overflowing with rainbow heirlooms, bright-pink wild salmon, to-die-for parmigiana, and hundreds of other things that I wanted very much to eat. (The fact that there is no Whole Foods - or Trader Joe’s, for that matter - anywhere near our...
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A Surprise Guest / Bonjour, Butterflies!
Look who showed up just as we began the last shot of the day! I almost never get nervous in front of the camera anymore, but I have to admit: once I spotted Kendrick watching me on the monitor, a few fluttery creatures made their way into my stomach :)
Original Article
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Street Style / New Mom
Spotted on the street today during the StriVectin shoot: a new mom with exactly the kind of stroller style I hope to sport someday. Felix (who also works on a Meredith program called My First Baby) and I loved Elin’s bohemian outfit, and stopped her and her daughter, Rachel, for a quick photo session.
Get Elin’s look: Three Dots skirt ($118), J.Crew cardigan ($49.50), American...
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You Already Own This Menu Holder
I love this idea, spotted at yesterday’s lunch at Le Pain Quotidien: quartered loaves of stale bread repurposed as unique, rustic menu (or wine list) holders.
Original Article
