I Love This Blog

What a great blog. Friends, I encourage you to read it. K. Strate, thanks for sharing. And, Ree, thanks for reminding me how important it is to give my own blog some love more often.

Photo credit: Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman

Fall Flung

I'm somewhat uninspired this fall, what with my relocation to California and the year of perpetual summer (plus, my Vogue September issue STILL hasn't come). Now, don't get me wrong, California is inspiring...the weather just doesn't support a seasonal wardrobe change. In spite of the fact I now live in yoga clothes and don't brush my hair, I still love a good fall fashion shopping spree. This year, I thought I'd give you my list so you can go out and prep for the cold weather and I can live vicariously. Enjoy!


Leather - Opera length gloves (please wear with short or 3/4 sleeves, not dresses). T-shirts. Mini skirts. Tailored jackets. Just get something.

Wide-legged trousers - Thank you Celine.


Camel blazer or coat - Go the menswear route. Or unexpected with peekaboos.


Red - Granted, I posted a bathing suit. But this one is so beautiful you could wear it as a tank under a cardigan and pants.


Crossbody - This is the ultimate, and believe me, I've been looking forever.

Cozy knitwear - My absolute favorite look of all is this sweater and skirt combo. Give it a minute to load.


Wrap belt and floor-length skirt - You don't have to wear these together. This epitomizes fall for me.

BTW, last year's list is still pretty relevant - if you need a reminder of my forecasts for Fall 2009, revisit this post.

Hooves and Hornblowers

New York is a city of old and new, big and small, dirt and diamonds. I love it. Here are a few of my most recent finds – include them on your next itinerary:

JoJo - A gem of fine dining. Steep Upper East Side townhouse. Romantic and relatively well-priced for the Jean-Georges Vongerichten family of restos.

The Crangi Family Project - An amazing jewelbox. This place is not to be missed. I could have bought every single piece in there if I'd recently won the lottery.

Rooftop bar at the Met - We were lucky enough to be in town while the Big Bambu exhibit was up. Amazing views of the city overlooking Central Park. The bar is seasonal so check the schedule before you go.

The High Line - Go in the morning with your coffee and a lavender doughnut. Walk the whole thing. Start at the north end. Donate and get a cute enviro-friendly tote bag.

Meatpacking shopping - Take the stairs down at the end of the High Line. Cross the street. Shopping heaven. Jeffrey. Vince. Tory Burch. Stella McCartney. DVF. The Pratique Guide looks fun, and there's a free guide for the taking too.

Sunshine Girl

Despite her super dry sense of humor, penchant for the offbeat and gorgeously vampy red hair, I still think of Spare-Time Shooter, JS colleague and friend Ashley Harp as a sunshine girl. I think her photographs are most telling – she always captures just the right light. Check out her blog, which features photos from a recent visit to my new city, my dog, and lots of other pretty stuff. If you want to die laughing over how hard it was to trek across country to take these shots read about it on her other blog.

Frank

I was just sitting next to this guy at the airport I could have sworn was Frank from The Bachelorette. Frankly (tee hee), he was super skinny, kinda smelly, but weirdly cute. I think Frank has great potential to be a star - I have no idea what his talent is, but to me he just has that "it" factor or je ne sais quoi (despite his wife beater-esque T on last week's episode). Watch for him.

Note: Now that I see what a big, fat loser Frank is, I kind of regret this post. I'm leaving it, just sayin'.

Mickey and Minis

I so dreaded going to Orlando on business. I thought, what can be worse than a humid, alligator-infested, land-locked Florida city? Well folks, I was wrong. What I discovered is Orlando is kinda cool. Sure, it still has mosquitoes the size of dogs, lightning (lots of it) and the aforementioned alligators, but it has some other neat stuff too. Here's a quick download from my very brief trip:

• Thornton Park - A charming, tiny downtown among a stunning neighborhood of parks, lakes and cute cottages and bungalows. Stop for a drink or two and stroll.
• College Park - Another park-themed neighborhood, this area is a little more grungy than Thornton Park, but still has a lot of character. I was especially fond of the neighborhood's 50s-era Publix, which took me back to my 70s-era childhood. Jack Kerouac lived here.
  
• Outlet malls - There is some darn good shopping here, including one of the few outlet malls in the U.S. with European labels. Dior, Ferragamo, MaxMara, Fendi, Marni, Etro.
  
• Disney, Sea World and other worlds of fun for those who still like to wear mouse ears (like me).
  

For more ideas, check out this 2006 NYT story on the area. Guess I'll stop being a travel snob.

Credit goes to thorspecken.blogspot.com for the amazing Publix illustration.

Oh, oh Domino

The best thing to happen to me since Domino unexpectedly shut its doors (and I got a crummy Glamour subscription in its place) is today's discovery of doppelganger Lonny Magazine. I'd heard this was out there but kept forgetting the site, so clearly I'm living under a rock. Oh so exciting!! The best part, you can scroll over items pictured or ads to click directly to the web site to buy.