Brown Turtleneck Sweater

NOLA

     

In New Orleans for work. Hoping to carve out an hour for French Quarter antiques and beignets. Image from here.

On the road again...

Back in London for work, and I miraculously had an afternoon off.  One of the local girls on my team gave us a quick two-hour (shopping) tour.  I rode the Tube, saw Harrod's, and had afternoon tea at The National Gallery. I had to rush back to a meeting, but you can't feel bad about a little sightseeing and some teacakes.

Easter in NYC

I have to be in NYC tonight for work, so I decided to take an early flight and enjoy the city a bit.  It's been a whirlwind: The MOMA, ABC Carpet & Home (WOW.), John Derian (oh the Hugo Guinness prints!), Chelsea Market, The Spotted Pig (Smoked Haddock Chowder and a glass of wine), Magnolia Bakery (yellow cupcake with chocolate frosting), and lots more meandering around.  It's been a little weird to be away from my family on a holiday, but I'll be home again soon.

     

I've been in LA for work this week. Not much time for the Internet, but I did stumble on Julia Rothman's new blog, Book By Its Cover (via Apartment Therapy - The Nursery). An illustrator and pattern designer, Rothman provides lots of graphic inspiration by featuring her favorite books in several categories, including: Design, Fine Art, Handmade, Children's, and Comics.

Back from a Mini-Break!

 

My mom, sister and I just got back from a much needed mini-vacation. We had four days of sun and fun in Mexico! No computers, no phones... just some girl talk, some shade-bathing, and more than a little champagne. Here's to hoping my vacation-induced calm lasts through the work week! The pool at our hotel (above) the lovely Riu Palace Las Americas.

One Good Cookie Shop

                   

When Bridget and I were in Brooklyn, we stumbled across the most darling bakery I've ever seen, One Girl Cookies. It was gorgeous inside (their website doesn't even begin to do justice to the place). I had a tiny carrot cake sandwich cookie (it was kind-of like a tiny whoopee pie, cake-like).  They Ship!

The Big Apple

         

Bridget and I hit NYC for the weekend, and we crammed a ton into a day and a half: the Guggenheim (loved the interior of the building, above), Rockefeller Center (I had never seen the tree before!), shopping (Soho, East Village), saw friends and relatives (found out my cousin Kate got a job at one of my favorite magazines, NYLON), even hit Brooklyn (Cobble Hill and Park Slope).

We had a very fun time, if I do say so myself.

Pinch Me!

I'm back in my hotel room for the night - and I just keep pinching myself! I seriously had the most unbelievable day. This conference has a ton of amazing speakers - and this morning's session started off with the one and only Colin Cowie, Lifestyle Designer and Party Planner to the Stars! He was so charming, very handsome, and he WOWed us with fantastic pictures of his events (like the wedding reception above, picture courtesy of his website). 

                  

For Dinner tonight, my colleague Jeff and I hit one of Miami's hot restaurants (and an affordable one at that)! Michy's is one of Gourmet Magazine's Top 50 Restaurants in 2006 - and the food was really great!  Top notch comfort food (I had a truffled polenta that was fantastic)! Michelle Bernstein, pictured above at her place, used to be the head chef at Azul (at the Mandarin Oriental). I have no idea how we got in - someone canceled or something.  But...oh yes. It gets better! Who was sitting at the table next to us?  That's right - Gloria Estefan! O eh, O eh! She looked fantastic.

                   

So I'm so giddy!  Conferences suck 9 times out of 10, but this one has been so fun! Every time I get bummed about work - I'm going to remind myself that occasionally this job allows me to do some fun things - and I'll remind myself of this day. 

Gotta go to sleep now - I'm getting up at 6 for the conference-scheduled SUNRISE YOGA ON THE BEACH.  Seriously - see what I mean??? 

Greetings from Miami

         

I flew to Miami today for a (really exciting Trends) conference (that I've been looking forward to for a while)!  Here all week.  Nothing like a little salty ocean air to put some color in your cheeks.

Sidewalk Inspiration

             

I was flipping through a recent issue of Gourmet (the hunt for Thanksgiving recipes is on!), and I saw a feature on Barcelona restaurants.  This picture from Lasarte really struck me....where have I seen that design before??? And then I remembered!  The relief is a copy of the sidewalks in Barcelona - I loved the pattern so much, I photographed it myself when Theo and I were there this summer: