Sad Sandy

Seems strange in Southern California today with our sunny skies to imagine that our friends and family on the East Coast have just suffered such tragedy. Seeing so many pictures of power outages, severe flooding, and knowing our loved ones haven't even realized the worst of the damage to come is pretty devastating. Today is a time out.

Flooded subways

If you have a few extra bucks to spare, take a minute to donate online with the Red Cross, or you can donate $10 by texting REDROSS to 90999.

Stay safe East Coasters, our thoughts are with you!

All in the Name of a Good Pedi!

I've had my share of manicures and pedicures that run the gamut from the cheap nail place on the corner to high end spas on vacation. It's one of my favorites indulgences to partake. I love a massage even more, but that I'm stingier on treating myself to. Hint hint, facials too! I've had only a handful of nail treatments that stand out in my mind as "excellent" and ladies and germs, I have another one to add to this exclusive list of top notch pampering indulgences. It should come as no surprise that Burke Williams would treat a girl right from her head to her toes and while I had previously been treated to the delight that is their massage experience, I finally discovered what lies in the secret pedicure room and now I'm left daydreaming for more! Clearly I don't have pictures of this as that would impede on my priority of relaxation and melting into the chair, but I can paint a picture for you of what makes the Burke Williams Pedicure so outstanding and special!

1- A three person pedicure room. Ladies, and well healed gentlemen, you know it's not relaxing when you walk into a nail salon with 30 stations. Imagine the privacy of only two other people. It's soothing and lovely. Simply lovely.

2- When you sit down you are given this soft cloth full of warm oats to drape over your neck and just when you thought that felt oh so delicious they drape another larger towel sized one over your body so your lady bits don't poke out of your spa robe.

3- The spa foot tub. This is not an ugly plastic one, oh no, it's iridescent and glass and shiny- again, it's lovely. A little dates as it may be, but it's lovely none the less! The water temperature is perfect.

4- Sophia. That was my girl and she was an angel sent to Burke Williams from heaven to gently care for my soles. She had the softest touch, even with a file and callus remover(not that I need that!) that usually causes me a slight cringe- not in Sophia's hands. Her foot massage melted away my stress which as of late has been piling up.

5- Paraffin. MMMMHHHMMM. I love a little trip into the paraffin dip. Hot, a little too hot, but not painful. Paraffin= softness.

6- Nail polish trays. Sophia kindly asked me my preference in color and then brought over trays of color that might meet my standards and I selected OPI's Lincoln Park After Dark as we are no stranger to one another. Her polish application was also impeccable. Thank you Sophia!

7- Good magazines. Harpers Bazaar and House Beautiful.

This was a gift certificate from friends for my birthday and I have to say- boys, you done good! This was a real treat and I have to say with the pedicure being $50, it's not out of the question to make a repeat visit. Ladies- who's with me??

Godparents- Avengers Style

Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo Bitches!

Jews don’t really have godparents in the traditional sense. I had three godparents growing up and their roles were based on me referring to them as my godparents and them buying me awesome gifts rather them having the conventional Christian role of making sure my spiritual self was brought up in the church. I think Jewish godparents, at least for reform Ashkenazi Jews, just happen to be your parents closest peeps and they love you a little more than your parents’ other peeps.

My godparents, Marybeth, Shelley, and Barry are a perfect trifecta of awesomeness. Marybeth is my free-spirited godparent. She’s usual sans bra and told me when I was 14 that she wouldn’t ever smoke pot with me…until I turned 18 that is (fyi, this never happened). Shelley is my stylish godparent. She rocks Hermes scarves on her purses and wears Tod’s driving loafers. She’s also an artist who would buy me amazing gifts like Madame Alexander dolls and sign me up and pay for writing classes when I was in high school. She also bestowed to me her mother’s kugel recipe which garners me many an accolade to this day. My godfather, Barry, is an interior designer who taught me important life lessons like how you should refer to a couch as a sofa, odds work better than evens, and that the color red is actually a neutral.

I’ve learned many a life lesson from these valuable people in my life and I love them so much.  But, what if I had a whole crew? And, what if I could pick them? That would be awesome. The following is my list of people who I want to recruit to godparent me. Sort of like the Avengers, godparent style.  I haven’t seen that movie, but if it’s about what I presume it’s about, I think that’s a good comparison.

INA GARTEN


Could you even imagine if Ina Garten was your godparent? In my dreams, she’s taping a show and telling the tv audience that her goddaughter is coming to stay for the weekend. She’ll mention our special relationship, about how “uncle” Jeffrey is going to threaten to call the fun police on us because we always have such a fab time and then talk about what she’s going to make me that weekend. I think in my perfect Ina world, baked eggs provincial in the morning with scones, a lunch of her Sagaponack corn chowder with lobster rolls and for dinner, some amazing stew and dessert.

The camera will cut away to her preparing for my stay, mentioning that if you’re going to have guests, make sure you only invite the really special people in your life. She’ll set up a freshly laundered robe in the guest bathroom, lay out a new toothpaste and toothbrush in case I forgot mine and fluff the pillows on the guest room bed. Then she’ll wander around her garden, cut stem upon stem of her amazing hydrangeas and make an amazing bed side table arrangement.

When I walk in, on camera of course, I’ll put down my luggage so we can embrace. I’ve missed my godmother Ina. She’ll cheers me with Bellini’s made from fresh peach juice and the show will conclude with a shot of us sitting on Adirondack chairs toasting to the amazing weekend we have ahead of us.

I go to this godparent for: Cooking lessons, effortless entertaining tips and when I need a weekend in the Hamptons.

CORTNEY NOVOGRATZ

Does it get any cooler than Cortney Novogratz? In this fantasy I’m 15 years younger. Oldest Novogratz son Wolfgang and I are best friends, Bob and Cortney are like my second parents and I’m constantly over at their amazing home in the West Village. I call Cortney “Coco” because when I was little Cortney was too hard for me to pronounce. Sometimes I will come over and watch Coco sort through and pick fabrics and wallpapers and she’ll ask for my opinion.

The best times that we have together is when we wake up at the break of dawn on Sundays and drive to various flea markets in Brooklyn and little towns in Connecticut. Maybe we’ll go to Stars Hollow and pick through the goods at Mrs. Kim’s shop. Not sure if we’ll have enough time though.

Coco always encourages me to be myself and follow my instincts. As the Novogratzes say, in design, there are no rules and she has made me feel the same way about the use of my imagination and creativity.

I go to this godparent for: Funky design ideas, hugs, and when I need help getting an internship at Saatchi and Saatchi or some amazing design magazine.

Because we just can't get enough Cortney- watch her give paint color advice to BoS's own, Desiree! Who wouldn't want a godmother like this?!

KELLY CUTRONE

Kelly Cutrone scares me. Even if she was my godmother and I had known her since I was a baby, she would still scare me. I like this though. She would be my no-nonsense godmother. She’d cut through my bs’ing. I would call her whining because a boy didn’t like me and she would tell me suck it up because it’s f’ing Fashion Week!


I would stop by the offices of People’s Revolution and upon seeing me, she would take the headband I put a lot of thought into that morning off of my head, throw it on the floor and shake her head no. I would be a better person for it and I would also look better for it.

Again, Kelly wouldn’t take my crap. She’s not Ina or Cortney who would, respectably, bake me muffins or buy me an Ann Carrington piece of art to make me feel better. Kelly doesn’t have time for that. You know what she thinks would make me feel better, hours upon hours of hard work. Then, maybe if I’m really worthy, she would take me out to dinner where she would call the hot guy at another table over, tell him how amazing I am and he would hand over the digits.

Fact: The first time she uttered the phrase “If you have to cry, go outside” was to me on my 7th birthday when my cupcake fell on the kitchen floor.

I go to this godparent for: Cut-throat mentoring, fashion advice and front row seats to the Marc Jacobs show.

JONATHAN ADLER & SIMON DOONAN

In the world where Jonathan and Simon are my fairy godfathers, I spend most Sundays at their apartment in New York playing ping pong. Jonathan even had a custom ping pong paddle cozy crocheted for me with my initials on it. 

When ping pong time is done, Jonathan and I head to the pottery room where I work the wheel with grace and efficiency. Godfather Jonathan taught me how to work with clay when I was a child. We laugh when my bowl turns out lopsided, but, with a wink, he insists that it’s supposed to look like that and I feel much better. 

For Simon’s birthday every year Jonathan and I go to a special shop that creates custom fabrics. We play with different styles, designs and colors before finally settling on a design we’re both excited about and send it off to Liberty of London to have the shirt made. On a tag on the inside, there’s a secret message to my godfather telling him that I love him and always will. I can’t say the same thing for their dog, Liberace, because that dog has hated me since day one. Is he jealous of their love for me? I think so. 

I go to these godparents for: Lazy Sunday brunches, ping pong tournaments and discounts at Barneys.  

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There are many more people I could add to this fantasy list. Oprah, for one, comes to mind. But, that list is just that, fantasy. And to be honest, I’m quite pleased with the reality I have. 

Who are your fantasy godparents? 

Jar: Jarringly Delicious

As much as I want to be fancy and like fancy food and think one chefs foam is better than another chefs foam, I'm not. I keep it real. I admit to people that I haven't a slightest idea what a Veloute really is and still feel like I don't pronounce Charcuterie correctly. Whatever though. I'll try anything once (mostly), and if it tastes good, I'll eat it. 

I'm very fed up with these high brow restaurants serving these small, nothing of content, plates. I'm a meat and potatoes girl. If I'm going to pay a crazy amount of money for a meal, I want to leave feeling like I actually ate something. After my experience at Suzanne Tracht's Jar, I can say with complete lack of any food reviewing experience, that this was one of the best meals I have had in a very long time. 

My friend and I split a Gilt City offer, which if they have again, I suggest you scoop up. $115 got us each a cocktail, a choice of soup or salad (not to be confused with a Super Salad, which is what I thought they were saying for years when I was a child), a main course and a dessert. Through the special, we only had a small pick of what we could order as opposed to anything on the menu, but lucky for me, what they were offering is exactly what I would have ordered anyway. 

Let's start with the cocktails. I'm not a big drinker. Actually, I don't really drink at all. Alcohol tastes like...well alcohol. It's abrasive to me. It also turns my face beet red and makes my chest feel like it's caving in on itself, but every now and then, I try it again in hopes that my body doesn't reject it. The two choices we were given didn't appeal to me or my friend. Batting our eyelashes, we asked if substitutions were allowed. They weren't, but the server was so awesome, he gave us full reign of the cocktail menu. Friend ordered vodka on the rocks. The thought makes me queasy. I asked our amazing server what tastes the least like alcohol. He didn't really have an answer, but I decided on their Bug Juice. A-MAZE-BALLS. I could seriously become an alcoholic if these were made readily available to me. 

Bug Juice: hangar one raspberry vodka, lychee juice, pomegranate juice and fresh lime

 

I just met you, and this is crazy, but you're delicious. So, call me, maybe?

Next up was a squash soup. Unfortunately I'm not a real food blogger, so I don't remember what specific type of squash it was and then I ate it forgetting I was supposed to take a photograph. Whoopsie. But, don't worry, my friend took a picture of it so I just stole it from her Instagram. 

Warm, dark, and delicious

It was a dark squash and had what I think were fried shallots on top. It was so delicious and so perfect for a fall evening...even though it was probably 80 degrees at 8 at night. Big ups to the soup.

Finally, we got to my favorite part of the meal, the main dish. Without even considering the other option, which I think was a fish dish, I got the pot roast. There is something so All-American about pot roast. It's just so wholesome. I wanted to eat this pot roast while baking an apple pie and voting.  

I love you pot roast. You're my bestest friend evers.

Not on our prix fixe, but we went for it anyway were 3 side dishes: Asparagus, purple yams with crème fraîche and chives and, of course, french fries! The fries were really, really good. I'm a bit of a fry expert and these get my blessing. The asparagus was...well it was just asparagus. And finally, the purple yams. It was tasty, but didn't blow my mind. I would go for the creamed spinach or creamed corn next time. 

Roasted apple bread pudding, I like you, just the way you are. 

Needless to say I left feeling slightly sick, but in a good way. Feeling sick after eating McDonald's = not in a good way. Feeling sick after eating an incredible meal worth it's price = a good way. 

I love Jar. I think it was an incredible meal. I know Gilt offers deals there a lot, so take advantage. You will not be disappointed. FACT!

Also, sorry about the crap photography. I didn't want to be THAT PERSON and turn the flash on. Those people piss me off. They also then post that picture on Facebook to make other's jealous. That's not very nice of them. 

Viva la Jar! 

Fall frenzy!

I've never been apple picking, but it's been on my to do list for some time. I have major jealousy toward my East Coast friends who are partaking in what I have only read about- apple cider donuts. I love apple cider and who doesn't love a fresh donut?! My Facebook feeds indicate that pumpkin patches are also in their peak season and many of your children are taking very cute photos propped up on over sized pumpkins (you know who you are little cuties!) and now I'm craving pumpkin pie! Ah, indeed Fall is here and along with it has come an extremely busy and hectic pace that has kept me rather preoccupied. I'd like to track down an apple cider donut (if any of you in LA find one, please don't keep the secret to yourself) and reacquaint myself with my daily posting schedule- here's to hoping anyway!