This morning, running late as usual, I ran into John Korpics, art director of InStyle magazine. I've seen him before, but couldn't get up the courage to say hello. This time, I introduced myself and we chatted a bit. He's a heavyweight in the magazine world, especially for his work at Esquire.
Chef Ritsuko Yamaguchi at Kyotofu uses soy milk in her wonderful chocolate-soufflé cupcakes. They're light and moist with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Good enough for New York magazine to name it Best Cupcake. Offically my favorite new neighborhood spot, located at 702 Ninth Ave. btw 49th and 48th streets.
As ICFF wraps up in NYC, I've been thinking about my own creativity and inspirations. Lately, I've been into Kelly Wearstler. I love her use of graphics and prints. Now, more than ever, design seems to everywhere and is accessible to everyone.
The FEED bag is a joint project between Lauren Bush, Honorary Spokesperson, and the United Nations World Food Programme. $34 from the sale of each bag goes to FEED one hungry child in school for one year. The bag is fully reversible - one side is made of brown sacking and the other side is made from white canvas and has lots of useful pockets. Find out more at the WorldFeedbag.org website or buy it from Amazon.com.
On of my favorite things to do during the summer is the Bryant Park film festival. There's something about sitting under the Manhattan sky... reminds me alittle of home. Note: There will be a crowd. Get one of your friends to set up a blanket and picnic. The movies usually start around 8pm, but be there by 5:30! Like everything else here, too many people, so little space.
Most people don't pay attention to the opening movie title sequences, but someone put time and effort to create these "mini movies." For example the sequence for Psycho, was created by Saul Bass, a legendary graphic designer and Academy Award-winning filmmaker. His work includes sequences for The Man with the Golden Arm, North by Northwest, and Vertigo.
I'm sure everyone saw the season finale of Grey's Anatomy last night, titled "Didn't We Almost Have It All." I love that Chistrina didn't get married. One, it didn't play into the stereotype that all woman want to get married, and two, that no matter what we cannot deny our true selves. The scene where Meredith helps Christina get out of her wedding dress was brilliant. It was endearing and truthful. Now, I can't wait to see what happens next season.
I'm also obsessed with New Yorker, Ingrid Michaelson and her song, "Keep Breathing," which played during the closing scenes.
I've recentely decided to volunteer for Big Brothers Big Sisters. I'd been thinking about this for while, and even now the time commitment seems to be overwhelming. But I know that it'll all be worth it. I'm still going through the application process and hope that I will be accepted into the program. I remember when I was a little girl, I asked my mother if I could have a sister. She said, "No." I guess she was done with having kids. I already had two younger brothers, but I wanted a girl. This is my opportunity to have a little sister, even if it's not what I originally thought I wanted.
Submissions are now being accepted for an upcoming book called "V!VA List World: 333 Most Loved Travel Experiences" due to be published in April 2008. Viva Travel Guides are looking for 500-700 word articles and / or photographs about the most amazing travel experiences. Been to a place or had an experience so exhilarating that- if given the opportunity again- you'd conceivably plan your entire trip around it? Know of an exotic nook on the planet that we don't, or traveled a known hotspot like the Taj Mahal in a way no one else has? Can you tell your story in such a way that it takes other travelers there without ever leaving their chairs? If so, your piece may be V!VA List worthy! Please note that there is no payment other than a proportion of royalties after the event, but this is a great opportunity for talented upcoming writers to get their stories published. To find out more information, or to pitch a story idea, please contact: Paula Newton, paula@vivatravelguides.com. This post is from Ed 2010.
Last night seemed like the perfect night to go to the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. I wasn't the only one who thought this, we waited in line for almost an hour. It was well worth the wait! I highly recommend the Shack burger. The restaurant was conceived and developed by Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, which maintains a variety of restaurants in the Union Square area. The building was designed by SITE, with signage by Pentagram's Paula Scher. Love her!
"Design is not making beauty, beauty emerges from selection, affinities, integration, love." —Louis Kahn, Architect
On Monday, the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Anna Wintour hosted it's annual Costume Institute Gala, also know as THE party of the year in the fashion world. Big name starlets like Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, Lindsay Lohan, Ziyi Zhang, Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, Scarlett Johansson and Kate Moss and big name designers like Valentino Garavani, Marc Jacobs, Narciso Rodriguez, Tom Ford, Stella McCartney and Nicolas Ghesquière strutted their respective stuff on the red carpet. Photos: above, Zlyl Zhang (from Paper magazine); below, Lauren Davis with Ludwig Heissmeyer (from the NY Times).
I'm on the computer all day, music is in constant rotation. Here's who I'm into now: Au Revoir Simone (above), David Gray, Charlotte Gainsbourg (below), Death Cab for Cutie, and Mary J. Blige.
I can't wait to see Paris, je t'aime, which is about the plurality of cinema in one mythic location: Paris, the City of Love. The two-hour film consists of eighteen five-minute shorts. Each written and directed by a different person and devised around the same theme, "Love in Paris." The cast includes: Fanny Ardant, Juliette Binoche, Steve Buscemi, Willem Dafoe, Gérard Depardieu, Marianne Faithfull, Ben Gazzara, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Bob Hoskins, Olga Kurylenko, Aïssa Maïga, Emily Mortimer, Nick Nolte, Natalie Portman, Gaspard Ulliel, Miranda Richardson, Gena Rowlands, Ludivine Sagnier, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Rufus Sewell, Leonor Watling, Elijah Wood and others.
Last night I was taken to Barnes and Nobles as sort of a date. We were there for hours and of course I couldn't resist browsing through the magazine section. Although torn and reluctant (I'm on a budget), I purchased Paris Vogue for $15. I don't speak or read French, but maybe this is a good start!
I know you've seen the new Saks shopping bags around town. Designer, Michael Bierut chopped up the new logo for Saks Fifth Avenue into 64 squares and rearranged them in different combinations on bags, boxes, ads and signage. “We wanted something that would be immediately identifiable across the street or through the windows of a moving subway car, and that no one would throw away,” he says. “Blowing up the logo and rearranging the fragments in a million different ways on a grid made the identity much more dramatic.” Regardless of whether it’s on Fifth Avenue or in the Houston Galleria Mall, Saks is a definitive New York store; the grid refers to the city’s street plan, and the fragments represent the frenzy of its street life. “It’s a metaphor for the larger-than-life experiences you can find on block after block in New York City,” Bierut says.
American Apparel started it's own newspaper and radio station, Viva Mexico City in June 2006. The paper is available in most American Apparel stores and features stories that tie into the brand.
I know the clothes are great, but have you seen Uniqlo paper? I love it when brands expand their vision to print. See next post.
With DVR I rarely find myself watching commericals, but for this particular ad, my roommate made sure we didn't skip. It had us both cracking up on the couch. Click here to watch.
NYLON magazine introduces it's second book, Pretty: The NYLON Book of Beauty. This book expands on the magazine's original brand of coverage, which goes beyond make-up application and dry step-by-steps, to give a portrait of beauty as NYLON sees it. Inspired ideas, whimsical illustrations, and cheeky text will have readers wide eyed and flush cheeked without opening a single product. Signature looks and hairstyles of legendary stars of the stage and screen will be shown, with tips on how to re-create them.
