The Front Row

In case your invite didn't arrive today...

Gossip for you...

Bliss Spa in DC opens July 8. Four treatment rooms, so if you want to be one of the first, you'll have to book EARLY (reservation line isn't open yet).

Christian Siriano will be here on May 15, as a VIP guest for Bethesda Row's style event called The Front Row. Good luck scoring a VIP ticket.

Speaking of, the event will be featuring fall fashion previews, style-focused book parties, trunk shows, designer appearances, and beauty events, from May 14-16. It's going to rock.

Harriet Kassman's 40% off clearance sale still has some goodies left--worth the trip to get a current season Armani suit for almost HALF.

Bruno Grizzo is coming to Hu's Wear on May 13, he of the fabulous Brazilian line.

That's it for now!

District Sample Sale: March 18

We're so excited about coming back to Georgetown for our fifth event! Hope to see you there!

5 Random Things About FB

I went to visit my hometown this weekend. It's a small (yet incredibly picturesque) little Jersey town about an hour from New York and Philadelphia, equally populated by farmers and commuters.

The pizza and bagels were worth the trip alone; the necklace I scored from a little store called Wears & Wears for $39 was the icing on the cake. And that was before I got to spend three days curled up with my three bestest friends that I've known since grade eight. That was just beyond compare.

Anyhoo, we went to a reunion of sorts, the kind that have been happening across the country apparently, courtesy of Facebook. I hadn't been back in about 15 years, so I wasn't even expecting people to remember me at all. We ended up having a great time, closing down our little redneck bar, rehashing memories with people from our collective past; sitting around the same tables around which we all used to sit, just with 80's hair.

So back to Facebook. It's such a weird sense of familiarity it gives, as we now know a whole new level of the mundane about each other, and we now chat with people instantly and quickly, and about so many random things. And the bonding it gives isn't all a complete facade. But there are a few stereotypes that seem to have been created as a result:

1.) Kissyface(book): That's where flirting with your ex or crush over FB IM crosses the line. Playing with fire, that one.

2.) FaceBFF: When you reconnect with someone you weren't that close to originally and become instant soulmates due to FB. You're pretty sure you never had a conversation with her EVER, and now she's telling you about her marriage and how much she can't wait to see you and she IMs you twice a day.

3.) Facebleh: When you see your FaceBFF in person and you're like, well, "meh."

4.) Facebuffoon: The guy (it's always a guy, usually a right-winger) who friends everyone in your elementary/middle/high school and tries to become the stud of your class. But it's 20 years later and you just don't want to have everything you do commented upon ("Hey girl! Lookin' good!"--UGH) and reviewed by the masses. Defriend immediately.

5.) Hatetagger: The girl (it's always a girl) who posts every great picture of herself, whether or not everyone else in the picture looks like crap. And always tags you (and everyone else), mainly so that she'll get as much exposure as possible. You'd defriend her but she counts her friends, and counts them every day, so she'll know it immediately and because she's a hater there will be hell to pay.

That being said, I've found some great people that I totally love keeping in touch with. Like you. Honest, I swear, you're none of the above. Really.

Tea for Four

So I've been a bit busy. Since my last post, I've been to L.A. twice, Miami once, and in my office about 80 hours a week. It's been a bit crazy. In good times, everyone wants to say they have a publicist; in bad times, they realize they need one. At least for now.

My thought has been to do a few recaps of my travels, as there have been some pretty exciting developments...

I was thinking about the fact that no matter what, I needed and wanted to write something. And somehow, while wandering and thinking, I made a left, and randomly found myself at tea with four people: one was a friend that I happened to be looking for, one was the legendary china designer Anna Weatherly.

She is just a gem and a half. And the amazing sweet potato petits fours were to die for.

Back in the day, I was quite the craftsperson: my first real job was for a craft publishing company, where you'd walk into the lunchroom and there would be a person knitting on the couch, a tableful of paints sprawled about (and me usually doing calligraphy on my lunch hour for extra money since my salary was a whopping $8.50 an hour).

Anyhoo, through her thick Hungarian accent, she enchanted us with some pretty great DC gossip, and then told us about what she sees as truly the end of the era of craftsmanship. Waterford is going under, Buccelatti Silver is seeing the last of their tradespeople (no machines there: it's a room full of men in their seventies, each with 50 years of experience under their belts, hammering away at each piece, inch by inch)-and did you see the article in today's Post about how brides don't think china is a necessity anymore? That can't be good for business.

So if you have a chance to see her, as she does a few personal appearances around town from time to time, definitely go, as she is a rare find in a world that's becoming less about art and more about just survival.

Breaking news!

I was all set to chat it up about the promo jar of Natura Bisse Diamond face cream that arrived at my office last week--that is literally the size of my head--but I just got word of the biggest sale ever:

The R. Nichols 5 and dime sale starts tomorrow, with everything $5.10, sold in packs of eight.

Dear lord. Get there while you can before it all runs out!!

My Hermes Tattoo

My life is a varied assortment of highs and lows (above and beyond any postpartum bitchiness I may or may not have inflicted on my BFF).

If you skimmed my closet it would be like, "Armani, Zara, Balenciaga, Target..." My current project, should it ever be completed, is crafting a macrame owl out of Pucci fabric. Vosges chocolates are a true passion, as is Cheez Whiz. I work in fashion (though it is DC, so "retail" might be a better term), yet have seen more Dead shows than you could shake a bamboo rainstick at. But somehow, it all works. Works for me, anyway.

Case in point: my Hermes tattoo.

It didn't happen on purpose. I was an 18 year old stoner who knew everything. I drew the above tattoo on a piece of paper one afternoon that may or may not have included a glass, a pin and a Yardbirds album, woke up the next morning, headed to Great Southern and ordered it up in the most painful place possible (yes, nothing but nerve and bone on that part of your foot there).

My much more proper sister (who if asked, will tell you that we grew up right next to Far Hills, though in reality, it was a farm town about an hour away) was simply appalled.

When my husband and I were married, I was a 24 y.o. stoner living in Northern California who didn't think we needed china or crystal.

Then about five years later, I found this:

...and fell in love. I've collected it piece by piece, and now proudly have service for three. If one person wants cappucino and one wants tea and only one wants a salad. It is Hermes (and looks lovely next to the framed poster from Oakland Mardi Gras '94).

After I had bought my first piece, a dinner plate, I flipped it over and found this:
...so, if asked, yes, it did hurt. And yes, it's Hermes.

Madame, your gown awaits...

Need a dress for the 20th? Of course you do.

Seriously: Put. That. Bridesmaid. Dress. Away. She promised that "You could really wear it again--definitely, I swear it."

She lied.

So plugging a bit here, but here are some options in the $350-$750 range:

Saja: beautiful gowns, fun colors (though the black one with the studded neckline is my fave). Trunk show with 10% off through this week at Ginger. $400-$500 range.

Nicole Miller: cute dresses that you actually could wear again (unlike your liarliarpantsonfire bridey friend's taffeta concoction that ran you four and a quarter, not counting the shower). Trunk show with 20% off this weekend at Imagine Fashion Apothecary. $350-$600 range.

Teri Jon: Higher up on the price scale, but pretty gowns that wear really well and are very reasonably priced for their quality. Also check out the 50% off gown rack, all at Harriet Kassman. $750 range for Teri Jon.

Oh, and while we're on the topic: Nanette Lepore will be in town for inauguration weekend. Keep your eyes peeled for her famed curly locks dancing around town.

Today's Obsession: Chahhming, Dahhling

I have a charm bracelet. Specifically, I have a Links bracelet that is made to hold charms. I also have charms.

For a while, I liked the bracelet on its own, and I just never got around to attaching said charms (all received during my 30th birthday weekend party on Middle Road in Palm Beach, in the epicenter of what will forever be known as The Gravy Train Era. But I digress.). Part of it is that I already have a jangly bracelet: a Kelly watch, the locket of which rattles around with each step. Point is, you can already hear me from a mile away when I'm sporting it (helpful to warn when I had a staff back in my corporate days).

My sister also was somehow able to finagle my grandmother's gold charm bracelet, which is just rattly and wacky and filled with treasures, some from flea markets, some from the world over. So even though I like my lil' Links, it just doesn't compare. Again, I digress, this time with jealousy.

But now that Washington is--for at least the next month--the cool city, I may actually get around to attaching said charms to said bracelet, simply so that I have the excuse to buy this one and janglejangle it around. Also available in White House and Washington Monument charms, with prices ranging from $345 - $1035, all available in yellow or white gold. Custom commissioned and available exclusively at Charles Schwartz & Son at the Willard and Mazza.

Sneak Peak: R. Nichols Spring 2009

For Spring, Nick is going fabulous...
You saw it here first!

Cathy Alter at Ginger

Cathy Alter, the bestselling Georgetown-based author, will be signing her book Up For Renewal at Ginger this Thursday, January 8, from 6-8. Her book, which has drawn rave reviews from People magazine, The Today Show and Allure, traces the year she spent following the advice from glossies including Cosmo, Glamour and InStyle, and serves as a primer on everything from how to wrap a sandwich to understanding Jennifer Aniston's split ends fetish. It's a year spent making goals and keeping most, so if you're about to break your first New Year's resolution (and who isn't), this event is perfectly timed to serve as inspiration.

She is also the source from which blogger Robyn Okrant culled the idea to heed Oprah's advice for a year in her blog and upcoming book, Living Oprah, which has recently been in the news.

Cathy's launch party drew a slew of boldfaced names, so be sure to peer over your signed copy to see who else is in attendance.

Cocktails and cupcakes served.

Cotton House Mustique, Luxury Spa (SEO)

So while I've been catching up on blogging, I was also emailing someone here in town who is getting ready to head to Mustique, my favorite vacation place in the whole wide world. My husband and I have been talking about it lately, specifically, trying to figure out how to get back there. But with two small children, it's pretty impossible to take a vaca over 4 hours away and for more than 72 hours.

Then I opened up my blog email addy, which I haven't touched in months, and there was an email from the PR guy for the Cotton House, asking me to list it in a previous entry as "Cotton House Mustique, Luxury Spa" to help their SEO campaign. I've done it twice now in this entry, so they should be pleased.

Since I started working on my own two years ago, I've had zero vacation time. Literally, zero. I've maybe put my laptop down for 3 weekends total, tops. But the time has come. So while the Cotton House Mustique, Luxury Spa (3!) is off the table, we just booked a weekend in February for a close second that's stateside: Acqualina in Sunny Isles Beach. Best. Spa. Ever. And best vaca on this coast we've ever had.

It's not Mustique, but a weekend away in a warm place at a 5 star will certainly do.

This just in(Style!)...

Amongst the Inaugural festivities, Neiman Marcus is jetting in Hal Rubenstein of InStyle mag and Ken Downing, NM's national fashion director, for a runway show and lunch on the 19th. Ali Wentworth hosts, and they're never shy about the goodie bag stuffings for events where they call in the bigwigs. It's invite only, so start calling your contacts now...