Pimpin'

So tonight, I'm kicking these off my feet and we're heading out to see The Pimps of Joytime at DC9. Which, in addition to perhaps being the greatest named band of all time, is also just about the most funkalicious.

We found them in the middle of Snowmageddon, when our killer band we hired from Austin to play for an amazing launch party on our client's rooftop had to cancel once all their flights were cancelled (as well as everyone else's everywhere). In the absolute chaos leading up to that night (I was snowed in at our client hotel for two days: Eloise, plus Dark & Stormies), we came across these guys, and I danced around my room for two days of pure glee (plus Dark & Stormies). They couldn't make it either in the snow. But someday I will hire them to play just for me, perhaps for my birthday. Love.

So anyway. Go. Tickets are $10, I think $12 at the door.

Art Worth Dusting For

My office is covered in R. Nichols artwork. At our entrance is a 55" canvas called "Shopper"; my personal office has two of his signed DC pieces; my birthday invites are always R. Nichols. I even cook from The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook.* The fact that he's one of my BFFs does not take away from the fact that he is the coolest, most fashionable, most fantastic artist ever. Just ask the stationery people at Neiman Marcus, where I've seen normally genteel women in near fisticuffs over them (nevermind the time I nearly came to blows with a rather famous DC socialite over a few of his works. Preeeety sure she still hates me to this day for it. Awes).

So next week, on July 28, when Nick's original artworks go on sale here at noon sharp, I suggest you get there at 12:00:01, lest your favorite piece be gone (such as his special DC piece--he's based out of L.A. now, but grew up here). And trust me, go it will.

Here's your special sneak peek:





*And fine, that's a lie of fair proportions. It does look lovely on my cookbook shelf, however, next to Be My Guest, The I'll Take Manhattan JL Cookbook, RSVP and, of course, Silver Palette. All equally beautiful, all equally dusty. Not unlike this blog.

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.