Lucy and Cator's Punchy Pernod Dinner Party

People may remember several years back when Lucy and I hosted a Pernod party. A friend in the liquor industry owed me a favor and sent over ten cases of Pernod and a waiter. The night was a success! But we had about 9 cases of Pernod left to consume. It's not a hugely popular drink of choice and as much as we gave it away and offered it at parties, the Pernod was still lurking in bars, closets, under beds and in the kitchen.

Several weeks back we had a smaller dinner party and decided to take the plunge and have a full fledged Pernod dinner party to use up vast amounts of the stuff. Huzzah! We developed an amazing menu, we sent out invitations and dragged out all the bottles of Pernod we could find. And of course in typical Lucy/Cator fashion, it had to be a dueling townhouse event.

We started off with appetizers at my house.
Lucy rolled out some dumplings into shallot pancakes and I made an apple salsa (from the NYT recipes!) consisting of chopped apples, onions, ginger, parsley and soaked in Pernod. YUM!

Then we trekked to Lucy's for chicken marinated in Pernod with figs and olives, Fay's salad with Pernod dressing and french bread with Pernod lemon butter.
Treat!

It was all quite civilized until we headed back to my house for dessert. John (Lucy's new roomie who we love!) made a lemon pound cake but ditched the lemons for Pernod. Zing!

By this time several bottles of Pernod had been consumed by guests as well as beaucoup booze and wine. The dance party started then conga'd down to Rod and Philips for champagne and singing then back up here for fun with the inflatable turkey (!) and the nerf gun I bought for Justin. Nik was in town from DC (he's a buddy from Charleston who I spend every New Years with) with Sarah and it was so great to have him as a surprise guest.

Stephen and Tina swung by after their dinner party wrapped up and brought Steve's new action figure from Avatar. COOL! Fay got very excited...

After they left mayhem ensued, costumes were changed and SOMEONE rode a bike through my living room in his underwear. NOT me!

Alas, a good time was had by all!
Sadly as I was cleaning up today I opened the hall closet and found three more bottles of Pernod. Zut Alors.

DFashion Final Day

Check it out here.

Frida Kahlo's Home and Downtown DF

Not much to write here. This was my first day to really explore and amazing Tessy took me out to Frida's house where I got choked up at the beauty and seeing her bed where she painted while in so much pain.
Then we headed downtown in the rain to see the massive Plaza de Constitucion and the cathedral.
I'm so dazzled by the Distrito Federal!

DFashion Day Two

Check it out on Full Frontal Fashion.

Street Style in Mexico City

Check out my post on We Are The Market on the zany and fun fashions I found in Mehico.
Enjoy!

DFashion Day One

Check out day one of DFashion, Mexico City here!

Mexico Night One

Hola Y'all! Im back from Mexico and had quite an eye opening time. Ok I admit I admit! I never had a desire to go to Mexico. Isn't it polluted, dangerous and dirty?
I found it beautiful, lush, hospitable and FU U UN!

I am posting my daily Full Frontal Fashion hits here as well. But here is my first nights entree to Mexico City society.
Oscar, my host, invited me to an antique dealers home that was beyond lush. Champagne flowed, dinner was divine and an impromptu floral photo shoot wrapped up the incredible evening.

Ole!

HOLA Y'ALL!

Im off to Mexico tomorrow to cover their Fashion Week. I've never been.
Im very excited! I'm ready for the spice and bringing diapers!
Ole Mole!

Im also stoked to check out Frida Kahlo's home and the Aztec Pyramids.
I will be posting daily for Full Frontal Fashion
More soon!

Adios!

Colin and Angela in Atlanta!

Last weekend I took my British besties to ATL for a speedy education in culture and my kin folk.
Boy did we twirl. And eat...And drink...

We landed last Thursday and instantly hit the Varsity- the greasy V!
That night mother made a home made Southern dinner
Dad brought out the moonshine. We sat on the dock in the dark and sipped and giggled. Heaven.

Friday was Cracker Barrel then a MOMENTOUS OCCASION- A visit to the Bass Pro Shop! We bought flannels for $10 (bite me Ralph Lauren!), practiced on the shooting range and gazed at the massive fresh water aquarium. Then we took a quick trip to Jacqueland and later a breezy boat ride. I dont think I have ever seen Colin's eyes grow so wide than when he saw dads boat. A floating living room! We polished off a bottle of red on that trip.

Friday night we went to the club for dinner and, inspired by all the boozy club members, decided to carry the party home where mother, Angela, Colin and I all imbibed Stingers until 130am. Zing!

Saturday was a day in town doing the Grandparent circuit seeing Yaiyai for Greek food and Pop & Dot for cocktails then Laura and her girls for dinner.

We ended the night at a loft party with a very festive Genene, Rosalind and Anthony.

Sunday we spent the day with mom and my Aunt Cator in Athens starting off with a big brunch and then a surprise bottle of champagne.
HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY COLIN AND ANGELA!
It was a year ago that day I flew from Russia to Bristol to celebrate their wedding.

After a tour of the campus and town we headed downtown and dropped them off at the apartment they had rented for the night to celebrate and then I headed to the airport.

Sadly we never made it to Chic-Fil-A.
Oh the sadness! They must return!!!!

Cracklin' Kinderhook

People always make fun of me for planning things so far in advance. Ill send a save the date two months ahead and an invitation a month ahead. Obviously these people simply aren’t as busy as I am. But Lucy is. We planned this trip in July to visit her parents in Kinderhook. With all her weddings to attend and my social swirling this was the only time to squeeze it in!
Alas, it was well worth the wait.

Her parents moved up here from Bedford last February and love every minute of it. Their house is the Old Columbia Academy, built in 1797 and was later turned into a residence. Tina has done a fab job with the interiors with nary a corner untouched with something creative and cozy (and I mean that with the utmost respect! Copper candle sticks and vintage family photos abound!). And the yard has the best garden in town, so I discovered last night at dinner.

We drove up yesterday morning and it took us no time to drop off the bags and walk into town for a fall festival. There was kettle corn, local produce and a banjo/kazoo crew jamming out in the town square.

In case you didn’t know, Henry Hudson named Kinderhook when he dropped anchor in his now Namesake river in 1609 and a gaggle of Native American kids perched at the corner of the river to watch- hence- Kinder Hook- Children’s Corner. This is also the birthplace of Martin Van Buren, our countries 11th President. We didn’t have a chance to visit his house but we did pop by his grave on our morning walk.
After our time in town and a quick meal of hamburgers, hotdawgs, cheese soup (score!) and apple muffins, we headed back to the house to collect Lucy’s father and headed over to Hudson. As you all know I am quite familiar with Hudson and adore it. We tooled around the shops, found some great finds (shhh Christmas presents!) and even stumbled upon Hunt Slonem’s auction of his upstate mansion. Hunt is a favorite painter of mine and I’ve always ogled at images of his densely furnished Gothic Revival homes. Randomly we found a pile of Henry Hudson mask's commemorating his sail up the Hudson. He was a great addition to dinner!

Around 6pm we headed home, popped open some wine and started cookin.
Pork Tenderloin
Brussels Sprouts from the garden
Kale and Spinach from the garden
Purple potatoes from the market.
Yum!
Afterwards Lucy and I read our Vogue’s together commenting on errant fashion choices and layouts before having a good goss before heading to bed in the comfy country at 11pm.

This morning I peeled myself out of bed to watch my favorite show in the world- CBS Sunday Morning before downing another apple muffin and then taking a speedy walk through orchards and farmhouses and graveyards (Hey Martin!) with Lucy for an hour.

Not people to sit on our Laurels we bathed, dressed and popped by their neighbors home for a Bloody Mary. Tim and Nik have an amazing house, and in keeping with my Hunt Slonem moment yesterday, have decorated in a Neo-Gothic period (maybe with a splash of Gothic Revival?!). THEN we made a big ole frittata from last nights leftovers, imbibed a bottle of white and then headed out with Tina and Stephen to the Thomas Cole home.

Ole Cole was one of the founders of the Hudson River School movement (with Frederick Church, whose home Olana is another fave up here). It wasn’t as grand as Olana but interesting all the same. And the views he had of the Catskill’s are quite enviable. The house just received a big grant so they will be rebuilding old studios, revamping gardens and sprucing up the interiors. Can you believe after all that we had to dash to the train station for the 4:40? There we ran into a gaggle of gays who I know from Manhattan who have houses up here. We boarded, sat down and passed out.
I know, I know, it doesn’t sound like a relaxing weekend to most, but hey, I can watch the leaves turn from my urn one day!
Thank you La Lang’s for a most pleasurable weekend away. Can’t wait for the next.

Dandy in the Daily Telegraph

As I always say- people if you want to get out there you have to be out there!
I met Melissa several weeks back at the Standard Grill. We were having dinner with Lucy McIntyre and instantly
fell in love. What is it with me and English girls? Their accent? Looks? Humor? Love of horses?
Regardless we hit it off and she asked me if she could interview me for her new column about eccentric New Yorkers.
Sign me up!
After drinks at mine and a wild and indulgent night at Melba's we had a story.
Check it out here.
Enjoy!
(click the title above to read)

My debut on VanityFair.com!

I am beyond thrilled that I
a) Was a guest at Dawnridge
b) Hutton and I got along splendidly
c) That Vanity Fair was interested in my story!

That book is my DREAM publication to work at (besides the NYT which I already contribute to thank you Jesus!)
Enjoy this post and here is to hoping to many more to come
(Click the title of this post to view)