Most of the stores are now at 70% off their sale merchandise. The shoe departments mostly have the cool and quirky shoes left. I fell in love with these Rupert Sanderson heels at Saks Fifth Avenue. They remind me of something Jem would wear from Jem and The Holograms, my favorite cartoon when I was little.
My favorite new discovery this trip is a barely year-old line of jewelry called Tower 67. You can purchase off their website but for a huge selection of the latest designs, you should really make it over to Henri Bendel, where they have been asked to hold monthly trunk shows. My client bought two awesome Buddha bracelets and I almost walked out with a long white beaded necklace with a giant amethyst hanging off of it. The prices are super reasonable and the owners/designers are happy to accommodate custom requests.
Although I think DC has some great food, they have a definite lack of vegan and vegetarian restaurants. Hanging in NY with my best friend the vegetarian always gives me the chance to get my fill. Her birthday was the excuse I needed to finally indulge in the super scrumptious but a bit pricy cuisine at Dirt Candy in the East Village. See the caption link for the blog entry detailing the creation of the signature dish pictured below, broccoli dogs! I know, it sounds crazy. They taste as good as the months and months of work that went into creating the dish.
The Union Square farmers market is one of the things I miss most about New York. Walking through on Wednesday morning, I was struck dumb by the beauty and bounty of the seasonal produce. Five kinds of plums! Teeny tiny purple eggplants! And then...the most perfect little strawberries I'd ever seen. I bought them without a second thought and they were the holy grail of REAL strawberry flavor and texture, so fresh they wouldn't have lasted more than the day. And they didn't! In between client shopping and a trip to the Met, I had a picnic of the tiny strawberries, drippy goat cheese and just-baked cranberry walnut bread from Dean & Deluca for lunch. Heaven!
And finally, the one thing I was determined to accomplish during this trip to New York, the Punk: Chaos to Couture exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute. The opening display below was my favorite as it placed high fashion looks from contemporary designers next to punk looks from Seditions, the original punk boutique started by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren in 1970's London. One literally could not tell the difference between the two. It was absolutely fantastic and said it all before you had even entered the rest of the extensive exhibit.
The exhibit made one question what is punk as well as recognize its diversions where one otherwise would not. Dolce & Gabbana, punk? "Never," I would have said, until I saw the spray-painted dress display below.
How awesome are those wigs????
