Matthew Williamson H&M launch with Grace Jones

It was like the halcyon days of 2008 where money was no object for a launch party.
Oh how I miss those pre crisis blow-outs!
http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/fete-accompli-hm/

Hathaway in the news!

Well here is the reason that mother has forbade me to come home for the month of April. Ok, not forbade but warned that if I did I would be painting, polishing and panaching the house for a tour of homes.
Luckily her work has paid off and they were featured in the newspaper here:
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/main.asp?SectionID=6&SubSectionID=84&ArticleID=58813
Check out the great article and the images, some of which I attached here.
Congrats mom and dad for 'keeping up appearances'!

A Spring Fling in Hudson

If I was only back in Hudson this am! Snuggled deep under the duvet in the yellow bedroom with Raimond (a pug!) snoring by my side. What an idyllic weekend we had (not me and Raimond, me and Lucy, Juan and David!).

I am very greedy with my trips to Hudson. I want them often and I want them to last as long as possible. I think Juan made a big mistake when, after copious amounts of gin one night he told me I could come up whenever I like. Needless to say I am constantly bugging them for dates. Luckily we made one for last weekend and as an extra bonus Lucy McIntyre was also on board for a visit. Even though I feel like Lucy and I were separated at birth, we haven't spent too much time together besides wild nights out and a business lunch here or there. She was the one nice enough to hook me up with that suite at the Standard New York! (See older posts for that blow out). We are now practically married and have to many inside jokes to count...

We arrived by train at 8pm on Friday night after watching the sunset over the Hudson the entire journey up.
We hadn't even dropped our bags when Juan was serving cocktails (Gin Rickey? I can't recall) and then we headed off to The Red Dot for dinner. As Lucy aptly put it, The Red Dot is like stepping into slapstick British comedy show. Everyone there is a character and by the end of the night the staff and the customers are all a messy bunch. A highlight was when we found an Obama life size cut out and proceeded to have our way with the poor thing.

The next morning was rise and shine since at The Red Dot we had promised to visit two places BEFORE noon. By 10:45 we were bumbling into The Inn at Hudson (http://www.theinnathudson.com/), a Jacobean style home that is now a B&B owned by a former drag queen named Musty Chiffon (!) Only in Hudson people. Well Musty and her darling partner have turned the home that was most recently a nursing home into a dazzling and quite cozy show house. If Juan and David ever kick me out of their maison I know whose door I'm knocking on.

Next up was a visit to Tom Swope's new gallery (http://www.tomswope.com/), which was quite grand for Hudson and more like a museum than a pop in shop. I really need the 1st century AD Roman hard stone set in weighty 18kt gold in case anyone is wondering...

We were about to putter out as hangovers came creeping back but we decided to carry on and head out to OMI Sculpture Park for a picnic (http://www.artomi.org/). The art was great and we strolled around the amazing grounds for a solid hour before collapsing into a champagne picnic on a grassy knoll. Unfortunately Raimond was not as pleased with some of the artwork and let us all know it!

Now that we were fairly buzzed why not visit a sheep farm? We doddled through dirt roads and winding paths until we reached Old Chatham Sheepherding Company (http://www.blacksheepcheese.com/) based in a pile of beautiful red barns. We left Raimond in the car as we toured the place, watching sheep getting milked, wool being bundled and little wee lambs being fed. It was heaven! We then bought piles of yoghurt and a cheese wheel that we still can’t stop talking about. Order one now!!

After such a full day we came home for a glass of wine and a bit of rest before our big movie night- Grey Gardens!
Lucy and I dressed in head wraps while Juan and David made shrimp cocktail and grilled scallops for dinner. Yes, we were being completely spoiled.

After dinner we jumped onto the big sofa and were glued to the tragic tale of the Beales all night. Of course Lucy and I woke up the next morning recounting dreams of sheep and revolutionary day wear....

Sunday was supposed to be downpours and cold, PTL it was warm and bright sunshine! Juan made another amazing breakfast and as soon as our plates were cleared Lucy was ready to shop up a storm on Warren Street.
People... I had no idea how serious she was. She bought something in almost every store we entered! And we went into loads! But how refreshing to shop with a girl who doesn't try things on or him haw over a scarf. Oh no, she entered with gusto and walked out victorious with amazing finds! She is my new favorite shopping companion.

Not to say I didn't buy a couple of things, but she certainly took it to another level. Once we maxed out our cards we headed back to the casa for empanadas, Corona's and more sheep yoghurt before packing up the car and zizzing back down to the city.

Another glorious weekend in Hudson!
Thanks Juan and David!

Easter 2009

This Easter was one of my favorites! Albeit the best away from my family and Southern roots.
Saturday night I had a quiet dinner with my friend Rocky at the house and woke up ready to roll at 7am.
After days of rain and clouds it was a glorious although COLD spring day.
I took the bus down 5th Avenue to 12th Street and ran into my friend Ryan at church. I forgot he recently became a deacon and he took me to our usual pew.
Alistair and Beatrice looked super cute this morning and as soon as Bea was in my arms she passed out for the entire service. No rising and sitting for me!
The choir was beautiful and the minister gave a banging good sermon.
Alistair was quick to point out that the clergymen and women all had black and white outfits on that matched the stripes on the Easter Skunk he got that morning!
I gave him a chocolate chicken and sang, 'Peep Peep!' and he held up his skunk and sang back, 'Stink Stink!'
We all about died.

At 11am we headed to Gusto Organic for a yummy and boozy brunch and then back to the church at 12:30 for the egg hunt. We got the kids in the front of the line and when the ribbon was cut we went for it! All-Star got about 10 eggs, I found three eggs with Bea and she was happy as a lark. When we realized some kids didn't find any eggs, Alistair was kind enough to share his eggs with others. Awww! Sharing is caring!

Lars, fresh off the plane from Paris, met up with us in the middle of all the pandemonium and enjoyed meeting the tots and experiencing this very American tradition.

We then said our goodbyes, caught at cab to Grand Central and headed up to Croton-on-Hudson for Bodhi's first birthday.
Minya had the party at her mothers beautiful home in the country and of course Molly made every amazing morsel. We had a great time watching Bodhi in full toy/cake spin-out and hanging out with Minya's family, Joy and Tony.

At 4pm Bodhi was ready for a nap and so was I! So Tony and Joy zipped us back to the city and Lars and I had a relaxing night at home.

Next year, I have one request Jesus- Warm Weather!
Thanks!

Swimmin with da Hoises

I mentioned how much fun this was last week but Happy just got her waterproof camera developed so here are the results.
I can't wait to do it again!

Cayman Islands Day Five

Today was another fly by day of relaxing. Woke up at 630, gym at 9, tanning till 11. Lunch. So simple, so easy, I could so get used to this.

Then we all piled into the car and headed to Rum Point for a boat ride out to Stingray City. OUr handsome Aussie drove us 30 minutes out too the 'real' Stingray City. The tourists and cruise ships have their own spot where they can all be fay, loud and irritating. We were alone with the rays 14 feet below the sea where our dive instructors offered up bits of squid to the rays to get their attention.

Again I got all Darwin on my own ass and sat and gazed at these prehistoric like creatures. Horseshoe crabs with wings. They were so soft and their mouths angles to give a seemingly silly smile. Their eyes on the other hand were those of an ancient creature who has seen millions of years of morphing.

Elly got some great shots of us which I plan to purchase. Even mom dove in for a snorkel and the cute Aussie brought a ray up to her to pet. When we came up to the boat we took a snap of our poor feeders arm which one ray mistook for a giant squid tentacle and latched on giving her a sea monster hickey.

Afterwards we headed back, had a late lunch then hit the pool at the resort before turning in for the night! Everyone passed out by 830pm. I dug out my Netflix movie- Pie in the Sky- a documentary of Warhol's muse, Bridget Berlin.

At 11pm I turned in, weary from too much sun and all the excitement of spending time with those awesome, docile creatures.

Cayman Islands Day Four

These days are going by too fast! Woke up at 8am and did some work. Then headed off to the gym for a great work out. Then TAN! I am now a deep red. It looks brown from far away but I think today I need to chill with the sun before I crack in half.

I then watched Happy and Mom do water aerobics which was highly amusing before chatting with Lars before he headed off to Paris for a week. After all that relaxing I was starving so I made my new favorite kind of sammich introduced to me by ma mere- turkey and apple. Yum!

At 12:45 we headed out for our last big dive. My favorite dive ever! The place was called Split Rock and it was on a sea wall so it was kind of like that dream I've had when I'm flying over mountains, dipping into valleys and soaring up to the top. The topography was amazing and the black coral, iridescent tube sponge, schools of Black Durgeon and Stoplight Parrot Fish and the plethora of deep water Sea Fans were simply magical. Thanks mother nature!

But the big highlight was when I came over one peak to a sandy plain I find dad laying on his stomach having a staring battle with a turtle! They were just staring at each other for over a minute, then the turtle saw all of us, cocked its head and then slowly paddled off into the deep blue.

I could of spent hours down there.

Our next dive wasn't fun. We were all cold, my mask fogged up and how could it compare to Split Rock?

When we got back home I spent an hour on work, which I love to do at the beach since I'm more focused than at home, then cocktail hour! Met Mom, Reed, Danielle, Happy and Mark at the pool for a strawberry daiquiri and the perfect seat to watch the sunset.

Before I knew it it was dinner time. I was rather buzzed from two for one cocktail hour and Happy and I continued to get blotto at dinner. It was the first night I really tied one on and boy we had fun! I had a grilled King Wahoo and some mean Cayman fried bread.

When we got home for 'one night cap' we heard a DJ on the cabana on the pier. Zing! We headed down there and started a dance party that closed the place down. He played every song we requested so of course there was Deee-Lite, Madonna (Sorry about the Malawi adoption girl!), Beyonce and Estelle.

Passed out at 12:06 and am HURTING this morning. Not my head, just my bod, I have to stop doing yoga moves on the dance floor...

PS- Click on the title of this post to view a cheesy but amusing video of Split Rock I found. I'm so mad I didn't have a camera!!!