My advice? Run, don’t walk!

Showing through February 15, 2015.

The women in our family are decidedly Type A.  There’s Carly, with her passion for homework and to-do lists, and her mom/my aunt who’s an immigration lawyer in Washington D.C.  Plus, my mom, who exhibits great style and endless perfectionism when it comes to her job, home design and the curation of our holiday dinner menus.

And me: what I lacked in basic math skills, athleticism derived from my DNA and a high school sweetheart, I’ve more than made up for in after-hours tutoring, torturous high school track practice and many JDates over the years.  The flip side of this, something that we all share, is a fierce loyalty that you just can’t find in other family and friends.  I believe that loving others well is an art form.

And, speaking of art, I also experienced Kara Walker’s “A Subtlety” at Domino in Williamsburg, in partnership with Creative Time.

We were inspired by the height of the sugar factory’s ceilings and the way that its walls of concrete and steel are caked with sugar and peeling from the heat.

And, the sculpture itself: 75 1/2′ tall by 35 1/2′ wide, constructed from blocks of polyester foam and 40 tons of sugar, exploring “power, race, bodies, women, sexuality, slavery, sugar refining, sugar consumption, wealth inequity, and industrial might that uses the human body to get what it needs no matter the cost to life and limb.”  Read the curatorial statement here.

This exhibition, which runs through July 6, is a bittersweet must-see.

What’s inspiring you?

My friend Tara and I went to see her 30th anniversary show, “She’s So Unusual.”  And…she is.

When we gathered backstage, Cyndi was dressed entirely in black leather and lace with long, fire engine-red hair and bright red lips.  For the crowd, she performed all of the songs from the latest album, including classics that we know, love (and to which we can’t help but sing along): “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” “All Through the Night,” “Time After Time” and “True Colors,” mixed with funny anecdotes and insider stories (told in her high-pitched, squeaky speaking voice) about life and love.

In the beginning stages of the relationship with her now-husband, actor David Thornton, he accidentally broke a small clock in her Upper East Side walk up, when it fell off a table and onto the floor.  He quickly brought her a replacement (from his mom’s house), which was so old and so loud.  It drove her crazy while trying to fall asleep.  But, she had to keep it, so as not to hurt his feelings, they had just met.  Every night, before bed, she locked it in the bathroom, inside the shower and behind the curtain, all the way across the apartment.  But, she could still hear it.

And, so, the lyrics of “Time After Time”: “Lying in my bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you…”

It was a fun, girly and upbeat night.  More than a few of Cyndi’s songs are on heavy rotation in my workout/cooldown playlists.
cyndilauper.com

P.S. Katy Perry’s “Prism” comes out tomorrow! (And, yes, I am fully planning my get-on-stage strategy for when her tour comes to town.)

With a kaleidoscope of colors, Waking is a can’t-miss.  And, in a neighborhood buzzing with creativity, culture, innovation & artfully-dressed pedestrians, it’s perfectly at home–day and night.

Waking:
Through October 1.
Billboard next to the High Line, 18th Street & 10th Avenue
art.thehighline.org/project/gilbertandgeorge/

Four years later, Claire Danes (known then only for “My So-Called Life,” which, literally, changed MY life) and Leonardo DiCaprio starred in Romeo + Juliet.  Major obsession.  Flashback: the movie poster still hangs in my childhood bedroom.

And, now, I’m counting down to The Great Gatsby, with its extravagant costumes, artful set design and Art Deco everything.  The buzz has overtaken NYC, with advertising EVERYWHERE, including this mega billboard in Soho (as if we could forget!).

To celebrate, the windows at Tiffany & Co. are decked out with jewels inspired by and designed for the film, in collaboration with Catherine Martin (costume designer and Luhrmann’s wife).  Here, a look at the bling.

The Great Gatsby opens on May 10.

“Shoe Obsession,” on view now at The Museum at FIT, explores “the rise of the shoe” as described by Associate Curator of Accessories Colleen Hill, who worked alongside Valerie Steele, the Museum’s decidedly chic director and chief curator, to create the fantastical exhibition in just 8 months.  It explores the phenomenon by which designer footwear has taken center stage in the female wardrobe, replacing the “it” bag as women’s must-have accessory.

Whether it was Carrie’s Manolo craze in Sex & the City or the artful, avant garde designs of emerging designers like Nicholas Kirkwood and Charlotte Olympia (on display), one thing is for sure: there are many, many reasons to adore shoes.

Footwear fact: the average American woman has nearly double the pairs that she had inside her closet in the late ’90s.

Check out “Shoe Obsession,” here, and you’ll see why.

“Shoe Obsession” – The Museum at FIT
Seventh Avenue @ 27th Street, NYC
fitnyc.edu/museum
Now through April 8.

Run, don’t walk!

Image 3:
Chanel, 2009
From the collection of Lynn Ban
Photograph © The Museum at FIT

Image 4:
Tom Ford, Spring 2012
Courtesy of Tom Ford
Photograph © The Museum at FIT

Image 5:
Roger Vivier (Bruno Frisoni)
Eyelash Heel pumps, Fall/Winter 2012-13
Rendez-Vous (Limited Edition Collection)
Courtesy of Roger Vivier/photograph by Stephane Garrigues

Image 6:
Iris van Herpen X United Nude, 2010
The Museum at FIT, PA2012.28.1
Photograph © The Museum at FIT

Image 7:
Nicholas Kirkwood, Fall 2011
Courtesy of Nicholas Kirkwood

Image 8:
Prada, Spring 2012
From the collection of Lynn Ban
Photograph © The Museum at FIT