Me, My City & Irene

(Photo by Gandee Vasan, Getty Images)

By now you all know that Hurricane Irene is barreling up the East Coast. There are enough sarcastic Facebook statuses, wannabe-viral tweeting, light-hearted jokes about stocking up on booze and cigarettes and "Welcome, Irene" parties, so I'll spare you. Best case scenario, Irene peters out and becomes nothing more than a rainstorm by the time she reaches New York. Then we'll laugh about how we over-prepared and how we "experienced" an earthquake and a hurricane in the same week. Some cities did get damage from both, so I don't find it that funny. But I'll spare you my treatise, because that's what the op-ed pages are for. They just announced MTA is shutting down the subway tomorrow at noon and all of the lowest areas of all 5 boroughs are being mandatorily evacuated. Things are getting serious, people. The NY Times is updating their information frequently, and here's a list of tips to batten down the hatches.

All that said, we are trying to prepare for the weekend as much as possible. Justin ran to the grocery store, which was a madhouse. I just heard from a coworker that Radio Shack is out of batteries and Duane Reade is out of water.

Local Haunt: Franz James Floral

I've got a little story and a couple shout-outs today. I received an offer this week for a freelance project, at a company I've been wanting to work for more. All of this is exciting, of course, and I went home that night to talk over everything at dinner with Justin. (We tried Cédric—another new Harlem place, and it was wonderful. It's named after UES Le Bilbouquet's general manager Cédric Lecendre, who lives in the neighborhood and was completely charming and helpful during our meal.)

But back to my evening... I walked in the door to see this:

Somehow, Justin had managed to rush home, drop off his stuff, and then run to the florist. He made me feel so celebrated and encouraged. The really sweet coincidence was that in the hunt for flowers, he went to try Franz James Floral Boutique. He was helped by James (whose business partner is Franz), who talked him through the flowers. As Justin was looking at designs, he mentioned that the shapes and designs reminded him of Flowers of the World—the incredible UWS boutique that he's bought my "special occasion flowers" in the past. Turns out, James used to work there as a designer/creative director (I think that was his role!) But he recently left to go out on his own. We're thrilled that they're in the neighborhood now. He's created several bouquets that marked some very special moments in my life, so it gave a special night another layer of meaning. Here are some from over the years...

H&M Comes to Dallas

(Photo by Lara Stolt, via Dallas Morning News)

I haven't lived in DFW for several years now, but many of my family and friends are still there. Yesterday, H&M opened it's first store in Texas at NorthPark Mall (my favorite—many happy memories there with Mom and Mamaw.) Wohoo! And it's just in time for Tax-Free Weekend, which starts today.

Although the brand is pretty prevalent in NYC, it's often too crowded with tourists to be an enjoyable shopping experience. I love the clothes, but saving money on trendy items is worth only so much hassle most days. Now, if it were a Marc Jacobs sample sale, things would be different...

NorthPark didn't allow customers to camp overnight, but the first 500 people got gift certificates from $10-$500 and opening day giveaways—now that would be worth it! Check out some great shots of the opening here and here. Enjoy and Happy Friday!

Wedding: Dan and Sara's Penthouse Party

This Monday was our friends Dan and Sara's wedding. The ceremony started a little before sundown at at penthouse space on Union Square. The windowed area had amazing views (see below) and didn't require a lot of ornamentation. It also allowed the bridal party to take some pretty cool shots on the roof, surrounded by urban fixtures like the water tank and skyline views.

The centerpieces were glass vases with votives floating in the midst of lush flowers. Every table was named after an NYC neighborhood—we sat in Tribeca! My two favorite design elements and personal touches were the cakes—they had cupcakes for everybody but there were two small cakes, one for each of them. Sara's was white with black scrollwork, similar to her old bedding and the color scheme of the wedding. Dan's was a drum—he's an incredible musician. All in all, they did an amazing job of creating an elegant wedding on a small budget. One huge factor was booking the venue for a Monday night = so much less expensive. Since their families would be taking a day off work regardless, and the rest of the guests were from NYC, it was still convenient. It was a great way for them to have the entire weekend with family and friends leading up to the event and also go easy on their budget.

We danced until late into the evening, as you can see from the last image. :)

Pop-up: Liberty for Target

Today I was walking through Bryant Park after buying a new BlackBerry and noticed the bright patterned signs for Liberty of London's collaboration with Target. I decided to check it out and managed to be close to the front of the line.

I emailed my editor at W magazine and ended up writing a brief post for their Editors' Blog. The fanciful event, designed by the incredible David Stark, felt like walking into a spring rain shower. Lovely patterns covered everything, and the surfaces not covered in florals were covered in actual flowers. Here are some of the rest of the shots (taken with my new BlackBerry!) 

Justin's Jazz Birthday

For Justin's birthday, my gift was to plan out a day for him. (His gift to me was to give me the time and to let me plan, which is hard for someone who likes to have the schedule.) We met up at Columbus Circle for an incredible brunch at Asiate, the Mandarin Oriental's sky-high restaurant. 

(Photo by Mandarin Oriental)

Our food was delicious and the views were stunning. We spent most of the meal watching passersby, straining to see in Trump Tower apartments, and enjoying the time together.