Little Luxuries

I am sitting in a café in NoLITa, enjoying a glass of wine and a panini before I see some dance at the New Museum - an evening called Meet Cute: Grotesque Ingénue, featuring the work of Ivy Baldwin and Ursula Eagly, curated by the wonderful Sarah Maxfield.  I've been looking forward to this one!

Today I had an extravagant selfternoon, and thought it would be a great time to talk about "Little Luxuries" : a tribute to small things that make a big difference.  Key to this part of my lifestyle is "The Hustle" - getting what you want when you want it, and for the sake of a "Little Luxury". Perhaps this is a perfect pairing with the theme of the performance I am about to see - Baldwin and Eagly "create worlds where the adorable and the monstrous coexist, often in the same moment."  

So here goes ...

Little Luxuries

Today I spent my selfternoon at Bergdorf Goodman and along 57th Street between 5th and Madison.  This is one of my favorite places to walk around by myself in the City.  Others include The Metropolitan Museum (always #1 - try sitting on the balcony on a Friday night with a martini and a book before you go out), The Whitney, Bloomingdales SoHo, the "Bleecker Street Walk" and PS1.  

I consider Bergdorf to be a museum of taste, fashion and style - and you can actually touch the art!  THIS is a little luxury.  Yes, you've just taken up an entire afternoon, but its free and its fabulous.

I started in the Chanel handbag section, and found this, the perfect bag: 

Barbara, who gave me her card (The Hustle), brought out a brand new one for me, still in the box, and let me trot around with it.  We discussed size, shape, classic versus season, the color of the chain and leather quality.  This one is a black lambskin "Maxi", and it's new this season. They're almost sold out at Bergdorf, Barbara explained, and I was advised to buy it on the spot. She was also kind enough to inform me that if I have it shipped to a friend or family member out of state, I'd save big on tax.  Thanks, Barbara!  I died a little.  I said I'd have to think about it for a little while.  Moving on...

I wandered around the next three floors in a daze - I could swear I started crying from the beauty, but maybe it was just all the perfume.  Bergdorf houses some of the most exquisitely made garments, and walking from vendor to vendor on the plush off-white carpeting, I could swear I had found salvation.  

Salvation came most especially in these two Thakoon frocks, which I excitedly had carried into a dressing room for me:

The saleswoman knocked on my dressing room door excitedly and handed me another Thakoon, saying it was the most popular one and looked great on everyone, adding that I may recognize it as "the Michelle Obama dress." Indeed, it was that same iconic dress that Lady O had worn.  I quickly realized why Michelle's arms, "thunder" and "lightning", are so avidly discussed - they must be amazing, slender things to have squeezed through the armhole of this dress. Needless to say, I could hardly get the armholes past my elbows and accepted my fate of never being the First Lady's doppelgänger.  Ah well.

I know, know, you're tired of hearing about my silly little day at Bergdorf (I also popped into the YSL store [they are always nasty to me in there], the Burberry story and the Chanel flagship store on 57th Street).  I digress. Here's some key "little luxuries" that I find it necessary to indulge in - never buy large items, just fill your life with small ones.

My house always has fresh flowers.  They don't need to be fancy, just alive.  

The Hustle: Buy tulips or daffodils that haven't opened yet, and they'll last much, much longer.  If they don't have them out, ask if they have unopened ones in the back.  

Never leave a department store, a Sephora or a parfumerie without samples.  

The Hustle: Today I left Bergdorf with a nice big vile of Coco Chanel Mademoiselle perfume.  My favorite place to hustle the stinky stuff is at Bond No. 9, on Bond Street in NoHo.  They have the most sophisticated smelling scents out there.  I went a few days ago and had my entire "smell profile" taken, citing it was my birthday soon and that I was "shopping around for gifts to tell people to get for me." (They must have thought I was such a snob, but it's a small price to pay for weeks' worth of amazing, expensive perfume for free!).  I walked away with my favorite scent, Hamptons, plus two new delicious hustles - Union Square and Astor Place.  I also favor Lexington Avenue and Coney Island.  Most of the scents are unisex.

Good cheese.  Buy it.  It's worth it.  Buy everything else cheap.  Do it.  

The Hustle: Don't think you can't try a piece of every single cheese in the store, and ask questions!  Free education, free cheese, can't lose.

Oh goodness, look at the time.  Accept my apologies for rambling and not quite getting to the point.  Alas, there are so many more little luxuries, and so many more things in this great big City to hustle.  

In conclusion: live your life in the lap of little luxuries, never fear the hustle, appreciate beautiful things that you cannot have and never, ever buy your own perfume.  

To be continued.  On to the New Museum.

Ciao.

The MEvening

The "MEvening" is an essential part of being a great hostess.  The MEvening is all about shamelessly taking time to treat yourself well and to be alone.

Ways to use "MEvening" in a sentence:

"I'm sorry, (insert name of friend who just invited you to a party tonight), but I think I'm going to have a MEvening."

"What a long day!  I think I'm going to have a MEvening."

What you'll need:

The house to yourself.

Ingredients for a decadent, yet simple dinner for one.

An entire bottle of wine.

Dramatic lighting.

Comfy, yet stylish pajamas.

A good (or good bad) movie or television show to watch.

The house in tip-top shape, including your bed made.

Step One: Change into pajamas.

I like to wear my American Apparel black yoga pants.  People often mistake these sweatpants to be actual pants - they kind of look like skinny jeans.  Pair with a really soft t-shirt and cute cardigan (weather permitting).  

Step Two: Create dramatic lighting.

Wherever I've lived, I've NEVER used the overhead lighting.  I light my home by way of lamps, candles (plain white, never stinky), the oven light, white christmas lights (mine are currently stuffed into a vintage gumball machine) and my neon open sign.   

Step Three: Open bottle of wine.

For us semi-unemployed arts administrators living in Williamsburg, Trader Joe's Wine Shop in Union Square is a hop and a skip on the L train and ... well ... dirt cheap.  Please do not feel the need to finish the entire bottle, I often don't - but who's judging if you do?  It's the luxury of knowing that you COULD.  (Stay tuned for a post on "Little Luxuries").

Step Four: Cook dinner.

I just walked in from the Union Square Green Market (and Whole Foods - shhh) and here's what I'm preparing for dinner tonight (it's not a MEvening, technically, but it could be) : 

Yukon gold potato salad w/ a dressing of olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, grainy mustard and tarragon (s&p to taste).  

Spinach salad w/ babybellas, cherry tomatoes, white onions and avocado (on sale at Whole Paycheck) w/ a balsamic and rosemary vinaigrette

A sourdough baguette from the green market w/ a creamy reggiano that the woman gave to me for $5 even though the chunk really cost $6.50, because I had asked for a $5 piece (note: every classy woman is a good hustler).  

But here's my classic MEvening meal - it's simple and sophisticated:

Half a bag of whole wheat pasta (that's right, I said half the bag - indulge!)

Half a jar of Newman's Own tomato and basil pasta sauce "doctored" with onions, garlic and fresh spinach. (A side bar on Newman's Own - I love this brand.  Especially the Fig Newmans [which are way better than the classic fig newtons].  I had a craving for them last night and purchased a package - it ran me $6.  That, my friends, is what we call a rip-off.  anyway...)

1/2" round of goat cheese.

Assemble in large bowl.  Crack lots of fresh pepper over the whole thing.  

Step Five: Consume.

Curl up on the couch with your big bowl of pasta (or whatever else you whipped up) and watch your good (or good bad) movie or television show.  If you have a sweet tooth and require dessert, try sorbet - it's cold, its sugary and it's low in fat!

Step Six: Bedtime.

You're going to bed at a decent hour and that's an order!  Wash the dishes, wipe the counters, wash your face and brush your teeth.  Crawl into bed with a book.  Fall asleep after one page.

MEVening complete.  

Additional notes on the MEvening:

A MEvening for two is a WEvening. Double the recipe, make your friend bring the wine, lend them pajamas.

The MEvening can also be transferred to a MOIning (for your solo brunches) and a SELFternoon (for your solo afternoon outings to a museum or Bergdorf (more on that in "Little Luxuries").