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Beauty Blog (Archive)
Saturday, November 29, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
7:59 PM (Pacific)
This is a sort of "stream of semi-consciousness" :) post of Stevie's on LP...there are two parts, here's the first:
NYC trip part 1...... NYC and back again
or how to survive the craziness
Part 1
this is really long so I am posting in parts. ( or how to survive in NYC for about five days without a lot of food and
with LOTS of caffeine!)
It was CRAZY busy to get out of dodge here... yet I did it. I found that my PR friend accompanying me on the flight was staying the night with friends in Irvine and would meet me at the airport at Jet Blue. I wound up trying everything on -clothing wise to be sure that it worked and made some
last minute changes.
Took a modest amt of makeup and clothing figuring that I would minimally change clothes.. only ONE thing didn't get worn.. and that was pretty good. but I still needed more clothes!
Wore grey suede pants and grey vneck mohair blend sweater with a black leather coat and black ariat boots on the plane. Took a bunch of magazines I wanted to ditch there in NYC and I read them on the plane. Saw that Lucky Magazine was featuring the Botkier bag by Monica Botkier and I had to laugh. I had written about it back in July or August! Made a mental note to call the handbag designer when I blew into town.
Flight was perfect except for some bumpy weather that we passed by on the way... got in early too. That was really nice. Susan (PR ) had arranged for a town car to pick us up and that was a true blessing! What a comfortable ride and I had not flown into JFK and gone into the city at night before. SO
PRETTY! What great lights.
We stayed at the NYC Hilton on ave of the Americas and it was busy with conventions and the upcoming event that Susan was PR for.. After checking in, we unpacked quickly and called back home and then headed
out to get some food (nothing much on the plane!)
Wound up at the Carnegie Deli where we split a sandwich and Susan tried to find out about the people she knew there (Sandy and Marty and everyone else) While waiting to leave, we saw Thalia who was also leaving and was kindly
giving people a chance to photograph her. Really friendly and very pretty. We stopped at a little market and picked up gallon jugs of water and some fruit. We walked back to the hotel and it was balmy comparatively speaking.. So I figure that was a good sign.
We crashed about midnight and I had to be up early since we had a meeting with a stylist that was making some time for me before he left for Puerto Rico on a biz trip. Ashley Javier does runway and editorial stuff and he works with Behnaz Seraphor as well as Donna Karan.. He was going off to
Puerto Rico to work on an actress whose name escapes me. We got caught up in the rain going down to see him at his new penthouse/salon but we sat around talking for nearly an hour. Such a doll too. He gave me an umbrella
since we didn't have one with us (eeek!)
We caught a cab back up town and Susan and I hit back to the hotel so she could make calls and I could go make my appt with Paula Dorf at noon. I got there and Paula was a real sweetheart. She remembered who I was though we
had never met. Turns out I had done the first profile of her when she launched her line. (who would have thunk it?) Paula introduced me to a favorite thing: Manhatten Expresso soda. OMG this stuff rocks. It's like expresso soda-three types: expresso with sugar; expresso sugar free -both
fully leaded and decaf. She had the sugar free. I didn't think about caffeine till after I left... bec I had 2 cups (and I don't mean little ones. think Styrofoam cups! Can we say
buuuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz?)
she sent me off with some goodies and I am now completely up to date on her line. Something I came away with is her new eye cream with vit k and arnica and it makes a HUGE difference in dark circles ( personal testimonial here
based on not enough food, vitamins and sleep!)
We talked about everything new and some things that I had wanted to clarify from the previous interview. I met her husband and the staff and her pr person. She gave me a great little brush kit, her new Zita fragrance (fabulous bottle. Like an old art deco done in pale pink with a squeeze
atomizer! Very pretty and the fragrance is lots of white flowers yet it reminds one of a meadow too) and I got a couple of new glosses she is launching PLUS an eye cream that has vit K and arnica (my dark circles thank
you!)
We sat at the conference table in her office and just schmoozed.. for two hours!! I didn't realize that I had been there so long and that I hadn't eaten either since the night before. I walk back to the hotel, grab some almonds and water . I call and double check some appts for Thurs and make sure everything is cool .
We grab a cab since it's still wet though it stopped raining about noon. We wear normal shoes (mistake! Mistake!!) and head over to Barneys where I have a 5:30 appt with Susanne Lange custom fragrance line. Susan and I run through the store first checking out the various floors and what's there and
then head back down to cosmetics. I exchange something at Francesca Guerrera and Susan is left at Sue Devitt for a makeover. Oh.. Did I mention that Susan is NOT a beauty or fashion junkie? That she has NO brushes other
than the little applicators that are in the gwp stuff? (Eeeek!) So I leave her to get fixed up and run over to Susanne Lange. LOVELY person and a fab line of about 40 -ish individual scents grouped by category that you sniff
till you find something you love and then collect up a bunch of those and then isolate those down till you find a few that you really adore and then they blend them for you. There is also a ready to wear line of three different scents that are already pre-blended and those ROCK! They even come
in little purses that are 3 individual note roll ons that you can layer or wear individually> OMG I had such a hard time choosing. Wound up with a custom blend that was really unique: French lime blossom that smells like a
florist shop; exotic tea, cashmere, fig and vanilla woods and a couple other notes . I have to check out my vial card notes. I love what I got blended. It's just unique enough..clean, not too sweet or spicy but definitely has a warm tint to it.
I also met the editor from one of the fashion magazines too. (elle) Lovely person...
I meet Tyler the fragrance counter manager and remember that I have to call Ulrich Lange bec we are supposed to have a drink. I leave him a message and thank Tyler for the help and collect Susan from Sue Devitt where she has
bought a bunch of stuff and made an appt for a pre black tie event makeover for Friday! She has also been collecting names of people to do hair and she has narrowed it down to someone at Arden who will come to the room. He is
supposed to be quite good!
We bid the Lange counter, Sue Devitt counter, Francesca Guerrera counter and all the new friends adieu and head out to MORE RAIN! We walk over to Serafina's for dinner but the 15 per person price tag isn't pleasing so off we go. (I am just not that hungry.. I am beyond hunger at this point) It's about 7 ish and we go back to Barneys where the doorman
hails us a cab and we head over to the red eye grill for dinner where it's still pouring rain and the umbrella we have isn't working. BAH!! We are soaked when we walk in.. my curly hair is all bedraggled but they are kind and give us a nice window table. We split a salad, a pasta dish but order
individual desserts.. I loved my apple pie with ice cream (*skip the ice cream though. It's too cold) and when we are done, we head back to the hotel.. And it's still raining. By now we have just walked past this little place that is selling umbrellas and I buy two.. And ditch the broken one
since it's obviously NOT going to work . Now we don't have to hail a cab to go 2 blocks...and we get into the room and shake off like wet cats and try to get some shut eye though we are still buzzing.. and it' s 11 pm and I have an 8 am meeting the next morning. Sue and I realized that we really
hadn't eaten a solid meal except for the dinner.. expresso soda doesn't cut it!
Oh yeah, did I tell you I am getting up at 6 am everyday to be able to work out in the room? Pilates is addicting!!
Thurs was up BRIGHT and early-weather was dry and sunny and warmer! -- for the Ouidad press event where we were shown a demonstration about how some of the Japanese straightening systems can damage hair and that it's not a
one size fits all procedure. some people wind up with breakage at week 6. (dramatic breakage!!) Ouidad had a treatment that would help restore the shine, vibrancy and health of the hair. and it was equally dramatic. Some of the editors there thought I was a Ouidad person since my hair was long and curly.. Met a lot of interesting people ( the editors were fun and one had been down to my part of Calif!) and Ouidad was lovely! Great lady and easy to talk to... She told me that she was going to open a LA store and I
thought that was great! I told her I couldn't wait for her to open it! She offered to work me in for a carve/slice cut and treatment the next day before my black tie event. I was surprised and thanked her for her kindness but that I knew she was booked solid. She insisted, so I accepted . (Crazy I
may be, stupid I am not!)
I went off after a light breakfast of yogurt and fruit.. and LOTS of tea. ( plus I had tea earlier too!) walk back to the hotel to meet a friend , SH for some shopping. She was late but that was ok since I was able to check on lunch appt and also evening appts.
We went off to Saks and went by H&M where I stopped and did some serious damage. Found the perfect adorable black/white boucle tweed chanel inspired jacket for 49! Got the kid her Christmas green sweater, some great stocking
stuffers ( poinsettia sequin hair accessories, red plastic glitter brush and comb, a clear red heart key chain ) and a great fine wale red cord spade type handbag.
Got the SO a super grey v neck ribbed cotton sweater. Would have bought more but I was on a mission for some no show seamed lingerie and some low rise tights .. Went through Saks like a whirlwind and SH KNOWS this store! We
were up on the 9th floor and the SA showed me a new laser cut bikini with NO seams... but it was la perla's price tag of 49 for them that had me blinking in awe.. Pass! So I bought some lejaby and other things.. passed on hosiery since they have no low rise anything.
We stopped at a few other places and I saw the skating rink at Rock Center and LOTS of stores I wanted to go see.
What was funny was the Ulrich Lang called me while we were going down all the escalators at Saks... He couldn't meet me because he was still in Europe! We talked for a bit and turns out we know a great many people in common. so we were laughing while this was costing him a fortune in LD charges.
Anyway.. I said a goodbye to my friend SH and thanked her for the time. It was 12:30 and I had to grab Susan and head to the lunch meeting. By the time we got there, we were 30 mins late because of phone calls and getting lost... (I had to call for directions again!)
We were meeting another pr firm that I had known/worked with for several years. My friend Sean took us to a great lunch at some Italian place. He and I shared a thin crust pizza (plain!) and Susan had a salad with a side of
grilled chicken. GREAT food.. really really great food and it was near the hotel where Audrey stayed too. We talked for about 90 mins and had to head out-Sean back to work and us back to the hotel to check messages ( I spent some time calling about tights) and then change clothes for a party and go in search of low rise tights! Went to Bloomies and Susan hadn't seen a Bloomies like this! Fun busy, packed and full of stuff!
We found great shoes, great pants and finally great tights!! Susan bought some stuff for her dress. I bought low rise tights in black and some fishnets as well as skintone and black sheer low rise ph. This store was the ONLY store to have it that was reasonably priced and the tights are by Hue.
I wish they had more colors. Got a great pair of socks on sale for the kid.. striped/dotted and in funky colors and bought her a pair of Paul Frank red glitter socks for Xmas -ssssh!!!
We run up to the ladies room for me to change tights since I am wearing low rise black leather pants and we have to run to make the party for Nickel's mens fragrance at the Nickel Spa on 14th and 8th ave.. We are meeting Anita/RudeNYChick there. we grab a cab and he doesn't know where he is
going and writes down the address wrong. So I make him go around the block(S) and he just is weird.. so we finally get to the Nickel spa in Chelsea and go in and it's WILD. Great martinis with Hypnotiq liquor (if you know me, and have been to a couple parties, you know I use this stuff) and it was pretty potent!
Susan had one and I had one and we hadn't eaten since 1 and it's almost 7 now.. I meet some of the same editors from various magazines at this party again and it was pretty fun just talking about this event, the one earlier in the day and what was going on. (the party was a fight club/boxing match
thing) and it was cool.
Susan had one and I had one and we hadn't eaten since 1 and it's almost 7 now.. I meet some of the same editors from various magazines at this party again and it was pretty fun just talking about this event, the one earlier in the day and what was going on. (the party was a fight club/boxing match
thing) and it was cool. (thank goodness I was wearing black leather pants and coat!) It was noisy, rocking and definitely a fun time. I checked my bags and coat and realized that I needed to call Anita/rudenychik and went back to grab the cell. YIKES!! NO CELL! I was freaking out. I was searching
everywhere and NO cell. Bummed, I borrowed Susan's cell and dug out the palm pilot for Anita's number. I KNEW it!! She had been calling me already and I was glad she hadn't gone home! So she buzzed on over and voila!! Hugs all
around. Anita is SO adorable. Long curly hair that's dark brown (we looked like salt and pepper!) She got a drink and promptly got buzzed. We talked/talked and TALKED -rattling on like a couple of crazy people but it was totally cool. What a hoot. Just had a blast. We met some interesting
people. Cator (from Old Southern money) is with the pr firm . He's a doll to work with and was worried for me when I 1) couldn't find my cell and 2) lost my claim check for my coat and bag.
He wears a fedora and it suits him. Then there was his friend the makeup artist who was flying out here to Ca to work with Five for Fighting and he does Billy Joel and a lot of other people. He is from Kentucky and a darling guy. So nice! And he gave me a hug and kiss when we left. Then there was
Patrick. Now this guy was something else. Dressed to the teeth with a gorgeous suit complete with pocket square in his breast pocket, a huge furry hat a la russe and then Boy George Kohl eyeliner.. And there was more but I
have to cudgel the brain to remember more. Anyway, after Anita showed up, we stayed for about 45 mins and then we hopped a cab back to the hotel for another drink and told a friend of Susan's who was on his way down to Nickel
to turn around and head back to the hotel to meet us. That was Matt and such a great gentleman!! We had another round of drinks at the hotel and some snack mix and that's when I realized I had to stop drinking and eat
something serious in terms of food. Anita took off after a while and I was very sorry to see her go. I was trying to convince her to go shopping with us on Sat but she had a wedding to attend. (*I bet she looked stunning too.
She gets the BEST clothes at Woodbury Commons. Now that she knows what size I am and my style, I hope I can convince her to shop a couple of times for
me! Gggg) That was the end of my night. I had to fold because I was way too tired. Went upstairs and ate a piece of fruit!
Next morning was exceptionally busy. I went to get some continental
breakfast and then back down. Susan was supposed to go with me to a couple
of meetings but that didn't happen. I met Kathy from Jaqua for breakfast and
I was so glad to see her. I have known Kathy for a LONG time. we go way
back and it was good to see her. She had just come back from Japan biz trip
and she looked so cute and had tons of stories to share. We talked about
people in common and other editors she had sent me to talk to. We went to
Wolfs for breakfast and I was glad to make it a low carb, hi protein meal.
Kathy gave me a goodie bag of Jaqua that was tailored to THE KID whom she
had met last Xmas eve when she came down to my house. What a sweetie and
THE KID LOVED them too. And of course I got my Jaqua pumpkin/papaya scrub
too! That took a bit longer than I planned but who cared? Not me!
We split up as she jumped on the subway and I went back to the hotel to
check on Susan. She still couldn't make the meetings so I called and
confirmed a couple more meetings and Sat plans, then hopped a cab to head
down to 16th St in Union Square for a meeting which lasted about an hour.
Then hopped another cab uptown to Barneys for a lunch meeting with two
other people I had been working with . Jennifer and Emily were fab! I have
known Emily for a long time too. (longer than Kathy) and so we had a lot to
talk about.. Updating about current gigs and stuff and then also about
latest happenings in the biz. We ate at freds at Barneys. (again I was at
Barneys. I bought these great double pronged chopstick hair pins!) Emily had
a lobster salad, jennifer had a different salad and I had a burger that I
barely ate half of but we all scarfed the French fries (served in wax paper,
in a wine glass to keep them warm and crispy!). It was almost 2:30 when we
were done and they brought me a little goodie bag of products.. WAY COOL! I
shared some with Susan. After all, one shares the largesse! I took off to
Ouidad and was there a touch early which was fine for me. I got to hydrate
with lots of water and just be quiet and not talk (boy was that different!)
I got a shampoo that was heavenly then a great carve and slice cut from
Ouidad. She cut about 1 ½ inches off the bottom and tapered the sides a bit
and made less than 10 other slices into the supporting curls. Then we did
some damage control and really conditioned the hair along with a shine
product and I spent 30 mins under the dryer. I answered phone calls/messages
under the dryer and drank more water. (something I hadn't seen much of
recently) After that, Ouidad's asst did the rinse and styling and my hair
had this long loose almost Rita Hayworth curl and the highlights glowed.
Wow. I was totally stoked. I hadn't seen my hair look so good. (and truly if
you saw the others walking out of the salon, each had that curly girl glow
and gorgeous curls!) . I left with a slew of products and headed back to the
hotel pronto.
Because this was a huge event involving local, county, state and federal
politicos honoring the NYC bomb squad, the media was scarce but the security
was tight. I was able to sneak through a gap though in one the side doors
because someone was smoking! I booked it up to the room and Susan was there
with her hair stylist . She had her makeup done at the Barneys Sue Devitt
counter (can we say she is addicted to Barneys now?) and was wearing this
incredible platinum and verdigris beaded dress that set off her figure a la
marilyn Monroe. Her hair up and gorgeous eyes and guys were dropping in her
wake. Anyway the stylist did a fab job on her hair and if you want to know
who/where to find him, email me. He's so great.
But because he was there, I couldn't just peel off the clothes. So I washed
my face and did the damage control on the makeup and then after he left and
Susan was primping, I got dressed. Susan had to run and I was already 30
mins late and I still had to iron the pleats in the top chemise of the
dress. Oh yeah. Didn't tell you about this did I? Fashiondish helped me find
this vintage dress. Two pieces. One a red orange slip dress that fit
beautifully and then a second over layer/chemise that was crew neck and
sleeveless a la mary mcfadden in a deep ruby red sheer chiffon. The color
just glows . I had applied shimmer gold to body lotion and then slipped on
the dress. Added a red leather and beaded bag along with my Donald Pliner
sandals (wave to Cheryl) and a vintage gold Swarovski bracelet/cuff and some
great -no FABULOUS silk macrame and faceted garnet chandelier earrings.
Wow.. they looked great.
Softly smoked eyes. Slightly reddened lips and a shimmer of gold everywhere along with some sexy graffiti and I was out the door with my hot pink pashmina. Someone at the elevator asked me if I was going to the theater, I
said no . just black tie down stairs
Anyway I missed the Scotch bagpipes but grabbed a glass of champagne (the
first of 3) and went inside to our table. Met the others at our table (Susan's table actually) and talked. Listened to some speeches, presentations,
awards and videos. VERY cool. Dinner was good and while we waited for
dessert, there was a great band and also another speech from a fed asst to
Rumsfeld who used the opportunity to talk about the war in Iraq. which wasn't right since this was about the NYC bomb squad. Anyway great dessert after
he was done and 2 more presentations and more dancing, coffee and champagne.
About 11 pm I was about to call it a night, had one last dance and headed
back upstairs. Susan instead went on and down to the bar and then out to Rosie O Grady's for a burgers and didn't roll in till about 4:30!!
More later on Sat adventures.
sorry about the formatting. something went wrong. will edit more later!
Stevie
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