heaven's dog, evie's giggle, flashlights -

did i mention evelyn took us to a ton of new restaurants when we went up there?

or that tim took a ton of photos every time we turned around,

so that i lost track,

and just found these,

which i LOVE cause they sum us up,

again?

or that this place had the best name

OF ALL TIME?

the park hyatt / palacio duhau, buenos aires, argentina. or, as i like to call it, "tim, this is how we should be living".

i know, right?

it's like moldavia, manderley, and tara
all rolled into one edifice.

this is where we stay when we're in buenos aires,
and i have to say it's in the top three of my favorite hotels.

a former palacio, purchased by the hyatt group and completely redone,
half the grounds are the original building, half are a modern hotel.
the courtyard that connects them, complete with waterfalls and terraces,
is one of my favorite places to sit and unwind:

the new building,
a limestone graceland,
is filled with modern sculpture, a pool, gray birdseye maple,
and the requisite sleek bathrooms en suite:

the original palacio duhau,
which contains two restaurants, the gym, a bar,
and a staff so discreet they barely exist to the eye,
is stunning:

having spent evenings in both sides of the hotel,
of course my heart went a little insane on the duhau side.
i don't know if it was the garret-like slope to the roof,
the enormous chandelier,
the mix of modern art and plated hardware:

or the curtains!

but regardless of the side,
it's the littlest things that make a hotel stay a respite for you
rather than a reminder of your distance from home.

take breakfast.

michael and i would meet on the terrace,
and talk about the day to begin:

somewhere between the sun and the baby cacti on the table,
this would arrive:

that's right.

those are semi-sweet chocolate eggs, my friends.
resting on ground cane sugar.

you drop them in the frothy heated milk.
and make your own hot chocolate.

and are spoiled for the rest of your life
to all other forms
of breakfast.

the london hotel, west hollywood, our home away from home . . .

with all the travel i've been doing down to los angeles recently
(and now that you guys know why)
i have to recommend the london hotel.

it's like stepping into a technicolor black and white movie.

a swirling twenties madcap romance and a noir angelina jolie thriller.

it's parquetry and gold leather and chrome and suede walls and white roses and mint green.

it's rooftop pools and tim in dark glasses and gordon ramsay sushi
and the NICEST valet parking in all of los angeles.

it's escape.
 

even in the middle of all of our change.

how do you clear your head, when your head is full -

get away for a weekend.

hop on virgin atlantic, all purple and chic :


land, and try not to read TOO much into the signs:


(i truly am not the devil, people. my powers are largely ceremonial.)
as tim waits for our transport, i dream of the room:


until we are settled in the suite at the mondrian, all pale and draped:


glittering and views:


and settled in a place to revive,
after a monumental decision.

L.A. weekend - the mtv movie awards

coldplay.
the pussycat dolls.
good friends.






and we were ALL dressed up.

L.A. weekend - the first stop!

when you drag your best gal-pal evie down to lala land for the weekend,
because you've got this work thing to go to, but have some down time,
what do you do first?


uh huh, that's right.
the barney's shoe sale.
and see, even our models love sale shoes:


after we ran into sveta, sarah, and nina,
we kind of got groggy and passed out.

little did we know someone had slipped GHB or something into our diet cokes,
and when i woke up,
and this is hard for me to talk about,
i had been
SHOE RAPED.


the crime scene photos are a little grisly,
but i only show them to you to warn you of the dangerous effects
of drinking diet coke while shopping for sale shoes.

evelyn had it worse.
she was SHOE GANG BANGED.


below you will see mug shots of the culprits.
if you recognize them on our feet any time in the future,
please alert . . . well . . . just compliment us on them.

a tone poem to new york, in the spring -

the skies seem to have opened up on the east coast this year, first :


and the buildings of the greatest city began to shed their winter skins,
to rummage for their true grandeur and alert their guardians that yes,
this was spring, at last:


flowers are appearing:


thankfully, not all of them are printed, some are real:


art makes its seasonal reappearance:


and everyone starts to open their eyes:


the grafitti changes it's colors (how considerate!):


and shoes shed their winter husks at louboutin,
to better tempt their prey:


but, maybe, i'm just seeing things through rose colored glasses: