I Ate a Cronut! Also Racked DC Launched!

Long blogging pause, but big news! I tried a cronut! And I am the editor of Racked DC, which is so incredibly exciting. Way more exciting than the cronut. But the cronut almost got more likes on Facebook than Racked DC did, so I definitely have my work cut out for me. If you could like Racked DC on Facebook and follow on Twitter, that would be the most amazing thing! I promise to make it worth your while. It's going to be so fun. There is much happening retail-wise in Washington, we should all be proud of our city.

Here are three of my favorite stories to write so far: a profile of the amazingly creative director behind M29 LIFESTYLE in Georgetown, watching the bizarre spectacle that unfolded as shoppers practically mugged Target employees for Phillip Lim purses on launch day in Columbia Heights, and mapping out the best places to acquire a new handbag in Washington. 

OK, now it's cronut time. So I went to NYC last weekend and all I wanted to do was eat a cronut. The hype got me. But I guess I didn't want it enough, because we never got around to standing in line. So I figured my cronut moment would never happen. But then miraculously on the last day of my trip, deus ex machina, a cronut in a box arrived at Debie's door. It was good, yes. And beautiful. But honestly, normal donuts are so good I don't think that this is an improvement. It is just a delicious variation on the tried and true.

So I did wait in a massive line for Mighty Quinn's bbq, waiting more than an hour. But I have no idea why there was a line because it was cafeteria style. It was pretty great though, I recommend going no bun on the pulled pork and the baked beans had too much meat, too little beans.

Taim roasted red pepper falafel will haunt my dreams, so delicious. 

Ramen from an unidentified ramen shop, I got greedy with two eggs and couldn't come close to finishing this.  

The Kate Spade Saturday shop is a cute little universe that I would like to inhabit. 

I was lucky to go up to New York for the Racked Awards  and we ate lunch at the very gorgeous ABC Kitchen. They can make popcorn on an ice cream sundae look elegant. Anna Wintour and Vera Wang happened to be on a lunch date here! I thought I saw Anna, but then thought better of it. Don't be such a tourist, I said to myself. But it was her.

The coveted Golden Turbans at the Racked Awards, with a very cool band. Great party!

I regret that I did not get my fortune read by Roxanne. Another day! 

Coolhunting in Soho

While I'm out gallivanting in France, I've scheduled a long overdue post about my recent weekend in NYC.  Carolyn and I traveled to Soho, our friend Linda's new hood.  Such a fun place to explore.  Here are my pictures in chronological order.

Friday, 7:30 p.m.: After an interminable bus ride, we finally arrive and immediately eat fish tacos at Tacombi NYC. There's a VW bus parked inside the restaurant. Of course, I fell in love with the place.

9 p.m.: Soho walkin'

I'm now convinced every other New Yorker owns a French bulldog.  Cah-yuuuute.

9:15 p.m.: Cupcake break at the aptly named Little Cupcake Bakeshop.

12 a.m. Savoire Adore concert at Mercury Lounge.  They are also cah-yuuute.

12:20 a.m.: Hoodie-wearing dachshund, where have you been all my life?  [American Apparel, duh.]

Saturday, 1:40 p.m.: Young Designer's Market.  "She's making jewelry now, she's got her life on track."

2 p.m.: Fiat Cafe lunch.

3:30 p.m.: Boutique shopping for leopard face swimsuits.

Let me check out this furry purse... Wait a minute! It's moving!

4 p.m.: Giverny exhibit at The Hole gallery.  Pretty fake flowers and Astroturf and an intensely naked sprite.

4:15 p.m. Snapped a picture of a wedding photo shoot.

Sunday, 11 a.m.: The magical Cafe Gitane.

Hip chicks...

NYC New Year 2012

I need to post these photos from my NYC NYE trip before January slips away.

I totally jinxed myself - the day before the trip, I told my mom: "I have never had any problems with the bus to NY.  Never ever!  It's never broken down."

Cut to Joe and I standing in the cold at some gas station off the New Jersey Turnpike, as passengers loiter around us and the bus driver negotiates for someone else to bring a different bus to pick us up...

So the trip started inauspiciously.  But we got there eventually, that's the important part.

A castle on the Upper East Side! OK, not really a castle, but still cool.

Where were you when you found out Katy Perry's marriage was kaput? This made me really sad for some reason. Why couldn't those crazy kids make it work?  I want Katy to be happy and continue churning out guilty pleasure pop chart toppers.

Also, I love to ask Joe questions like this: where were you when you found out Michael Jackson died? Where were you when you found out John F. Kennedy Jr. died? Where were you when you found out Gary Coleman died?*

He just rolls his eyes and tries to change the subject.

Here I am with my bestie Debie on NYE. So fun! I wore my black sequin shorts. Every so often, like for New Year's Eve or Lady Gaga concerts, they make their way out of the back of my dresser.

We went to the Guggenheim and saw the Cattelan exhibit.  The sheer scale of it was incredible.  As you walked up the ramp, you could see everything in greater detail.   Highly recommend!

My complaint, though, is that they created an incredible iPad app, but you had to pay $4 for it.   Why couldn't our free audioguide have more information?  Or could they put more text on the wall?  I understand that might ruin the aesthetics, but I wanted to know more about all of the art and and the meaning behind it.  I felt like I was missing out. We already paid $18+ to get in!

I spotted a celebrity at the Guggenheim while we were there - Mena Suvari!  I did my research to verify: Twitter confirms she was in NYC and she had a pretty distinctive neck tattoo.  My mom said it was like bird watching, you look for noticeable features, or in the case of celebrities, distinctive tattoos.

On New Year's Day, we ate a leisurely brunch at the upstairs restaurant at Eataly.

Love this silver pig!

My wonderful friend Amy at the High Line.  Amy, thanks so much for letting us stay with you!  She is the best hostess.  And her cat is a cutie.

How pretty is that?

Now for the "NY is expensive / NYC Screws Over Tourists" section of the blog post.

Joe drinks orange juice from a glass that looks like it belongs at a doll's tea party.

We wanted to go to a Jewish deli, but the line stretched around the block for Carnegie Deli.  We went next door to Stage Deli where they scoop up the Carnegie Deli stragglers.  Take a close look at that menu.  Why is the turkey sandwich $15.95???

OK, that's a lot of turkey, but still!

Our NYC friends grin even though we are taking photographic evidence of their presence in a tourist trap where most New Yorkers would never think of darkening the door. Not pictured: Joe's friend Dave, who said, "No photos, please."

I love our New York friends who always show us a wonderful time whenever we visit! I'm so lucky to have such great friends.

NYC Weekend March 2010

Photos from my quick trip to NYC this past weekend.

Stoop sitting outside of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

How joyous is this scene? You have to go to a Fuerza Bruta performance. I don't want to say much about it because I think it's better that way, but rest assured, it is a spectacle. Also, you may get wet. And that's all I will say.

My friend Amy suggested the show and I said why not, as long as I don't get pulled onstage to dance. Sure enough, a dancer grabbed me by the elbow and tried to drag me on stage. My feet were rooted to the floor, an expression of absolute terror on my face. "No, please, anything but that."

Amy went onstage instead, and she was terrific! A star is born!

My diet over the weekend was not particularly healthy. I give you: pieces of pizza that dwarf Jumbo Slice. (Cell phone denotes a sense of scale).

How can you not be happy while eating a cupcake from a place called "sugar Sweet sunshine."

Tell Me If You Think This is Funny

Before we went out on New Year's Eve, we went to a nice restaurant for a prix fixe three course menu. Although I've been to many a fancy dinner, I never feel at ease. With my klutziness, I know that disaster lurks at every turn.

So we sit down for dinner, and it's just as New York chi chi as I envisioned. I had my slightly trashy dress on with Snookie-style hair poof and I tried to talk myself down as I perused the menu. "Ok, Adele, you're doing fine, just don't screw this up now," I thought.

It was decided that we would have cocktails, and I just glanced at the menu. "I would like the Stigmata," I told the waiter.

"The cocktail is called the Stigma," he said.

Oh no, I just ordered up the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ.Now you've done it!The more I thought about this, I could not compose myself. Debie and I kept laughing, probably making a scene.

When the waiter came back with my drink, he set it down and said - with a completely deadpan expression - "Here's your cocktail. Hammer and nails are in the back room."

NYE 2010

First things first: check out this bottle of wine my friend bought. Another llama-branded item I must buy.

My friend Kate told everyone she like giraffes, and sure enough, she got giraffe-related gifts for every birthday and Christmas ad nauseum. I'm hoping something similar will happen for me if I keep talking about llamas regularly.

Now to the real business - first blog post of 2011! Settle in for a little photodiary of my trip to NYC for NYE.

Still a lot of snow on the ground when we arrive. This dog surveyed the scene. "Finally!" he thought.

Joe snapped this oh-so-"Nighthawks" Hipstamatic shot. I've never looked so mysterious!

Decoration outside a house in Williamsburg. Sounds like a plan.

We went to Pies 'n' Thighs, where they serve fried chicken and pies, of course. Joe kept calling it Legs 'n' Thighs. "That's a strip club," Debie said.

And yes, pictured above is a gluttonous helping of butter on that biscuit.

More butter. Yum...

Fried chicken in one hand, chicken biscuit in the other.

All food prepared by short-order hipster cooks.

At dim sum, where we ate an incredible array of food for a mere $15. A waiter graciously brought me a fork, perhaps after they saw me wrestling with chopsticks and the ensuing dumpling droppage.

Did a little shopping in Soho, but the crowds made me realize that I almost prefer online shopping. These are toddler-size combat boots at the new All Saints store. I found a Rachel Zoe-style furry gray vest on a sale rack. I held it up. "Please, no," Joe said. He was a trooper to put up with the cape, but every man has his breaking point.

He lucked out because the gray fur vest was still $800 - even on sale.

Speaking of online shopping, I bought this Rachel Roy dress on super sale back in November, but when it arrived, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to put it on. It looked straightforward enough on the website, but in real life there were all sorts of fabric flaps and what looked like extra-arm holes. After 25 minutes of puzzling, I finally figured it out. There should've been an Ikea-style directions booklet.

Tada! Rocking the Snookie poof. 2010 was the year of Snookie, wasn't it?

To celebrate New Year's Eve, we went to a "Secret Loft Party" that our friend, the fabulous Lani Love, dj'ed at. Secret loft party = the apogee of cool for 2010. Lani wrote about the party here!

Ringing in the New Year.... Beyonce style... Notice the fancy gold finger nail ring.