i had a great af week/weekend, thanks to all the wonderful afers in town!
audrey and i met up for a day of shopping, and what a power shopper she is! she
greeted me at her hotel with a bag of delicious dried white nectarines and
plums, which i'm trying to eat slowly to no avail. we headed downtown to hit
some stores she wanted to hit for her daughters, including zara and h & m, then
on to the prada 'museum' (actually a store, but architecturally and
display-wise, so much more). we oohed and aahed over the workmanship and talked
about how the details in the garments truly justified the prices. spent some
time in pearl river mart, which has been glitzed up so the goods are easier to
see and find. audrey was doing most of the shopping, since i still haven't
pulled out my winter clothes to see what my needs are, but i did get a bunch of
teas, noodles and pocky (biscuits dipped in chocolate, strawberry cream and
other yummy stuff). by then we were tired and hungry and the nearest restaurant
was balthazar, so off we went. audrey treated me to lunch, after which we went
down to canal street. the lv fakes were so bad, much worse than ones i'd seen
before and even the ones i saw the day after, so we theorized that fashion week
caused the vendors to keep the good stuff hidden. the weather started getting
bad, so we cabbed back, audrey dropped me at my apt and she continued back to
the hotel for a rest before her night on bway 
. i did a quick detour to whole
foods to get a salad and some jason hair care which was b1g1 free.
then for me, up bright and early the next morning to meet aimee (ag9541) and
her cousin at their hotel. yet again, meeting an afer for the first time
resulted in instant recognition and conversation; it's amazing! they suggested
going to the empire state building and since i haven't gone since, like, first
grade, i thought it sounded like a great idea, since isabel held off and the
weather was warm and clear. of course, sephora stood between the hotel and the
esb, so we had to stop there! we all kept picking up the same perfumes, which
we kinda figured would happen since we always like the same things. several
testers were already dry (like the new gucci we wanted to try) so we continued
on. the esb was lots of fun and many photos were taken, most of which have hair
blowing right in front of them; part of the observation deck was roped off due
to high winds. we went down to little italy to have lunch at a little place on
mulberry street where we sat in the garden to relax. when i was coming out of
the restroom someone swung another door outward with great force, removing most
of my nail polish from my big toe, in addition to some skin (this is the toe
that i broke, then lost the nail twice, so it obviously has a death wish). of
course i didn't let this deter our walking and shopping, so we went over to
lower fifth ave in the flatiron district, where aimee treated her mom to a
shirt from bebe (and one for herself). sometimes bebe has nothing i like, but
they had lots of cute things this time and i'll be back. frozen drinks were in
order, so we went to this bbq place where i've had drinks before. i've never
tried the food, but the drinks are huge, delicious, strong and cheap, and after
finishing off the top inch of our drinks we were all pretty well gone and
laughing madly over everything. we walked up to their hotel and hung out in
their room for a while talking and talking and talking. i had to go home to
walk the dog, and just completely gumbied out on the sofa from my fishbowl o'
margarita, so i missed their phone call for dinner later that night. guess i'm
gonna have to head up to buffalo sometime; aimee and lisa (not an afer) are
both tremendously fun to hang out with!
then, the next morning, more af fun. i woke up at 10, too late to meet everyone
for the first round of shopping but with more than enough time to meet them for
lunch. but first, my block was having our annual block party, so as i walked my
dog through i saw someone unloading cream perfume boxes trimmed in black which
looked like jo malone, and by golly, they were! no discounts, not off the back
of a truck, but some guys who live in my bldg and who work for jo, who was in
town, were taking orders though bergdorf, and putting the orders through to
take advantage of the bg $25 off $75 deal. not bad! i got the new orange
blossom, which is lovely, and the amber lavender, which i might keep and layer
with the orange blossom, or give to my brother. these guys rock; they'll have
samples and gifts waiting for me thursday at the bergdorf event too. then off
to meet everyone for lunch in midtown. due to another, much more massive,
street fair, my walking route was closed to cars so i ended up walking all the
way and arrived just in time to order. there already sat emiriamd, tflinn,
meredith, sandra in pa and audrey. they were already laden with packages so we
checked everything out and headed over to barneys. saw another of my neighbors
there and found out he's a national artist for le clerc, so i'll have to hit
him up for a makeover sometime. some of us tried some tracie martyn stuff, and
i wish i'd sniffed this purple serum before putting it on my hands, because it
was so foul emiriam wouldn't even stand near me! i drowned it out with
something from chantecaille, and we kept wandering, eventually finding the
francesca guerrera which audrey's been raving about. gorgeous colors and
textures, and the shadows fit in a stila palette. if i ever get back into
buying eye shadows, i'd love to have all of these! after barneys we headed down
to the meatpacking district to see the shops there. first stop was jeffrey,
which is fairly small as far as 'department stores' go, but with a
perfectly-edited selection of clothes which are edgy without being so
of-the-moment that they'll be useless and 'over' tomorrow. at everyone's
urging, i tried on a gorgeous pucci print wool coat but alas, the sleeves were
a foot too long (not that i'd spend that kind of money on a cream colored coat
in nyc!!). the shoe selection there is gorgeous, and we all fell in love with a
few pairs. we then headed to stella maccartney, who i think is really
improving. some killer coats, and her scent, were the standouts for me. at
first i didn't like it but tracy encouraged me to wait for the drydown when the
initial heavy rose faded, and it becomes really lovely with lots of amber.
sandra bought it; had i not just bought 2 jo malones i'd have been tempted,
especially with that gorgeous bottle. most of us then cabbed over to nolita to
see some smaller shops. audrey got such pretty gold earrings at calypso, 2
little circle dangles on each ear. we stopped in a few other little stores then
tracy spotted pir cosmetics, which was new to me (and apparently the city,
since they've only been here 2 weeks). they were discussed on another thread
but i'll repeat the enthusiasm for a nice selection of unusual lines and
knowledgeable salespeople. i know sandra got some goodies and i'll be back for
some of their home fragrance items for sure, and to check out the tina earnshaw
line. we each headed to dinner or home, and i was among those heading home;
although i didn't buy anything, i definitely got a feel for what i want and
will eventually get. another great experience with af friends i've met before
or just met this weekend! thanks to all who travelled so far to shop and hang
out!!
oh, and when i got back to my apt, the concierge told me he had a package for
me... it was my ebay win of cofarb's fluffy mohair vintage coat! i was hoping
she'd be in the city for the weekend, but instead i've got her coat, which fits
perfectly, as well it should, since we're both shorties. finally, a coat which
doesn't need to have the sleeves shortened! and she threw in a gift of star and
rose carrot and green tea face cream, which smells gently of carrots and is oh
so soothing. thanks donna; even from far away, you totally rock!
