Monday, March 22, 2010

J. Peterman skirt, Lulu Guinness bag, BR outlet twin set, Ferragamo shoes

Last Friday evening, my husband & I were able to have our first outdoor meal of the year. After the insane amount of snow we had this past winter, dining al fresco was an extra-special treat! We went to b, a cute neighborhood bistro with amazing food. I celebrated by wearing the Ferragamo shoes we both fell in love with on our trip to Florence last December & carrying my new Lulu Guinness bag. The Ferragamos are reproductions of a vintage style originally created for Peggy Guggenheim. They're amazingly comfy & I plan to seek out more shoes by this brand, although my subsequent pairs - like the ones I purchased before splurging on these - will probably have to be clearance sale or secondhand finds!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Gershwin Hotel lobby, NYC


gershwin hotel , originally uploaded by retrogemkitty7.

My husband & I are notorious NYC hotel-hoppers. We like to have a safe place to stash our stuff during the day, & lack of bedbugs is always a plus, but we're not in Manhattan to hang out in the hotel room, so we've been known to overlook many things (unbelievably tacky decor, hard beds, & lack of washcloths included) to snag a great rate. This past weekend, we scored big-time, because we managed to land a great deal at a place with style, great service, & a killer location on 27th street (just steps from some of the best vintage/antiques shopping I've ever found!) Unlike most hotels in this price range, the Gershwin isn't decorated in watery pastel shades & generic furniture. Paint colors here are vibrant & many of the furnishings appear to have been hand-selected at flea markets or really, really good yard sales. If we'd had some kitties to pet, we'd truly have been right at home.

Lulu Guinness large icon Jenny bag

Let's see, it has a black cat, a cameo, red roses, & all kinds of other girly stuff on it - yes, it was meant to be mine. I had actually been stalking this bag since last fall & was lucky enough to snag it for 70% off last weekend, both due to persistence & the great sales associates at Lulu's Bleecker Street shop. Now I have my eye on another Lulu bag, but isn't that always how these things go?

NYC umbrellas... well, former umbrellas... 3-14-10

How can you tell you love a place? For us, one way to know that is to visit in absolutely hideous weather & still manage to have a good time. After the nastiest winter we've had in years, & with other stresses consuming way too much of our time & energy, Mr. Altocat & I decided to spend last weekend in one of our favorite cities - New York! The weather was rainy & icky on Friday & even worse on Saturday (add even more rain & high winds, & you get the picture.) Things were clearer on Sunday, but it still rained a bit. Neither one of us is the type to stay in the hotel room & watch TV - we've walked around Manhattan in snow halfway up our calves before - so we put up our umbrellas (we "killed" two over the weekend; they ended up looking much like the ones in this picture) & ventured out. Our weekend was filled with performances (burlesque at the Slipper Room & "The Nose" at the Metropolitan Opera), great food (Zucca, I Coppi, & Bagel Boss), shopping (a Lulu Guinness bag for me, a vintage Armani coat for Mr. Altocat, & a big surprise - a Tiffany key pendant *from* him!), & friends, one old, one new. New York, we love you, and you are a magical place, even in awful weather.