Polo/Ralph Lauren knows how to reach its customers. Last week I got a candle from Saks, telling me about a Polo/Ralph Lauren trunk show. This week Vic Miller from the main store — on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills — sent flowers. In both cases, it made me think, “Gosh, I haven’t bought any Polo…
http://www.npg.si.edu/ It’s exciting when a concept comes to fruition. A year ago I first met Kim Sajet, head of the National Portrait Gallery for The Smithsonian … She came out from Washington, D.C. to meet people. I took her to lunch at the most historic place I could think of: The Jonathan Club downtown. We…
Joel Schmidt passed away a few weeks ago. I went to her Memorial Service today. I am very grateful I was able to see her on Christmas Day a few months ago — which also happens to be her birthday. Joel wrote me a lovely card after our holiday — thanking me for a sparkly…
http://lasallebakery.net/ Kim DeMarco has excellent taste. Not only does she draw illustrations for the cover of New Yorker magazine… helped create the phrase, “Thanksgivikkah” (President Obama invited her to the White House for that!) — she knows Vin’s got a weakness for his favorite childhood holiday memory. Torrone. Italian nougat candy with rice paper on…
Martin Massman is the ultimate doll. When he gives a dinner party, he’ll tent the pool outside his Penthouse in Century City, bring in scantily-clad Cirque du Soleil trapeze artists, and let us ogle them as we sit at our glamorous glass-topped dining tables he’s decorated with ice sculptures. Martin leads a dinner party by…
As someone who prides herself on being highly rational — maybe the result of having two atheists as parents? — I find myself succumbing sometimes to the lures of the spiritual and unexplained. Michael and Nina made me a special necklace — black onyx and crystal. When I put it on, I did feel ……
What I love about Myron and Linda is they’re the perfect combination — of sensibility and humor. We travelled together to Sicily for 17 days, with a group, and Linda kept us in stitches the entire time. (Her impersonation of a low-key European hairdryer is hilarious). They’ve been following my blog since the beginning, and…
Linda S. is my long-time writing coach. She’s also a beautiful person inside and out. Everything she touches grows more alluring, from her garden to her students’ work. She could do her own “Linda’s Favorite Things” show, a la Oprah. This year’s surprises included a set of rhinestone-studded tweezers, clippers and nail file … a…
Chuck and Ava have excellent taste. They have introduced us to the best ice cream (Grater’s from Cincinnati), silver candy trays (Geary’s), and now — the Harry & David tower of pears. It’s Christmas time when it’s even more of a challenge to keep up on correspondence. I ate a pear this morning so in…
My girlfriend Donna knows what I like. Books on topics like: Office decor. Underdogs like Mike Tyson. Heroes like Walter Cronkite. Anything about the Holocaust. Art. Academia. Although my office right now bulges with foreign objects like holiday bows and wrapping paper, unwrapped gifts and bags full of items to be distributed, I tell myself…
