While in Chicago for the grand opening party of my retail store there, I had the opportunity to go on the local ABC morning news show. Here are some photos…

Pascale at 7:30am getting ready for the show, nursing a hangover.

ABC Greenroom (not green!). This is where Oprah got her start.

Playing around on the set with Pascale. I needed a lot of coffee.

Here’s the spot from that morning:

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your support last week. From Monday – Friday 100% of our sales online and Thursday 100% of our sales in our retail stores, went directly to Catholic Relief Services for the aid of the Japanese people in their recovery from the earthquakes and tsunami that devastated their country.

We are super excited and happy to be able to provide this service and to give our customers a chance to shop and give back at the same time.

So, thanks again for everyone’s support! We couldn’t have done it without you.

Sunday on 25th St between Broadway and Sixth Ave. Kids dressed up for a performance. Cute!

I went to the Armory Art Show at the The Piers. I hadn’t been there for a few years. It has completely exploded. It encompasses contemporary galleries from all over the world. It’s exciting to see who is pushing the boundaries and who is not. Here are some memorable pieces…

Using a stainless steel subway door frame Leandro created the illusion of looking into a live stream subway. (*Leandro Erlich, Subway 2010, Blue Ray DVD and Stainless Steel, 1 minute video)

(*Diane Arbus, photo)

(*Asta Groting, leather jackets)

(*Kim McCarty, August 2010, Watercolor on paper)

1960′s Sculpture (*Bone, Acrylic, Glass, Wood and Shell)

(*Ian Burns, “Still”)

The feeling of helplessness overwhelms me when I see images of devastation in Japan. I can only help a little bit but I like the feeling of making a small difference. Once again I am asking/offering from my customers to purchase jewelry and that 100% of their purchase will be donated to the Catholic Relief Fund. I like donating 100% because it is a clean number, it’s not a percentage of the profit etc…its 100%.  I had researched the Catholic Relief Fund when we made our last Charity donation to Haiti and they are amazing at efficiency and making sure that relief and help is made to the exact location. One of the best things is 93% of what we give to the CRF goes into the hands of people that need it. This is really significant since most nonprofits have higher overhead expenses.

So on a lighter note…shop, buy some baubles and give 100% of your dollars to help someone in Japan. At the end of the day… giving freely is one of the best feelings.

Information on what’s going on here:

The feeling of helplessness overwhelms me when I see images of devastation in Japan. I can only help a little bit but I like the feeling of making a small difference. Once again I am asking/offering from my customers to purchase jewelry and that 100% of their purchase will be donated to the Catholic Relief Fund. I like donating 100% because it is a clean number, it’s not a percentage of the profit etc…its 100%.  I had researched the Catholic Relief Fund when we made our last Charity donation to Haiti and they are amazing at efficiency and making sure that relief and help is made to the exact location. One of the best things is 93% of what we give to the CRF goes into the hands of people that need it. This is really significant since most nonprofits have higher overhead expenses.

So on a lighter note…shop, buy some baubles and give 100% of your dollars to help someone in Japan. At the end of the day… giving freely is one of the best feelings.

Information on what’s going on here:

For the last 5 years I’ve used taxidermy as an added display feature in my stores. We have worked with Frank J. Zitz & Co to come up with some amazing creations.

Just for the record- all the animals die naturally and are NOT killed.

This year we embarked on “Hybrids”. Frank has created new animal species. The picture above is of one of the latest, half giraffe / half horse.

Below are a couple creations.

Recently had my first trip to Puerto Rico and I was amazed at how beautiful it was! Here are some photos…

Walking on a wall in San Juan.

Outside the St. Regis in Bahia.

I love working with Nicola Formichetti. It’s really amazing to see how he’s helped shape Lady Gaga’s vision. Here are few images from his blog of Gaga’s new music video. The two headbands she’s wearing were designed for her (and this wasn’t the first time!).