This guy was walking his goat outside the Bleecker store…

Our girls Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley carrying the Olympic Torch in London.

Governors Island was a major military base in the 1800′s through the 1960′s. I’ve looked at it from afar while growing up in NYC but never thought I’d get the chance to be on it. Somehow in my crazed busy life I haven’t made it out there until now.   I’d thought that it was complicated to get there but found out it was super easy.

This year I decided to go and made it to the ferry station. I met a sweet conservative Jewish couple from Australia with their 6 kids. The dad was wearing orange socks, Birkenstocks, and a multi color yamaka… very chic!

The island itself is quite bizarre, but in a good way. It feels like you’re looking in on a string of other eras. The houses are all intact, built from the late 1700′s-1960′s, and look like they’ve been frozen in time.   The captains house, the old Theater from the 1930′s, the naval hospital, etc…

You feel like you’re in a dream,  removed from the manic energy of NYC. There are amazing art installations sprinkled throughout the island which bridge the present to the past.

The views are incredible! It was remarkable because for as long as I have lived here I have never seen these perspectives of Brooklyn and Manhattan. The other amazing thing is no one has commercialized it… yet.   No Governors Island Tee Shirts or key chains, no hip restaurants with loud people, no Shake Shack…. nothing!!

What more could you want!

Here’s a quick read from Style.com’s Style File Blog… Enjoy!

With the school year around the corner, budding young fashion designers and journalists—the scholars of the 75th edition of the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund—wrapped up a summer in the city last night with a panel of headlining speakers: Alexis Bittar (pictured, left), Lori Goldstein (pictured, center), Cynthia Rowley (pictured, right), Michael Bastian, Terron Schaefer, and the affable moderator Mickey Boardman who opened with the line, “I started at Paper 20 years ago. With luck, you’ll make it to the middle, as I have.” Much of the panel’s discussion, titled “The Future of Fashion, Starting Out: What I Wish I Knew Then and Other Insights from Fashion Leaders’ Early Years,” was centered on advice for surviving the industry. With the summer heat, the conversation at FIT flowed loose and unedited. For one, Bastian emphasized putting in the grunt work and warned, “Our industry is littered with these people who think they’re born to be only number-one.” The menswear designer was echoed via confirming nods from his colleagues.

Goldstein, meanwhile, pointed out the various strong personalities in the industry, admitting that she was something of a control freak. That wasn’t necessarily a negative, though; as it turned out, direction and execution apparently produced results. The award-winning Schaefer also professed to hold the reins close. “I’m often wrong but never in doubt,” Schaefer said.

And for those looking for a shortcut (a.k.a. the next young YSL), better to look elsewhere. It seemed there was more than one path to fashion stardom but the road was at best murky. “My first job, I was a bartender,” Rowley said. “I was a total dropout,” Bittar, who began hawking antique jewelry on St. Marks Place while still in elementary school, added. But for overcoming roadblocks and to pursue success, Bittar recommended, “Be really honest with yourself about what you want to be. What are your ethics? Your aspirations? And if you don’t love it, then get out.”

I’m not sure if I talked about Franny before, but my ex adopted her from a local shelter a few years ago. They told him that she was 2 years old. She was seriously abused and kind of a physical mess. After spending a few months with her and trying to put some weight on her I started to wonder what was really wrong because she refused to get fat. I took her To Dr Newman, my local Brooklyn Vet. After examining her, Dr. Newman came back to let us know that Franny was not 2 years old but approximately 16 years old. Franny was an OLD cat!

It answered everything, why she was so frail and so finicky about eating. I took it as a mission to fatten her up and have her spend her last days in style.

She is now on a regular diet of Spam, tuna, cheese and sardines. All of which suck for her health, but the only things that she’ll actually eat. She sees Dr Newman monthly and is shot up with all kinds of yummy vitamins. She also gets tons of beauty sleep and, most importantly, she rules the house.

Habibi is terrified of her. Every day is ground hog day for Habibi. He runs to play with Franny, and even though she is frail and can barely move her arthritic little joints, she just hisses at him and he cowards away.

Here he is longingly looking to play with her.

This was slightly panned by the NY Times review as overly pretentious and artistic, but  I really wanted to see it.

I watched it on Saturday and felt quite differently. It was beautifully shot. The little girl who plays the lead was perfect (which is not always true of child actors) and the script was so original I couldn’t believe it actually attracted a budget and was produced.

It is a surreal movie about poverty and alcoholism seen through the eyes of a young girl, but in a bizarre way remains predominately a sweet childlike story despite the obviously depressing theme.  I’ve never seen alcoholism less judged in a movie that has such a unique perspective of the “grey area” in people lives.

I finally got to see the Met show “Impossible Conversation With Schiaparelli and Prada”.

I think Schiaparelli is one of the most original designers we have had.  Her surrealism, combined with sculpture, texture, and amazing luxurious taste level carries into every piece.

I also really admire Muccia Prada. On a business level, just watch the trajectory of how she revolutionized her family business with a black nylon bag that has the Prada insignia on the outside of the bag. At the time she did this, it was shocking!  Her ability to experiment with art and fashion is incredible. She is clearly one of the best of this generation.

Now about the show…

I couldn’t get past the bad the video that greets the viewers as they walk in.  It was the strangest thing and I’m not sure how it got produced –  it was so cheesy. They decided to act out an impossible dream conversation between Schiaparelli (played by Judy Davis who in her own right is a great actress) and Prada — their accomplishments and their thoughts about being women designers, etc.  It was so staged and juvenile.  I thought it devalued the work they’d each done. Here’s a clip so you can get a feel for it.

It seemed to me to be a massive Prada ad.

In the past, the Met had shown a Vivienne Westwood exhibit which was memorable.  It detailed  the generous scope of her work and its impact on fashion as well as her ability to maintain a moderate size business. Most Americans are not familiar with her work and how it has shaped what we wear.

Again, when McQueen died there was a Met retrospective which was also incredible, and it paid homage to his thought process and creation.

This exhibit with Prada felt like it was blurring the line further towards consumerism and self promotion when it could have just been about two incredible designers.

On an interesting note, it was fascinating to see how much Prada was influenced by Schiaparelli throughout her career. It seemed like an obvious connection, but one that I hadn’t noticed until it was so clearly laid out on this piece.

If you are drawn to their work it is definitely worth seeing.

Hudson NY is one of those towns that has been a great escape for so many people from NYC for the last 20 years.  Nestled up in Columbia County it has a ” Main St” feel, tons of gorgeous houses from the late 1800′s, and a booming art, home design and, oddly, a huge jewelry scene.

I ran into a ton of people from NYC who have summer houses there.  For example, the director of West Elm, an agent who represents up and coming designers, as well as an ex go-go boy from the 1985 club “The World” who is now selling books on the street. It’s kind of weird, but whatever…  Anyway, it reminds me of the West Village in the early 80′s. I think it’s probably a haven for interior decorators.

I met this lovely girl from Serbia who designs hats.  I thought they were some of the most creative I’ve seen in a long time.  She uses classic millinery with a modern twist.  Not to mention she seemed like one of the most beautiful down-to-earth designers I’ve met. You can visit her website here.

My friend Ben has lost a considerable amount of weight recently. He was my gym buddy before he moved to Boston to work for Harvard.

We worked out for a year together and would joke around about our man boobs and the increasing size of our stomachs. When he told me that he started to go to Cross Fit, like all alpha males, I was bitten by the competitive bug and decided to get my shit in order.

I changed my diet to a low carb, low meat, low sugar and ate tons of veggies.  I still eat out when I want to but changing my food habits led to a loss of 16 lbs in three months.

Plus I started to work out a little harder. I just finished my second Cross Fit class on Saturday and loved it.  Cross Fit is a mix of aerobic and weight lifting at a super fast pace.  It brings community and all ages together for some healthy competition.  I didn’t finish and I cheated throughout but I’m definitely going back. I loved that there were girls there that could kick my ass and guys who were so in shape but didn’t look all buff and steroided.

If you’re  eager for a change in life I give it a big thumbs up. (Picture above is me after the workout.)

Michelle Obama wore an Elements necklace made from mother of pearl doublets with quartz, enamel, silk and citrine to announce the National Design Awards on Saturday. You can read all about the awards here.

Here are some more photos from my trip:

Talk about gracious strength. She embodies complete other worldly beauty while maintaining an iron will conviction for Burma’s democratic  future.

I think she is one of the most remarkable women of our time. From her fearlessness of oppression and her years of house arrest, to consistently speaking out about the injustices done to the people of Burma.

Not to mention that she is 67 and absolutely gorgeous, strong and courageous. We need more women like her in the world.

Carlyne is one of those stylists that defined an era. She was one of the biggest during the 80′s and early 90′s. She embodied an ease of over-abundance, color, fun, and in general, an innocence which you feel when you look at her images during this time.

Fortunately, for all of us, she has had a major resurgence and is credited for much of the imagery that we are seeing from the up and coming stylists.

For me she is a total inspiration. We met recently after working on a few shoots and it felt like I met a long lost cousin. The synergy is real. I think it is a start of a great relationship.

Below are some images that we worked on for Japanese Vogue and V magazines.

We had a small/large dance party that was also a charity for the Bird Refuge on 88th and Columbus Ave.  I got to unwind and live it up on the dance floor like it was 1992. I still can bust a move.

Here are some cute pics

This is a perfect movie to watch cuddled up on the couch on a rainy day. It brought me back to a feeling of being in Maine as a kid. The colors and art direction are impeccable and each frame is perfectly manicured. It feels like it’s all been shot during sunset, so that the light is always soft and glows and adds a hint of amber to every frame.

When I spent my childhood summers in Maine, I remember being so excited to explore the countryside.   I was lucky enough to experience living in both Brooklyn and Maine from 3-18 years old.

By the time I was 15 years old, I hated Maine. I resented leaving the bustle of NYC and completely didn’t appreciate the peace of mind in Maine. Instead, I wanted to be going to clubs, getting stoned and hanging out with my straight hip hop friends (while I was still in the closet….weird, right!!!???).

But as an adult I often think of those early summers in Maine and how amazing they were. I was always so excited to wake up and run outside the Water Tower my Dad made into a house and see the land we lived on.

Anyway, I just went down memory lane… Go see the movie.