August 2006

August 25th 2006

A big shout-out to Pedro from my local deli, who found my phone today and called, texted, and emailed just about everyone on my list.  Thanks to Pedro, I was reconnected with friends I hadn’t spoken to in years, who all emailed to tell me I was a moron for leaving my cell phone at a deli.  As one of them said, “It’s such a Paris Hilton move”.  Nevertheless, muchas gracias Pedro for making sure I got my cell phone back before Lindsay Lohan got her hands on it.  That’s a joke, Lindsay, we love you.

Speaking of love… last night I headed up to Central Park with pals Polina & Teresa to see G.Love & Special Sauce.  If for any reason there are those of you who don’t know G.Love’s music, you really must visit your local itunes shop today and buy it all.  G.Love (aka: Garrett) is not only a fantastic musician & chanteur, but also comes from a fabulous family including his soon-to-be-married sister Jaime and great mom & dad, who took me under their wing when I moved to Philadelphia as a stranger years ago.  The show was awesome as expected, and if for any reason you missed it, he’ll be back in NYC in November to sing one more for the ladies.

From the park the whole G.Love Unit headed downtown to a party at the nightclub Stereo where Mark Ronson was burning it up on the turntables.  …I must pause here to tell you that on the way to the party our cab driver was nice enough to crank Power 105 as requested, which meant he got an extremely enthusiastic serenade from Polina, Teresa and me of SWV’s “Weak”.  Girls, is there any better song?  No, there is not, so take a break from what you’re doing and sing along:

• I get so weak in the knees, I can hardly speak
• I lose all control, and something comes over me
• In a daze, and it’s so amazing
• It's not a phase, I want you to stay with me
• By my side, I swallow my pride
• Your love is so sweet, it knocks me right off my feet…
• Can't explain why your love just makes me weak

Now, back to my story…  It’s rare to find a DJ who can switch from Biggie to U2 with seamless finesse, but somehow Mr. Ronson always manages.  After some serious dance moves at Stereo we headed to failsafe Bungalow 8, which is always the last stop on the party train.  Oh Bungalow.

This week I’m off to sunny Italia where I’ll be thinking of no one but you.  xoxo

August 23rd 2006
Shea Stadium

In an effort to enjoy every last drop of summer, last night I headed to Shea Stadium to see the St. Louis Cardinals play the New York Mets.  To me there is nothing that screams “summertime” more than a baseball game, so when my cousin Laurie Baur called to see if I could join her friend Deb Kaufman for a game, I was overjoyed to go. 

The game was scheduled to begin at 7pm, but Laurie called and said I would want to be there at 5:30pm instead.  This seemed like an awfully long amount of time eat pre-game hotdogs, so I decided that if I arrived by 6pm there couldn’t be a single thing I’d miss. 

Oh how wrong I was.  What Laurie didn’t tell me what that her friend Deb is a superstar sports anchor, and by the time I arrived they had met all of the Cardinals, all of the Mets, and had their picture taken with former President Bill Clinton.  Yes ladies, Bill Clinton attended the game and was apparently the Number One Lady Charmer in the pre-game press lounge.  Incidentally, Bill was there to root for the Cardinals and not the Mets, much to the dismay of Hill Hill’s 49,592 constituents in attendance.

Despite the fact that I had missed my big chance to schmooze with Billicious, the game was a blast from the 1^st to 9^th inning, and I have a new love for Mets fans despite my Cardinal loyalty.  Who wouldn’t fall in love with Carlos, Jose, and that foxy David Wright?  Oh, Mr. Wright.

I generally choose my sports teams based on their team colors, uniforms, and logos, because as any girl knows… cuteness counts.  Every New Yorker if forced to make a choice when it comes to Yankees vs. Mets, and I had always chosen to like the Yankees just for the sheer beauty of their uniform, team logo, and brilliant use of pinstripes.  Last night, however, I realized that Mets fans are actually much cuter and more polite, so I have switched my allegiance altogether, and am now thinking Orange & Royal are the new Navy & White. 

Big shout-out to Laurie and Deb for a fabulous time, and when it comes to New York baseball… Go Mets!

August 21st 2006
Montauk via Manhattan

I can’t believe summer is almost coming to an end!  I have been trying my best to pack in last-minute summer fun before the cold sets in, and so far my efforts have paid off. 

Last week I began on Monday with a movie in Bryant Park.  There is nothing like sitting under the stars with 2,500 of your fellow New Yorkers while watching Cary Grant & Audrey Hepburn buzz around Paris in one of my favorite movies ever, Charade.  The evening temperature was heavenly with a light summer breeze, and with everyone drinking wine spread out on their picnic blankets, you couldn’t have asked for a more romantic summertime setting.  By the time Audrey and Cary finally locked lips onscreen, the crowds went so wild one would have thought it was the World Cup all over again.  Quel amour!

Then, on Tuesday I headed to dinner at Bar Pitti with Kate, on Wednesday to dinner at Moss with Olivia, Jen & Julia, and on Thursday because it had been such a long week, I headed straight out to my new favorite place in the world, Montauk.  Girls, if you haven’t been to Montauk you must cancel your next year’s Hamptons houses and really find a place there.  The Hamptons are like Newark in comparison, and now that I’ve been enlightened, I’m thrilled I’ll never have to spend another weekend standing in line for breakfast at the Golden Pear.

In contrast, Montauk’s only breakfast spot is a fabulous little trailer called “The Ditch Witch” which parks itself by the beach of the East Deck Motel.  Yes, you read that correctly, the words “trailer” and “motel” describe many things in Montauk, which is why we love it all the more.  Kate and I woke up early Friday morning and headed straight to the Ditch Witch along with scores of hottie surfers who were there to catch the morning waves.  It’s true, “hottie surfers” is another pair of words that describes many things in Montauk, which is reason #243 to never go back to the Hamptons. 

The reason we were in Montauk, however, was actually not to check out foxy surfers, but instead to shoot our Spring 2007 collection with star photographer Annabel Mehran, star stylist Kate Schelter, star supermodel Trilby, star hair dresser James Percis, and star makeup artist Oslyn Holder .  Chances are you won’t see these photos until Spring 2007, but when you do you will surely be blown away by the sheer talent of our crew!

After a long day of watching Annabel work her magic, we decided we deserved a much needed drink and headed to the Montauket for seriously laid back sunset cocktails.  The Montauket is a fabulously white trash dive bar which is situated in the perfect location for sunset, has a daiquiri bar, and plays the best classic rock in town.  Aw yeah.

From the Montauket, Kate, Annabel and I headed to dinner at the Shepards Inn’s delicious “Backyard” restaurant, where we met up with Blythe, Julia and Oliver for one too many tequila cocktails.  Exhausted from a long day of shooting you would have thought we would decide to hit the hay, but thanks to the magical powers of tequila, we decided to hit the karaoke bar instead. 

Girls, you have not lived until you’ve witnessed Friday Night Karaoke at the Liar’s Saloon in Montauk.  My goodness.  Those of you who read this diary know how much I love karaoke bars, and specifically the kind of karaoke bars frequented by middle-aged American Idol hopefuls with drinking problems and a penchant Broadway.  Needless to say, after hearing a heart-wrenching rendition of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, a passionate performance of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, a hilarious interpretation of To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before, and an awe-inspiring version of Sloop John B, all sung by the local fishermen, we knew we had found the best bar on Long Island. 

Unfortunately things at the Liar’s Saloon took a turn for the worse when, thanks mostly to alcohol, we too decided to sing a song for the crowd.  Our song choice was suggested by Annabel, who had convinced us all that singing Bob Seger’s Night Moves would be a piece of cake.  Note to the reader:  Do not try singing Night Moves unless you actually are Bob Seger. 

The following day was spent recovering on the beach, and ended with a fabulous BBQ and beach bonfire at Blythe & Julia’s house (see photos right). 

I ♥ Montauk.

August 14th 2006
Telluride via NYC

Newsflash!  Newsflash!  I have just returned from a week long vacation in Telluride, Colorado, where I was supposed to be relaxing with my family but ended up doing some detective work instead.  Who can relax when they know that Baby Suri, Tom, and Katie are within a 1 mile radius of their vacation spot?  Not me.

As all of you who faithfully read brilliant literature like UsWeekly know, Tom Cruise has a house in Telluride, which he has visited with everyone from Nicole to Penelope to now, Katie.  The word on Main Street was that TomKat was in town that week, so with rumors that Baby Suri does not exist and/or is an extraterrestrial, I decided it was time to do a bit of reconnaissance work, and here is what I found…

Baby Suri really does exist.  According to someone who actually held her, she is adorable & healthy and does not look remotely like an alien as we all (especially the Scientologist crew) feared.  Thank God.  This, however, is not the big news.  The big news, girls, is that last week Tom & Katie had 23 of their nearest & dearest family members jetted to Telluride for a private “party”, which we are all 100% positive was really a wedding.  And… Mr & Mrs Holmes were seen paling around with Mrs. Cruise (Tom’s mom) in a way that would suggest that despite rumors of being at odds, they may have actually decided to become friends for the sake of their kids.

I learned all of these facts from a top-secret source who knows Tom well, and also informed me that Tom is a “regular nice guy” who likes things like carpentry, fishing, and hiking.  Apparently Tom’s only drawback is his constant attempts to convert everyone he encounters to Scientology, so as long as Katie can deal with “The aliens are coming! The aliens are coming!” on a regular basis, she’s fine.

Am now back in NYC and will have more HOLLYWOULD scoop for you this week, so stay tuned…

August 8th 2006
New York City

In case you haven’t yet heard…  this week is the annual HOLLYWOULD INSANE SALE!  The sale takes place at our store in Nolita and is definitely worth flying in to NYC to attend!  Sale dates are below:

HOLLYWOULD INSANE SALE

Thurs, August 10^th – Sat, August 12^th

11:30am – 7:00pm

ELIZABETH STREET BETWEEN PRINCE & SPRING - NOLITA

This is a sale you don’t want to miss!

In other news HOLLYWOULD is HIRING!....

DIRECTOR OF WHOLESALE SALES

Responsibilities Include:

• to Department Store & Boutique Clients
• Sell Thru Assistance for All Clients, Including In-Store Training
• Actively Seeking Out New Clients and Identifying New Markets
• Maintaining Client Database

Experience / Skills Needed:

• Must be passionate about sales, outgoing, and personable..
• Must be adept in MS Word, Excel and Outlook.
• Must live in the New York area.

Compensation: 

• Full time position with competitive salary. 
• Job will be based in showroom on 57th Street in Manhattan

If you fit these criteria, please email cover letter & resume to jobs@ilovehollywould.com asap. We will respond to qualified applicants only. All submissions will be held in strictest confidence.  HOLLYWOULD is an equal opportunity employer.

Please tell all of your super seller friends!!!

August 3rd 2006
New York Citay

Oh girls, it just doesn’t stop.  I’ve only been back in NYC since Saturday and my fabulous friends have been keeping me very, very busy.  Saturday night kicked off the week with a bowling-themed surprise birthday party for Rory Guinness (see May 2005 diary), thrown by his gorgeous sister Rebecca Guinness and to-die-for girlfriend Monique Nguyen.  The fiesta was held at Bowlmore Lanes, which is a favorite spot for NYU frat boys and high school kids with fake IDs, so as you can imagine, it is trés chic.

I was out for a night on the town with my genius photographer friend Hanuk, whose photos of the evening are pictured right.  We knew our bowling would be much improved by stopping for margaritas on the way to the party, which definitely helped our game.  We managed to arrive in just enough time to participate in the surprise, along with other party goers Genevieve Jones, Francesco Clemente, Marc Jacobs, Hanuk’s partner-in-crime Damien, Dior’s Jean Pierre, and one of my BFF’s (and former roommate), the fabulous Casey Cook!

I don’t mean to brag, but I think our bowling team was putting all of the other lanes to shame, and it was clear that Birthday Boy Rory is heading straight for the Bowling Olympics.  After a few too many rounds of bowling & drinks, we decided it was time head out and made our way to the amazing home where Casey was staying.  For those of you who don’t know, Casey Cook happens to be one of the world’s best painters, and for her visit to NYC some of her collectors offered to let her stay in their lovely home.  It was so lovely, in fact, that it had a screening room, pool room, ping-pong room, basketball court, and practically took up a whole city block.  We all wanted to move in the minute we arrived, but instead decided to sip Poland Springs on one of the many balconies and wonder why on earth we went to art school instead of business school.

Sunday I spent my evening recovering from a mix of Saturday night and jet-lag, but by Monday night I was headed to Kate Schelter’s for an impromptu cocktail party to celebrate her beautiful cameo appearance on everyone’s favorite new show, Tabloid Wars.  For those of you who haven’t seen it, Tabloid Wars is a reality type show about New York City’s favorite gossip newspapers, and features HOLLYWOULD’s favorite gossip king, Hudson Morgan (see June 2005 diary), as one of the stars.  Go Hud! 

Because we had so much fun on Monday, Kate and I decided to head out to dinner on Tuesday at Bar Pitti and then gelato at Ciao Bella in Nolita, which is the closest thing to Italy you can find in NYC.  On Wednesday night you would have thought I would take a break, but instead I had a lovely evening with pals Devon Wilson, Olivia Chantecaille, and Jen Bell dining at everyone’s new restaurant of choice, Giorgione’s, where the boys are cute and the food is divine.  There’s nothing better than some quality time with the girls.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RORY!!!