Working It in Red Shoes

Tory Burch Georgia Ballet Flats in Triple Red suede, on sale now for $129. I love the square toe, but admit they will look better on a demure foot than in my size 11. But still....

Pops of crimson footwear rocked two nights in a row this week at NYC events.

At a Work Like a Girl Q & A Tuesday on the Upper West Side (led by Erika Ayers Badan, kick-ass CEO and thinker, with trend forecaster Valerie Jacobs), a woman in the audience wore fresh red flats with dark neutral pants. The pants were the foil and the shoes were the pretty, energizing grounding. Like all flats, they looked good worn barefoot (or with low-cut, no-show Peds). Your pant hem should not drag or pool over the skimmers. Trim cropped or skinny pants work best. The shape of the shoe was feminine, the way it framed the foot, but not unprofessional. Fun. Work Like a (Very Smart) Girl and look good doing it, too.

For the on-stage discussion between Katie Couric and Bobbi Brown at the 92nd Street Y re the new book Still Bobbi, Katie chose strappy red slingbacks with a kitten heel. Bare legs, white button-down shirt, black and white delicately patterned midi-length skirt. The shoes were everything. Smooth-looking, shapely legs help. Made me think about how I need to moisturize more with a nice body butter. (Hello, looking at Homecourt's new body collection.)

And there was an audience question about red lipstick. Can everyone wear it?

"Absolutely not," Bobbi said. The color makes a strong statement and not everyone can or even wants to own that. It depends on your personality, she noted. On who you are.

"Does anyone in the audience have on red lipstick tonight?" she asked, to prove her point. One woman near the front waved her hand and pointed proudly to her mouth. But the auditorium was darkened.

Oh, and Bobbi had a clean, short mani in Poppy, her signature orange-red color. I've seen her wearing it on Instagram. I bought it in town at the Jones Road store and I love it, for pedis and manis. My home mani lasted for 5+ days without chips, and I do a lot of dishes and garden without gloves. The kit includes a two-in-one base and top coat.

I enjoy soaking up events like these not just for style and substance watching but also for being at the heartbeat of it all, New York, New York. 

The magical ruby slippers Judy Garland, age 16, wore in "The Wizard of Oz," 1939. Showing their age here, and drab and depressing compared to today's color-drenched footwear. 

Photo from The Smithsonian.

Glitterati, Literati--Rubbing Elbows with the Well-Read Crowd

                                    Image from https://s38490.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/splash-social.png.

My New York City born-and-bred mother subscribed to The New Yorker, which piqued my curiosity when it arrived weekly in our black metal mailbox in Dumont, New Jersey. But I didn't read it much back then. And though I'm proud that the Hearst Magazines dynasty has been my long-time employer (on staff and freelance), I never did fulfill my dream of also working at one of the glossy crown jewels at Condé Nast Publishing.

But now, the latter has The New Yorker in its deep duster coat pocket, so I figured a couple degrees of separation would have to do, getting me closer to cream-of-the-crop Condé at the 24th annual New Yorker Festival. I had never gone due to the high ticket cost, but this fall, I went to a free event on Sunday, October 8 at 12:30 p.m. I snagged a ticket for Dan, too, but we had just driven into Brooklyn to dear Kim's and F's for a cocktail party the night before, so he took a pass. Too bad.

From Montclair, I hopped on Grove Street to Route 3 East and the Lincoln Tunnel to attend a screening of part one, "JFK: One Day in America," a documentary series that will stream in early November. The footage of that fateful day in Dallas transports you. You are there, with Mrs. Kennedy in her carefully curated fashions, her pink pillbox hat and navy and pink suit. (How did I never see the navy part before?) With her when she is late for the hotel breakfast and then met with loud applause. With Mrs. Kennedy when her husband is shot in the motorcade. When she has a fleeting breath of hope that he is still alive because they ask what his blood type is outside the emergency room entrance. You are with the two Secret Service agents (now aged, and on camera), who did their very best to protect and save in the midst of shock. With a reporter who was on the scene. You breathe deep, you turn away. You know what is coming.

But there is also beautiful footage at the start, the family out boating with the children, and more. I'm a lifelong Kennedy family buff but this film has many details that had never been revealed. The very best documentary digging, tasteful and true.

The 23rd Street theatre was packed. I looked around in the dark--a college student, artsy city dwellers who looked like filmmakers and a kind of grumpy big guy to my right who ducked out before the lights went on and the panel discussion began. 

The panel was great, all four experts charming and smart. We had Amy Starecheski, the Co-Director of the Oral History MA Program at Columbia University; young, pretty, blonde, modest, British and quietly brilliant, not puffed-up* director Ella Wright; Peggy Simpson, who covered the JFK assassination firsthand as a young journalist; and David Glover, the co-CEO of 72 Films, which produced the series. 

 

I was lucky to get free (Sunday) parking right across the street. I did rush back to get Punchy to her community service stint in the afternoon at Toni's, the soup kitchen in town, but let's not go there right now.

I can't wait to watch the rest of the series next month. I love New York.

                                                                        Image from here.

Per Wikipedia: The New Yorker Festival is an annual event organized by The New Yorker magazine.^[1] It is held in venues in and around New York City, typically in early October, bringing together "a who’s-who of the arts, politics and everything in between."^[2] The festival was first held in 1999 and has since become "one of the buzziest cultural events of the year" as well as "the biggest consumer-facing event for the magazine's parent company Condé Nast.

*Hell no, Ella was not puffed up--you cannot elicit cooperation and important historical insights like these if you are a puffed-up film director in requisite black turtleneck, right? Please forgive my stereotype.

My Weekend Documentary Immersion

 Author and editor back in the day, above, and below, now. 

Images from SonyClassics.com.

I love a good documentary, strung together from close-up views, pearls of truth, about real life. And I love that our town is home to Montclair Film*, which runs the nonprofit Clairidge Theater on Bloomfield Avenue. Last night, when Dan was out with our friend Michael at an event, I slipped out to the 6:30 p.m. showing of “Turn Every Page.”

TEP explores the 50-year relationship between New Yorkers Bob Caro (now age 87, celebrated, diligent author of The Power Broker and the fat Lyndon Johnson biography volumes) and his editor, legendary Bob Gottlieb, now 91, who has edited John Cheever, Doris Lessing, Salman Rushdie, Michael Crichton, Toni Morrison, Nora Ephron and other stellar writers. (He was also editor in chief of The New Yorker.) The film is directed by Lizzie Gottlieb, Bob’s daughter, with a warmth, candor and permission to be curious that only a daughter can have with her dad.

I resisted the brownie bites from local Little Daisy Bake Shop and the rich, silken dark chocolate-covered almonds from Sweet Home Montclair at the concession stand, and slipped into my comfortable seat in the renovated theater. To see two geniuses talking about their crafts, immersed in their crafts, to actually see how they work and see their edits on the paper pages. SO GOOD. To learn about their backgrounds--what made them who they are. What shaped them. It is just delicious. 

It’s a tribute to the golden days of publishing, and to the old-fashioned, hard-driven craft of writing. (Caro still writes on an electric typewriter.) It is purely brilliant and, like the best documentaries, it peels back the velvet movie-theater curtains to show us what we really crave: true stories.  

And then, Sunday morning at the movies! I usually go to my support group or Mass, or sometimes both on a Sunday morning. Today I drove to the former and stayed only 25 minutes and went to the church of the cinema with Dan. We saw the 10:45 a.m. showing of the five Oscar-nominated documentary shorts, and we were blown away. The list included:

1. “How Do You Measure a Year?” (Dad interviews daughter every year on her birthday, from age 2 to 18.)
2. “The Elephant Whisperers,” about a couple who rehabilitates orphaned elephants in India. Click now to watch on Netflix. Required viewing.
3. “Haulout,” about the effects of global warming on walruses in Siberia, by focusing on a marine biologist who works alone in their midst.
4. “Stranger at the Gate,” about a man who killed many Muslims in the war and then lived in Muncie, Indiana with a shocking plan for the local mosque.
5. “The Martha Mitchell Effect,” about the blonde firecracker who was married to Nixon’s attorney general, John Mitchell.

I can’t say enough about these. But our favorite was the elephants....so, so good. Breathtaking subjects and breathtaking filming. And after that, it was Martha.

Such fun at the movies.

*Per Wikipedia: Montclair Film is a nonprofit most well known for organizing the annual Montclair Film Festival (MFF) usually held in late April, early May in Montclair, NJ. The festival showcases new works from American and international filmmakers, and has year-round events.

Notable advisory board members include J.J. Abrams, Jonathan Alter, Stephen Colbert, Abigail Disney, Olympia Dukakis, Chiwetal Ejiofor, Emma Freud, Laura Linney, Jon Stewart, Julie Taymor, and Patrick Wilson, among others.  

(I have seen Patrick Wilson getting healthy green juices in town and Stephen Colbert at Mass.)

The Coffee in the Brooks Brothers Suit

Sadly, I think I missed these festive cups. But will be on the lookout.
Image from Brooks Brothers Red Fleece Cafe.

I've walked by the Red Fleece Cafe at Brooks Brothers on Madison Avenue with interest and curiosity this winter as I've trudged back to the Port Authority after workdays.

I've dangled it as an idea for Sis.

Today I wrangled my friend Celia into going.

It was nice. Celia got some fancy maple latte in the signature red cup and saucer; it was dusted with nutmeg so fragrant and sit-by-the-fireplace cozy, I could smell it. [Red Fleece does not have a fireplace.]

They brew Stumptown Coffee. I got a large golden latte [with turmeric] and it was excellent, with a thick, creamy cap that I spooned up with a little silver spoon. My sandwich was, well--a sandwich. Nothing too tailored or upscale about it, but it was fine. Not buttoned up, no crisp lettuce collar. It was chicken on white. No extra starch.

I would def go back, not just for those lattes but for a fat vegan PB cookie to bring Figgy, a high-end dark chocolate bar or a plated meal. The kitchen was closed when we arrived. Also: Looked like a nice space to work on one’s laptop.

I always love to see our dear, smart friend Celia, especially in a stylish New York City setting.

Good night.

Info from HERE: "The Man in the Brooks Brothers Shirt" was the title of a 1942 short story by Mary McCarthy. The title is famous, but the story itself is less so. The Brooks Brothers company used the theme in ads, changing it to "The Man in the Brooks Brothers Suit."

I love Mary McCarthy's Memories of a Catholic Girlhood. I read her Brooks Brothers Shirt story once, about a man on a train, but want to read it again.

TCOY

1. Walked over 1 hour in NYC.
2. Accessorized, applied makeup. Wore trendy ribbed sweater I got on sale Friday at Le Willow.

$ MONEY SPENT OUT OF POCKET

• 4 bus tickets, $30.60
• Starbucks, $3.
• Red Fleece Cafe, with tip, about $22.
• Grand Central Food Market, groceries--large container good, crunchy pickles; guacamole; hummus; handmade rosemary crackers; spaghetti squash with tomato sauce; 4 plump wrapped rolls for family dinner [2 lobster, 1 Thai shrimp, 1 curried shrimp]; good deli liverwurst; pint Hudson Valley half and half, $77.79. Spent too much. 
• Neuhaus Chocolate, shipped in weekly from Belgium, said Lemon, the nice young salesperson. 4 small jewel-shaped dark chocolates, 2 dark truffles, 1 extra filled chocolate that Lemon threw in for Punchy--and she loved it, $10.97.

total daily spend: $144.36.

ongoing monthly spend as of Jan. 14: $1,823.49.

avg daily spend: $130.25.

COMPARE TO LAST 5 MONTHS:

december 2019 [Christmas and all that entails]

total monthly spend as of Dec. 31: $3,998.16. 

avg daily spend: $128.97. 

Total spend for November (30 days): $2,979.03. 

Average daily spend: $99.30. 

__________________________________________________________________

TOTAL SPEND FOR OCTOBER (31 DAYS): $2,495.36.

AVERAGE DAILY SPEND: $80.49.

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TOTAL SPEND FOR SEPTEMBER (30 DAYS): $2,214.43.

AVERAGE DAILY SPEND: $73.81.

___________________________________________________________________________

TOTAL SPEND FOR AUGUST (31 DAYS/PLUS VACAY IN HERE): $2,895.06. ⬆️

AUGUST AVERAGE DAILY SPEND: $93.39.  ⬆️