Josie Natori X Moda Operandi

While my mother-in-law made her name in sleepwear and bras/underwear, Natori has truly become a lifestyle brand with its establishment in a number of other collections, most notably in Ready-to-Wear.  Since she established RTW 8 years ago, the collection has evolved every year, and has reached a new high point with its Spring ’18 trunk show on Moda Operandi.

 

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Must Reads on the World Wide Web

Recently, a lot of blogs I read have been doing “round-ups” of interesting articles on the internet. I love those posts as they always have at least one article that interests me. So I am doing the same (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery). Here is my current round-up:

 

Why read online when you can read the Lego catalogue in a sleeping bag?

Why read online when you can read the Lego catalogue in a sleeping bag?

 

I want to see this movie.

 

Good work advice.

 

Love Lenny. Love Amanda Peet. And love this essay.

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Mah Ze Dahr Nutella Hand Pies

Hello friends! I am so happy to write about Mah Ze Dahr once again! This past winter, the amazing online bakery founded by former Goldman Sachs executive Umber Ahmad was written up in the NY Times as having the best doughnuts in the city. As a loyal fan, I couldn’t wait to taste the doughnuts, so I went online to buy. And yet, instead of following my plan, I indulged in half a dozen of the Nutella Hand Pies. AND OH MY, they are amazing. True perfection. The New York Times needs to review THEM!

 

Bundle of deliciousness

Bundle of deliciousness

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Instacart

After a feud with Fresh Direct last week (where I promised that I would never use their site again! And I am holding to that promise!), I suddenly found myself in a bind. Seriously — without Fresh Direct, how was I going to do a million things and be efficient / organized / get my food if I didn’t use them?  I love grocery shopping – love – but most weeks I unfortunately don’t have the extra time to go myself or with the family.  Below is my email to Fresh Direct…

My email to Fresh Direct, aka Monopoly of Delivery Groceries in NYC and SUCK

… sharing

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Strolby

Need a present for the upcoming holiday? Want to support small stores with beautiful products? Then stroll by, Strolby, an online shopping site focused on items sold in Brooklyn (New York) but sold on one platform to people across the country! The site, which is aesthetically appealing and unique, helps local small shops with truly beautiful and original items reach big audiences (so the neighborhood can still feel small).

 

strolby

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The Meadow – Gourmet Salt, More

The highlight of the past long weekend (aside from being reunited with Ken who had to go to the Philippines for a week) was my visit to the store The Meadow. I can’t even begin to describe the pure AMAZINGNESS of this store. It is everything in one tiny little room- cozy, sweet, interesting, unique, bizarre, and simply, pure bliss. What type of store is it? A boutique that specializes in salt, chocolate, drink, and flowers. Seems obscure, but when you think of it, do you really need anything else? (Don’t answer that.)

And of course, the store has two different locations. The West Village in NYC and Mississippi Avenue in Portland, Oregon.

The store has two different locations. The West Village in NYC and Mississippi Avenue in … Portland, Oregon. How picture perfect is this store? Too cute for words!

The Meadow

The gourmet salt, artisan-made chocolates, cocktail bitters, and fresh flowers all come together to provide an amazing shopping experience.  The owners, Jennifer and Mark Bitterman (“selmeliers”) know their stuff! Walking into their store for 30 minutes made me want to learn and discover more about everything they sold.

Rows and rows of salt.  Over 120 finishing salts from around the word! each has its own special mineral and crystal properties. They also carry salt sets to help beginners start learning more about the salt process. Another salt set is the popcorn set with black truffle salt! Smelled out of this world and made me want to start eating popcorn!

Rows and rows of salt. Over 120 finishing salts from around the word! Each has its own special mineral and crystal properties. They also carry salt sets to help beginners start learning more about the process of how salt gets made.

The salts had different sizes of crystals, smells, and colors. The thought of adding an extra sprinkle of love to a food dish seems so romantic and delicious.

Different sizes of crystals, smells, and colors. The thought of adding an extra sprinkle of love to a food dish seems so romantic and delicious.

Different sizes.

Different sizes.

The view out the window. Perfect for a movie to be filmed in!

The view out the window. Perfect for a movie!

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Everything But Water

This past Saturday, we attended the grand opening of Everything But Water on 80th and Madison (1060 Madison Avenue).  I prefer shopping for most items (especially swimwear) at small boutiques, so this was a no brainer event for me. PLUS, my mother-in-law, Josie Natori was doing a personal appearance that made the event even more fun (combination of work and play). Check out the pics below of the fun event, and some great new swim items.  Enjoy!

Madison Avenue!

Madison Avenue! Swimwear shopping on a grey dreary day (Can we talk about this May weather???)

Pretty Natori swimwear displayed on the wall.

Pretty Natori swimwear displayed on the wall. Everyone has got-to-love the hot pink one piece. HAWT!

Racks of Natori.

Racks of Natori, for your racks.

Mrs. Natori in bright and colorful Natori ready-to-wear.

Mrs. Natori in bright and colorful Josie Natori ready-to-wear. Matching handbag. Obvi.

Personal appearance! No one more chic and stylish!

Personal appearance! No one more chic and stylish!

This hat with the swimsuit! Match made in heaven!

This hat with the swimsuit. Match made in heaven!

Favorite hat!!!

Favorite hat!!! I found myself a winner.

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theSkimm

I spend way too much time on the internet on pop culture, hot gossip, and the perfect outfit. Superficial, girlie, and way-too-blonde. I am trying to change, and one of my goals in 2013 is to make more of an effort to read and be more up to date with current events. No one likes a blonde who can comment solely on US weekly tabloid press….but watching the news puts me to sleep (seriously), and I barely have enough time to read the styles section of the NYTimes, let alone the front page! But I think I have a solution…

Thank you, theSkimm, for making keeping up with current events and news so cool, easy, and fun!

the Skimm

theSkimm is a daily newsletter that simplifies headlines for the educated professional (or stay-at-home mom). Delivered to your inbox before the start of the day (around 6 am), the Skimm summarizes all the current events in a fresh, smart, and tongue-and-cheek manner. It gives you enough information to have an educational conversation and does so in a fun and interesting voice! Their motto is “We read, you Skimm.”

The beginning of today's newsletter

The beginning of today’s newsletter

the Skimm was launched in July 2012 by Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin; two young, savvy, professional roommates who happened to meet while studying abroad in college. And look at them now! theSkimm is taking off and inspiring us all to be more informed, aware, and in touch with the news! I had the opportunity to interview Danielle and Carly — take a look! And don’t forget to subscribe immediately!

Carly and Danielle. Photo taken by

Carly and Danielle. Photo taken by Sophie Elgort.

Question: How did you come up with the idea?

theSkimm was born out of what we saw as a void in the market. In our former careers as TV producers, we saw that our friends, who were highly educated and had great jobs, had no time. They wanted to be informed. They wanted news on the go but there was no product out there that they felt connected to and wanted to come  back to each morning. We created theSkimm as a way to get your news in a way you enjoy and start your morning off right.

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How About We…For Couples

If you are like me, you love going on dates with your significant other *BUT* you get stuck in a routine of the same dates… the same restaurants, venues, rituals.  Fun, but not always pushing the envelope.

Now, there is a company, How About We for Couples that helps gives activities, ideas, and DEALS on various dates!

howaboutwe-grey2

HowAboutWe for Couples is all about helping couples stay happy, connected, and in love.  Members receive a date book with one-of-a-kind dates. After selecting a date, the service takes care of everything else.

typical

An example of the date selections you can choose from.

other

other dates.

How fun and original? I love the ideas presented — some are over the top, others are simple and easy.

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TaskRabbit

Jonesing for a Levain Cookie? Need help organizing your kitchen cabinets? Want to sell maternity clothes on ebay? Or create a system for 17,000 digital photos? Do you have a million things to do, but lack the TIME or ENERGY or DESIRE to do them? Well, then, if you are like me, TaskRabbit is the perfect solution! I first heard about TaskRabbit when a friend mentioned that she found someone to write all her wedding thank you notes for 50 dollars (GENIUS!!!!). IT BLEW ME AWAY!

TaskRabbit, is a company based in San Francisco (aren’t they all from there? Thank you, Stanford Grads) and is basically eBay for odd jobs. Essentially, you have an errand (or a bzillion) you need to run, so you go on TaskRabbit.com, post the task and post the amount you’d be willing to pay for it (or let people send their bids in). Once it’s up there, a band of carefully vetted TaskRabbits bid on the task. And you pick and choose who does the task with the agreed price. (To see where TaskRabbit operates, click here.)

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Hipiti

Ever since I joined the 20th century and engaged in the world wide web (or as my brother likes to call it, “the Internets”), I have woken up everyday to 76 HUNDRED (like 7,600) emails from all of my favorite stores and shopping websites. Not that I don’t love feeling popular and having a full inbox of emails, but LORDIE, it was TOO much. Every store, every website, every newsletter, every place sent me details on sales, trends, discounts, and promotions. So what did I do? I wanted to purge and unsubscribe from everything…but I knew that meant that I would be back to living like it was 1994, unaware of all of the must haves, deals, and free shipping codes.  So, I just did nothing (and moaned about the fact that I spent too much time shopping online and deleting emails).

That is, until I was introduced to Hipiti (HIP-ih-tee). And ladies, this site is GENIUS.


Instead of five bzillion emails, I now receive one (YES, ONE!) descriptive email with all of the sales and offers on a single page! So much easier to read and manage.  Hipiti enables you to learn about all of the discounts, trends, and stories of all your favorite stores with one click.

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