Meeting Mary








Laura and Sam popped Mary out back in October but with LB’s parents hogging the baby over Christmas this was the first weekend I got to meet her. I have to say she sho is cute but for some reason she didn’t take a fancy to me. Boo! Maybe it was the beard, it might have been my booming laugh, which sent her into a tailspin, but regardless we had a great time. I wasn’t prepared for her favorite toy- The General Lee from The Dukes of Hazard!
Mama made little Mary a blanket and after Laura wore it as a skirt, Mary got to enjoy it outside.
Once the proud parents gave her a bath and I checked out her Christening gown (that is a Britt heirloom with a Dengler heirloom bonnet!) we headed to Howell Mill Road (back to Sid Mashburn territory) to JCT. The bar and restaurant are a new hot spot in Atlanta but nothing irritating. The space is calm and cool butting up to the railroad tracks. A cute girl at the bar told me they have ‘Toot toot Tuesdays’-whenever a train comes by everyone in the bar gets a free shot!
We met up with a glowing and pregnant Kathy and Drew (due Sept 2!), Genene, Marcus, Rick and David. Genene tried the field green salad with caramel corn (ie Cracker Jacks), which was damn good and I had the Rainbow trout wrapped in bacon. Divine! As we were paying the bill I got a text from Olivia and Fay- We landed early.
And on that note I gave everyone a big hug and headed on down to the airport for part two of my trip home.

Dollhouse Dedication!








Last Thursday I took a quick trip down to Atlanta for the dedication of the cottage at Jacqueland. I posted pictures a while back from the ground breaking which everyone went to but me, and boy did I get a guilt trip for not being there! So even though my birthday party was the next day, I scooted down south for the night and I am so glad I did.

The rain held off and everyone from the Frazer Center and AHHH were at the dedication. Pop and Dot made it down and so did Angela. Bernie Marcus, founder of Home depot gave a great speech and had most of the crowd in tears when he dedicated $64,000 to the new cottage for operations expenses. We all got a kick out of the 'sawing of the board' the Home Depot was of doing a 'cutting of the ribbon.' Also on hand for the dedication were three pastors and a rabbi (that is not the opening to a joke) who each blessed the cottage with their own prayer and speech.

The board was painted by children at the Bernie Marcus Autism Center and the cottage will be used by the center for families who need a place to stay as well as for AHHH visitors.

The interiors of the cottage were amazing. The tile bathrooms, quilted bedspreads and plush laundry room plus the beautiful gardens are a great addition to the property and so much nicer than the ones in the old 'dollhouse.'

After finger sandwiches and catching up with old friends it was time to head to the airport, back to NYC for a final cleaning session before Saturdays party!

Hathaway in the news!






Well here is the reason that mother has forbade me to come home for the month of April. Ok, not forbade but warned that if I did I would be painting, polishing and panaching the house for a tour of homes.
Luckily her work has paid off and they were featured in the newspaper here:
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/main.asp?SectionID=6&SubSectionID=84&ArticleID=58813
Check out the great article and the images, some of which I attached here.
Congrats mom and dad for 'keeping up appearances'!

A Spring Fling in Hudson













If I was only back in Hudson this am! Snuggled deep under the duvet in the yellow bedroom with Raimond (a pug!) snoring by my side. What an idyllic weekend we had (not me and Raimond, me and Lucy, Juan and David!).

I am very greedy with my trips to Hudson. I want them often and I want them to last as long as possible. I think Juan made a big mistake when, after copious amounts of gin one night he told me I could come up whenever I like. Needless to say I am constantly bugging them for dates. Luckily we made one for last weekend and as an extra bonus Lucy McIntyre was also on board for a visit. Even though I feel like Lucy and I were separated at birth, we haven't spent too much time together besides wild nights out and a business lunch here or there. She was the one nice enough to hook me up with that suite at the Standard New York! (See older posts for that blow out). We are now practically married and have to many inside jokes to count...

We arrived by train at 8pm on Friday night after watching the sunset over the Hudson the entire journey up.
We hadn't even dropped our bags when Juan was serving cocktails (Gin Rickey? I can't recall) and then we headed off to The Red Dot for dinner. As Lucy aptly put it, The Red Dot is like stepping into slapstick British comedy show. Everyone there is a character and by the end of the night the staff and the customers are all a messy bunch. A highlight was when we found an Obama life size cut out and proceeded to have our way with the poor thing.

The next morning was rise and shine since at The Red Dot we had promised to visit two places BEFORE noon. By 10:45 we were bumbling into The Inn at Hudson (http://www.theinnathudson.com/), a Jacobean style home that is now a B&B owned by a former drag queen named Musty Chiffon (!) Only in Hudson people. Well Musty and her darling partner have turned the home that was most recently a nursing home into a dazzling and quite cozy show house. If Juan and David ever kick me out of their maison I know whose door I'm knocking on.

Next up was a visit to Tom Swope's new gallery (http://www.tomswope.com/), which was quite grand for Hudson and more like a museum than a pop in shop. I really need the 1st century AD Roman hard stone set in weighty 18kt gold in case anyone is wondering...

We were about to putter out as hangovers came creeping back but we decided to carry on and head out to OMI Sculpture Park for a picnic (http://www.artomi.org/). The art was great and we strolled around the amazing grounds for a solid hour before collapsing into a champagne picnic on a grassy knoll. Unfortunately Raimond was not as pleased with some of the artwork and let us all know it!

Now that we were fairly buzzed why not visit a sheep farm? We doddled through dirt roads and winding paths until we reached Old Chatham Sheepherding Company (http://www.blacksheepcheese.com/) based in a pile of beautiful red barns. We left Raimond in the car as we toured the place, watching sheep getting milked, wool being bundled and little wee lambs being fed. It was heaven! We then bought piles of yoghurt and a cheese wheel that we still can’t stop talking about. Order one now!!

After such a full day we came home for a glass of wine and a bit of rest before our big movie night- Grey Gardens!
Lucy and I dressed in head wraps while Juan and David made shrimp cocktail and grilled scallops for dinner. Yes, we were being completely spoiled.

After dinner we jumped onto the big sofa and were glued to the tragic tale of the Beales all night. Of course Lucy and I woke up the next morning recounting dreams of sheep and revolutionary day wear....

Sunday was supposed to be downpours and cold, PTL it was warm and bright sunshine! Juan made another amazing breakfast and as soon as our plates were cleared Lucy was ready to shop up a storm on Warren Street.
People... I had no idea how serious she was. She bought something in almost every store we entered! And we went into loads! But how refreshing to shop with a girl who doesn't try things on or him haw over a scarf. Oh no, she entered with gusto and walked out victorious with amazing finds! She is my new favorite shopping companion.

Not to say I didn't buy a couple of things, but she certainly took it to another level. Once we maxed out our cards we headed back to the casa for empanadas, Corona's and more sheep yoghurt before packing up the car and zizzing back down to the city.

Another glorious weekend in Hudson!
Thanks Juan and David!

Easter 2009












This Easter was one of my favorites! Albeit the best away from my family and Southern roots.
Saturday night I had a quiet dinner with my friend Rocky at the house and woke up ready to roll at 7am.
After days of rain and clouds it was a glorious although COLD spring day.
I took the bus down 5th Avenue to 12th Street and ran into my friend Ryan at church. I forgot he recently became a deacon and he took me to our usual pew.
Alistair and Beatrice looked super cute this morning and as soon as Bea was in my arms she passed out for the entire service. No rising and sitting for me!
The choir was beautiful and the minister gave a banging good sermon.
Alistair was quick to point out that the clergymen and women all had black and white outfits on that matched the stripes on the Easter Skunk he got that morning!
I gave him a chocolate chicken and sang, 'Peep Peep!' and he held up his skunk and sang back, 'Stink Stink!'
We all about died.

At 11am we headed to Gusto Organic for a yummy and boozy brunch and then back to the church at 12:30 for the egg hunt. We got the kids in the front of the line and when the ribbon was cut we went for it! All-Star got about 10 eggs, I found three eggs with Bea and she was happy as a lark. When we realized some kids didn't find any eggs, Alistair was kind enough to share his eggs with others. Awww! Sharing is caring!

Lars, fresh off the plane from Paris, met up with us in the middle of all the pandemonium and enjoyed meeting the tots and experiencing this very American tradition.

We then said our goodbyes, caught at cab to Grand Central and headed up to Croton-on-Hudson for Bodhi's first birthday.
Minya had the party at her mothers beautiful home in the country and of course Molly made every amazing morsel. We had a great time watching Bodhi in full toy/cake spin-out and hanging out with Minya's family, Joy and Tony.

At 4pm Bodhi was ready for a nap and so was I! So Tony and Joy zipped us back to the city and Lars and I had a relaxing night at home.

Next year, I have one request Jesus- Warm Weather!
Thanks!

Cayman Islands Day Five









Today was another fly by day of relaxing. Woke up at 630, gym at 9, tanning till 11. Lunch. So simple, so easy, I could so get used to this.

Then we all piled into the car and headed to Rum Point for a boat ride out to Stingray City. OUr handsome Aussie drove us 30 minutes out too the 'real' Stingray City. The tourists and cruise ships have their own spot where they can all be fay, loud and irritating. We were alone with the rays 14 feet below the sea where our dive instructors offered up bits of squid to the rays to get their attention.

Again I got all Darwin on my own ass and sat and gazed at these prehistoric like creatures. Horseshoe crabs with wings. They were so soft and their mouths angles to give a seemingly silly smile. Their eyes on the other hand were those of an ancient creature who has seen millions of years of morphing.

Elly got some great shots of us which I plan to purchase. Even mom dove in for a snorkel and the cute Aussie brought a ray up to her to pet. When we came up to the boat we took a snap of our poor feeders arm which one ray mistook for a giant squid tentacle and latched on giving her a sea monster hickey.

Afterwards we headed back, had a late lunch then hit the pool at the resort before turning in for the night! Everyone passed out by 830pm. I dug out my Netflix movie- Pie in the Sky- a documentary of Warhol's muse, Bridget Berlin.

At 11pm I turned in, weary from too much sun and all the excitement of spending time with those awesome, docile creatures.

Cayman Islands Day Four








These days are going by too fast! Woke up at 8am and did some work. Then headed off to the gym for a great work out. Then TAN! I am now a deep red. It looks brown from far away but I think today I need to chill with the sun before I crack in half.

I then watched Happy and Mom do water aerobics which was highly amusing before chatting with Lars before he headed off to Paris for a week. After all that relaxing I was starving so I made my new favorite kind of sammich introduced to me by ma mere- turkey and apple. Yum!

At 12:45 we headed out for our last big dive. My favorite dive ever! The place was called Split Rock and it was on a sea wall so it was kind of like that dream I've had when I'm flying over mountains, dipping into valleys and soaring up to the top. The topography was amazing and the black coral, iridescent tube sponge, schools of Black Durgeon and Stoplight Parrot Fish and the plethora of deep water Sea Fans were simply magical. Thanks mother nature!

But the big highlight was when I came over one peak to a sandy plain I find dad laying on his stomach having a staring battle with a turtle! They were just staring at each other for over a minute, then the turtle saw all of us, cocked its head and then slowly paddled off into the deep blue.

I could of spent hours down there.

Our next dive wasn't fun. We were all cold, my mask fogged up and how could it compare to Split Rock?

When we got back home I spent an hour on work, which I love to do at the beach since I'm more focused than at home, then cocktail hour! Met Mom, Reed, Danielle, Happy and Mark at the pool for a strawberry daiquiri and the perfect seat to watch the sunset.

Before I knew it it was dinner time. I was rather buzzed from two for one cocktail hour and Happy and I continued to get blotto at dinner. It was the first night I really tied one on and boy we had fun! I had a grilled King Wahoo and some mean Cayman fried bread.

When we got home for 'one night cap' we heard a DJ on the cabana on the pier. Zing! We headed down there and started a dance party that closed the place down. He played every song we requested so of course there was Deee-Lite, Madonna (Sorry about the Malawi adoption girl!), Beyonce and Estelle.

Passed out at 12:06 and am HURTING this morning. Not my head, just my bod, I have to stop doing yoga moves on the dance floor...

PS- Click on the title of this post to view a cheesy but amusing video of Split Rock I found. I'm so mad I didn't have a camera!!!

Cayman Islands Day Three








Today was the first day of doing NOTHING! And it was HEAVEN!
Woke up late at 830, did some work, had some breakfast and then hit the rusty ole gym for an hour that looked over the azure sea. Then, sweaty and exhausted, I plopped down by the pool for another 45 minutes and soaked up the sun.

Afterwards I had a quick snack and then we headed to Vivine's, a local lunch shack set against the sea. Ms Vivine opened up her house as a restaurant a while back and it is a local favorite. I had a gross tuna fish sammich but everyone else had crispy chicken and hearty beans and salted pork.

Then it was back to the pool for reading, tanning and a random beer contest. Mother won one beer for knowing where Tuborg was from. How did she remember it's from Denmark and not me?! I won the next question when they asked what Cayman Brew beer used to be called. I only knew because it was on the menu at the restaurant and they told us it is now Cayman Brew. After chugging our winnings we both passed out until 4:30 cocktail hour at the swim up bar.

After a round Happy, Dad and the kids headed out for a night dive and Mark, Mama and I went to Mimi's for a chill din din after sunset. Mark skipped the dive because a blood vessel popped in his eye and the dive shop advised taking the day off.

Now we are sitting around the tube watching Jill Scott in No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency and listening how Danielle took off on her own on the night dive and nearly had her and Happy lost in Le Grand Bleu!

Cayman Islands Day Two








Day two got off to another early start with the dive shop picking us up at 845 for two dives. I havent been on a dive since circa 1993 so I was excited to get back into the deep blue.

We headed out on the boat with our dive experts Mo and Britta and our first dive was the best. We checked out a sea wall, headed down about 85 feet and swam through a cavern where we came face to face with a reef shark! It was about 6 feet and hung out for quite some time. Reed had a blast flying like a sting ray across reefs and giving a perfect floating Buddha impersonation which was a riot.

Next up was a quick snorkel and then another shallow dive where we saw a massive lobster and more amazing Parrot fish, my fave. I have to say seeing all of these natural wonders again was truly incredible. To imagine that those reefs, those magically colored fish and those sprawling sea fans which wave in symmetry like a Busby Berkley film were all made not for us, but for those sea creatures to enjoy, live in and love. It's a real wonder.

Have I had too much rum? Hardly. It's just a joy to see those incredible colors in nature and not in a club kids make up schematic.

The rest of the day was spent pool side. We were wrangled into a rum race where we had to push a rum keg from the shallow end of the pool to the bar, have a shot and push it back. We lost but still finished the bottle.

This evening we had dinner at Portofino, which was owned by an Indian family?! Conch fritters with curry and crab samosas. Regardless of the ethnic diversity, it was good food all the same.

Tomorrow- sleeping in!

Cayman Islands Day One






Almost a year after mother won a charity auction for a week in the Cayman's in a two bedroom condo- Here we are!
More Clampets than Carringtons, seven of us piled in here but it seems to be working after 24 hours.

This morning Happy and I went 'swimming with the horses'. Amazing! My horse drove me NUTS but she was fine in the water. Hey, her name was 'Breakdancer'.

Afterwards we took a spin through Georgetown then came back to the hotel? Resort? Time Share? for lunch then a quick snorkel with the Tarpons.

THEN we continued melting into vacation mode with drinks at the swim up bar and then cocktails on Mimi's pier where I really saw how normal people vacation. WOAH. Lots of Teva's.

Finally we had a big ole seafood dinner and at the very late hour of 7:30 I was in bed catching up on reading and TV.
I am loving vacation.
More soon.

The Dollhouse Part 2. Almost there!






Unfortunately I was unable to make it down to Atlanta for this event but mother sent me these images of a soft opening of the doll house at AHHH. I wrote about it in 2008 here:http://catorsparks.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=50

The event was on a Wednesday and Mom, Dad, Aunt Cator and Jim headed downtown to Decatur for the event. The house looks amazing and I cant wait for the big opening in the next couple of months when the gardens are blossoming and the interiors are complete.

More soon!

Beatrice's first birthday!






I have to apologize for not blogging more. This whole Facebook thing has taken over! Why blog when I can simply add a picture to Facebook for thousands to see? Alas, I'm back.

Last Saturday I biked down (on Felton my new bike!) to Petite Abeille in Tribeca for Bea's first birthday.
She was looking adorable as always with a perfect spring time bow in her hair.

Alistair was dressed in a super hero cape while getting down on a croissant and his best friend and his little brother Gavin (or Squirmy to his parents) also joined in. Rumor has it Gav and Bea are a couple but Uncle Cator refuses to believe this wee tale. Amy Lau came a bit late but was the life of the party as usual with her Mame red hair and hysterical stories.

We dove into Belgian breakfast delights and I gave Bea her presents which included a hand made wooden top from Designers Within Reach, a book called, Gator and Pete, about a horse and turtle who learn to become friends (I bought that at Manhattan Saddlery). If you want to know more about Gator check him out here: http://www.gatorsgang.com/
Then I gave her main present to Mary, it is a year long family membership to the Natural History Museum that Tali and I bought as a Godparent gift. They were thrilled.

After one too many coffees I had to dash to a SCUBA class at the YMCA so I gave Bea one last big old smackie and put the petal to the metal.

Happy Birthday Bea! Can't wait for your 16th shin dig!

One Wild Night at The Standard

About two months ago I received an email from Andre Balazs’ famously cheeky Standard Hotel.

It was a picture of a naked lady wearing a tool belt and it said, "If You Don’t Mind Our Banging, We Don’t Mind Yours."

It was an offer to friends and family of The Standard to come stay while the newest Standard hotel is still under construction in the Meat Packing District over the Highline.

I have met Andre at many a rowdy party as well as interviewed him for Style.com. His VP of Marketing is one of my new favorite and fabulous friends, Lucy McIntyre.

Price and Salman just happen to be coming to town for a week and she jumped on the idea of renting a suite overlooking the Hudson. We booked the room and she invited a gaggle of friends and the party was on!

We checked in at 4pm on Saturday and set up the bar in time for sunset cocktails. We put on the ipod and Edmond hit play on his Serge Gainsbourg DVD and we got the party started. I enjoy drinking but I think we may have set the record for drinking from 4pm-4am! Funny though when you drink for so long, none of us got obliterated, just 'happy'. About 20 people came in and out all night; we ordered hot wings and took a couple of behind the scenes tours (shhhh!).

Highlights included the amazing sunset, trying out the bathtub and lying on the bed catching up with friends. I felt like Frank Sinatra hosting a swinging 60's shindig!

At 4am when the booze ran out we got into our PJ's and piled into bed!

I suggest everyone try out the hotel before full price nights are here. As you can tell, we had a marvelous party!

New Restaurant in my hood






YAY! More food in Harlem! And it's NOT FRIED!
Chez Lucienne just opened three weeks ago in the old Slice of Harlem space.
Opened by two boys from Daniel, the place is already packed nightly and hoping to have delivery soon.
But who wants this delivered when the atmosphere here is such a delight?

The build out looks great and the staff is cute and most are french. Zut Alors!
Rod and I went for Sunday brunch and enjoyed watching the people being bused over to greasy Siliva's stop and stare in the window and wonder why the hell the tour guide wasn't taking them there.

I had a country pate and then a hanger steak with eggs. We hit the dessert table (perfectly placed in the front window) and samples flan, rice pudding and pear tart. All perfection.

PLEASE support this new place!

Check out what Yelp kids have to say about it.
Rave reviews.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/chez-lucienne-new-york

DWR (Drinks With Rockers)






Monday night Molly Quirk hosted a splendid little get together at the DWR: Tools for Living store in Soho. It was the perfect Monday night affair, cool, calm, mildly boozy and done by 9!

The BPMW crew rolled up in there at 7pm and after one deee-vine Belvedere cocktail my credit card started burning a hole in my pocket. I bought Rod a snazzy pack of colorful masking tape (which later was used to annoy Ferris his new kitty by taping his paws together!), I bought myself two moleskins for home and office and finally I bought a little wooden top for Beatrice.

It was great to see lots of good friends (in good lighting and not wasted) including Claw, Carter and Angelo. In our usual classy style we cleared out enough Belvedere for 100 people and got down on candied pecans and cashews as well as veggies and dip.

Special guest of the night was Flat Stanley who Joy had hidden in her bag. Hi Flat!

Molly please host more of these events! It was a great time and the perfect time to get present shopping taken care of.