Hello Hauteness

Earlier this week my good friend Kristine (@gloriakt) was in the city so I took her visit as an opportunity to check out some places I’ve been curious to explore.  At the top of my list was just about any restaurant featured in the movie You’ve Got Mail.  As a typical girl, I LOVE romantic comedies and one of the reasons I’ve been so excited to explore my Upper West Side neighborhood is the fact that it’s where the movie took place.  Knowing that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan walked down to same streets as me and ordered coffee from my local Starbucks brings out my inner tourist.

Tuesday morning Kristine and I ventured out to Cafe Lalo for brunch.  This is where Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan’s characters, who are email pen pals, are supposed to meet for the first time.  Remember the scene?  Meg is sitting at a table with a book and a red rose waiting for Tom, who is standing outside trying to decide if he should go in or not because he’s just discovered that the possible love of his life is actually his nemesis in business.  *Sigh*  I love this stuff!

Immediately once I turned the corner onto 83rd Street and saw Cafe Lalo I knew I was at the right place.  The cute tree-lined street.  The steps leading up to the entrance.  The charming wooden framed windows.  And it only got better once we got inside.  You walk past a sinfully delicious pastry case to get to your cute little table, that is conveniently located practically on top of the table next to you (typical for NYC).  There are so many delicious breakfast entrees in the menu that it took Kristine and I 15 minutes just to decide on what to eat.  Cafe Lalo offers up typical breakfasts from around the world, which I found fascinating and delicious all at once.  In the end, Kristine ordered the Dutch Breakfast while I ordered the Italian Breakfast, along with our giant Cappuccino and Viennese Coffee.

May I just say, that this was one of my favorite experiences to date in New York. I got to enjoy good conversation with a good friend over delicious food and coffee in an absolutely charming environment.  From the exposed brick walls to the vintage posters to the fresh lavender plants hanging above the bar, I loved everything about Cafe Lalo.  Not to mention that the food was beyond delicious and actually rather healthy.  The ingredients tasted truly fresh and the menu offerings were unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere else.  I know I don’t typically critique restaurants on this, my fashion blog, but I just had to share with all of you this little gem in the heart of the Upper West Side.

Whether you live in the city or are just visiting, I highly recommend you make it a point to visit Cafe Lalo…especially if you’re a hopeless romantic and a fan of You’ve Got Mail.  Cheers!

Happy Turkey Day everyone!  Okay, I’m a bit early, but a) this is my favorite holiday, aside from 4th of July, b) it involves turkey and pie so you have to be excited, and c) best of all, I’ll be in NYC for the next 9 days!

That’s right!  I get to spend the entire week taking a bite out of the Big Apple!  As if I wasn’t already planning on consuming an inordinate amount of calories over this fabulous holiday, I decided to head up to my favorite fashion capital (well, technically I haven’t been to any of the others) to partake in it’s culinary offerings, in addition to my turkey dinner.

I am SUPER excited for this trip because this is my first Thanksgiving with my boyfriend Rich and I have the pleasure of attending his nephew’s christening along with his twin niece and nephew’s birthday party while I’m up there.  I love family time and getting to spend some quality time with Rich and his family is going to be a real treat.

So where is the fashion/style angle to this post you ask?  Don’t worry, I have EVERY intention of shopping, gawking, and interviewing while I’m up there.  First of all, being a Texas girl dating a New York guy, I’m sorely in need of some winter clothing…so we WILL be shopping while I’m up there.  A trip to H&M will most definitely occur, probably while Rich is at work so that he can avoid being bored to tears while I peruse the store for hours.  I’m also hoping to make it over to Times Square to check out their EPIC Forever 21 that just opened a few months back.  I’ll try to snap pics whenever possible.

Second of all, I am going to interview a knitwear designer while I’m up there.  I don’t want to give away details, but she has a small collection of knit accessories that I fell in love with as soon as my fabulous friend Brittney (@brittneydane) introduced me to it.  I look forward to introducing you to this great little designer and her pieces once I get back.

Third of all, I’m anxious to check out the street fashion during my ventures out into the city by myself.  I figure I’ll get lost at least once so I might as well take in the style scenery as I meander aimlessly through the streets of New York.  I’m curious to see what the trendsetters are wearing up there to see if it lines up with what’s going on down in ATX.  Rich has already told me that he doesn’t like these “Mary Poppins-style shoes” all the ladies are wearing….so I gotta check this out.

Needless to say, you probably won’t hear from me next week, but it will be for a good cause…I’ll be busy collecting great content for once I get back!

So Happy Thanksgiving, happy football-watching, happy family time and, last but not least, happy Black Friday shopping!

Hellloooo Hauteness readers!  I’m sorry I’ve been MIA.  Life has been hectic and has left me with little energy in my free time to even want to open my laptop much less write something.  This is big coming from me because I always have something to say/write.

So, to catch you up on my last few weekends (b/c they’re more worth talking about than my weekdays), my boyfriend Rich came into town Halloween weekend and we had a blast.  Rich was Elton John and I was his piano.

Yes, we look ridiculous, but we totally owned it.  I am also proud to say that I found that dress at Forever 21 and added the sequin keys myself.  Thank you to my BFF Jenni for collaborating with me to create my piano look.

On the actual day of Halloween I got together a group of friends to celebrate Rich’s birthday at none other than Salt Lick.  I made Rich his favorite cake…and proceeded to destroy it when I rolled it (it’s a jelly roll cake).  But at least it tasted good.  Somehow we all managed to eat family style BBQ, have a slice of cake AND order cobbler.  It was a giant fatroll fail and I enjoyed every bite of it.

The group!

Our waiter in his awesome costume.

Rich, me and the cake.

So Halloween weekend was beyond awesome!  I was afraid this last weekend would pale in comparison…until I laid my eyes on the Bongo Party Bus.  That’s right HH readers, my friends Angie and Chris rented an amazing short party bus for us to take to Wurstfest, complete with karaoke, strobe lights, a stripper pole, and maraca’s.  The bus alone made the night for me, but Wurstfest also served as good old American/Texan/German fun.  I won’t tell you all that I ate, but let’s just say it made my Salt Lick fail look like a salad bar.

Part of the Wurst crew.

Josh and the bus!

Jenni and our onion blossom.

That should catch you up on some of the fun highlights of the last few weeks for me.  It only gets better in the coming weeks.  I’ll  be in NYC the entire week of Thanksgiving so get ready for some fun holiday stories/pics.  Happy Monday!

Helllllllooooooooooo Hauteness readers!  I apologize for being MIA for the past week.  I had a busy week leading up to my trip to New York and once I got back last Monday I realized that I had a dinner party EVERY NIGHT of my post-Labor Day week.  Needless to say, I was left with no time to blog.

But, I’m baaaccccckkkkk!  First things first, I gotta tell you about my trip.  It.  Was.  Epic.  Thank you to Rich, who planned everything from the time I stepped off the plane at JFK to when I grudgingly stepped on the plane back to ATX.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE Austin, but NYC is the only place I visit and never want to return home.

I could go into detail about my trip, but that would lead to a ridiculously long blog post.  So to sum up my activities:

Thursday- Landed at JFK at 11pm then passed out once I got settled in at Rich’s house.

Friday- Had my first NYC bagel, hung out with Dara in Manhattan, bar hopped with Rich, Erica and Chris, and crashed hard in our awesome hotel room in the heart of the Upper West Side.

Saturday- Met up with Dara, Farhim and Heather for brunch at French Roast, hung out in Central Park on a blanket with wine and beer for hours, and joined Rich’s family at a Staten Island Yankees minor league baseball game.  The highlight of my night was watching Rich’s nephew, Billy, dance to YMCA and Party in the USA.  Classic!

Sunday- Dave, Tricia, Erica, Chris and Carrie joined us, we took the ferry around Manhattan that landed us right outside of Yankee Stadium, watched the Yankees lose to Toronto (boo!), joined Rich’s family for a BBQ, and ended the day with YouTube watching and Wii.

Monday- Rich and I made our way out to the US Open where we met some interesting people while waiting in lines, shopped the Ralph Lauren US Open store, and watched Maria Sherapova…then I boarded a plane back home to Texas very unwillingly.

So that was my amazing weekend in a nutshell.  While I didn’t do much fashion-related (if I had stayed another week I could have hit up Fashion Week…ugh!), I got to attend amazing sporting events and hang out with some really fun and engaging people.  That’s what life is all about so I would say that the weekend was a complete success!

Now for the pictures you’ve been waiting for…

Oh!  I almost forgot.  I could have done an entire post on all of the fabulous Ralph Lauren outfits that the US Open workers had on.  From the ball boys/girls to the greeters (like this awesome dude below), they were all rockin’ the RL pony like nobody’s business…and I was diggin’ it!  I have a whole new appreciation for tennis fashions.  I bet I could rock the look…if only I played tennis!

I just have to open with…I HAD A FABULOUS WEEKEND!!!  I left work early on Friday to make the commute up I-35 with my friends Mere, Josh, and Jenni to Colleyville for the weekend.  Why Colleyville you ask?  Because that’s where Mere’s parents, Jimmy and Kimmy, live.  Their house is party central and Kimmy is Martha Stewart incarnate.  To put it simply, she is my idol.

Due to our busy schedules, Jenni and I hadn’t been to see Jimmy and Kimmy in a while so we scheduled this trip way back in May.  We arrived at the house on Friday to appetizers and a seafood-themed dinner (from food to table linens to music) and started drinking the moment we stepped in the door.  Jimmy literally has a menu of all the drinks he makes (see picture) as proprietor of Jimmy’s Bar & Grill (aka their house) so you know he’s serious.  I tried a Wedding Cake Martini for the first time ever.  Delish!

Friday night we managed to eat and drank ourselves into a food coma.  Saturday morning Kimmy, Mere, Jenni, and I went shopping at St. Bernard Sports Outlet in Dallas.  I found this fabulous swimsuit cover-up but aside from that was a good girl.  Jenni bought a gorgeous one-piece black swimsuit that she rocked later on that day.  Kimmy bought us lovely beach towels as part of our weekend party gift (yes, she gives us gifts every time we come see her for the weekend).

Afterwards we went to Rise N° 1 in the Inwood area of Dallas for lunch.  Let me tell ya, this was one of the most charming and unique dining experiences I’ve had in recent memory.  Everything in this adorable restaurant is French.  When I say everything…I mean everything.  The owners had it all shipped from France.  Their specialty is soufflés so of course that’s what we ordered.  See pictures for all of the fatroll fails we committed at Rise.

Me, Jenni, and Mere in front of Rise

While there we struck up a conversation with the owner, Hedda, and asked her why she doesn’t have a location in Austin.  Turns out she has been looking very closely at our beloved city but hasn’t found the right space in the right location with all of the right elements.  She wants to open another Rise N° 1 in Tarrytown but all of the stars have not aligned for it yet.  So if you know of a great retail location please let me know.  We told Hedda we’d keep her posted on anything we hear.  Seriously, we need one of these in Austin.  It is the definition of delicious and charming.

Marshmallow Soup- the marshmallows are actually made of goat cheese

Ham & Cheese Souffle

Chocolate Souffle for Dessert...Shared by the Table

After consuming more calories than any one person should, we headed back to the house to throw on our swimsuits and lay out by the pool.  Jimmy and Kimmy’s house is party central…of course they have a pool.  We sipped on lemonade and soaked up some sun until heading out to Lake Grapevine to hang out with some friends on their boat.  We spent the better part of Saturday afternoon playing on the lake.  Kimmy had bought us Sofia’s (as in Sofia Coppola champagne in a can) so we sipped out of our pink cans and hung out on the relaxation station (a giant lounge tube that seats up to 6 people).  We headed back to Jimmy and Kimmy’s right as the sun was setting, threw together some awesome burgers, and continued consuming alcoholic calories in the pool into the late night hours.

Jen and Mere...on a boat!

Jen and me...in our flippy floppies!

Mere, Kimmy, and Me

Sunday we woke up to challah french toast with pears and almonds for breakfast.  I’m telling you, Kimmy is the most amazing hostess EVER.  You do not leave her home hungry or thirsty.  We enjoyed breakfast together and hung out for a while before heading back to Austin mid-day.

All in all, it was an awesome weekend complete with friends, food, drinking, boating, and shopping.  While we didn’t go far from home, I would definitely describe this weekend as a mini-vacation…or staycation.

I hope all of you had as fabulous a time this weekend as I did.  Cheers to a great week!