I am on the radio...but it's a long interview

A few weeks ago, while I was in NY I was asked to give an interview for a fun travel radio station called Travel Radio Show. The interview was fun and easy, so much so that I completely forgot about it, until today when I found the information on the internet.

You can listen to this painfully long (but informative) interview here

http://tribecaradio.net/wpradioblog/letstravel/lets-travel-show-97/

And read some of the ideas and suggestions from it, here:

http://www.letstravelradio.com/thisweek/

NY Dog Show

I don't really like traveling in the winter, but there is one thing I love about being in NY at this time of the year: the Westminster Kennel Club dog show.
This great event takes place every year around this time of the year, the show is at Medison Square Garden, just a couple of blocks from my friends apartment.
I never attended the show itself, but I always managed to get a peek of some of the contestants, sometimes even the winners.
This time I was on my way to do some shopping when I saw a small crowd gathering in front of the MSG. I crossed the street and wiggled my way to the front of the crowd just to see this wonderful and enormous mastiff . He was so docile that everyone got close to him, even little kids. He almost looked fake, in fact at first I thought it was not a real dog but some kind of crazy toy. His eyes were a bit sad, but overall he seemed like a happy dog.

The show happened and the winner was announced, I completely missed it as I was back in Philly and getting ready for the next trip up to Boston, until my good friend J showed me this:
The golden Briard.
The author of the blog is a friend of J's and is a fantastic illustrator with a true love for dogs.

Check it out, she has all the results of the show in an illustrated version:-)

My friends in hats

A few nights ago I was out with a group of friends here in NY.We went out for dinner and then dessert at Chickalicious.
We had a molten choc cake with vanilla ice cream and an affogato al caffe. Both were divine and in a perfect size. Unfortunately I don't have a pic of the food, but I have a picture of us, devouring it.
Notice we are all wearing furry hats. We thought the scene looked straight out of a Russian women convention!

NYT Travel Show

So we started. We are at the booth 474 in the Europe section.
Today was the first day, and it was great! Lots of people came by, including American Express agents, Sean from Bootsanall, and other friendly people!
If you are reading this, and you are in NY, come by in the next days. Here is our schedule:

Saturday, February 6 all day - we'll be in booth 474 in the Europe section

Saturday, February 6 @ 1pm - Context docent and culinary historian Cathy Kaufman will discuss "Tasting the Immigrant Experience," her walk of Manhattan's ethnic food, U.S. stage

Sunday, February 7 all day - we'll be in booth 474 in the Europe section

Sunday, February 7 @ 11 am - Context co-founder Paul Bennett will discuss sustainable tourism and stewardship on a panel of travel professionals and journalists, seminar room 2

Sunday, February 7 @ 12:30 pm - Context docent Katie Parla and Jarnac head chef Maryann Terillo will discuss our 8-day trip to Rome and Naples, "A Taste of Two Cities," with a tasting of Roman and Neapolitan specialties at the Context booth to follow, Europe stage.

We are also running walking seminars throughout the weekend. Check out the schedule here

looking at you in the cold

NY today was freezing, sunny,beautiful and incredibly cold. It was so cold that I went against all my rules and bought a pair of Hugg Boots, just to keep my feet warm. I also purchased a fun hat, some makeup and moisturizer..even though it might seem strange, the makeup and moisturizer purchases are directly connected to the outside temperature. It was so cold I had to duck into Bloomingdale's and try some Bobby Brown stuff.
I was really happy with the job that the woman and the counter did, so I decided to purchase.

The overall effect was luminous, natural and yet very effective. Here is a peek, and you can see the bottom of my hat.

Jumping Competition in NY

This is great. Bill Cunningham from the NYT just released his weekly Fashion On the Street video.
You can watch it here and see what I was doing when walking around NY with my heels.
The title of the video is The water dace, in my case : "the water up to your knees dance".
Enjoy

Snow in NY (and ode to Ferragamo shoes)

After a delicious dinner at the HCNY, I went back to Chelsea where my friends apartment is. I fell asleep immediately after reaching their place, tired, full and with a bit of chill from the walk back.
This morning I woke up at 5:30 (ok, ok, I am jet lagged) to find NY covered in snow. The view from the apartment was beautiful, but I was dreading going outside eithout appropriate shoes.
I had a breakfast appointment at Balthazar and had a bit of walking to SOHO..what to do?

I ventured out, with my 5 inch heels and no socks. The snow was already turning into slush and I was fearing for the worst. My feet stayed dry all the way to Spring street (where I walked into a puddle) and I started believing in the divinity of Salvatore Ferragamo. Who else can design a shoe that looks beautiful, feels great and keeps you dry in the snow???

After all the walking, Balthazar felt like a warm blanket on a cold night..I had Eggs Benedict with home fries. The best eggs benedict I ever had (but don't tell Mr.R)!

Paris-Rome-Frankfurt-Philly-New York

I am no jet setter, but in the last four days I have moved across five cities, four countries and two continents.
Surprisingly I am not tired, nor jet lagged. I went from Paris to Rome, where I spent two wonderful day relaxing.
On monday morning one of our cars picked me up and took me to the airport. From there I flew to Frankfurt and then to Philadelphia. The gods of air travel must have kept an eye on me, because the flight was not only extremely smooth, but also I had a row of seats all for myself! I slept, read and overall had a good time.

I arrived in Philly, where I was greeted by my friends P, L, their lovely kids and my favorite dog in the world. After less than 24 hours, I am on the road again. Heading to NY to meet some other dear friends and enjoy a meal at the Harvard Club

More tomorrow