Summer is not my season so I’m been working on a lot of projects (the reason for the radio silence) and biding my time until fall. I do have to say that the city is looking lush and beautiful though. I love all the green and white plantings I saw on Fifth Avenue Friday. There are also a lot of things going on if you want to be out and about or binge new programs at home.

One of the last big parties I went to in February 2020 right before quarantine began was at American Bar. Now the team behind the restaurant has just opened, Saint Theo’s, a beautiful new Italian restaurant helmed by Chef Ashley Rath in the West Village. I haven’t been yet but I’ve seen it popping up all over Instagram which is always a good sign.

I’m hoping to make it to the Museum of Modern Art this week to finally see the Cézane Drawing exhibition but now I can pair it with the new show Automania.

Automania brings together cars and car parts, architectural models, films, photographs, posters, paintings, and sculptures, ranging from Lily Reich’s 1930s designs for a tubular steel car seat to Andy Warhol’s Orange Car Crash Fourteen Times. Nine cars, including a recently restored Volkswagen Type 1 sedan (better known as the Beetle), will invite visitors to take an up-close view of the machines that architect Le Corbusier compared to ancient Greek temples and critic Roland Barthes likened to “the great Gothic cathedrals…the supreme creation of an era.”

The cars in the Sculpture Garden are on view through October 11, 2021. The gallery portion of the exhibition remains on view through January 2, 2022.

I have been hearing so many good things about Ted Lasso but haven’t had time to watch season one yet. But I better get to work because season two just debuted on Apple TV yesterday. The show stars Jason Sudeikis as an American small-time football coach, Ted Lasso, who is hired to coach a professional soccer team in England, despite having no experience coaching soccer. “What he lacks in knowledge, he makes up for with optimism, underdog determination, and biscuits.” If the show is as funny as the interview I saw with Jason and his co-star Brendan Hunt, I know I will be laughing out loud when I finally do get to watch.

I did watch the first episode of the Gossip Girl reboot on HBOMax and it was awful. So horrible that it sent me running back to the original Gossip Girl from 2007-2012. I have to say that after they graduated high school, the episodes actually stand the test of time except for a few fashion mis-steps and the flip phones and Blackberries. Although, hearing them talk about Barney’s and Bendel’s and other closed businesses made me a little nostalgic. Give it a go and you won’t be disappointed. Just skip the new shows.

My pre-order of La Piscine from Criterion Collection on dvd finally arrived this week but I’ve been too busy to watch it too. This slow burn suspense from thriller from Jacques Deray starring Romy Schneider, Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, and Jane Birkin, on the French Riviera in 1969 is a classic that has inspired everyone from fashion designers to modern filmmakers. I already own a copy but ordered this new one because it has been newly restored and includes, the English-language version of the film, a 2019 documentary, archival footage, an alternate ending, a new English subtitle translation, and more. It’s also not streaming online anywhere which is why I keep my old television with a built-in dvd player.

Keeping with the French theme of La Piscine is the new album Coeur by Clara Luciani. She played Respire Encore during Couture Week in Paris earlier this month and I fell in love with the song. It’s the perfect music to make like you’re in Paris too.

I’ve been updating a lot of things in my apartment lately and also my closet. I just ordered a new waffle robe, lace strap nightgown, and lace strap pajama set.

I also finally tried U Beauty Resurfacing Compound, Super Hydrater, and Sculpt Arm Compound. I’ve been using the Resurfacing Compound the longest and I like it. I think it helped calm my skin and shrunk my pores but it’s also made my skin dry so I need to figure out a more regular exfoliation plan.

Bon week-end!

XOXO,

HC