Monday, I headed up to the Big Apple for the day to buy four pre-spring collections.  Here's how it went...

4:30am  Alarm goes off.  Husband groans.  Contacts in.  Espresso machine hums.  Hop into my trusty Passat and cruise down Wilkinson to Charlotte-Douglas.

5:50am  Boarding plane--W, British Vogue, new coyote-colored Bajra shawl, laptop, iPhone and lipgloss tucked into my indestructible Givenchy Nightingale bag.

8:45am  After landing to LaGuardia and hopping in a yellow cab, I duck into SoHo's trusty Balthazar for a quick breakfast.

I really only eat smoked salmon bagels for breakfast in NYC.  It helps me to get in that NY state of mind.  (Yes, that is a second espresso.  Hey, I've already been awake for four and a half hours!)

And, in the blink of an eye, it's buckets of rain outside.  Shoot.  I brought an umbrella, but not galoshes!  This is a frog-strangler!  I hang out under the Balthazar awning until it lets up a little, and then head a few blocks west to my Marni appointment.

When I lived in NY, I always thought the guys on the corner who appeared with umbrellas at the first hint of rain were the embodiment of capitalism!  I crack a smile.

10:00am  Arrive to Marni.

My favorite thing about Marni each season is the combination of colors.  I love this brick/lilac pairing, and think the slouchy cropped trouser is great, but in too stiff/heavy of a fabric for our warm climate.

Believe it or not, designer "track pants" have appeared in several pre-spring collections.  I order these with the cute ankle ties in black with a tonal midnight blue stripe.

I fall in love with these lace-up suede boot-sandals.  They are similar to the gladiators we've seen for the last few years, but evolved--less tribal and more 70's Charlie Girl in spirit, with a flattering stacked kitten heel.

12 noon  I walk a few blocks over to Matta on Lafayette Street.

Matta's cotton embroidered tunics are perfect beach cover-ups or tunics for hot-weather holidays.  These will ship in December, and historically have sold out to the unit.

Matta's sarongs double as chic shawls.  I order solids and prints.  These make great stocking stuffers for Christmas, and the colors this year are beautiful.

Lo and behold, the weather has cleared up outside.  I cross the street and pick up a few industry magazines that are hard-to-find in Charlotte.  This bodega has an amazingly broad offering of titles and the owners always are helpful and friendly.

And, magazines in hand, I walk down the street to The Corner taco stand for a quick lunch.

I'll have three avocado, black bean, cheese and tomatillo soft tacos, please.  I load on the habanero sauce and enjoy the people-watching.

Hello sunshine!

1:30pm  I hop in a cab and arrive to Sola Showroom on E. 20th St. for one of my favorite appointments--Bajra.  I comb through several racks of the fine Nepalese shawls and choose the styles I'm interested in.  Then, the fun begins.  The showroom owner and I begin choosing colors for each style.  We use the below cashmere swatch cards and spend several hours thoughtfully choosing colors to compliment the pre-spring collections I've bought.  Choosing the perfect two colors to ombre (tie-dye) together into one shawl is the most time-consuming, but also the most exciting part of the coloring process.  Yes, it actually excites me to combine unexpected colors, debating exactly which shade of grey is the most interesting and right with color Z363/BRICKWASH, for example.

4pm  My taxi arrives to the Meatpacking District to Alexander McQueen.  This is a highly anticipated collection, being the first without McQueen himself at the helm.  I think the late designer genius would have been proud--the collection is beautiful and maybe a touch more feminine with his long-time assistant Sarah Burton designing now.  But while the feel is a bit lighter and softer, the collection remains still very signature McQueen, thankfully.  This knit jacquard dress is beautiful.

I love the details at the shoulders.

This crisp, cotton pique tunic is great.  I love the long tail.  It would be great over cigarette cropped pants or even over a full skirt, a silhouette I saw over and over again at Alaia last week in Paris.

I adore the "classic" McQueen skull minaudiere.  The pink lace, mint satin, pink snake and studded loden clutches were my favorite new versions.  And the chinoiserie embroidery is beautiful on the black and gold clutches.

5:30pm  I am back in a cab, racing to the airport to catch a 6:50pm flight.  Shoot.  Traffic at the BQE is dead stopped.  Deep breathing.  Checking voicemails.  Phone dies.  More deep breathing.  We finally start to move and eventually arrive to the airport.  Luckily, with boarding pass in hand pre-printed and no bags to check, I speed through security and to the gate, just as they are boarding.

7:00pm  With only two planes ahead of us to take off, my plane returns to gate to meet police officers.  A passenger in the back is drunk and disorderly and won't come out of the bathroom.  The dude is arrested.  By this time, storms have blown in and we are grounded on the Tarmac due to weather.

10:35pm  My fight finally takes off--almost four hours late!  On the bright side, I have worked on fine-tuning several orders, have read all four of my magazines and taken notes on key credits or looks to relay to the Capitol team, have finished all the USAirways magazine Suduko's, and have begun outlining the fall trends report I'll present to the store in a few weeks.  Plane productivity!

Midnight  I finally arrive home from my daytrip and fall into bed, pleased with the day and happy to be home!

Comments

little augury	July 26, 2010 9:34 AM How exhausting! I love Matta, easy to live in everything. the pique tunic is wonderful.
Sarah (Matters of Style)	August 3, 2010 11:36 AM Love this post! So interesting to see a day in the life...