I'm gonna be a GodFather!!!




My first day back to NYC I woke up early and headed down to Tribeca for breakfast with Mary and her new little girl- Beatrice Greer.

We met at the Bleu Gans and Mary feasted on a martini glass of hard boiled eggs, while I dove right into the wild boar sausage and pretzel!. Little Bea is as cute as could be and Mama is handling everything like an old pro. Now we need to get poor big brother Alistair out of the dumps from no longer being the center of attention :(

The best news is that Mark & Mary asked me to be her God Daddy. YAY!
I get to carry her up the aisle at First Presbyterian in a couple of Sundays and I am about to pop with excitement!

Since her initials are BG she will definitely be heading to Bergdorf's BG restaurant for every birthday with Uncle Cator.
Ahhh, my little child, I will open doors for you, doors you never dreamed existed!

Jim and Jennifer's engagement party






My last week in Atlanta ended with a swank reception at Bacchanalia on now hip Howell Mill Road.
Jim and I went to College of Charleston together and now he owns one of the most respected green construction companies in the South.
His soon to be wife Jennifer is a PR maverick for Star and West Side Provisions in Atlanta.

Jim came into town on Monday night and stayed with me and the parents at Hathaway. I'm not quite sure how the night ended but we polished off a bottle of bourbon, I jumped into the lake and we both woke up with killer hangovers. Not to fear! We have done this since 1994. We headed into town, toured the construction of the new West Side Provisions development and then got our shop on at my new favorite menswear shop- Sid Mashburn. It is a Traditionalists dream come true! Not to mention the service has Jeffrey beat. Thats right! Three divine Southern gentlemen to serve you and one splendid tailor.

The party that night at Bacchanalia was an intimate and lovely affair. Jenn's bosses, who own the developments, threw a party for about 40 people with food for around 60 (they knew I was coming!).

I must admit it was great meeting so many people who just love living in Atlanta. They all seemed like real in-the-know people who were enjoying the balance of nice old houses, great food and everything Atlanta had to offer.

Again, the night became a bit messy but we crashed at a friends house who was nice enough to bring us all a pile of McDonalds in the am! Haven't eaten there in a coons age!

Congrats Jim and Jenn!

Get me to the Ghetto Carnival!






Thursday night, Bart and Anthony wrangled the gang together for a night of fried food, Ferris wheels and funions.
The annual carnival, held across from Turner Field, was up and running and we all wanted a part of the action.

I met up with Rosalind, still in town from Chicago on Spring Break, Genene, Kathy and her fiancé Drew at Mary's for a pre carnival cocktail. There we met up with the boys and after two drinks headed downtown. Once we got there the attendants said it was closed but after much pleading and praying they opened the gates and we flew in like we were running into an all you can eat free buffet.

First off I ran to the corn dog pavilion where I enjoyed a fresh out of the grease pit dawg. Then Rosalind, Genene and I headed for our first ride, the Bear Affair. Ahem! That was a super fun twirl and whirl inside a big furry bear in overalls.

After that I scarffed down half of Kathy's funnel cake. Mmmmm!

Then we found the airbrush backdrops where we could have our pictures taken. There was a little scurfuluffle deciding between the Sponge Bob backdrop or the Escalade. But we eventually decided Sponge Bob in phat pants was so much more ghetto so we piled in, corn dogs in hand (this was my second) and did the deed. The best part was picking out the frame! There were so many to choose from like 'Baller', 'Thug Life' and 'Big Money' but as soon as I saw 'Gangster Boo' I knew that was the one for me.

The kind men printed them out, taped them into the frame and slid them into plastic wrap. Done!

Next up was what I called 'The Claw'. This was quite possibly the scariest moment in my life. This thing swung back and fourth so high that you thought it was going to dislodge and fly into the highway. Not only did it swing back and fourth at great speed but it also spun around. As Rosalind was screaming I was dead silent. My hands were clasped so tightly to the handlebars that I couldn’t speak. I also thought my new glasses were going to plummet to an early death but I was too scared to pry my hands off the bars and push them back on my face. Finally when I thought they were about to dislodge I pushed them back on my face at super sonic speed.

When that damn ride was over I was a hot mess. We all were for well over an hour. I think my brain got giggled around too much so the only thing that could make it better was a cocktail!

The fair was winding down so we all piled back into our cars and headed back to Mary's to refuel and regale all the non-fair goers about our wild time and show off our Gangster Boo photo.

The fried food and whirling rides plus a couple of cocktails went to our heads so Rosalind, Genene and I headed back to Genene's for a super slumber jam.

Ghetto Good Times!

Hardly a Swan Song






Fay's last day in the South was a loverly one.
We woke late, did some work and headed down to Buckhead for a ladies lunch at the Swan Coach House, an old chandeliered, magnoliaed wall papered restaurant that Designing Women would of lived in.

The occasion was in honor of several birthdays to celebrate in our family, mom, my aunt, grandmother and mom's best friend. Another Estrogen fest and me!

I had lovely crab cakes and it was fun for the family to meet Fay. After lunch Fay and I headed over to the Swan House, a home built in 1928 by the Inman family in an Italian Palazzo style. My mother was a docent there when she was pregnant with me, no wonder I turned out like I did!

We took a lovely tour of the house and of the grounds. Afterwards we popped by the antebellum Tully Smith House where Fay went gaa gaa over the baa baa sheep. Then we found the gift shop (naturally) and Fay found my mother a faux Diptyque candle from some southern company with candle names like Hey Y'all, Thanks Y'all, Fiddle-dee-dee, and Love Y'all. And they dont smell like moth balls or aquanet. They actually are appealing.

Afterwards we headed to the airport for Fay to fly back north and I headed to the lake to start working!
Uncle's got a book to write!

Horses and Heffer's






Thanking our lucky charms none of us had a hangover on Sunday! We woke to a perfect day, had a quick breakfast and headed to the country to Serenity Creek Farm to see my aunt and uncle and ride some horses.

These swanky ladies had never ridden western or seen a real cowboy and today they got to experience both!

We took a great hack through the pastures and then my uncle Jim showed the girls how to cut.
He asked Fay to be a cow (Olivia said it wasnt that hard for her to pretend, OUCH!) and she darted back and fourth while the horse followed her every move. It was great fun and if I can figure it out I will post the video.

When we were de tacking Clyde, TJ and Spanky a tall, gorgeous cowboy walked into the barn sporting a cowboy hat, spurs and a toothpick lodged in his mouth. Both girls nearly swooned so Cator (my aunt) made him come over to meet the girls and his 'Well hello Ma'am', had them shivering in their boots. Once Fay told him she enjoys being man handled (can't take her anywhere!) I turned on my heel and headed to the tack room before I burst.

His ego swelled so much that when we were heading to the car for lunch he trotted over to the car and sadly asked if we were all leaving. When we said we were he dismounted and posed for a picture to remember the 'Brokeback' moment.

On our way out we ran into the wee Shetland pony who is being trained as a seeing eye pet. We met her owner who still has partial site. She was so sweet and very excited to be practicing with her little lady before she sadly losses all sight.

We had a lovely lunch at the state botanical garden, took some sun and then drove Olivia to the airport (after we stopped for boiled peanuts at a shack on the side of the road).

Olivia barely made her flight but we got her there in time. Afterwards Fay and I headed into town to meet some of my old high school friends for a drink. Good times and sore thighs!

The Beatrice in of the South






The girls came home, gussied up and we headed to mom and dad's yacht club for a night of green drinks and later green faces.
'Tonight we are Irish, tomorrow we are hung over!'

I dont think these Euro's had any idea how far Southerner's go when a costume or color is called for.
The club was covered in shamrocks and green streamers and every man and woman was decked head to toe in green wigs, makeup and glittery jewelry.

We started off with margarita's and kept rolling with whatever was green.

*Highlight*
The club hired a young troupe of Irish dancers to do a jig for us and I was not ready for six mini Dolly Parton's to come onstage with one cute little red headed boy. Check out that 'Interview with a Vampire' curly wig!

As soon as the jig ended we dashed outside to take some snaps with the sizzling southern sunset. Olivia have our engagement photo ready!

After an amazing dinner of corned beef & cabbage, bangers & mash, shepherd's pie and loads of peas the Dj cranked up the music and we hit the dance floor.

All the men of the club were asking me if I had switched teams after I did a saucy little number with the ladies. Have no fear!
The DJ busted out some Rolling Stones, Beach Boys and other classic hits that we realized are favorites at the Beatrice but these
people all rocked to these oldies when they were hot off the tracks. One couple yelled, "I remember doing LSD to this song!"

We decided to rename the club- Beatrice Inn for Golden Girls.

The end of the night is a bit foggy but we all had aspirin before bed and passed out by 11:30. Very not Beatrice...

A day in Atlanta






No tornado could stop us from taking a tour of my home town!
Oddly enough we never heard a wind sweeping or hail a tapping.
But Friday night the electrical storm was so intense that my Basset Hound, Chloe, jumped into my bed
and howled all night long.

We started at my old family home Jacqueland to check out the (wet) gardens. Then we headed into Virginia-Highlands where we found a Girl Scout cookie stand and loaded up. Hoorah! St. Patrick's day was already underway and again Fay started snapping pictures for boys and their beer.

After a boozy brunch we drove up to Buckhead so the girls could check out the original Jeffrey. They shopped and I chatted with old colleagues. A highlight was the girls discovery of Brookstone. They fell into the massage chairs while I shopped around for green tights for the girls St. Patty's party outfits. I came back empty handed but they didn't mind. They were in hog heaven!

We finally headed back home to get dolled up for a night of Irish shenanigans. Stay tuned.

First night at Hathaway






After getting fueled up at the Varsity, we finally made it to Lake Lanier and to my parents home, Hathaway.

After playing with the Basset Hounds and taking a tour they dove into the guest bedroom closet and found my leopard costume mother made me for the Noah's Ark play at church circa 1984.
Needless to say a photo shoot ensued.
They also had a good giggle over the turlet seat that my cousin painted in the 1960's. Now you can sit on Happy, Sleepy or Bashful's face!

First night in the South and they are in love.

Fay and Olivia head South for the weekend!






After my month in London and a month in NYC I am spending a month in Atlanta! Or Buford, Georgia to be precise at mom and dad's home on the lake.
YAY! The south for a whole month!

Fay and Olivia escorted me down for the weekend and we had a blast.

Mom and Dad picked us up and the first place we headed was the Varsity or as it is known locally, 'The Greasy V'.
Mother always says I was supposed to be born on May 2nd and dad took her to the Varsity that night. After onion rings, a chili dawg and pc I slipped out the next day. Charming I know.

So here we are feasting.
*BONUS* We saw a gaggle of prom kids either stoned and hungry or coating their stomachs for the house party. Fay told them she was a photog for a UK magazine and asked them to pose.
Amazing!

PHOTOS THANKS TO OLIVIA WINDISCH

Justin's Couture Kick Off














Last Friday on a very wet evening, Justin had a bash 1) to celebrate his Ecco Domani win 2) to launch his first couture collection of jewelry.

Held at Cipriani on 23rd Street, all the gang showed up to support including Chanel Iman, Lindsay Price (from Lipstick Jungle YAY!) and Justin's parents and brother.
Rod brought a special guest, Flat Stanley who even got his picture taken by Patrick McMullan!

The collection was presented on synchronized dancers doing high kicks. Needless to say I nearly jumped in formation.

We partied till 11pm then I headed with the French kids to Florent for a last supper at one of the Meat Packing Districts most iconic spots, closing soon because of high rents. We all almost shed a tear.

Then we headed to Lotus for Justin's after party where we met up with Amanda and a gaggle of drag queens and club kids ready to get on down.

I could go on and on but you can check out my piece on NYT blog here for more of the dirt:
http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/line-dancing/

Oh and how do you like my new glasses? Yes, they really are prescription!

Minya's Baby Shower






The day after Dedra's blowout I had the pleasure of attending Minya's baby shower held conveniently at Brand Pimps HQ. Luckily it didn't start until two and I didn't roll out of bed until 1:30. I always forget that these types of things are just drop bys so peeps were swinging in at 4 and 5.

Minya and Molly did a great job of decorating en bleu. The DJ was poppin off some Sunday slow jams and Molly's finger food about did me in. YUM.

I got to spend some quality time with my boys Richard Martin and Angelo Baque who I rarely get to see. Err, at least sober.

There was a raffle and your tickets were the number of books you bring to fill up little baby Bodhi's library. I brought 5 because I gots greedy for a gift basket. I headed over to Hu-Man book store in my hood and got a very world-centric collection of Babar, Good Night Moon, I love Harlem and a Kuh-razy Jamaican/Harlem book about a goat called Hard heads make soft bottoms. Woah.

Good times were had by all.
Congrats Minnie and I cant wait to meet lil bit when he pops out and say 'Word' to the world!

Dedra's 40th






My dear friend Dedra celebrated 40 years by mistakenly inviting me to her birthday party.
Rod and I showed up at the Gramercy Park Hotel Rose bar an hour early since we were itching to get out of the house. Two martinis later Dedra showed up and we head to her suite upstairs and help her get dressed.

We are both wearing black tie because Rod swore there was a prom theme. Well he was wrong so we were the only one in tuxes while everyone else was in jeans. But you know me, never one to mind getting dolled up!

We helped her get dressed, ordered more cocktails then swaggered over to dinner down the street.
We had close to 8 courses and by the 6th one I was so tipsy I just wanted Dunkin Donuts. I called Justin to come save me so he arrived and we went out for a cigarette break and simply could not face sitting down for another hour.

We headed back to the hotel ( I had a room key!!) and got the room done up for the after party. That means we moved the inflatable bed, turned on the ipod and ordered more drinks.

Dedra and the crowd arrived and were pleasantly surprised that 1) the room was ready for a party 2) I was still alive.

After that I think I ate her birthday cupcake (close to Dunkin Donuts) and broke her chocolate gnome with butt plug center piece while wearing her vintage kimono.

By then I realized it was time for me to go. Amazingly I got the sweetest text from Dedra the next morning. I guess she knew what she was getting herself into when she sent me the invite.

Good times and Happy B day Baby!

Shinjo Ito






My first outing back in NYC was to cover the Shinjo Ito exhibit for Style.com (http://www.style.com/trends/blogs/style_file)
It was a nice way to get back into the groove since most of the fashion flock was running amuck in Milan, the vibe was more artists, Buddhist followers and simply people like me, out to see something enlightening.

Shinjo's sculptures have never left Japan so this was a big deal. Obviously as every Japanese camera crew invaded swinging mic's cameras and wires. Very un-Feng Shui but amusing all the same.

HIGHLIGHT:
My favorite social butterfly was in attendance, Anne Slater. I interviewed her and she was simply lovely. So old school!
She whispered away in the 'can you believe how amazing life is?' way all night.
Anne what do you think of the sculpture? "Well Catah its just a dream! I mean have you ever? It is just beyond! Oh really...'
After the interview we had a lovely chat about life. I told her all about my book and my time in London and she told me all about her trip to the far east and Australia coming up. "Oh I don't know when I'm going, you know next week or next month! That is just how I like to go. You know?"
Such a darling, reminding me of my grand pubah of a social aunt, my dear late Isabelle Kennedy.

After taking in the exhibit I headed to Donna Karan's Urban Zen space for a quiet dinner with Dr. Thurman (Uma's dad, Shinjo's daughter Shinso and a variety of fashion fun-ions including Kate Schelter, Damon Dash, Vicky Secrets model of the moment,Miranda Kerr and Carlos Mota)

Kids this event was so chill! I was thrilled. No place cards, no formal sit down time, just friends lounging on huge sofas and munching on steamed vegetables and sushi.

ANOTHER HIGHLIGHT
I was especially excited to see Waris and Chiara there. We spent the rest of the night catching up, eating and tracking down the dessert tray.

FINAL HIGHLIGHT
The space has a huge terrace and once someone realized the lunar eclipse was happening we all flooded outside to gaze at the moon on major TrimSpa. Damon Dash thought it was freaky. Nadine Johnson was thrilled it was happening at her party and Waris told me how he saw the same thing last month in India. Swell!

Nadine, please host more parties like this one. It was perfect! Ohm.

Last day in London





Well this will be a short post.
I work up and packed.
Anna and I met Ashleigh and Billy at the Fat Badger (love their wallpaper!) for lunch at 2pm and drank until 8pm.
I was in bed at 9 on my last night!
The English really know how to tie one on.

The trip home was easy and it was such a nice feeling to be back in my own home and have a cuddle with Mabel.
London was a dream and I am so glad I got to spend some quality time with all of my friends there and gain 10 pounds from their pub crawls...

London Wrap Up






After a night at the dis-Joiners arms, I made it back to Anna's for a lovely lunch with a bunch of her college friends.
I just want to give a shout out to all the haters who laughed at me for heading to England in 'cold, wet, rotten' January.
During my entire trip the temperature hardly dipped below freezing. For the last week it was Spring awakening. flowers were blooming, cherry trees were blossoming, and we had a lovely lunch in Anna's garden.

All the girls were lovely and it was such a treat to just lull in the sun with a glass of wine and get to know them all. After lunch we took a trip to Primrose Hill and took a gander of the city skyline before they dropped me off at Chalk Farm Road where I met Robin for one last drink.

Robin waltzed out of the subway in a black and white mod look. We popped into his friends vintage store, Dappa and then had a drink or two at the Misty Moon pub and talked shop. After a walk about Chalk Farm and Camden we headed home after a long embrace. It is always good to see my old teacher!

The last thing I wanted to do was go out that night, but Anna and I had not gone out the entire month I was there! So we rallied the troops and went to indian food with her best friend Leena and her husband Johnny. After a massive feast some of the boys headed to hear a band but we decided to go to Bungalow 8. I hadn't checked it out yet and wanted to see what all the hype is about. Well while we was there there wasn't much hype be we had a drink and a look around. A highlight was running into Susan Joy! She was in town styling a client for the BAFTA's.

After a drink and a catch up with Susan we headed to the east for some sort of reggatone/baseline/new rave warehouse party that Anna's brother took us too. I was dreading it but we had a blast! The kids were so cute, the music was amazing and we all got to get our groove on for a minute or two until our 31 year old alarms went off and we realized we were tired and needed to go home. Thank God Pierre brought the car!

In bed by 2!

The Joiners Arms






So you would think I couldn't possibly strap another one on after my wild night in Bristol? Wrong! It was my last weekend and I was making the most of it.

I missed my first train back to London (surprise) but Colin and Angela got me to the station for the next one. We wearily said our goodbyes and I headed back to the city with a massive Cornish Pasty in hand.

After a whirlwind trip to Anna's I changed into a suit and headed to Piccadilly to meet one of my mentors, Meredith Ethrington-Smith for lunch at the Wolseley across from the Ritz. What a treat. It seems like it is kind of like eating at the Four Seasons in New York, it’s a media madhouse in the most decadent of settings. Meredith is a breath of fresh air as always and we had a delightful catch up over copious amounts of Bloody Mary's, white wine, then red wine, then coffee. So much for a hangover!

She had to head back to wrap up a book she is editing so I waltzed over to the Royal Academy for a look at the much-hyped From Russia, show. Have you ever strolled through a gallery completely off your face? It's amazing! The art was simply vibrating it was so exciting. I spent an hour meandering and then headed back to Queens Park for a major nap session for five glorious hours.

For one of my last nights in town my friend Gary offered to take me out on another spree through clubs and bars. I took him up on his offer. We met at Hospital, a newish private club in Covent Garden, then headed to a friends house for drinks before sailing off the The Joiners Arms, my favorite pub in London. It is full of new rave kids, gay punks and design industry boys wanting to get loaded. I love the Agnes Dyen look alike at the bar.

Many pints were consumed, lots of pictures were taken (most have been deleted, PTL) and we stumbled out at 3am.
I love London! 3am in New York is when you hit another bar!

Club Kid Blitz in Brizzle







After our calm and cool day at the Baths, Angela and I did a 180 by meeting up with Colin and their friends for a night of saucy debauchery.

We headed to a peaceful dinner and a pint or two. Then a pub for another couple of pints. Funny enough after that we were still thirsty! So we fell into a club called The Tube.

OMG! These Bristol kids know how to have a good time. It was nuts. We had a wild time with boys and girls in matching makeup and new rave looks. Everyone was super sweet and so were the shots! What were we thinking?

I think our bodies were so detoxed they got retoxed in a jiffy. Luckily we sweated it off on the dance floor. Most of it anyways.

Thanks Colin and Angela for a proper session!
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