The Palm Court, one of the most glamorous places in all of New York City is located at The Plaza Hotel.  They recently revamped their services and even had a partnership with VENUS ET FLEUR which offered a rose themed summer tea time!  The fabulous fictional character Eloise is also infamous for her adventures living at The Plaza, so it’s always charming to take a young girl who loves Eloise for an Eloise themed tea party.  The San Francisco equivalent, The The Palace Hotel’s Garden Court is equally esteemed and lovely to go to during the holiday season or if you just want a wonderfully historic and glamorous place to enjoy tea and have light conversation with your friends.  When I worked at The Palace Hotel, I always found the Garden Court to be one of the best spots to visit in San Francisco, its glittering chandeliers and ambience is so lovely.  I think there are some places that will never go out of style, and these are couple of those places.

xoxo,
Bianca

Alec Monopoly, otherwise known as Alec Andon, is a graffiti artist who is best known for his depictions of of the Monopoly Man (a.k.a Rich Uncle Pennybags) set in a graffiti style world.  Alec’s artistic ability to contrast the well-known cartoon’s placement as the scion of capital against the urban landscape that graffiti is known for has a distinct social dynamic at play that allows for viewers to consider the implications of recklessness in the financial world (Bernie Madoff was Alec’s inspiration for Monopoly Man) and its greater relationship to its role in society.  Alec’s work has also been used for advertising purposes (ironically) for brands such as Samsung and TAG Heuer and also purchased by celebrities including Snoop Dogg.  His works have been shown at Art Basel in Miami as well.

His most recent collaboration with The Beverly Hills Hotel was profiled by the LA Times with the article entitled, “Street artist Alec Monopoly is a blinged-out, social engaged paradox” and discusses the artist’s main influences (Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Keith Haring), as well as the evolution of the Monopoly Man character itself in his life and art.  Now, Andon feels consumed by painting him and living a “performance art” life, this forces us to consider how the Monopoly Man became an image of wealth to be proud of rather than a form of social critique, especially exemplified when he painted Khloe Kardashian’s Birkin bag and painted Adrien Brody’s Rolls Royce.  To me, the art still stands as an opportunity to discuss a taboo topic for so many wealthy people: how does their wealth affect them and what can they do with it?

Alec, as an artist, is never pictured showing his mouth – he always covers his mouth giving him a stylistic edge and helps him differentiate himself as an artist, and lets people ponder if the voice he has found for himself is through his art which speaks rather loudly.  His upbringing in New York by his wealthy financier parents, as well as  the reckoning that occurred during the 2008 financial crisis and with Bernie Madoff, Alec’s artwork has provoked the art world and individuals to consider how the perils of excess wealth is not as sweet looking as the adorable Monopoly Man appears…

What is the best way to give your lashes a break?  Finding a fabulous red shade of lipstick of course!  If you’re feeling like now is a good idea to put down the mascara wand (it’s actually never a bad idea) and are thinking about giving those lashes a break, go ahead and find a red lipstick to offset the less voluminous look of your lashes!  Personally, I am a firm believer in natural lashes – that doesn’t just mean “natural looking,” I’m talking about natural natural, as in you do not have falsies permanently attached or glue on falsies.

Follow this link to Charlotte Tilbury’s lipstick shade finder for all skin tones, it’s a great help for visualizing the full range of colors that can match great with your skin tone, as well as identifying the right shade of red for you!

At the moment, I am currently loving “Best Red” by Milani – all of their lipsticks are vegan and cruelty free, and smell SO good!  It is a matte shade, so I would recommend a dab of lipgloss in the center of your lips after applying, if you’re not super into the matte look like myself.  I love that it has great staying power, and I always get compliments on it when I wear it to work or out of the office.

One the lash front, there are great, natural remedies to improve lash growth, even when your lashes are doing great, it doesn’t hurt to use the following remedy (Carli Bybel has a great step by step video of how to mix the oils together).  If you use the mixture described in Bybel’s YouTube video or just use pure castor oil that you brush onto your lashes in the evening, I can say with confidence, you will see a difference!  My lashes have stayed long and healthy when I have kept up with applying oil and was light with my mascara.  As the holiday season begins, welcome the red lips!

One of my favorite possessions is a copy of Assouline’s The Proust Questionnaire – it’s a book where your friends and loved ones can fill out the infamous questionnaire that French writer Marcel Proust wrote (his magnum opus being In Search of Lost Time).  Each month, the last page of Vanity Fair magazine features a Proust Questionnaire to celebrities, and it’s remarkable the amount of insights you are able to learn about someone from the questions asked.  It’s a wonderful gift to give and it’s a wonderful book to have.

One of fashion’s truly rosiest designers is a man from Lebanon: Zuhair Murad.  His designs are princess gowns come to life with countless lace details and creatively sexy placement of lace – his signature style.  Young ladies can graduate from Sherri Hill prom dresses to Murad’s designs in the US, unless you’re one of the debs who attends Le Bal des Débutantes in Paris like Sophia Stallone, Sylvester’s daughter.  In that case, you step straight into the atelier couture, as Murad resides in Paris.  As the point of Le Bal is for young debutantes to be introduced to society, they are given the honor of wearing a famous designer (atelier Dior or Chanel or Armani etc.), but in this case, Zuhair Murad has made a name for himself in a few short years as a notable and valuable contributor to fashion, seen on the likes of Catherine Zeta Jones, Halle Berry, and Hailey Baldwin.  It’s an honor to wear the fashion house. The newly crowned Miss Lebanon, Maya Reaidy will hopefully wear his designs at Miss Universe this year, a lovely way to show off Lebanon’s finest designs.

November 6th is quickly approaching and I can’t emphasize enough, especially if you are in California, how important it is to go out and vote in this election.  Gavin Newsom is my choice for Governor, and I am very open in my support of him as I think he is the most viable candidate in leading California through incredibly tumultuous times.  An essential part of civic engagement is getting out there and voting, so do the thing, and go mark your vote!

Growing up, the commencement of the holiday season began when my mother took out our family collection of Gmundner Keramik pieces from Austria.  These are hand painted ceramic pieces made in Austria.  My favorite part of Christmastime was the beginning of Advent and when we would light our Advent wreath, which happened to be a Gmundner Keramik wreath.  I was always dazzled when we would light the first candle of Advent, there was a sincere understanding of what Christmas truly stands for during those Sunday evenings.  Gmundner Keramiks have been created since 1492.  That’s right.  Since the Middle Ages.  These pieces are truly an Austrian tradition and stand the test of time as a symbol of Austria.  Artists such as Gustav Klimt have been inspired by the designs of the famous ceramic house – Gmundner is timeless, and I’m proud that the heritage of my country remains so strong.  Gmundner pieces are the perfect addition to any holiday table!

One of my greatest passions is learning and understanding the pathways to improving the world we all live in.  In the image above, you will see a list of 17 goals outlined by the UN as “Sustainable Development Goals” or SDGs.  These are goals that, ideally, the world’s largest NGOs, governments, and nonprofits will align their goals with and has a projected end target date for 2030.  There is a common good that we can serve, and in turn can serve us all.

Personally, my involvement in co-leading my firm’s women’s group has given me the understanding of the importance of gender equality in a more informed, confident light. Truly, feminism is about fairness.  Feminism is not about pushing men to the sidelines through exclusion (even if women have been consistently sidelined throughout history), feminism is about being fair.  It is more important than ever that we include women and ensure that we have a place at every decision making table.  By 2030, we should no longer need to discuss why women should be in leadership positions or why they must assert the positionality anywhere.

While feminism is where I am most closely anchored to, I believe that maintaining the vision for a better world is anchored in a passion for innovative ideas for achieving sustainable development and understanding how we can specifically approach solving each of these seemingly insurmountable challenges.

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries.  Without them humanity cannot survive.” – Dalai Lama

“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” – William Shakespeare

“What we think, we become.” – Buddha

“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Hebrews 6:19

 

One of the brands that I’ve been infatuated with as long as I can remember is Fiorucci.  When I first saw their magical bottle of perfume with wings on it and their classic cherub head logo years ago, I fell instantly in love with Fiorucci as a teen.  When they had a collab with Target in the mid-2000’s, my favorite bikini was a Fiorucci x Target collab.  And then, suddenly, they fell off the face of the earth.  With the passing of Elio Fiorucci in 2015, the brand had been in despair for years before. Fiorucci is essentially the Italian (and cooler) version of GUESS.

Now, they have a stores in London and SoHo, NYC and Fiorucci is well and alive again: the brand has been spotted on celebs including Justin Bieber, which has helped revive Fiorucci into the mainstream once again.  Fiorucci is a strong brand and I am beyond thrilled to see it alive and well again.  Long live Fiorucci.  xx Bianca