Out and About - 'Delicious Flavors' book party at Tory Burch

Last night I headed down to the Meatpacking District to toast Victoria Amory and her new book, 'Delicious Flavors':The event was held at Tory Burch's recently opened boutique on Little West 12th Street.

I was lucky enough to run into my beautiful buddy Tory Burch at the party:
The LW12th St. store is stylish and chic... lots of metallics, mirrors, and bright colors:
I could browse this wall of shoes for hours:
...but I wouldn't want to miss out on these handbags:
It's a great-looking boutique; I'll have to go back for a return shopping visit soon.

'Delicious Flavors' looks promising... I flipped through my copy on my way uptown and found intriguing cocktails (the Bullshot) and yummy tapas (Fried Eggplant with Honey). I'll let you know how these recipes turn out, but they sound scrumptious.

Tory Burch.
Delicious Flavors by Victoria Amory.

NYT Sunday Styles - The Art Show Preview Night

From today's New York Times, Sunday Styles section:at The Art Show Preview Night, photograph by Bill Cunningham

Here's the full page with lots of lovely snaps (click to enlarge):

Out and About - The Art Show Preview Night

Earlier this week I headed over to the Armory for The Art Show preview night benefiting the Henry Street Settlement.

Here's a snap DPC from NYSD took of me at the party, with Somers Farkas and Alexandra Lebenthal:It's a lovely photo, but originally the photo caption identified me as 'Melissa Stanley' (my maiden name). By 10am the next morning I had received many emails from blog readers wondering why I was back to my maiden name, if Chappy and I were separating, what exactly was going on, etc... It was a simply a late night misprint -- the NYSD guys knew me as 'Stanley' for many years -- and it's corrected now and back to 'Morris'. No worries concerned readers, all is well!

The Art Show runs through the 23rd of February. For more information on the charity please visit Henry Street Settlement's website.

Melissa C. Morris on All The Best: List

Many thanks to Ronda over on All The Best for including me in her distinguished list of 'talented tastemakers'. I'm very flattered.

Here's a link to my little profile.

Ronda is my favorite style blogger and I read her site daily. I especially enjoy her profiles/interviews of creative people - here's a great one she did of my interior designer, Todd Romano. (She's also a downright lovely person; we met up when I was in Scotland last summer.)

The All The Best: List can be found at www.allthebestblog.com.

Fashion Week - Milly

We headed down to the tents at Bryant Park for the Milly fall 2009 show yesterday.

The scene was buzzing outside the tents:
...and in:Milly was completely packed, and I was thrilled to be given a front row seat to all the action.

Before the show I scoped out the crowd and spotted some celebs...

Julia Stiles:
and Elizabeth Hasselbeck:
Some snaps of the pretty clothes:
I've long had an affinity for giant trapper hats -- apparently my headwear is in vogue:I wholly approve of this look. Who knew my cold weather CT garb would make me runway ready?

Milly never disappoints. I love her flirty, feminine, touch a preppy with tons of style look. I thought the Fall '09 collection was beautiful.

Designer Michelle Smith:Milly.

Fashion Week - Christian Cota

Last Friday I went to Christian Cota's presentation of his Fall 2009 collection:They did something a little different than the typical runway show this year. The event was held in a huge loft, and the models stood on little platforms all around the space:You could walk right up to the models to get a good look at the clothes, and spend as much (or as little) time browsing the collection as you liked. I enjoyed this whole set up of the non-runway show.

The crowd was a fun mix of press, photographers, and regular attendees. I caught Univision conducting an interview while I was walking around:
Some snaps of the clothes...The earthy tones with a little shimmer, the glamorous ballgowns, the feminine draping of the fabrics -- I thought they were beautiful pieces.

And here's the designer, Christian Cota, giving an interview (isn't he handsome?):
For more information on the label visit Christian Cota.

Mixer Selections

Our Mr. & Mrs. T's preferences...

I go for the Bold & Spicy; Chappy picks the Premium Blend.

We'll agree to disagree, and we'll keep both in our pantry.

Bloody Mary Brawl

We've recently had a marital dispute in the Morris household...

Chappy and I disagree on which flavor variety of Mr. & Mrs. T's Bloody Mary mix we should keep in our bar.

Quelle horreur!!!

When I have the time I make my Bloody Marys from scratch, but I always keep the pre-mixed Mr. & Mrs. T's on hand just in case I'm out of an ingredient, in a hurry, etc.

I'm usually an easy-going gal, but I have a very firm opinion on which Bloody Mary mix I prefer, and apparently so does Chappy -- and as luck (or un-luck) would have it, we don't see eye to eye on this issue.

So readers, what say you...?

Here are the three varieties of Mr. & Mrs. T's from our market:One is my choice, one is Chappy's choice, and one is a decoy choice that neither of us likes. Tell me which variety you prefer and why...

I'll reveal my favorite (and Chappy's favorite) over the weekend.

Lee Fryd's 'Social Life' column

Here's another snap of us, with Michel Witmer, at last month's Winter Antiques Show benefit (click to enlarge):From the lovely Lee Fryd's column in the Resident.

Argyles

I bought this colorful trio of argyles on sale at J. McLauglin:Each pair is now $9.90; originally they were $25 per pair. I love a great deal on stylish socks!

J. McLaughlin's Classic Argyle Socks.

Out and About - Harris Obesity Prevention Effort

Last night we headed down to Times Square to a benefit for HOPE, the Harris Obesity Prevention Effort.HOPE was started by friends of ours in 2005; their organization helps to treat and prevent childhood obesity. It's an important public health issue, and we're always happy to support such wonderful work.

Planet Hollywood was all decked out for HOPE's party on the outside:
...and it was packed with supporters on the inside:
Here I am with my beautiful buddy Jackie Harris Hochberg:She and her family founded HOPE.

Here's Jackie's adorable husband, Robert Hochberg, with Chappy (my equally adorable husband):Three cheers to Jackie, Robert, and their entire family for all their generosity and hard work!

We grazed on a healthy buffet dinner while the Gypsy Queens played (they were amazing):
The dinner was delicious, but we couldn't resist a little treat for dessert - pink and green cupcakes!:
All smiles for HOPE:I'd never been to Planet Hollywood before, but there was a ton of movie memorabilia all over the restaurant.

Giant model airplanes, horses from carousels, and spaceships were hanging from the ceiling:
There were also cases and cases of old wardrobe pieces. Here's Chappy with the scary combo of shrunken head guy from Beetlejuice and Hellraiser:
And here's a snap of the bright lights of Times Square on our way home:For more information on the Harris Obesity Prevention Effort (HOPE) please visit their website.