It's Christmas time in the city

New York's window dressers pull out all the stops during the holidays. I daresay they can rival even the best of Paris.

Here's just a tiny detail from one of Bergdorf Goodman's astonishing windows.

Larger than life-size horse, bedecked in jewels and necklaces.

Zooming past the Rockefeller Center tree when it was still under wraps. I love the bike whirring by....
A Midsummer's Night Dream at Moschino in the Meatpacking District. Their windows always amuse and amaze. So innovative.

Click on this photo to see the details - dozens of colorful pixies make up the letters of this HO HO HO.
More to come...after all, it's not even December yet!

What a cool way to wear a scarf...

I must try this immediately and hope that I can look at least 10% as chic as this woman.

Gimme. Obsession #2.

I love this YSL Y-mail wallet. I actually had it in my hand once, at the Yves Saint Laurent store on 57th Street. Then the saleswoman came back and said she had told me the wrong price. It was actually $495. And the smaller wallet that I'd come in for? $525. For a wallet. Gulp. I swallowed hard (pride has a way of sticking in your throat), took back my Amercan Express card and walked out the door. "Hmmm, I'll have to think about it."

$525. For a wallet. 'Nuff said.

Obsession #1

I'm obsessed with these Christian Louboutin shoes. Rollerball black leather - gulp! - $995. They're the perfect combination of bad ass meets timeless classic. Great with jeans and a leather motorcycle jacket. Even better with grey flannels, a cashmere turtleneck and a tweed blazer.

Dear Santa...I've been a VERY good girl this year....

Lost and Found photos

SO thrilled to find a disc with photos of a vacation in Paris in 2004, including a trip to Giverny to see Monet's gardens and studio.

Here's the famous Japanese bridge...

I love the shades of pink and green of Monet's house. Almost wish there was a little less ivy on it, but it is so charming nonetheless.

Mid-July meant that the garden was just lush with flowers of every shade and variety. So inspiring.

It was as if the waterlily paintings had become three-dimensional.

There are dozens more photos. I just love taking close-up photos of flowers. I even found one with a resting bee inside. I loved the contrast of these delicate brilliant fuchsia flowers against the old craggy rock.

Almost too perfect.

Shhhhhh!

Soul food

I've been cleaning out boxes and sorting through bookcases and piles, all as a result of painting my apartment and trying to declutter 51 years worth of possessions. Funny the things you hold on to and the things that take on new meaning -- or lose the special meaning they once had.

Here's a poem I came across that I really liked 12 years ago. In rereading it, I still like it. So I'll save it for posterity here.

After a while

by Veronica Shoffstall

After a while you learn the subtle difference

between holding a hand and sharing a life

and you learn that love doesn't mean possession

and company doesn't mean security

and loneliness is universal.

And you learn that kisses aren't contracts

and presents aren't promises

and you begin to accept your defeats

with your head up and your eyes open

with the grace of a woman

not the grief of a child.

And you learn to build your hope on today

as the future has a way of falling apart in mid-flight

because tomorrow's ground can be too uncertain for plans

yet each step taken in a new direction creates a path

towards the promise of a brighter dawn.

And you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much

so you plant your own garden

and nourish your own soul

instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

And you learn that love, true love,

always has joys and sorrows

seems ever present, yet is never quite the same

becoming more than love and less than love

so difficult to define.

And you learn that through it all

you really can endure

that you really are strong

that you do have value

and you learn and grow

with every goodbye

you learn.