Family+Fekkai

As you may or may not know, the Townsend family paid me a visit last weekend. 

(Incidentally, we were staying at the same hotel as Obama.)

Among the highlights: 

-Little Mermaid

-21 Club 

-Pancakes (Clinton Street Bakery blueberry pancakes, naturally.)

I know what you're thinking while looking at this picture.

It's the painfully obvious, undeniable truth.

"Ew. Look at those roots." This had to be addressed. And there is only one man able to remedy such treason of the tresses. 

My mane man, Frederic Fekkai.

                                          

BEFORE    

Cotton Ball Chic

AFTER

There. Much better.

Back to Blogspot

Seductive as the whole fame thing is, I have come to the realization that such things are ultimately fleeting and leave a person longing for something more.

That something is blogging.

So, may this post re-commence my dedication to blogspot.

I've realized something about myself over the past few weeks. 

I really like food...(breakfast foods in particular)...Not so much the eating of it per se, but the sport/notion of it. Allow me to explain.

In my spare time at work, I have been google-ing things like "peanut butter banana french toast" and "lemon souffle pancakes." And I stare at the pictures in this weird, pornographic fashion. As soon as someone walks by, I impulsively minimize the screen of a big, greasy bacon and egg waffle sandwich to my Excel spreadsheet.

I also thoroughly enjoy trawling blogs dedicated to cupcakes. (Like this one)

I am dragging my unsuspecting family to Clinton Street Bakery this weekend. For this reason: 

I fear that this once casual pastime may be quickly morphing into an unhealthy obsession.

In other news...

I saw the BEST solicitation executed by a homeless guy in Columbus Circle the other day. This was no contrived, obvious attempt with tired lines like "God Bless" or "Need money to feed my babies/crack habit." Instead, his sign read "NEED MONEY FOR ALCOHOL so women can get me drunk and take me home." I was obviously convicted to fund such an endeavor.

Embarrassing anecdote of the day: 

While at work, I decided to Pandora on my iPhone. Innocent enough...until it became apparent that my headphones were not adequately inserted. Of course the last station I had been listening to was Lady Gaga, and "Maneater" thus polluted the airwaves of Oxford University Press on full blast for a painful 6 seconds.

Status Update

Hello All,

To those skeptics who thought I had forsaken "Hilary Does New York" to pursue other interests...I defy you!

No, my commitment issues do not extend to this beloved blog. I have simply been busy doing the whole 9 to 5 thing, and have not been in the right mental place to write lately.

And the other explanation for my leave of absence...since my last entry, I have become famous.

Ah yes, we all knew it was simply a matter of time.

Oh, you don't believe me? Here's the proof: 

http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=129526@wcbs.dayport.com

*(Check out the last 30 seconds)

Gale Winds & Gluttony

We all have those weekends...the ones best characterized by overindulgence.

This resulted in trips to Serendipity 3 and Planet Sushi Saturday, and on to Crumbs Sunday for Forbidden Broadways, sake bombs, and key lime cupcakes, respectively. The combination made for an unforgettable festival of the senses, the kind that cannot be engaged in regularly without some consequence...

My Monday was not quite as blissful, as you can imagine. 

On my commute home this afternoon, I unwittingly subjected myself to a category 5 typhoon. This was no refreshing summer drizzle; not even a Burberry trench or Chanel wellies could make such weather tolerable... (Oh who I am kidding? Chanel wellies could make virtually any circumstance agreeable.)

I know I've claimed to be all city now...yada yada. However, there is a profound part of me that is simply not understood by the big apple. This is the part of me that:

1. Loves Wal-Mart

I miss my Winkies gelatin cubes!!! Only $2 a pop, and exclusive to my previous grocer of choice, they seem more an idealized memory than anything lately :(

2. Loves Sonic

I had a dream about cherry limeades the other night. Enough said. I miss my drive-in in all of its happiness-inspiring retro glory.

3. Loves...Sunshine(??)

Yes, the sun seems to be presently poeticizing its presence with me. Maybe I took it for granted before. It is sorely missed now.

Perhaps I am not quite as out of touch with my Southern belle roots as previously imagined...

Ode to Glenny

Coming to New York, I figured that my eating habits would be affected in some manner.

I am not as certain as to how I predicted they would change, perhaps I would begin eating a lot of hot dogs or soft pretzels, who knows.

Yet my favorite culinary discovery made in my time here is not a street vendor, some swanky French brasserie or a hipster juice bar serving wheatgrass shots.

More delectable than anything Wolfgang Puck or Mario Batali could concoct, more satisfying than a seven course meal at Aureole, and more endearing than any offering of the Mister Frostee ice cream trucks littering Manhattan...the latest object of my affection goes by the name of Glenny.

Oh Mr. Glenny, how I adore you. 

Let me count the ways...your caramel soy crisps are savory, sweet, and considerate. Thank you for offering me over 11 grams of soy protein per bag. Thank you for being so available to me, I can rest easy knowing that you are only as far from me as the nearest Duane Reade. And thank you for only being $2.59, in a city where Jell-o (a former fling) can set me back $8.

I hope that our relationship will not expire with my time spent here in New York.

It's Official...

...I have thus decided I, Hilary Irene Townsend, am a New York-er.

The following reasons are a few of the qualifications which lead me to believe so:

1. I am a terrible driver, and a somewhat menacingly oblivious pedestrian.

2. I have already found favor with the gods of shopping. 

I miraculously found my way to a Tori Burch sample sale on Friday. Suggested retail value of my purchases (black leather pumps, wide leg jeans, yellow cocktail dress)  = $895. In the spirit of modesty I won't reveal what I paid, but it was easily under 20% of that.

3. I am unfazed by celebrity. 

Yesterday was the Tony Awards, and a friend and I were planning on spending our Sunday afternoon walking in Midtown and Central Park. As we passed Radio City Music Hall, a flurry of paparazzi were standing by, and as Anne Hathaway emerged from the back door, it became apparent why. We found out that there was going to be a red carpet later that evening, so of course we had to go! 

Among the notables: Bret Michaels, Dolly Parton, Will Ferrell, Uncle Jessie (AKA John Stamos, who is very becoming in person btw), Dumber from Dumb & Dumber (AKA Jeff Daniels), the mom from Girlmore Girls, and OMG CONSTANTINE FROM AMERICAN IDOL WAS THERE. (I feel obliged to clarify that that was said in jest) There were many other starstruck gazers present, the most endearing of which were a group of middle aged women from Vah-gihn-yuh. They spent the majority of the time on the phone with their friends, enthusiastically broadcasting the guest list, with the most noteworthy person naturally being...Constantine?????

Lady: Peggy! OH MY GAWD guess whaaaaaat?!?! Guess who is hereeee! We saw Dolly, Kevin Spacey, Jane Fonda, and OH MY GAWD OH MY GAWD CONSTANTINE IS HERE! . . . I KNOW!!! CONSTANTINE!!! I LOVE HIM he is just toooo cute OH MY GAWD LOOK AT HIM!!!. . . I KNOW! CONSTANTINE!!

I won't lead to you believe that I was above not freaking out when I saw the Rock of Love, it was fun. 

I <3>

Initiation

Over the past couple of days, especially since starting work, I have found myself comparing my experience here in NY to the one depicted in that ABC Family movie "Celeste and the City." There are a few parallels (sans the gay cousin and frizzy hair)...I guess.

People here are instantly, and rather humorously, engaged when they find out that I am from Texas/Oklahoma; I honestly think they expect me to start two-stepping and y'all-ing on the spot.

I accomplished one of my mental to-do list objectives this afternoon! I finally had a Tasti D-Lite. I decided on the peanut butter flavor...definitely worthy of 4.5 out of 5 stars on the esteemed and discriminating Hilary ice cream scale.

I'll leave you with the dialogue of an elevator convo I engaged in yesterday with a fellow intern.

Me: How was your first day of work?

Girl: Good.

Me: Where is your internship?

Girl: Universal Music.

Me: [enthusiastic] OOOOOOOOOOOO! Did you get to do anything fun??!

Girl: Yah.

Me: What'd you do?

Girl: I made a Twitter for Boyz II Men.