In 1985 there was a hurricane. That year my stepfather whitewashed all the windows shut; we lived in a place where the air couldn’t get in. Summer was particularly cruel and I sought refuge in our small bathroom, my body cooled by the tiles, the running water was my private river. I pined [...]

Harnessing modern stem cell technology, Lumene’s Deep Repairing Cream ($29.99, 1.7oz) purports to prevent and delay skin damage (from aging, environmental stressors) to bring luminosity, softness and elasticity to the skin. Although I don’t yet have any visible signs of aging, I noticed a significant change in my skin over the course of [...]

Yesterday I wanted to jack my friend’s skin. I’m not kidding – you needed a crowbar to pry me away from gawking at her complexion. My dear, beautiful friend, Julia Coney has got the softest skin going. The girl GLOWS IN THE DARK, she’s that fox, and I literally pulled her aside and [...]

I adore autumn in New York. Fall is quite possibly my favorite season: the days darken, nubby wool sweaters are fluffed and worn, the terracotta leaves crunch underfoot. And of course, of course! autumn ushers in the cozy oven and the smells of seasoned apples, pumpkins and banana nut breads. Over the next few [...]

A thirty-year veteran of the luxury retail and beauty industry, Sharon Collier in 1995 joined Gurwitch Products, the company that produces, manages and markets Laura Mercier Cosmetics, a global brand of high-end cosmetics, skincare and body and bath, and ReVive, a line of luxury scientifically-founded skincare products. The two renowned brands differentiate themselves from [...]

Today I had lunch with an old friend. In college we cleaved to one another because we shared the same birthday, we liked our meat well-done and we were interrupters. Back then I drank heavily and he didn’t at all, but we still shared an odd sort of closeness. This week was the first [...]

A year ago, Chef Eton Chan, a Wall Street refugee turned culinary chef (with an impressive resume, which includes stints at Cafe Gray and Asiate), opened a ten-seat dumpling house in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn with the idea of bringing simple, delicious Asian street food to his customers. What started out as a love for [...]

If you were to shove me into a coffin this would be my bury-with meal. There was a time a few years back when I suspected that I was allergic to gluten. I envisioned a life free of pasta, crisp ciabatta and Portuguese breads, flakes of jasmine rice, and I remember feeling a wave [...]

In the past few years I’ve been privileged to know two incredible women who have survived breast cancer. I’ve seen them go through the terror that is discovery to the unspeakable agony that is chemotherapy to the joy that is remission. I can’t imagine that kind of terror, where a healthy body is suddenly [...]

This weekend was nothing short of extraordinary. In the midst of baking, catching up with old friends and making my home a bit sweeter, on the television a young Jason Robards in A Thousand Clowns bellowed, “You’ve got to own your own days. And name them. Each one of them. Or else the years [...]

When the air cools and the days fold in on themselves and the leaves curdle and burn, my heart, and by extension my home, warms. Autumn is my favorite time. Yesterday, a friend of mine and I were having a conversation, wondering if it’s possible to have seasonal sadness in reverse. That’s to say [...]