I’ve been in full be-bopping mode, just trying to live up to my OG West Village girl status (more on that later). May is, hands down, my favorite month in NYC. The city comes alive. Friends reappear. The collective mood lifts. And my inbox is on life support, a sure sign of my days and nights being gloriously full of IRL happenings. HOORAY! (But please don’t hate me if I owe you a note.)
Last Thursday I went to Connie Britton’s fab lunch celebrating her new Hallmark show The Motherhood, which supports single moms and builds community through lifestyle transformations. I've been a mega Connie fan for years–she truly helped put us on the map. Fun fact: she was college roommates with my friend Senator Gillibrand. Also: she has the best head of hair in the game. Someone sponsor her already! She’s as lovely in real life as you’d hope.
I sat next to Kathleen Buhle, who’s getting me excited for a trunk show we’re planning this fall in DC at her women’s club. More to come. That evening, we swung by Sarah Harrelson’s Cultured Mag party at the Guggenheim where I finally met Kareem of Subway Takes (my long-time IG crush) and caught up with tons of friends.
Since we were already uptown, we popped into the new members-only club, Maxim’s. I know I’ve ranted about these kinds of clubs belonging in LA or London (joking, sort of), but… I actually liked it. We’ve already been back twice. On our third visit (which ended at 1am—who do I think I am?!), I realized what pulled me in.
It’s transportive.
As Keith McNally writes in his new memoir: “To be reminded of the outside world while dining is like hearing the doorbell ring while making love.” That pretty much nails the Maxim’s appeal to me.
On that note, this week might as well have been dubbed Keith McNally Week, as far as I’m concerned. While fashionable pals were uptown at the Met Gala on the first Monday of May, strutting their best dandy looks, I was downtown at Balthazar, celebrating the one and only man who made downtown Manhattan what it is.
It was one of those rare NYC nights where you leave feeling totally full—in spirit, in soul—and certain there was nowhere else you would've rather been. I loved every second of it.
