MY BIRTHDAY

MY BIRTHDAY is Nov. 4th and I decided to celebrate bi-coastally (One celebration in NY and one in LA). Paris Hilton had 4 parties, so I think I am at least FABULOUS enough to have 2! Having grown up on both coasts, I have friends that are spread all over. It was a FABULOUS treat to party with my new and old friends on both coasts. I’m a LUCKY girl!

The party preparations started with the hunt for the perfect BIRTHDAY dress in NYC. My friend Samantha and I cruised the east village boutiques with no luck. Then, I headed uptown to try BARNEYS (too expensive), BERGDORF’S (MUCH too expensive) and finally BLOOMINGDALES (Whew! Finally more in my price range!) BLOOMINGDALES has an ALICE AND OLIVIA section (my favorite designer of the moment)! I tried on 3 dresses and adored each sparkly, sequined one. I finally decided on a black sequined (my signature color) turtleneck mini MINI dress!

Friday, I celebrated the first leg of my bi-coastal BIRTHDAY in NYC. Annie and Schuyler from high school, Celeste, Amy and Sarah from college and Samantha and Grason transplants from LA congregated at my apartment for a glass of bubbly!

Then, we walked to PHILIPPE CHOWS (A delicious, upscale, Chinese restaurant opened by the former chef of Mr. Chows in LA… which I LOVE! YUM!) More friends joined us, Cheryl my old room-mate from Aspen and new friend Miguel (Golly, I’m popular and this is only the east coast party! LOL). We devoured chicken satay, crispy beef, squab lettuce cups (delicious) and more!! It was truly wonderful to be surrounded with so many friends from so many different eras of my life. Everyone was laughing and eating and having a blast!

After dinner, we headed to a club/hookah bar called KUSH. It may not be the hottest NYC spot for a Friday night, but at a table in the corner with all my NEW YORK friends dancing and partying, the evening was truly SPECTACULAR! Let’s see in my LA BIRTHDAY can live up to the FABULOUSNESS of NEW YORK!

Saturday evening, I flew back to LA and spent the night resting up for Sunday, my real BIRTHDAY (November 4th! Mark your calendars!) After a good night rest and morning snuggle with my dog, I went to the Coffee Bean (My favorite way to start the day) then the Farmers Market. I met up with my Dad (visiting from CT) and my sister Tracee for a yummy lunch at Mao’s Kitchen in Venice (cheap and delicious Chinese food). I had a family birthday dinner with mom before my birthday since she is touring.

That night I checked into the Standard Hotel on Sunset (easier/safer option than driving home after all the festivities) and I dressed in my BIRTHDAY sequins for the second time. I met up in the lobby with my room-mates Dara and Jill for pre-dinner coctails. Then headed to BELLA (yummy Italian) for dinner.

On the way my text messages kept buzzing with bad news. One after another my friends started dropping like flies. One was sick, two were tired and so on and so on till 14 dwindled down to 7. I was upset at first, but the friends that did show up (Kim, Sara, Nate, Zoe, Dara, Jill, Kennedy) were FABULOUS and fun. Dinner was delicious! I ate penne arrabiata and bruscetta, drank champagne and ate chocolate cake!

After dinner we headed to a club called PLAY where the owners had offered me a free bottle and a table. PLAY is NOT a hot spot for Sunday, but I figured with all my friends it would be fun. BUT since so many people canceled earlier and many left after dinner, I was wrong! The people at the club forgot about the free bottle, which I didn’t want to argue about and with only a handful of friends, it was all less than FABULOUS. We made the most of it, had a couple drinks and called it a night.

In all I had an amazing BIRTHDAY. East coast definitely won out over West, but it’s always FABULOUS to be surrounded by good friends… and getting presents ain’t that bad either ☺

Happy Birthday to ME!!